Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“You can’t rush these things,” Hold told him. “Please, Brother—have patience. You can’t force her to love us.”
“No, but we’ve only got a month,” Fierce told him. “One solar month. It feels like we’re wasting it by not doing things the right way.”
“If we give Celia some time and a little space, I believe she’ll come to us,” Hold said firmly. “The Goddess wouldn’t have let us Dream-Share with her if she wasn’t meant to be ours. But you can’t rush things and you can’t force her feelings.”
Fierce only gave him a dark look and shook his head.
“If we lose her, it will be your fault,” he said.
“No, Brother…” Hold had suddenly had enough. He took a step forward and got into Fierce’s face. “If we lose her it will be your fault for driving her away!”
Fierce blinked, clearly surprised. Hold was always the peacemaker—he often had to smooth the way between his fiery-tempered brother and others. But sometimes he got sick of the role—especially when it seemed to him that Fierce was pushing away the woman they both wanted because he was too damn impatient to play the long game.
“Well…” Fierce began, clearly uncertain of what to say.
“Now let’s get ready for bed and try to do better in the morning,” Hold said in a calmer tone. “We got off to a shaky start with Celia but we’ll try again tomorrow and hope she forgives us.”
“All right.” Fierce nodded grudgingly. “I’ll apologize to her at First Meal if you think it’s important.”
“I do,” Hold said firmly. “What woman wants to be with a male who won’t apologize after a fight?”
“That fucking Peter of hers didn’t apologize,” Fierce pointed out, scowling.
“Which is one way we can show her that we’re different—that she needs to be with us instead of him,” Hold emphasized.
“All right, all right,” Fierce grumbled. He sighed. “It’s been a long day—let’s get some sleep.”
“Agreed.” Hold nodded. He just hoped that Fierce and Celia would stop ‘butting heads’ as he’d heard the humans call it. Or was it ‘heading butts?’ Either way, it needed to stop if they were ever going to win over the lovely little Elite and persuade her to be their bride.
With a sigh, he started getting ready for bed, as Fierce did the same.
Neither brother had any idea that their entire conversation had been overheard.
11
CELIA
“So Fierce saved you from the bathing pool, and then he shouted at you?” Kat asked, leaning over the little table to stare at Celia with wide eyes. The two women were having lunch together at a little café on the edge of the parklands in the center of the Mother Ship.
“He basically scolded me like a child for nearly drowning.” Celia said. “But he did apologize this morning at breakfast—mostly because Hold made him, though,” she added. “I know because I went back to the bathroom for a minute last night and heard them talking through their door,” she added. “I mean, I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but they were talking about me so…” She shrugged expressively.
“So of course, you had to listen,” Kat confirmed, nodding.
“Of course,” Celia agreed.
She couldn’t help thinking about the other things she’d heard as well. It had surprised her to hear both of the big Kindred saying how gorgeous she was and praising her curves. Peter was always trying to get her to lose some weight. He claimed it was for her health, but Celia knew he was probably comparing her to the other women he’d dated in the past—most of them stick-thin models and influencers. Sometimes she wondered why he liked her at all…
“So then what happened? I mean, what else did you hear?” Kat asked, breaking into her train of thought.
“Oh, well…mostly it sounds like Fierce is mad at Hold because he says we’re not having a ‘normal Claiming Period’,” Celia said. “But Hold told him that they have to be patient and prove to me they’re a better choice than my fiancé, Peter.”
“Hmm…” Kat nodded. “I’m guessing that Hold is doing the right thing. He seems a lot more patient than his brother.”
“But what is a ‘normal’ Claiming Period?” Celia asked. “I mean, you said something about the different weeks last night but I never got to ask you what they meant.”
“Oh, you mean like the Holding Week and the Bathing Week?” Kat asked and took a sip of her coffee.
“I guess so.” Celia shrugged. “Are you supposed to do something we’re not doing during those times?”
“Well, yes you are, doll,” Kat told her. “You see, during the Holding Week, your guys are supposed to be able to hold you between them at night. They can touch you too, but only over your clothes,” she added.
“Oh…they can?” Celia couldn’t help picturing herself lying between the huge warriors while both of them stroked her through her nightgown… Then she pushed the thought away. She wasn’t supposed to be fantasizing about things like that!