Total pages in book: 127
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121146 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 606(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Peter Thielgood threw up his hands—(soft, feminine hands that had never seen a day’s hard labor or held the hilt of a sword or the grip of a blaster, Fierce thought contemptuously.)
“I can’t talk to you right now,” he told Celia. “I’ve never seen you like this. So rude…so common.”
“Well if it’s ‘common’ to know how to cook and to point out that at least one person in your family ought to know how too, then yes, I guess I’m ‘common’,” Celia snapped. “Dios, Peter—what do you expect from me? I wasn’t raised with a silver spoon in my mouth! I grew up in Foster Care—I was in twelve different homes in twelve different years. So pardon me if I never learned any fancy manners or how to act spoiled and order everyone around like your mother does all the time!”
Peter Thielgood’s face went white.
“How dare you speak about Mummy in that way? She is the matriarch of the Thielgood family—the rock upon which our dynasty is built!”
“She’s also a pain in the ass,” Fierce heard Celia mutter.
“What? What was that you said?” Peter demanded. Clearly human hearing wasn’t very good because her voice hadn’t been that low, Fierce thought.
“Nothing.” Celia took a deep breath, clearly trying to calm herself. “Look, I think we need to stop now before we say things we’ll both regret,” she told her fiancé. “Tell your mother I said I’m sorry I can’t decorate her friend’s condo right now. Maybe…maybe we can work something out when I come back to Earth.”
“What about the turkey? Are you going to apologize for burning it to a crisp and ruining our Thanksgiving dinner?” Peter demanded.
But though Celia had clearly been trying to make peace, this was apparently too much for her.
“No!” she exclaimed. “No, I won’t apologize for something that’s not my fault! You know what—I think we ought to take a break.”
“A break? You mean from our relationship? A month before the wedding?” he demanded.
“Yes.” Celia raised her left hand where she wore a large, square-cut diamond. She pulled the sparkling ring off and brandished it in front of the viewscreen. “A break.”
“You’re only doing this because you want to fuck those two brutes that came to take you away!” Peter exclaimed, pointing at her accusingly.
“No, Peter—I’m doing this because I’ve had enough of you and enough of your family,” Celia snapped. “I’m not going to fuck anyone, but I need some breathing space.”
Peter’s face changed from angry to worried.
“But Cece, darling—”
“Call me back when you can be civil. Until then, we’re on a break!” Celia said shortly. She turned to where Fierce and Hold were standing and gestured at them. “How do you turn this thing off? How?”
“Like this!” Hold came forward quickly to flip off the viewscreen.
The last thing it showed was Peter Thielgood, getting red in the face and opening his mouth to shout some more.
“Thank you!” Celia was breathing hard, as though she’d just run a race and her scent was angry and irritated. She was clenching the diamond ring tightly in one hand—so tightly her knuckles had gone white, Fierce saw.
“I’m sorry your call didn’t go well,” Hold offered politely.
“Oh, that’s just Peter. He and his mother, when they get together…” She waved a hand vaguely.
“At least you stood up for yourself,” Fierce growled. “Instead of letting them order you around, like you do in all the dreams we’ve had of you.”
But this seemed to be the wrong thing to say.
Celia whirled on him, her fists clenched at her sides and her lovely, dark eyes flashing.
“What? Have you been using those crazy dreams to spy on me?”
“No, no—of course not, my lady,” Hold said quickly, trying to make peace. “We have no control over the dreams. During Dream-Sharing, each person involved sees the other one going about their daily activities. Surely you saw Fierce and me doing things as well?”
Celia shook her head.
“I can’t really remember the dreams. I only know they kept waking me up and I couldn’t get a good night’s sleep.” She sighed and ran a hand through her long, dark hair. “Dios, I’m tired! Is there a place to get a shower around here? And where am I going to sleep?”
Between us! Fierce wanted to say. Despite the little Elite’s fiery temper—or maybe because of it—he found himself more attracted to her every moment. But he knew Hold wouldn’t allow them to all sleep together—his brother had a crazy idea about “taking things slowly.”
“We have a bathing chamber where you can shower or take a dip in our bathing pool,” Hold said courteously. “And our suite has a guest room where you can sleep when you’re finished bathing. Also, I believe Kat sent over some clothing for you,” he added.
“She did?” A grateful smile spread over Celia’s lovely face. “Dios, that woman works fast! I really like her.”