The Breeding Prize - Aya Morningstar

The Breeding Prize

The Breeding Games Book 2

One

Annabelle

I’m almost done shelving the last of the children’s books. They’ll all just get completely disorganized again within twenty minutes, but for now they look nice and neat.

I reach for one of the last books, but then I sense something behind me. I freeze and run my tongue across my lips. They’re suddenly very dry.

Even though I know there’s probably nothing behind me, I’m still afraid to look. The longer I go without turning around though, the more certain I feel that something is behind me. I finally give in.

There is someone behind me. It’s a man, but he looks more manly than any man I’ve ever seen. He’s towering over me. I stand up and turn around to face him. I don’t want to be on my knees in front of a man like this. At least not yet.

I blush thinking about that and adjust my skirt. “Can I help you?”

I meet his eyes. They aren’t like anything I’ve ever seen before. They aren’t blue or green, or even a blue-green, they are turquoise. It’s not a subtle shade of turquoise either. His eyes are striking, just like the rest of him. His shoulders are wide, and he’s rippling with muscle. He doesn’t look like a bodybuilder though. Muscles like these are never just for show.

I realize then that he’s staring at me. I’m staring back at him. I asked him a question, but I didn’t manage to actually close my mouth after I asked it. My cheeks must be completely flushed, and I’m staring at him with my jaw hanging open.

He’s just tilting his head at me, but when I force my mouth shut and let out a nervous laugh, he smirks at me.

“Are you Annabelle?” He asks.

His voice is deep and soothing, like a sexy lullaby. There’s an accent too, but it’s faint, and I can barely place it.

I just nod, my heart racing in excitement that this perfect man knows my name. That he’s looking for me of all people.

He didn’t just wander into the children’s section of the library—I do a quick scan to make sure there is no turquoise-eyed kid hanging around him—he came here specifically to find me.

“And you are?” I hold my hand out so he can shake it. I’ve never been so enticed by the idea of shaking a man’s hand. It feels like it would be downright sinful to even touch the palm of a man who looks like this.

“Raiska,” he says, slightly trilling the r. He takes my hand with both of his. He cups my hand ever so gently, and then he traces his fingertips across the back of wrist and knuckles. I get goosebumps all over my arms immediately, and I’m pretty sure my mouth drops open again.

“Someone sent me to find you,” he says, looking around the library nervously.

What? Oh, God, was it Priya? Is she seriously trying to set me up again? Well, if this is who she’s trying to set me up with, then I will finally stop resisting.

“P-p-priya?” I ask.

He looks confused for a moment, but then he nods and smiles. “Yes, Priya.”

“I, uh, I have a break now,” I stammer. “Once I finish shelving these, I mean.”

“I will help you.”

Before I can protest, he’s down on the ground picking up books. He shoves them onto the shelf, but not in the right order.

“Hold on—”

“These are books for two-year-olds. Two-year-olds have not acquired the necessary skills for alphabetical order. It doesn’t matter how we do this.”

He shoves another book onto the shelf. He puts The Briar Bunny after The Bunny Boogie.

I laugh nervously. “I’m kind of OCD about getting these in the right spot. It’s also kind of my job.”

He frowns at me, and as I reach over to fix some more of the books he messed up, he grabs my wrist.

I look up at him, and his gaze is suddenly intense. I feel afraid for the first time, but I’m more aroused than afraid, because his grip is strong and tight, and God, those eyes.

He pulls me up by my arm. There are still a dozen or so books left to sort, but I can’t even look at them. His gaze is holding me tight and bound, even tighter than the grip of his calloused fingers on my arm.

“We have to go, Annabelle,” he says.

“We do?”

He nods. “Do you have a car?”

“Where are we going?”

I’m not the kind of woman who just drops everything and goes to