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 sighs, and I know he received the message. Cian comes around the other side. He leans over to kiss my hair.
“Beck is afraid of what I’ll think, too, lover,” Cian explains. “Once we bond properly, our connection will be complete. He doesn’t want me to know what happened the night our parents died. I’m not stupid, brother. I know something happened. I also know whatever you did, I’ll back you on it.”
“I hope so. I hope, when the time comes, you’ll understand. In the meantime, we need to discuss this marriage of ours.” Beck’s eyes are dark as he looks me over. “I don’t know if you realize what you’re getting into, love. I won’t always look to your pleasure. You’re mine. Sometimes, I’ll just use you because I own you.”
Cian’s hands run down my shoulders. “That’s why I’m here, brother. I’ll take care of her.”
I lean back and let Cian press his lips to mine. He’s the soft touch. Though he tried to be what I need, he can’t really work up the will to truly dominate me. He would rather worship me and coddle me. He’s the soft side of the man.
Beck pulls my attention back to him. He’s the rough side. He’s the dominant side that takes what he wants. It says something about the man that even his dominant half would never hurt me. He’s hard and possessive, and we will all be so much happier now that he stopped fighting his true nature.
“I want a yes, Meg,” Beck says quietly. “I want a yes, but before you say it, know that you can’t take it back. Once you say yes, I won’t ever let you go. You’ll fight me every day for control. I’ll try my damnedest to make decisions for you. I can’t help what I am. Cian will balance me by being the biggest softie on the plane when it comes to you.”
Cian grins. “I have no shame about that.”
My heart swells with love for them. It’s hard because they are really one person in two bodies, their personalities stronger for it. Beck has to struggle with his own instincts because all the pieces that would balance him are in Cian. Cian feels weak and often unappreciated because the arrogance is mostly housed in Beck. I can help them once we bond fully. They need me.
“Yes,” I say without hesitation. “Though I think you’ll find me more difficult to deal with than you imagine. But I promise when we’re intimate, I will be your perfect little submissive.”
A happy smile curls around his mouth. “I’ll try to take more, wife. I’m a bloody selfish bastard.”
I lean forward. “You’re welcome to try, husband.”
He kisses me roughly. “I promise I will. Now, you have a duty to us. You will wash your husbands’ hair, and then we’ll join the villagers. I assume there’s a party. When I’m away, Ci always throws a party.”
Cian unbinds his hair, getting it wet. “The ale is already flowing freely, brother.”
Beck shakes his head. “We’ll partake, then. I want the villagers to see how happy our bride has made us. Then, later tonight, we bond. All three of us.”
I catch his strong jaw in my hands. “It’s going to be fine, Beck. I love you. Ci loves you. Nothing is going to change that.”
“Nothing,” Cian promises.
Beck allows me to start soaping his hair. It’s easy to see he hopes Cian’s words will prove true.
Chapter Thirty-Four
Liadan
I stand at the back of the crowd, watching the party going on in the middle of the village square. It isn’t lost on me that almost no one greets me, but then they rarely do. I haven’t exactly made friends in my time here, but then that wasn’t the point.
I don’t make friends, don’t believe in the concept. Other beings are either allies or they’re prey.
I’m looking for prey tonight, and that’s precisely why I’m mingling with this crowd. Prowling. Hunting. I stop behind a duo of young ladies I know have been spending time with the human queen. One of them might do.
“They look so perfect together.” The miller’s daughter sighs to her friend. She can’t be more than sixteen, with soft skin and shiny hair. Her eyes are wide and clear, and her mouth is a perfect bow on her heart-shaped face.
I hate her.
I hate her and all the little twits like her. They take their youth and beauty for granted. They waste those perfect years. They don’t deserve their fine porcelain skin or firm bodies. If they understood an ounce of what I have to go through for a fraction of their youthful glow, they would be staggered by my strength.
“Bri, you’re such a romantic. My mum feels sorry for the queen,” the girl’s equally young friend says.
The golden-haired girl named Bri looks offended. She’s obviously a fan of the twins. They sit at the edge of a crowd gathered near a huge bonfire. There’s much entertainment at this celebration, but Bri keeps watching the kings and their queen. Beckett Finn has returned, and the villagers are effusive in welcoming their warrior king back.