Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
He’d drank his favorite beverages last night, had his favorite flavors planned for his morning meal, and yet knew he’d still feel unsatisfied, because only that beautiful morsel’s essence would quell the hunger that brewed in not just his gut, but also his groin, his fingers, on his tongue. He felt his need for her even in his eyelashes. The hunger was that ravenous. He shook those feelings off guiltily, yet again, feeling the weight of his involvement.
He’d been telling himself that perhaps with his technology company and with his relationship with the ambassador of the capital region, he would have sway to help fine-tune the process so that these women, as they arrived, wouldn’t be subjected to the kind of introduction they’d gotten yesterday and so that they, and the men they paired up with, would be safer.
He needed to decide what to do about her. She was his wife on paper at least, and in the eyes of the law. The longer it went on, the more potential there was for a complicated situation.
He was torn between wanting to proposition her and giving her space. She’d experienced multiple traumatic events. First, being brought here and experiencing the culture shock. And then, the attack. He didn’t want to push. Yet, he sensed that if he so much as laid a finger on her sexually, she’d bloom like a flower under him and spill her jewels all over him. But, before he committed to all of that, he needed to ensure that he talked to his son after Ollie had sufficient time to bond with Tanya. Or not.
He couldn’t be selfish. He was a father, not a husband. If the time came when he was ready to be her husband, that role would be equally as important as fatherhood to him, but right now, Ollie needed to remain his only priority. Not her. Not his wants. Not his cock.
He wished, suddenly, that his son was due back this day instead of the next.
He headed to the stairs to go to her but received an alert as his foot lifted to climb. Another messenger. This one wasn’t government. This was a drone delivery. Zane looked at his screen with scrutiny. When he saw the familiar logo, he felt slightly more at ease. The package was set down. He headed to the door to get it, but still grabbed that weapon before he did – just in case.
CHAPTER 11
TANYA
I had 58 and a half hours to get my vaccination.
The door opened and I expected Zane. I didn’t get Zane. I saw, from the chair in front of the bathroom sink (more like a fountain with sensor taps) one of those robots rolling in with a wheeled dolly attached to the rear and it carried two stacked rounded papasan-like chairs like the one Zane had put in the bathroom.
The robot looked like a vacuum canister and had long spring-like hose arms with grippers on the end. It separated the grey stacked chairs and set them on the rug just a few feet from the bed. The robot’s gripper touched the wall and pulled one of those shelf things out like the ones on either side of Zane’s big, round bed, but this was a large circular glass the size of a small dining table. This glass was much like the patio glass, a diamond-like finish. The chairs were moved to either side of it and then the machine turned and rolled back out, shutting the door behind itself. I stared, the entire time.
What felt like a while later, Zane entered the room with my suitcase and a little box. He put both the box and the luggage on the bed.
“I’m sorry to have left you here so long.” He came to me and lifted me out of the chair in the bathroom and effortlessly carried me to the bed. He set me down beside the box.
“The messenger and then a call from Ollie, then I had to make a quick call. And then the door again. A gift from Ollie.” He pressed a small button on the top of it and waited.
“Oh?” I stared at it. It was a small brown leather-like box.
“I just spoke with him on the phone a few minutes ago. He didn’t mention it; I suspect my father helped him get it here.”
I lifted it and the box immediately opened within my grasp, which startled me and made me gasp. Light shone out of it.
“It’s self-opening. The button I engaged…” Zane explained.
“Oh. That’s fu-fun.” I wiped my hair out of my eyes and looked inside. I heard him laugh.
I blushed and lifted up a beautiful brown leather-bound book. Blank pale peach-colored pages. And a gorgeous heavy marble patterned brown pen inside.
The box closed on its own, again making me gasp, then giggle.