Total pages in book: 164
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 152666 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 763(@200wpm)___ 611(@250wpm)___ 509(@300wpm)
“If there is addiction and death, it isn’t because of my product,” I said stubbornly, noting that he didn’t deny the royal backing. “You’ve got the wrong woman. Go into my village. See for yourself. I make the fucking stuff. Don’t you think if there was an issue, my village would be riddled with it? We don’t lock the supply shed. Anyone can get in at any time. If there was a problem, it would be here first.”
“Hmm.” He nodded slowly. “Mm-hmm. That is interesting. The alpha and his acting beta know the situation very well. They’ll be able to figure out if you’re lying.” He leaned forward again. “I hope you aren’t. Tell me, could I ride a horse while high? While on a journey, I mean. That would cut down on the boredom getting from place to place in this kingdom. It’s incredibly spread out. It took days to get all the way out here.”
I shook my head, looking away. Blood dripped down my wrist from the rope ripping my skin. “I have no idea. We don’t have horses in this village. We’ve never tested that out.”
“And you test everything?”
“As I already told you. Yes, every single batch. I make sure it is up to my standards and always try to think of ways to improve it.”
He rested his chin on his fist. “I really hope this is all a misunderstanding. You’d probably get along really well with Finley, not to mention give Arleth someone new to share ideas with. But, sadly, in our experience with your trade, very few people tell the truth.”
“I wouldn’t know. I’ve never dealt with any of them. That was Granny’s department.”
He nodded. “Yes, pity. Sadly, we can’t verify any of this because the person known as Granny is gone.”
I gritted my teeth at his blasé attitude toward Granny’s demise and the role this man’s comrades played in it. He dared lecture me about killing people, yet here they were, infiltrating a village and taking out the residents within.
“Find Alexander,” I bit out. “That swine knows. Ask him. He was with her all the time.”
“Yes, he was.” He clucked his tongue. “Well, this is fucking depressing. As far as first impressions go, I like you, but you’ll need to do some serious groveling if you hope to sidestep the wrath of the dragon queen. She does not have a sense of humor when it comes to the welfare of her people. Not like this festering heap of a kingdom.”
The anger inside of me was a living thing, lighting me on fire. “If you’re royalty from another kingdom, you have no jurisdiction here. Unless the king and queen from this kingdom have given permission for you to capture and detain one of their constituents—and from what I gather, they most certainly have not—you’re here without sanction. Granny was in good standing with our royalty, as was—is—our product. You’re operating outside the law, just like I was. You have no right to invade, to murder, and to kidnap. You’ll be hanged for this.”
His smile pulled his lips wide. “You’re very smart. And correct. We’re going to have to smuggle you out of here—”
“Hadriel, that’s enough.”
The voice was like a whip-crack of pleasure that puddled in my core. I turned my head slowly to find the handsome stranger stepping into the light. Each movement of that stellar body was graceful and sleek, effortlessly hiding the coiled power contained in that robust frame cut with thick slabs of muscle. He didn’t wear any clothes, nor did he exhibit any embarrassment or shame about that fact. It seemed he felt nudity was completely natural and free. I’d bet he was an amazing dancer; his movements were strong and sure but gentle, like his fingertips under my chin last night, lifting my face to look at him.
No, to be inspected by him.
I shivered with the memory. A moment later, though, I remembered what he’d done. Remembered what he had planned for me, the way he’d barged into my village like I was the criminal when he and his people were the ones not allowed. Bullshit, all of this.
And on the path with him? What the fuck was that? He knew he was going to abduct me and decided he’d get his cock wet while I was willing? While I was transfixed by this strange feeling pulsing deep within me?
What was this feeling, anyway? Why did it feel like his presence tugged at my middle? Yanked at me, more like. The sensations his proximity gave me felt like something akin to one of my creations. On the path I had been sure that it was. How was he creating this feeling? Because there was no way he could’ve administered something to me that night without me knowing. The Moonfire Lily was the only abnormal thing I’d been working with, and I was now sure it hadn’t created these effects.