Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127722 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 639(@200wpm)___ 511(@250wpm)___ 426(@300wpm)
My dick was hard, but I wasn’t in the mood. Not when today was the day Necrosis would march on HeartHolme and potentially annihilate us. I pulled her hand away and rolled to my back. “What time is it?”
“The sun is almost at the highest point in the sky.” Her hand caressed my chest as she rested her head on my shoulder. “We weren’t even up that late…”
“Got a lot on my mind.” I sat up and threw my legs over the edge.
“Something wrong?”
The army was aware of the potential assault and prepared for battle, but most of the citizens had no idea what might befall us that evening. Didn’t want anyone to panic, not when there was nothing they could do to affect the outcome of the battle. I’d had Hadlee over last night to get my mind off everything—and it worked.
But now I was in a different headspace.
I walked to the drawer and pulled out a pouch of coins. Without counting it, I tossed it on the bed. “You should go. I have a long day.”
She didn’t stir from the bed. “You know I don’t want that.”
I pulled on my underwear then walked to the window. I peeked through the curtains, seeing the sunshine reflecting off the cobblestones. People came and went, enjoying their final afternoon before everything changed. “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.” I dropped the curtain and moved back to the bed, diving my fingers into my hair to push it from my face.
She propped herself on one elbow, her tits poking out from the sheet. “You’re the only one I do it for for free.”
My heart tightened into a fist at her words, because I could read the meaning between the lines. Frozen to the spot, I held her stare, unsure what to do.
She got tired of waiting for words that would never come and left the bed. With her back turned to me, she pulled on her underwear and everything else. Layers of clothing hid her beautiful skin from view. The last thing she pulled on was her shoes, and she walked right past the coin pouch on the bed on her way out.
“Hadlee.” I heard her stop at the door.
I turned around to face her, arms by my sides, my heart still clenched. “It would never work between us.”
“I know. I’m a whore, and a whore doesn’t deserve a man like you.”
“That’s not what I meant—”
“But it’s the truth. I get it.” She opened the door and prepared to leave my home. “You know where to find me.” With that, she left, her payment still on the bed.
It was money I didn’t even need, and I wished she would take it, especially since I might die tonight. I tossed it back into my drawer then moved for my breeches.
A knock sounded on the door.
I assumed it was Hadlee, returning to say something she hadn’t before. In just my breeches, I opened the door to Elora. There was still sleep in my eyes and my hair was a mess from Hadlee fingering it all night, and it would only take my sister a moment to realize what I’d spent my night doing. “Give me a second to get dressed.”
“Save the vanity.” She let herself into my bedroom and took a quick sweep of the messy bed. “I see you enjoyed your last night alive.”
I grabbed a shirt and pulled it over my head.
“Don’t be embarrassed. I did the same.”
“Does it look like I want to hear about it?”
“I’m a grown-ass woman. You have your whores, and I have my—”
“I don’t want to hear about your conquests, and I don’t want to share mine. Now, what do you want? I just woke up, and I haven’t eaten anything, let alone taken a piss.”
“Ooh…then you had a really good night.”
My stony face only became stonier.
“Alright…not in the mood. Got it.” She untied the scabbard from her belt and presented it to me. “I want you to have this.”
I stared at the blade she held out to me but didn’t take it. “I have a sword. Several, actually.”
“None like this.” She grabbed it by the hilt and removed it from the scabbard, showing the little flecks of Ice throughout the blade.
“You gave it to Mother.”
“I gave one to her. But I made two. Intended to keep one for myself, but…looks like I’m sitting this one out.” She continued to hold it out to me.
I stared at the frozen specks in the blade before I took it with my hands. I brought it close, and instantly my palm burned from the coldness. I grabbed the hilt instead and tested out the weight, the way it glided through the air like a feather, the way it reverberated with power I didn’t understand.
“And, just to clarify, this is a borrow. You’re giving it back to me once this is over.”