Total pages in book: 44
Estimated words: 41511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 166(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41511 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 208(@200wpm)___ 166(@250wpm)___ 138(@300wpm)
First stalks out of the kitchen in my direction. “And you do not think I’m a threat to his family?”
My mouth drops open. “He has a wife. A little baby. Surely you wouldn’t hurt them. Not when your kind hasn’t been able to—”
“No. I would never harm the child.”
A chill creeps down my spine. “And Juliet. You’d never hurt her, right?”
First stares me down, his mouth a flat line, his eyes shuddered. It’s only been a short time, but already, his face bothers me less and less. Even the alien half seems, well… less alien.
Yes, his brow is more pronounced on the outside, but his cheekbone is carved similarly to any human man’s, as well as his defined jawline.
But it’s his eyes that have always seemed the most human, in spite of their purple color. It’s his eyes I search now. “You wouldn’t really hurt a woman, would you?”
He’s my captor. Why am I so determined to find decency in him? Just because he brought me to climax? Or is it something more? Is it just me wanting to find the good in everyone, or is it because there genuinely is good I sensed in him? I’ve glimpsed inside his soul, for God’s sake.
“I will do what I must. It was not I who brought her into this and made her Queen, putting a target on her head.”
“A target— What are you talking about? She’s a person! We’re all just people!”
“This is a war. Things will be done in war that would be abhorrent in peacetime. What separates leaders from the rest of the pack is the fact that they can make those tough decisions, see what must be done, and do it. Whatever the cost. There is no room for sentiment.”
I shake my head, my mouth dropping open. I’ve never heard anything so… Ruthless. Machiavellian. “So the ends justify the means.”
First brightens. “Exactly.”
I let out a short, horrified gasp. “No! No, that’s the logic evil men use to justify themselves. But it’s wrong. The ends don’t justify the means. The ends are the entire point. All that matters is how we treat other people. That’s the whole thing. That’s the whole point of being here.”
First tilts his head at me, his face softening. “It is good for a female to think so. It will make you a good mother to our kits.”
He. Did. Not. Just—
I’m done trying to reason with this misogynistic, muscle-headed—
“I will never be mother to your kits,” I hiss, getting right in his face. “Not in this lifetime or any other, you misogynistic psycho bastard.”
His purple eyes light with fire and he grasps me, my arms barred to his forceful grip as he drags me close, my chains rattling as I go. “I am no bastard. I am the rightful King and my mate will treat me with the respect due me.”
I don’t know what madness makes me do it, but I laugh, and then, maybe because it’s the only bit of rebellion left to me, I spit in his face.
He crushes me to him even tighter, almost lifting my feet above the ground. The fire swirls in his purple eyes, almost going white at the edges.
“For that,” his voice is low and dangerous, “I should mount you right now and pump you full of my seed so you begin to grow fat with my kit by morning.”
I shudder. With revulsion. Definitely revulsion. Right?
His tongue extends and then a dark smile crosses his lips. “Even now, your body remembers my touch.”
He holds my body to his with one ruthless arm bar, and then with his other hand, he caresses his hand down my body, pausing on my breast to tweak my nipples.
Again, I shudder and this time it’s definitely not with revulsion. Goddamn my sensitive body.
“Stop it! You’re a monster!”
I finally managed to get my hands up between us and I shove him. He also much stronger than me. I know he’s allowing me to shove him away, but I still take what I can get.
And I’m so riled, all I can do is repeat myself. “You’re a monster. Don’t you dare touch me again without my permission.”
“Or what?” His eyes flash. “I’m a monster. Monsters do monstrous things.”
“Or, or I’ll starve myself. I’ll die before I let you use me in your evil plots. I’ll do everything in my power to see that you fail!”
Wrong thing to say. Or right, depending on what kind of out I was looking for. Because I’ve managed to finally get underneath his skin.
He roars, showing off all his teeth, and they aren’t all human. I can’t help taking several steps back, and he storms off, slamming the front door behind him.
I run to the window, or as close as I can get to it with the chains.
He doesn’t immediately leap into the air this time and I watched him go. I can’t believe he never wears a stitch of clothing.