Changeling Winds: Episode Two (The Bachelor Battles Book 2) by Angela White Page B

I shook my head, eager to have the rules set. “You won’t service me.”
    Pink... control! … black again.
    “You will help me build up a tolerance to males.”
    His brow wrinkled in confusion…and a little disappointment? Yes. Good .
    “How?”
    I drew in air, went on with the plan I knew to be solid. “Make contact, talk to me, be yourself with no rules or limits. Enough of it will either kill me or cure me.”
     
    Jason
    “Make contact, talk to me, be yourself with no rules or limits.
    It was what I wanted for my future, the life I craved, and she was offering to let me practice on her. “Why would you do that?”
    The good mood went out of her voice to be replaced with a fear I hadn’t suspected her capable of.
    “There are hundreds where we’re going.”
    Of males . Instead of relief or shock, jealousy was the emotion now rolling through my gut. “You’ll pick one of them?”
    “If they want me.”
    I winced at her pain.
    “Will you help?”
    “Yes,” I answered, trying not to let her read my thoughts. Angelica might make a good mate, I’d begun to realize that already, but I’d blown that with my desperate lies…hadn’t I?
    “What are the rules?”
    She gave me that sharp smirk, but I saw her fingers bend the spoon into a foreign shape.
    “There are three. One - this will seem real to those we spend time around. In public, I want it to.”
    I assumed she didn’t want them to know she was bargaining with her new prize and nodded. “Two?”
    The spoon broke in half, reminding me of our first moments together. If I’d suspected this level of pain for her, I might have made other plans.
    “I’m pure. I’ll stay that way for my mate. You will not… force things because you feel pity for me.”
    The snarl in her tone was ugly, and I managed to keep myself still only by sheer will. Pure . It hit me an instant later. She really wasn’t a breeder. I’d thought maybe she was lying to ease our fears and I pushed away the thought of those perky breasts that had never known a man’s hands… mouth.
    “Three?”
    “This deal isn’t over until I pick a replacement.”
    Meaning I would stay with her until she chose one of the rebels. Weeks with her, maybe even months of getting to know her… and making sure the other males didn’t.
    I wasn’t sure where that thought had come from, and I sent her an uneasy smile, wondering again if she would kill me when she found out what lengths I was going to in order to be sure... of what? My safety? No. That of my children. My sons wouldn’t be ripped from their mother’s lifeless, burnt-out arms or watch their father die from a Changeling snap.
    “I agree… with a condition. I need to be retrained.”
     
    Angelica
    Retrained .
    “Where did you hear that?”
    “Rankin. She said that’s what Candice had done to Daniel.”
    My sight turned pink and I willed it away. That rage was easier to banish than the need and I picked up the second spoon and dipped it into the bowl without caring what he’d made. “Explain what you mean by retrained.”
      “I want to be like Daniel.”
    That’s what I want, too , I thought, keeping my head down. Jason was had those big arms resting on the table, leaned forward slightly in a manor that made me want to leave my chair and seal our lips. “How do you know about him?”
    “I was part of the prizes last month.”
    I thought quickly. “Was he brave here, too?”
    “He was a massive coward, like the rest of us. Apparently your cousin retrained him into a legend in weeks.”
    Jason smiled at me, stealing my breath.
    “One of the rebels was caught and put back into the cells. He said Daniel took a Changeling and made her fall in love without burning out!”
    I nearly growled in my agony. I’d been there for enough of it to ache for the same. Daniel was something of a legend to me, as well. “So, you want more courage?”
    “And strength. If the rebels fight, I want to be able to help.”
    I thought about