Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 111898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 111898 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 559(@200wpm)___ 448(@250wpm)___ 373(@300wpm)
After the staggering sense of finding a key to his lock...
After she’d bantered with him in a candid exchange, letting layers of sarcasm and flippant disregard peel away to reveal her vulnerable core, revealing her inner turmoil...
Just as his mother left him with festering wounds, her mother inflicted irreparable harm. Neeka had trusted him with the knowledge. And with a single decision, I rejected her.
The guilt shredded him. He needed to make it up to her, but would she let him? She must. She wanted him. Badly.
She might hate him now, but she’d been unable to get enough of him before. He hadn’t forgotten the swift increase of her heartbeat, or the shallowness of her breaths. Or the fever flush that had radiated from her skin. Or how the sight and feel of her had elicited such intense desire, he’d felt drunk with it.
From the second their lips met, pleasure had frayed any semblance of self-control. How he’d managed to gather the strength to stop the kiss, he wasn’t sure. Now, that uncertainty haunted him. He shouldn’t feel this strongly for anyone but Lore. That he did...
What did it mean?
Rathbone emerged from the shower stall, dried off, and dressed in a clean pair of leathers. He retrieved the clavicle and flashed to the secret throne room, where Lore paced beside her throne, waiting for him.
For the first time, he wasn’t hit with a punch of frenzied lust at the sight of her. Because he was already frenzied by another female?
“There you are,” she said, and promptly burst into tears.
“No crying,” he said, doing his best to school his annoyance. Before their separation, even days ago, her upset had gutted him. Now he wished only to return to his oracle and never, ever see her cry again. “I come with a gift.” He held up the clavicle, showing the goddess the treasure as he approached.
She barely acknowledged the offering. “I can’t not cry. I’m so afraid you’ve tired of waiting for me and chosen another female as your forever queen. Tell me you haven’t.”
He worked his jaw. Did Lore care nothing about the price paid to retrieve this newest bone? No appreciation for the efforts made on her behalf?
“How can you think this?” he demanded. “Much has been lost for you.”
“Did the harpy not inform you?” She wrapped her arms around her middle. “I was there in the pit. I saw the horror on your face when she was bitten.”
Neeka hadn’t told him of the encounter, no. But then, she’d been a little too busy trying to survive. “I thought you must remain near the skull.”
“Not anymore. I’m strong enough to latch onto any bone.” Gliding closer, she added, “About the oracle.”
“Why does my relationship with her concern you? You have always encouraged me to keep a stable.” Unlike Neeka, who would insist he dismantle it permanently.
Despite the harshness of his tone, Lore dried her tears and offered him a shaky smile. “That’s right. I have.” She wiped the moisture from her cheeks with swift swipes. “You are the most wonderful male in existence, and your happiness matters more to me than anything.”
So different from the criticisms he’d heard from Hera, and now Neeka. He should thank Lore for always seeing the best in him.
“Is she one of your lovers?” Lore asked, peeking at him from beneath her lashes.
“She isn’t.” But she could’ve been. Rather than snap the bone into place, he shoved it into his pocket with a little too much force. “She’s the oracle I hired to help me put you back together.”
“Because you love me,” Lore said, rewarding him with a smile.
“Yes,” he rasped. And yet...
What was this strange emotion working through the innermost passages in his mind? With a harsher tone than intended, he said, “I will be disbanding the stable, never to reopen.” He pulled the trigger, then and there. With or without Lore’s approval, he was done spending himself with concubines. “I’m willing to flash there now. With the bone in my pocket, you can follow me and bear witness.”
Her smile fell. “Why would you do this? Darling, there’s no cause for such a drastic measure. I know you’re a god in his prime, and you have needs. And I delight when you delight, so of course I want you to be with whomever you wish, whenever you wish it. Except the oracle. There’s something about her. I think she secretly plots against us.”
He pressed his tongue to the roof of his mouth. “Her, I keep. She’s the first being to aid my quest.”
New tears gathered at the corners of Lore’s eyes. Her bottom lip bowed in a pout. “You’re upset with me.”
Yes, he was, but he didn’t know why. So she had no problem sharing him. So what? There were worse problems.
“I’m sorry,” she rushed out. “It’s just so hard, being trapped in this form. Especially when I believe the oracle hopes to win you away from me for nefarious reasons, and I yearn only to protect you.”