Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 111898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Muscles hardened, and blood heated. He clasped her waist and squeezed. “You cannot challenge Hades. He’s our ally.”
She slithered against him, saying, “Then he should have let me talk with the goddess.”
He glanced at his uncle, who gave a succinct shake of his head. Rathbone sighed and flashed Neeka to his bedroom. “I will bargain with him.” He tossed her onto the bed. “After we negotiate terms.”
“Do you think I’ll lose a challenge?” she asked, eagerly stripping out of her breastplate.
“I think I love him and want to keep him around.”
“Fine. But you’re gonna owe me so big.” She shimmied out of the skirt. “More than just terms. I’m expecting more jewelry. And gold coins with my image.”
“You’ll have them.” Rathbone kicked off his boots and unzipped his leathers. “But you are not issuing a challenge to him, Neeka, and neither am I. That’s final. He’s more than my ally. He’s raised me after my mother abandoned me.”
“Gah! You can’t just drop an information bomb like that while I’m so hot for you. I can’t concentrate properly, so I can’t react properly.” With her thumbs hooked at the sides of her panties, she slid the material down her legs.
“I’ll remind you. Now, about our terms.” He climbed onto the bed and pinned her with his weight. “I’ll return to bargain with him as soon as you admit you’re mine.”
* * *
Neeka petted Rathbone’s chest. He looked so cute when he snored, his hair mussed and his mátia closed. A startling contrast to the animal who’d taken her to bed. Oh, how she lov—liked the many sides of this complicated male.
Though she wanted to do nothing more than cuddle with him, she forced herself to carefully maneuver from the mattress and rise. He didn’t want her challenging Hades—his beloved uncle/father!—so, she wouldn’t. But she couldn’t not speak with Siobhan. And deep down Neeka knew. Hades wouldn’t bend on this, no matter what treasure Rathbone offered him. That left one option: sneaking into Hades’s palace.
The second she’d spotted the mirror, she’d remembered the words she’d heard in the Hall of Secrets. Though the speaker, whoever it was, could be luring her into a trap. Always a possibility. Also worth the risk. And this wasn’t a betrayal of Rathbone’s trust. Neither Rathbone nor Hades would ever learn of her actions. So. No harm, no foul.
Fine! It was a betrayal. Wrong on every level. But she was still going to do it. Because priorities! Save her consort and harpykind or assuage Rathbone’s feelings? As quietly as possible, she dressed in her uniform, then strapped on as many daggers as she could hold and tiptoed from the bedroom. Without the ability to flash, she’d have to go on foot. And she’d have to go fast, or Rathbone would catch her. He’d have something to say about her no harm, no foul sentiment.
Wings rippling, Neeka cast the arresting male a final glance. Her chest compressed.
I do this to save him. Not herself. Not the worlds. Him. Was there any better reason?
She hurried from the palace, entering a deserted nightscape teeming with overgrown trees, vines, and bushes. She hacked and chopped through them, tacking the scent of crisp, fresh water. Her mind whirled. If she and the Scarlet Tornado actually ended up making a go of things after this, she was totally taking over the landscaping of their kingdom. Because dang. This sucked.
By the time she reached the outer edge of the overgrowth, coming upon a charred wasteland and the head of a river, she was panting and beating herself up. Perhaps she and Rathbone could make a relationship work? He seemed to really, truly want her. Like, big time. To keep. Forever. And dang it, she wanted him, too. Like, big time. To keep. Forever.
He fit her, as if his intensity, ferocity, and charm had been tailor-made from a blueprint of her most secret desires. How he looked at her...smelled...moved... She shivered with desire.
Trust was important to him. As it should be. Trust was important to her, too. A need like no other. With it came security, one of life’s greatest treasures. She’d broken Rathbone’s once, but he’d given her a second chance. Could she allow herself to hurt him the same way twice? Besides, his loyalty to his uncle should be rewarded, not punished.
Neeka skidded to a stop, narrowly avoiding an eruption of fire. The flames burst through cracks in the dirt. What was she even doing? Betraying Rathbone by doing the one thing he’d asked her not to? No, she couldn’t, wouldn’t do it.
Resolved, she spun, intending to head home. A vibration in the ground jolted her, and she turned, ready to strike. A flash of red stopped her.
Maximus! His mouth was open with a war cry as he rushed toward her, a hammer raised over his head. Bloody cuts marred his upper body and face.