Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 54388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 272(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 54388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 272(@200wpm)___ 218(@250wpm)___ 181(@300wpm)
“Honestly, Aunt—he wasn’t hurting me! I was just petting his little pet!” she protested but Brax could tell by the frightened look in her lovely, dark eyes that he had lost almost all the ground Cheeky had gained for him.
Inwardly, he cursed. But he was used to people thinking of him as a killer. He had won over females before even after they saw him kill in the ring. He would win over his new Mistress too—if only her horrible aunt would leave them alone!
“Here, you take this and keep it on you at all times.” Aunt Nibblegrim put the silver link necklace with the small black remote back around Serenai’s neck. “And don’t get too close to him! Males are tricky, false creatures. You can’t trust them any further than you can throw them!”
“Yes, Aunt.” Serenai hung her head, looking down at the remote, hanging between her breasts.
“Good. Now that’s all settled, I have things I must tend to in my own apartment.” She pointed a long finger at Brax once more. “Just you mind you behave yourself or you’re going to get a taste of the pain collar you won’t soon forget!”
Then she left, slamming the door closed behind her.
6
SERENAI
Serenai felt horribly awkward. Here she was, alone in the penthouse with her new bodyslave and she now had nothing to say. They’d been getting along so well too—before horrible old Aunt Nibblegrim started shouting and pointing and accusing Brax, when he hadn’t even done anything.
“I’m sorry,” she said, daring to look up into his eyes at last. “That was…she’s so awful sometimes.”
“She’s just trying to keep you safe.” He seemed surprisingly unconcerned. “It’s like I told you, you need to be careful around strange males.”
“But not you?” she asked, frowning.
He shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling under his ragged shirt.
“I’m half Kindred. You can always trust a Kindred not to harm you because we won’t hurt females. Other than that, though, you really do need to be careful. Especially here on Yonnie Six. The males here are angry because they’ve been ruled by women for so long.”
Serenai bit her lip.
“Are you angry because you’re now owned by a woman? By me?” she asked.
If he was angry, she could be in trouble, she thought. Her new bodyslave was so huge that the top of her head barely came up past his elbow and his shoulders were over twice as broad as her own.
But Brax shook his head.
“I’m just glad to be out of the Blood Circuit. And as I told you, I’ve been owned by a woman before. It doesn’t bother me, little Mistress.”
“Oh, good.” Serenai sighed and ran a hand through her hair. “It’s just…I haven’t been here very long—less than a week,” she told him. “I lived in the Convent all my life and I don’t know how to be a Yonnite Mistress like Aunt Nibblegrim. I feel like I’m constantly messing up—breaking some unwritten rule I didn’t even know about before I broke it!”
“You’ve been here less than a week?” Brax raised his eyebrows in apparent surprise. “And you say you were raised in a Convent?”
Serenai nodded.
“The Convent of Sacred Serenity on Peaceful Prime. Their motto was ‘Modesty, Purity, and Integrity.’”
To her surprise, Brax started laughing. He had a rich, rumbling laugh that was somehow infectious. After a moment, Serenai started laughing too, though she wasn’t even sure what she was laughing at.
“I…I don’t understand what’s so funny!” she exclaimed at last.
Brax stopped laughing and wiped his eyes, which had teared up.
“It’s just—Modesty, Purity, and Integrity—those are pretty much the exact opposite qualities of a Yonnite Mistress! At least every one I ever met,” he told her.
“Well…I guess you’re right. They certainly don’t embody the morals I was raised with.” Serenai sighed. “I just…I feel like I don’t fit in here and I don’t know what I’m doing half the time!” She shook her head. “How can I be a proper Yonnite Mistress when I was never trained to be one?”
“How did you become one, anyway?” Brax asked. He sounded genuinely curious. “I mean, what happened that landed you here?”
Serenai bit her lip and looked down.
“My…my mother died suddenly. So I was brought here to take over her estate and take her place.”
“Oh, little one…” Brax took a step towards her with one hand held out. He looked like he wanted to comfort her, but he wasn’t sure if she would trust him near her after the outburst by Aunt Nibblegrim.
Serenai wished she could accept the comfort he so clearly wanted to give her. Hugging had been allowed at the Convent—as long as it was while you were fully dressed and no “improper touching” went on. She hadn’t had a hug in what felt like forever, and she wished she could have one now.
But her Aunt’s words were still ringing in her ears and she recognized how dangerous it would be to let this giant of a male wrap his arms around her.