Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 71067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71067 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 355(@200wpm)___ 284(@250wpm)___ 237(@300wpm)
* * *
Rex
I did not go easy on her.
But she had to be taught a lesson. I could not let that bite go unanswered. I think she enjoyed the anal once she settled into it, but it was still an effective punishment. The prospect of being publicly handled is another lever she has given me.
Poor, sweet thing.
She has no idea what is to become of her. She has lived the life of a feral little outcast, and the pack she made for herself is a shadow of the pack she has been brought into.
My world contains more than the money she sees up front. It contains heritage, customs, bloodlines. It involves power broking at many levels. I have not yet introduced her officially, because she will need to be fitted for a gown at the ball that is to be thrown in her honor.
I watch her sleep peacefully in this comfortable room, and I wonder how she will handle all that is to come.
CHAPTER 9
Nicky
“Up!”
I am barely awake when Fescue walks into the bedroom hitting a button that makes the many windows surrounding the bed un-dim and letting in the morning rays.
I come to full consciousness very quickly as I realize I am naked underneath the sheets and this man is basically a stranger. The movement makes my ass ache inside and out instantly. This is a very vulnerable way to wake up, and when I look over at the other side of the bed, Rex is not there.
Fescue looks different in the brilliant fresh light of day while invading my personal privacy.
He’s in his forties, I would guess. His hair is dark but graying at the temples, and he has the sort of face that nature intended to imply he is inherently better than other people.
Whoever this guy is, he seems to think he belongs in this room with me. He shows no hesitancy in coming over and trying to chase me out of bed. I pull the blankets up to my chin and growl at him, physically emitting a ferocious sound that is much more animalistic than any I have made in the past. I might be losing control of the beast inside me. This man better hope I don’t lose it on him.
When I don’t get up immediately, he moves on. “You need to get up and shower,” he says. “This room smells like a brothel.”
“Maybe. But it’s our brothel, not yours. Who the hell are you? What are you doing? Where is Rex?”
“Mister Regent is busy with the many affairs of his pack business,” the man says, going to a closet that is recessed in the wall panels. I’m not sure if I am in a bedroom or an evil lair. Everything here is so perfectly engineered. I’m jealous.
Then I remember that technically, though it absolutely does not feel like it whatsoever, this is mine too, now. I’m the alpha’s mate. Which means that is my shiny closet.
Good for me. I always knew I’d make it in the world through a series of complete accidents almost entirely divorced from my own actions and desires.
My thoughts are sarcastic. The beast in me is stirring again. She settled last night under Rex’s hand, but this morning she is rested and ready to once more terrorize a small village.
“Get up and shower, please, madam,” he says. “You may be accustomed to doing as you please all day, but here in the pack, we need to be certain places at certain times.”
“Where am I supposed to be?”
“Up,” he says bluntly. “Are you going to take yourself to the bathroom, or am I going to have to take a horsewhip to you?”
“You wouldn’t dare.”
“You have no idea what I would dare,” he says.
“What’s your name again? I forgot it. Because I didn’t think it would matter.” I’m being bitchy now, but technically so is he. Saying the room smells like a brothel is rude as hell.
“My name is Fescue, but you can address me as sir,” he says.
“The fuck I will.”
“You absolutely will. I know your type. Wild. Disrespectful. You will call me sir.”
I sit up, keeping the sheet wrapped modestly around me. I don’t get the impression this man is lecherous, but I am keeping myself in check. The sitting up makes my ass hurt like hell, but he doesn’t need to know that.
“I think I outrank you, bud.”
He turns to give me the full benefit of his most dour stare. “I can assure you, young lady. You have no rank in this pack at all. I want to make that very clear. Fate may have decreed you to be the alpha’s mate, but there are other things that matter here.”
“Like what? Vague things?”
“Get up,” he says. “Have a shower.”
“Get the hell out of my room.”
“It’s not your room,” he tuts. “Would you like me to call Mister Regent? I can have him come out of his meeting to handle you. I am sure he would be in the sort of mood that would result in you being handled.”