Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85794 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 429(@200wpm)___ 343(@250wpm)___ 286(@300wpm)
Sir gave her a level look.
“Be honest with me and with yourself. You’ve heard the frightening stories about the Scourge sexual practices, haven’t you? How they tie their females down and take them roughly? How they demand complete and total erotic submission?”
“I…um…” Suddenly her heart was pounding for an entirely different reason as the latest of those silly romance books that she didn’t take seriously popped into her head.
It was a BDSM romance—her favorite kind—and the MMC or male main character had been the Dominant while the FMC—female main character—was his submissive. Phoebe found herself remembering one of the sex scenes where the MMC tied the FMC down and teased and tormented her sexually for hours before finally taking her when she begged him to.
That’s not what I want—not what I’ve ever wanted! Not in real life, anyway, she told herself. But there was no denying that it was her favorite kind of romance—reading about a Dominant/submissive sexual relationship made her pussy wet and her nipples tight. Hell, just thinking about D/s was getting her motor going, but how could that be when she’d been in fear for her life just a moment ago?
Maybe it’s his scent—like he said, she thought. Sir did smell amazing—like some dark, exotic spice that was somehow utterly masculine, though she couldn’t have said why. It seemed to invade her senses every time she inhaled and somehow she found she didn’t mind being held in his arms anymore.
Sirex looked down at her and frowned. He inhaled deeply and his frown deepened.
“Your scent has changed again. Why?”
“Oh, uh…”
Phoebe cleared her throat uncomfortably. Her huge mentor was able to smell when she was frightened—could he also smell when she was aroused? Surely not, she told herself uneasily. And anyway, she wasn’t turned on—not even a little bit. Was she?
“Don’t you want to put me down?” she asked, trying to change the subject. “I promise I won’t run away and I must be getting heavy. I’m not exactly skinny, you know,” she added with a self-deprecating laugh.
Not exactly skinny was an understatement—she was a big girl and always had been, as she got reminded all the time whenever she went to see her family. Especially if her stepsister, Kylie was there—that girl could eat all day and not gain an ounce, unlike Phoebe who could gain weight just looking at food.
But Sir only shook his head.
“You’re not heavy—you’re an Elite. I want to hold you a moment longer and explain something.”
“Um, okay…” Phoebe nodded helplessly—she couldn’t get away from him without a lot of awkwardness and they were still really close to the barrier, so she decided to hold still. She looked out over the field of dense, purple vegetation, waiting to hear what he had to say.
“Look at me while I talk to you, Phoebe.”
His voice was quiet but firm. It surprised her into looking up into his red-on-black eyes. For a moment, she got lost in his gaze and couldn’t help thinking that the strange combination was oddly beautiful. Then the prolonged eye-contact got to her and she blushed and dropped her gaze.
“No, look at me again. I want you to see the truth of what I say in my eyes,” Sir insisted.
Biting her lip, Phoebe forced herself to look up and meet his eyes again.
“Yes?” she asked, wishing her voice wouldn’t come out sounding so breathy. “What…what do you want to say?”
“I want to assure you that I do not act on the urges of my Scourge half,” he said firmly. “I won’t deny that I feel them, but I would never allow myself to give in to them. That would make me a Broken One and I would rightfully be excluded from Kindred society.”
“A Broken One?” She shook her head. “What does that even mean?”
“A Broken One is a male who derives pleasure from hurting females,” he explained. “I am not such a male.”
He spoke the words so fiercely that Phoebe wondered for a moment who he was trying to convince—her or himself.
“Okay, so you’re promising not to…not to hurt me? Not to rape me?” she asked hesitantly.
He closed his eyes for a moment and she saw a look of pain pass over his strong features, but it was there and gone so quickly she almost wondered if she’d imagined it.
“I am,” he said at last. “I wouldn’t have to give you my word like this if I didn’t look so strongly like my Scourge father. But I was raised on Tranq Prime by a Kindred mother and a Kindred family. The Scourge sexual practices are unthinkable to me.”
Phoebe began to feel bad for misjudging him.
“Hey, look—I’m sorry,” she said hesitantly. “It’s just, I’ve had to be really careful on Earth. I mean, I’m not as much at risk as some girls—I’m big enough to take care of myself.” (Though to be honest, being held in her mentor’s arms made her feel extremely small and vulnerable in a way she never had before.) “But human guys can still get really problematic.”