Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 82517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82517 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 413(@200wpm)___ 330(@250wpm)___ 275(@300wpm)
He squared his shoulders and made his way into the house. No one tried to stop him as he walked all the way up to her bedroom.
Alex hadn’t stayed in the treehouse, which he had to admit was cool. His dad had only ever taught him about fighting, self-defense, and training. Learning to take pain. Ever since he was thirteen, he had lessons every single day where one of his father’s trusted soldiers would inflict pain. He had to withstand the pain, and not squeal, not cave in to the pressures. The moment he learned how to take pain, and his ability to withstand it increased, his father had then given him permission to start trying to escape.
Once he learned how to escape and fight back, he was able to prove himself worthy to his father. It was why he was always by his father’s side, and his little brother, Phillip, never got the chance.
Even now, his brother struggled on a daily basis to earn his father’s respect, but then, Phillip was also ten years younger. Closer to Alex’s age, but also weak.
Entering the bedroom, he found Alex sitting on the window ledge, book in hand.
“It’s dangerous to be by the window,” he said.
“My dad has guards everywhere. I’m protected here at all times.”
“Insinuating that you’re not protected at my home.”
She closed the book she’d been reading and tilted her head toward him. “Your soldiers are ordered to take care of you. My father orders his men to take care of his family. They’re loyal to him and to me. Your men will fight for you.”
“And that’s a problem?”
“No, I just know I’m more protected here than at your place. Besides, we both know your family and your world hates me.” She got to her feet, and Roman couldn’t help but notice the curvy shape of her legs.
Alex was a curvy woman. The shorts she wore didn’t hide that, and with her sitting on the ledge, with her feet up, it had caused the fabric to ride up, exposing more of her body. Even though it had been raining earlier, the air was still warm, and she wore a tank top.
One glance at her tits, and he saw she was indeed still wearing a bra. He had an overwhelming urge to feel her against him. To have her naked chest pressed against his and to touch her body. His dick ached.
He wanted her so badly. The intense sensation took him off guard.
“Did you mean what you said?” she asked.
“What?”
“Before you left. The war. The death. All of it, or were you just trying to scare me?” She held the book against her chest, and he wanted nothing more than to tear it right out of her arms and to pull her against him. She held her hand up when she took a step toward him. “I don’t want you to lie to me either. Just give me the truth, and give it to me straight.”
“It’s no secret that our worlds don’t get along. Liam is a rival. By my not … taking you on our wedding night, it is an insult.”
“So you’ve insulted him and me?” she asked.
He closed his eyes and took a step back. For this conversation, he needed to be in his right mind, and currently, being close to her, that wasn’t him being in his right mind. He was … thinking with his dick, and this hadn’t happened before.
Even with the other women in his life, before he got married. They never got under his skin. They never came before work.
“Yes and no. To many, I’ve insulted you, which wasn’t … the plan. I don’t know if you’re a virgin, and it means something to our culture.”
“Damn it, Roman. I am a virgin. I didn’t lie, and I certainly didn’t avoid the damn test to hide something.” She growled, and he watched as she tossed the book she’d been holding onto the bed. “You’ve been reading my journal.”
“I have.”
“Don’t you see that even with my father being very open and accepting, he has limits? He doesn’t want just anyone near his little girl. I … Millie is the closest person I have to a friend. He wouldn’t even let me adopt Stuart. The only reason he agreed to allow me to marry you is because he felt it was ideal for all of our futures, and apparently out of all of the men in the Greco empire or fucking cult, you were the best damn candidate.”
“You cuss when you get angry,” he said, and he found her rather cute.
She growled and spun away from him. “That’s not helping.” She tapped her foot on the carpet and shook her head. “I don’t want to cause death, but I also don’t want to be living my life like the past two months. I can’t do it. I miss being … me. I’m not someone who stays home all day, or shops, or … I don’t even know what the women in your family do.”