Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
I backed into the wall with my arms still crossed over my breasts. “You know nothing.”
“He exchanged you like a peddler exchanges a tent for a sturdy horse.” Xander edged closer. “If I were him, I wouldn’t have taken the king’s money or sent my wife off to breed. I would have sold my blood, worked in other towns, and did anything I could to keep my family together—”
“Stop it.”
“You’re the mother of his kids, for Ambi’s sake.”
“Shut up. You don’t know him.” I stepped around Xander.
“I know his type and I’ve helped many women like you return to men like him.”
“And did you shower with these women and poke them with your erection?”
Again, he flashed that mocking smirk at me. “I didn’t shower with them. And I don’t exactly poke. I pound—”
“I don’t want to know.” I held up my hand.
“Why not? Is it your loyalty to this husband who’s probably counting the king’s money as we speak?”
“Shut up!”
“Did he write you?”
The first year, but then the letters ceased.
Something could have happened to him or the girls. Writing the letters to me also could have been difficult. He probably imagined me sleeping with the Quiet King each time he wrote one.
I glared. “You don’t know Ethan. He has always been devoted to our marriage.”
Xander gave me a sad smile. “When I help dominas, they always make excuses for their weak husbands.”
“That’s good to know, but I’m not like any other domina. I am only me.”
“That’s the first correct thing you’ve said tonight. You aren’t like any other.” He remained there and refused to move out of the way. “That silky red hair makes me want to do naughty things with my cock.”
I shivered.
“I want to sample every part of you—from that addicting blood to the soft, velvety flesh between your thighs. And by Ambi, I want to take my time. One night may not be enough.”
I trembled, and it wasn’t fear that overtook me. It was scorching-hot lust and curiosity.
No. Think of Ethan, and get out of here.
Our skin rubbed against each other as I fled the shower. Shampoo suds still smothered my hair, but I didn’t care.
Xander chuckled. “Come back. I’ll leave the shower and let you finish.”
“I don’t care if you’re trying to conserve water. Don’t come in the shower with me again,” I called back. “Keep your hands off of me. Sex isn’t part of our deal, only the mushrooms.”
The shower turned off.
“Come back, Camille.”
I wrenched a towel from a rack near the sink. “Just because I was a domina doesn’t mean I’m a whore.”
Why is he acting so different? He wasn’t like this before.
I wrapped the towel around my body.
Xander exited the shower. He moved with the nimble grace of a predator. His wet skin glistened over taut rows of muscles.
He grinned with fangs extended. “I know you’re not a whore.”
I searched my mind trying to figure out what had changed his behavior.
Oh no. Is it the vial of blood? Could that have made him loopy or high? Or. . .sexually aggressive?
His gaze drank me in, and he made no attempt to conceal that fact. Beads of water traveled down his massive chest and journeyed toward his belly button.
Do. Not. Look. Stop it.
I struggled to keep my eyes from straying further down. “Do you need me to give you a towel?”
“No.” He walked in front of the door, blocking my escape.
I would have to rub against his naked body when I left the bathroom.
“You know what? I do need a towel.” He gazed down at my towel. “Can I use the one you have on?”
I sucked my teeth.
“Your eyes shimmer when you’re mad.”
I started to say a smart remark when I spotted the pattern on the sides of his legs.
Wait.
Dark black swirls decorated his thick thighs and soared down to his ankles.
Just like the baby princes.
“You’re a. . .prince.” I pointed to the marks. “How were you not killed?”
He blurred to the piles of towels behind me and shoved me out of the way. “We’re done here.”
I twisted to him as he rushed to put on the towel. “But. . .you’re a prince.”
“You must have been a horrible domina if you can’t tell a tattoo from real marks.”
“Those aren’t tattoos.”
“They are.” He stormed out of the bathroom with two towels plastered haphazardly to his legs. “And I am no prince!”
Chapter 6
The Bond
Camille
Xander put on new clothes in a rush and then raced out of the room, saying nothing else.
I didn’t try to make him talk.
In the end, Xander being a prince didn’t concern me. I decided not to bring the topic up whenever he decided to return.
The woman I’d met earlier arrived right after Xander departed. She carried soup, honey biscuits, wine, and a clean gown into the room.
Her face displayed an impartial mask. She didn’t speak as she set the food down, handed me a long white gown, and left.