Page 11 of Roar Letter Word

Addie’s scent remained in the place where they had first met. He stopped in his tracks, his lion whimpering. A craving in him that was so acute rose, sending his heart into a gallop. Not even his enemies could put Mahes in such a state. It was enchanting but also infinitely terrible.

FIVE

ADDIE

Addie was no stranger to luxury. She was, after all, a rather famed and known woman on planet Earth. Because of her skill and stardom, she ironically got a lot of things for free, which included hotel stays.

It was all part of the package, as her manager loved to remind her. She was a walking advertisement. Being seen at a certain boutique, hell, even using a certain brand of coffee, influenced the decision of others when it came to consumerism. Addie wasn’t nuts about it, but she was born into a capitalist society. Either go with the flow or drown.

She was ruminating on that fact as Pritesh led her down the grand hallway to her guest room. There was something different about the estate compared to the other mansions she had been in before.

It had an opulence, an elegance, a style that couldn’t quite be put into human words. Everything was bright but not tacky, though it may have been interpreted that way on Earth. The paintings on the wall depicted historical battles as well as sublime scenery that would have been considered surrealist work where she was from.

There were a lot of antiques, sculptures, and drawings that depicted lions in various states. Male lions on the defense, majestic dances of male and female beasts with orange and red streaks running through their manes. She only had a few seconds to regard them as she passed by, but it only took that time to observe that they were significantly larger than the lions she’d seen on TV and in zoos on her home planet.

She blew it off as an artist’s interpretation. She knew all about the embellishments of a dreamer.

“And here we are,” Pritesh said, flashing her a welcoming smile. “When you are settled in, Mahes will meet you by the pool. Simply walk straight down this hallway, take a left through the glass doors, and curl around past the botanical gardens. That is, believe it or not, a shortcut.”

They shared a laugh, and Addie thanked her. It was vital to her, and had been part of her upbringing, to treat the help as well as you would treat the owner of the estate. She knew very little about who he was, but it was clear that in his world, he was fucking affluent and damn important.

She mulled over the thought, which carved a pit in her stomach as she closed the door behind her. She was struck by the sheer grandeur of the room, the height of the ceilings giving a somewhat medieval vibe with a modern take on stained glass shimmering through a rather wide skylight. She craned her neck upward, watching the spin of colors, her brain shuffling through the names and unable to exactly pin down what was what.

She held her hand out in front of her face, touching the light and letting it stream through her fingers. It was enchanting, moving, and pleasantly artistic.

But when Addie returned to reality and placed her bag on the massive king-sized bed, she started to wonder who the man she had agreed to stay with for a week truly was.

Gerri really hadn’t told her much at all, other than the fact she would be traveling through a wormhole. She knew she was being fixed up with a shifter but little else.

“Why would he let me just stay with no advance notice?” Addie mused to herself, still a little surprised by how it had all played out.

Gerri had a captivating presence about her. It was difficult not to trust her, and Addie placed stock in the influence the woman had over her. Addie wasn’t some young, naive pop star. She was rather savvy when it came to being manipulated. She could pick up any kind of manipulation like a bloodhound from miles away.

But whatever Gerri said, she believed and trusted. Probably more than she should have.

“He is a shifter,” Gerri said. “He’s following his mating instinct. Do you know what that means?”

Addie had shaken her head, intrigued.

“That means when they meet the right person, it’s something they can’t ignore. They are meant to be with this one person and that person only. They don’t have conscious control over it.”

Addie had laughed nervously but didn’t feel the impact of her statement about the whole destiny thing. To her, it was just like any other guy she’d dated, saying that she was his entire world and that he would throw himself in front of a train for her.

That hadn’t happened yet. She was adored for her pseudo-celebrity personality, but the haze eventually faded. They saw who she really was, Addie herself. A rather complicated woman with too much baggage.

The spark would then be snuffed out quickly, and she’d be left alone as usual. She used these heartbreaks as fodder for her albums, but that all started to feel bleak and boring.

She hoped, as she unpacked her things, that he wasn’t simply some crazy stalker fan who only accepted her abrupt arrival because he was obsessed with her. That would really gut her in the gills.

Nevertheless, the trust in Gerri remained. She didn’t seem like the type of woman who would put another woman in a vulnerable position. Plus, it would surely leave a stain on her matchmaking service.

Addie resigned herself to getting to know the darkly handsome stranger, searching for her black bikini and book she had brought with her over space and time. She fluffed her hair a bit, spraying some beach-scented conditioner through the strands to keep it glossy and wavy. She then slipped into her bathing suit, adjusted her breasts in the mirror, and pulled out her own wrap to throw over her body as she wandered through the hallways.

“Just get to know him,” she whispered to herself. “Why not? A little fling sounds delicious.”

A tryst really would be lovely, especially since she was on another planet, and Earthly paparazzi couldn’t travel this far.

It was best to take advantage. A roll in the hay could be as good as a holiday.

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