By the time I make it down to the springs, Kiya is already undressed and sitting in the water. Back to me, I can make out the healing lashes on her milky skin. My hands tighten into fists. The rage I feel every single fucking moment I think of that night. Of how I’d been shot and incapacitated just in time for the king to arrive. It was not a coincidence, of that I’m sure.
She sniffles then glances at me over her shoulder. “You should have stayed with your family,” she says softly.
I strip out of my boots and pants and then walk over to kneel in the water before her. “You are my family.” Her eyes are red and swollen, and the scent of her grief is thicker than the lavender hanging in the air.
My beauty has been broken. And I am less of a man for having been unable to protect her.
“I cannot imagine how terrified they must have been,” she chokes out. “Did he kill Bonnie first and make Ezra watch? Did he torture them?” Her sobs are blades in my heart.
While I do not know the answer to that first question, I do the second. Based on the marks left upon their bodies, both Bonnie and Ezra were tortured—mercilessly—before being killed. But that truth will never leave my lips.
“I wish I could give you answers,” I tell her truthfully. “But knowing them won’t change anything.”
She nods. “I know that.” Angrily, she wipes her tears. “I told myself I’d be done crying until he is dead.”
“My beautiful Beta,” I say softly as I cup her face.
“Will you love me?” she asks. “Please. Make me feel something other than pain.”
The heart in my chest begins to pound as my body reacts to her request. Being buried inside of Kiya is the closest I’ve ever been to paradise. To complete and utter bliss. But distracting her from grief is not the way to handle it, no matter how badly I want to. “You need to feel it, Kiya. Otherwise, when it comes time for you to end his life, you will still be so wrapped up in your pain that it will serve only as a distraction.”
“I need you.” She releases the hold she has on her legs, moves to her knees, and rests both hands on my shoulders. “Please.” Her gaze drops to my lips, and my cock hardens instantly. The beast within me is silent, which is unusual, but the man in me wants to show her pleasure. After all, should she want the distraction, should she need it, who am I to refuse?
Pulling away, I get to my feet then reach down to pull her up with me. Her breasts press against my chest as I steal a kiss, plunging my tongue into her mouth. I taste her, a silent promise of pleasure while I lift her into my arms and move deeper into the water.
Lavender surrounds us, the delicate aroma relaxing the angry storm within me. I remain in the shallow end where the water reaches my chest, shifting so my back is to the stone ledge. I release her mouth then move her so her body straddles mine.
Every inch of her skin is perfect.
Every slope and curve of her body burned into my memory.
Blood hammering in my ears, I grip the back of her neck and pin her against me. Softness has never been a strong suit of mine. I’m as rough as I appear, but right now, Kiya needs love. Tenderness. So I reign it in and focus only on her pleasure. My free hand cups her breast, and I roll her taut nipple between my thumb and finger.
Kiya moans, head falling back as she arches into me. Her pussy presses against my stomach, and it’s all I can do to not thrust inside and fuck her until she’s too damned tired to feel anything but satisfaction. “More,” she urges, her throaty order snapping yet another one of my restraints.
“I’m trying to be gentle, Beta,” I reply then drop my head down. My lips close around her nipple, and I suck it into my mouth. She bucks against me, so I do it again, gently nipping on the taut bud.
Her sounds are a map to her pleasure. My mouth and fingers learning every single curve of a body I was dying to get my hands on from the moment we met.
“More,” she urges again.
“Not here.” I pull away and then, with her in my arms, leave the water.
“Where are we going?”
“The bedroom,” I reply as I quickly cover her body with the fabric of her dress. Moving near silently through the house, I sneak inside and past the dining hall where my family still remains. They argue of uncertain futures, but I ignore them, moving fast enough that my beta cannot hear words of war.
The moment we’re inside our room, I flip the lock and set her on the bed. Kiya watches me with hooded eyes. “I want to love you in our room, Beta. In our bed.” Climbing onto the mattress, I spread her legs, baring her perfect fucking pussy to me.
“Do you trust me?”
At my question, she nods without hesitation. “With everything that I am.”
“Good.” Lying down on my belly, I position myself in between her legs then lean in and run my tongue over her.
“Yes,” she whimpers, arching up.
I keep one hand on her breast while slipping the other underneath her ass. Kiya freezes, but I keep a close watch on her expression as I slip a finger into her wetness and then slide it down to her ass.
Careful not to move too quickly, I simply run it over the one place I’ve never touched.
Kiya moans. “I—”
“Do you want me to stop?” I question.
“No,” she replies. “Please don’t.” She reaches up and grips her hair as I cover her with my mouth, sucking her clit between my lips. I draw at it as I slide my finger over her ass one final time then slowly slip the digit inside.
“Tell me how it feels, Beta,” I whisper against her heat.
“I—it feels so good.” A moan escapes her lips as I continue sucking. Tasting. Devouring her pussy while my finger slips in and out of her tight ass. She moves her hips, pumping them with the beat of her own need until she cries out, “Merrick!”
Kiya comes undone. Her orgasm rips through her, and she arches against me. But I don’t let up. Wanting her to feel every ounce of pleasure possible, I draw it out, gently fingering her ass as I continue to taste her.
When she stills beneath me, I withdraw my finger and rush over to the wash basin. After cleaning my hands, I turn to catch her watching me. She chews on her bottom lip, and I stop, wanting to bathe in her beauty.
How I managed to get so lucky I’ll never understand. Not that I deserve her. Certainly, that answer is no. Because there is no way in hell the picture of perfection was destined to be with a damned man.
Yet, here we are.
Her and me.
Gaze locked on hers, I move across the room and climb onto the bed. Situated between her legs, I wrap a hand around the back of her neck and bring her closer to me. I capture her lips as she’s captured my heart.
Completely.
Fervently.
Then, I lay her back and drive into her. Wet heat surrounds me, and I still for just a moment, not wanting to waste a single second of our time together. I pull back and then drive into her again and again. Harder. Faster. She wraps both legs around my waist and reaches up to grip my biceps.
The sounds of our ragged breathing are all I can hear as I continue taking us both to the edge of complete and utter bliss. In these stolen moments, as we linger on the brink of destruction, I know one thing to be truth.
No matter what comes of this war…
No matter how much crimson stains our horizon…
As long as I have Kiya at my side, I will have the strength to fight.
My release explodes, filling her body as she comes again. We ride the waves of our pleasure together. Then I slowly pull back and lie down beside her. She doesn’t speak, doesn’t move.
“Did I hurt you?” I get up off the mattress and head for the water basin. After washing my hands, I wet a cloth and carry it over.
“No, not at all.”
I grunt then kneel between her legs and use the cloth to clean her.
“I can do that.” She sits up and starts to take the cloth, so I move it away and press her back onto the bed with my free hand.
“It is my pleasure to do so,” I reply. She doesn’t argue, though she watches me as I wipe her pink flesh with the cloth. As soon as she’s clean, I return it to the basin and climb back onto the mattress.
I pull the blankets over us both, and Kiya settles against my body, head on my chest. It’s fucking bliss, and I feel like a bastard for feeling such joy when I know she’s grieving.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go to war with the king,” Kiya whispers.
“Why the fuck not?” I ask, a bit harsher than I meant. If she heard my mother—
Kiya sits up enough to look at me. “I don’t want to lose you, too, Merrick. You’re all I have left.”
I press a kiss to her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You already nearly did. The wolfsbane arrows nearly killed you. We both know, when you were shot, it was not coincidental. He must have had someone in those woods.” Kiya shoots up, her skin paling. “Merrick. If he shot you. If he’s responsible—”
“Then he knows what I am,” I finish her thought, having already had it myself. “Yes, I believe he likely does.”
Her cheeks go from pale pink to crimson. “Which is why the bastard wanted our child. He wanted a shifter. But why?”
“Why do power-hungry men do anything?” I question.
“How long have you suspected that’s what he wanted?”
“Truthfully? Not until I was shot and he showed up right after. I assumed he wanted an heir to suit his own purposes, but we’ve always been cautious. Even before the curse. So I never would have imagined he’d be after gaining an heir possessing our particular abilities.”
“He knew killing them would spark a war.”
“I believe he did,” I reply. “In fact, I imagine he is betting on it.”
“Which means he’s coming for me.”
I watch her face, seeing her expression go from angry to haunted and then back to fury as she puts the piece in place. “He’s not going to get anywhere near you.”
“They died because I didn’t give him the heir he wanted.” She closes her eyes and shakes her head before opening them again. “He’s hoping to bait you. Then, if he comes after the Shadow Lands, it’s because you attacked first.”
“Precisely. Which is why we’re going to come up with a way to sneak in and kill him.”
She shakes her head. “We do that and his army comes after us. He has plenty of supporters, Merrick. People he’s manipulated into believing he’s a hero.”
I sit up to prop myself against the headboard. “Then what do you suggest?”
Kiya remains quiet, clearly processing. It’s amazing to see her think because she wears every expression on her face. It’s as though I can see the pieces being shuffled in her mind until they come together to create the full picture. Her gaze levels on me, and a cool smile spreads over her face. In this moment, there is no sign of the woman who first arrived here. A woman who’d been forced to fit into a box that was never her own.
Now, she’s calculated. A savage beta. A war queen. “We get our own supporters, and we lay waste to anyone who stands against us as we rip his world apart.”