Bride of the Emperor (The Prophecy of Sisters Book 4) by Hayley Faiman (the gingerbread man read aloud txt) 📗

The men were having their way with her, and as a slave, she could not deny them.

Once we arrive in our bedroom, I turn to face him, not sure that I can just let this conversation about sex and slavery go.

“Will you allow Laurentia to be my helper?” I ask.

Tiberius obviously wasn’t expecting that question. He dips his chin slightly, looking down his nose at me, and I wonder if he’s disapproving of my question, of my desire to have Laurentia at my side.

“She is yours to do with as you please, mulier,” he grunts.

“I mean, can she be only mine, not to be used in any… things,” I say, wrinkling my nose and trying to clarify without saying the words aloud.

His lips twitch and he dips his chin again, his gaze finding and holding mine. “She will be your property, melculum.” His voice is deep and rich, full of more than just the simple answer, but I cannot guess at what he’s thinking just by the inflection of his voice.

“What does it mean, melculum?” I ask, feeling a sense of relief and attempting to change the subject.

He clears his throat, his gaze flicking to the side before he slides it back over to meet mine. “It means my little honey,” he rasps.

“It’s a term of endearment, but you’ve called me this practically since we met,” I breathe.

My lungs burn and I blink rapidly, trying not to let the tears that are burning in my eyes fall. He clears his throat, taking a step closer to me, then another and another until his warm body presses against mine.

Tilting my head back, I look up into his eyes and I lick my lips, parting them in awe. Lifting my hand, my index finger traces his scarring. He closes his eyes and I watch as pain radiates throughout his entire face.

Pulling back my hand, I’m afraid that I’ve hurt him. He doesn’t let me pull back too far, his fingers lift and wrap around my wrist almost instantly, before I can pull away. Then, to my surprise, he lifts my hand back up to his face.

“I do not frighten you?” he asks.

“You’re beautiful, Tiberius, you never could.”

“I am a monster,” he spits.

His eyes open and red-hot fiery rage instantly burns throughout his entire being. I can see it, I can feel it radiating off of him. He is pissed the hell off. Fear slides down my spine from his anger. I don’t know what to do. I don’t know what I did, but I pissed him off.

A cold wind slides through the room from outside, it’s ice cold and Tiberius growls as he turns and his head snaps over to look in the direction of the window.

“You’re scared,” he growls, shifting his gaze back to meet mine.

“You’re scaring me,” I admit.

His eyes widen and he tugs me closer to him by the hold that he has on my wrist. I have no choice but to tumble forward. He wraps his other hand around my waist and holds me to him. I can feel his hard length between us, the gauze fabric doing nothing to hide that part of him.

“Never fear me, Drucilla. I would not harm you,” he says, his voice deep and husky, barely above a low growl.

“Tiberius,” I whisper. “Do you think you’re a monster?”

“I know that I am,” he snaps.

Lifting my other hand between us, I cup his other cheek, holding them both against my palms. “You are not a monster. You do not look like one, and you certainly do not act like one. I think you are beautiful, not only in looks, but every day that I have been around you, even when you did not want me, even when you did not believe the prophecy, even when you were not sure about me, you were kind to me.”

He frowns, looking into my eyes, probably confused that I know there was a time he wanted nothing to do with me, no matter how strong our physical pull was. I don’t blame him, I wasn’t sure this place was real and I was trying to find my own way home and away from him.

“Cassia talks,” I whisper. At that, his lips curve up and I see a small smile cross his handsome face.

“I am sure that she does,” he murmurs, dipping his chin even farther before he brushes his lips across mine. “I look like a monster, my empress. However, I am grateful that you do not see me as such. I used to be very handsome, before the run-in with the bear.”

“The bear?”

He hums. “That is a story for another day,” he rasps. Then a loud howl fills the room and it causes me to jump away from him.

“Your wolves are here,” he murmurs behind me.

“My wolves?”

Rushing over to the window, I pull the gauze tighter around me and lean out, looking down to see wolves. Just like weeks ago when I was here, there are hundreds of them.

“They have been coming nightly looking for their concubina,” Tiberius announces behind me.

Looking back over my shoulder, my eyes are probably wide with a million questions. “Why me?” I ask. “I don’t know what to do with them,” I admit.

His lips curve up into a sexy grin. I pause, my heart leaping into my throat at the sight of the look on his face. Clenching my thighs together, I try to gather my thoughts and keep them from shifting to images of his body and mine… together. I can’t go there with him, not yet.

“You are the empress, created by the gods, and you lead them, just as I lead the bears.”

“The same bears that did that to you?” I ask, still looking over my shoulder.

Clearing his throat, he gives his head a quick shake. “It was by mistake. War makes people and animals do things they would not normally do. This particular case was in the middle of war and involved her cub. I do not blame her,