Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
“The water feels good.” Dante draws me out, taking both of my hands in his. “I’ll hire the best swimming coach we can find once we get back to my plane. When you’re comfy, we’ll go to Hawaii. It’s beautiful there, Kaj. We’ll swim and drink and fuck to our hearts’ content. I can show you so many things.”
Tears prick at my eyes. I want so badly to believe him, but he says two different things. There is a part of me that still waits for him to hurt me. He can pull me out into the deep part of the water and hold me down. He can kill me.
I might let him, because I do not want to live in a world where no one can love me.
“Kaja.” He says my name on a sigh and pulls my close. His hands come up to wipe away my tears. “Don’t cry, Kaj. Please. It kills me. If you don’t want me, I’ll let you go to sleep. I can go hungry for one night. I’ll find something to eat, I promise.”
I wrap my arms around him, reveling in his feel and his scent. He is a magician. He always knows what to say. I sigh and give up any thought of leaving him. I do not really want to. I am stupid. What the pack said about me is true. I know my heart will be broken in the end, and I still cannot walk away. I simply open myself and practically beg him to love me.
But how can he say yes if I say no?
“I want you, Dante.”
The smile that breaks over his face shows off his delicious fangs. They are beautiful, like the rest of the man.
“Oh, baby, you have no idea how glad I am to hear that.” His face turns to granite. “But we have a few things to discuss first. I’ve thought a lot about this, Kaja. Beck is right. I need to put this marriage on a firm footing. You need to understand that you cannot do what you did today.”
“Save you? You do not wish me to save you when…assholes take you and bind you down?” I am proud of myself. Anuses are very important to the Vampire plane. They seem to speak of them often.
His head shakes even as he pulls me close. “That’s not what I mean, love, and you know it. I’m talking about the way you ran away from me when the ogre was attacking. You didn’t bother to tell me what you were doing.”
“I was in my four-legged form,” I say, enjoying deeply the way his flesh slides against mine. “Would you have understood growls and barks? Does your magic cover that?”
I am beginning to understand that magic is created by smart people, but it still seems to be the right word. Dante calls it technology, but it is magical. Dante’s people are magical.
He buries his hand in my hair. “You know you could have spoken to me before you changed. You made a choice to put yourself in danger. You made a choice to leave me. It is not acceptable.”
I frown. I knew he might be upset, but I had my reasons. “Cara was in danger.”
“So were you.” He keeps pulling me further in. The water covers my hips now. It is nice and cool. It feels like silk gliding against my skin. “You’re my primary concern. You can’t run off on your own. That’s not the way this marriage is going to work.”
I am not certain the marriage is going to work at all. “I do not understand what you require of me.”
“I intend to make that clear, love. Put your legs around my waist. Don’t let go.” Dante begins to walk with purpose toward the waterfall. I wind my arms around Dante’s neck and my legs find his waist, locking my ankles behind his back. My heart trills in my chest as the water hits my hair. The sound fills my ears, a roar that can’t be denied.
In an instant, it is over. We are on the other side. The moonlight filters through the fall of water. I am in a silvery alcove with only Dante for companionship. It seems utterly perfect.
“Do you understand what punishment means, Kaja?” Dante asks, his face perfectly serious.
Yes, I know this word. I do not particularly like the word. “You will punish me because I tried to save my friend?”
He hasn’t seemed interested in hurting me. Thus far he has seemed more interested in inhaling me. I don’t attempt to get away from him because his hands hold me tenderly and his nose runs all along my neck. If this is his version of punishment, I might choose to be bad more often. He keeps one hand around my waist, and the other grips my backside. I like the way he cups my rear. It makes my pussy feel achy and wanting. Oh, he works some magic on me.