Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
“But what?”
“I thought it was rather odd that she’d be cast aside so soon, especially when I don’t ever remember you looking at any woman like that before. Don’t get me wrong, I realize you enjoy all kinds of women, but for some reason, I thought this one was different.”
“She is, although she told me she’d rather scrub floors than be my concubine.” Blaze wished he’d have handled things differently.
At first, Radien looked as though he didn’t know what to say, but then he broke into loud, guttural laugher.
“What’s so damned funny?” Blaze demanded.
“Are you trying to tell me that the great King Blaze was rejected by a woman in his own harem? This is too much!” Radien laughed even harder, holding his sides. He was so caught up in his mirth that he didn’t see the fist shoot out.
Radien hit the floor. This stopped the laughter. Rubbing his jaw, he slowly got to his feet, eyeing Blaze warily. “King or not, that’s your one time to strike me like that without retaliation. I’ll put it down to your frustration, but don’t let it happen again.”
“You shouldn’t have laughed,” Blaze muttered stubbornly.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have, but keep your damned hands to yourself next time. So this concubine has rejected you? She’s your property. You can do whatever you want to her, and there’s nothing she can do about it.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. She may belong to me, but I refuse to take a woman who doesn’t want me. If I were to take advantage of a person less powerful than me, what kind of man would I be? And what kind of King would I be? I’m supposed to lead by example. Bending people to my will outside of war is not the kind of ruler I want to be.”
He took pride in the fact that in most circumstances he was approachable to his people, seeing to their needs and welfare. Even those who served him he treated with respect because, from an early age, he’d been taught by his own Sire that to get respect, you had to give it. “I have more pride and dignity than that. Besides, there are plenty of women begging to be in her position.”
“Yet you don’t want any of those other women,” Radien aptly pointed out.
Damn his eyes for being so right. “Yes, that’s true. I want her like mad, but she’s not interested. I’ve never been in this situation before, and I really don’t know how to handle it. She’s like no other woman I’ve been with.”
“But have you actually been with her?”
“I’m not talking about being with her in that sense. Stop thinking with your cock, damn it. What I meant was, when she was near, her spirit calls to me.”
“You’re getting very poetic here. Are you telling me you have feelings for one of your harem girls? Have you even had a conversation with her beyond trying to get her into your bed? Perhaps you may be thinking of making her more than just a concubine?”
“Well, no, but do you really have to talk to someone to know you really want them? I’m not saying I’m in love with her. When I take a Queen, I can’t allow matters of the heart to influence my decision. I’ll choose my mate based on their breeding and ability to handle the people.”
“Don’t let what happened to your father harden you. I don’t know much about matters of the heart, but I know that you shouldn’t live your life based on what happened to someone else.”
Blaze’s lips tightened as he thought of King Tayler and Queen Maige, his parents. He’d loved them both very much, but theirs had been a self-absorbed kind of love that had excluded all others. They were good parents and loved him the best they could, but when the two of them were together, they gave the impression that no one else existed.
During the Great Thorzak Lunar War, a chemical agent had been dropped on their planet and poisoned several thousand inhabitants, his mother included. It had saddened him when she died, but it had destroyed his father. Day by day, Blaze took on more of the royal duties while his father pined away for his lost mate. King Tayler slept very little and ate even less until he wasted away to nothing. Some people said it was the effects of the chemicals, but Blaze knew his father had died of a broken heart. He couldn’t subject himself to that for the sake of a woman.
It wasn’t as though he had a problem with the fairer sex, but he couldn’t let anyone make him feel an emotion so strong that it could kill. No, he preferred his harem. When he chose his Queen, he’d get rid of them out of respect for her, but he wouldn’t let his heart become involved.