Total pages in book: 140
Estimated words: 140940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 140940 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 705(@200wpm)___ 564(@250wpm)___ 470(@300wpm)
My heart raced.
We entered an office, enveloped in a warm glow of white and yellow hues. Every surface was meticulously clean and organized. Bookshelves adorned the walls.
But nothing could have prepared me for the sight of M.
Emily, yet not Emily.
There, he reclined in his chair with his feet propped up on top of the sturdy wooden desk. His attention was fully captured by the thick leatherbound book in his hands.
Oh my. . .
He wore a tweed jacket with elbow patches, a crisp, white shirt, and trousers. His beard was perfectly trimmed, while his long dreadlocks hung down to his shoulders.
Tortoiseshell glasses were perched on the bridge of his nose.
Yet that face, it was Emily—from those large brown eyes to those full lips. Even the high cheek bones were hers.
My mouse, but as a man. . .
This dizzying sensation fell over me.
My mouse’s familiar features were there, but they were rearranged into someone unmistakably male, someone new yet intimately known.
My reaction was immediate and confusing. There was an undeniable attraction, a pull towards this person who embodied the essence of my mouse yet presented in a form far removed from the woman I knew.
Is he. . .mine also? And what would that mean?
For a moment, I questioned my own feelings.
Was it strange, this attraction I felt?
My heart knew Emily in every facet, loved her in a way that transcended physical form. Yet, here, confronted with this alternative representation, I found myself ensnared by the same intense feelings, directed at a face that mirrored hers but in a context that society would deem unconventional for a man like me.
Pavel got to my side and whispered, “I know what is going on in your mind. Do not think too deeply about this, Kazimir?”
I shoved all thoughts aside.
There was too much at stake. I couldn’t allow any crazy questions to derail me. So, I buried them, deep beneath the layers of my resolve.
Lunita walked further into the room. “M, we—”
A deep voice left him.
“We are not taking over the body.” He didn’t even look up from the book as he turned a page. “I already told you this three times. Maxwell will be fine, and she is the Boss. Let her keep control.”
I stared at him.
Lunita went to his desk and placed her hands on the surface.
“Move your hands.” M flipped the page. “I’m sure they are not clean.”
Lunita kept her hands right there. “Look up.”
“Why?”
“Just do it.”
“I am studying for the bar. I do not have time for this.”
“If I tell you, you won’t believe me, so just look, scarecrow.”
M let out a sharp hiss of frustration and then lifted his view. “What?”
Before she could answer, he snapped his view to us and opened his mouth in shock.
The book fell from his hands.
“Oh my god,” He stared at me with those startlingly familiar brown eyes. “What? No. How? Or. . .am I dreaming? But I don’t dream.”
His shock was so profound that he sunk deeper into his chair, as if the sight of me had robbed him of all strength.
Lunita pointed at him. “Don’t you faint. Stop it.”
His hands shook. “Is that. . .him?”
“Yes.” She left the desk and went over to a bookshelf on the right. “The witch sent him—”
“That is not exactly what happened.” I took another step into his office.
“No.” M pushed his glasses up his nose with one finger. “It was the breast milk.”
Shocked, I nodded. “Yes. It was the breast milk.”
“Dear God.” He ran his fingers through his dreadlocks. “While I tend to give you two proper privacy, once she came through, I have been monitoring her movements on the television and. . .”
I quirked my brows.
“There has been quite the insurmountable consumption of breastmilk on your part.”
Everyone turned to me, even the little girl.
A tiny bit of embarrassment rose in my chest. “It was only two times.”
“I wondered if there would be an effect.” M slowly rose from the chair, not even picking up the book on the floor. “Back in Russia, the witch told Emily to have a wet nurse due to the possibility of something flowing through the milk. During those moments of your. . .feeding, I wondered if she should stop you.”
I shook my head. “My mouse could not stop me when it comes to a moment like that.”
Lunita snorted.
The little girl whispered something into the lion’s ear.
I watched M take his time heading around the desk. He looked like he wanted to analyze and dissect me, yet also race away from me, screaming too.
I kept my voice steady. “I had no idea I could come here, and when it happened I decided to meet you all before leaving.”
“Do you think this could happen again?” M stopped at the edge of his desk and peered at me. “Do you plan on making this a continuous situation?”