Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 86074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86074 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 430(@200wpm)___ 344(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
“Listen boys, I really need to powder my nose. Would you mind ordering me a glass of water while I’m gone?”
Dark looked at her, mystified.
“Why do you need to put powder on your nose?” he asked. “Are you trying to hide those little spots of pigmentation the humans call ‘fleekles’? Because you don’t have to—they’re fucking adorable.”
“No, no—she isn’t really going to put powder on her nose,” Light told him. “It’s a euphemism.”
“Light is right—I meant I need to visit the ladies room,” Lili told him.
Dark shook his head.
“So…there’s a whole fucking room exclusively for females somewhere on the premises? Why? What are they doing in there?”
“No, no!” Lili laughed again—so hard that she almost doubled over. “No,” she said again, catching her breath. “I’m sorry—I’m trying to tell you politely that I have to go tinkle.”
“She means she has to urinate,” Light murmured, when Dark got even more confused. “But she’s trying to be polite by saying it in a round-about way.”
“Oh.” Dark nodded. Learning English and several other Earth languages had been easy—he had even picked up the slang and the swear words with no problem. But some of the euphemisms and figures of speech still confused him.
“Now that you understand, I’ll be blunt—I really have to pee,” Lili told them. “So I’m going to go find the bathroom and I’ll be back in a few minutes.”
“But is it safe for you to go on your own?” Dark felt another new emotion—the fierce desire to protect the little female at all costs. “Maybe Light or I should go with you. We can stand guard on either side of you while you urinate.”
“Oh, no!” Lili shook her head, looking slightly horrified. “I can’t pee in front of guys—especially guys I just met! I’m a very private bathroom person. And besides, you wouldn’t be allowed into the ladies room because you’re not ladies,” she added.
“True, we are not ladies in any way,” Light admitted. “We will respect your wish for privacy while you relieve yourself, Lilibet.”
“I still don’t like it,” Dark growled. The protective urges he was feeling were the strongest emotion, other than The Fury, that he’d had yet. “Are we sure that human male who was hitting off you is gone from the premises?”
“Hitting on me,” Lili answered, laughing again. “And I’m pretty sure I saw him leave after I, er, kissed you,” she added, her cheeks getting hot again.
“Which I really fucking enjoyed,” Dark said honestly, since she had told them to talk about their emotions. “Give me a moment to scan the area,” he added. “To be sure he’s gone.”
“Okay, but hurry!” She crossed her legs. “I can’t hold it much longer.”
Dark rose and turned his scope to full intensity. Carefully, he scanned the entire club. At last, he nodded.
“All right, I don’t see him anywhere in the immediate vicinity,” he said at last.
“Good! Thank you—I’ll be right back.” Lili nodded at them and hurried off towards the back of the club where a small sign said, “Restrooms.”
“I still don’t like this,” Dark said, sinking back down to his seat. “I don’t like letting her out of our sight.”
Light gave him a piercing look.
“I believe you’re feeling possessive of Lilibet—is that right, do you think?”
“Is that what you call the emotion where I want to keep her safe between us and never let her go?” Dark asked.
Light nodded.
“That’s it.”
“Then yes—I feel possessive of her. I feel protective of her too, but it feels like both emotions are somehow entwined inside me,” Dark admitted.
“In me as well,” Light agreed. “She’s something special, isn’t she? She’s unlike any other human, male or female, that we’ve met so far.”
“She’s fucking perfect,” Dark growled. “I like her laugh—it sounds like bubbles.”
“Bubbles?” Light asked, raising his eyebrows in confusion.
“You know—like in that champagne drink we had at Commander Sylvan’s party,” Dark reminded him. “The way they rise to the top of the glass and fizz in your mouth and tickle your nose. Listening to her laugh gives me that feeling. I don’t know…” He shrugged. “Maybe I’m explaining it badly. It’s just how she makes me feel.”
“Exactly—she makes us feel,” Light said earnestly.
“Not like that Pairing Puppet we tried to share.” Dark made a face. “I don’t understand why the other Kindred bother with those fucking things.”
“Maybe because they already have emotions, so they don’t need a female to give them feelings,” Light said speculatively.
“Well, Lili gives me all kinds of feelings,” Dark said. “She’s beautiful and adorable and interesting to talk to. Not to mention that she makes my shaft harder than a plasti-steel beam.”
“Dark! You can’t—” Light began.
But just at that moment they heard someone screaming from the back of the club.
Dark knew immediately that it was Lili and he knew something else too…
He was going to kill whoever was making her scream.