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)
“I’m afraid so.” Sylvan nodded. “He offered quite a large sum, but I had to turn him down. I do understand that you’re trying to get ready for your wedding though, so if you’d like to go back to Earth for dress fittings and cake tasting and that kind of thing, we can arrange some day trips as long as the two warriors who called you, Holds Tightly and Fights Fiercely, go along with you.”
Celia could just imagine how well that would go over—trying on her wedding dress while Mother Frances looked on disapprovingly and Hold and Fierce stared daggers at Peter, who would no doubt try to bribe them to go away. It wasn’t going to be much fun.
“Thank you,” she said, nodding her head. “Most of the wedding preparations are being taken care of by Peter’s mother, but I’ll keep that in mind in case I have to go get something done on Earth.”
“In the meantime, we hope you’ll enjoy the hospitality of the Mother Ship,” Sylvan said politely. “We’re very happy to have you. In fact, Kat has already told me she wants to hire you to help decorate the Mother Ship for Christmas,” he added, nodding to Kat.
Wow—Kat worked fast! But Celia couldn’t help brightening up.
“That’s right. I have my own design firm—Elegant Interiors—and I love Holiday decorating. So I’d be happy to help.”
“Wonderful! Let Kat know what you need and she’ll get you all set up.” Sylvan nodded at her and then moved on to talk to someone else.
“Well, I guess that’s it, hon. I’m sorry you couldn’t get out of it,” Sophie remarked.
Celia sighed and then lifted her head with determination.
“That’s all right. I’m not going to let it get me down. At least I have a fun project to do while I’m up here.”
“And you have two Kindred warriors who want to get to know you,” Liv pointed out, nudging her gently with an elbow. “Maybe give them a chance. They might surprise you.”
“Even if I wasn’t engaged, I don’t think that would be the case,” Celia said. “I mean, Hold is very nice and of course I like that he’s a doctor. But Fierce is just so…I mean, we haven’t gotten along right from the start.”
“I had the same trouble with my Dark Twin,” Kat remarked. “Deep and I butted heads from the get-go. But we found our way to each other eventually.”
Celia couldn’t imagine “finding her way” to Fierce, but she nodded politely.
“That’s nice.”
“Speaking of Dark Twins, here comes Fierce now,” Sophie murmured.
Looking up, Celia saw the dark warrior striding over to them. Somehow he looked even bigger when they were all standing around the open parkland at the center of the Mother Ship.
“Yes, Fierce? What is it?” she asked, looking up at the enormous warrior defiantly.
“Hold sent me to get you,” he growled. “Seems you have a call from your fiancé on the viewscreen. Our suite isn’t far from here—do you want to come take it?”
“Oh, Peter’s calling me? I’d better go!” Celia exclaimed. She looked at the other women. “I can come back later and help clean up,” she offered. “I hate to leave you all with the mess.”
“Are you kidding? We did most of the cooking—the guys are going to clean!” Liv laughed.
“We believe in a fair division of labor here aboard the Mother Ship,” Lauren, who had been mostly silent, added with a smile. “My man, Zairn, helps out around the house on a regular basis.”
Celia couldn’t imagine the huge Scourge warrior with his burning red-on-black eyes helping with the dishes or the vacuuming, but Lauren didn’t seem to be kidding. Maybe the Kindred really did help around the house—which would make them considerably different from just about every other man she’d ever met.
“Have a good night, doll.” Kat gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Come see me around nine tomorrow. We can have breakfast and discuss how we’re going to decorate.”
Celia promised she would, and then followed Fierce over the rolling parklands toward the tram station so she could take the call from her fiancé.
She just hoped that Peter wouldn’t be too upset, since there was clearly no way around it—she was going to have to go through the Claiming Period with Hold and Fierce. There was just no getting out of it.
8
FIERCE
“I hope you know how upsetting this has all been for Mummy!” The puny human male was glaring from the viewscreen as though the fact that she couldn’t get out of the Claiming Period was all Celia’s fault. “I mean, you absolutely ruined her Thanksgiving. Ruined it!” he added for emphasis.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know—” Celia began.
“Look, I’ll let her tell you. Mummy?” Peter Thielgood called to someone off screen—presumably the snooty human female who had argued with them at the door when he and Hold came to pick up Celia in the first place, Fierce thought.