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)
He didn’t think that Hold should have promised not to touch Celia without at least talking to him first. They needed to make some kind of plan to win her over—and that did not include being completely hands-off.
Besides, his fingers were itching to caress her luscious body! Celia was an Elite—a female the Goddess had blessed with extra full curves. Fierce had been looking forward to stroking and pleasuring her as he and Hold cradled her between them.
As a Twin Kindred he had to share her with his brother—to touch her alone would cause a low-level shock of discomfort and pain. But he’d been hoping they could touch her sooner rather than later, and now look—Hold had gone and made a promise that was going to keep them from putting their hands anywhere near Celia’s luscious curves!
His thoughts must have shown on his face, because Hold shot him a look and murmured,
“Easy, Brother. We’ll win her over—you’ll see. But we need to take things slowly.”
“We can’t go too slow—we’ve only got one solar month!” Fierce pointed out, scowling. “You shouldn’t have made that promise, Hold!”
“There was no other way to win her trust,” his brother protested. “And we must win her trust if we’re ever going to have a hope of winning her love.”
“Well…maybe you’re right. But I still don’t like it!” Fierce snapped. “You should have talked to me first before giving our word on the matter.”
Hold frowned.
“Right now she believes she belongs to that human male back there—can’t you smell him on her?” Hold’s nose wrinkled as though smelling a bad odor. “He got to her first—we have to win her over and convince her she’d rather be with us than him. We’re not going to do that by manhandling her right away!”
“We’re not going to do it by keeping our fucking distance all the time, either!” Fierce growled. “Admit it, Brother—you want her as badly as I do!”
“Of course I do!” Hold sounded exasperated. “But we can’t just—”
“Hey—are you guys coming in or am I supposed to learn to fly this thing myself?” Celia’s light, musical voice drifted out the open door of the shuttle.
“Coming, my lady,” Hold called and gave Fierce one last warning look. “Don’t scare her.”
“I won’t be doing anything but piloting the ship—how would that scare her?” Fierce grumbled. He followed his brother into the shuttle and went to take his place in the pilot’s seat where he began warming up the engines.
He still didn’t like this. How could they win Celia’s heart if they couldn’t even touch her body?
5
HOLD
Hold was certain he’d done the right thing, promising they wouldn’t touch Celia unless she wanted them to. He could feel some resentment coming from the bond he shared with his brother, however—Fights Fiercely certainly did not agree with him.
His brother was the Dark Twin of the two, which meant he had an intense personality with a heavy dark side. You didn’t want to get him angry at you if you could help it. Hold was the Light Twin—he was more easy going and laid back.
Not that Fierce was angry so much as annoyed, he thought. His brother had clearly been envisioning their Claiming Period together and looking forward to caressing Celia’s beautiful, curvy body. Hold had to admit, he’d had similar fantasies. But you had to walk before you could run. They had to give Celia a better reason to stay with them than just the Draft notice—they had to prove they were the better males—better than the wormy little fiancé she was leaving back on Earth.
Still can’t believe he tried to bribe us! Hold thought contemptuously. He’d seen the size and magnificence of the dwelling Celia had come out of—clearly the human male who claimed her was rich. He and Fierce couldn’t offer her extreme wealth, but they could offer patience, devotion, and undying love. None of which he bet she was getting from the human male. At least, if the visions they’d seen while Dream-Sharing with her were any indication.
The human male she called “Peter” seemed to take her for granted, as far as Hold could tell. He was always brushing her off and ignoring her clear desires. He made decisions without asking her first and put his mother’s feelings over hers.
The rest of his family treated her badly too, at least as far as Hold could see in the dreams he’d had of her. They barely even knew her name and they had made no effort at all to get to know her or welcome her into their midst.
We have to show her a clear contrast—-a reason she’d rather be with us than him, Hold thought as he climbed into the ship and settled into the passenger side seat.
There was another seat which pulled out to be between the passenger and the pilot—a Bride’s seat—it was called, and it was a special feature of a long range shuttle made just for Twin Kindred. He pulled it out and indicated that Celia should sit between him and his brother.