Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
He didn’t bother to deny he was listening. “The hens laying eggs in their beds? The salamanders climbing through the windows? Incidentally, did you send a plague of stink bugs to Zdan’s demon aunt?”
“Naturally.” Safia looked at him as if he might be a little bit slow-witted. “I waited until it was close to dawn and knew you were coming for me. Lunja had already put Tala to bed and climbed in with her. No way would Zdan get her up to help his nasty, mean aunt. He’ll want Lunja to sleep for as long as possible before she helps with the wedding party.”
Just the way Safia delivered the statement as if it were a foregone conclusion made him smile despite his every effort not to. He had to look away and clear his throat. The woman was an absolute menace. He’d lived far too long in the world, and yet she was giving him experiences he’d never had.
“I doubt stink bugs or hens laying eggs in our bed will deter my tyrannical nature.”
“Probably not,” she agreed readily. “I’ve been giving serious thought to the problem.”
It was far more difficult not to laugh than he’d ever imagined it would be. Her arms were around his neck, the tips of her fingers at his nape, idly playing in his hair while she was giving him hell.
“You have?” The way she touched him moved him in a way that was another first for him. Every nerve ending came alive, was aware of her. He felt his heart shifting in his chest.
Sofia brushed back strands of hair he’d deliberately left loose. “Since last night, when the women were making up ridiculous songs singing your praises. I knew it would go to your head. I had to be prepared for your nonsense. As attractive as I find you, and I’ll admit at times you’re remarkably sweet, I can’t have you believing you can boss me around like you do everyone else.”
“I don’t intimidate you?” He knew he did. Just a little. Not enough. His defender wasn’t a woman to be afraid of very much, certainly not her lifemate.
She hesitated. “If you do, it’s even more reason for me to stand up to you. I’ve practiced opening the soil hundreds of times in my mind, and now you’re reneging on your promise of letting me do it.”
“Why do you think I’m refusing you, Safia?” He knew the color of his eyes reflected his sobering mood. He knew they went from mercury to a piercing silver. His vision changed whenever his senses expanded.
Her long lashes fluttered. She hesitated, her frown returning, her brows coming together. She didn’t look away, studying his features, then looking into his mind. “Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it. I reacted. The idea of waking beneath the ground is frightening to me. I went over opening the soil hundreds of times so I wouldn’t be afraid. I wanted to do it myself, not have you do it for me.”
“You’re still afraid.” He made it a statement, using a very low tone. He wasn’t going to give in on this subject. He made that very clear just with his tone.
She might believe she was ready. He knew she wasn’t. If the soil closed over her head, she would panic, believing she was buried alive. She might not see that in herself, but he saw it very clearly. Once that happened to her, it would be even more difficult for her to overcome her fears. If she waited longer and continued to practice, as she was doing, she would become accustomed to the idea.
Safia didn’t argue with him. She went quiet again, searching first his mind and then her own. Petru found he respected and admired her even more for the way she carefully thought things through. She didn’t hurry. She really examined every angle and possibility before she sighed.
“I really don’t like the fact that I jumped to conclusions about your motives. One of my worst traits has always been not accepting someone telling me what to do. Just like when Izem was fearful of me going over the cliff, but I insisted on jumping fences as a child. I wanted to defy him, mostly to show him he couldn’t order me around. I thought I was over that.”
Petru wished he hadn’t been so quick to clothe her as he brought her to the surface and awakened her, but he knew she was too much of a temptation, especially when he fed her. He brushed kisses into her thick dark hair.
“Hän ku vigyáz sívamet és sielamet,” Petru murmured, rubbing his chin over the mass of hair so that the silky strands tangled with the bristles along his jaw. She was the keeper of his heart and soul. It had happened fast for him.
“You shouldn’t be so nice to me when I misjudged you, Petru,” she reprimanded very gently. “It wasn’t fair to you for me to jump to conclusions.”