Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 45266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 45266 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 226(@200wpm)___ 181(@250wpm)___ 151(@300wpm)
She twisted her head to grin at him. “I read all kinds of books. Thank you.” When she turned back, she picked up something that was about the size of a book but had a screen. “Is this an e-reader?”
“Yes.”
“I’ve never had one.” She trailed a finger reverently around the edge of it. “You fill it with electronic books, right? I’ve heard of them.”
“Yes, Baby girl. You can put as many books on there as you want.”
“As many as I want? Like a dozen?” She glanced at him again.
He chuckled. “Like a million. More than you could ever read.”
She jerked her attention back to the device and giggled. “Seems like it would get heavy.”
His deep laughter filled the room. “It will weigh exactly the same. I guess you’ve never seen one?”
“Some people have them. I’ve heard of e-readers. But we didn’t have one at my house. I read paper books from the library.”
“You’re going to love Damon’s mate. Her name is Olivia. She’s nearly blind, but reading is her passion, too, and when she first shifted, she found out her wolf has perfect vision. If you’re worried about me finding you curled up in a corner reading for hours, imagine poor Damon. He has to chastise his mate for spending too much time in her wolf form.”
Molly listened closely to her Daddy, partly because she found she loved his voice. The tone burrowed under her skin and made her tremble with the desire to drop the e-reader and hurry back to his arms.
She couldn’t keep from giggling. “I guess if her human can’t see, she’d want to spend as much time as possible in her wolf form. Does she shift in the house?”
“Yep. She sits in her nursery in her wolf form. Damon says it gets a bit lonely because she obviously can’t talk to him when she’s shifted.”
Molly pushed out her lip in a pout, an expression she didn’t think she’d ever made before. “That would be a bummer, but I can’t blame her. If I could only see in my wolf form, I’d do the same.”
Daddy shocked her when he dropped onto his knees next to the rocking chair and crawled toward her. More like stalked in slow motion. She could see the laughter in his eyes, so she couldn’t keep from giggling as he approached. At least she had the wherewithal to put the e-reader back on the shelf before he snagged her ankle and gave a tug, causing her to fall onto her back.
She smiled up at him without an ounce of trepidation or fear, watching mesmerized as he removed first one gold sandal and then the other. When he was finished, he tossed the ceremonial shoes aside and kissed her feet, tickling her.
Molly twisted out of his reach and hurried to crawl away from him. It felt like her face had a permanent grin on it. She didn’t think she’d smiled this much or laughed this often in her life.
Not that she’d ever been unhappy or sad or depressed. She just hadn’t ever fully fit in with other…with anyone. She’d been here only a few hours, and she felt a connection with Gavin that excited her and gave her a sense of belonging. Of peace.
She scrambled faster, loving the way he pretended to chase her. He was moving at a snail’s pace. She was hampered by the long dress and the layers of shifts. Her knees kept getting caught up.
Eventually, she nosedived forward. For a split second, she feared she would hit her head on the floor, but suddenly Daddy was there. His hand slid under her and scooped her up before she could injure herself.
She was breathless as he hauled her to her knees, averting a possible collision with her face. “You caught me.”
“I’ll always catch you, Little one. I’m sorry. That was my fault. I should have taken this dress off you.” He plucked at the front of it. “All this material. I’ve never understood how women in the valley can stand the hinderance.”
She turned to face him again, staying on her knees, which put them eye-to-eye with him sitting. “What do you mean? Won’t I still wear dresses like this here?”
He gave her a devilish slow smile. “Never. We don’t adhere to the same custom of modesty as in the valley. When it’s warm, you’ll wear short dresses with tiny sleeves. When it’s cooler, I’ll put legging or tights on under your dresses and add a sweater. You’ll have more freedom to play.”
Molly blinked at him. “Short dresses?”
He chuckled and pushed to his feet. “Come. I’ll show you.” He held out a hand to help her stand.
She nearly tripped over the layers doing so. Finally she followed him to the closet. And her eyes bugged out of her head when he opened it. It was filled with rows of pretty dresses. He wasn’t fibbing. They were short.