Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101280 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 338(@300wpm)
“Understood, my Lord Baron. He will be evicted immediately.” The Security Chief nodded. “And I’ll send you the evidence against him at once.”
“See that you do,” I growled and signed off.
Then I sat there for a moment. So Azz’lx had been cheating me too. The dishonest bastard! How had he fooled me so completely?
I won’t lie—it fucking bothered me. Made me feel like a fool. But it didn’t bother me half as much as the idea of losing Natalie.
To be honest, the trip to Tangella Alpha-Prime was an excuse to keep her with me a little while longer. I hadn’t been lying completely—it was a place where I wanted to establish trade relations for my company and I did need a female with me in order to do it. But I had pretty much given up on the idea of ever going—until Natalie had her vision of the rainbow woman on the crystal throne, which brought the idea back to my mind.
That vision had kind of revived the plan and I had asked her to go with me on the spot—not just to establish trade with the Tangellans, but to spend a little more time with Natalie.
I was hoping that maybe…just maybe she might change her mind about staying with me. I wasn’t going to push her, though. If she still wanted to go back and live on her home planet after this was over, I wasn’t going to try and stop her. But I was hoping that the more time we spent together, the more she might consider staying with me, even without a Bond.
With that hope in my heart, I set a course for Tangella Alpha-Prime.
THIRTY-THREE
NATALIE
The tub wasn’t as big but it was still really deep—it was the size of a hot tub but as deep as a swimming pool. It was also long enough for me to stretch out and float, which was nice. I hummed and sang to myself as I did, feeling the warm waters heat me to the bones.
This was one reason I had to turn down Vik’tor’s offer to stay on O’nagga Nine. His penthouse was gorgeous and warm, but you can’t stay inside all the time. I wanted to go back to Florida, where it was warm ninety percent of the time and I could move around outside freely. I wanted to go to the beach again and feel the warm wind in my hair and the sand and surf on my toes. I would never have any of that if I agreed to stay on this freezing ball of ice.
I’m just not meant for cold weather—I was born and raised in the South and I wanted to go back. Wanted to feel the sun on my face and hug my family and assure them that I was okay.
If Vik’tor had been able to come and settle with me on Earth, I would have stayed with him in a second. But there was no way—he looked like what he was—an alien. People back home would either think he was wearing some elaborate Cos-play get up or worse, they would figure out the truth. Then someone from the government would take him away and cut him up in an alien autopsy or something horrible like that! I couldn’t live with myself if that happened to him.
So as much as I was beginning to care for him—maybe even love him—I knew I couldn’t have him. I had to let him go if I wanted to get home and I did want to go home—desperately.
So stop thinking about him, I told myself firmly, as I got out of the bath and dried myself off. You’re going to go on this one little side-trip with him and then he’s taking you back to Earth. After that, the two of you are probably never going to see each other again.
I didn’t know why the thought of never seeing him again hurt my heart so badly, but it really did.
I tried to ignore the feeling as I wrapped myself in a towel and wandered into the bedroom, which was connected to the bathing chamber. It was as nice as the bedroom Vik’tor had assigned to me back in his penthouse—though somewhat more masculine. It was done in some dark wood that gleamed in the light of the mini, glassed-in fireplace set into the wall across from the vast bed.
I smiled when I saw the golden flames jumping behind the glass. I could still feel some of their heat and the flickering shadows were warm and comforting.
I looked for something to wear to bed—my fur bodysuit was too warm and besides, now it had a hole in the crotch. There were drawers set into the wall beside the bed. When I touched one, it slid open soundlessly I found a selection of the short-sleeved T-shirt-type shirts that Vik’tor always wore.