Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 49459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49459 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
She’d kept her distance from me until now. But she probably hadn’t been expecting me back yet.
Aside from my family, Aisling seemed to be the only one to grit her teeth and not put up with my bullshit.
She put the towel she’d been using as a poor excuse for a shield from me under the sink and closed the cabinet doors. When she straightened and smoothed her hand down the white apron covering her black pressed dress, I couldn’t help but let my gaze follow that hand and linger on the luscious curves it traced.
My tongue darted out and smoothed over my lips, leaving saliva glistening in its wake. I curled my fists at my sides, my nails digging into my palms, that strange constricting of muscles around bones so tight the pain almost brought me to my knees.
The offended noise she made and the way she crossed her arms over her chest broke me out of my trance and had me smirking.
“I kno’ what ye said. But I donna work for ye.”
I lifted an eyebrow at the snappy tone in her voice.
“And when the king or queen asks me tae handle household affairs, that includes coming in here and doing my job whether ye like it or no’.”
She kicked up her chin as if snubbing her nose at me, and I felt the corner of my mouth twitching in amusement.
She may be lush with a woman’s body, but she was tiny compared to me.
I took a step into the bathroom, having to turn slightly so my shoulders could get through the width of the doorway.
I crowded her, filled the space so she had to tip her head back and look at me. And as I inhaled deeply, I was surprised to scent only mild annoyance coming from her.
My heart started pounding a little bit harder, the blood moving faster through my veins. My skin itched and my muscles flexed and relaxed. It felt so strange to not have the heightened senses from my wolf, but still, they were far more attuned then a normal human’s.
I didn’t know what the hell was going on with me right now.
But as annoying as that was, a part of me liked the mystery of why this tiny female caused this strong reaction in me when nobody else ever had.
One word kept filtering through my mind, but I pushed it back. I didn’t have my wolf anymore or the instinct to tell me she was my mate.
Realistically, I assumed she was making me feel like this because people didn’t defy me. I was accustomed to their apprehension, the way they kept a wide berth from me. I wasn’t used to them standing their ground.
“Ye’re no’ like the others,” I said absently.
Her eyes flared slightly. “If ye have a specific issue with the way I do my work or complete my tasks, ye’re free tae speak with the king and queen about it.”
It was hard as hell not to take a step toward her. Because the truth was, I wanted to really get close to her. She talked to me like I was… no one to her. She didn’t placate me, didn’t see me as royalty. I was just some fucking dude annoying the shit out of her.
And I… fucking loved that.
I scowled at my own thoughts, which probably looked like I was making the expression at her. And when she pursed her lips and made a little humph sound, once again, I felt my amusement grow.
Gods, it had been so long since I felt any kind of humor that it was almost foreign to me.
“Good day,” she said, a little too prim and proper, as if she were offended by my surly attitude.
Aisling tried to move past me, but I didn’t get out of the way, which forced her to stop when she was just a foot from where I stood.
She craned her head back and glared at me, and after this long standoff where we just stared at one another, I shifted slightly to the side, only giving her a small amount of space.
I sensed her irritation and impatience, and finally, I stepped back a foot. She walked by, and when her shoulder brushed against my abdomen on the way out, I felt a jolt of electricity move through me so strongly that every muscle in my body contracted, almost dropping me to my knees.
I stepped out of the bathroom and watched her leave. It was only when I was alone that I kept thinking one thing:
Could she be my mate? Without my wolf to tell me for sure, I couldn’t say for certain.
What I did know was I wanted to find out, and with a smirk, I felt a cockiness fill me as I reached down and adjusted myself, continuing to watch her leave and thinking about how fun a chase would be.