Total pages in book: 90
Estimated words: 85108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85108 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 426(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 284(@300wpm)
“Well guess fucking what? Now you’re not going to mess with her at all.” Thrax had gripped the kid by his shirt and hoisted him up until his feet left the ground.
“Hey! Put me down, man!” the bully yelped.
“Not until I’m sure you understand me,” Thrax told him. “You’re not going to talk to Lindsey and you’re not going to talk about Lindsey and you’re sure as hell not going to touch Lindsey or even go anywhere near her. You’re not going to post about her on your pathetic little ‘Internet’ either. In fact, as far as you’re concerned, Lindsey is so far off limits she might as well be on the fucking moon! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?”
He roared the last words in the bully’s face and his deep, rumbling voice was so loud it hurt Andi’s ears—even though she was watching the whole thing on her phone.
The bully’s face crumpled and he flinched back as much as he could, though Thrax was still holding him up so his feet dangled off the floor. He was starting to cry and there was a big wet spot on the front of his jeans.
“All right, man—all right!” he’d exclaimed. “I get it—we won’t bother her any more—I swear!” The other boys had nodded and agreed, their faces pale.
“Good.” Thrax had set the bully on his feet and straightened his wrinkled shirt thoughtfully. “Because you know, the World Council has ruled that a Kindred warrior can’t be prosecuted for maiming or killing a male who hurts a female that’s under that warrior’s protection. Did you know that?”
“Yeah, sure m-man. I g-guess so,” the bully stammered.
“Fucking excellent. Because I consider Lindsey Peterson to be under my protection,” Thrax had continued. “In case you didn’t know.”
“I know now!” the bully exclaimed. “I won’t mess with her anymore—I swear it. None of us will!”
“That’s good to hear,” Thrax had rumbled. “So now, if we have an understanding, I’ll let you go. But if Lindsey tells me that any of you little assholes bothered her again—in any way—I’m coming back. And if you see me coming, you better fucking run, because you’ll be fucking sorry if I catch you!”
The three bullies had rushed off down the hallway and none of them had ever said a single word to or about Lindsey ever again. Of course, Lindsey had later complained that none of the boys in her school would say anything to her after that, but Andi couldn’t bring herself to be too upset about that.
She knew from first-hand experience what dogs human men and boys could be. If she had her way, Lindsey would move up to the Mother Ship permanently and find a Kindred warrior to settle down with. After she finished college, of course.
“So Lindsey’s okay with the di-vorce?” Thrax asked, bringing her back to the present. He pronounced “divorce” like it was a foreign word—which made sense, considering that it was such a foreign concept to the Kindred as a whole.
“Yeah, she’s fine with it. I think she understands why we couldn’t stay together. Though I don’t think the ‘open marriage’ thing is going quite like Brian expected it to,” Andi remarked.
“Meaning?” Thrax raised his eyebrows.
“Meaning there aren’t as many women lining up to date a scrawny, middle-aged man as he thought there would be,” Andi said with a grin. “From what I’ve heard, none of the girls at his office was interested in being part of his ‘open marriage’—what a shame.”
“Huh—I always thought your ex-mate was a fool,” Thrax rumbled. “Sounds like he’s getting what’s coming to him. I mean, why would he let a beautiful mature Elite like you go in the first place?”
“Aw, thanks partner.” Andi punched him lightly on the shoulder and grinned up at him. “You really know how to make a lady feel good.”
“I’m serious, Andi—you’re fucking gorgeous,” he growled, his golden eyes blazing. “Fuck your idiot of an ex-mate if he can’t see that!”
Andi laughed.
“That’s his problem—now that I’ve left him, nobody will fuck him!” But she appreciated her partner’s words more than she could say.
One nice thing about Thrax was the way that he gave her little compliments to boost her spirits. Also, he always chose to hang around with Andi, even on their off-time, rather than date other women. He didn’t have to—with his looks he probably could have gotten any woman he wanted—even if he couldn’t have formed a Soul Bond with any of them because of his Hybrid heritage. But for as long as they’d been partners, she’d never seen him even look at—or compliment—another woman. It was almost like she’d found the fidelity in her work relationship that her marriage had lacked.
Of course, Thrax might be seeing someone or maybe just hooking up with a woman without her knowing it, but Andi doubted it. Unless he was doing it with the blood donors he visited periodically to drink from. But if that was the case, he never talked about it to her.