Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 110080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110080 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 550(@200wpm)___ 440(@250wpm)___ 367(@300wpm)
He. The male who’d survived horrors of unimaginable proportions.
It wasn’t long before the sun rose, pouring morning light through the windows. A delicate wind snuffed out every candle. Smoke curled from the wicks, soon creating a hazy, dreamlike effect. Still Roux wrote.
A dozen times, Blythe opened her mouth to initiate a conversation. His task. His past. Their current predicament. A few questions about Isla. Had he seen the girl before coming here? How had she looked? Acted? But Blythe choked and stayed quiet. Maybe it was better not to know. And why make nice with Laban’s killer? Even if a hallucination had maybe kind of offered permission.
A firm rap at the door preceded the clicking of a lock. The gorgon she’d seen at the Oath Stones strolled inside the room, carrying a tray piled high with food. The snakes protruding from her scalp currently slept and hung well past her shoulders.
“Hello, gorgeous,” the other woman said. “I thought I might bring you a little me with a side of pancakes.”
The vampire, a harpy, a siren other than Miss First Date, and an Amazon elbowed each other in the hallway, fighting to be the first through the door on the gorgon’s heels. Each held a tray of her own and raved about the dishes.
“Grandma’s secret sexy recipe!”
“Guaranteed to stimulate your fiercest appetites.”
“Once you taste mine, you’ll forever pine. It’s a guarantee.”
The females jockeyed for the best spot to leave their offerings, utterly ignoring Blythe. Thank goodness. Oh, the utter humiliation of being bound to a bed in front of witnesses.
“By the way. Who gets to date you next?” Trayless now, the vampire anchored her hands on her hips. “We gotta have an answer so the lucky lady has time to prepare her nether regions for pound town.”
“Nether regions?” The Amazon elbowed her in the stomach. “We talked about this.”
“What? I didn’t want to sound crass while being crass.”
“We are picking up the pace,” Roux said without glancing up from his writing. “There will be multiple dates today. I’ll start with the first female to leave this room. She may return in one hour.”
The jockeying started up again, with the harpy making it into the hall first, the gorgon second, and the Amazon third. The harpy celebrated her victory with a smug little dance while the others pouted and threw fists. And daggers. Amid the brutal battle, someone accidentally shut the door—with someone else’s head. Suddenly Blythe and Roux were alone once again.
The scent of bacon, syrup, and fresh fruit made her mouth water and her stomach rumble. Unlike other harpies, she didn’t have to steal her food in order to prevent sickness. A perk of being a royal phantom.
“Well? Unchain me already. Let’s feast,” she commanded, so snotty she annoyed even herself. “Apparently, we only have an hour.”
He didn’t glance her way, either, but he did stop writing. “The she-beast is hungry, is she?”
She rolled her eyes. “You do realize she-beast isn’t an insult to me, yes? It’s a compliment. But yeah, I’m hungry.”
That snared his attention. He set the notebook aside, asking, “Do you want food or the Phoenix I mentioned? Or both?”
“Food.” And maybe soul, just not the Phoenix’s.
“Very well.” Roux stood and breathed deep, as if steeling himself for a coming blow. He popped the bones in his neck and rolled back his shoulders. Muscles and alevala rippled before her eyes.
Mmm, mmm, mmm. Look at those washboard abs.
Dang. Ogling him now? Trying to ignore her fluttering belly, she quickly averted her gaze. So he had a physique sculpted from fantasies and power? So what? She had no interest in bedding him. Nope. None. Like any harpy who’d lost her beloved consort, Blythe was dead from the neck down.
Well, mostly dead. On the verge, anyway. Perhaps a libido took time to wither completely? Yes, yes. That must be it. Her foe’s incredible strength had nothing to do with anything. This was simply her body’s last-ditch effort to revive.
From the corner of her eye, she watched as Roux swiped up the tray closest to him and dragged the stool at the desk to the foot of the bed. He eased atop the stool’s rounded top and balanced their breakfast on his lap.
Did he think to feed her by hand? “No way,” she spat, facing him. Too intimate! Too reminiscent of the time she’d had no memory of their past. She’d sat on him, in total lust with his ferocity, feeling as if she’d stumbled upon a treasure of untold riches, delighting in his reaction to her teasing.
“If you wish to eat this food, yes way,” he said. His pupils immediately pulsed, momentarily covering his irises. Two alevala jumped, switching places.
Ohhhh. What was this? Was he fighting a battle within himself again?
Was she? Blythe realized she was panting ever so slightly. Panting. With desire. For him. So close she had only to reach out to touch him...