Total pages in book: 25
Estimated words: 23304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 23304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 117(@200wpm)___ 93(@250wpm)___ 78(@300wpm)
No matter. He only had one general goal in mind—locate Princess London and take her back to Thibius. But first he planned on dealing out some well-deserved punishment for her defection. No one had ever treated him that way before. Royalty or not, how dare London humiliate him in front of all the planet’s dignitaries by running out on their betrothal dinner and then fleeing Thibius altogether?
Zahn had promised her father, Emperor Blaze, that he’d retrieve her, omitting what he planned on doing to her before they made it back to the Malazian galaxy. He’d tan her luscious backside good and teach London who her master was. If Zahn was being completely honest with himself, pride was what drove him to chase after her.
It had been an honor to be chosen by the Emperor to marry his much sought after daughter. Zahn, who’d come from noble lineage, chose to earn a name for himself rather than rely on his family’s name. From an early age, he wanted to succeed.
Through sheer will, determination and hard work, he’d made his way through the ranks of the Royal Army until he’d reached the top spot. He’d amassed a fortune of his own, and had become Thibius’s greatest champion. It only made sense that the mother of his heir be accomplished in her own right and Princess London was beautiful, graceful and royalty.
There was no better choice in the kingdom for him. So what if she didn’t excite him as a mate should? Zahn was sure, given time, they would do well together. She was very beautiful and many sons of noble house had offered for her hand. For her looks alone, it wouldn’t be a hardship to bed her. There was the added bonus of her having the right pedigree.
Still, that nagging sensation in the back of his mind made him wonder if he should have stronger feelings for her. Many arranged marriages lacked affection in the beginning but grew in time. Love wasn’t a requirement he sought in his future bride, but it worried him a little that he felt little more than brotherly regard for her. It barely roused his manhood, when he’d kissed her that one time.
Damn.
All would be fine. Perhaps in time, his body would acclimate to hers. Once he had her back on his ship and set about exacting his revenge, he was sure some other kind of feelings would surface. Zahn frowned as the device beeped almost out of control. There were two dots on the DNA tracking meter.
How could that be?
He’d bribed one of the servants at the king’s palace to bring him something personal of London’s, in order for him to track her. What he got was a hair brush. The strands of hair loaded into the device had brought him this far. Why was it malfunctioning now? One of the dots was immobile, but the other was moving further away from him.
It had to be some kind of fluke. He tapped the machine. Both dots were still there. He’d have to make a decision soon as to which direction he should go.
Damn it all!
He’d go for the one closest, which happened to be the one not moving. Zahn walked in the direction of the dot. He soon found himself in front of a large structure. What kind of place was this? The tracker told him there were several people inside. There was only one person he was interested in finding.
What was the princess doing here? Well, he’d find out soon enough. When he tried to open the door, Zahn discovered it was locked. It seemed like a primitive form of security. He could easily open it with a simple master pick, which he produced from his utility belt. He had it open within seconds.
When he entered the building the tracking device beeped louder. There were several doors around her. He held the machine in front of him, then above him. She was upstairs. Zahn let the tracker guide him. Another flight of stairs later, he stood in front of a door he was positive London was behind. Getting inside was even easier than the door to the building.
Once inside, he looked around with a frown. This tiny place was littered with cheap looking furniture and was no bigger than the closet where he housed his boots, in fact it was smaller. He heard running water. Turning the DNA tracker off, he placed it on a nearby table and moved toward the sound.
The door was slightly ajar, steam seeping out. Walking inside, he saw her silhouette behind a curtain. It appeared to be a primitive shower of sort.
His lips tightened in disgust. What was she doing in this tiny hovel?
She hummed an unfamiliar tune. Part of him said he should wait for her to finish washing, but the other half said seize her! She had run away and humiliated him. She belonged to him, per the betrothal agreement and it was his right to reclaim her.