Total pages in book: 162
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 165618 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 828(@200wpm)___ 662(@250wpm)___ 552(@300wpm)
There was nothing broody or blank about him.
I wouldn’t say he was animated, per se.
I would say he was in his place. Settled. Comfortable. Familiar.
He wasn’t overtly happy, like he didn’t bowl me over with a bevy of smiles, but he was most assuredly content.
And I was drawn even closer to him.
We were out there a long time.
By the time Avie crept off into the trees, Tanyn secured the gate to the pen, and we made our way back to the SnowSprint, this far north, even if it was still early, dusk was beginning to fall.
And the whole ride back, pressed close to Tanyn’s back, my face now completely numb with cold, I was quiet and withdrawn.
Because now I knew I hadn’t only screwed myself.
I was in trouble.
Serious trouble.
And I knew that because I understood it.
But now I wasn’t sure I wanted to find my way out.
Chapter 7
Time
I was sitting in the window seat in Tanyn’s room.
I could feel some cold seeping through the window, so I had a throw wrapped around me.
And I had my Palm in my hand.
But now I didn’t know if I needed to comm my besties.
Or my mom.
I was confused. I was muddled.
And I was scared.
Tanyn was again locked in the study, because a king’s duties never ceased.
And I was locked in my head.
Because, added to all that was thrashing around up there was the fact that now I was annoyed, and even worried, that Tanyn wasn’t making any moves.
No stolen kisses. Not even lip touches. Hardly any touches at all, come to think of it.
We’d returned, warming up with hot cocoa spiked with peppermint schnapps. We’d chatted, me in my armchair in the lounge by the fire, him in his.
Then he’d been called away.
I text commed him to tell him I was going to freshen up for dinner.
He’d text commed back a simple, OK.
But now, there was too much, and I didn’t know where to lay it so whoever I gave it to could help me sort it out.
Mom would be compassionate, but she would do so trying to guide me to Tanyn, because that was what Dad wanted.
My gals would be the same, but they wouldn’t have any answers, like I didn’t have any.
I had one more night and one more day here. The soni-jet was coming to pick both Tanyn and I up tomorrow evening at six.
We were dropping him at Berg Castle before I would head on to Nocturn.
Sure, there was still plenty of time to have sex.
But…what was he waiting for?
Me to make the first move?
Well, that was not going to happen.
Pride dictated that, for certain.
A knock came at the door, probably a bot sent up by Tanyn with a martini or something, just so he could muddle my head even further by being thoughtful, so I called, “Come.”
The door opened and Zyra poked her head in.
“There you are,” she said on a wide grin.
“Hey,” I replied, keeping the throw in place as I aimed my knees and my attention to her. “Have I languished up here too long?”
She entered the room and closed the door behind her, shaking her head. “No. Though, I did wonder if you wanted me to program dinner.”
“Is Tanyn done in the study?”
“He’s shooting the breeze in the kitchen with Manny.”
Well, shit.
Whoops.
I started to get up but Zyra ordered, “Don’t move.”
I stilled.
She came to sit in the window seat at my feet.
“Are you all right?” she asked gently.
This was Tanyn’s other mother, assuredly. Or at least a favorite auntie. I could not lay all that was messing with my head on her.
Therefore, I lied, “I’m fine.”
“Catla, dear, Tanyn tells Manny everything.”
He did?
“I might be breaking confidences, but looking into your eyes, I believe that’s necessary,” she continued.
So I wasn’t hiding my feelings.
Terrific.
“Tan told Manny what he did, arranging this marriage with your father,” she carried on.
I pressed my lips tightly together so I wouldn’t say anything.
“I really have no idea why he didn’t simply court you, except to say, from when he was a wee lad, he was decisive. He knew what he liked and didn’t. What he wanted and what he could do without. There was never any vacillation from that boy.” She smiled a wistful smile. “You should have heard him when you asked what he wanted for his birthday, Summer Solstice or Dead Winter. He knew exactly what it was, piped right up and never changed his mind.”
Although I found this intriguing, for obvious reasons, I didn’t find it surprising.
She patted my knee and said, “I can imagine this is a great deal for you to wrap your head around.”
I couldn’t stop myself from saying, “To give up everything I know and love to be queen of a foreign land that is not my own, yes. You could say that.”
She smiled at me sympathetically and said, “I can’t help you with that. I also can’t advise on it, because Manny courted me. We knew when we wed that we wanted the same things, that we fit into each other’s lives perfectly. And we had time to figure that out. What I can say is, both me and Manny, and okay,”—another smile—“mostly it was me who fretted about Tanyn going to the pens. I know he intends to go to his mother’s grave, and we’ll go with him. That isn’t the same. She just rests there. She didn’t die there. You two glided right by where her body was found, and he knows where that was because he ordered Manny to take him there.”