Total pages in book: 133
Estimated words: 126848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126848 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“And this little female is also from the Monstrum Mother Ship—she is said to be a genuine Viridi Femma!”
“Ah yes—a Viridi Femma. You, my dear, are the entire reason I have traveled so far to attend tonight’s banquet.” Baronet Sin’estor inclined his head to her politely. “I have heard much of the special powers your kind possess to heal plants that are in distress.”
“Er, I suppose so,” Iyanna said uncertainly. She still wasn’t completely sure herself about her supposed “powers” as a Viridi Femma. Chief Commander Rarev had said something about the Monstrum Mother Ship activating something inside her the moment she stepped aboard and it was true that she’d had a great effect on the flora there. But would her powers to help plants extend outside the Monstrum vessel? She simply didn’t know.
“Please, take your seats,” Minister Ostensio said to them. “Sir Dra’vik, you will come sit by me and your pleasure slave will be seated across the table at Baronet Sin’estor’s left hand.”
This arrangement didn’t appear to sit well with Dra’vik at all.
“I don’t think so,” he growled. “I want Iyanna sitting beside me.”
Ostensio let out an exasperated sigh.
“Please, Sir Dra’vik! No one sits directly beside their own pleasure slave during an important banquet! It simply isn’t done.”
“Then I want assurances that no one else is going to touch my female,” Dra’vik growled, eyeing Baronet Sin’estor balefully.
“Please don’t concern yourself with such matters, my dear Monstrum,” Baronet Sin’estor said, smiling his orange smile at Dra’vik. “I assure you, I will keep my hands strictly to myself and be content to admire your lovely little pleasure slave from afar.”
“It’s okay, Dra’vik—I mean, Master,” Iyanna murmured to him.
She didn’t love the idea of sitting so close to the creepy Baronet Sin’estor, especially since he would no doubt be staring openly at her breasts the entire time. But they were obviously going to have to make at least a few concessions in order to get what they wanted and get through the banquet.
“I swore I wouldn’t leave you alone again,” Dra’vik reminded her in a low growl. “I don’t intend to break my word.”
“You won’t be breaking your word—you’ll just be across the table from me,” Iyanna told him. “And you know I’ll tell you if anyone touches me.”
Dra’vik still didn’t look happy about the idea, but at last he nodded.
“All right, little girl. But remember I’ll be watching and listening. I’ll be right across the table if you need me.”
“I know that.” Impulsively, she stood on tiptoe and reached for him. The big Drake leaned down so she could put her arms around his neck. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear, giving him a squeeze. “This is an awful situation, but I feel safer knowing you’re with me.”
“I won’t let you down, little girl,” he rumbled. Putting his arms around her, he squeezed her gently. It was a little like being hugged by a grizzly bear, Iyanna thought—she could feel the immense strength he was holding back just for her. It made her feel safe.
Minister Ostensio cleared his throat pointedly and Dra’vik finally let her go.
“All right,” he said, straightening up. “Where do I sit?”
“This way, if you please, Sir Dra’vik,” Ostensio said, leading him around the table. “Really, I have never seen any male so obsessed with his pleasure slave!”
The way he spoke made it seem like Dra’vik was strange—like he was obsessing over some kind of inconsequential pet. A goldfish, maybe, or a hamster, Iyanna thought indignantly.
“Iyanna is mine,” Dra’vik said simply. “Mine to protect—mine to cherish. How can I not be obsessed with her?”
“Well, that is a most singular way to think,” Ostensio fussed as they got seated.
“Perhaps not,” Baronet Sin’estor drawled, his orange eyes crawling over Iyanna’s bare breasts in a way that made her long desperately for a t-shirt to wear over the gold Lix’dorian outfit. “After all, this little pleasure slave seems to have some very interesting and unique abilities.” He licked his thin lips. “I cannot wait to see them put to the test.” He nodded at the chair beside him. “Do come and sit, my dear.”
Iyanna had to do as he said, though she hated to. Especially since Dra’vik was not directly across the table from her, as she had thought he would be. The seating appeared to be an alternating pattern of males and females and since Baronet Sin’estor was at the head of the table, there was a pleasure slave sitting to his right, then Minister Ostensio, then another pleasure slave and then Dra’vik.
As she was sitting to Baronet Sin’estor’s left hand on the other side of the table, this put the big Drake diagonally across from her instead of directly across. Iyanna was already sorry she’d agreed to this seating arrangement, but what could she do?
Lifting her chin, she sat up straight in her chair—a necessity since the furniture here was built more on Dra’vik’s scale than her own. The tabletop came to just below her breasts instead of her waist, making her feel like a little kid at the adult’s table.