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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. He carried me like I weighed nothing, back into his quarters and through the door to his bedroom.
He kissed my neck, then placed me gently onto the center of his immense, soft bed, its dark sheets mussed. My heart raced, blood pounding in my ears as I wiggled further back until my head was resting on the soft pillows that smelled strongly of his rich, masculine musk. My wolf nearly purred with delight, safe and aroused and desiring so strongly.
The king stood at the foot of the bed, gazing at me with his brown eyes flashing gold. There was a flush high on his cheeks, and his mouth was red from the kissing—I wanted those lips on mine again, immediately. I reached for him, a wordless sound of desire falling out of my mouth. He immediately crawled onto the bed, knee-walking up until his knees were astride my thighs. Then he lowered down, weight on one forearm, and kissed me deeply. He skated his other hand over my shoulder and upper arm, then over the swell of my breast, his thumb catching on my nipple.
I gasped into the kiss and arched up slightly toward the touch. I was sensitive there—sensitive in ways I didn’t know. It shocked me with the pleasure of it. He hummed, pleased, his lips curving into a smile against mine. Then he did it again, swiping his thumb over my nipple through the silk again and again. I moaned into the kiss, my hips shifting restlessly on the bed.
“So responsive, little wolf,” the king hummed, pleased.
He slid his hand lower, over my belly, then lower across my hip. I wound my arms around his neck and clung close, overwhelmed, but not wanting him to stop, either. His fingertips dipped lower, in between my legs, and rubbed up and down over my pussy. Even with the silk of my dress and my undergarments in between us, his touch blazed hot, and something in the cradle of my hips tightened.
“Oh,” I gasped into the kiss. “Please, I—”
“You like that?” he growled.
