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)
Wait, new study? What's wrong with his old one? I mask my frown and head away, back down the hall. There are only so many places someone can hide in the fort, and it doesn't take me long to find Azar's “new” quarters. They're on the opposite side of the building from me, as if he's trying to get away from my scent. Hmm. Knowing him as well as I do, I'm suspicious of all of this. I knock on the door and then open it without waiting for him to answer. The room is dark, a moonlit window the only thing providing light. A bookshelf has been moved in here, along with a comfy reading chair. Azar sits near the window, a book in his hands, and across the room is a narrow single bed.
Well now, what the fuck is this, exactly?
I cross my arms over my chest and give him a look. "Is there a problem?"
He closes his book and regards me. "I've decided I will no longer hold you to our bargain. You're free to go at any time."
Frowning, I step inside the room and since there's nowhere else to sit, I move to the edge of his bed. "What's bothering you? Spit it out."
"I do not spit. That vulgar Rachel may spit, but I do not." He gives me a cool look.
Mmmhmm. "I seem to recall you spitting on my pussy the first time we got together. Tell me that wasn't spit."
His eyes flare in the darkness, a sure sign that he hears my words and is listening intently for all that he's feigning boredom. "It was because you spit upon my cock. I know better now. I am more practiced with sexual…things. I know how to comport myself now."
Comport? I arch a brow in his direction, leaning back on the bed. "Are we fighting? Is that what this is? Did I piss you off somehow?" I know him better than this. Something is eating at him. Even in the dark, his eyes look hollow and strained. He pretends to be calm, but something tells me he's on the verge of breaking, and I don't like it.
Azar sighs. "No. No, that is not it at all. You are perfect. As always." He raises a hand to his brow, and I notice it's trembling with fatigue.
I get to my feet and cross the room, moving toward him.
"Leave me alone," he snarls, his tone menacing. I reach for his hand and he jerks back, like some sort of wounded animal. He's not going to get away from me this easily. He wanted a consort? He gets a consort—for good or for bad. So I put a hand on his shoulder and crawl into his lap, straddling and facing him. The moment I do, defeat crosses his face. "Melina…"
"I'm not going anywhere until you tell me what's wrong," I say softly. I brush my knuckles along his pale, perfect jaw. "I thought we were a team."
His haughty mouth flexes and he tries to look everywhere but me. "I'm freeing you from our bargain—"
"Too late for that shit," I point out. "You wanted a consort. I wanted things for the fort. You can't put that horse back in the barn now. Or are you planning on packing up and leaving? Just saying fuck it to everything here and abandoning the fort? Abandoning me? What about the thing in the Rift? Are you saying fuck it to that, too?"
I slide my arms around his neck and wait for an answer. I don't really believe he's going anywhere. I don't think he's “done” with me either. I know this man. I know him as well as I know anyone else. In the months that I've been “his,” we've bonded. He's not the easiest person to get along with sometimes, but now that I understand a lot more about the way he thinks, I can re-frame a lot of the things that upset me in order to make him see my perspective as well. It's not that we argue too much—he loves it when I argue with him. He loves having someone “on his level” to talk to. So that's not it. Someone must have said something to him that hurt his feelings, or made him feel like he hurt me, and that's why he's lashing out like this.
Oddly enough, I feel protective of him. I want to find out who was cruel or who made him doubt himself and go smack them across the mouth.
Azar's gaze goes unfocused and his hands move to my hips. For a moment, I wonder if he's going to try to push me off his lap and double down on this whole “no more us” thing, but he drags me forward, rocking me against his suddenly hard cock instead. So much for that. "You have ruined me, you know."