Total pages in book: 218
Estimated words: 205594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1028(@200wpm)___ 822(@250wpm)___ 685(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 205594 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1028(@200wpm)___ 822(@250wpm)___ 685(@300wpm)
I don’t tell Nemeth that I’m nervous. Of course I’m nervous. After seeing what’s left of Lios, it makes me wonder if my head will be on a pike before the next day. How do I know they won’t spear me with a dozen swords like they did Lionel? I abandoned my sacred duty in the tower, after all. Being Nemeth’s wife might not be enough to keep me safe.
My line tugs with a bite, and I jerk on it, trying to snag the fish. It goes still and I relax, gazing up at the forbidding, looming mountains once more.
Nemeth will protect me, I remind myself. You carry his child. He loves you.
A shadow soars overhead, and I shield my eyes, glancing up as Nemeth sails through the skies, his wings outstretched, his form as powerful as it is dark. He’s beautiful, and he looks at home here among the menacing, mountainous land. He’s growing in strength by the day, and I feel as if I’m…not weaker, but more dependent.
Is this how Ravendor felt when she left the tower? That everything she’d thought she knew felt different?
But Ravendor killed her mate, if the stories are to be believed. I don’t think I could ever harm Nemeth.
He soars overhead again and I wave at him, smiling brightly to hide my troubled thoughts.
Close to dark, Nemeth drops into the ship again, a worried expression on his face. “We’re close enough that someone should have come out to see us.”
He voices aloud one of my fears. I raise my hand to my brow, shielding my eyes as I gaze at the mountains. I’ve been sailing towards them all day and they look no closer, but I’ve also never traveled much. I have no idea how close or far away they’re supposed to look, nor do I have a clue if we should be seeing people. I don’t even see a beach, just endless craggy mountains right up to the edge of the sea. “All of Lios seemed to be deserted. Do you think the same has happened to your people?”
The thought makes my stomach clench uncomfortably. If there’s no safe haven for us here, either, what is left? There’s a flutter in my belly that reminds me that there’s more at stake than just myself and Nemeth—our child needs a home, too.
“I don’t know,” Nemeth tells me. “I want to keep scouting and see. Will you…will you be all right here?” He hesitates, clearly torn between protecting me and finding out what he can. “It’ll be dark soon and I don’t want you to be afraid.”
I gesture at the small boat. “Afraid of what? A rogue wave? A sea monster? I would think if sea monsters existed, they would have already dined on us.”
His hard mouth twitches with amusement. “There are no sea monsters on the shore. They’re in much deeper waters.”
“I hope for your sake that you’re joking,” I say tartly. Then I make a shooing motion at him. “Go and have a look around. I don’t mind. I’ll be fine here alone. You’ll be able to find the ship? Even in the dark?”
“Always.” He reaches for me and the craft sways and bobs on the water, making my gut lurch. I hold onto the sides of the boat, grimacing, and Nemeth spreads his wings to steady himself. “I am more than ready to get off this damned ship and hold my mate again.”
I’m a little surprised at his strong words. Nemeth is unfailingly cheerful when it comes to the boat, maybe because he knows how miserable it makes me. I’m glad I’m not the only one that’s tired of traveling…and more than ready to be in each other’s arms again. It’s been torture to be this close to him and not be able to sleep in his arms. We’ve just enough room to stretch out on the boat, but there’s been no more than a few furtive touches here and there, and far too few kisses. Everything is salty and damp and smells of raw fish. Every movement makes the boat sway. It’s not conducive to lovemaking, especially with Nemeth’s large form and my increasing belly. “Soon enough. The moment we get to your home, I’ll suck your cock dry and nibble on your knot for hours, and you can feast between my legs for days. We’ll be so unrepentantly amorous that people will think I’ve enchanted you with my evil Vestalin cunt.”
He doesn’t laugh at my joke.
Oh, by the gods. Surely the Fellians don’t truly think I have an evil enchanted cunt? What a pile of dragon shite.
“I won’t let anyone harm you, Candra. Do not worry over that. You’ve cast no spells on me.”
“I know that,” I sputter. My hands go to my belly, rounded with our child. “Don’t you think if I would have, it would be to travel in a less fishy environment? Or do you think I like waking up with salt in my hair and leaning my arse over the edge of the boat?”