Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94582 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 473(@200wpm)___ 378(@250wpm)___ 315(@300wpm)
Torin couldn’t remember a time when he’d been this fucking hard—it felt like he could fuck through solid plasti-steel if he wanted to. And Gods, did he want to! Fuck, that was—though the female walking ahead of him through the crowded tunnel was clearly preferable to plasti-steel.
He could have broken her grip—he was a trained assassin, after all, not to mention bigger and stronger than her. He could have gotten a hand up and squeezed her wrist to make her drop the dagger—could have twisted her arm behind her back and restrained her other arm by pulling her close to his body—her back to his front. Then their positions would have been reversed and he could have been murmuring in her ear and teaching her a “lesson.”
He could have done all those things, Torin thought. So why hadn’t he?
There was no good reason he could think of. No reason except he’d liked the feel of her against him—and damn did he admire her spirit!
He liked a female with drive and ambition and Special Agent Skylar had those in spades. She was what a human male would have called “a real ball-buster.” And the term would have been accompanied by an eye-roll and a noise of disgust, no doubt. Human males were so threatened by strong females it was ridiculous.
Torin, however, liked a strong female, but finding one who could actually challenge him was nearly impossible, given his height and strength. And he was more attracted than ever to Sky’lar, despite knowing it was certainly a dead-end path. For one, she fucking hated him and even if she hadn’t, he was a Hybrid—which meant the odds that he’d be able to bond with any females was a thousand to one.
Wait a minute—what are you thinking, he asked himself. Are you actually thinking about trying to have some kind of relationship with this female? She’s crazy—she just held a knife to your throat! Are you trying to tell me that actually turned you on?
Torin didn’t know the answer to that but his cock did—it was still hard as a rock as he followed her through the crowds of Serpentines to the tube terminal. The question was, had it been her luscious, curvy body pressed against his own that had made him so hard…or the confident, dominant way she’d taken control of both him and the situation that had made him that way? Or was it a combination of both?
He had compared her to a Pleasure Girl but now Torin thought of a better comparison. Special Agent Sky’lar reminded him of the kind of female the humans called a “Dominatrix.” And it wasn’t just the tight black mesh suit and high black boots she wore—it was her attitude. Her self-confidence was fucking sexy—there was no denying it.
Torin knew other males might be put off by her attitude—a lot of males had to feel like the strongest and the most dominant—the superior in any relationship they had with a female. But he had been the biggest and strongest his whole life without even trying—he was confident in his abilities and his malehood. Confident enough to find a female like Sky’lar incredibly attractive.
Which is why you need to leave her the fuck alone, he told himself sternly. Besides the fact that she had warned him off in no uncertain terms, Torin knew any kind of romantic relationship he started with a female would wind up in a dead end. This had never been a problem before—but then, he’d never met a female he was so instantly and intensely attracted to.
It was an attraction he’d have to get over or at least, keep under wraps, he reminded himself, as he ducked his head to step into the public transport tube behind her. Sky’lar wanted nothing to do with him—not even as a partner—and even if she had, he couldn’t have her. Not permanently—not Bonded to him in the way all Kindred males longed to Bond and Claim their brides.
He was just going to have to forget how he felt and try to forget the way having her threaten him had inexplicably turned him on. And somehow, he was going to have to keep his eyes to himself.
It was time to get serious.
SIX
SKY
Sky saw the Giant’s eyes widen in apparent surprise as they stepped out of the tube and he took in the reality of Region Twelve. She didn’t blame him—it was an area reserved for those in power—nobility and celebrities—a fact which was immediately obvious the moment you saw it.
“Nice, isn’t it?” she said, motioning to the extra broad tunnel which was more of a grotto. The vaulted ceiling was so high above their heads it was barely visible and clusters of rare golden globes hovered there, shedding their warm, magical light over everything.
While all the other tunnels of the underground city were lined with sand, Region Twelve had flat, well-swept paving stones. The buildings weren’t built of ordinary tan sandstone either—they had been mined from the distant Frith’a mountain range and their muted blues, purples, and dusky rose tones spoke of the opulence and wealth of those who lived here.