Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107209 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 429(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Was he kicking her out? It sure sounded like it. Although she should be heading back to her room. Yet something in her wanted to reassure him. “You didn’t do anything wrong, Vero. I chose to stay, and we both got some much-needed sleep.”
Vero’s lids half lowered, casting a shadow over his eyes that gave him the sharp, focused intensity of a hunter locking onto its target. “That short window has given me pause. If anybody tried to take you from me last night, I would’ve obliterated them.” He looked up at the ceiling and back down. “I had no involvement with kidnapping the females, so I don’t know if anybody had commitments to other males. We’ll need to shore up defenses as the men come for them.”
Obliterated? Wow. Her mouth gaped open and she quickly shut it. She absently tugged at a stray thread on the bedspread, her fingers twisting it in a quiet, restless motion. “I’ve spoken with all the kidnapped females, and nobody is married or committed. That can’t be a coincidence. My guess is that the Kurjans only kidnapped single females.” It made some sense.
“We’ll see. And I need more information about your ex. There’s no way he isn’t hunting you down, even if you think he’s just an ex.”
She tried not to laugh. “No. I don’t think Mike is the type to hunt down a woman who broke up with him on the phone.”
“I don’t believe you.”
She sat back, studying Vero’s hard face. “Why not?”
His searing blue gaze raked her, dark with raw, dangerous intensity. “Because if anyone took you from me, I’d burn the world to ash to find you—and I’d tear through the wreckage with bloody hands until nothing remained.”
She couldn’t breathe. Her lungs just stuttered, forgetting their job. “You mean, if we were dating?” Her voice trembled.
He blinked once. Slowly. “I think you should return to your room for the remainder of the night.”
Chapter Fourteen
In the morning, his body aching from sleeping close to Lyrica but not claiming her the night before, Vero sat on the thick leather chair and looked around the cozy conference room in the main lodge. Claiming? Seriously. He had to get that thought out of his head. Now.
The smell of burned wood and furniture still permeated the space, while the sounds of hammers and saws filled the day as his people reconstructed the fire-damaged part of the building.
The doctor said Hunter wasn’t ready to be moved yet, and the ancient Kurjan wouldn’t let anybody see him. But hopefully by afternoon Hunter could be flown to the Realm doctors.
Lyrica had insisted upon bringing in the multiple chairs now placed around a coffee table across from a wide window that looked out toward the snowcapped mountains. A coffee station had been set up in the main room of the lodge that included hot chocolate and apple cider. She’d brought carafes of each into the conference room along with several clean mugs. He had discovered an affinity for apple cider, having never enjoyed it before.
Even so, sparkling water with its delicious bubbles must’ve been created by gods.
He didn’t like being away from Paxton with the threats hanging over the guy’s head, but he’d put his four strongest soldiers on protection detail, a fact that had seemed to piss off Pax. For some reason that must have something to do with being brothers, that fact had greatly amused Vero.
Lyrica sat across from him, sipping delicately on coffee with no creamer or sugar. She liked it straight and black, which surprised him. Even he didn’t like it that strong.
After she’d returned to her room the night before, he’d gone for a run outside in the freezing cold. It had barely cooled his body down. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about her, but right now wasn’t the time to figure it out. Also, he felt a little guilty about returning to the lodge and drinking an entire carton of sparkling water earlier that morning.
Today, she was dressed in faded jeans and a taupe-colored sweater that made her eyes glow like molten amber catching the last rays of a sunset, warm and smoldering with an irresistible magnetic pull. And yet, those stunning eyes had yet to focus on him.
Should he say something? Words remained beyond him. He’d wanted her to stay with him more than he’d like to admit. And not to sleep.
When a timid knock came at the door, the relief that swamped him would embarrass him later. He instantly stood.
“I’ve got it.” Lyrica placed her coffee cup on the table and stood, hurrying to the door to open it. “Eudokia. Hello,” she said warmly, pulling the female inside.
“Hello to you,” Eudokia Guavras said formally, partially turning to face Vero and giving a short curtsy. “Prince.”
He had to get rid of that moniker, but he didn’t know how. “Please call me Vero,” he rumbled, trying to look harmless and no doubt failing horribly. “I’ve asked you several times, and I don’t think formality is necessary. Do you?”