Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 68870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68870 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 344(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 230(@300wpm)
I tell her all my promises of forever between my licks and sucks of her pussy.
“I’m going to take care of you and our baby. We’re going to be a family, and I’ll get you out of here. You don’t need to worry. I’ll handle everything.”
I finish her off with my mouth, diving in with my tongue and licking her G-spot. She trembles, and when her sweetness comes, it’s better than anything I’ve ever tasted before. Fuck, I really, really love the changes happening to her body.
Pregnancy is going to be super fun for the both of us. I plan on enjoying every second.
“I love you, my little sparrow.”
“Love you, too,” she responds, making my chest tighten. A feeling like nothing I’ve ever felt wraps around me. Her softness to my hardness. Together we are whole.
Chapter Fifteen
Minnie
We definitely need a plan.
Owen walks me through his idea while we shower together. The water streams down over his face and it makes his dark eyes appear even larger and more serious. I can tell his mood is shifting. He’s sliding into battle mode.
“How much longer can we hide in your room together until they wonder what’s going on and come to check on you?”
“We’re fine until the wedding planner comes. Which is tomorrow.” I let out a sigh thinking about it. The only wedding I want to plan is mine and Owen’s.
“Don’t they need to feed you or something?” he growls. His hand goes to my belly. “You’re pregnant.”
“I’m grieving, remember? They’ll leave me alone and have my food delivered from the commissary.”
“Minnie, I think we should leave now while we have the chance. We can wait until it’s dark again, we can sneak out and go back through the tunnel.” He strokes my cheek as he says it.
“It’s too risky. They’re watching me closely, which is why I don’t want to leave the room. If they see you, they’ll take you. And if they find out who you really are, the leader of the Insurgence, they will definitely kill the three of us,” I plead with him. I can’t lose him. I already lost my mom to them, and I could lose him and our baby, too.
He holds my face and kisses my forehead. “I won’t let that happen.”
Finally we come to an agreement on the escape plan after thirty minutes of going back and forth. We’ll wait until after the meeting with the wedding planner, just to make sure the Regime doesn't suspect that I’m going to resist getting married. Maybe they’ll let their guard down a little more.
The following day, after getting Owen back under control when he realizes I’ll have to go over to the hospital to meet with the wedding planner instead of her coming to my dorm, I head to a hospital conference room. It feels about a mile away through the winding hallways, twisting, ornate staircases, and covered walkways that connect all of the hospital’s many properties downtown. Once I reach the conference room in the administration building, I’m greeted with coffee and croissants. There’s a cheese plate, cake samples and champagne. The table is decorated with lace swatches, shoes, and fabrics. A tiny, black-haired, bird-like woman in a navy pantsuit holds a digital tablet the size of her abdomen in her hand.
“I’m Ginger, the wedding planner. You must be Wilhelmina.”
“Please, call me Minnie. What’s all this?” I try to look interested but not too excited. I don’t want to oversell the idea that I might be coming around to having an arranged marriage. Protest too much or too little and I might arouse suspicion.
Ginger looks surprised. “All the intricate parts of a wedding ceremony, of course! Have you never been to one, dear?”
I look around the room and can hardly believe all the decisions I’m going to have to make for a sham wedding. I take a breath and steel myself.
I try my best to pretend while I pick different things. It’s crazy, all the extra measures the Regime is taking for this wedding. They’re spending so much on stupid stuff when others are starving on the other side of the wall. It makes me sick and angry.
“Bold choices, I love your style.” Ginger happy-claps as if this were her wedding.
“Now, I’m talking about lots and lots and lots of tulle. Like, so much tulle, I won’t be able to fit through the doorway,” I add, fighting an eye roll.
“My dear, as I said before, when the Regime arranges a wedding, you get exactly what you want.”
“I know I shouldn’t question it, but this is so bizarre and twisted to me.”
Ginger hesitates, looking around the room, then leans forward and whispers conspiratorially, “Two things. One, this will be a special live television event. Every scholarship wedding is televised, you know. Any time a non-elite is matched with an elite and it’s actually sanctioned by the government, it’s an opportunity for The Leader to gain favor with people. It gives people hope. It’s an act of benevolence, to win the hearts and minds of the public. The second reason, these will be the last choices you may ever get in life, depending on the kind of husband they stick you with.”