Total pages in book: 61
Estimated words: 58483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
* * *
Taisha
“My other things in the pack.” My pulse pounds. What has happened to the coin? It was in my pack, and now it’s gone. I’ve lost it. How could Leylah have expected me to keep it on my person through all I’ve encountered? Mother Earth, even if I’d tried to stuff it in a body cavity, stars forbid, they’d have found it during my med exam.
Leylah’s gone now, and I’m millions of light years away, but I know in my bones that I need to do what she told me. It’s critical—I don’t yet know how, but I sense it. Once again, I get a tiny flicker of light, of voices. I shut my eyes and touch my temple, and it’s gone. Nothing.
I look back at Drayk.
“Your pack is in my keeping.” He eyes me. “You may earn it back with good behavior.”
King Zander said this is a master / trainee relationship only. But I suddenly wonder what Drayk means by good behavior.
I step closer. “Good behavior?” I lower my voice unintentionally, as I think of the delights of his body. Of mine. I lift my palms to his wide, muscled chest.
His horns shoot out, twitching in my direction. The irises of his eyes change from brown to a brilliant amethyst.
He draws in a sharp breath. “Taisha.” He covers my hands with his own, roughly. “I-I can’t. You heard what King Zander said. I should never have taken advantage of you on the ship. I apologize.”
Oh.
With apparent effort, he drops his hands and steps back, away from me. “I’m your superior.” He draws his chest up. “I’m responsible for you.”
“Right.” I try to hide my humiliation, the rejection cutting deeper than I could’ve imagined.
He tilts his head. “Besides, I’m not sure you’ve told me everything I need to know. That Zandia needs to know.” He frowns. “You’re holding something back, something important. Until you tell me what it is, I won’t be able to fully trust you.”
“I see.” My voice is dangerously wobbly.
“I must be impartial.” He sounds almost beseeching. “King Zander is relying on me to do the right thing for all of Zandia.”
I blink rapidly. So it meant nothing. “As you wish, Master.” I can’t keep a touch of scorn from my voice.
He hears it and raises his brows. Steps closer. “I will not tolerate insubordination,” his voice is soft and dangerous.
My body registers his nearness with prickles and heat. My breath catches at the memory of the way he punished me before. The intimacy of the act. How it aroused me.
I can’t stop myself from pushing him into it again. I want those walls back down. Want to see his hunger again, feel his touch.
“Stars forbid.” I roll my eyes. “You are clearly a being of import and stature. Everything you say must be listened to with intense concentration and approval, certainly.”
It’s a dangerous game. I don’t truly wish to enrage him, especially if I am to prove my worthiness to him.
“Taisha.” He steps right into my space, so close I feel the heat from his body soaking into my skin. He crosses his arms, and my pussy clenches at his expression. The way his muscles ripple.
I push a little more. “Do you want me to bow? Or curtsy? Please, do teach me the ways of your planet.”
If my voice was any more insolent, it would strip the paint from the walls.
“That’s enough.”
He moves like lightning and grabs me. “Your tone is inappropriate. And I am more than able to teach you to modulate it. Shall I show you how?”
He started out with irritation. But now that his hands are on me, stars, his voice lowers and gets husky.
“Yes.” My voice comes out breathy and soft. We stare into each other’s eyes. I love to see the way his irises deepen in hue the more he stares. When I glance up, the horns are thicker too, and although it was only the one time, I smile to myself, knowing exactly what that means. He may claim to feel nothing for me, but his body speaks the truth. “Definitely.”
He wraps a fist in my hair and gently tugs my head back, exposing my neck. He lowers his lips, and I think he’s going to kiss me there, but instead he murmurs, close to my ear. “Are you mocking me?”
Tingles of heat flush over my entire body at what’s about to happen. I shake my head. No. Mother Earth, I’m fascinated by his face, his strong jaw, the planes and angles. His lips. Those talented lips...
“Surely you remember the way I like to punish.”
My face grows warm. Moisture gathers between my legs.
He smiles, a dangerous grin. “Ah, so you haven’t forgotten. But perhaps you need a reminder of who is in charge.”
“Um…” I’m lost in his gaze. Will he kiss me? Any second now. He acted so cold before, but it’s clear that he’s burning up for me just as much as ever.