She decided not to waste any time and hastily pulled a silk robe on, storming after the Lycan King. Her hair was dripping wet with water trickling down her skin. She did not care. She had to see him. She had to speak to him. Ria was dying to find out what was going on.
Luckily, his door was unlocked, and she entered his bedroom with ease.
The curtains in the room were drawn shut, casting the room in darkness. This was a manly room in dark shades. Very tasteful and minimalist. Very him.
She spotted Gideon immediately. He stood by a desk, breathing heavily with one hand covering his eyes.
His posture startled her, and she paused.
Nonetheless, it was too late. He sensed her presence and snapped his head in her direction.
“Not now, Riannon,” he said, and it sounded like both warning and begging.
“What is going on?” She stepped forward, and his eyes landed on the wet silk of her robe, which hid anything from his gaze.
“Oh, Goddess!” he muttered, turning away as desire swept over him in an overwhelming wave.
“Gideon, speak to me!” The Luna probed, unwilling to give up, wanting instead to understand what the matter was, “You are giving me some seriously mixed signals here!”
Mars howled in his head, and he couldn’t stay this close to her any longer. He had the best self-control of any lycan alive. But even this was too much for him. He had nerves of steel. He wasn’t made of it.
So, the king did the only thing that he could and pulled open the heavy curtains, letting the light in before storming out to the balcony to take a deep gulp of air.
He needed to cool himself off. He doubted the shower would help him in his current state. The thought alone of any kind of water procedures brought him back to the problem at hand.
“Gideon!” She moved behind him, and he closed his eyes as he inhaled the sweet scent unique to her, knowing it would be best not to turn back and look at her.
“Ria” He would have chuckled at how they suddenly dropped all formalities if he wasn’t in such physical pain from fighting against his body and Mar’s primal desires seemed hard. Too hard. “What is it you really want?”
“Answers!” she replied without even so much as a hint of hesitation, “Tell me what just happened! You clearly-“
Her voice broke, as did her courage. Was she too bold with him? With the Lycan King of all people in his kingdom?
She stilled herself and clenched her fists, pronouncing her next words with firm clarity.
“You clearly want me,” she said. He couldn’t hold back a snort, turning to face her.
“You think?” He raised her brow at her.
“Then what was the problem right now?” She did not budge.
“The problem, Riannon?” He made a step in her direction, and for the first time since they met, she managed to see something menacing in his eyes. It was the same handsome face, the same person she knew, yet somehow the air between them shifted, suddenly different. “The problem is that I more than just want you.
I want all of you. For myself. Without sharing you with anyone else in this world. I have wanted you like that from the moment I saw you, and it worsens every day.
The things I want to do to you- You couldn’t begin to imagine! But, if l take you now, I am going to mark that pretty little neck of yours.’
She gulped, trying to process the information.
He told her before that he wanted her as his woman. She believed him. But marking her … He couldn’t be serious about that.
“But, I am already marked,” the words left her lips without her realising as her hand went instinctively to the place where her husband once made his claim. She couldn’t feel it. She couldn’t feel the scar that had been there for years.
“Really?” Gideon chuckled darkly, “Where is it then?
All I see are two little red stains on your skin.”
What? when did that happen?
“B-but” she stuttered, “A mark would seal us together for life.”
“How terrible!” he rolled his eyes in sarcasm, moving closer toward her. Now she was the one to back away. “And what if I don’t mind?”
She didn’t know how to respond to that.
At the same time, he studied her scared face, coming to the sad conclusion that she still wasn’t ready.
“Go back to your room, Riannon,” he urged, turning away and hoping she would simply obey him for once,
Go back and close your door. Make sure that-“
“Why?” she interrupted. He flinched.”Why do you want me so much? I am not even a lycan! It doesn’t make sense! Why does,nearly everyone here behave as if it was completely normal? Why does my wolf react to you?
Why did my wounds heal so quickly today after you …
Why-“
He did not let her finish as he moved in beside her in less than a second, piercing her with his eyes which were glowing bright gold.
“Why do you think?!” he growled as he grasped her wa!st, causing her pink lips to part.
Riannon was startled, to say the least. She did not know why she came here in the first place. From the very beginning, all this seemed so Wrong!
So, why couldn’t she push him away? Why did she crave him so much?
“Mate!” Onyx whispered, turning the Luna’s world upside down.
“Mate,” Ria repeated her wolf’s words, and at the very next moment, Gideon’s lips crashed possessively into hers.
“Mate” he growled into her mouth, lifting her up with ease.
Riannon wrapped her thighs around his wa!st and her hands around his shoulders as their tongues intertwined in wild abandon.
It was surreal. How could she have missed this?
How could she miss that he was hers this whole time?
He slammed her back against the cold stone wall, pressing himself tightly against her.
“You said the word,” he muttered, still conquering her mouth with his, “Now I don’t know if I will be able to stop”
“Don’t … stop,” she responded. He snarled into her neck, peppering it with k!sses.
“Very well,” the Lycan King approved as he pulled the tie off her robe, allowing her ample bre.asts to spill out freely. He tore himself off her for a second to take a breath and to admire them, taking one into his hand, kneading it gently.
Ria svcked in a breath. He lowered his head to ravish the firm n!pple, finally able to enjoy her to the fullest. Her fingers laced into his hair, tugging it gently.
When he released her flesh, their eyes met. Without any words, there was now an understanding between them.
He clutched her bottom in his large hands and moved them to the bed, throwing her on top of it as if she weighed nothing. She watched his every move as he unzipped his jeans and got rid of them. Her breath escaped her at the sight of the magnificence of the man before her. He shifted onto the edge of the bed and took her ankle into his hands, placing a soft k!ss on it. Then one more a little higher, and one more after that slowly, he moved up toward her as she bit her lip. Tingles erupted as she finally felt them coursing through her body.
They definitely weren’t there before. But they were here now, and Riannon had a very hard time holding back the m0ans that were desperately trying to escape her.
He was at her core in no time, and she felt his tongue flicker over and over her sensitive bundle of nerves.
Arching her back in delight, she clenched the sheets in her fist, her chest lifting up toward him as she experienced yet another mind-splitting release tore through her from his ardent ministrations.
He paused, allowing her to come down from her intense o****m, watching her and engraving every single detail to memory.
Their eyes met. He felt her hand running over his length. Her fingers wrapped around it as she stroked him slowly, base to tip, several times without breaking their eye contact.
Ria liked what she felt. She was going to enjoy him for sure.
Understanding her silent command, he positioned himself at her entrance, nudging it with his head.
“Are you sure?” he asked, obviously giving away that it was hard for him to even say the words, “Your …plan ..
“I think I am going to need a new plan,” she admitted honestly, holding his gaze, “Gideon Stormhold,
if you don’t take me right this very-“
He entered her in one swift plunge. Not gently at all.
He couldn’t be gentle. He had waited long enough. She was his everything, and he craved her from the moment he saw her. Now, she was finally his.
Watching her face as he pushed and withdrew, almost all the way out, before roughly thrusting back in again, Gideon revelled in his ability to make her m0an in intense pleasure. He hooked her thigh under his forearm to give himself better access and repositioned himself.
“Gideon!” she muttered his name as he began pounding into her, each thrust deepening their bond.
Mars howled inside him, aware they both were getting exactly what they wanted. Their Luna.
Riannon was completely overwhelmed with all the exhilarating sensations that could only come from a mate. The only man she had intimately been with prior to the king was her husband, but it never felt like this. It was so good that she wanted to laugh, cry, scream, and beg him for more all at the same time.
He was tapping at just the right spot over and over again while she felt pleasure building at the lower parts of her. He picked up the tempo and rose with him, their bodies a synchronised melody. She didn’t even notice how her fingernails dug into his back and arms. They were both mad. And hungry for each other. Whatever they did, it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.
He lowered himself as his canines grazed the skin on her neck, and for a second there, she thought that he was going to mark her. The thought alone brought her over the edge, shattering her mind and body into a million pieces as her body trembled, coming apart in his hands.
Gideon watched his mate release a loud m0an of pleasure as she c!imaxed under him, and this made him speed up even more until, after a few deep thrusts, he stilled inside of her.
He spilled every drop of his seed, not wishing for it to stop.
“MINEI” he growled as he fell on top of her, panting but still searching her lips. “You are mine, Riannon,” he repeated.
“Yes,” she replied, locking her arms around his neck and feeling beyond happy and content to be with this man.
He traced the place with his fingers where he would inevitably mark her and looked deeply into her eyes. It was an unspoken question, a request, and they both knew it. So, she shook her head, telling him that it wasn’t the’right time yet.
He had to accept this. At least, he knew she was his. Whatever happened next, their marking was only a matter of time. His mark would adorn her neck. She would be his Luna.
“l am sorry” she whispered, knowing what he was thinking about. She hated that this was how their life together had begun.
He cupped her chin and made her look at him, claiming her lips for another sweet moment.
“It’s perfect,” he affirmed, brushing his thumb over her lower lip, “We’ll deal with everything together, and then, I will mark you. Trust me, I will do anything for it to happen sooner rather than later. And in the meantime–“
A devilish smirk appeared on his face.
“You don’t want to rest?” Riannon shot her brow up.
“My Luna, we are only starting Back at the Silver River Pack, Brayden was enjoying his own time with his little mate. Roxy was obedient and learned what he liked very quickly. He could allow bimself to do things to her that he wouldn’t want to do with his wife. His wife was perfect. Too perfect for things like that.
“Yes, Alpha, yes!” the omega whined as he took her from the back, slapping her when he felt like it. He was so close to his own release when something changed.
It felt as if someone was choking him, and the mark on his neck stung. He tried to control it at first, but it wasn’t letting up, holding him in its torturous grip.
By the end of it, it became so bad that even his hands were shaking.
“Alpha,” Roxy looked at him over her shoulder. She had been doing all the work herself. “s everything okay?”
He pulled out of her. His chest heaved with his difficulty to breathe.
And on top of that, his mark was hurting … The mark!
“Leave,” he commanded curtly. She knew better than to argue.
When the door behind her closed, he took a deep breath and forced himself to stand up from the bed.
On unstable legs, Brayden wobbled to his desk and pulled out a flask from one of the drawers, gulping greedily at the burning liquid. His gaze fell to his Reflection on the standing full-length mirror in front of him, and he did not like what he saw there. His mark, an ugly red patch of skin, was inflamed.
“Riannon!” Brayden gritted through his teeth.