BELLE
My body was tingling with warmth and happiness when I woke up late in the morning the next day.
I smiled and stretched my stiff arms over my head, giggling when I felt the soreness between my legs.
Then I reached over to the other side of the bed for my mate, hoping to crawl on top of him and nuzzle my face into his warm neck.
But I didn’t find him next to me. Instead, my hand fell onto cold, empty sheets.
I immediately sat up, my heart racing in my chest.
“Grayson?” I called out into the dark room. My gaze fell to the windows, noticing that it was nighttime. Had I slept through the entire next day? No wonder I felt so rested.
But if this bitch really left me all by myself the morning after our first time together… I was about ready to explode out of the bed and hunt him down to beat his as*s.
And then I saw him.
Grayson was sitting in a chair he had pulled up to the side of the bed, staring at me. He was leaning forward, his arms on the bed and his chin resting on top of them.
I nearly screamed at how close his face was to mine.
“What are you doing over there?” I asked. I leaned over, so I was lying on my side right in front of
him.
He had on boxers now, which didn’t seem the least bit fair, considering the fact that I was still butt
naked.
When Grayson didn’t respond, I pushed up on my elbow. It was then that I noticed his overwhelming anxiety racing through our newly strengthened bond, accompanied by fear and
exhaustion.
“Are you okay?”
“Are you okay?” he replied uneastly. “How are you feeling?”
I reached over and grabbed his arm, squeezing it gently. I loved that the sparks were even more
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intense than before. He immediately put his hand qyer mine. “I’m fine. Great, actually. Amazing. I’m happy.”
He didn’t seem convinced. “Arc
you sure?”
I took his hand in mine and placed it on my chest, right over my heart. “Can’t you feel how happy I am?” I could definitely feel how worried he was.
He stared at the spot where my hand was for several long moments, his eyes switching from black to red to green repeatedly.
I frowned. “Why aren’t you in bed?” I could feel how badly he wanted to be holding me right now and had no idea why he was fighting that urge. I wanted the same thing.
“I needed to be able to see you to see if you were in pain. I needed to watch
your face.”
My heart broke a little. Although more than a little creepy that he just sat and watched me while I slept, he was so scared something was going to happen to me that he’d put his needs and wants aside.
This man really did love me, huh?
“Come here,” I whispered, holding out my hand. “Please.”
My eyes opened wide in delight as I watched Grayson slide down his boxers and step out of them before climbing back into the bed with me, pulling me against him, so we were chest to chest. I ran my thumb under the deep bags under his eyes.
“Did you sleep at all?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “I had to make sure you were okay.”
I sighed, dropping my forehead against his. “You worry too much. I would have told you if something was wrong.”
“What if you didn’t know until it was too late? What if I couldn’t save you because I was too busy fu*cking sleeping?“”
never
“So, what, you’re just going to sleep again because you’re too worried I’m going to up and combust without warning?
“Don’t be ridiculous. You need rest. Especially after“-I swallowed, my cheeks blossoming with color “everything we did yesterday.”
Grayson’s lips turned up for the first time since I had woken up, and it sent flutters into my stomach. I would do anything to keep that smile on his face.
“Hmm….” Grayson hummed. “You’re lucky I can practically read your mind now. Otherwise, I would have been waking you up every hour last night to make sure you were okay.
“Your happiness through the bond is the only thing giving me any peace of mind.” His chest started. to vibrate with his quiet purrs as his lips skimmed over my chin.
“You’re sure you’re feeling okay?” he asked in a low tone that made me shift against him.
“Um…yes,” I murmured. I was becoming obscenely distracted by his wandering hands with every passing second. Especially the one petting up the inside of my thigh. “I–I feel great.”
Grayson’s smile widened. “I can’t believe I waited so long to finally feel your incredible tightness. squeezing around me,” he growled.
I chewed on my bottom lip. “I can’t either. And for what? Because you were afraid I was going to shift? I feel exactly the same as I did before we mated. Absolutely no difference.”
He abruptly squeezed my as*s in a harsh grip, possessively, pulling me even closer to him. I squeaked.
“I hope you don’t feel exactly the same. You’re mine now. Forever. For the rest of eternity.”
My breathing was coming out embarrassingly fast. “I think I–I could be okay with that.”
“Could be okay with that? Baby, you don’t get a choice. I’m keeping you whether you like it or not.”
I giggled. “It’s a good thing I like you, then.”
“Just like?” he demanded.
“Mm–hm…I think I might be warming up to you a bit. It might take a little while longer. I mean, you did kidnap me, after all. Or don’t you remember that? What kind of girl would I be if I fell in love with my kidnapper?”
“The kind that is mated to an alpha male,” Grayson provided, dipping his head down to nip at my mark. It was still tender from being bitten multiple times last night.
It sent shivers down my spine. “I regret nothing, baby. Would do it all again in a heartbeat.” He placed my leg over his hip so that my pussy was lined up with his hard cock.
I gasped when he slowly rolled his hips once against mine, sliding his cock between my slick folds. Chapter 54 of 59: Chapter 54
“Are you sore?” he said right next to my car. “I know I was pretty rough with you. I couldn’t help it, though. I needed to claim you. To dominate you. I had to.”
“I know,” I whispered. I closed my eyes, already getting lost in the sensations he was causing to build in my lower stomach.
Was it actually possible to want him again after the countless hours he’d spent inside me only yesterday?
The answer was yes. Yes, it definitely was.
In fact, the closeness I felt with him due to the bond only made me want him more, almost as if we hadn’t completed the mating process at all to begin with. I was desperate for him again.
“I–I’m a little s–sore,” I said, completing my earlier thought, realizing I had never actually answered his question. “But it’s n–nothing I can’t…um…handle.”
His cock was rubbing up against my clit with exact precision, turning my brain to mush.
“My poor baby. I rode you hard, huh?” He picked up his speed just slightly, and I nearly passed. away then and there. He was teasing me. He was enjoying watching me fall apart for him.
“Grayson. I want you again. Please.” I didn’t care that I was begging, so long as he slid that magical dick into me in the next five seconds.
I gasped at the intense pleasure that took over our bond. Holy shit, did he like hearing me say that- hearing me beg for him and actually being able to do something about it.
His pleasure immediately filled my chest with warmth and the space between my legs with butterflies.
“I know you do,” he replied in a low tone. “I can feel your need. Smell it. My cock is practically drowning in it.”
His movements abruptly ceased, and he leaned down, so his lips were right next to my ear. “So what are you going to do about it, little mate?”
My eyes snapped up to his. It took me a moment to understand the significance behind his words. He was giving me permission.
For the first time ever, he was allowing me to do what I wanted to him without restrictions or restraints. It was such a simple thing he was doing, and yet, it meant so much to me.
I suddenly had the urge to cry.
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I had been holding myself back from touching him and acting on my need to bring him pleasure for so long that I didn’t even realize I was still doing it now, even when it was unnecessary.
But Grayson had noticed it yesterday and was sharing his observation with me now through the mate bond.
Even when he was inside me for most of yesterday, I kept my hands on places I knew were safe: his face, shoulders, chest, abs–but never lower. He knew what I was doing even when I didn’t. He knew I was holding myself back and protecting myself from his rejection, which I had become all too familiar with. I was so familiar with it that I had come to expect it.
“What are you going to do about it, Belle?” he asked again, quicter this time, with more intention behind his words.
I smiled. I knew exactly what I was going to do about it.
I pushed him onto his back and climbed on top of him. I made sure that no part of my sopping wet center was touching him–my own way of teasing him in the same way he teased me..
Grayson crossed his arms behind his head and watched me with raised brows, a cocky grin plastered on his lips.
I couldn’t help but lean forward and kiss those lips. Once. Twice. Three times for good measure.
I felt his muscles tense beneath me as he held himself back from grabbing me and kissing me more thoroughly like I knew he wanted to.
“You’re not going to stop me this time?” I asked, letting my mouth barely brush over his as I spoke. My hands trailed down his pecs and over his arms and shoulders.
“No excuses about having to work? Or not feeling like it’s the right time?“”
“Fu*ck, no.” His words came out strained. It was getting harder for him to hold himself buck. “Not even the Moon Goddess herself could pull me away from you right now.”
I wet my mouth, looking down at my hunk of a mate, trying to decide exactly what my next move would be. The possibilities were endless.
I tried to press my legs together to try to relieve some of the pulsing discomfort starting there, but Grayson’s massive form was there, preventing any sort of friction from taking place.
Deciding that this would be solely about him and not me, I leaned down and pressed a slow kiss to his Jaw. Then his throat, Adam’s apple, collarbone, and chest muscles.
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I kissed all the way down to his stomach and the small patch of hair leading down to my final
destination.
“Belle,” Grayson groaned, his voice strained, making it clear he was barely holding it together. He wanted me to hurry things along.
I giggled but didn’t rush. I wanted to enjoy this.
My lips were directly above his pulsing shaft now. With a grin, I slowly bent down and pressed a gentle kiss to his crown.
Even from that simple touch, his hips shot up just the slightest bit, and another low groan came from deep within his chest. I loved the effect I had on him. I loved that I could so easily make him lose control.
I was just about to wrap my lips fully around his tip, my mouth watering with the need to taste him, when all of a sudden, he sat up.
He grabbed me by the bottom of thy jaw with his massive hand, stopping what I was doing.
He let out a vicious growl that shook the entire bed. “You’ve got to be f*ucking kidding me,” he bit out, every muscle of his body flexed with unrestrained fury. “Someone wants to die.”
“What?” I responded.
Without warning, he gently grabbed me by the back of my neck and pulled me up, so my face was directly in front of his. He smashed his lips to mine. “I’m so sorry,” he spoke against my lips.
As if on cue, a knock could be heard at the door to our apartment. Grayson let out a snarl so loud and powerful that it shook the entire room. Hell, it probably shook the entire palace.
I slammed my hands over my ears.
“I’m going to kill him,” Grayson bit out.
“Who?” I squeaked. “Who is that?”
With one final apologetic squeeze to my neck and a kiss on my mouth, he moved me off of him so I was lying on my back on the bed next to him.
“Wait, what are wr…
doing?” I asked, watching as he stood in all of his naked glory. Dear Lord, I had s
ex with that? “I thought you said that not even the Moon Goddess could pull you from me.”
“And I meant that,” he replied sternly. “I’ll be back–just as soon as I murder my beta.” Chapter 54 of 59: Chapter 54
“Your beta?” I repeated. “Kyle is here?”
Grayson grunted in response. He was pissed. I could feel his anger racing through our bond, squeezing around my heart.
He didn’t like it when we were interrupted during an intimate moment like this. He liked it even less that there was a person anywhere near me so soon after mating for the first time.
“I’ll be right back. Stay here.” He began walking to the door.
“Grayson!” I called after him. I quickly stood and wrapped a sheet around me. “Where are you going? You’re naked!”
Grayson was past the point of listening. He was shaking with anger, body growing, preparing to shift.
He very obviously didn’t care about his state of nudity. His attention was set on ripping apart. whoever was at our door.
“Grayson, wait! You can’t just
I chased after him to the door only for him to turn, walk back to me, toss me over his shoulder, and march me right back to the bed at a speed I couldn’t even begin to comprehend.
He unceremoniously dropped me on the mattress and climbed over me, looking down at me with livid dark–red eyes. I gulped.
“Stay. Here,” he ground out. “If I come back here and find that you’ve moved even one inch toward that door, you won’t like the consequences. Understand me, mate?”
“I’m not a child.” I glared up at him. “You want to get kicked in the balls? Talk to me like that again.”
Grayson bared his teeth in frustration and stuffed his head into my hair, taking in deep, calming breaths of my scent.
I knew he was on edge and couldn’t exactly control his actions right now. Maybe I should have granted him some mercy and just done what he’d said.
But that didn’t mean he could get away with talking to me like that.
There was another rapid pounding on the door. Grayson snarled in the direction of it.
“Um, excuse me, do you really think I want to be here right now?” Kyle’s voice shouted through our
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“In fact, do you think I would be anywhere near your wing of the palace right now unless it weren’t extremely important?”
I sighed. “Go talk to your beta,” I told Grayson. I massaged the tight muscles of his neck with my fingers in an attempt to calm him quickly.
“I’ll stay here. I promise. The sooner you go see what he wants, the sooner we can get back to what we were doing.”
He kissed my mark and then my lips before leaning back to look at me.
Next thing I knew, I was alone on the bed, and the door to the bedroom was slammed shut.
I sprang up, raced to the door, pressed my ear to the wood, and strained my hearing to listen to what they were saying.
“What the flying fu*ck do you want?” Grayson demanded the moment he was outside the room.
“The borders are down,” Kyle said. His tone was much more serious than I was used to, indicating he was getting straight to business.
He could probably tell he was on thin ice and that he had mere moments to explain why he was there before Grayson lost his shit.
“What do you mean they’re down?“”
“They’re just down. We have no idea how it happened.” He took a deep breath. “We’re handling it, but I thought you might want to be aware. Anyone has access to the kingdom right now. Absolutely anyone.”
The door to our bedroom swung open a second later.
I stumbled backward with a gasp, not expecting my mate to burst through the door just then, only to be grabbed around the waist and slammed into his naked chest.
“I thought I told you to stay on the bed,” he said, chiding me.
“And I thought I told you I would kick you in the balls if you kept talking to me like I’m a child.”
A muscle ticked in his jaw. “You make me fu*cking crazy.”
“Don’t blame me for your psychosis.
“Baby, you are my psychosis.”
With that, he released me, and within the next second, he was across the room in our closet, pulling on a pair of dark jeans.
“Are you going somewhere?” I asked.
Frustration took over his face. “Yes. I’m so sorry, love. You know I wouldn’t go if I didn’t really
have to.”
I nodded, following him into the closet. “I know. It’s okay. Kyle sounded pretty serious. What does it mean that the borders are down?“”
He paused after pulling on a black T–shirt, his brows knitting together. “You could hear that?”
“Of course I could hear that. You were just in the other room.”
His puzzlement showed. “The rooms are soundproof. The only reason I knew Kyle was coming was that I could smell him, and the door was open. Even I would struggle to hear through that door when it’s closed.”
I shrugged. “Well, I guess you should get your money back because whoever soundproofed this room obviously didn’t do a very good job.”
Grayson shook his head, reaching for a pair of boots. “So I guess you heard that the borders to Zaweth are down. First time in centuries.”
I pulled my sheet around me tighter. “What exactly does that mean?”
“It means that someone figured out how to break them down. Someone very powerful. It means that anyone can get through.”
“Well, can’t you just put them back up?”
“Not without an extremely powerful warlock. And the only one nearby just so happens to be missing. And I have a funny feeling that I know who’s responsible.”
He walked to me, pressing a firm kiss on my forehead. “We need to protect the borders. For all we know, Azazel is already in the kingdom.”
“And you’re just going to go out there?” I demanded. “You’re the one he wants to kill. Shouldn’t you be hiding?”
“I’m no coward, Belle. I’m not going to run like Azazel. I’m going to rip him to shreds for what he did to you. Because that’s what he deserves. I’m going to make him suffer.”
The emotions I was feeling from him suddenly made sense. There was no fear over the potential danger facing his kingdom or his people right now.
He was cager for Azazel to come. He was excited. He wanted to destroy him.
“What can I do to help?” I asked, already reaching for my clothes.
“You can stay right here where I know you will be safe–where Azazel cannot get to you,” he said.
He walked past me, making his way to the bed, where he sat down and started to quickly lace up his
boots.
I threw on some underwear–of the non–s
8xy variety this time–before tugging a pair of jeans over my hips.
A scoff flew from my mouth. Why did I know that was going to be his answer before I even asked. the question?
“I’m not going to just sit here like a helpless doll while you go out there and risk your life. Absolutely not. I’m coming with.” I shrugged into a white T–shirt.
Finished with his laces, Grayson finally looked up at me with a piercing gaze.
I knew the expression on his face. It was a look that said he wasn’t going to budge on the topic.
“Argue with me all you want, Belle,” he said slowly. “It’s not happening. I will not willingly put you in danger.”
“There has to be something I can do! I can help with medical stuff. Or with children. This is t pack too.”
my
He ignored me, already making his way to the door. I scrambled to put my sneakers on, hopping on one foot while I followed him.
“So what, you’re just going to lock me up in this apartment while you go off to war?”
He nodded once. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
I scoffed. “I know how to unlock a door. You can’t force me to stay here.”
Grayson’s brows rose. He opened the door to reveal Liam standing there, a grim expression painted on his face.
“No, but I can,” Liam said as he stepped into the apartment.
“No, but I can,” Liam said as he stepped into the apartment.
I looked at my mate. “What is this? What is he doing here?“*
Grayson was hesitant with his words. “He’s going to make sure you stay here.”