Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70779 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
I knew, in that moment, that I would never leave her. She was my Mistress now and forever. I wasn’t going back to the Heavenly Realm—not until the day when we both died at the same time. Because Willow was my world now.
And I was never going to let her go.
EPILOGUE
WILLOW
“So it was a partial Heartmate bond—I thought so,” Sarah said, nodding in satisfaction. “And now the two of you are finally fully together.”
“I’ve heard of that happening occasionally,” Goody Albright said. “It’s very rare though. Usually when Heartmates find each other they bond pretty quickly.”
“I know it didn’t take me and Malik long to get together,” Celia said, smiling and taking another sip of her coffee.
“Right—you three go on about your Heartmates,” Goldie said glumly. “Why can’t I find two or three willing men to share my hearth and home?”
The five of us were sitting in Goldie’s diner having coffee and some of the excellent pastries that Celia and Sarah had brought over from The Lost Lamb bakery. I had called on Goody Albright not long after Kael and I got together and she had insisted on a girls’ get-together, “So you can tell everyone at once.”
Outside it was another beautiful Autumn day with a clear blue sky. Through the plate glass windows of the diner, I could see the gold and red and yellow leaves rustling as a crisp wind blew through town. There was a nip in the air too—just enough that I could wear my favorite red sweater and not feel overheated in it. It was lovely.
“I’m sure the right guy or, er, guys are out there for you,” I told Goldie now. “You’re a beautiful, curvy woman.”
“What about Liam?” Sarah nodded out the window where one of our local Creatures was passing. “He’s a Kraken—I’ve heard he has very talented tentacles in his shifted form,” she added, winking. At the moment, he just looked like a human—a big, muscular human with thick blond hair and sea green eyes. I wondered what his Kraken form looked like. Was he all tentacles all over or just from the waist down?
But Goldie was already shaking her head.
“He’s nice but he’s not my type,” she said.
“A Minotaur then?” Celia suggested as another Creature passed by the plate glass windows of the diner. “I’ve heard they’re extremely well endowed—that should satisfy you.”
She nodded at the bulge in the Minotaur’s trousers and giggled. Goldie slapped her arm playfully.
“Very funny. But it doesn’t matter if he’s hung like a bull—I need more than one guy at a time.” She sighed. “You know what I keep thinking about? That hunting lodge in the woods I stopped in after I ate one of your crazy horny pear tarts.”
“Wait—what kind of tarts?” I raised my eyebrows.
“You’ll find out the next time the special singing pears are in season,” Sarah told me with a grin. She turned to Goldie. “So why are you thinking about the hunting lodge?”
Goldie shook her head.
“I honestly don’t know. I think maybe it was the scent in there. I mean, it was like cedar and spice and something else—something masculine. Almost…almost animalistic. It really got me going.”
“Yes, we know,” Celia said dryly. She winked at me. “Goldie had to, uh, take care of herself in some strange hunter’s lodge because she ate two of my tarts and then got stuck in the woods after dark.”
“Wow…so you just snuck in and uh…” I couldn’t find the right words.
“And had a little fun in their beds? Why yes, yes I did.” She grinned at me. “Ever since, I keep having dreams that maybe the residents of the lodge might come find me. Of course, that could be a problem—they might be mad at me.”
“Gee, I wonder why,” I said dryly and we all cracked up.
When we finally stopped laughing, Goody Albright shook her head.
“Don’t you worry, Goldie dear,” she said, smiling. “I know that it’s hard to wait your turn, but I promise you—it’s coming.”
“I hope you’re right.” Goldie sighed and took another bite of donut. “Because I’m really lonely. I need a Heartmate—or Heartmates—too.”
I hoped that she would find what she was looking for and I had a feeling that she would.
Because in Hidden Hollow…anything is possible.
THE END?
CERTAINLY NOT!