Total pages in book: 28
Estimated words: 26960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26960 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
She’s definitely my mate. What do I do about that?
Chapter
Four
Kari
I jolt awake to the foreign feel of a hard, hair-roughened body plastered to my back. One hand cups my naked pussy. I don’t even have to move to feel how blissfully sore I am.
I risk a peek over my shoulder. With his eyes closed and his face relaxed in sleep, Ronan looks almost human—if way more gorgeous than most blokes.
Truth be told, I wasn’t certain magickind actually slept. They eat, drink, and breathe like the rest of us. But I didn’t know if that’s where the similarities ended. Normally, the fact it isn’t would soothe me, but nothing about Ronan sets me at ease.
I gave in to him. I surrendered everything to the man. Until him, I never knew sex could be so staggeringly pleasurable—or deeply profound.
I can’t imagine ever wanting another man.
As I drag in another breath, his musky, manly scent fills my nose and awakens a need that should be beyond sated.
Tynan wasn’t joking when he said wizards possess more stamina than the average human. Ronan was relentless. After our first encounter, he awakened me four more times, passion seething in his kiss as he clutched me and drove deep, his gruff whisper praising me even as he swore that I’m a never-ending fever in his blood.
Obviously, he spewed pretty lies. Despite him kissing and tasting me repeatedly, he never uttered anything that sounded like ritualistic mating words.
At the realization, I blink back tears. If Ronan suspected for even a moment that I’m his mate, wouldn’t he have said something? Or given me an indication that I’m more than the usual shag?
Yes, which tells me he always heaps gratification on the women he beds and makes them feel as if they’re the only one. I wasn’t special at all.
Bloody cheerful thought.
Without question, our friendship is over. He’ll forget me in a handful of hours, if he hasn’t already. Unfortunately, he’s seared himself into my psyche forever.
Why the bloody hell did I leap into bed with Ronan so impulsively? My ridiculously flimsy hope that I might be his mate? Brilliant.
Why am I so bloody good at unrequited love? It’s pathetic, really. At least I’m not fooling myself anymore. Ronan will return to the Witch’s Brew and resume business as usual, bedding a different woman every night, regardless of what I feel. Where does that leave us?
Visions of him exiting the pub with a parade of women tramples through my head. My stomach lurches. I jackknife up and stumble from the bed, grabbing my middle as my heart lurches with pain.
I can’t see that again. Ever. Being with Ronan so intimately last night, him touching me as if I was the only woman who matters… I fell more in love with him. Head over heels, if I’m honest.
But I’m not his mate, and now that he’s added my notch to his bedpost, he’ll probably never touch me again.
I have to get out of here. I can’t see him open his eyes and stare at me with indifference.
Frantically grabbing my clothes, I shove them on. The sun is making a gray dent in the black sky, so it’s pitifully early. Still, I have no idea where I am. I have no car and no money for a taxi. Bloody disaster!
Once dressed, I take a last regretful look at Ronan, try to lock away my feelings, then slip out of his bedroom.
I emerge into a long, shadowy hallway. Immediately, it’s clear the stately house is old.
A bit of weak gray light coming from the room beside Ronan’s draws my attention. Maybe a glimpse out the window will tell me where Ronan brought me.
Inside, I find a masculine bedroom full of dark colors and bold lines with every modern convenience: flat screen telly, gaming console, and a new laptop.
A glance outside has my eyes popping. Ronan doesn’t live in a mere flat or even a cushy suburban house but a bloody estate. The expansive grounds with their statues and gazebo alone prove that. Not only am I merely human, but I’m a barmaid who grew up on the docks and never attended uni. I don’t belong here.
Ronan must have realized last night what my foolish heart refused to before now. We aren’t a match.
Dreadful to realize that truth after falling helplessly in love.
I whirl to leave so I can find my way back to my cramped London flat. Instead, I bump into a hard, naked chest. Based on the musky-pine scent, it’s not Ronan.
Gasping, I glance up at the male face in the semidark room. Same shape, same intent gaze…but the golden hair tips me off.
Raiden.
“What are you doing here?” His voice cracks sharp as a whip.
“Is this your bedroom? I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“What are you doing in this house?”
“Leaving, actually.” I try to dodge him.