Total pages in book: 129
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 121324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 607(@200wpm)___ 485(@250wpm)___ 404(@300wpm)
“And he has cool bedroom moves in his closet, right?” Delilah took another bite out of her bread. “Tell me I’m right.”
Wynter sighed. “You know I won’t share any details, so it’s pointless to keep asking for them.”
“I feel I should tell you that the more you refuse to share those deets with me, the more compelled I feel to push you to cough them all up,” said Delilah, once more returning her gaze to the black mirror in her hand. “I’ll bet the male character in Hattie’s smut novella could give Cain a run for his money—Brook’s got some great bedroom skills.”
Hattie scowled. “Don’t call the book smut.”
A line creased Delilah’s brow. “Why?”
The old woman sniffed. “Because I don’t like it, what’s why.”
Delilah stared at her, baffled. “Why do you seem so offended? I’m not using the word ‘smut’ in a derogative fashion. I mean it in a positive way. I love some of that stuff. You know that.”
“I do,” Hattie conceded with a sigh, patting the back of her hair. “I suppose I’m a little touchy about it. But you know how hard it is for a woman to enjoy some erotica without being judged. And I really don’t like when people brand it ‘porn.’ The word implies there’s no plot.”
“As much as some of the stuff you read is the height of graphic, I can agree it is unfair to term it ‘porn,’” said Anabel, again stirring the spaghetti bolognaise with a wooden spoon. “So what’s the novella’s plot?”
Hattie turned to the blonde, her face softening, her eyes lighting up. “Well, a barmaid goes home with a stranger, who then introduces her to BDSM.”
Anabel blinked. “And?”
“And that’s it,” replied Hattie. “They have sex.”
“The plot certainly brims with twists and turns,” Xavier deadpanned, his eyes dancing.
Delilah chuckled. “Plotless books are sometimes the most entertaining.” She abruptly stiffened, her grip on the mirror tightening. “Gotcha, motherfucker.”
Wynter straightened. “What?”
“Saul,” said Delilah, dropping her bread on the table. “He’s up on the surface.”
Anticipation reared up inside Wynter, warming her belly. She pushed out of her chair so fast it skidded backwards. “Where?”
“Outside the vehicle storage unit,” replied Delilah, also standing. “Do we alert the Ancients?”
“We’ll have to,” said Wynter, waiting as Anabel switched off the hob. “As much as I’d love for us five to go up there and take him out ourselves”—oh what fun that would be—“I’m not sure we could do it alone. He’s a damn Aeon, and they’re scary powerful. Plus, this isn’t solely our fight.”
“We’ll need to hurry,” said Xavier as they all made a beeline for the front door. “Saul won’t stay in one place too long. He might even decide to head back out of town or something.”
Quite aware of that, Wynter tore out of the cottage and took off at a fast run as she made her way to Cain’s Keep. Reaching the entrance, she looked from one guard to the other. “Saul’s in town near the vehicle storage unit. Alert Cain. Quickly.”
One guard hurried inside the Keep just as Maxim came striding out of the double doors. “Did I just hear you right? Saul’s crawled out of wherever he’s been hiding?”
Wynter gave a hard nod and then gestured at her coven. “We’re going to head up to the manor; we’ll wait for Cain there.”
Maxim hesitated. “He would likely prefer it if you wait for him here.”
Yeah, but she wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Cain had a separate entrance that led to the manor. If so, he’d have no problem with leaving Wynter and her coven waiting outside the Keep twiddling their thumbs while he secretly took care of the Saul situation.
No, thank you.
She wasn’t staying out of the action, especially not when it would merely be to appease Cain’s overprotective streak. “Let him know where I’ll be.” She turned to leave. “If he’s not there in five minutes, my coven and I will pursue Saul without him.”
“He won’t want you throwing yourself into danger, Wynter,” added Maxim.
Glancing at the gargoyle over her shoulder, she shrugged. “Even Ancients don’t always get what they want.”
She and her coven left the bailey and took the elevator up to the manor. They’d no sooner reached the grand foyer than Cain and Azazel came striding into view. Oh yeah, there was likely another entrance to the manor. Either that or the two males had used their Ancient-super-speed to get here.
Cain pinned her with a look that told her he was not happy with her right now. “Stay inside.”
“You know I’m not going to,” said Wynter calmly. “You also know that Kali will free me if you try keeping me somewhere I don’t want to be, so let’s not waste time arguing. Saul could retreat at any moment. None of us want that.”
Cain’s face tightened, his nostrils flaring. He cursed beneath his breath and stalked out of the manor with Azazel hot on his heels.