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)
My scream is cut off as water begins to fill my lungs.
Chapter Eleven
Beck
I panic when I realize she’s run. She did it. She left me. My heart starts to pound. The anger will come later. Now I’m overcome with fear. These woods are dangerous. What had I been thinking, bringing her through here without a proper escort? But then, I can’t afford a proper escort. Damn me, I shouldn’t have purchased a wife I can’t properly take care of. She’s going to die here, and then I’ll lie down beside my brother and allow myself to fade.
Maybe that’s what I should have done in the first place.
Stop it. This is no time for doubt or pity. If I’m going to save my wayward wife, I need to think clearly. Find her trail.
It’s not hard. Meggie doesn’t have any idea how to hide it. Her boot prints are plain in the dirt path. I toss my bow and quiver over my shoulder. I’m fully armed. I have the sword on my back and knives placed in various sheaths across my body. I toss aside the two rabbits I killed for breakfast. My appetite is completely gone. All that matters is finding Meg before something else finds her.
As I begin to jog down the trail, I watch for signs of her, but my mind is caught in a punishing trap.
She ran because I was too rough with her. She gave me a second chance after I treated her horribly in the arena, and what did I do? I spread her legs painfully wide and shoved into her as hard and long as I could. I covered her with my heavy body and forced her to take all of me. She is so small, yet I pushed myself in, all the way to my balls. It probably hurt. She said she liked it, but I know the truth.
I’ve known that my compulsions are perverse since I was sixteen years old. I had a strong, overwhelming sex drive from the moment I hit manhood. I tried to hide it from everyone except my brother, who matched me. Cian doesn’t seem to need the same things I do, though. Cian can be gentle and sweet with a woman. I need to bend her to my will. It’s my obsession. I thought I found a good match in one of my mother’s handmaids. She was a few years older than me and didn’t seem to mind when I ordered her to take my cock in her mouth or spread her legs so I could look at her pussy. She seemed to like it. My father found us just as I was discovering the joys of shoving my cock up her tight ass.
I’ll never forget the look of horror in my father’s eyes. He looked at me like he never saw my before. Like I was a dangerous animal. Father beat me with the flat of his sword. Then he sat me down to explain a few things to me.
Sometimes I think his words hurt far more than the sword.
According to my father, the maid went along with my perversions because I was a prince. I had power over her, and she feared me. Which is why she wouldn’t tell me when I hurt her. Which I almost surely had. Women, he explained, are fragile creatures. They required gentleness. Anything else was monstrous. If they said they liked my rough ways, they’re lying to gain my favor. Father explained that if I treated my bondmate this way, she would leave both me and Cian, and I would bring great shame to my family.
I was solemn and careful around Maris. There was no sex at all with her, and sexual contact would never have been allowed until we bonded. I vowed to treat her with honor and to never let her know about the beast inside me.
Why can’t I do the same with Meggie? My heart is sick. I care about her. I’ve seen deep into her soul. I know without doubt that I could never have cared for Maris the way I do Meg. No matter what anyone says, bondmates aren’t interchangeable.
Meggie is soft and vulnerable, despite that tart tongue of hers. She wants to please me. I have to be a man and show her she doesn’t need to. She wasn’t born into Fae society. She doesn’t understand the sacred contract between a bondmate and her husband. It would be easy to take what she’s offering. She’ll never know the difference, but it wouldn’t be honorable.
She’s left the trail here. I can see that she’s almost walked a complete circle. Maybe she’s back at camp, having learned that the woods are tricky. Maybe she’s waiting for me.
I will be gentle with her. I won’t allow my rage at her defiance to show. I damn sure won’t do what I want to. I want to pull her pants down, spank her bare ass red, and then fuck her until she begs me to stop. I wanted to imprint myself on her so strongly she’ll never run from me again.