Total pages in book: 50
Estimated words: 46078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46078 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 230(@200wpm)___ 184(@250wpm)___ 154(@300wpm)
I hear him purr, and it is a sound that thrums through me and finds the very core of me, the part that has never been touched, because I have never had time for men. I live alone. I have lived alone since the last of my family died. I never sought out male company. I never needed it. Until now.
Suddenly, I burn with desire awakened by this creature’s mere proximity. He is so handsome he is activating parts of my body that have lain dormant all my life. I feel a flush of heat rising to my cheeks and a tingling in other parts of my anatomy, followed by even more internal fire. I am reacting chemically to the very sight of him, and when the passing chaos of a fleeing mass creates a breeze, I smell him too. He smells like masculinity and power. He smells like protection. He smells like he is mine.
“ABANDON THE AUCTION NOW,” the voice blares. I barely register it. There is nothing but Azlan.
I know why I want him, but I have absolutely no idea why he would want me. What possible use could a majestic, muscular, maned beast have for me? There are so many questions flying around my mind, but only one manages to escape my face.
“God. Why?”
“I need a mate. You are female.”
“That seems like an incredibly low bar to buy someone.”
“You suit my needs,” he says, giving nothing away.
“Well, you suited my needs too. And I really need for you to come with me. I mean, I really need for you to come. So.” I hold out the cuffs, which frankly now seem silly because I can’t hold them out without my arms physically shaking. The gallant lion alien takes them from me, not to put them on, but to save me from the burden. He regards me with a piercing golden gaze.
“Why do you need me, Ava?”
Three days ago…
My farm is on fire. That should be the biggest of my worries, and it’s barely registering on my list of things I am very concerned about.
INCORRECT PASSWORD
If there are two words more perfectly designed to outrage in this universe, I am yet to encounter them. The sheer frustration is nearly overwhelming. I have things to do. Invaders to evade. I can hear gleeful shrieks and cries echoing across the farm as the Growlers go wild.
HAVE YOU FORGOTTEN YOUR PASSWORD?
The capitals are mocking in their bluntness.
I click “reset password” and glance nervously out the window. Night is starting to fall. I need to get this done now, before I make my escape. The Growlers are assembling in ever greater numbers.
Shapes fly in front of me. Select the pictures with space buses, it tells me.
My frustration is growing by the moment, and with the Growlers making their way toward the house, I need help now. Ordinarily, I’d be against purchasing a sentient being, but I have no choice. There’s no help available besides that which I can buy.
Nobody free wants to be here. Nobody but me, and I’m not fucking leaving. This is my home. My land. My farm. Even if a lot of it is on fire a lot of the time at the moment, they don’t know they’re doing me a favor. A lot of plants do even better after firestorms. So while I might currently be sitting on a smoldering lump of chaos, I remember the forests and fields I grew up in, and I intend to restore them just as soon as I get some help.
I need a big alien. A strong alien. I need a predator who will hunt down the Growlers attacking my fences and boundaries and dispatch them.
CHOOSE NEW PASSWORD, the website prompts me.
I put in the password I thought I had used for this site, but clearly didn’t, because it doesn’t fucking work.
Yet another error appears on the screen.
YOU CANNOT USE A PREVIOUSLY USED PASSWORD
It takes all my mental and emotional fortitude not to hurl the computer tablet right through the nearest window and run screaming into the night.
REVENGE123 I type as fast as I can.
PASSWORD ACCEPTED
PLEASE LOGIN
You’d think that having set my password would have logged me in, but no, because that would be simple and effective and not put me at increased risk of being overrun by Growlers.
I login, using my new password, only for a cube of disjointed images to appear on screen.
PROVE YOU’RE NOT A ROBOT. SELECT ALL THE ICE CREAM VANS.
There are two obvious ice cream vans, one less obvious van of some kind, and six heavy vehicles of indeterminate origin. I know that this is a traditional means of securing a website, which is incredibly old tech, but sometimes the old ways are the best. Sometimes, the old ways are the only way. We don’t get the cybernet here; I can’t just jack in via brain probe. I’ve got to use this vintage tablet that runs on external electricity and not the neural energies of my very own mind.