Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 40113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40113 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 201(@200wpm)___ 160(@250wpm)___ 134(@300wpm)
Ana grins at me, pausing only long enough to box up our pizza and insert a card in a machine along the wall before getting up as well.
“What is that?” I nod at the wall machine.
“That’s how I pay. It’s called a credit card. Nobody uses cash anymore.” Seeing my confusion, she slows down. “When I insert this card, money from my bank is transferred to this restaurant to pay for our meal.”
I nod. I like the way that Ana explains things. I usually don’t feel like a stupid person, but coming to this place has me feeling a little like a child again. I need a guide for even the simplest of tasks.
But that is why I have Ana. I start to smile and it dies as another thought strikes me. Because what does Ana get out of this arrangement? I’m clumsy here on Earth. I cannot provide for her, not even her food.
What if she decides I am more trouble than I am worth?
I clasp her hand. I must mate her again as soon as possible so that I might see into her feelings again. Does she regret this mate bond? She smiles but smiles can be lies. Some Draci females will be only smiles and sweetness to your face at the same time their accomplice drives a knife into your soft tissue from behind.
I do not believe Ana is like that but I must know, does she mean her smiles? Is this magnificent Earth a place I can truly call home or have I merely been shown paradise only for it to be yanked away right out from underneath me?
Chapter Five
Ana
Ezo is on me as soon as I close the door to my apartment. Thank God. I didn’t know how I’d seduce him a second time. Maybe the whipping-my-dress-off-over-my-head thing would work again but now that I’ve gotten to know Ezo better, I’m not sure if I could.
That was all fake bravado and caffeine this morning.
But now that I’ve gotten to know him a little bit—how he’s not just gorgeous but really sweet and funny, too? God, if this were a normal situation, this is the part where I’d usually freeze up and start acting like a complete dork.
So when Ezo takes the lead in kissing me, I melt against him and twine my arms around his neck.
But as soon as I do, my phone rings. Well, it vibrates and the buzzing in my purse is loud in my otherwise silent apartment. It’s been doing that on and off all afternoon. When we were out in the city, it was easy to ignore.
Nothing gets past Ezo, though.
He pulls his luscious lips back from mine. “What is that?”
I want to say, nothing. I want to drag his head back down so that he’ll kiss me again.
But I know who’s calling. Either Juliet or Shak, and Shak is Ezo’s King, which I assume amounts to the same as being his boss.
So I sigh and pull away from Ezo, walk over to my purse and pull out my phone.
Unsurprisingly, it’s Juliet’s name flashing on the caller ID.
I push the button to answer. “Hi.”
“What the hell is going on? Why haven’t you been picking up? Did Ezo get there? Shak’s been in communication with the ship and they said that he left a long time ago—”
“He’s fine. It’s all fine. He’s right here.”
“Oh thank God. Shak, honey, he’s there. No, I don’t nowhere there is. But he’s with Ana.” Then to me she says, “Okay, I’m putting Shak on the line. He wants to talk to Ezo.”
Shit. Shit shit shit.
“What is it, Ana?” Ezo asks, storming over. “Who has displeased you? I will destroy them.”
I wince and hold the phone against my thigh. “Shhhh. It’s Shak. He wants to talk to you.”
Ezo frowns. “And this upsets you?”
“No,” I say, then shake my head. “I mean,” shit, “I— I sort of—” I drop my head. “I didn’t tell them that I wanted to be your mate. They think you’re mated to someone else.”
Now Ezo looks upset. “Why would I mate with anyone else? You are my Ana. No one will take you away from me. Not even my King.”
He sounds so vehement. Like he actually wants…me.
“Okay,” I say slowly. “So if it comes up, then… I guess maybe just tell him that?”
Ezo nods decisively and then reaches down to take the phone from me.
“King Shak. I have chosen my mate and you will not take her from me.”
I chew my thumbnail anxiously, wishing I’d had the foresight to put it on speakerphone so I could hear what Shak was saying back.
Ezo nods. “Yes.”
Silence. Then another, “Yes.”
Then, “No.”
And finally, “Yes.”
Then Ezo hands the phone back to me. I look at the screen but it’s blank. Shak must have hung up.
“What happened?” I try not to sound as frantic as I feel.