Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45069 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 225(@200wpm)___ 180(@250wpm)___ 150(@300wpm)
Damon arranged her so she sat sideways on his lap. It was so familiar and intimate, two things she was not used to. She felt awkward and nervous propped on his lap. Bending her knees, she turned to fully face him.
He rubbed her back. “Take a breath, Olivia. I know you’re stressed. I’m going to do everything in my power to make this transition easy for you. I’m sure stepping into an environment you’re not familiar with and can’t see is difficult.”
“I will learn,” she assured him. “I promise. I will figure out your space and do what you expect of me.”
“Olivia… Listen to Daddy. What I expect is for you to be happy. That’s it. Did you believe as my mate I would require you to take care of me in some way?”
“Well…yes. Isn’t that what normal mates do? The ones who can see?” Her fear—a fear she’d carried with her most of her life—had always been that whoever her mate ended up being would grow tired of her neediness. She’d braced herself to adjust as quickly as possible so she could prove her worth.
“In the valley, perhaps, but not among my people, Baby girl.” His hand felt so soothing, rubbing up and down her back. “Like I said earlier, Olivia, the mates of Alpha Protectors do not serve us. We serve them.”
“I don’t understand.” She furrowed her brow in confusion.
“I will take care of you in every way, Baby girl. Not the other way around.”
He wasn’t making any sense. “You can’t do that forever. It would be exhausting.” She twisted to free herself. She needed to get off his lap and explore the room.
He gripped her hips and kept her on his thighs.
She blew out an exasperated breath. “I’m trained to learn my surroundings by feel, Sir.”
“Daddy.”
She licked her lips. “Daddy,” she murmured. “Is there anything I might break if I bump into it?”
“No, Baby girl. But I wouldn’t care if you broke anything as long as you didn’t get injured. Your safety is my primary concern. I spent the last several weeks arranging furniture to make it easier for you to get around without obstacles. If there’s anything you find that doesn’t work for you, tell me, and we’ll change it.”
Her breath hitched. “You did that…for me?”
He cupped her face. “Olivia, I would do anything for you.” He lifted her right hand and pushed the delicate sleeve of her dress up her arm, exposing the mark on her wrist. When he lifted it to his lips and kissed the spot that had determined her destiny since birth, she gasped.
“Mmm.” He kissed her there again before setting her hand on her lap. “Let me roll my sleeve up. I’ve heard the first time we flatten our marks together is so powerful that no one can describe the sensation.”
She trembled as the sound of wrestling fabric indicated he was doing what was needed to expose the mark on his left wrist. Fate had determined centuries ago that Alpha Protectors would all be born with a distinct mark on their left wrist. Their intended mate would be born with a matching mark on her right wrist. She hadn’t considered the logistics of that fact, but now she realized that if they were facing each other, the marks would easily line up.
“Are you ready, Little rebel?” He asked as he lifted her hand again.
She nodded, uncertain what to expect but sensing already it would be powerful.
Damon threaded their fingers together and slowly lowered his wrist until the mark that would be a mirror image of hers landed against her skin.
Olivia flinched. For a moment, she thought something was terribly wrong. The shock that rushed through her felt like an electrical jolt. When she tried to pull away, Damon wrapped the fingers of his other hand around both their wrists and prevented her from breaking the connection.
Every one of her senses heightened, except for the one that mattered most. She’d secretly prayed for many years that some aspect of this mating might improve her vision. After all, female wolves developed heightened senses after their mating. That knowledge had given her hope.
She blinked her eyes and turned her head in every direction as electricity seemed to pulse through them, wrapping itself around them in an odd way that gave her the sensation they were in a bubble or a cocoon. No one and nothing else mattered but the two of them.
The connection grew by the moment, but it did not improve her eyesight. It was frustrating, but there were still other parts of their union that had not taken place—the physical part of the claiming, for example. They would not be fully united until they had sex.
And then there was the shift. Olivia would experience her first shift at some point after her mate claimed her in every intimate way. There was still hope that one of those two acts would give her something she’d longed for.