Total pages in book: 115
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 430(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Emma lifts her head, shuddering. “She didn’t make it?”
No. I do not think any female will. They are smaller than males, built for speed. She does not have the power in her wings that a male does.
“And yet he still keeps trying to send them to the Rift,” she says bitterly. “What a douchebag.” She shakes her head and gazes out at the night sky, her soft mouth in a hard line. “But he keeps sending females because that’s all he’s got. He must have figured out how to lure females. He can’t get a male without a woman. A young, unmated woman.” She glances up at me. “Which is why our plan should work. Do you think badly of me for being eager to take this bastard out?”
No. Should I?
“I think the others are a little worried that I’m eager for revenge. And I think that’s part of it. I think about my brother sometimes. I think what would have happened to him if he hadn’t gotten mixed up with someone like Azar. Boyd was no angel, but he wasn’t very ambitious, either. He probably would have slid along on his own for a long time, going town to town and being kind of shiftless and shitty, but mostly harmless. Azar made him into a problem. I can’t help but blame Azar for that. And yet at the same time, that’s not why I want to take him out.”
Because he hurt me, I guess.
Emma nods, and her eyes gleam in the darkness. “Because he hurt you and he didn’t care how much he’d destroy by holding you captive. Because he doesn’t care how many people he ruins—yours or mine—just to see if he can cross back through the Rift. He doesn’t give a shit about anyone’s life, and while he’s around, we’re never going to be safe. We’re never going to be free, and I want to know that you can sleep at night and not worry that someone’s going to take over your dreams. I want you to have a good life here, even if you can’t go back. I want you to be able to take your time and let your wings recover. I want you to be able to live a good life. You deserve that after what you’ve been through.”
I do have a good life, I tell her. My mind is whole. My belly is full. I have a mate who is beautiful beyond thought and is clever and strong. I can ask for nothing more.
“You could ask for your memories,” she whispers. “You could ask for your home.”
My home is here with you, I tell her simply, brushing her hair back from her face. And I will make new memories with my mate at my side.
She tilts her face up to me, a silent request for a kiss. I brush my mouth across hers, gently. She clings to me, clearly troubled, and after a moment, whispers, “Are we doing the right thing?”
Do you feel it is the right thing? I ask her.
Emma nods.
Then that is all that matters. I caress her jaw, tracing the delicate bones. Your heart is a good one. Never doubt that.
“My heart may be good, but it’s because I have an amazing mate,” she murmurs, and her hand slides lower to caress my cock. “Let’s go to bed.”
I know my mate well enough to know exactly what she wants. It is not sleeping she is thinking of, and I growl low in my throat with pleasure at the realization. I tangle my claws in her thick hair, holding her against me. You will have to be silent while we mate, or else you will wake your friends.
I can be silent, she sends to me, mischief and need in her eyes. Are you telling me I’m noisy?
Yes, you are, I reply, and pick her up in my arms, carrying her over to the blankets we have set up for our sleep this night. Every time I spear you with my cock, you scream as if you are wounded.
She muffles her laughter behind her hand. Lies. All lies. I’m quiet. It’s you that’s the noisy one. You grunt and bellow and make so much noise you drown me out.
We shall see who is noisy, then, when I put my mouth on your cunt.
Her eyes flare with promise. I won’t be noisy if you give me something to suck on.
And now I am the one that groans with need.
36
EMMA
The next morning, bright and early, I sit atop my dragon on my spanking new saddle, hands on the pommel, and wait. “Any word, babe?”
Kael says the banner should be ready soon. Patience.
“Oh, I’m patient,” I say aloud for our passenger’s benefit. “It’s poor Amy that’s suffering.”
Behind me, Amy crinkles in her weird get-up. “It’s really hot in all this plastic,” she tells me, her hands tight on my waist. “I’m more than ready to get this off of my body. I’m sweating like crazy.”