Auden swallows hard, his eyes moving over Everleigh as he sits across the bed from her. His eyes take in the way she’s sitting there, all tense and prim, holding that teacup so tight it will probably snap at any second. Wearing that ridiculous robe that she so clearly picked because she thinks it’s not sexy.
But it is. Of course it is. Because it’s so obvious – she’s working so hard to cover herself up to in the hopes that he will forget everything that’s beneath that robe. But all it does is make him remember it –
The feel of her long smooth limbs beneath his hand, her leg wrapping up around his back –
God, fuck – the feel of his cock pressing into her and then pounding deeper again and again, his teeth sinking into her neck - marking her – begging her to call him Alpha, to say he’s hers –
Auden closes his eyes, clearing his throat and shoving the memories away.
And it’s not nearly as intense as that – Everleigh’s scent is nowhere near as good as Evie’s had been - but certainly this draw to a woman is the strongest he’s experienced since he lost his mate and failed to find her after she vanished.But a series of anonymous women in his bed had helped him still the grief of Evie’s disappearance, though he’d certainly had to fuck his way through half the women in the army camp to free himself of her grip.Maybe…maybe another lover will do the same thing here.“Auden.”He turns at the door, meeting Everleigh’s eyes, gripping the handle hard to pin himself there, to keep from striding back to the bed and grabbing her to him, ripping that ridiculous robe right off her body.“I’m sorry,” she says quietly.He opens his mouth to protest, to say it’s not her fault – because he honestly believes her when she says she didn’t know.“Will you just let me be sorry?” she says, interrupting, her blue eyes hug
I push gently at the door to Mahl’s chambers when I hear his deep voice call for me to enter. Immediately my stomach tightens at the sight of him raising his eyes to me over the table spread with papers, maps, and little carvings that must represent his troops.A deep growl rumbles in his chest as his eyes rake over me. I exhale slowly as I step into the room, looking around at the five or so men who have gathered with him. My eyes flash wide and I go completely still when my gaze lands last on a very familiar face.Alpha Wood’s brows draw together. He glares at me from beneath them, a great deal of hate and ire gathering there.Yup. He has…not forgiven me for the disgrace I brought him in flatly refusing to marry him five years ago.“Leave us, men,” Mahl murmurs, low and rough. I snap my gaze back to him, gulping a little, wondering if he saw the look between Wood and I –But the serious way that he stares at me lets me know that
“I’m sorry, little bride,” Mahl murmurs, all grumbly and low and heated. “That I have not had the time for you that I would have wished. This war is…consuming.”“That’s all right,” I say, my voice a little tense as Mahl’s fingers tighten possessively on my flesh. “I…understand. War is…hard?”Pathetic. Pathetic and panicked, that’s all I am.Mahl smirks at me and turns me toward the table, walking forward a step until my rump hits the edge. To my surprise he then lifts me so that I’m seated neatly on the table, my legs spread wide to accommodate the breadth of him between my knees.“My sweet little Queen,” Mahl murmurs, shaking my head like I’m adorable as he leans closer to me - so close I can feel his breath on my face. “Don’t you worry about this war – let daddy handle it –“My eyes do flare a
Mahl sighs and takes a step away from me, looking toward the window. “If you’re denying me today, I will expect the performance of a lifetime tomorrow, wife,” he snaps. “No half-hearted mewling and laying still on the mattress if you’re going to make me wait like this.”I slip off the table, not knowing what to say. I step forward and take Mahl’s hand, silently begging him to turn to me. He does and I look up at him with wide, worried eyes.Mahl softens, thank god, and steps toward me, giving me another of those long, lingering kisses. Then he smacks me hard on the ass, eliciting a little yelp, and gives me a gentle push toward the door. “Off with you, wife. Prepare yourself for tomorrow – I will send the Priestesses to anoint you with oil. And I will look forward to tomorrow evening.”“As will I,” I whisper, trembling a little with relief and letting him think it
“Everleigh,” she says, starting to shake her head. “Mahl is the one who made magic illegal –““You use magic on him every other night!”“And I am a professional,” she says, laying a demure hand on her breast and grinning at me. “You are a rank amateur!”“Oh, come on, Margot!” I beg, dashing for her and dropping to my knees in front of her stool. She blinks at me, surprised. “It will be easy! I did it before with Angeline and it worked so well! He’ll never notice!”She turns her head to the side a bit. “He’ll never notice…what?”I smile prettily at her again, hoping that my excited expression hides all of the anxiety boiling in me now, the desperate howl of my wolf as she panics, wanting any way to get out of this horrible situation –“He’ll never notice,” I whisper, still smiling desperately at my friend. “When you take my place tomorrow. As the Golden Doe Goddess.”Margot’s mouth drops cle
“Come onnn,” Niall groans, looking very anxiously toward the suite’s door. “We have to gooo!”“You just want to see Aurora,” Vivi teases, wiggling in her father’s arms. Auden smiles as he puts her down and she runs to her brother. I press my lips together to keep from squealing at how cute my baby is with his adorable little boy crush.“Yes, I want to see Aurora!” Niall snaps, frowning at his sister. “Who is much nicer than you!”“Aurora cries all day –““She doesn’t!”“All right!” Auden cuts in, his voice loud and serious enough that both kids let their argument drop and turn to him. Auden lifts his chin toward the door. “Go and check your bags, make sure that you have your toothbrushes.”Vivi and Niall dart off to do as they’re bid and I turn to Auden, knowing that he sent them away to
“Everleigh!” Margot gasps, spinning toward me as I open the glass door to my roof garden and slip in. “You scared me – you said you’d be here –““I know, I’m sorry,” I say, stumbling over to her as Coco swoops into the room after me. Margot gasps, covering her head, but I just flap a hand in the air and point to my bed, instructing Coco to go settle down. He does as he’s told, flopping down onto my pillow and looking between Margot and I with a great deal of interest.Margot straightens and frowns at him. “Is that dragon…wearing diamonds?”“Yeah, it’s Vivi’s thing,” I say, grabbing Margot’s wrist and starting to tug her toward the bathroom. “She loves diamonds almost as much as you do.”“Will it bite?” Margot asks, looking over at Coco. “If I try to…borrow that fairly fantastic bracelet?&rdqu
Margot turns back to the mirror, just staring at her reflection – my reflection twice, really. She shakes her head, raising a hand to her cheek and softly touching it like she’s not sure it’s real. “This shouldn’t be possible.”I hesitate. “Why not?”“The magic,” she murmurs, leaning over the sink to inspect her face, turning it this way and that to observe the incredible effects of the spell. “It’s not that powerful. It’s just a little cantrip – a joke spell…”I bite my lip, not knowing what to say. Because, I mean, I have no explanation for why this works. It just…does.Slowly she turns back to me, her eyes flashing over my face and then down my body. “What are you, Everleigh?”I swallow hard, tilting my chin to the side, not having…any answer for tha
“It went off without a hitch, Ev!” she says, laughing and smacking my shoulder, delighted. “Seriously, you are a skilled woman – both in terms of using that powder and…what I convinced Mahl you could do in the bedroom, when properly incentivized.”I burst out laughing, letting my head tilt back with it, relief rushing through me as much as humor. I mean, I figured everything went okay when I didn’t receive any drastic summons this morning. But hearing it from Margot’s own lips is its own relief.“The powder lasted all night?” I whisper, leaning closer.She nods eagerly. “I had to scrub it, Ev, you put it on good. Honestly, do you think my hair still has a bit of a blonde sheen?”I glance at it and then give her a playful shove on the shoulder as I laugh, realizing that she’s kidding. “Don’t be silly.”“Oh, I’ll be as silly
I yawn as I walk slowly through the halls, heading for the great hall where the majority of the Lunas of this castle will be gathered, alongside their children, as is traditional after the Night of the Stag. Some Alphas will come too, but most will stay in bed.And it’s not that I’m necessarily dragging my feet to get there because I’m dreading it or something. I’m just still quite tired after an eventful night.Luckily for me, the day after the Night of the Stag is a long and lazy day where everyone in the palace takes it easy. The children play with their toys together in the hall, Lunas hang out and lounge around gossiping, and Alphas take the time to sleep off their drug-fueled orgy.Everyone just takes the day to do what they need, which is very nice.Viv and I took a long cozy nap after our extended chat about why kindness matters even when it doesn’t reflect your inner feelings. It wasn’t enough, c
I laugh, looking around at my family, eyebrows raised. “Finally?”“Yes,” she murmurs, Niall nodding in agreement. “You finally let daddy scent mark you and you smell much better.”I straighten in my chair, my eyes flashing to Auden, who laughs low and rich, shaking his head at me.Shit. I – I didn’t even put together that of course the kids were going to notice that I smell all over of Auden now until I get a chance to wash it off.God, thank heavens the children are the only ones I’ve seen so far.I laugh too, shaking my head, suddenly anxious to get in the tub even as I lay my cheek on my daughter’s hair. “I didn’t realize I smelled so objectionable before.”“Not ob-jection-bul,” she murmurs, taking a deep and happy breath, turning her face to bring her nose closer to me. “Just better. Daddy s
“And then,” Vivi murmurs, sitting on my lap with her mouth full of toast and butter and jam, reaching for her glass of juice. “Aurora’s mother took my bow away and said I wasn’t allowed to play with it anymore if I was going to keep scaring Aurora –“I grimace and look over at Auden, who sighs and cocks his head to the side, clearly regretting his choice of gifts for the Night of the Stag.Niall stares daggers at his sister from his chair, shaking his head at her. “You were so mean to Aurora and now we won’t be invited back!”“Even if they invite me back, I won’t go,” Vivi murmurs, turning to offer Coco a whole sausage from her fork. “It’s boring there.”“Vivs,” I murmur, reaching out to stop her from giving him so much food at once – but Coco gobbles the sausage down fast, the meat folding in half and going
Auden glances at me one last time as he reaches the door and I pull the dress over my head, hastily standing and tugging at my laces. I duck down next to his bed, ready to hide as instructed, and he nods to me, pulling his bedroom door open and then heading for the main door.I sit down hard on the floor on the far side of the bed, ducking my head so that I can’t be seen above the mattress, my arms twisted behind my back and tugging as best as I can at the stupid strings that will tighten my bodice.When? When will they invent dresses that women can put on without aid so that they can keep their clandestine night adventures to themselves!? “Papa!” Vivi cries. Auden laughs and says something back as Niall likewise shouts his hellos. I smile – I can’t help it – the sound of their voices going right to my heart.My sweethearts, my cuties. God, I haven’t thought about them in…hours.I
Auden lifts his hips fast and rough, pressing his cock up into me one final time. I moan, grinding myself down, my hands pressed to his chest beneath me, my arms trembling as I go to pieces around him, my inner muscles clenching hard as the tension within me comes to its breaking point and begins to unspool.I gasp again and again as that heat pounds through me, my arms giving out and my body pitching forward as my eyes fall shut. Auden’s there in a moment, catching me against his chest and turning me slightly so that I lay on my side. He murmurs something soft but I don’t hear it – or can’t comprehend it – or something - whatever. My brain is again mush and I can’t find the energy to care.Auden shifts behind me for better leverage, his hips slapping hard against my ass a dozen more times before he, too, groans and stills, coming to his end as a few curses slip from his lips. My body responds, my back arching painfully as I press my ass more ti
We lay there for a long few moments in silence, I think just letting our bodies learn the feel of each other in repose, basking in this new warmth. He ducks his head slightly, rubbing his stubbled cheek against my hair in a very fond, wolfish gesture. I can’t help my growing smile, raising a hand to his chest and letting my fingers spread out over his soft skin.God, who knew it would be this soft?Or maybe I did.Maybe I dreamed it.My wolf gives a scanty little howl of joy, curling up in a little crescent shape with her nose tucked under the edge of her tail, completely content.“I’ve thought about this,” he murmurs, letting his body curl around me more completely, pressing a kiss to my hair.“Really?” I whisper, lifting my face a bit to look up at him, grinning.He stills for a moment, frowning down at me. “You’re going to break my heart if you say you haven’t.”I laugh, smacking him lightly on the chest and lowering my face to press my cheek again to his nice warm skin. “So, what
My breath deepens as I keep my eyes on Auden, my fingers deftly working at the leather of his belt, sliding the end through the metal clasp and then tugging it, working it free of the pin. When I slide the buckle free, my hand moves to the button beneath, quickly popping it free of the fabric.Auden watches my face as my hand works, his expression very serious, very…solemn.Like this is some kind of great ceremony.Like this is…a point which when crossed we cannot go back. Which, I suppose it kind of is.But we’ve already crossed at least three of those points already. Honestly, I’m so far in with this man that…this tiny step? This last little leap?It just feels inevitable. Natural and right.Auden’s hand moves slowly up my arm as my fingers work at the series of little buttons on his fly, slipping each one free. He keeps his eyes on mine, even as my hand slips around to his side, my thumb again running along the waistline of his pants. When I reach his hip, I press the fabric down.
“What are you doing?” I gasp.“It’s easier this way,” he murmurs, settling down on top of my legs. He pauses for a second, but then his fingers wrap again around the edges of my dress, pulling it down a little lower so that half of my booty is exposed.“Auden!” I gasp, my head flying up.“Calm down, Everleigh, this is strictly medical. I just need to see the extent of the bruise.” His voice is low, entertained.“Oh, I hate you,” I murmur, tucking my head back down against my arms, my cheeks flaming.“No, you don’t,” he murmurs, making me smile. A soft scraping sounds, the lid of a jar being unscrewed, and the balmy scent of mint and eucalyptus fills my nose. “This will be cold.”I sigh and nod, consenting to it, thinking that sounds quite nice against the hot ache growing in my lower back. But I still gasp at the first t