What The Fox? (Completely Free!)

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

It was a week later. I still couldn't believe I kissed that smelly mutt. I don't know what possessed me to lock lips with Alix. I had to wait until the next full moon to meet Kujui's men and hand Alix off to them. Whether they would split Alix open and eat his Lycan liver on the spot, would be no business of mine.

In all honestly, I don't know why Kujui hadn't chopped me into pieces to grind my bones up for their enchanted properties by now. I was worthless to them as a prisoner, not even good at embroidery or cooking mutton soup.

Speaking of soup, it was hard for me to resist some of the pleasures of being a high-born lady with an army of servants at her disposal. I decided to bath in my bronze tub which my maids had filled with boiling hot water and rose petals. It was a rare moment that I finally had some peace and quiet. I was so sick of pretending to Sixi that I was tempted to murder all of her servants and blame it on an assassination attempt. The Imperial City was full of snakes and rats, everyone was always trying to kill some other ass that they didn't like.

I was sure General Teng had his share of enemies.

But that begged the question that if I killed all my annoying servants — who was going to draw my bath for me?

No, better to sit back in these steamy waters, scrub my back with this rag, and plan out how I was going to fulfill my obligation to the devilish Gōng Gong. He said that I was to bring Alix to him but he left me no instructions about what to do if Alix decided to resist me in his werewolf form. So, that meant I had three more weeks to spend with this mutt where I would have to do my best not to get into a fight with his wolf.

Also, there was the matter of making Alix trust me so that when it was time to lure him into the forest, he wouldn't run away. I didn't think that was going to be too hard. I could simply convince him I was in the mood for a tryst and wanted to go somewhere with a little privacy.

He was dumb enough to believe it.

I wondered if he was a virgin.

I was dumb too when Julong told me he would love me forever. As I scooped up the milky waters with the palm of my hand, I thought back to that day in Henan when Julong and I first met. I wasn't an evil fox demon back then. I was working as a medicine woman training under a renowned mystical healer. My sifu was a man of incredible power and talent, but he wasn't known for his forgiveness.

I knew when I ran away with Julong that I could never go back home to Xuyi Mountain. Never will I play among the cloudless skies of my once home. I spent many years traveling with my sifu using my fox spirit powers for good. Xuyi was the only home I ever knew. And I threw all that away for that pig, Julong.

I remembered cradling Julong as he laid naked in my arms. We made love in a bed of hay behind an abandoned farmhouse. He told me to trust him and then he slipped his fingers inside me. I trusted him, all right, and he placed more than just his fingers inside me.

"Would you really be content to be a bandit's wife?" Julong asked me as we laid in a sweaty embrace.

"I don't care for pretty jade jewels or gold hairpins," I told him. "For people like us, who run wild and free through the countryside, who needs palaces and titles?"

Julong had laughed and tapped the tip of my nose with his index finger. "As long as I have you, I bet even the emperor on his throne in the Imperial City envies me."

I could still taste the salt of Julong's lips as I laid back in the bathtub. No amount of water could wash his stench off me. Or erase his sweet lies from my mind. I spent the last five years swearing that I would never fall in love again.

As though on cue, I heard loud footsteps approaching from behind. It didn't sound like Lan-ru. She always sloshed the water as she walked and cursed under her breath as though I was deaf. I nearly jumped out of the tub as Alix appeared in the doorway with a large wooden bucket of water in each hand.

"What are you doing here, imbecile?" I demanded.

"Lan-ru slipped in the snow. It was a bad fall. They're sending for the doctor. Don't worry, Sweet Lady, I'm not going to peek at you."

He was trying too hard not to look at me. That was what was making me red with rage at my stupid handmaiden.

"Get out and tell Lan-ru she can go bang her head into one of the wooden pillars outside. I don't want to see that stupid girl ever again."

"Should I refill your bath before I leave?" Alix asked, raising a black hairy eyebrow. "It might be cold in there if I just walked out. These buckets are heavy, much too heavy for a delicate creature like yourself."

"All right," I sighed and laid back in the tub. It was fortunate that I decided to bathe in rose petals and milk. Otherwise, Alix would have a clear view of my nether regions. What did it matter? I gave myself to that pig Julong all those years ago, what did it matter if one more pig caught me in the nude?

"You can refill my bath and then after that, you can massage my shoulders," I ordered. "I'm stressed from thinking up ways to punish my idiot servants."

"As you wish," Alix said as he dumped the water over my knees. Before I could tell him to hold it, he followed it with another bucket of unbelievably hot water.

"You idiot! Are you trying to kill me!" I screamed.

"I'm sorry," Alix replied earnestly. "It felt warm to me."

"Warm!? Are you trying to boil me alive?"

Alix looked at me quizzically. Okay, maybe he didn't realize how hot the water was. As the water around me settled into a lukewarm mixture, I decided to let it slide. I laid back and closed my eyes. At least he had the good sense to know that it meant he should get on his knees and service me.

And by service me — I meant he was to rub my shoulders!