Chapter 16 One week
~Sage~
I'd been lying in bed since midnight, replaying every second of the welcome ceremony. The way Keith's hand had burned against my back. How his thumb had stroked my spine while we danced, each touch sending shivers through my entire body. The promise in his eyes when he'd called me stepmother.
My skin felt too tight, and too hot despite the cool silk sheets. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw him. I felt him. My body remembered exactly how his mouth had felt between my legs last night, how his fingers had played me like an instrument he'd been studying his whole life.
At 1:30 AM, I gave up pretending.
My hand slipped beneath my nightshirt, finding myself already embarrassingly wet. Just thinking about him did this to me. I tried to mimic what he'd done, circling my pussy slowly, building pressure, but my fingers felt clumsy and wrong. They felt too small and too soft. Nothing like his calloused hands that had gripped me with such confident possession.
I thought about his voice in my ear during the ceremony. "You smell like you need to be fucked, Sage." God, the way he'd said it, so controlled on the surface while his scent betrayed his own desperate arousal. I pressed harder, faster, chasing a release that kept slipping away.
By 2 AM, I was panting, frustrated, my body wound tight but unable to fall over the edge. I needed more. Needed him. The thought should have terrified me – I was engaged to his father, for God's sake. But all I could think about was Keith's mouth, his hands, the way he'd made me come apart so easily while I couldn't even—
The knock at 2:17 AM made me freeze, hand still between my thighs.
"Sage." His voice was rough and desperate. "Let me in."
I should have ignored him or maybe pretended to be asleep. Instead, I found myself padding to the door on shaky legs, not even bothering to put on pants, opening it just enough to see him.
"You can't be here," I whispered, even as my body screamed for him to come closer.
"I know." He pushed inside anyway, and the moment the door closed, the atmosphere changed.
He looked like he'd been through hell. Shirtless, his dress pants hanging low on his hips, hair wild like he'd been running his hands through it. His eyes immediately dropped to my bare legs, and I watched him take a quick exhale.
"Keith—"
"Do you know what you did to me tonight?" His voice was barely human as he stalked toward me, backing me against the wall. He didn't touch me, but his body caged me in, arms braced on either side of my head. This close, I could see the rapid pulse in his throat, smell the intoxicating mix of his cologne and something wilder underneath. "Dancing with you, smelling how wet you were getting, knowing I put that satisfied scent on you?"
His control was hanging by a thread. I could see it in the tension of his jaw, the way his muscles coiled like he was physically holding himself back from touching me.
"You're the one who started it," I accused, my voice breathier than intended.
"And I can't finish it." His forehead dropped to mine, and even that small contact made me gasp. His whole body shuddered at the sound. "Natalie's been asking questions. The servants too. Everyone at that ceremony could smell me on you, Sage."
His hand moved to my hip, not grabbing, just hovering, like he couldn't help but be drawn to me but wouldn't let himself take what he wanted.
"Your father—"
"He's going to mark you." The words came out broken. "Bite your neck, drink your blood, make you his forever. And I'll have to watch. I have to pretend I don't care that the woman who might be my mate is in his bed."
The word mate sent heat straight through me. Without thinking, I arched toward him, and his control snapped. His hands grabbed my waist, spinning us so my back hit the wall hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs.
"You don't know what you do to me," he growled, his body pressed against mine from chest to thigh. I could feel how hard he was, could feel the tremor in his muscles as he fought for control.
"Show me."
He kissed me like he was drowning and I was air. Nothing like the careful exploration of last night. This was pure desperate need. His tongue claimed my mouth while his hands roamed my body, sliding under my shirt to grip my bare waist. His touch was reverent and possessive at once, like he was trying to memorize every inch of me.
I moaned into his mouth, my legs wrapping around his waist as he lifted me. The position put his hardness directly against my core, only his pants and my underwear between us.
"Fuck," he groaned, grinding his hard cock against me. The friction was perfect and not enough all at once. "You're so wet already."
His mouth moved to my neck, sucking hard enough to leave marks that would be hidden by my hair. Each pull of his lips sent sparks straight to my core. I was lost in sensation, in the feeling of finally having his weight against me, his hands on my skin.
"Keith," I gasped as he rolled his hips, the pressure making me see stars. "I want... I need..."
"Tell me." His voice was wrecked as his hand slipped between us, fingers finding me through my underwear. "Tell me what you need."
"Everything," I admitted, too far gone to be embarrassed. "I want to know everything. Taste my blood. Know for sure if we're—"
His teeth scraped against my pulse point, making me shiver.
"Sage, if I bite you now—"
"Do it," I begged, grinding my pussy against him shamelessly. "Please, Keith. Bite me. Taste me. I need to know, please."
His teeth pressed against my skin, and I felt them break through, just a little bit—
Footsteps sounded from outside my door. We both froze, the spell broken instantly.
"Someone's coming," I whispered frantically, my legs dropping from his waist.
Keith's eyes were wild, amber bleeding into the brown as his wolf fought for control. He set me down reluctantly, his hands lingering on my waist like he couldn't bear to stop touching me.
"The bathroom. Go."
He disappeared into my ensuite just as a knock sounded at my door. Not soft like Keith's had been. Authoritative. Demanding.
I knew who it was before I opened the door.
King Damon stood there in a silk robe, his eyes immediately roaming over my disheveled appearance, my bare legs, my swollen lips.
"Your Majesty?"
"I couldn't sleep," he said, pushing into my room without invitation. The scent of whiskey followed him. "The ceremony had me... excited."
Before I could respond, he grabbed me, pulling me against him roughly. His mouth crashed down on mine, and revulsion rolled through me. Where Keith's kiss had set me on fire, this one made my skin crawl. His tongue tried to push through my sealed lips while his hands groped at my body.
When he pulled back, his hands went immediately to the hem of my shirt.
"Wait," I gasped, grabbing his wrists. "Please, Your Majesty."
"You're mine," he growled. "The pack saw it tonight."
"And I will be," I said quickly, mind racing for an excuse. "But think about it – when you mark me, when you take me for the first time, shouldn't it be perfect? Not rushed in the middle of the night, but planned and ceremonial."
His hands paused its groping.
"The marking ceremony is in a week," I continued, desperate to get through to him. "Think how much sweeter it will be, knowing you waited. Knowing that when you finally claim your virgin bride, the whole pack will hear it. They'll know their Alpha's power when you make me scream your name."
His ego won out over his lust.
"One week," he said, releasing me. But before leaving, he kissed me again, quick and possessive. "Then you're mine completely."
The moment the door closed, Keith emerged from the bathroom. The look on his face was murderous, his entire body vibrating with barely controlled rage.
"I'm going to kill him."
"Keith—"
He crossed to me in two strides, his hands cupping my face with heartbreaking gentleness, such a contrast to his father's rough touch.
"He kissed you and put his hands on you." His thumb traced my bottom lip. "I could hear everything, and I couldn't do anything."
"It meant nothing," I whispered.
"It meant everything." His forehead pressed to mine. "One week, Sage. We have one week to figure this out, or we run."
"Run?"
His eyes were deadly serious. "I won't watch him mark you. I won't survive it. Besides, you still owe me that date. Do you remember?"
Of course. The date he had blackmailed me into.
“I remember,” I replied, a small smile curling up my lips, “and we'll have that date soon.”
“He dropped hot kisses on my neck and inhaled my scent deeply. “How soon is soon?”
“Probably before the marking ceremony. You could take me to places that I haven't been to”
“Looking forward to that,” he said and kissed me once more before leaving.
I had one week.
One week to change everything or lose everything.