Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 83353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 83353 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 417(@200wpm)___ 333(@250wpm)___ 278(@300wpm)
“My dear, that is simply not true,” her aunt said firmly. “I promise you, the Kindred are much more open to the idea of the supernatural than human men are. Your Uncle Bruin has never doubted my Gift once!”
“Of course, it helped that she read my cards and told me completely accurate things about my life and my past that only I knew the first time we met,” Bruin rumbled, coming into the room with a tray filled with tea things in his large hands. He sat the tray on the decorative table in front of the couch. “I hope I’m not interrupting? I would have knocked but I had my hands full.”
“No, I think we’re about finished with the hard stuff.” Aunt Luna raised her eyebrows at Hanna. “Aren’t we, my dear?”
“I…guess so.” Hanna’s hand went to her forehead involuntarily. “I don’t suppose there’s any way to tell if this, uh, thing is going to suddenly start, um, affecting me?”
“Only time will tell. As I said, I’ll try to find a spell to remove it. In the meantime, have some tea—it will make you feel better,” Ant Luna urged, as she poured Hanna a cup of the steaming, fragrant liquid.
“You always think tea makes everything better,” Hanna said, smiling despite herself. Her aunt was a firm believer that almost nothing couldn’t be solved with a hot cup of tea.
“That’s because it does,” Luna said firmly. “Now drink up. And later on, maybe we can introduce you to some of the eligible warriors aboard the ship.” She looked up at her husband. “I’ve been telling Hanna that I’d feel so much better if she had a Kindred mate to protect her.”
“Not yet, please,” Hanna said quickly. “I don’t feel ready for anything like that right now.”
“No, of course not. Forgive me for rushing you,” Aunt Luna said. “I just want you to have a Protector, my dear. Someone who will keep you safe and make you feel loved and cared for. Someone who will cherish you.”
For some reason the image of the handsome warrior with the mismatched eyes crossed Hanna’s mind, but she pushed the thought firmly away. Men like that didn’t date women like her, she told herself. They dated leggy supermodels and Instagram influencers. There was no way Mr. Tall, Dark and Hot was going to have an interest in plus-sized her. In fact, she would probably never even see him again.
She had no idea how wrong she was.
7
HANNA
Hanna took her time getting ready for bed that night. She was putting off going to sleep, but she was also enjoying her new surroundings. The guest suite which was located right beside Aunt Luna and Uncle Bruin’s suite was a complete one eighty from her old apartment.
For instance, instead of a single, rusty shower stall and a stained sink and toilet, she had a huge bathroom with top-of-the-line fixtures and a bathing pool that was practically big enough to swim in. Hanna did do some swimming—and some soaking—though she was still a bit too tense to totally relax.
The rest of the suite was amazing too. The bedroom had a huge bed with a thick, luxurious mattress, silky, cool sheets, and big puffy pillows. After sleeping on the lumpy fold-out couch for so long, Hanna was sure it was going to be a treat to drift off in such luxury. If she could relax enough to go to sleep, that was.
The food prep area was well stocked—though admittedly most of the food was Kindred cuisine she wasn’t used to. But her aunt had promised to make a grocery order and have some “Earth food” delivered. They were going to have to go shopping for clothes, too. Hanna hadn’t packed a thing other than what was in her purse. Not that anything she’d left behind was worth much, but it was a little inconvenient to have to borrow Aunt Luna’s clothes until she could get some of her own.
For now she had a lovely white silky nightdress to wear to bed. She was taller than her aunt, so it would be a little short on her, but she didn’t really mind.
Already she was beginning to see that Aunt Luna was right—the Mother Ship was a wonderful place to live. There was free healthcare and free education for anyone who wanted to take classes. Also, unlimited maternity leave and free childcare if and when she ever wanted to have children. Yeah right—she’d have to find a guy who didn’t think she was crazy first, Hanna told herself dryly.
But the best thing so far about the Mother Ship was the blessed lack of Imps or Dark Entities of any kind. Either the Kindred were much more honorable, kind, and truthful than human men or else they simply lacked the nasty little demonic creatures because they were aliens from another planet and the Imps were tied to the Earthly Realm.