Total pages in book: 16
Estimated words: 14601 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 73(@200wpm)___ 58(@250wpm)___ 49(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 14601 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 73(@200wpm)___ 58(@250wpm)___ 49(@300wpm)
Alena and I haven’t had much time to talk. She snuck into my room last night with her husband-to-be hot on her heels. It was in that moment that I knew that man was madly in love with her.
I stand off to the side and watch her sitting on her husband’s lap, smiling at him as he wraps his arms around her in a tight hold. “She’s free,” I whisper to myself. “She’s happy.”
My eyes start to water with joy for her. I got her away from my mother, and now she’s in the hands of a man who will protect her with his life. I saw that last night when he burst into my room and chased after her. He all but pleaded with her to come with him. I’m sure that before last night he’d never pleaded for a thing in his life.
“I told you everything would be okay, Princess.” I stand up straight when I feel Vlad’s lips against my ear. I lean back a little, wanting to feel his body heat. “I promised you your sister would be okay, and I will never break a promise to you.”
I turn around and look up at him. He did tell me that. He snuck into my room once again last night. He was on a mission. A mission to make sure I knew I belonged to him. And to make sure the world knew, too. If he manages to get me pregnant there’s no way of hiding it. I should want to smack him because of it, but all it does is make to cling to him even harder. Something about his primal way with me, along with his bossiness and caveman tendencies, works. Maybe because when I’m with him I don’t have to think. He takes care of what’s happening, and it’s nice. Freeing.
“She really is, isn’t she? He loves her.” I glance over at them once again and smile when I see him picking her up and carrying her from the room. I have to stifle a laugh. I’m sure my mother wants to die of embarrassment at how her daughter was carried away from her wedding. Everything is about appearances to her.
“I thought he was crazy,” Vlad says, and I look up at him. He’s watching me, not paying attention to anything else. “He saw a picture of her and lost it. I knew there was no stopping him. Never saw him like that before. So I stood back and didn’t tell him he was being crazy because I knew there was nothing I could do.”
I watch him as his eyes roam over my face, and then they go soft and sweet. That happens when he gets me where he wants me, usually after putting me there. “Then you walked right into my life, and I got it. You lit up the whole room, and then I saw it. You pulled at a primal part of me. A part of me that I didn’t know was there. It was lying dormant, waiting for you. Because it belonged to you.” He leans down a little more so his breath is against my lips. “You were putting on a show. You were on a mission to protect your sister. I bet you’ve been doing it your whole life, haven’t you? Making sure she doesn’t have attention on her that she doesn’t want. Making sure you take the brunt of your bitch mother’s wrath.”
His big hands come up to cradle my face. “It’s my job to protect her. She’s my little sister,” I tell him.
“I know, sweet girl. I know. But who’s been protecting you?” He strokes my cheeks with his thumbs. I don’t have a response. We both know it should have been my mother, but she protected me as much as a farmer protects his cattle. “From now on, your answer to that question is my name. Say it, Tabitha.”
“Vlad protects me,” I say instantly, the words falling from my lips easily.
“Damn right I do,” he growls, before his lips are on mine.
I forget where we are and fall into this moment with him. He always makes me forget my surroundings. When he’s near me, everything melts away and I don’t have a worry in the world. He’s right. I know he will protect me. I can feel it in my bones. I’ve been waiting my whole life for this knight to rescue me. My knight.
He pulls back, his breathing as heavy as mine. “We can’t do this here. I don’t like people seeing you like this.” His possessive words jolt me back to reality, and I remember where we are. I pull back a little, and Vlad’s hold tightens for a moment before he releases me. He’s giving me a warning. I better not run. I can’t believe I forgot we are in a room of people and I was openly kissing a man. A princess must never behave like that with any man who is not her husband. And even then, public displays of affection aren’t well looked upon.