Authors: Lia Slater
She couldn't run, she couldn't move at all. Her voice caught
in her throat, keeping her from screaming. She'd never felt more helpless and
she hated Mace for it. For all of it.
The room was silent except for her gulps of air breaking
through her clogged airway. What was he waiting for? Would he kill her now or
would he torture her first?
The jet-black wolf stood on its hind legs then, standing as
tall as a grown man and Nayla watched, petrified, as his limbs grew longer and
his torso shorter. His hair all but disappeared, leaving the long mane on his
head. And his face took on a human form. The room filled with the sound of
bones grinding and breaking, blood swishing and veins popping.
Until what stood in front of her was the man with whom she'd
spent the past fourteen nights. Not a killer, but her lover. A man she'd grown
to trust with a degree of intimacy she'd never shared with anyone else,
including Stephen.
Even as he frowned, he was the most gorgeous creature she'd
ever seen. Solemnly, he walked to her and braced her face. His thumb followed a
single tear that had leaked down her cheek. She cringed at first, with the
clear image of the wolf still fresh in her mind. How were they one and the
same?
"Is this why you dance with another man and not me? Because
I frighten you?"
Nayla couldn't tell if he was angry or sad. She was
confused, frustrated and she said the first thing she could pull from her
muddled thoughts. "Fenton said you attempted to take your life."
"Fenton is evil. Don't ever believe a word he says, do you
understand?" His hands lowered to her shoulders and he shook her lightly. "I'm
the one you can rely on. Not your councilman and certainly not the man who held
you in his arms on the ballroom floor."
"You were there?" Could this get any more perplexing? She
detested being misled.
"Yes. Who is he? I need to know." Mace's callused hands slid
down her arms and he gathered her against his naked body. He smelled of the
cool evening air and pure man. No trace of the wolf was present, making her
wonder if she'd hallucinated the entire event.
No. It had been as real as him standing before her now.
She shuddered. "He--he was an old friend."
Mace bowed his head and stared into her eyes, as if
searching for something. "Do you love him?"
"No, of course not. Why would you ask me that? What's going
on, Mace?" She brought her trembling fingers to his neck to check for any sign
of injury. "Did you try to take your life? Answer me now."
He shook his head and peeled her hand from his neck. "I told
you Fenton was lying to you." He changed the subject. "Did you kiss that man?
When he escorted you outside? What did you do with him out there?"
"Nothing. We walked around the garden and chatted about
nonsense. What does that have to do with anything?" Her temper boiled.
Obviously she was being deceived, but why? Something was amiss and she needed
to know what. "Damn it, Mace, what is going on here?"
"Did he hold your hand? Did he make you laugh?"
"I asked you a question and I need to hear your answer. I
was told you tried to take your own life and you clearly did not." Thank God.
Instead, he was standing before her, passion in his
expression, interrogating her about another man. How strange that she'd been
thinking about him the entire evening? Even as she was dancing with Stephen,
she imagined being in Mace's arms, warm and secure. Free from the worry of what
anyone thought of her, what her country needed from her. She didn't have to
think about any of that when she was with Mace. With just one touch, he made
her feel like the center of the universe.
None of that changed the fact that she was lied to, made to
believe Mace was dying, when really he was transforming into a beast. What was
Fenton's game? And why was Mace playing along?
"Did you want him, Nayla?" he growled. "Too bad if you do.
You won't be seeing that man again."
"Your jealousy is illogical and unwarranted." Though she
couldn't help but want to calm his worries. She met his piercing gaze and
continued. "Not that I should have to explain myself to you but Stephen hasn't
meant anything to me for years."
"Don't lie to me, Nayla. I saw how you looked at him, how he
made you smile." He grabbed her wrists. "I feel like an idiot for thinking
you'd ever see me as anything other than a monster."
"I've been nothing but good to you, Mace. How dare you try
to make me feel guilty for enjoying an innocent dance." Her pulse pounded at
her temples as his grip on her wrists tightened.
He didn't relent. "Admit you're afraid of me."
"Is that what you want? Do you want to frighten me away? Is
that why you tricked Fenton to believe you were hurt, so I would come up here
and see you like... like that?" She couldn't even say the word.
His jaw twitched as he stared down at her with what could
only be described as resentment. "Let me show you something." He took hold of
her arm and guided her toward the open door.
"Wait!" God, was he going to change again?
"Relax, Nayla," he said through gritted teeth. "I'll stay in
my human form for your benefit. I don't want to alarm the precious Queen." He
picked her up by the waist like a ragdoll, took three long strides and set her
on the terrace overlooking the castle grounds. "Look closely. What do you see?"
The terrace wall pressed against her waist as his large
solid body fit firmly against her backside. At that moment, she didn't know
what Mace was capable of. They were two stories above the hard ground and he
was obviously furious. Her heartbeat sped as the uncertainty clashed with her
need to trust him. Was it naivete or instinct assuring her he wouldn't hurt
her? But there was always that chance... He was a werewolf after all.
She took in a breath. "This is ridiculous. What am I looking
for?" The half moon lit the tops of the surrounding forest trees but underneath
was nothing but darkness. Closer to the castle, the ward was empty but for one
drunken man singing to himself and stumbling about.
"Watch the drawbridge." His breath was hot against her ear.
His hands braced her hips, pressing her backside against him.
Nayla's anger slowly fizzled, but she ignored the familiar
heat burgeoning in her belly as she focused her eyes toward the lowered
drawbridge. The lights that usually lit the way were out but she could see a
few large figures running fast out the castle entrance. "What are they?"
"Don't you see?" His voice lowered, transforming to a
sensual tone. "Look harder, Nayla. I want you to see what I see." He skimmed
his hands over her waist, slowly up her stomach to cup her breasts with his
strong hands. "I want you to feel what I feel."
Her body defied her and she leaned back against his hard
abdomen and chest, feeling his solid length, thriving and ready.
He drew her earlobe into his mouth before releasing it. "Do
you see?"
"No," she said breathlessly, not caring about his game
anymore, even though she should. "Just tell me what's going on, Mace. I want to
go to bed with you and forget this entire evening. I thought I'd lost you
tonight. I want you to show me you're still here with me."
"I'm here." He squeezed her sensitive breast with one hand
while the other traveled down to her mound. He cupped her there and pressed a
finger against the fabric, finding her heat.
"Inside, please, now." Not out in plain view of whoever
decided to stroll out into the ward. Lord, what would they think of their Queen
then?
"No, here." He leaned forward, forcing her to bend over the
guardrail. His knee wedged between her legs, separating them, letting his
finger find her sensitive clitoris. "You have to trust me, love."
"I will. I promise." She rocked against his hand, wanting
more. If she were quiet, no one would think to look up.
"Good," he murmured and gathered her skirt, inching it up
until cool air prickled her rear.
She hadn't worn undergarments for the past several days,
after learning he'd tear them off of her each time, anyway. They'd grown to be
an annoying barrier, not worth the time. She smiled to herself, wondering what
her country would think of her impropriety.
But his warm cock against her backside pulled her from her
thoughts. He wedged his soft unyielding flesh between her butt cheeks and slid
it against her anus. She whimpered, but remembered to keep her voice down.
"Did that human ever fuck you here?" He wet his finger and
nudged it against her taut puckered entrance.
She gasped at how sensitive she was there. "Mace?" She
turned her head to see his unsmiling face.
"Did he?"
"No. Never."
"But he did fuck you." It wasn't a question. He didn't wait
for a response as he spread her folds and inserted his finger into her drenched
pussy.
Her walls clenched against the abrupt entry. He groaned
behind her and slid in farther, pressing up against her responsive channel.
"No one will ever have you here again, Nayla. This is mine."
He removed his finger and quickly replaced it with his hard, thick cock. He
lunged forward, lodging himself deep inside her, pushing into her tight
passage. "And this is yours," he whispered against her ear. His arm wrapped
around her, encompassing her entire body, possessing her.
Nayla couldn't hold back a moan any longer. The sweet
pressure building up inside her burned and twisted, surging up her belly and down
her thighs to her toes. "Ah, Mace. Make me come."
He slid out halfway and drove back in, filling her to the
hilt. With his hands now on her hips, he held her against him, not letting her
move as his cock crammed against her uppermost depth.
"Yes, yes." She held tight to the balcony railing and lifted
her buttocks high toward him, allowing him even more of her.
"Ah, love." He moved his hand to her butt cheek and rubbed
it, squeezed it. "Your ass is ripe and ready for me. Only me."
Nayla closed her eyes and inhaled in as his wet finger found
her anus again. Slowly, he pushed past the incredibly taut entrance. Just an
inch but her pussy spasmed blissfully at the bold move. "Oh, God, Mace, what
are you doing?" Whatever he was doing sent a ripple of joyous sensations
through her womb. She sucked in a breath as wave after wave of sensation rolled
down her thighs.
"Giving you pleasure. Do you like this?"
She nodded, unable to speak.
"Yes, that's the way, love. You're loosening for me
already." He began to work his cock into her pussy in slow rhythm as his finger
penetrated her ass, stretching her, shocking her.
She'd never thought she'd enjoy a man's touch there, in such
a personal place, but she put her trust in Mace and he wasn't disappointing
her. Her juices trickled down the inside of her legs as his slick thick shaft
moved in and out of her channel, deep and slow. The steady movement along with
his finger in her intimate, sensitive hole sent a warm tingling wash from her
chin to her toes. She held tight to the railing, afraid she'd fall over.
"Let go, love. I've got you." Mace strengthened his arm
around her, encompassing her completely.
Nayla sighed at the thought of his strength, how he could
give her such immense pleasure and keep her on her feet at the same time. How
she could trust him with her body. All of her body.
She cried out his name into the night air as another surge
of heat rolled through her. "Mace. Oh, God, Yes!"
He groaned. "Good, that's good. Scream my name to the
heavens, love. Let them know you're mine."
Her body jolted as the climax spiraled and twisted,
careening to the tips of her toes and back to her core, where it exploded into
a million sparkles of heat. Her mind was fuzzy and her body weak with spent
pleasure. "Come in me, Mace," she whispered. "I'm yours."
"And I am yours, Nayla." He removed his finger and braced
her hips again, thrusting deep into her until he groaned again and released his
hot cum inside of her quivering pussy. It spurted deep, filling her sensitive
channel.
"Oh," she gasped at the wonderfully intimate sensation and
leaned her head back against his chest.
Their combined breathing and the distant sound of laughter
and music were the only sounds in the air. Mace gathered her limp body tight
against him and kissed her cheek. He was still buried hard inside of her,
giving her delightful aftershocks.
"Do you see them now, love?" he whispered in her ear. "They
wait for us."
She opened her eyes wide as his words soaked in. Just beyond
the exterior walls of the castle, right before the forest began, a dozen pair
of glowing eyes watched them.
Mace made quick work of washing up, then dressing, jerking
on his pants and linen shirt. Nayla's paralyzed state of shock wouldn't last
long, he was sure. She sat on the edge of her bed and stared at him with her
forehead wrinkled and her lips parted, her palms braced on her knees.
He was glad she didn't fight him yet. After she fully
realized his plan for her, it would be a different story. He would be taking
her from her home, her friends, her country. Away from this comfortable life
with servants and guards and into a life as a homeless drifter, out in the
rugged elements.
As of this moment, he made an oath, swearing to himself he'd
find some land and build her a worthy home. They'd be a family. She'd bear his
children. Nothing else mattered as long as she was with him.
His actions were both selfish and necessary. He couldn't
leave her here with her own councilman threatening to murder her. How many more
wished to see her gone?
His other reasons were less transparent. Nayla had imbedded
herself deep in his heart, he couldn't deny. The sting of seeing her dance with
her ex-lover had reinforced his feelings. Leaving her behind wasn't an option.