Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 66904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66904 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Lettie looks at me with a hint of confusion in her deep brown, round human gaze and I feel a rush of tenderness, along with the certain knowledge that what happened last night was no mere connection of obligation. We have established a mate bond, and that is no small connection.
Wrath perhaps knew this would happen. Or maybe he didn’t know at all. Maybe he didn’t care. Maybe this is a tit for tat, the alpha has a human and the enforcer has a human so he ensured that one of his men would have one as well.
I’m surprised he didn’t take her for himself, but Wrath has always been wily. The reason he’s alive, and rich, and powerful is because he doesn’t take unnecessary risks. Grave City’s populace see him as a legendary outlaw, rakish and uncatchable. But I know better. And the alpha knows better. This is an experiment for him. But Lettie is no longer an experiment for me. She is my mate, and I will look after her at all costs.
“Come with me,” I say. “And do not leave my sight nor my arm’s length. I cannot guarantee one of the others won’t try to take you. You are a delicacy down here. And you belong to me.”
She blushes at that. I wonder how deeply she understands it. Does she feel the same bond I do? Or is she merely a pretty little soft fuck toy with a welcoming body which she would give to any master who demanded it? I do not like the second thought one bit. I want her to know that she is mine. I intend to make that fact abundantly clear.
Lettie
The underground baths are much more impressive than I had imagined they would be. When he said communal baths, my mind conjured up images of dingy tile with years of built-up filth and mold because none of the outlaws can be bothered cleaning. What I find is much more palatable. It’s a massive natural subterranean cavern. Light trickles through fissures in the rock above in a way that makes me wonder if the whole damn roof of this place isn’t in immediate danger of falling down. There are plants growing down from those same fissures, and the rocky earth beneath my feet is soft in places where mats of moss grow thicker toward the waters.
The baths are not baths in the traditional sense. They are hot pools, a series of irregularly shaped basins of water in the ground, filled with crystal clear water that seems to be bubbling up from beneath. The air is warm and humid, and there are quite a number of saurians lying in the sunbeams, both in and out of the water.
A few open an eye to look at us as we go past, but for the most part this seems to be a communal but not strictly social space. There is no conversation. All I can hear is the sound of bubbling and fizzing from various streams making their way up from beneath us.
He leads me to a smaller bath away from the others and gestures for me to get in. So I do. I do not take off the shirt. I do not want anybody to see me.
The fact that Shan saw me last night is enough to make me blush now, remembering how I was spread open and displayed before him. I can still feel him inside me. There are echoes of his flesh stretching mine every time I move. There is an ache that I do not want to go away.
Shan strips, removing his attire carefully and folding it next to the bath. He stands above me, naked entirely. My eyes are immediately transfixed on his cock, that instrument of destruction of purity and innocence. I gave myself to this monstrous creature who cannot possibly have any feelings for me. He fucked me out of duty, and out of a desire to make me behave. My desire betrayed me and delivered me to him, and I think it will do so again.
He slides into the bath beside me, the water rippling up against his scales. He reaches out for me and draws me from the warm shallows to deeper waters in the center of the bath. I do not know how far down the pool goes, but I know I can feel the bubbles rising up around me. Shan keeps hold of me, wrapping one arm around my waist and holding me fast.
“These springs are known for their healing properties,” he says. “This will help soothe any discomfort from last night. I know it was not easy on you. You have a delicate body. Does it ache?”
I hide my face in his neck and nod slightly. I don’t want to admit it out loud, but I cannot deny it. The waters of the spring have a slight effervescence to them, a certain bubbliness that is making its way up under my skirt and playing against the most sensitive and still swollen parts of my anatomy. It excites as much as it soothes, and I find myself squirming in his grasp.