Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 431(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 287(@300wpm)
To that question, he had no answers.
The two of them went into Abbey’s room and Solon busied himself in the fresher. He ran a bath that was just hot enough and found a bottle of sweet smelling liquid which made a lot of foam. Just as the tub was nearly filled, he heard Abbey call his name.
“Yes, lelka?” He shut off the bathwater and went back out into her bedroom.
“What’s this?” She was wearing the My Eye device and holding out an official looking document.
Solon felt a flare of unease as he approached her.
“I don’t know—what is it?” he asked, frowning. “Is your device having trouble reading it to you?”
“No, the My Eye read it just fine,” Abbey told him. The look on her face was unreadable. Solon wished he could touch her to find out what emotions she was feeling but he didn’t quite dare.
“What does it say, then?” he asked.
“It says the exemption from the Bride Draft, which I applied for after we started Dream-Sharing, is granted. But it’s dated over a month ago. Do you know what that means?” she demanded, then answered her own question before Solon could. “It means that I was exempt when you sent the Draft Officers to come get me! It means you knew I was excused from the Draft but you took me anyway!”
Solon felt like his world was crashing down around him, but there was nothing to do now but tell the truth and pray Abbey would forgive him.
“Yes,” he said heavily. “I knew you were exempt. I went and checked at the Drafting Office right after the first time I came to your aunt’s shop and you rejected me.” He took a deep breath. “I have a friend there—I coerced him into rerouting the paperwork so that I could Claim you anyway.”
“What?” Abbey shook her head. “You mean you cheated the system to get me?”
“I would have done anything to get you, lelka!” Solon ran a hand through his mane distractedly. “I knew you were my fated mate—the one woman in all the universe that the Goddess had set aside for me.”
“That sounds nice, but I was scared to death of you!” Abbey reminded him.
“I know you were, sweetheart, but I knew if I could just spend a little time with you, I could ease your fear. And I did, didn’t I?” Solon pointed out.
“You also promised you’d never lie to me and now I find out you’ve been lying all this time!” she shot back. “Why didn’t you tell me, Solon?”
“I meant to.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “I tried to several times and every time something interrupted us and I just…never got back to it.”
He didn’t want to admit, even to himself, why he hadn’t told. He’d been afraid that she would have this exact reaction—that he would lose her trust…and her love.
“Please, lelka—just listen to me—” he began.
“No.” Abbey put up a hand to stop him. “No, I’m through listening—at least for now.”
“What do you mean?” A chill of apprehension ran through his whole body.
“I mean…I need some time alone. Some time to think,” Abbey told him. “I think we should take a break for a little while.”
“A break? What does that mean? For how long?” he demanded.
“I don’t know. A week? A month?” She shook her head. “I just need to be on my own for a while.”
“Is this because of what I did tonight? Because I punished your attacker?” Solon asked desperately.
Abbey took a deep breath and he could see several emotions warring in her lovely face.
“That’s part of it,” she admitted at last. “Please don’t misunderstand—I’m grateful that Chris Brander finally got what was coming to him. I used to lie in my bed at night and dream of doing what you did to him—or something like it. But now the whole town knows…knows what he did to me. I have to wait on these people in my aunt’s shop every day! And now they’re all going to be looking at me and thinking about…about what he did!”
She took a deep, trembling breath and Solon realized she was trying not to cry again. He wanted badly to take her in his arms and comfort her but he understood instinctively that she didn’t want him touching her at the moment.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a low, ragged voice. “I shouldn’t have punished him so publicly. But when he admitted what he had done to you, the Rage swept over me and all I could think of was making him pay.”
“Well, you certainly did that.” She gave a broken little laugh that tore at his heart. “He’ll pee sitting down the rest of his life.”
“He’s lucky I didn’t kill him,” Solon growled. “It was what he deserved.”
“I agree,” Abbey said simply. “But I can’t get over this all at once—or the fact that you lied to me about the exemption.” She shook the official document at him and the paper rattled.