Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 63709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 63709 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 319(@200wpm)___ 255(@250wpm)___ 212(@300wpm)
The wind wafts around me. It’s not until Bestian rises and comes to my side to offer a handkerchief that I realize there are tears sliding down my cheeks.
“Don’t be sad, beautiful Rose.” He kneels so we’re at eye level, and dabs my face with the cloth.
I take it and finish the job. “What happened to the Stone King?” I manage a tiny smile. “Tell me he got his comeuppance, like in the movies.”
“He’s dead,” Bestian admits. “Albeit not by my hand.”
“I’m so sorry you were hurt. And that you lost your family.”
“All things die.”
“Don’t say that. You don’t have to pretend you have a stone heart. Not with me.”
“My heart died with my parents. Only when you broke the spell around my castle and woke me from my slumber did it begin to beat again. You are my heart, Rose. That is why I need you by my side.”
Please don’t leave me. I hear it clearly, even if he doesn’t say it aloud. My head is spinning.
I gaze into his eyes. They’re more black than green.
“Come,” he says, rising and offering his arm. I take it and he ushers me to the edge of the balcony. Instead of leading me to the stairs, he stands with me at the rail, looking down over the garden.
“Where are we going?”
“Do you trust me?”
I blow out a breath. “Yes,” I say, because I do. I trust him more than I’ve ever trusted a man. Even if he is a growly, overbearing Alpha-hole most of the time.
He faces me and takes my hand. I let his huge one swallow mine. There’s a twinkle in his eyes.
It takes me a second to realize that we’re no longer standing on the balcony but on an invisible platform, rising above the garden.
“I wanted tonight to be perfect. I wanted to show you something beautiful, but there is nothing more beautiful than you. Your skin is like the midnight sky, your eyes are like stars,” he tells me.
He waves a hand and the air in front of us ripples, turning opaque and reflecting back the image of a giant Alpha with a slender Somali-American woman beside him. She’s wearing a crown.
“This is who you are,” Bestian continues. “This is who you were born to be. The universe brought you to me. You were the only one who could break through my barriers and bring me to life. “
He brings my hand to his mouth and kisses my knuckles. The part of his jaw covered by the mask is cool to the touch but his lips are warm, and heat surges in my belly.
“Dance with me,” he whispers.
I blink because we’re hovering over the garden. The clusters of moonflowers are glowing in various shades of pink, red, and black.
A gust of wind flurries around my skirts, lifting the train. I step close to Bestian and he pulls me against him. We’re eye to eye—but how? My feet should have left the ground. I look down to realize I’m standing on invisible cushions of wind. I’m face-to-face with the king, like his equal, with the wind supporting me.
I slide my arms around his shoulders.
I have been fighting so hard not to fall for Bestian, convincing myself it was all biological. That my feelings weren’t real. Worrying that it wasn’t safe to open up to him completely—to let him in.
But for the moment, I will allow myself to melt. I will allow myself to believe in magic. Because it's all around me, and ignoring it won't make it go away.
I’m floating high above a magical castle and dancing with an alien king under five moons with an invisible wind supporting me. None of this is possible—and yet it’s really happening.
So I close my eyes and rest my cheek on Bestian's shoulder. I let him swing me across a magical dancefloor suspended over a field of glowing moonflowers.
I surrender to it all. To him.
EIGHTEEN
Bestian
This evening is everything I ever wanted—and more. Rose floats in my arms, her face blissful and relaxed. The crown sparkles in her curls. She came to me, the Omega I had been dreaming of. She fought her way to my castle and broke the spell. And now she looks every inch a queen.
My queen.
I guide her in big sweeping steps across the invisible platform I’ve conjured for us. She snuggles against my chest and I realize I’ve started purring, a steady, soothing rumble.
“Rose,” I murmur. She blinks up at me, her eyes cloudy with need.
“Bestian,” she moans, and clamps her arms around my neck, pressing against me. She nuzzles my jaw. I avert my head before she tries to rub against my mask.
I order the wind to take us to her nesting room immediately. Rose doesn’t seem to be aware of her surroundings anymore. Her estrus is consuming her, despite my attempt to soothe her with my purr.