~ CASIMIR ~Moments later my sight cleared and I found myself laying on my back, staring up at the ceiling of the dungeon, my mouth agape and chest heaving as I tried to get my breath back. But I couldn’t even think in full sentences yet.Jesse.Love.Power.Holy shit.“Cazz… what… what was that?” Jesse asked quietly from my right.Head spinning and heart hammering, I rolled over to find her curled on her side facing me, her face pale and eyes wide.“Shit. Are you okay?” I asked her hurriedly, combing her hair back from her face and pushing up on a shaky elbow and scanning her body for injuries or… something. I wasn’t even sure what I thought I might see. All I knew was that I’d almost been swept away by that… that tidal wave of power. I didn’t know how she’d survived it. And the panic in me when I realized she might have been hurt, or worse, lost…Everything in me shied away from the thought—and what it would mean.When I didn’t find any injuries on her, I brought my gaze back up to
~ CASIMIR ~We spent another hour there, just being together, sinking into the bond, letting our bodies accommodate the new power.I had to explain to her why the power came in these waves—new abilities, new levels of strength were triggered by the bond, by dominance, and… well, obviously by our lovemaking.My father had never told me that.“…when you gain in the power it’s like adding a limb. It takes time for your body to adjust,” I said, pushing a strand of hair back off her face that had fallen over her cheek. “But it’s like healing… over time, you forget that it even hurt. And it just seems natural for it to be that way,” I said with a shrug.She frowned. “So when you get stronger, it hurts you?”“Sometimes,” I admitted. “It depends. A big rush like that—I’ve never felt anything like that before. That almost burned me away. That was… that was a lot, Jesse.”Then I met her eyes and she smiled. “You’re a lot too, Cazz. It’s okay. We’ll get there.”I couldn’t decide if her simple fa
~ CASIMIR ~“You ready, Casimir?”My father stood in the doorway of my chamber in simple leathers, his hair tied back, and a smile on his face. He winked when I looked at him.I nodded and smiled as I scrambled to my feet, thanking God that he hadn’t arrived ten minutes earlier when I’d been making a model. He could probably smell the glue, but I’d just tell him I had fixed… something.I was twelve, and beginning to grow. He kept telling me to leave puppyhood behind me. And I was eager to do it.But I liked making things.I had decided that when I was King, I was going to make a decree that games and creative things—not just prophecies and books, but fun stuff like building and art and dance—wouldn’t be deemed childish. That anyone would be allowed to do them.Because then I could too.I scrambled out of my chair and ran after my dad, who’d turned on his heel and stalked down the hall, expecting me to keep pace, even though his legs were still inches longer than mine. But I didn’t min
~ CASIMIR ~When he hadn’t corrected anything by the time I got Prince ready and was leading him out of the stable, I wanted to throw back my head and howl.“You ride to the clearing and show me the work you’ve been doing,” he said quietly. Then he shifted and started running for the clearing.Prince’s head went up and his nostrils flared, but I’d been working with him—shifting around him a lot, even on his back, so he’d get used to it.When he snorted, but didn’t shy away, my father reached for me through the link.‘That’s good work, Casimir.’I just about howled then. I was killing it today!I mounted Prince, springing into the saddle, and kicked him into a gallop to keep up with my father’s wolf.We reached the clearing in just a minute or so, and I didn’t wait. When my father gave an order, you didn’t question, you just did it. So as soon as we got into that wide oval of grass in the middle of the trees, I started moving Prince through his paces, then showing my father the command
~ CASIMIR ~No one tells you how long it takes to kill an animal that way.Blood loss takes minutes.Suffocation takes at least two.I had to stand there, braced, jaw locked, eye to eye with my horse who was terrified and in pain and shocked and confused.And when he finally fell, sinking to the ground, his heart was still beating, though it was far too fast, far too thin, as his blood and air starved body tried desperately to find what it was missing, and only succeeded in killing him faster.I knew I couldn’t let him go until his heart had stopped. My father wouldn’t accept it until we were certain he was dead.So I stood there as my horse tumbled to his side, and I didn’t let go.But I found my father, still in his wolf, standing under the trees a few feet away on the other side of Prince, panting happily.His eyes locked with mine.And when Prince’s pulse finally slowed to nothing, and I could spit his flesh out of my mouth, my father’s wolf was grinning.‘Well done, Casimir. I di
~ JESSE ~ I woke up smiling. I didn't open my eyes right away, but lay there breathing and reliving a few of those precious moments from last night. The furs were warm and so soft. I stretched slowly, discovering where my body ached, but in delicious ways. And I felt… full. With eyes still closed and a happy sigh, I rolled over, reaching out for Cazz—and my hand hit empty space. Cold furs. I sat bolt upright, a jolt of adrenaline making my heart pump as I searched first the bed, then the room for any sign of him. “Cazz?” I said, my voice too high. ‘Good morning, beautiful.’ My breath caught. ‘Cazz! Are you okay? What happened? Is there a problem with the humans—’ ‘Calm down, Jesse. I’ve been waiting for you to wake…’ His voice in the bond was warm and calm and suggestive. I blew out a breath and let myself slump back down on the pillows, heart pounding, but beginning to ease. I was torn between sadness that he wasn’t there, and thrill that he was so present in the bond. I exam
~ JESSE ~All the way to him I’d been asking myself where he might be. At first, I’d thought it was just another audience or meeting with the council, but I continued to feel that simmer in him—and the impatience that underlined it all wasn’t anger, or frustration. It had a keen edge.Almost like hope.My thoughts had turned then to where he might be, or what he might have planned that would make him anticipate my arrival.It wasn’t hard to guess what he had planned.At first, when I realized I was following his trail deeper into the Palace, I had been envisioning another visitor suite with a four-poster, like the one we’d used the other day… or perhaps some kind of playroom like the room off the Den… or even an office of some kind. Maybe he had a library with a fireplace and a nice couch?From the way he’d felt through the bond, I was certain Cazz was bringing me here for an adventure that we wouldn’t be sharing with anyone else.But when I finally got close, and found the door that
~ JESSE ~I stood on a small, circular stone dais that rose out of the floor near the corner of the room—a corner lined in wide, tall mirrors that showed me from every angle.And I couldn’t quite believe what I was seeing.The gown was stunning, the fabric indescribably soft and thin, almost completely sheer, but it had been draped and gathered in layers. The sheer got so pale sometimes, it was hard to tell if it showed my skin, or that was only the fabric itself.It was the most beautiful silver-sage color that seemed to undulate as I moved, deepening to one color or the other, depending how the light hit the fabric. It set off the chestnut highlights in my hair perfectly, and—‘It matches the green in your eyes,’ Cazz sent in a deep, heavy voice.I bit my lip, nodding. ‘You picked this?’‘I saw it when I came in for a tunic fitting, and I knew the Selection was coming, that you’d need formal gowns. I insisted that Preena use it—and only for you. No one else will be allowed to have c
~ CASIMIR ~I was pretty sure if I didn’t get inside her, I was going to eat her alive.Scooting with her in my lap, still straddling me, I got her so both my knees and her back were flat against the wall. Then I flipped open the wide, leather cuffs that had been secured directly to the wall and first lifted one of her hands, to strap it in so her hand was levered above her shoulder, but with her arm comfortably bent so she could relax. Then I did the same with her other hand on the other side.So I straddled the banana-seat, while she straddled me and her hands were secured to the wall behind her.Her breasts rose and fell with her heavy breathing, and her eyes were bright with desire.Overwhelmed again with how much thought she’d put into this, for a moment I just took her face in my hands and kissed her. But that drew us together—my cock pressing against her, and I couldn’t resist rolling my hips, teasing
~ CASIMIR ~“I made a new Den,” Jesse whispered, her hands over her mouth, staring up at me—those beautiful eyes wide, but also a little fearful. “I know it’s not the same, but I got Ghere to help me because he remembered what things you’d had before and… I hope you like it.”Like it? Was she serious?My heart was slamming against my ribs, and I was having trouble breathing.The room seemed smaller than I remembered because the walls were painted a dull black. But the tighter space than what I’d had down next to the Den just made it feel more intimate.There were two lamps, one on each end, and a chandelier high above. Candles everywhere, though she hadn’t lit mo
~ JESSE ~It was Cazz’s turn to plan the monthly date. But I was humming about this one. Things were finally ready, and impossibly, Ghere had helped me successfully pull off the surprise. But I still had to figure out how to get Cazz there without ruining it.He’d taken me out to the meadow again—my favorite date. Though we’d enjoyed several others now too—and we’d just finished eating. He was leaning back against the cab of the truck, looking out at the city lights, his brows a little heavy.“What are you thinking about?” I asked him, though I had a hunch.He had his arm around me and I was leaning on his shoulder. His hand trailed up and
~ CASIMIR ~I came out of the bathing room after a long bath rubbing my hair with a towel, to find my mate standing in the middle of the chamber with her arms folded and looking sternly at my daughter, who sat on the floor in nothing but a diaper, with her chubby legs straight out. She, too, had her arms folded and her lips pursed in the perfect reflection of her mother.The two glared at each other and half my heart went cold, while the other half wanted to splutter with laughter.“Abigail, I have told you—”“No!”Our daughter could only get her tongue around a few words so far, but
~ JESSE (a few weeks later) ~I had just finished nursing Abigail and was holding her on my lap while Reeca sat with me on the couch.Her eyes were bright and she was beginning to smile, so I was tickling her cheeks to see if I could get her to do it. But she was sleepy because she’d just eaten and only yawned and cooed.“She’s a very calm baby,” Reeca commented from the other end of the couch, smiling. She loved babies, and had been so helpful when I was tired—and just for reassurance for me.She was a calm presence in any room, and with Abigail, she showed a lot of delight and joy that she seemed to stifle in other areas of her life.“Reeca,” I said carefully, because I’d b
~ JESSE ~I was too tired to do more than lift my hands to his neck, so I just curled my face into his chest and let him settle us into the chair, cradled in his arms with my ass in his lap.When he’d sat, I had my head resting on his shoulder and my body curled in his arms.“Do you hurt?” he asked quickly.“No, just tired, like I said.”I felt him relax a little then and another chill started in my blood.“Cazz… what’s happened?” I asked quietly.He turned his head to meet my eyes and lifted his hand to comb hair back from my face. His throat bobbed, but his touch was g
~ JESSE (Hours later) ~My dreams were disturbing—my body in pain, screams of terror, darkness, the floor shaking, the mountain falling, humans fleeing and wolves…I tried to break free, tried desperately to open my eyes and to speak, because I knew I was asleep. But all I did was fade… in and out. The nightmares, or nothing.And through it all, his voice.“Heal… live.”My heart ached. My body hurt. My chest didn’t want to expand. It was as if my flesh fought his words, and I didn’t understand.But finally, the dreams faded and I could hear a heartbeat. Little, and quick. And feel warm flesh. And the breath of my m
~ CASIMIR ~I felt the moment the power went out of Jesse. The entire mountain felt it.I howled with triumph and shifted, sprinting towards the room, ecstatic when there was no sense of Maya gripping my mind or stealing anything from me. But of course, there was no power left for her to steal.I prayed and pleaded and ran, Rory and the others coming in my wake. And the moment I broke through that door in my wolf—the only power left to me anymore—everything slowed. Though my body whipped and my mind was singularly focused, it was as if everything happened in slow motion.I caught a bare glimpse of Jesse on the bed, and at first my heart leaped. She was moving, awake, aware,
~ JESSE ~Maya had me sitting up in the bed, curled forward, gripping my knees. Reeca on one side, helping prop me up, a guard on the other.My body was nothing but a conduit for pain. Wave after wave, my entire lower body condensing, contracting, pushing to get this baby out. I could barely think.Cazz was there, so quiet, so distant, but there, calling his encouragement and pushing love at me through the bond.There was a moment when I thought I wouldn’t make it, when I thought my body would give and I would just drift away.But then I caught Maya smiling. Leaning forward between my legs, reaching, grasping, for