Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 99485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99485 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 497(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“If I am it’s better than the nightmare of looking at all of your ugly faces.” I finished my second brandy and slammed my glass down on the table. “I need to go.”
“Hey, I hopped through three fucking Space Gates to get to your side of the galaxy,” Rath protested. “We’ve only had two drinks and you’re going to go already? What about hitting a brothel or two? I’ve heard there’s a new ‘droid one in this sector that’s fucking amazing.”
“Yeah it’s amazing until you get your dick stuck in one of the droids—the owner has their pussy slots set too tight,” Turk said, wincing.
“Ouch—sounds like you speak from experience.” Drake’s slitted red eyes were dancing with amusement. “What’s wrong, Turk—did you get stuck yourself?”
“No comment.” Turk shook his head and we all roared with laughter. I made a mental note to send an enforcer to talk to the owner. The droid brothel was in Clan Cruel territory. He needed a warning if his droids were hurting customers.
But I couldn’t really concentrate on what my friends were saying—my head was full of her. Full of my Fated Mate, Aurora. How long had I waited for her—dreamed of her—obsessed about her?
For fucking years.
I could still remember the first time I’d seen her and smelled her sweet scent, which was burned into my brain. It had stirred the Darkness within me and I had known at once that I wanted to hold the curvy little human in my arms and claim her completely.
I longed to part her legs, to taste her pussy and drink my fill of her sweet juices until she tugged my horns and moaned my name. Then I would fill her with my shaft until I knotted her—tying the two of us together in a Soul-Binding that was unbreakable for all eternity.
Aurora was my Fated Mate and I had waited so long to make her mine. Rath was right—by the laws of my Clan, I couldn’t just take her but now an opportunity had arisen—one I wasn’t going to miss. I needed to prepare.
“Sorry, boys—I have to go,” I told them. “We’ll have another Clan meeting soon. Drinks for the rest of the night are on me.”
I beckoned to the bartender and punched a code into the plate on its silver head. It was an override—one I could use because this bar was also within Clan Cruel territory. My father wouldn’t be very happy if he found out, but that was too fucking bad. He was getting old anyway. Soon he would have to step down and once I was the Chieftain of our Clan, I was going to make some changes.
But that was something to consider another time. Now all I could see was my Fated Mate—I wanted her with an intensity that grew daily. Lately the desire had gotten so bad I wasn’t sure I could trust myself much longer. She was all I ever dreamed about—all I ever fucking wanted. The knot at the base of my shaft throbbed at the thought of finally having her and Binding her to me.
I wondered if she had any idea at all that I was coming for her.
Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day for both of us.
2
AURORA
PRINCESS OF L’CRIST
“Roderick, I must talk to you,” I murmured to my brother as he settled himself on the throne. It was a wide, golden chair that looked grand but was actually nothing but wood covered in metallic paint. Large jewels sparkled along its top—obviously fake to any but the most inexperienced eye.
Gaudy though it was, I had loved the look of the throne when my father sat on it. Good King Gerund, as he had been called by our people, had always ruled with wisdom and compassion and had done his best to make certain everyone who came to him got justice.
My younger brother, however, wasn’t doing quite such a good job.
“What do you want now?” he demanded, glaring up at me. He was too young to reign—at least in my opinion. But we had all thought that my father had years more on the throne—he’d only been sixty when he died in a fiery shuttle crash last summer.
I still mourned my father—who I had been close to all my life. And I was pretty sure our whole kingdom felt the same way. Unfortunately, while everyone had been in mourning, my brother, Roderick, had been doing some extremely unsavory things.
“What I want to know is what happened to all the tribute money collected from the people that Father had stored in the treasury,” I muttered, bending down so the lone guard who stood at the far end of the ragged crimson carpet couldn’t hear. “The Lord Chancellor let me in to get my favorite tiara today—the one Mother left me—and it’s gone. All gone.”