Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121008 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 605(@200wpm)___ 484(@250wpm)___ 403(@300wpm)
Beck kisses me one last time, his mouth playing sweetly against mine. He seems as satisfied as I am, though he can’t possibly be. His hands play with my breasts for a moment, and I can feel my own juice on my skin. He brings his right hand up to his mouth and sucks his fingers in, licking my cream and sending another thrill of longing through me. He finally places an almost chaste kiss on the tip of my nose and steps back.
“Aye, love, you’ll do.” With that, he starts for the door.
Okay, that was a perfectly unimpressive bit of wooing. My subconscious needs to work harder. I’m utterly overwhelmed by what we shared, and he tells me I’ll do?
Damn it, even the men in my dreams are unromantic.
“Seriously, that’s what I get? You’ll do?” I’m feeling saucy after our encounter. Apparently there’s nothing like a great orgasm to get me feisty. I don’t feel like taking this from him. I feel like trying again. “Send in the next guy. We’ll see if he can do better.”
The next guy might be even hotter. He’ll be French or maybe Italian.
Beck turns around, and I find myself shrinking back again. His gray eyes are as hard as stones, and his demeanor changes from lazy to menacing in a heartbeat. “What did you say?”
The question is a challenge. The chill in his voice almost makes me shiver.
“Nothing.” A healthy sense of self-preservation kicks into full throttle now as Beck stalks back toward me.
“Excellent. Best you say nothing right now if you can’t say something sweet.” Beck’s entire body is rigid, every muscle screaming his frustration. “I’m exhausted. I rode all night to get here before the tournament. I’ve eaten very little, and now I’m horny as hell. I am not in a good mood. You have no idea the trouble you’re going to cause me.”
I hold my head up. The last thing I need is to be told how much trouble I am. I know. I’ve been told my whole life by a mother and father who hadn’t really wanted me and a husband who felt the same. I might be in chains, but I hold on to my pride. Sometimes I think it’s all I really have. “I wouldn’t want to cause you any trouble. Please feel free to not purchase me.”
Beck sighs, and I can sense the weariness in him. That connection I’d felt during sex seems like it’s still open. His emotions are almost palpable. His tiredness goes far past the physical. That weariness invades his soul. His shoulders slump slightly forward. The sudden desire to wrap my arms around him almost overwhelms me. I want to lend him my strength.
“I’ve waited years for this day,” he explains in an emotionless voice. “You cannot understand the joy I should feel at finding you. If there was any other choice, I would walk away. I can offer you nothing. I’m going to spend the last of my gold entering the tournament. I won’t even have the money to feed you. If I had an ounce of pride left, I would let you go, but my brother is dying. I can’t allow that to happen. You’re the only one who can save him. I swear on everything I am that I will find a way to take care of you.”
He turns to leave. Tears well in my eyes. I don’t understand everything he’s said, but I know he means every word of it. Even in chains and terrified for my life, I feel safe with this man. Somehow, I’d formed a strange connection with him in those moments his hands had been on my body. “Stop.”
Beck turns, his stance wary. He’s waiting for me to yell at him again. I can feel that, too. I can’t blame him. I’ve been a bit difficult.
“My name is Meg,” I say softly.
He rewards me with a slight curling of his lips. His pitch-black hair is gathered in a ponytail at the nape of his neck. I wonder how it would feel flowing all around me. “I like that, Meg. I’ll call you my own sweet Meggie.”
“If I help you with your brother, will you let me go home?”
The smile dies, and I wish I hadn’t asked the question. “I told you, I’m your home now, me and Cian. There’s no way back. Even if there was, I wouldn’t let you take it.”
So this dream is going to continue. I have to admit, I’m intrigued. Somewhere in the middle of our intimacy, I’d even forgotten I’m dreaming. “Are you going to buy me now?”
Beck shakes his head. “It’s not like that. This is a tourney. The gnomes make more money this way. Every male who wants to purchase you buys into the tourney. We then fight until there’s only one left standing. That man will be your master.”