Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92043 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 460(@200wpm)___ 368(@250wpm)___ 307(@300wpm)
I looked up from the table as Lucy threw her leg over the arm of the couch. She was reading a novel she’d borrowed from my mother that didn’t seem to be holding her attention. Every few minutes, she shifted like she couldn’t get comfortable.
“You don’t have to sit in here with me,” I told her, setting the papers down. Chance had laughed his ass off when I’d asked him to print out the financials instead of looking at them on my laptop. There was something to be said about holding information in your hands while you studied it.
“What else would I do?” Lucy asked, popping up to smile at me over the back of the couch. “I’m good.”
She disappeared again, but I couldn’t make myself go back to studying the accounts.
Historically, the period after a Vampire met their mate was a time for the two to discover each other and enjoy themselves. It was the equivalent of what humans called a honeymoon period. We should’ve been in a hotel somewhere, ordering room service and lounging naked in bed all day.
Instead, we’d been mourning my brother, escaping kidnappers, going under sedation in an attempt to avoid the mating heat, fighting off attackers, healing from gunshot wounds, and trying to unravel a plot that seemed to grow bigger with every piece of information we uncovered.
I fucking hated that she wasn’t getting the experience that she should’ve had.
“Come on,” I said, rising to my seat. “Let’s go do something.”
“Like what?” she asked, sitting up on the couch. “It’s not like we can be out in public with these neon targets on our backs.”
“We’ll go for a walk on the property.”
“I thought you needed to decipher those statements,” she said, gesturing at the messy table. “I’m not trying to distract you. I can go read in the bedroom.”
“Then I’d be more distracted,” I confessed, pulling her to her feet. She was moving much easier now that the stitches had been removed from her leg.
“The heat hasn’t been so bad,” Lucy said, leaning into me.
“That makes sense,” I replied, running my fingers down her spine. “In theory, mating heat should be inherently good for you. It’s the way we recognize the person who is specifically made for us.”
“It definitely takes the guesswork out,” Lucy joked.
“So when you were hurt, it should’ve mellowed. Your body was already trying to heal itself. Adding severe mating symptoms to that would’ve been counterproductive.”
“That makes sense,” she replied. “Also, Severe Mating Symptoms would be a good band name.”
“It also might be subsiding because we’ve already completed the bond.”
“We’re stuck now.”
I smiled. “It won’t ever go away completely, though.”
“Oh, goody.”
“It’s nature’s way of keeping us connected.”
“Because we obviously couldn’t have done it on our own.”
“I don’t know,” I teased her. “You seem like a runner.”
“I resent that.” She smiled as I backed her toward the bedroom. “I’m a fighter, not a runner.”
“I can’t argue that.”
“Your parents still can’t go very long apart, can they?” she asked, walking backward.
I shook my head. “It’s painful for my mother. I’ve heard a lot of theories, but Alice believes that the heat symptoms are more severe in human mates longer because it keeps them near their physically stronger partner.”
“So they’re protected,” Lucy said in understanding. “You gotta love evolution.” She got a strange look on her face.
“What?”
“I wonder if that’s why the symptoms were so bad when I was sedated,” she said thoughtfully. “Because I knew somewhere in the back of my mind that something wasn’t right, and the bond was like, Danger, Will Robinson! That could be why you didn’t feel it as strongly. Because you thought you were doing the right thing.”
“Could be.”
“So you’re agreeing that you need to listen to me from now on because my body has some kind of magical barometer for danger?” She nodded. “Cool.”
“Or maybe you just missed me,” I replied, leaning down to kiss her.
“Fair point,” she whispered against my lips.
I pulled away slowly. “Come on. Let’s get some fresh air.”
The downstairs had been cleaned up the day after the humans tried to storm the house, but there were still things left to do to get the house back to its original condition. Cleaners had come in and scrubbed the walls and floors, but the couch was a loss, and so was the large area rug that had covered most of the hardwood. It was nearly impossible to get that much blood out. Windows still needed to be replaced in the front and back. The floors needed to be sanded and refinished. The front porch needed to be repainted.
It was a work in progress. We’d boarded up the windows until the new ones came in, so Lucy hadn’t seen the living room in full daylight yet. She paused at the bottom of the stairs in shock as my father and Beau lifted one of the replacement windows into place.