Chapter 127
Alyx fought down the beast inside him like never before. Every second he spent next to Bella was another second his animal wanted to mate her, to stamp his mark on her and show everyone she was his.
As they neared the falls, he couldn’t help but think of his parents. They’d left the castle to live hours away in the Untamed Forest. Reserved for those seeking solace, the Untamed Forest wasn’t inhabited by the realm.
When his parents stepped down from the throne, he’d taken control, but he still visited with them regularly. He’d have to visit once he and Bella mated. He knew it wouldn’t be long before she gave him a child.
He scented her breeding cycle approaching. Once she was with his offspring, he wouldn’t have her traveling the rough terrain of the Untamed Forest.
They approached the rock covering the view to the falls. He guided her around the boulder, and she gasped.
“Oh, wow.”
He loved the way her face lit up full of wonder. His chest compressed when she gave him a soft, happy grin.
“Do you like it?”
“It’s... It’s amazing,” she whispered, nodding slowly.
He glanced at the falls, looking at them through Bella’s eyes. Three cascades of sparkling blue water fell in steps into a pool no more than twenty feet away. Masses of flowers and birds surrounded the falls in a picture-perfect image.
“Is the water cold?”
“No. That’s the thing about these falls. They’re naturally heated. Not like your hot springs, but the water itself heats up as it falls into the pool.”
She slipped out of her flip-flops and picked up the bottom of her dress, showing off red-tipped toenails.
“I have to put my feet in.”
He helped her sit on top of a flat rock where she could soak her feet in the pool. She glanced up at him with an impish smile.
“Come, sit.”
He hadn’t expected this. Sitting by the falls with Bella was more than nice. It felt right.
“Here,” she said, making a come-hither motion with her hands. “Let me help you get those boots off.”
He frowned.
“Why?”
She laughed.
“You should see your face. Don’t you ever soak your feet?”
No. He’d never had time to soak in the pool and sit around with anyone before, not unless he was in his lion’s body. His skin was usually the body busy running a planet and keeping different tribes from going to war.
“I can do it,” he said, slipping out of the shoes that adjusted to his feet. He moved closer to Bella, sliding his toes in the warm water and sighing.
“Feels good, doesn’t it?” she said, leaning her head into his chest.
Good? It was perfect. To have Bella in his arms and know she was the woman he wanted was better than any other feeling he’d ever experienced in his life.
“I know it’s soon, but how are you liking this place?”
She lifted her head and met his gaze.
“It’s beautiful. I bet my best friend, Charlotte, would love it.”
“Are you very close to your friends? Family?”
He worried now that he hadn’t taken into consideration the fact she’d have to leave it all behind to be with him. Everything she knew would be reduced to a few trips throughout her life as queen.
“I’m super close to Charlotte and my cousins, Tally and Nita. But Tally is mated to wolves, and Nita to a bear, so I don’t see them as often. Plus, Nita is having a baby, so she’s tired and stuff.”
She sighed and started drawing circles on his palm with her finger.
“I miss them, but they have their own lives. I still have Charlotte. She’s my best friend.”
“People are nice here,” he said in a pathetic attempt to make his world sound more to her liking.
She gave a dry laugh.
“Yeah. Okay. One out of the four people I’ve met so far is a bitch. Can I tell you the odds of that happening are just like Earth?”
“Who was a bitch?”
He was so glad there was a full library on Earth customs and dialogue, or he’d never gotten the term. Who was she referring to?
“It doesn’t matter.”
She raised a hand to his neck and curled her hand around his head, gripping his hair and pulling his face to hers. Far be it from him to reject a kiss from his mate. He’d been dying to taste her again.
She swept her tongue over his lips and drove it into her mouth with an enthusiasm he found sexy as hell. She wanted him. That alone woke the lion and sent a deep rumble through him.
She pulled back from their kiss, panting. Her eyes were hazy with need.
“That’s really sexy.”
“What?” he asked, his mind focused on her, her curves, and the way she moaned.
“That growling thing you do.”
She licked her lips, and her pupils dilated farther. The scent of her desire thickened around them.
“It makes me wet.”
He leaned into her, pressing their lips together and in the process, laying her flat on a bed of thick grass. This kiss wasn’t like the sweet one she’d given him. This was his lion trying to take control. He kissed her hard, plunging his tongue into her mouth and owning her. He took. And she gave. She gave and met his ravaging kiss with her own hunger.
His control all but snapped when she spread her legs to cushion his body with her own. The scent of her need turned him harder than he thought possible. Stinging bites raced down his arms from her raking her nails from his shoulders to his forearms.