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My hands fluttered to his chest, smoothing over the plane of muscle to wrap around him and pull him closer. It was instinctive. It felt good—it felt right. He slid his hand from my waist to my bare back and the contact burned like a brand.

“No, Lady Reyna,” the king growled against my lips. His voice rumbled through me, making both me and my wolf shiver in pleasure. “You will be my queen. The Queen of Frasia.” His fingertips pressed into my back. “My mate.”

I gasped against his mouth as my wolf howled in delight internally. Mate. The word made my blood sing and desire curl hot and low in my gut. He pulled me closer and bared his teeth into the kiss. With ease, he grasped my hips and dragged me into his lap, so my knees were astride his pelvis, the silk of the dress hiked high and straining tight. The cold breeze brushed against my bare calves but I hardly felt it at all, lost instead in the feeling of his hands roaming up and down my back, down to the swell of my ass, smoothing over the silk and squeezing the muscle. I moaned into the kiss and wrapped my arms around his neck.

He slid his fingers from my nape into my hair, then gripped tight to guide the kiss. The barest hint of pain only heightened the pleasure, and I rocked forward against him, suddenly desperate for more contact. Heat raced through me. I throbbed with desire between my legs, craving, wanting, more than I ever had. More even than I had in the woods. More than I ever had with anyone—certainly more intensely than anything I’d felt for Griffin.

Griffin. His face flashed in my mind, his freckled nose and wide smile. My wolf whined in agony as I broke the kiss and pushed backward, both of my palms flat on the king’s broad chest.

“What is it?” the king asked, in that low voice that made my entire body spark with desire. His eyes glowed gold as he gripped me.

“I—” I swallowed. “Your Majesty, I—I can’t.”

“Why?” That teasing smirk reappeared on his face. “Because you’re a virgin?”

I cringed, and clambered out of his lap. Regret flickered across his face. He’d broken the spell— whatever spell had made that kiss like something from my most overwhelming fantasies. I wasn’t a prize for the king to win. A Lady of Daybreak wouldn’t be so easy to seduce. She wouldn’t forget who she was just from a golden gleam of the king’s eyes. I smoothed the silk down over my thighs.

“Lady Reyna,” he said, “you know I wouldn’t—”

“It’s not that,” I said with a dismissive wave of my hand. “I just—I should retire to my chambers.”

“Then what is it?” He stood up, then caught my wrist in hand and pulled me close to him. “All I ask is that you be honest with me.”

I pressed my lips together hard. When I didn’t pull away, he gently wound his arm around my waist, then brushed a strand of my hair off my forehead. That curious, concerned expression was back.

Honesty. He made it sound so easy.

“I’m not fit to be queen.” I closed my eyes tightly. “I never wanted it—I never wanted to be a part

of this competition at all. I’m only here to represent my pack. I was never supposed to make it this far.” I paused, waiting for the king to interject and say something, but he was silent. Just holding me. I

didn’t bear open my eyes and meet his. “I was supposed to be dismissed from the competition, then return back to Daybreak with my pack’s reputation intact but my father disappointed. Then he would excuse me from the court and I could start my life. A life of my own.” Still he said nothing. His hold tightened on my waist.

“All I’ve known is life in the Daybreak Court,” I said. “I cannot go from that to being Queen of Frasia. There’s so much of Frasia—of the world!—I haven’t seen. It would be a disservice to the wolves of this nation.”

“Forget the royal duties,” the king said.

Finally, I opened my eyes. He captured my gaze, and this close, I could see the gold encircling his pupils. Maybe it was always there against the dark—maybe his wolf was never fully asleep. “What?” I asked.

“If there were no royal duties,” the king said, “if I were not asking you to be the queen. If I were simply asking you to be my mate—then what would your answer be?”

“I—I don’t know,” I stammered. I’d never thought about it. My wolf certainly had, she seemed to think about it constantly, her desire like a burning coal in my chest, but I couldn’t think of the man holding my waist as anyone but the king. His duties were inextricable from his selfhood, as mine would be, were I Queen of Frasia.

I knew that was true. And yet the question grabbed hold of me and wouldn’t let go. What would it be like, if neither of us had the roles we’d been assigned? Would this magnetic draw still be between us? My wolf howled her affirmation. Would it be even stronger? For a moment, when I’d awoken in the cave sprawled on his chest, I’d felt like I’d finally found where I belonged. That feeling had dissipated almost immediately, of course, but now I wondered. Without the baggage, the demands… could it be that easy?

“It’s not just politics,” the king said quietly.

“It’s mostly politics,” I retorted.

He hitched me closer and the hard curve in his fine slacks pressed into my hip. I gasped and clung to him as renewed desire raced through me. “One night,” he growled. “No politics. Just us. Let me make you feel good.”

Then he captured my mouth in another burning hot kiss. Before I could think otherwise, I said, “Yes, yes, yes,” repeating it like a mantra—as if even though I was still a human, my wolf was leading the way. I couldn’t take control back, and I didn’t want to.

The king growled in pleasure, then slid both hands down to my thighs. He gripped hard and then easily lifted me off my feet. I squeaked in surprise and flung my arms around his neck, then wrapped my legs around his waist. The silk of my dress nearly hiked up my hips in this position, but all I could focus on was his hands on me, his smile tucked into my neck.