Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140965 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
She loved the way he sounded when he was only half-awake. He’d been out a good deal of the night. She’d woken up twice and found the bed empty, but she still wasn’t feeling well and she hadn’t moved, although she’d worried. It was strange being sick. She couldn’t remember a time in her life when she’d fallen ill.
“The bathroom,” she answered honestly.
“Come back to bed,” he said. “After.”
Her body reacted to that husky, sensual note in his voice, but she wasn’t going there again. She’d already tried seduction and she hadn’t been that good at it.
“Go back to sleep, you were up most of the night.” She was noncommittal, hoping he’d leave it at that.
She felt his lips whisper against her nape and then his arm loosened enough that she could slip out from under him. She stood up and stretched. The birds were having a field day, the various species calling out loudly, singing or laughing hysterically. The windows were screened, so less light could slip through, but she moved closer in order to identify the various flocks.
The birds making the most noise were the strangest she’d ever seen. They looked like something out of the dinosaur era. Each was large, with dark brown feathers on the upper body and white feathers underneath. The tail feathers appeared extremely long, almost doubling the size of the bird. The strangest thing was the bizarre protuberance on its head. It was a thick casque, perched much like a helmet atop the upper half of the bird’s head. The beak was yellow and red and the casque was definitely red or reddish orange.
Fascinated, she stared out the window at the strange birds as they called out, ate figs and laughed at one another. She had no idea what they were, but she knew they had to be rare. These birds seemed as if they were immature, maybe just recently out of their nests, juveniles rather than adults. She’d been there a few days, going back and forth from the coast to inland into the forest and she’d never encountered them. She wanted to take the sighting as a good omen. They were comical and made her feel happy, brightening her day immediately.
Reluctantly, she turned away from the birds and went to the small bathroom with its little shower. She knew she shouldn’t spend too much time using up the water, but it felt good on her aching muscles. She scrubbed her body and was a little surprised that the rash had faded. She knew little about viruses, but she thought as she progressed, getting sicker, the rash would spread. Most of the raised bumps were gone so that the red dots were mostly under the skin.
She washed her hair, taking her time with that as well, rinsing several times. She felt better than she had the night before, as if just sleeping took away the horrible burning in her eyes and skin. Shouldn’t that have gotten worse as well? She wasn’t nauseous, she was hungry when the night before she could barely manage a few spoonsful of soup.
She wrapped a towel around herself, stepped out of the shower and began drying off and inspecting the areas that had been red and bumpy the night before. The rash was definitely fading. She should have studied more about viruses and how they progressed because, at that moment, she didn’t feel in the least sick.
She went to her backpack and pulled out her underwear and a fresh pair of jeans. Today, supposedly, was her wedding day. She wanted, like most brides, to look her best, but she wasn’t hung up on details. Being with Draden made her happy and marrying him was something she’d never dared to dream let alone actually have come true. She didn’t know how Draden expected to pull it off, but the fact that he wanted to marry her and was making it happen was enough.
Her heart hurt it was so full, and she pressed her hand over it. Draden. Who knew there were men like him in the world? He made it exciting to wake up in the morning. She looked forward to the day. To their shared laughter. Their conversations. The intense attraction between them. Who wouldn’t fall in love with him?
She pulled a T-shirt over her head, her nicest one, so she’d at least look halfway decent if they really had a ceremony. It took a while to tame her hair. Thick and wild, the waves curled every which way, but not as anything as well behaved as actual spirals. The color wasn’t actual blond either, more like a dark honey color falling in a rebellious riot past her shoulders. She wasn’t certain there was any way to style hair like hers. She often put it up, but the weight combined with the fineness had it tumbling down after a few hours and not in an artful way. That had never mattered before.