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)
“But what if you don’t win?” The thought horrifies me. There are other men? How bad will they be? At least Beck has proven he can be somewhat kind.
A slow, intensely confident smile splits his gorgeous face. “Don’t go worrying. I always win.”
He strides out of the tent, letting the heavy curtain fall back into place, and I’m alone again.
What is happening and why does it seem so damn real? What if this isn’t a weird dream? What if that creature I caught glimpses of took me to some strange place? The people seem to speak English, but there had been that strange lilting language as well. Gaelic, Reeve had said.
Maybe I’m in Ireland or Scotland. I’m pretty sure I hit my head when I was kidnapped.
My stomach churns. Have I been kidnapped?
I force my head up as a petite woman enters the room with a pitcher and washcloths. It’s weird but I’m getting used to being bathed by too short women. They grow them small here. If she’s like the others, the little woman will be professional and gentle. I should be happy she’s here, humming as she goes about her work. Beck left the evidence of my orgasm all over my thighs and pussy. It would be rather embarrassing for someone else to come in and find me covered in my own juices.
The short, blonde woman smiles up as she washes away my reaction to Beck. “Don’t worry, miss. His Highness will be kind to you.”
“His Highness?” I ask, but the woman has finished her work. With a mysterious smile, she walks out. “And what the hell did he mean by gnomes?”
Chapter Two
Beck
Sometimes it’s hard to believe I was once the heir to the Seelie Fae throne, all of the White Palace to be mine and my brother’s one day. But that was a long time ago.
I sink into the too-small chair in the gnome’s tiny but well-appointed office. Everything seems too small right now. My trousers certainly are. Touching Meg has me hard enough to pound nails with my cock.
She’s the one. I know it deep in my soul. I was able to feel what was happening to her at the moment of her orgasm. She can bond. She can stop Cian’s slow descent into madness. It took everything I had not to form the bond with her, but now is not the time, and certainly not the place. Forming a bond with one’s soulmate is a sacred thing, and I won’t do it here. I’m going to have to put her through far too much to force that on her as well.
Reeve of the Gentle Hills walks in and places a large platter of food on the desk between us. “I thought Your Highness might join me in the noon meal.”
My stomach rumbles at the sight and smell of so much good food. Gnomes know how to cook. I nod shortly, trying not to betray my excitement at the thought of being full for once. “I would be honored. I thank you for your hospitality, but you have to get out of the habit of calling me by titles that no longer have any meaning.”
I pick up two slices of dark bread and make a huge sandwich of venison and a pleasant-smelling cheese.
Reeve pours water into two mugs. “You’re giving up, then? You’re content to allow your Uncle Torin to remain on your father’s throne? The very throne he slew your father on?”
The food turns to sawdust in my mouth. I can still see my father sometimes. I see him slumped on the ground in front of the throne he loved.
I take a long drink and force myself to continue eating. I’ll need the energy for the battle to come. Control. It is everything in life. I have to stay in control or I could lose everything.
“There is nothing of contentment in my life. There hasn’t been for the past thirteen years.” Naturally this talk sends my brain back to the terrible night when I lost both my parents and my sister. The guilt still gnaws at me, like a rat chewing and chewing. I had only been able to save my twin, Cian. I force the thoughts back. I choose, as I have since that day when I was seventeen, to look to the future. “It is not that I don’t dream of taking back what rightfully belongs to me. It is simply a matter of practicality. My loyalists are gone.”
Reeve’s bearded head shakes vigorously. “That is untrue, Your Highness. There are many here, and many more on the home plane. Tír na nÒg is full of Fae longing for Your Highness.”
I sigh because I’m going to have to put this to the gnome in blunt words. It will likely ruin the man’s illusions of me, but then, I no longer have use for illusions. “Peasants. You’re talking about peasants. While I am thrilled to have the love of the people, money is needed to wage war, and I have none. I am barely able to buy my way into this tourney. I have no idea how I’m going to clothe my mate after I’ve won her. She’ll be roaming the forests in one of my beat-up old shirts. If I can’t even take care of my mate, I’ve got no idea how I should go about fighting a war.”