Total pages in book: 207
Estimated words: 196971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 985(@200wpm)___ 788(@250wpm)___ 657(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 196971 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 985(@200wpm)___ 788(@250wpm)___ 657(@300wpm)
She still chose him.
HELLO, PET.
A smile wobbled to Zari's lips as the velvety timbre of Alexandru's voice wrapped around her like tendrils of seduction. Four years, she thought dizzily. After practically disappearing without a trace for four long years...
She wanted to say so many things, but she was suddenly incapable of uttering a single word. Emotions burst out of nowhere, and sobs threatened to rush out of her throat. Just like that, all she could do was stare at him, just taking it all in...
Immaculate. Pristine. Perfect. That was how Alexandru Gheorgiu had always been, not just to her, but to the rest of the world. Dangerously beautiful, treacherously graceful, and so intensely sexual that she had gotten used to seeing even the most sophisticated women lose their cool and literally pant at the sight of him.
And yet now...
Some things were the same, but other things had changed.
He had obviously taken a bath sometime in the past hour, with his silky ebony locks glistening under the autumn sun. And after that, he had just as obviously borrowed (stolen?) someone else's clothes: the white shirt was a loose fit and the pants several inches too short, while his feet...were bare.
Definitely far from his usually polished appearance, and even though he remained so heartbreakingly handsome that women kept glancing over their shoulders to steal looks at him...
Her eyes started stinging anew.
It hurt to see him less than perfect, hurt so much to see him even the slightest bit less than his usual imposing and invincible self because it only meant all those years he was gone...
Where did you go, Master, she wished she could ask. Who did this to you? Why did you choose to suffer alone?
The damage that recent years had wrought on her Master was excruciating to see.
Wherever it was he had spent the last four years, whatever he had been doing...
It wasn't that he looked weak now.
If anything, he appeared tougher, so much more lethal than Zari could ever remember seeing him.
But his eyes...
So much suffering in those eyes—-
Are you crying for me, pet?
The sudden sound of her Master's purr in her mind had her shoulders shaking hard.
Miss me that much?
She squeezed her eyes shut, but the tears kept flowing. She struggled to get herself under control, but when her tears only kept rushing down her cheeks...oh, dammit. Why bother kidding herself? She would never be alright until she could feel for herself...
This wasn't a dream.
He was real.
And he was still hers.
Zari felt her Master's gaze burn as she took one clumsy step forward, and her heart started banging harder and harder against her chest with every shaky step she took. She could barely breathe by the time she was close enough to feel the silken heat of his presence, and her fingers started trembling as she slowly reached up.
Oh God, finally...
A part of her was terrified to find out that this was all a dream, and that she had driven herself mad from missing him.
Please.
Her fingers hovered over one darkly tanned cheek.
Please be real.
And then she felt it, the hot, smooth skin under the pads of her fingers—-
Real.
Alexandru could no longer hold himself back, and the moment he hauled his pet close, Zari started sobbing hard, and his arms closed around her shaking form in a fiercely possessive embrace.
You c-came back.
His arms tightened around her.
Yes, pet.
And I'll never leave you again.
The Scent of a Rival
Chapter Ten
ALEXANDRU HEARD THE sound of guns cocking inside his pet's workplace and bit back an expletive. A part of him was tempted to simply steal her away, and it was only force of habit that kept him from doing so. He had always been a man of logic and efficiency, and it was far better to deal with the troublesome matter of her strange choice for a job now than later.
With his mind made up, he gently eased his hold on her—-
No!
The fearful catch in his pet's voice was a stab to the heart. She was traumatized, that much was clear, so frightened that he would once again disappear on her that she was doing the one thing she had always sworn not to do.
And that was to cling to him.
His proud, brave Zari was clinging to him, and Alexandru's jaw tightened. No matter what happened in the future, he would never leave her again, never give her any cause to feel weak and helpless.
Zari's eyes squeezed shut when she felt her Master press his lips to her forehead.
I already gave you my word, pet.
He had to wait for a few moments, but eventually he felt her own fingers ease their grip and her trembling gradually fade until she was able to slowly step back from him.
But when her gaze lifted to his, he saw that a trace of fear still lingered, and in order to dispel it, he deliberately sought to distract and amuse her. Ready to face the music, my love?