Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 134725 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 674(@200wpm)___ 539(@250wpm)___ 449(@300wpm)
“Unprotected? Oh. Right. Earth men have zero control over their fertility.” He rolled his eyes.
It was my turn to tilt my head.
“I decide when we get pregnant,” he said. “And not because I have to put a fucking sheath on myself.” His face expressed distaste.
“Uh, provided I ovulate. Oh. Do you mean give me another shot to make me do that?”
“No. When I decide it’s time, it’ll be time.”
“How?”
“How about a Phallyxian reproductive biology lesson later. For now? How about I take you to bed, make love to you, and then go get the things done I need to get done so that I can come back and make love to you again?”
“Okay,” I whispered, and he touched the elevator button.
“Why do you need to call up the elevator, Zane? I asked. “Shouldn’t it be here since we left it here when we went out? Or does it automatically go back to the bottom?” I stared at the light indicating the elevator was waiting on the bottom level.
Zane stared at the light, then looked at me. “You’re right.” He dialed on the phone. “Father? Were you at my house at all via the roof?” He frowned. “I’ll call you back.”
“Fuck,” he said as he scrolled through screens of letters on his phone. “Fuck!” he exclaimed and shoved his phone back into his pocket.
“What’s wrong?” I whispered.
“He was here.”
“Who?”
“My brother.” Zane flashed me his screen and I saw an image of Zane on the screen. Well, not Zane, because the guy’s hair was longer, but holy wow. A dead ringer. The picture had been taken from the roof at the door to the inside.
I gasped. “He looks just like you. Except his eyes. His eyes are a bit different.”
“His eyes are darker blue. And shaped more like my father’s. Mine more like my mother’s though reverse in terms of color. He has Mother’s color, I have Father’s. He’s already left. He came in via the roof and left through the front door. Come,” he took me into the elevator, which had since arrived, and took us to the bottom floor.
Zane went to the top drawer in his desk and pressed a fingerprint on a panel on top of the desk. After it unlocked and opened for him, he stared into it.
“He came back for the weapon I got off one of his soldiers.”
Oh God.
“And Tithe Nova has requested that I turn it over for evidence. Shit. He waited until I was out and came back. His fingerprint or facial scan would open everything as our DNA is nearly identical. Why the fuck is he avoiding us?”
I put my arms around him and squeezed him.
He put his mouth to the top of my head for a beat and then broke away. “I have to make some calls. Get my father over here. Decide…” he let that hang, grinded his teeth together and then blew out a breath.
“I’ll find stuff to do. Do what you need to do,” I said. I got up on tiptoes and puckered my lips. It didn’t make me quite tall enough to reach his mouth, so he bent and kissed me. I left him in his office, dialing his phone as I went to the master bedroom, found my e-reader and my journal, and brought it out to the terrace where my reading pyramid sat. Before I got tucked in with that stuff, ready to write down in my journal as much as I could remember from the past few days, I requested some coffee and brought a cup to Zane. He looked at me with surprise as I set it on his desk. He’d been on the phone and sounding very formal, so I didn’t dilly-dally. I got out of his way.
CHAPTER 30
ZANE
She was a dream; a dream that didn’t fade away in the light of the sun. She was so opposite to Arla. Not that Arla hadn’t had any great qualities, but it all started with Arla’s crush on Zane when Daxx had brought him home for a school break. They took turns at one another’s homes on breaks and Daxx had gotten friendly with Joran who attended a different school. And of course, Zane had gotten friendly with Daxx’s sisters.
Dariandra was like a boy trapped in a girl’s body and she only wanted to play sports and compete against them in everything.
Arla was relentless in her pursuit of Zane and it took her a few years to get what she was after. Dosing him with an aphrodisiac and them getting caught by not only Spar and his wife but also by Dariandra, the younger sister.
And Zane had felt like garbage for it. In truth, if he’d revealed that he’d been dosed, he could’ve gotten off without losing his welcome status in the Blackstar home. But her scheme to save face was one he’d fallen for.