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)
“I don’t mind working.” I hate the fact that I’m crying, but I can’t seem to help it. “I’ve worked all my life, but I don’t know what to do here.”
“Nor should you,” he replies as though it’s a foregone conclusion. “You’re a bondmate. You shouldn’t be doing housework, and you shouldn’t live in a cottage that’s falling down around you.”
Frustration makes my eyes squeeze shut. “Shouldn’t I decide what I want or don’t want?”
“You don’t know enough to decide yet,” Beck explains with a dismissive wave. “Back up. We have to leave now.”
I back off as Dante hops on the cycle in one graceful move.
“I left you my computer.” Dante nods in my direction. “I showed you how to use it, remember? Look up bonding, and it will give you a description of how to get Cian to bond with you. It’s connected to the web on the Vampire plane. You should be able to find any information you need.”
I nod, feeling utterly dull. Beck is really leaving, and he hasn’t kissed me good-bye. Hell, if I hadn’t woken when I did, he would have left without seeing me at all. I take a deep breath and try to come to terms with the fact that I have, perhaps, been wrong about him. He hadn’t truly wanted me. Men can feel lust for women they don’t care about. He explained it at the time. His brother is dying. They need a bondmate, and I’m the only one to be found. Is it such a surprise that, having done his duty, he would want to be away from his unwanted wife?
All that other stuff, all the stuff about caring about me and never cheating on me was lies. It’s not the first time some guy told me what I wanted to hear to get me to do something. I have to give Beck a little credit. At least he did it to save his brother.
“I’ll be back in a few weeks.” Beck looks slightly concerned for the first time. He slides off the bike and comes to stand in front of me. He towers over me, but this time his massive size doesn’t make me feel secure. “You’ll be fine.”
He moves to touch me, but I step back. He’s trying to keep me in line. Being physically affectionate with me has worked so far. It’s not surprising he would try it again. “Sure.”
He reaches out and pulls me into his arms. “Meggie, don’t cry. It will be fine. We need money. I have to work. I told you I spent the last of our gold on the tournament.”
I stand stiffly in his arms, knowing better than to try to break free. I would only make a fool of myself, and I’ve done enough of that lately. “Fine.”
He sighs and seems reluctant to let me go. His hands find my hair. “I’m sorry about last night. I hope you won’t hold it against me.”
I shrug and wish he’d go ahead and leave. “I won’t bother you with it again. I didn’t understand.”
I know he is fighting something. I’ve just been wrong about what he’s fighting. He doesn’t want to have sex with me. I’m convenient, and he’s male. He needs sex, but he obviously found the experience distasteful. He always shut down the bond. Now I know why. He doesn’t want me to know how he feels. It should have been obvious even without the bond. After all, he chose to sleep in a barn rather than sleeping with me.
And yet I felt his need the night before. It broke over me like a wave crashing on a beach. I saw pieces of his soul. There’s a kindness in Beck that didn’t mesh with his current cruelty. He loves his brother. He risked his life to save me. At times, I’ve felt a genuine affection come from him. The confusion has me in knots. But in the end he can’t possibly want me if he is willing to leave me.
He smiles, a slight uptick of his lips. “You don’t understand our ways, yet. It’s going to be fine. You’ll see.”
“Sure,” I reply because he seems to want a response. I can’t see that anything will be fine.
He reaches out and tilts my head up. A lazy, warm look comes over his handsome face. “May I kiss you, wife?”
It’s the cruelest thing he can do. I push away from him. “Don’t call me wife. Call me your bondmate or whatever, but I’m not your wife.”
His eyes flare at the challenge. “You damn well are, and you better not forget it.” He takes a deep breath and gets back on the bike. “Don’t try leaving, Meg. I’ll find you, and I won’t be happy when I do.”
He pats Dante on the shoulder. The bike levitates roughly ten feet off the ground, and they take off.