Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 61523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 61523 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 308(@200wpm)___ 246(@250wpm)___ 205(@300wpm)
As I glance in her direction, she covers her mouth to shield her quiet reply. “Okay.”
Every second I’m not standing next to her feels wrong. And every fucking prick in this room looking at her feels worse.
“Tonight,” I tell her. “Be ready at your window. I’ll come to you again.”
Before I lose whatever control I have left.
I force myself to turn away from her, even as everything in me strains to cross the room, toss her over my shoulder, and remove her from this fucked-up place.
Because she’s mine to protect.
There’s absolutely no way I can fight it all night. I have to see her again.
Romy
Nerves fire all over my body as I pace the space in front of the armoire and wait for Cal to fulfill his promise.
I considered moving it out of the way ahead of time, but the fear of an unexpected visit from my guard or the light from my room out onto the lawn stopped me. I don’t want to put either of us at risk of discovery, and from what Cal said about his uncle tonight—and the way he kept glancing over for Cal’s reaction as he ushered me around the room—I have a feeling we’re at even higher risk than I want to know.
As such, I’ll be completely ignoring that for now.
When I returned from the mixer in the ballroom tonight, the lingerie I picked yesterday was hung with care from the closet door, and a note was pinned to the front in fancy calligraphy.
We invite you to the most unique day of your life tomorrow. Prepare to be adored. Prepare to be pampered.
Prepare for the bond.
I assume it was meant to calm nerves and build excitement, but for me, it did the opposite. Tomorrow is the day of reckoning. The day when my life is over.
Unless Cal figures out some way to kidnap me or something, but oh my God, I’m getting a little worried that’s not going to happen.
Pace turning more frantic, I put my ear to the wall next to the armoire and try to peek through the window. It’s impossible, of course, and all I gain is a shooting pain in my shoulder from the strain.
Heaving a deep breath, I force myself across the room and into the armchair to wait. I think of the pull I felt to Cal all night in that room and wonder about what it might feel like for him. If it’s stronger or the same or if he feels it in his chest like I do.
I could barely concentrate on the other vampires Lucian introduced me to—so much so, I don’t even remember any of their names.
And it wasn’t even that they all seemed terrible—some were kind. It was the feeling of indescribable pain at betraying Cal.
As insane as it sounds, I don’t have to work to trust him; my body does it all on its own.
The sound of a tap-tap-tap on glass startles me from my manic thoughts and sends me careening across the room toward the armoire. This time, it moves easily, and I’m ninety percent sure it’s because I’m chock-full of adrenaline.
I unlock and shove open the window to let Cal in and then close it and the shade behind him to conceal the light of the room from pouring out as soon as he clears it.
“Thank God you’re here. I’ve been going just a little bit crazy.”
He winces and smiles at the same time. It’s an amazing expression—one I’ve never seen before but imagine I’ll be seeking from here on out. It’s uniquely beautiful on his features and makes a tiny dimple divot his cheek.
“I’m sorry. I had to wait for all the other activity to die down before I made the trek. Lucian, especially, is undoubtedly paying attention.”
I nod. “Oh yeah. I don’t think he knows I noticed, but he was looking at you all night. Everywhere he took me, he looked for your reaction.”
“He knows you mean something to me. I just don’t know to what extent. If he realizes you’re my mate or not.”
“Your mate,” I repeat.
“Yes. My fated mate.”
I giggle nervously. “Right. I mean, I know you said that last night, and it’s not that I didn’t believe you, but it’s…wild. Surreal, honestly. I guess I didn’t realize that was a possibility with the way my mom and dad always talked about this whole thing. I thought you—well, we…the women—were bought, and that was that.”
He frowns “They keep the information that way on purpose. It wouldn’t do to have all these women believing they had fated mates out there. That would make this seem all the more unromantic.”
“Yeah. Hillary—one of the girls I’m friends with—she’s already teetering on the edge. One real sign that there’s a vampire destined for her somewhere out in the wild and she’d be jimmying the window with me.”