Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 69734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69734 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
The conversation about me being his captive little pet in the guise of him protecting me wasn’t over. Not by a long shot.
He gave a hard nod and finally released my wrist.
I stalked over to the boulder, giving him the side-eye once I was behind it. Although it was wide enough to afford me privacy, the top came up to my neck, which allowed me to glare at my totally unreasonable mate.
And yup, there he was, arms crossed, legs slightly spread apart, and a fierce look on his face as if he knew as soon as I was done, we were hashing this shit out and laying down some ground rules.
I pushed my pants down and squatted as I stared straight ahead into the darkened forest and did my business. It was strangely quiet, without the usual chirps and strange sounds from the animals who inhabited this plane, ones I’d gotten used to hearing in the background.
That’s why this strange stillness felt so off-putting.
I shook my head. “Damn stubborn male vampires and their too big egos,” I muttered to myself as I finished and pulled my pants back up. I pursed my lips and wrinkled my nose as I stared down at my shirt. It was still sticky and damp from him orgasming like a geyser on me, and despite the anger I felt, a tingle settled right between my thighs.
He’d just been so… feral, so barbaric as he marked me like he was staking his claim for all to know.
I’d never really thought about finding my mate. Because I was only in my early twenties, young by human and Otherworld standards, I hadn’t given much thought to finding the one person destined to be mine and vice versa.
And after my parents died, I’d just been trying to survive and stay under the radar. But it looked like I didn’t do that very well seeing as the Assembly had caught me.
The soft conversations I’d had with Sebastian over the last few days, and with him holding me as if it comforted him just as much as me, I felt, for the first time in my life, that I wasn’t alone.
We’d talked during those quiet times, sharing little pieces of information about each other. I learned he was one hundred and ten years old. His brother, Kane, was a year older.
I’d been mesmerized listening to him tell me stories about what it had been like for him. Living over a century boggled my mind.
He was so much more worldly and experienced than I was, and as I heard him talk about how he’d just been moving through life, not caring about even himself, I felt a pang in my chest.
He was known as cold and apathetic. Dead inside. And knowing he felt that way had literally sucked the air from my lungs.
I could only imagine what finding his mate was like to him, how utterly consuming it must feel. It certainly was very different for me. And although I could understand him and could see a part of his point regarding me, he was going to have to learn very quickly that this was a relationship. We would decide things together, not him being a dictator simply because he was terrified of losing me.
Feeling more of my anger ebb away, I turned to face him, seeing he was in the exact same position, not having moved an inch. I also noticed his eyes scanned the area as if he were seeking out some unseen threat.
My irritation slowly faded because I didn’t want things to be tense between us. I obviously couldn’t change him overnight. I didn’t want to. I just wanted a little bit of compromise.
I was about to walk around the boulder when something in his expression changed.
He instantly got tense, his arms slowly unfolding from across his chest, his hands lowering and tightening into fists at his sides.
I could feel the anger radiating off him, the menacing, threatening demeanor that suddenly took its place.
I retreated back because he looked absolutely terrifying and I didn’t understand why. He moved a step toward me, his upper body slowly hunching forward in a very predatory stance.
And then the growling came through, low at first and slowly increasing in volume the longer I stood there.
“Sebastian?”
“Come here, Ada.” Those three words were loud enough I could hear, deep enough they felt like a knife scraping over my body and slowly peeling away at the skin.
The back of my neck prickled, and I lifted my hand to rub my nape. The hair on my arm stood on end, and it was then I realized… we weren’t alone.
I’d been so lost in my thoughts concerning the fight with Sebastian that I hadn’t been paying attention to my surroundings.
Reckless.
I felt the ground vibrate when a sudden thump came from behind me as if something very large had just dropped down from the trees.