Total pages in book: 130
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117336 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 587(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
I'm pleased, though. She's finally come out of hiding, her head held high, ready to spar.
She's utterly magnificent, the healer Melina. I'm fascinated by her. Ever since she laid her cool hands on my skin and reassured me that all would be well—as if I needed her assistance to heal—I've been obsessed. This world has polluted my mind, just as much as any of the drakoni that rage in the skies. A Salorian needs no one but the empire. A Salorian takes no mate, because bonds with others are weaknesses. The strongest Salorians are those that stand alone and need no one.
I am not strong, not like that. Because it has been years since I was dumped into this nightmare world, and it is starting to look as if I'm going to be staying. I won't give up hope to return to my world, but if I must be here, I must blend in with those that dwell in this land. That means wearing the clothes they wear, eating their foods, and perhaps even taking a mate.
How the drakoni would laugh. Well, they would if they had minds left.
I've never thought of taking a mate prior to being marooned here. It's not something my people do. The Salorians have mating pairs that are chosen to share their fires, and their purpose is to keep our line strong. That is not my purpose, though. As Salorians go, I am a minor lord, a leader of ground troops, expendable and insignificant. I doubt anyone back home has even noticed I am gone.
But here, even though I hate this place, there are opportunities.
I have seized one particular opportunity in taking over this fort. I should leave it at that, but the darker, hungrier side of me wants Melina. The uncouth side of myself I should be ignoring has…needs. Needs that I had not felt before she touched me and her scent enveloped my senses. I had noticed females before, but I have always been able to withstand them. They were interesting, but without enough charm to tempt me.
Until Melina.
From the moment I opened my eyes and saw her leaning over me, full of quiet competence and authority, my spirit has been uneasy. My cock stirs at the thought of her. Her scent haunts me. I have dreams in which I wake up with my sheets wet, my cock throbbing and spent. I feel like a callow youth once more, and I don't like it.
Like any sort of craving, I know that the best way to get it under control is to allow myself a taste. The humans here take mates, and I could use an advisor that would quietly educate me on how the minds of these people work. So, I have decided. Melina shall be my consort, and we will rule Fort Dallas together.
And she will share my bed. I have decided that, too, and my cock stiffens underneath my robes at the thought of it. Of touching her dark, soft skin and tangling my hands in her thick curls. Of breathing in her scent until I drown with it. Of pushing her thighs apart and—
"You can't be serious," she snaps at me, all fire and fury. I love it. I love her anger, because her scent rises with her passion, and it excites me. "If you want a woman, get one. I'm not volunteering for the position."
"You have already been chosen," I tell her, keeping my voice cool. I don't want her to know of my inner turmoil, of how even now, my fingers itch with the need to touch her. "You should be flattered."
"Fuck you. I'm not flattered. I want my clinic back." Her nostrils flare with indignant rage. "You have no right!"
"This is my fort now," I say smoothly. "I have every right."
She pushes her hair back from her face, rage simmering in her dark eyes. "You can't just declare that I'm your consort. You don't get to decide that."
"Oh? Do wars end differently here in this world?" I feign innocence. "Do victors not get the spoils?"
I watch as her jaw clenches, and I love her fire. She doesn't seem to realize that all her choices have been taken away from her. I've been patient until now. I've offered the things she mentioned, and when that elicited no reaction, I've been forced to become ruthless with her. She'll eventually realize she has no option here. Truly, this conversation has brought me more amusement than taking over the fort, even, and it's a sign of good things to come.
"Is that what I am?" Melina asks in a deadly voice. "Your spoils?"
Tsk. "You're fighting against the inevitable, my beauty. This fort doesn't want to take care of itself. They practically flung themselves at my feet when I showed up with my drakoni." I gesture at my surroundings. "I ask for things and they're brought to me. Gratefully, I might add. If I tell them I want you, how many of them do you think will hold you down in my bed for me, smiling all the while?" I let that sink in for her, and then add in a soft note, "But I don't want that, of course."