He scraped his teeth over her chin as his hand crept up to tease her breast. “The gossips will tire of us when we prove faithful to one another. There’s nothing more boring to them.”
“Mmm.” She arched her neck in offering. “I hope you intend to seduce me now.”
He bit her gently, teasing, knowing she wanted more. “Right here?”
“Under the full moon,” she agreed, her voice hoarse. Her fingers tangled in his hair, tugging insistently as if she could force him to claim her. “My first time outside the Temple.”
Possessive satisfaction rose in him, and he nudged his burgeoning c*ck against her cunt. “First times should be slow.”
Her teeth sank closed on his earlobe without warning, and she growled. “So put your tongue on me again. I liked that.”
He moved quickly, drawing her wrists up and pinning them above her head. “You also liked when I took you, however I wanted.”
She still did. Her lips parted on a moan and she squirmed beneath him, grinding up against his cock. The magic that simmered between them flared, giving him a delicious taste of her need, her craving for him.
An answering need drove Rais to nudge her again, then slowly push inside her. She reacted with a low cry and a lift of her hips, and he steeled himself against the animal desire that rose and urged him to take her, hard and fast.
“Rais.” She was wet but so tight, and her eyes looked dazed as she stared up at him. “You--you feel--”
“Like I’m yours.” He lowered his mouth to hers and stroked her lips with his tongue as he flexed his h*ps and rocked inside her.
Her breathless laughter was giddy. Joyful. “I was going to say huge, but your ego is big enough, I imagine.”
He grinned and bit her lip. “You can’t behave, even when I’m f**king you, can you?”
“Not my job to behave. Not anymore.” She teased her tongue against his lips. “If you’re courting me, you should know what you’re getting into.”
“I know what I’m getting into.” Delighted, he flexed his h*ps again. “Trust me.”
Her legs came up, tangled around his h*ps so she could grind up to meet his next rock. “With everything.”
She was his. He’d claimed her before, but this was different. This was her accepting his claim, accepting him. Taking him in.
He braced his hands on the earth on either side of her head and raised his body so he could look at her. Her disheveled blond hair was pale in the silvered light of the moon, her brown eyes were wide and needy and her lips swollen from his kisses. “You’re beautiful, Avani.”
“I’m yours, Rais.” Her hands still rested above her head, and she twined her fingers together and tilted her chin up. “I’m at your mercy. Body and heart.”
“You were frightened before.” It had been something more than his lack of grand words or gestures. “Why?”
“Because you could break my heart so easily.” Her eyes fluttered shut as her voice dropped to a whisper. “I loved you as a girl. And I don’t think it would take much to love you as a woman. I’m half way there, and I didn’t want to get too far ahead of you.”
He bit her chin lightly. “I would have caught up.”
Her h*ps nudged up against his, and the soft noise that escaped her had an impatient edge this time. “You’re not moving very fast right now.”
“Want me to?” Rais pulled back and thrust into her once, hard and fast.
She jerked under him and cried out. Color rose in her cheeks, and her eyes looked wild. “More. Again.”
Even that single thrust had taken him closer to the edge, so he shook his head. “Not yet.”
She snarled and bit him, and he drove into her again as his control wavered. Slow suddenly seemed unnecessary, and he lifted his hands to cover hers. “You want more?”
“Oh yes.” Her body embraced him as eagerly as her magic, her cunt hot and clenching tight. “I want everything.”
“Then say it.” He froze with his next thrust, his c*ck deep inside her. “Say you’ll be my mate.”
She panted against his cheek. “Yours. Yours, if you’ll take me.”
He teased his tongue over her lips, relief making him weak. “I already have.” Then he let go with a growl and rode her with hard, quick thrusts. By the third surge forward she was wild beneath him, making frantic, needy noises. Her teeth closed on his lower lip, hard and desperate, and she moaned into his mouth.
He growled back and snapped his teeth close to her lips. “Mine now, little one. Always.”
She made a choked noise of satisfaction and came. She tightened around him, gripping his cock, and Rais buried himself in her one more time as release overtook him as well, sending him tumbling after her with a shout.
It took forever for her to speak, her voice a hoarse whisper. “Mine.”
“Yours.” He managed to roll to his back before crushing her, and she nestled against his chest. “Want to tell everyone, or make them wait a while?”
She laughed and nuzzled her nose against his skin. “Make them wait. And hope you get stable video at the front. If you don’t, I’ll write you old-fashioned letters.”
“I’ll have the techs work it out.” He nibbled at her ear. “I can’t go too long without seeing you.”
“Better not have the techs in the room when you call me. I have every intention of being scandalously na**d.” Her voice dropped to a dirty whisper. “I find myself enchanted by the thought of letting you tell me how to touch myself.”
The thought was ridiculously hot. He smacked her ass and grinned. “No more sex until we get back to my bedroom.”
“Why not?”
He ran his hand down her back, cherishing the softness of her skin. “Because you’re too delicate for this, no matter what you say. And this is no way for a king to treat his queen.”
She shivered. “Queen. I don’t know if I’ll be a good one. I never really thought about it, even when I thought about you.”
“Shh.” He held her tighter. “You were raised to lead, Avani. Even if you hadn’t been, you’re kind, gentle. Perfect.”
“I’m stubborn, irreverent and a little bit spoiled,” she countered in a sleepy voice. “And speaking of how I was raised, you might want to reconsider this, you know. You’re going to have to speak to my uncle.”
Dhaval would have his head if he suspected the sorts of things Rais had been doing to Avani already. “I’ll handle your uncle. Trust me.”
“I do,” she whispered, the words gentle and accepting. The tender moment shattered a second later when she lifted her head and glared down at him. “But if you ever imply I’m too weak for a romp in the woods again I’ll plant my knee between your legs and see how delicate you feel.”
Rais laughed and tangled his hands in her hair. “Delicate doesn’t equal weak.”
“I’m from a family of warriors. I wasn’t raised to be delicate either.”
“Point taken, little one.” He shifted her weight and sat up. “Now, were we rejoining the celebration, or running back to my rooms?”
She laughed and rose to her feet, standing na**d and unashamed in the moonlight. “Only one way to find out.” Two steps back and magic rose around her. With the moon high overhead the change flowed over her until the small pale wolf stood in front of him. She lifted her head and howled, the sound full of joyful challenge.
Then she turned and launched herself into the trees.
The same joy swelled inside him, and he followed her. He always would.
Epilogue
Avani paused in the doorway and watched Rais pace the expensive carpet in front of the receiving room’s massive fireplace. Old-fashioned to be sure, but in the past weeks she’d discovered that many in the royal family embraced traditions most of their people had long since abandoned.
Rais looked striking in his formal robes, rich fabric cut to show off the strength in his hard body. Traditional or not, they were still a country at war. Strength and virility were the virtues desired in a leader, and today Rais embodied them both.
He reached the edge of the room and turned sharply, and Avani smiled as his gaze fell on her. “I escaped your mother’s maids. You’d better not tell me they’re likely to hover over me all the time, because I can bathe and dress on my own.”
His gaze softened and grew warm. “You look beautiful, as always.” He held out his hand.
She slipped her fingers into his hand and tried not to feel nervous. Three months of courtship might have eased her worries about the dangers to her heart, but she had accepted Rais as a man and a king.
Today he would be king in fact as well as name. And Avani would be his queen.
She clutched at his hand and pretended she couldn’t hear the murmur of voices from the other side of the wide doors, where people waited for the official coronation. “I notice you didn’t promise me freedom from meddlesome maids.”
“You’ll never make it into some of your clothes unassisted,” he murmured, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “It will cause a scandal, but I’ll dismiss them and bathe and dress you myself if you like.”
A memory drifted up of the previous night, of joining Rais in his oversized tub and how quickly an innocent bath had turned into an experiment in how many times he could make her come. Her cheeks felt warm as she laughed. “I do enjoy sharing your bath.”
“Then consider it done, my queen.” He stopped just shy of the wide, ornate doors and rubbed his thumb over her cheek. “Are you ready?”
He’d wooed her over long months apart, calling her when he could and writing notes when he couldn’t. His actions had bemused her uncle and perplexed the rest of the court, who couldn’t fathom the king’s heir bestirring himself to such effort for a mate.
But he had. And it had worked. Her heart pounded as his soft touch stirred her body and warmed her heart. “I’m ready for anything. I love you.”