Total pages in book: 192
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 192810 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 964(@200wpm)___ 771(@250wpm)___ 643(@300wpm)
Wow.
This was news.
“I do?”
“You’re the future queen, Laura.”
Oh boy.
“Okay, we need to stop talking about this,” I said quickly.
“It’s a good deal to get used to, I understand that. But eventually, you’ll have to,” he cautioned.
“Can I get used to it tomorrow?”
He smiled. “I’ll give you that.”
Another flash happened on my screen.
“I’m getting comms, Aleksei,” I told him. “I set up a holo conference with my girls to tell them about our mate thing.” Saying that, it hit me, maybe I shouldn’t, so I asked, “Is that okay?”
“They’ve been vetted, along with you. There are no concerns. Though, please advise them to keep it to themselves until we’ve decided to go public.”
“Will do.”
“I’ll let you go.”
I experienced something I rarely did when I was in my creative zone. That being I didn’t want him to let me go.
But he had meetings.
And I had good news to share and a nap to take so I could do some more work.
So I said, “Okay. Hope you get done what you need to do.”
“Hope you get some rest.”
“I will.”
His smile at that was soft and lovely. “Until later, bissi.”
“Until then, Aleksei.”
We disconnected.
I ran to get a glass of water before I grabbed the fab tablet my mate gave me so I could program the holo conference.
Two minutes later, all three of my gals popped into my studio.
I told them about troll skin and loincloths.
I told them about delicious kisses.
And I told them I’d found my mate.
They were holograms, but still…
After I imparted that news, the decibel level of their screams nearly shattered the windows.
It was late, I was in bed with my tablet and stylus, fiddling with a design I’d scanned in from a sketch, when the screen flashed green with an incoming vid comm.
The words HRH Prince Aleksei showed and faded across the top, and I immediately said, “Engage video comm.”
His face came on the screen.
“Excellent news, drahko,” I shared. “I know what a shrimp fork is.”
At me calling him drahko, another old-world endearment, exclusively masculine, which meant “my little dragon,” the warmth that infused his expression caused the same through my body.
At my announcement regarding the shrimp fork, he burst out laughing.
“I cannot express how relieved I am you won’t embarrass me during the fish course at a state dinner,” he drawled.
Before I could respond, Nova crawled onto my chest, leaned forward and sniffed the tablet.
“Hello, love,” Aleksei greeted her.
And again, warmth flooded my body.
I mean…
Was this male for real?
She marked the tablet with her ear before she lay down on my chest and started purring.
“You’re in bed,” he noted.
“Just finishing one last 3D of a design before I call it a night,” I told him.
“I won’t keep you, I just wanted to say goodnight.”
I wanted him to keep me.
To that end, I asked, “How’d your day go?”
“Darling, you need to sleep,” he replied.
“Are you tired?” I inquired.
“Aren’t you?”
I was, but with him on display, I also was not.
“I’m more curious about what you’re doing on Thoth, if you want to tell me.”
“You can know anything about me, Laura.”
Totally.
This male was not for real.
“Then tell me, how’d your day go?” I urged.
He gave me what I wished for, telling me about the state-of-the-art loading dock one of his construction companies was in the midst of building, a major coup for the aging satellite.
Tech had advanced so much, and so many other space stations had been built since, the beings that lived on Thoth were experiencing lower tourism, faltering trade and the resultant heightening of the cost of living, which wasn’t awesome, considering there were a lot of beings out of work.
If newer ships found it easier to dock and offload, more supplies and materials could be brought in, upgrades could be done. But since Aleksei was already exclusively using labor sourced from those who lived there, he was already infusing much-needed capital into the local economy.
There were issues, however, because a rival construction company saw the merits of having the offloading permits, and they were playing games using the local council, which was stalling construction.
Not to mention, the Space Junkies, an outspoken protest group whose mission it was to dismantle all of what they called “space debris.” This included industrial, botanical and resort stations, but also unmanned tech and energy satellites, which were essential to planetary and off-planet infrastructure and the mustering and storing of solar power to fuel it.
They were working hard to stymie the progress of Aleksi’s construction of the docks, saying Thoth was outdated and therefore should be decommissioned and demolished.
“The locals aren’t happy about the Junkies flying in and sharing loudly their home should be struck, returned to the planet and melted for reuse. It’s not a good situation, and the council isn’t helping by waffling between bribes from my rivals, what it would mean if they pissed me off, and pressure from Junkie supporters,” he said.