Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45188 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45188 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
“That’s right. But it also depends on how Ava is adjusting. We won’t disrupt her life until she’s ready. That decision won’t be made by me, Baby girl. It will be made by Ganrax.”
“Okay,” she murmurs. “Are you going to put me to sleep with your quill?”
“Yes. Where would you like me to pierce you, Little one?” I say, wiggling my eyebrows to lighten the mood.
She giggles, and I love that sound more than anything in the universe. I’m so glad it’s one of the last sounds I will hear before I’m parted from my sweet girl for six long months.
The last sound will be her soft moan as I pierce her. I don’t even need to wait for a response. I kiss her one more time, tell her I love her, and lower my lips to her breast. I suckle her nipple, swirling my tongue around the tip only long enough to hear her sigh of pleasure before I pierce her. The serum I release this time isn’t for arousal or bonding or calming or even to alleviate pain. I can control what I release into her. This time, my serum will induce sleep, and it does in seconds.
As soon as she’s sound asleep, I miss her already. I scoop her up and carry her and Pokey to the transport vessel. I’ve already sent her other dolls and my few possessions ahead.
It’s time for our long journey to begin. I can’t wait to see her pretty eyes again. I’ll be counting the hours.
Chapter Eighteen
Mia
I awake with a gasp as though I’m desperate for oxygen. It fills my lungs instantly, and I come fully awake seconds later.
I’m confused for only a moment until I see Papi smiling down at me. I’m in his arms, and he looks so happy. “There’s my pretty girl’s green eyes. I’ve missed those so much.” He kisses me all over my face.
My instinct is to giggle, but nothing comes out. There’s a pacifier in my mouth, but I can’t seem to make a single sound. It takes me a second to remember Papi warned me this would happen, that I wouldn’t be able to speak for a few days.
I can’t lift my arms either. My body feels like it’s not attached to me. Like it’s heavy, or I took too much sleep medicine, or I’m paralyzed. It’s disconcerting.
“I’ve got you, Baby girl. I promise. You’re safe.” He’s supporting my head with one arm while holding the rest of my body with his other arm.
I inhale deeply. The air seems richer or cleaner or something, and when I look around, I silently gasp. It’s so beautiful. Surely my eyes at least pop wide. So many colors. More than I’ve ever seen. Like twice as many. I don’t even know the names for some of them. I couldn’t describe them if I wanted to.
“Pretty, huh?” Papi says as he lifts me and angles me so I’m sort of sitting in his lap, giving me a better view. “You slept longer than most Little girls. Perhaps because you’re smaller than others. It took you so long to come out of stasis that you missed the drive to my house. We’re in my backyard. Our backyard, I should say.”
I don’t even want to blink. I’m frustrated though because I want to get down and walk toward the pretty flowers. I want to see them closer. The sky is bluer. The soft clouds don’t even look real. They look like they belong in a cartoon. They are so white.
As if Papi is reading my mind, he keeps talking. “We don’t have pollution here. That’s why the air is cleaner and everything is brighter. We eat healthier too. Those are the reasons we will live longer. Even you.”
I’m so stunned by what I’m seeing that I stop sucking.
“It’s like this year-round, too,” he continues. “The weather I mean. The temperature. It’s perfect. It’s the reason we don’t need more clothing. We have no use for it. When it rains, which it often does in the afternoon for a while, it doesn’t really disturb us. We can go inside or enjoy the water as it comes down.”
Oh wow. I want to stand in the rain. I want to feel it hitting me on the face. I want to dig my toes into the pretty green grass. Is it even grass? It’s something similar at least.
Papi keeps talking, and I’m glad because I love the sound of his voice and the information he’s giving me. “Our skin doesn’t burn either. Our diet is plant-based, and it provides a natural sunscreen. Even pale skin like yours won’t burn in the sun.”
I’ll believe that when I see it. Papi’s skin is very dark. Maybe he doesn’t fully understand how sensitive I am to the UV rays.