Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 79846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 399(@200wpm)___ 319(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
He gave a curt nod then excused himself.
I continued on my way, approaching the little cabin that held the woman who’d caught my attention the instant I laid eyes on her. The light-brown hair, the bright-blue eyes, the fair cheeks that were as white as the bones of winter.
My route was interrupted once more.
“Fender.”
White smoke left my flared nostrils as my right boot rested on the bottom step of the stairs. Like tearing flesh off bone, I dragged my gaze away from the door and looked into brown eyes identical to mine.
His hood was pushed back, his short hair tousled from the wind and the cold, his lithe and athletic body leaner than mine but packed with a speed I could never produce. White smoke left his nostrils too, increasing in intensity as our eyes held each other. “Return Melanie—”
“French.” I didn’t want her to hear a word of this conversation.
Magnus spoke again, obeying my request. “Return Melanie to her cabin.”
He was the only one who could speak plainly to me, who could say or do anything and escape my cruelty. They say water could be as thick as blood. A lie. Blood was always thicker than water. There was no man who could earn more loyalty than Magnus had as his birthright. “That’s rich.”
His brown eyes shifted back and forth as he held my gaze, the quiet night acting as a buffer around us. “Raven is our best worker—”
“That’s not the reason. And I don’t care what the real reason is.” Like the rest of the guards here, Magnus had found a concubine to facilitate his needs while he was away from his French whores.
His shoulders tensed as a long trail of vapor left his nostrils.
“No woman is worth making enemies, Magnus.” I turned away and put my weight on the bottom stair.
“Fender.”
I turned back to look at him.
“Let her go.” He tried again, even though it was pointless to argue with me, but this woman must have clawed her nails deep into his back.
I left the step altogether and came close, my breath moving into his face. “What did I just tell you about making enemies, brother?” It was an idle threat, we both knew it, but I wanted him to give up his endeavor.
“This is not who we are.” He continued to stand his ground, continued to defy me—like a fucking idiot.
“Our ideologies have always been very different. They will remain different.”
Magnus stayed for another moment, eyes locked on to mine, the vapor dissipating from his nose at a slower pace, a sign of defeat. He abruptly turned and walked off, disappearing into the darkness.
I rose up the steps, unlocked the door, and stepped inside.
Melanie hadn’t been expecting me, judging by the stark white paleness of her cheeks. She was in her lounge clothing we provided, a black tank top with gray pants. Her hair was slightly damp, like the fire hadn’t dried it fully since she’d stepped out of the shower. With no makeup on her face, her skin was a blank canvas of artwork. Subtle freckles like stars, lips full and curved like a bow, beautiful long hair that didn’t need hours of preparation and product to shine.
She slowly scooted to the edge of the bed as she kept her eyes trained on me.
I dropped my jacket and threw it over the couch before I sank into my armchair, planting my feet wide apart, one elbow propped on the wooden armrest so my fingers could cup my chin. It’d been a long ride on horseback, and while the tense muscles of my back craved a shower and a soft bed, this beautiful woman was the first thing that required my attention. My hungry eyes needed to soak in her appearance, to remind myself that she was real, that her memory when I was away wasn’t an exaggeration.
She was still as I stared, staring back at me.
The door opened, and the guard set my dinner on the coffee table, along with a tall glass of scotch. He silently excused himself, not looking at Melanie because I’d threatened to emasculate every man in this camp if they so much as glanced at her.
I scooted forward, pulled the coffee table toward me, and then proceeded to cut through my well-done steak and take big bites before moving to the roasted potatoes and grilled asparagus.
She watched me eat.
I cut into a piece and held up the fork to her.
She eyed it before she switched her gaze to me.
I turned the fork in my fingertips and extended it to her.
As though she thought it was a trick, she remained reluctant, but then she left the bed, came the closest to me she’d ever come, and placed the meat in her mouth. She chewed slightly, a flash of pleasure coming into her gaze as she handed back the utensil.