Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 67437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67437 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 270(@250wpm)___ 225(@300wpm)
A dark groan left him.
My body warmed. “And I will rule by your side.”
Nai stepped forward. His eyes blazed with a fiery hope. Say it again.
Shivering, I swallowed hard, feeling the weight of my words as they hung in the air between us. “I will love you and rule by your side.”
Nai's expression softened and he took my hand, pulling me closer to him. The mere touch of Nai's fingers was like the sweetest elixir.
My breath hitched.
He leaned in closer. His scent—ancient and powerful as his magic—filled my senses.
My heart fluttered.
The world seemed to hold its breath, waiting for our next move.
And I will love you, Seraphine. His voice gently caressed my mind. Love you with all the depth of my being, till the last beat of my newly healing heart, till the very last thread of my existence.
The emotion in his copper gaze was unmistakable.
I nodded, tears welling up in my eyes, spilling over and tracing a warm path down my cheeks.
The corners of his lips curved.
My little blood queen.
Nai captured my mouth into a deep kiss. His lips were soft against mine, his taste an addicting mystic cocktail.
Time stopped.
The world around us faded into obscurity.
All that existed was him and me.
Two hearts entwined in a dance as eternal as time. I kissed him back, my own hands reaching up to tangle in his silky hair, pulling him even closer.
He groaned and seized me with his magic, lifting me up with his power. Only the points of my toes touched the ground, the rest hovered.
Our bodies molded together, fitting perfectly like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
He moved his hands from my waist up my back and traced a line with his fingertips.
My body responded to his touch. Lust throbbed through me.
He groaned in response as if he knew every reaction going on in my body.
Maybe he does.
Breaking away for air, I found my gaze locked with his. The fiery hope that once danced in his eyes had been replaced by an intense passion.
With his power, he raised my body a few more inches higher and then rested his forehead against mine.
Our breaths mingled in the small space between us.
Do you know why I brought you to this tent?
Smiling, I brushed my lips against his and delivered the response in my head. No. Tell me.
These are blood roses, a unique species native to our world.
Still hovering over the ground, I leaned away from him and gazed at the flowers. “I've never heard of them before.”
Not many have. But when I was young. . .I was obsessed with them.
Nai scanned the space and widened his eyes in pure amusement.
When I was blind, these roses were the only things I could truly see, but even then. . .they did not glow as they do now.
I took in all the pots that they sat in. “So you travel with these flowers?”
Nodding, he turned his view back to me.
“They're called blood roses.” I studied them. “So. . .are they made of blood?”
He touched my cheek and ran his finger down my face, sending an erotic tingling up my arm.
When someone a person cherishes falls in battle before their eyes, the fallen person's blood—brimming with the power of their shared love—seeps into the soil and sprouts these roses...
I whispered to myself. “Blood roses.”
He nodded.
I quirked my brows. “How did you get all of these roses? There are so many.”
I would have my soldiers pick them up on our different battlefields.
Sadness washed over me. “So. . .many of these are roses from the enemies you have killed?”
Yes. He nodded again. And a few are from the soldiers that I have lost. Regardless. . .whenever they sprouted around the dead's bodies, I knew someone on that field loved them profoundly and probably held their breath. . .as they watched them die.
His words wrapped my mind.
In that moment, the blood roses took on a new meaning.
Suddenly, I was not in a tent filled with fragrant roses, but in a hollowed sanctuary dedicated to love and loss. The air seemed charged with a century of unspoken goodbyes and I love you’s.
This was no longer just a garden. It was a symbol of love's immortal endurance.
Nai pulled me closer. His fingers intertwined with mine. A soft sigh escaped his lips.
In the glow of the blood roses, our bond grew deeper. The silence of the garden was punctuated by our quiet breathing, the faint rustling of liquid petals, and the distant murmur of the encampment as soldiers went to sleep.
I could feel the heat of his body so much that his presence seemed to envelope me.
He let go of my hands, touched my face gently, and traced the outline of my jaw with his fingertips. Are you ready for pleasure, my little queen?
My heart hammered in my chest.
Instead of lowering my body back down to the ground with his power, he slowly walked around and remained behind me.