Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
We came to a set of double doors manned by a half-human/half Dothranian doorman. He had green skin and was wearing a black and white uniform.
“Good Evening, Enforcer,” he said, bowing to Slade and not batting an eye at me. “How is your night going?”
“Evening, Harry. It’s a mixed bag,” Slade rumbled. “I’d like you to meet my wife—isn’t she beautiful?”
He sounded extremely proud, though I didn’t think I looked like anything to be proud of at the moment. I was a complete mess—my hair was all over the place and the little bit of make-up I’d put on that morning had been cried off in the past hour. But the doorman only nodded again as he opened the door for us.
“She’s stunning, Enforcer. And congratulations on your Binding!”
“Thanks, Harry.” Slade nodded back as he carried me through the double doors and into a vast and gleaming hotel lobby.
I looked around at the Frellian leather chairs and ottomans scattered around the gleaming marble floor. The ceilings were impossibly high and the solid ganga wood front desk was lined with smiling clerks, all wearing impeccably spotless black and white uniforms.
Several of them called greetings to Slade as he carried me through the lobby and he nodded and introduced me several more times as his wife. I tried to smile at them but I was so tired—completely worn out. I just wanted to be someplace where I could relax in private.
Slade seemed to share my sentiment because he took me to another vertical lift—which was mercifully empty—and then, after a long upward ride, we came to the very top floor which was labeled on the elevator as “Penthouse Suite.”
The lift doors opened right into the suite, which was done in ultra-modern décor. Sleek metal-framed furniture padded with white fur and tan leather, a firepit in the center of the room with a fluted chimney positioned over it, and a thick carpet met my eyes. The colors were sandy beige and silver—cool tones that somehow avoided being cold—and there was framed and signed art on the walls that looked expensive.
“So this is where you live?” I looked around in awe. I had been a princess all my life, but nothing at our tiny palace came close to the luxury I saw around me.
“Uh-huh.” Slade nodded and sat me down on the broad, tan couch.
I began shivering as soon as I was no longer in contact with his warmth.
“Oh—why am I so c-c-cold?” I exclaimed, my teeth starting to chatter.
Slade frowned, a worried look in his gold eyes.
“Possibly you’re in shock. We need to get you warmed up—here.”
He snapped his fingers at the firepit. At once, blue and gold flames ignited, crackling quietly and adding warmth to the room. Then he unfolded a white fur blanket and draped it over me before turning to go to another room.
“Wait—where are you going?” I felt panicked at the idea of him leaving me alone. Probably because last time he had left me, I had nearly been kidnapped by a male who wanted to cut me into little pieces!
Slade reached down to stroke my tear-streaked cheek.
“It’s okay, Princess—I’m just going to run you a bath so we can get your core temperature back up. Don’t worry—you’re safe here. Nobody can get in or out but me—the button for the Penthouse Suite is keyed specifically to my DNA.”
“Well…all right.” I nodded at last. “Just don’t take too long.”
“Not long at all—I promise.”
He left the room and a moment later I heard the rush of water. A moment after that, I smelled a light, floral scent drifting through the air—probably some kind of bathing product, I speculated. Whatever it was, it smelled nice.
I watched the blue and gold flames and snuggled under the fur blanket which felt impossibly soft. My eyelids were getting heavy when Slade came back into the living area.
“All right, here we go,” he murmured and scooped me up off the couch.
“I can walk, you know,” I said drowsily as he carried me to the bathroom.
“Maybe I don’t want you to walk. Maybe I like carrying you,” he rumbled. “You’re a princess, after all—why can’t I treat you like one?”
I had no answer for that—though to be honest I had never been pampered or coddled or treated the way he was treating me. True, I had my own personal maid but Pansy was more a friend than a servant. She didn’t wait on me hand and foot—mostly she just helped me pin up my hair and get dressed for Court Balls.
I missed her sadly right now—I would have liked to discuss the strange and bewildering time I’d had ever since Slade had claimed me and whisked me away. Unfortunately she was beyond my reach—there was nobody here but me and the big Enforcer who was now my husband.