Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 577(@200wpm)___ 462(@250wpm)___ 385(@300wpm)
“Give or a take a few centuries.”
“Centuries? Are we never to come out of here again?”
“Fine. Decades,” he muttered before taking my earlobe into his mouth, and I watched in the mirror as my mouth parted, a low moan coming from me. “Druella, what am I to do when you make such sounds. If I take you once more, this dress shall surely rip, and we shall not make it downstairs. If I do not take you, I very well may go mad with desire.”
Spinning around, I grabbed his face and kissed him. His hands clasped tightly onto my ass as his tongue entered my mouth.
Knock.
Knock.
We both growled in annoyance.
“I have been told to inform you of Prince Jabari’s and Princess M’kena’s arrival,” Pelopia said from behind the door.
“Understood. Leave us,” Theseus ordered, looking over my face before putting only a slight distance between us. “We shall continue later, for I do not believe my father will be so kind as to summon us again.”
“Sure, if you are lucky,” I said, allowing him to lead me forward.
“Oh, I believe I shall be,” he said, opening the door and stepping out into the ruined hall. Upon seeing it again, Theseus sighed and shook his head as we walked over the rubble. “What do you think we should repair these with?”
“What do you mean?” I asked as I followed his gaze to the Melora-sized hole in the wall, which had destroyed his painting. “It’s like a restoration project, we’d—”
“You wish it to stay the same?” he questioned.
“You want to change it?”
We both looked at each other for a moment.
He chuckled. “It seems it will take you time to adjust that here is your home, no matter what. I meant that this is your hall as well, so if we must restore it, is there no art you wish to see on the walls here?”
It hit me then that Ulrik might have been right. Behind his childishness and silliness, he was very perceptive about his brothers, and the reason he threw Melora and broke things even when he didn’t need to was to give Theseus a chance to start something new. He all but said precisely that. It made me wonder more about Theseus, his thoughts, his desires, his fears. When we came here, he’d been worried I did not and would not care for him genuinely, but he did not say it. Instead, he did his best to hold his faith. He was also understanding and patient with me, but was that only for my sake? What was he really thinking and wanting?
“Druella?” Theseus asked, concerned, cupping my face when I did not speak. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, sorry. I was lost in thought,” I quickly said as we began to walk.
“In thought about what?”
I didn’t want to ask my questions now, so I changed topics. “Prince Jabari and Princess M’kena? Jabari is your younger brother, and M’kena is his mate. They’ve come, too?”
“Yes, of course. You are family. And Jabari and I are closer due to our ages. His mate is—well, you shall see,” he replied, opening the door for me that lead out to the family.
I gave him a look, unsure what he had meant, but he only nodded for me to go forward. And when I walked down the stairs to the family sitting room, everyone was there. Sigbjørn was dressed in a white linen tunic and pants, reading beside the fire. Sitting on the arm of his chair like a Greek goddess, in dark-colored robes and golden jewels and her dark hair in curls, was Rhea, drinking from a glass. Melora had changed into a simple silk blouse and pants while Ulrik was wearing jeans and a casual shirt. My gaze fell to each of them. Arsiein wore a standard suit along with his brother Hinrik. Meanwhile, their mates had gone all out. Atarah wore a bright blond wig with a large floral ball gown, and Matias had a bejeweled kaftan that showed off his chest and a robe over his shoulders, along with about six different necklaces around his neck.
The only two I didn’t know as I stepped down the stairs was a tall, dark-skinned man, the top of his head braided into two cornrows and pulled back into a bun while the sides were shaped very nicely into his beard. He wore a dark-blue suit with buttons on only one side. Of course, like every vampire, he was very stunning. His eyes were also the purest blue, which was such a contrast to the darkness of his skin.
“Brother,” the man spoke, opening his arms out wide. “I bid you joy and congratulations.”
To my surprise, Theseus accepted his hug and the man patted him on the back. He moved to speak to me. However, I saw her, a blur of white and brown, move and reappear directly in front of my face, so I was shocked though confused. The woman was dressed in a native print dress with skin that was part brown and part white. I stared deeply in dark-brown eyes, looking me over as if I were some creature, a crown of African cowrie shells on her headscarf.