Total pages in book: 84
Estimated words: 79941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79941 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 400(@200wpm)___ 320(@250wpm)___ 266(@300wpm)
“Of course, Commander,” he said stiffly. “I will seek the wisdom of the Goddess and return within the hour.”
“Actually, it’s getting late and I’m going back to my suite to my family,” Sylvan said mildly. “Sophia is making my favorite Last Meal tonight and I want to spend time with my twins. Why don’t you visit the Sacred Grove tomorrow and then come back to talk to me? The Veritans can wait an extra day.”
Again, Courick wanted to shout with irritation. He just wanted to get away! But again, he knew he couldn’t do anything but comply.
“Of course,” he said stiffly. “I will see you tomorrow morning.”
“Afternoon,” Sylvan corrected him. “I’m afraid the High Council is meeting tomorrow morning.”
“Right.” Courick nodded. It seemed he had no choice but to wait. Well, at least he was up here in the Mother Ship and not down on Earth, he told himself. Not in close proximity to Addison.
He wondered what she was doing right now. Had she gone back to his domicile to collect her things? Was she tucked into the pink princess canopy bed, curled up in a little ball the way she always did when she was sleeping?
What are you doing? Stop thinking of her like that! She lied to you—betrayed you! Tried to get you to break your vow! Courick scolded himself.
He did his best to push the curvy little female out of his mind as he left Sylvan’s office…but somehow she wouldn’t quite leave…
19
ADDISON
Addison sighed as she finished getting ready. She’d cried all night and had woken up with red, puffy eyes and a swollen nose—it took a lot of makeup to cover the marks of such a miserable night.
But by now she was resigned. Courick had left and he wasn’t coming back. Well, fine—let him go. It had been nice while it lasted—being able to be in little space for so long and to feel protected and loved, but clearly it had all been an illusion. She’d been on her own before and she could handle herself.
“He seemed like the perfect Daddy Dom, though,” she murmured as she sat at the white vanity table and patted more concealer under her eyes, which had dark circles from her fitful night without much sleep.
But though the big Kindred had seemed perfect, he had been unwilling or unable to meet one of her most basic needs—the need for sex. Addison had a very high sex drive and she admitted to herself now that she never should have agreed to enter into a sexless relationship with him. It had been stupid on her part, but she had been so hungry for the love and affection he seemed to offer that she’d let her desperation cloud her judgment.
No more, though, she told herself firmly. She wasn’t going to have a relationship with any man ever again unless she could trust him to meet all her needs—not just the ones that were convenient for him.
And if that meant she was probably going to be single the rest of her life, well—so be it.
Of course, it wasn’t all Courick’s fault—she should have been more upfront about her situation. But then again, if he would have stayed to listen, she was sure they could have cleared things up. Instead, he’d acted like she was some kind of evil temptress, trying to lure him into sin. She’d just been trying to take their relationship to the next level—that was all.
Now it was clear to her that their relationship had been nothing but an illusion—a big, fat nothing burger, Addison thought resentfully. Though her heart ached, she promised herself that she would put the big Kindred out of her mind. He wasn’t the first man to leave her when she was vulnerable but he was going to be the last.
Addison was never going to herself fall in love again.
20
COURICK
“Good day to you, Warrior. How may I help you?”
The priestess who addressed him was an older one. Her hair was streaked with green and she had the green-within-green eyes which meant that she had communed with the Goddess directly for many years.
For some reason, Courick felt uncomfortable when she turned those strange and holy eyes on him. He’d spent a restless night, tossing and turning and trying to rehearse what to say during this meeting. But somehow, now that he was here in the Sacred Grove, he felt guilty—as though he was trying to get away with something that was wrong. However, there was nothing to do but answer the priestess and try to get one with things.
“Er, hello, your Holiness,” he said formally, bowing his head. “I have come to seek the Goddess’s blessing. I’m about to take a new assignment as a diplomat to an ally on a distant world and I would like her good will to go with me.”