A BWWM Interracial Paranormal Romance 1: Her Fairy Tale Birthday Ball by Tisha Clark

Author:Tisha Clark [Clark, Tisha]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Urban, 45 Minutes (22-32 Pages), Romance, Multicultural, Paranormal, United States, Fantasy, African American, Genre Fiction, Multicultural & Interracial, Literature & Fiction
Amazon: B00TUD0Y3G
Publisher: SFBuzz Press
Published: 2015-02-19T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

It was morning.

Ash stood on the sidewalk in front of the hotel, her clothing disheveled, the slipper cradled in her palm. It was early, with only a few cars on the street. Hugging herself against the chill, Ash turned away from the hotel. By the time she reached her home, the memories of the ball were diffuse like spider webs in her mind. The only thing that was really clear to her was the prince's eyes and the glass slipper in her palm.

The morning passed in a haze. She put the slipper in a small silk bag and threaded it through the chain of an old necklace, which she wore around her neck, the slipper just above her breasts.

Its heartbeat teased her with sparks of desire and sadness.

"What's wrong with you?" Angelique asked "You've been staring into space all morning."

"Nothing."

"Well, mom wants to see you."

What had Ash done wrong now? Evangeline never called her just to talk.

Ash finished washing the morning dishes and climbed up the stairs to her stepmother's room. The room was her stepmother's inner sanctum and the one place that Ash was not required to clean. For which Ash was immensely grateful. Opening the door, Ash was treated to an assault of incense, perfume, and lace. Ash's eyes teared up in response the onslaught.

Evangeline was seated in front of the vanity. In spite of her age and mean spirit, Ash cannot deny that her stepmother was a beautiful woman. Tall, stately, with elegant cheekbones and corkscrew curls that thanks to an intensive hair regimen never seemed to frizz or have a hair out of place. It would have made sense if her stepmother wore wigs or got extensions like most women, but she didn't.

She looked over Ash with sharp brown eyes and said, "So, it has happened, but why are you still here?"

Ash stared.

"You didn't dance, did you? But you should've eaten the food. You always eat the food."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ash said, but she had never been good at lying, and her stepmother's eyes narrowed.

"If you done what you were supposed to, you don't washed up in the Delaware like the other girls. But somehow you got out. So what did you do?"

"No--nothing."

"You did something. I can smell it on you." She sniffed at the air, and Ash couldn't imagine how her stepmother could smell anything but the sharp sweetness of her own perfumes. Still, her face grew hot thinking of everything that had happened the night before. Looking at her stepmother now, Ash could see reflected in her sharp lines and elegance the dancers at the ball the night before.

Alice had never liked her stepmother, nor had the woman liked her, but this was the first time Ash was afraid. Not simply afraid of being put out of doors, but of what other horrible thing the woman might do to her. Afraid for her life. Ash said, "I – – there's lots of chores."

"What is that?" Her stepmother pointed at ashes chest where the glass slipper was hidden beneath her shirt.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.