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)
Speaking of Slade, he was still treating me like I was made of fine china. He carried me into a room with a big, beautiful soaking tub. It was already filled with bubbles and scented steam was rising from the water.
I expected him to set me down and then leave so I could take a bath by myself. Instead, he swept my hair to one side and began unbuttoning my dress.
“Hey!” I turned my head to glare at him. “Stop that! You can’t just take off my clothes!”
“I can and I will.” He gave me a stern look. “I’m your husband now—remember?”
I had been so consumed with the awful, attempted kidnapping that I had forgotten this was my honeymoon night. Now it all came rushing back and my old fears began to rear their heads.
Slade must have seen the terror in my eyes because he turned me fully to face him and cupped my face in his hands.
“Look at me, Princess,” he rumbled. “You’re frightened I’m going to take you tonight, aren’t you?”
“Of course I’m frightened!” I bit out. “You said you ‘wanted me under you’ every single night!”
“I do want that.” His eyes were suddenly half-lidded. “But not tonight—you’ve been through too much. In fact, I’m going to make you a vow—I won’t take you until you beg me to.”
“What?” I shook my head at his foolishness. “Surely you know that’s never going to happen.”
“You don’t think so?” He raised an eyebrow at me. “Then you don’t know anything about Bindings—even Partial ones.”
“No, I don’t—we don’t have anything like that on L’Crist,” I said stiffly. “But I know I’m never going to beg you to…to do that to me.”
“Careful, Princess,” he murmured, raising an eyebrow mockingly at me. “You never know when your words might come back to bite you.”
“I doubt it,” I said frostily. I had been drowsing off in front of the fire but I was definitely more awake and alert now. And there was no way I was going to beg Slade to shove his huge shaft inside me!
“Doubt it all you want,” Slade growled. “Right now we’re going to get you cleaned up and ready for bed.”
“Bed with you?” I demanded as he insisted on peeling off my dress.
“Of course,” he rumbled. “I’m your husband—in my bed is where you belong, wife.”
Then he started working on my underthings. He got my bra and panties off in no time and then I was naked and shivering in the middle of the bathroom. I crossed my arms over my breasts, hiding them from him, but Slade shook his head.
“No, Princess—let me see. You don’t know how many years I’ve waited to look at your sweet, luscious body.”
“You’re going to be disappointed—I’m not very thin,” I protested as he peeled my arms away from my breasts. For some reason it made my nipples tight when he looked me over, his golden eyes lazy with lust.
“So fucking beautiful,” I heard him murmur and his deep voice had gone hoarse. “I don’t want you thin, Princess—you’re fucking perfect just the way you are.”
I doubted that any of the human men I’d grown up with on L’Crist would agree with him, but I had to admit it was nice to be called beautiful. Even though I still felt shy about letting him look at my naked body.
Slade had me turn slowly around so he could admire me from all angles and then he helped me carefully into the tub.
I sank gratefully into the steaming foam, only hissing a little when the hot water stung my palms and my wounded knee. I must have cut it on a rock when I fell, I thought. I was glad that the bubbles covered my naked body—I still felt shy about letting Slade look at me, even if he technically was my husband.
“All right, baby—close your eyes,” he murmured.
“What? Why?” I asked suspiciously. He was taking off his expensive suit jacket and rolling up his sleeves to show muscular forearms. One had the word CRUEL tattooed on it in golden letters.
“Because I’m going to wash your hair and I don’t want to get soap in your eyes.” He sat at the head of the tub, just behind me as he spoke.
“You want to wash my hair?” I asked blankly, tilting my head back to look at him. “But I can do that myself. Honestly, just because I’m a princess doesn’t mean I’m helpless.”
“I know,” Slade said simply. “But I want to take care of you. Be a good girl and let me, okay?”
I thought about fighting about it some more…but did it really matter? I decided to choose my battles. What harm could there be in letting him wash my hair?
“All right,” I said and sighed as he poured warm water over my head.
“Good girl,” he murmured again and the next thing I knew he was rubbing some sweet-smelling shampoo into my hair and massaging my scalp with his long, strong fingers.