Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
The racks on either side of me were filled with molded replicas of male shafts!
They came in all shapes, sizes, and colors and there were so many of them. There were tiny ones no bigger than my finger and some larger than my arm. I reached out to touch the base of one—a lifelike replica of a Brute’s equipment, I thought. It had the pearly gray skin which got darker at the head and the knot. A drop of golden liquid was oozing from the slit at its tip.
“I wouldn’t touch that,” Slade said, just as I touched the base.
A thick jet of golden liquid shot from the slit and splattered on the floor, making me gasp.
“Goddess!” I put a hand to my heart. “What in the world?”
Slade was rumbling laughter, no doubt because of the shocked look on my face.
“Tried to tell you, Princess,” he said, his golden eyes crinkling at the corners in amusement.
“What are all these? Why do people buy them?” I demanded, nodding at the rows and rows of shafts.
“Some of them are just for pleasure—some women use them to make themselves come. Others are necessity,” Slade told me.
“Necessity?” I shook my head. “Who needs something like that?” I nodded at the shaft I had touched. It still had golden liquid oozing from its tip.
“Widows mostly,” Slade said matter-of-factly. “Women who were in a Permanent Soul Binding with a Brute who got killed.”
“What?” I shook my head, aghast. “But why…how could a woman even think of doing that after her husband had died? Wouldn’t she be too sad? In mourning?”
“Yes, but just because she loses her male doesn’t mean she loses The Need,” Slade said. “The scar left by cutting a Permanent Binding takes some time to heal. In the meantime, a woman still needs Brute Compounds to keep her from going into Need Fever and dying.”
“Oh my Goddess,” I whispered faintly. “Will…will that happen to me?”
“Well, I hope not to die in the near future,” Slade said dryly. “But yes, after you have my heir, if you choose to leave me, you’ll need one of these to fill you up and give you Brute Compounds. They’re generic compounds, of course, so they don’t fully satisfy but they will keep you alive until the Binding scar heals.”
“But…but how long would I need to use it?” I demanded, aghast.
Slade shrugged.
“Oh, probably a year—year and a half.”
“That long? But I can’t do that! I don’t even know where I could hide it in the palace where none of the maids could find it,” I protested.
“There is an easy solution, if you don’t want to use one of the compound injectors, you know,” Slade growled. “Very fucking easy.”
“What’s that?” I asked, looking up at him.
“Don’t go.” He stroked my cheek and looked into my eyes. “Stay with me, Princess. Even after the baby comes.”
I bit my lip as I met his golden gaze. Was he really asking me to stay with him forever? Why would he do that? He didn’t love me anymore than I loved him, I was sure. He claimed I was his Fated Mate, but what did that even mean? Was it just that he thought I was the only one who could bear him an heir—or was there something more to it?”
“I—” I began, not sure what was going to come out of my mouth.
“Excuse me Sir, Madam—what can I help you with today?”
The unfamiliar voice broke the moment between us and I looked up to see yet another sales clerk—this one a man—staring at us expectantly.
“Yes. Yes, you can.” Slade dropped his hand and turned to face the little clerk, who was scarcely taller than I was.
“Very good, Sir. And what do you need?” he asked, raising one bushy black eyebrow. “What can I get for you and your lovely lady? Something to spice up your love life, perhaps?”
“Nothing like that.” Slade shook his head. “I need some spreaders. A whole set.”
Spreaders? What were those? I looked up at him in confusion, but the clerk seemed to know exactly what Slade was talking about.
“Very good, Sir. If you would please follow me?” He turned and trotted off and Slade went with him.
I started to follow my new husband…and then, to my complete and utter horror, the worst thing possible happened.
I saw someone I knew.
28
AURORA
I tried to duck behind the display of large purple rubber shafts at the end of the aisle, but he still saw me. His close-set, beady eyes narrowed as he stared down his long, pointed nose.
“Princess Aurora?” he said.
It was Duke Hornsby, one of the most important Nobles at Court. He was immensely rich and deeply respected and esteemed by everyone who lived in the Palace back on L’Crist.
He was also, to use Slade’s words, “a fucking asshole” and the very last person I wanted to observe me hanging around an obscene display of male genitalia. I tried to make a dash for it, but before I could round the corner and make a hasty retreat to the other side of the store, I felt his hand on my arm.