Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 350(@200wpm)___ 280(@250wpm)___ 233(@300wpm)
He messed with his arm cuff for a while, then stopped, staring into space. Understandably, he had a lot going through his head. Having to protect me. Having to find his ex. Although, he didn’t look stressed. He looked sad.
I closed my app. “Wanna talk about it?”
His gaze met mine, and I realized he hadn’t really looked at me since our conversation earlier.
Don’t be weird, Charlie.
“Just…a lot of things working their way through my head right now,” he said.
“About Sheila?”
He nodded. “I was thinking about the early days, after other Furkers and I arrived on her planet, when we met for the first time.”
“How did you meet?”
“It was peak mating time for her species, and I discovered that the females hunted males. During the day, the males would find our hiding places, though we did our best to cover our tracks to prevent detection. I was discovered first by another female, who dragged me out, which is when a battle between them ensued.”
“Between that female Vorcon and Sheila?”
“Not right away. There must’ve been seventeen females, at least. They were all battling it out for me, and then I saw her, coming over a hill. She was radiant, this bright light shining around her—in retrospect, a trick of light, one of the planet’s moons highlighting her impressive head, which was narrow in the front and very large in the back.”
This was very different from the ways I was used to hearing about people meeting their partners, but it obviously evoked a lot of emotion for Daddy, so as strange as it sounded, I reminded myself that, at the end of the day, it really didn’t mean any less than the way I’d met Carter.
“She was one of the most beautiful creatures I’d ever seen. A vision.”
I’d only seen a disguised version of her on the security footage, so I couldn’t really speak to her looks, but the way he described her, it didn’t exactly fit my idea of beautiful or a vision. Although, that could have been my jealousy at hearing him describe her like that, which I noticed pinched in my chest.
“Many of the other Vorcon females fled, and only five stayed to battle Sheila. She took them on so effortlessly. When she was done, even covered in blood and innards, she was still stunning.”
This meet-cute was, admittedly, getting less and less relatable as he went on.
He shook his head as though shaking himself out of his reverie. “After that, she took me out with her to begin our courtship. Dinners, stargazing when we would go out on hunts at night. And she had this ability to make her friends and me laugh…oh, how we all laughed.”
This sounded more like something I could understand, and as his gaze drifted off, I couldn’t help but be jealous of anyone who was able to bring him this much joy, but it also twisted at something within me.
“Things were lovely at the start?” I asked.
He nodded.
“Sounds very familiar.”
“Cheating Asshole?”
“Yeah. We had a lot of fun date nights. And the way he looked at me, it was like I was the only one in the world. It made me feel…” I struggled to get the words out.
“Special?” Daddy asked.
I teared up. “Guess some things aren’t so different, even when you’re from a galaxy far, far away. Even after what he did to me, it’s painful to remember the good times because I can’t help thinking that it was all a lie, just a way of getting me to be into him.”
“Yes, that’s what it was like. She used her hypnotic ability to put me in a trance, then used it to imprison me.”
“How did you wake up?”
“When she did something particularly cruel, it would snap me out of it from time to time. Think of it as influence rather than control. It was a bit of a dance, but over time, I think she came to resent me—that she needed me to create this army for herself. And she would lash out and attack me. In those moments when I shook off the trance, I would inwardly struggle because my choices were finding a way to escape or falling back under her spell, and unfortunately, it felt good to be under her spell, even if it wasn’t real.”
“I understand the feeling,” I said, his words resonating deeply. “Not that Carter had ever been violent with me, but he could be mean, and in moments when I’d see him flirting with another guy, I would tell myself I should leave, but then as soon as I decided I’d go, he would change back to the guy I fell for. He’d make me laugh again. He’d kiss me, and God, how good it felt to kiss him. And all that other stuff felt so insignificant because I thought I’d found the love of my life, you know?”