Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 69711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 69711 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 349(@200wpm)___ 279(@250wpm)___ 232(@300wpm)
“I missed you, too. So, so much.” I can no longer hold back my tail. It slides around her leg, gripping her ankle under her skirt. “Have you been well?”
“Not really. Not until I looked into an orb and saw you. Saw this.” She gestures to the throne, the decorations, and the citizens waiting in line. “And I came to help. I even dressed the part!” She gives a little twirl, making the fur hem of her red gown spin. Her outfit matches mine perfectly. “That is, if you’ll have me?”
There’s a rock in my throat, straining my voice. “Of course.” Ensuring my talons are retracted, I hold out my hand. After a moment, she takes it. Hope spears my chest.
Renee came back to help me. I’ve being given another chance. Her slender fingers in my palm feel like home.
“But I must disagree with you on one thing,” I tell her. “I do not always know what to say.”
“No?” Her expression is wary.
“No. I’ve done a lot of thinking since you… since you left.” I take a deep breath. “There are things I should have told you that I did not—”
“I know,” she interrupts. “That you were using your magic to stop—”
“No—well, yes, that,” I say hurriedly, “but also something else.”
“Oh god. Is it a bad thing?”
An image of my father’s face flashes in my mind’s eye. “No. I don’t think so. In fact, as far as I’m concerned, it’s a wonderful thing.”
Her green eyes are huge. Pools of emotion threatening to drown me. “Well go on, don’t keep me in suspense,” she says.
“I love you.”
Renee’s free hand goes to her trembling lips. A fat tear escapes her lower lashes and trickles down her freckled cheek. I can’t breathe.
“Have I upset you?” I whisper.
“No!” A second tear spills down her other cheek and she dashes it away. “No, you haven’t upset me, you dumbass! Not if you mean it! Do you really mean it?”
“I do. I was a fool for not realizing it sooner, but Ulf knows it hit me when you disappeared through that portal. I love you so, so much. You’re my mate. My life is empty and shallow without you in it. I’m empty and shallow without you—”
Her lips on mine cut off my speech and with a growl, I pull her up against me and kiss her with all the passion overflowing in my heart.
My Omega has returned to my side. A rush of relief and satisfaction threatens to topple me. Deep in my chest, the bond blasts open with a chorus of notes so loud, I expect the entire village to hear it.
When she finally pulls away, Renee’s panting like she ran all the way to the top of a mountain. “Do you hear that?”
My entire being is filled by the intense music in the bond between us. “I do.”
“Sounds like an angel choir,” she murmurs, and laughs.
I cock my head to the side. I could stand here and listen and stare at her forever. Around us, the villagers wait patiently for the return of their Santa.
It’s the perfect time to present my mate with her gift.
“I have something for you. If you’ll accept it.” I extend my free hand and a swirl of silvery light takes form, solidifying into a crown. It has five prongs in an identical black shade to my horns, and a giant golden fire-stone streaked with red glistens in the center of it.
Renee’s breath whooshes out of her.
“I can make it rose-gold, if you like.” My palm tingles and the crown quivers. The gleaming metal at the base turns pink and the color rises, gradually swallowing the black. “If you decide to stay with me—even for a moment or a single day—you will stand beside me not as my pet, but as my mate. My queen. My equal.”
She reaches out to touch the crown, then hesitates. My blood freezes in the time it takes for her to blink and nod. “Yes. I accept.”
“You do?”
She reaches for my wrist, wrapping her fingers around it as far as they’ll go. “Of course I do! I love you! But…” she tugs me close, “I think I want to be more than just your queen.”
“You are. You’re my mate. My every—”
“Hush,” she murmurs, cutting off my reassurances. “What I’m trying to say is,” she reaches into her bodice and draws out the collar I gave her, “I kept this. I couldn’t part with it. Will you put it back on me… Master? Please?”
My grin is so broad, my cheeks ache. I’ve never known such joy. “Yes, my pet. If you will wear your crown.”
“I think I can do that.” She bows her head, and I place the coronet in her gleaming hair.
Taking her gently by the shoulders, I turn her to face the crowd. “All hail, Queen Renee of Pyreda!” I announce.