Total pages in book: 30
Estimated words: 28150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 28150 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 141(@200wpm)___ 113(@250wpm)___ 94(@300wpm)
“I can imagine. Why did you bring me out here?”
“I believe I should be the one asking questions, Calliope. And what I’d like to know is why am I just finding out that you have a child?”
A stricken expression crossed her face, eyes widening with what looked like fear. “What would it have mattered? I do all that you ask me to do.”
“No, you don’t. You give me that delectable body of yours, but that’s it. You close yourself off to me, never sharing any other part of yourself.”
Calliope looked away, eyes downcast. “I didn’t realize it was a requirement. What do you think I should do?”
“I don’t want you to hold anything back from me.”
“Whatever it is you want from me, I’ll give it to you, just please don’t send her away. She’s all I have left. It wasn’t Tuk and Darus’s fault either. I refused to leave Adlene without her.”
Blaze sighed. It was obvious that Calliope dearly loved her daughter, but something just didn’t make sense. He’d tried to get her to open up to him on many occasions. There were times after they fucked when he’d hold her in his arms and ask her things about herself, but his questions were usually met with one word responses or something that didn’t have much to do with the subject.
“Do you think I’m such a monster that I would send her away when she obviously means so much to you? I’m not a bad person. I only wish you would have told me about her. There has been ample opportunity for you to do so.”
“I believe you made it quite clear from the first time we screwed that you didn’t want to know about my life on Earth. So why should I share anything with you just to be shot down?”
A sudden wave of shame washed through him as he remembered when he’d told her that. At the time it had been his stubbornness that had prevented him from wanting to know more about her life because if he had, he would have been forced to further examine the other things she’d told him. He didn’t want to because that would mean having to set her free. Even now that thought pained him.
He mulled it over in his head and realized she was more than just a concubine. She was a woman he couldn’t live without. He’d fought this feeling from the moment he’d laid eyes on her, but now he couldn’t. Blaze was no better than his father, pining for a woman and letting her consume his thoughts. And there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. For the first time in his life, he was in love. There were no rules that said once he set her free that she couldn’t be his Queen, but was it something she wanted?
“You have no idea how deeply I regret those words. If I could take them back, I would. Can we not start over again? Get to know each other better?”
Calliope laughed humorlessly while eyeing him warily. “And why would you want to do that? I’m just a slave to you to do what you want with. Now that you know about my daughter, I suppose you’ll use her against me like the others have.”
His heart pounded, threatening to burst through his chest. Surely she couldn’t be implying what he thought she was. “Explain yourself,” he demanded, nostrils flaring.
“The Adieaens told me they’d sell her if I didn’t do what they asked. They subjected me to all kinds of humiliating things, and I did them for her. And the only reason Tuk and Darus brought her along was because they saw they could use her in the same way.”
Blaze frowned, not liking where this was headed. “Are you saying the reason that you rejoined my harem was because they pressured you, using your daughter as incentive?” Chest tight, he found it difficult to breathe. He held his breath while waiting for her response.
“I never wanted to be in your harem. But like before, I did it for London. I’ve endured your touch for her sake.”
An unbelievable hurt like he’d never dealt with before crushed him. With her stoic confession, it felt like she’d ripped out his heart and squashed it in her delicate palms. He looked at her imploringly, waiting for her to take it back, to tell him she hadn’t meant it, but instead he was met with stony silence.
She spoke of humiliation, but nothing was more humiliating than realizing you loved someone, and the object of your affections not only didn’t return your feelings, but wanted nothing to do with you. He stood up abruptly and paced the garden, trying to figure out his next course of action. His pride said to let her go if she truly didn’t want to be with him, but his heart and body wouldn’t allow it.