Total pages in book: 132
Estimated words: 125083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 125083 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 625(@200wpm)___ 500(@250wpm)___ 417(@300wpm)
He watched as she pulled underwear out of her drawer. Another time, he might have rifled through her collection just to tease her. But his mood … it wasn’t good. What Ishtar had said kept playing on his mind. Mortals were so very fragile. It would be all too easy for him to lose Wynter. And if he didn’t manage to convince her to give up her mortality in order to stay with him, he’d lose her eventually. Maybe to death, or maybe even to a man who could give her what he couldn’t—a family, normality, the promise of safety.
His creature would likely only give her up if she outright rejected it—the monster would be too pissed at her to want to keep her. But Cain couldn’t tell her it even existed, which meant there’d be no rejection. And so the creature would continue to view her as belonging to it.
If another man touched her, it would want him dead. It would insist that Cain killed him, and Cain knew he was cruel enough to do it. He’d done much worse things over the years, and he’d tortured people for far less.
There was only one way he could grant her immortality—she’d have to agree to sell him her soul in return. He’d have to convince her to do it somehow. He just wasn’t sure how yet.
“I spoke with Ishtar about the little visit she paid you,” he said as Wynter packed her bag. “She won’t be back here.”
“Okay, good.”
He narrowed his eyes at the skepticism in her tone. “You think I’m wrong?”
She hesitated, as if choosing her words carefully. “I think some people are a law unto themselves.”
“I won’t deny she’s that. Nor can I claim that she hesitates to push people too hard—it would be a downright lie. But I made it clear that you’re mine.”
“That might have made things worse, if she’s the jealous type. Plus, I’m not so sure she’d take your possessiveness seriously. In her mind, I’m a mere mortal who can’t possibly have any real relevance to you. So, in my view, is there a chance she might ignore your warning and keep being a sneaky game-playing bitch? Yes.”
Of course Wynter would think that. She had no idea just how serious his declaration would be taken by the other Ancients. “I don’t believe she’ll dare bother you again. She has plenty of reasons to heed me. And, to put it simply, she won’t view you as worth being tortured for.”
Wynter did a double-take. “You’d torture her if she kept on bugging me?”
“Yes.”
“That’s a little melodramatic, don’t you think?”
“No.”
Her brow creased, and then she nodded. “Oh, I see. It’s not really about me, it’s the principle of the thing. If she disrespects your wishes, she has to pay for it.”
“That woman has disrespected my wishes more times than I can count. I’ve never bothered using any form of violence to repay her for the insult, because I’ve never managed to drum up enough emotional energy to care all that much about anything she does or doesn’t do. But you … I won’t have her play games with you.”
“Only you get to fuck with my head, huh?”
“Exactly.”
She chuckled and zipped up her duffel. “Did you always have that little weird sadistic streak, or does it come from being alive so long that it twists you in some ways?”
“Twists?” He settled his hands on her hips and drew her close. “You see immortality as a negative thing?”
“No, I think it would depend on the individual. It might suit some but not others.”
“And would it suit you?” he asked, careful to keep his tone casual.
She pursed her lips. “I don’t know. I’m not sure if I’d like who I’d eventually become. I mean, there have been several times throughout my life when something was important to me but, somewhere along the line, it lost its significance—maybe because I changed, grew bored of it, or took it for granted. If I was immortal, that would happen to me over and over and over. I wonder if there’d come a point when I wouldn’t truly value anything anymore.”
In that case, she didn’t see herself clearly. “It’s true that immortals change repeatedly, and so things that once mattered eventually no longer do. That’s why it’s important that an immortal is able to change and adapt—something I doubt you’d struggle with. If they become too rigid and unbending, they’ll eventually grow to hate their life. Although some things cease to matter, it isn’t a case that you come to value nothing at all.”
“What kind of things do you yourself value?”
“Honesty. Loyalty. Strength. Honor. I see all those things in you.” He gently flicked her hair over her shoulder, exposing her neck so he could kiss a path down her throat. “You wouldn’t lose those qualities if you were immortal. They’re too embedded in who you are. Sort of like your soul’s foundation blocks. Everything you are is built on top of them.” He scraped his teeth over her pulse, his stomach clenching at her little gasp. “Hmm, I think I should fuck you here before we leave.”