Crowning Glory [The Royal Wolves 3] (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Honor James

  “If I haven’t torn off their balls and stuffed them down their throats.” She wasn’t a passive woman, by any stretch, however now as a wolf she was even more aggressive in protecting her family, her love, Laszlo. “But yes.” She touched his hand that was on her hip and rubbed her cheek against his as his lips moved over her shoulder. “Tonight I need you to mark me. To feel that again.” The first marking had been explosive. “I think you and I will burn hot our whole lives, we won’t burn out, will we?”

  Shaking his head, he stroked back her hair. “Not going to happen unless you grow bored of me, love,” he told her quietly. “It happens, rarely, but it does, the original burn of the mating just goes out. The female is normally the one to up and leave.” He didn’t say it to hurt her, just to give her the facts, she deserved to know and he would not, could not, ever lie to her.

  “That’s never going to happen, Laszlo,” she told him simply. “I will never grow bored with you, Laszlo, I don’t think that such a thing is even possible.” She grinned at him and nodded. “I don’t think that the burn will ever burn out for us, we are simply too right together.”

  “We are aren’t we?” he asked with a soft smile for her. Shifting, he helped her slide down to her feet, kissing her forehead lightly. “We’d better wash up, darling, I’m feeling hungry.” Catching the look she threw him he laughed. “The other hunger, my sweet, much as I want to go where your mind is heading, I need sustenance.”

  “Right, food.” She had to put space between them so she stepped back and nodded. “We have both showered enough, getting dressed and then heading out is the best of the best of things to do. I want to go to my old place and pick up clothes, darling, before we come back home, so that is on the list of things to do today, all right?”

  “All right,” he said softly behind her as his eyes coasted down her curves before he shook himself mentally, as if pulling his mind from his lustful thoughts. “We should hit the market, too, and pick up some more fresh items. I also should go to the drycleaners and get my suits that are still there,” he commented passing her the soap before he grabbed the shampoo for himself.

  She began to soap her body quickly and nodded. “Should probably stop by your office too so that your secretary can see that you are still alive and well.” She flushed as she added, “I will stay in the car for that one.” She would never be able to face his secretary, never in a million years. “I would like to go by a seafood shop and pick up some things from there as well. I have a serious craving for lobster and shrimp right now.”

  “You are not getting out of meeting my secretary,” he said with an evil grin. “She’ll never let me leave if you sit out in the car. She’ll hold me hostage until you come in and meet her,” he told her in a smug tone, as though he knew that Des wasn’t really that much of a chicken. He seemed to understand her embarrassment, but he also seemed to understand that she would never back down from an outright challenge. “Besides, if you don’t come in,” he pointed out in his oh-so innocent tone. “You’ll never know what I tell her about what ‘really’ happened.”

  She dropped her head into her hands and shook it from side to side. “Oh god, you are going to tell her every single thing that happened aren’t you?” she asked and then looked up at him. “I will go in, but only because I don’t want you taken hostage.” She stood straight, after some doing, and nodded. “All right, love, let’s do this before I lose my nerve.”

  “I’m not going to tell her anything unless she asks, love,” he whispered to her softly. Turning off the water after washing, he tugged on her hand. “Our private life is just that, Desmonda, I may have to explain a little so she knows what happened, but I will keep it as short and be careful not to embarrass you as much as possible.”

  “All right.” With those two words she gave him her trust. It might not seem like it, but it was what it was, her giving him her complete and total trust in all things. “I do love you, Laszlo, I believe in us.” Not just him, but them, as a unit.

  “I do too, honey.” But she needed to believe in them a little more as well. Pulling a towel off the warming rack he wrapped her in one and tugged her close to kiss her lips. “Dry off, love, and get dressed, we have things to do today,” he smiled gently before letting her dry herself off. Grabbing a second towel for himself he dried off as he moved from the bedroom to his closet.

  Dried and pulling on clothes, she watched him carefully, she loved to be able to watch him, the way that he moved and the way he spoke. “I don’t think you will ever know just how handsome, how incredible that you are, Laszlo. People follow you for more than the fact that you sign their paystubs, they follow you because you give people hope.”

  Flushing at her words, he shrugged before quickening his steps to enter the closet. She watched him pulling on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve shirt. He then grabbed socks and a pair of boots. Walking back out into the room, he looked at her. “Just remember, love, if we push through with this, it will be more than just me sitting at that head table. I don’t want you doing anything that wouldn’t be right for you. While I’ve, grudgingly, resigned myself to the fact that I’ll be taking on the Throne once more, I don’t want you to feel pressured into accepting the spot at my side. It would kill me if you refused, but you need to follow your heart on this one, and I’ll do whatever is necessary to ensure your continued health and happiness.”

  “I know, Laszlo, but as long as you are always there at my side, I am willing.” Because no one else could watch out for her mate the way she could. She would never be swayed, tempted or have another held over her, Laszlo was her life, he was her everything. “So yeah, we need to do this, love. It’s time that the wolves rule and be what they were always meant to be.”

  Dropping his boots to the floor, he went to her side and cupped her cheeks. “Are you sure, Desmonda?” he asked her quietly. “This is the last chance I’ll give you to take an out,” he whispered. “I’m not strong enough to offer it again and I’m damned selfish enough to hold you to me for the rest of time. But you have to be sure, it won’t be easy and my enemies will be yours, even if we find a way to fix everything, not everyone will bow to the majority.”

  “Yes, I’m very sure, Laszlo. I am yours, darling. I was born for you and I know it. Besides, your enemies are mine anyway because I love you. I love you and together, together you and I will do what’s needed.” She blushed as she added, “Well mostly you. I am happy to simply be at your side.”

  Letting out a soft sigh, he kissed her hard and fast. “I love you, Des,” he whispered over her lips. “We’ll do it all together, I can’t do it without you, love. Without you I’m nothing but a shell of the man my mother once told me I could be.”

  “Well I’m glad that you aren’t that man, Laszlo, we need each other because you keep me from being a burnt out bitch of a woman, darling.” She closed her eyes and drank in the scent of him, the feel of him. “Time to go, sweetheart.”

  Growling softly, he seemed to know she was right and pulled back but not before he kissed her again hard. His body evidently soaking in her taste and scent, he stepped back to tug on his boots before he headed for the front of the house. Collecting his jacket, wallet, and keys he led the way to the garage.

  Watching him move could be a full-time job, she thought from where she watched him from behind. “Remember, I’m going to want to stop by my place and get some things so keep that in mind when choosing your vehicle, okay?”

  Throwing her a look over his shoulder, he tsked. “Like I had forgotten,” he said in a haughty tone as he walked to the large SUV. Opening the passenger door he waited for her. “You know, if you’d quit watching my ass we’d likely get through our day quicker and then you can watch it naked.”

  “But I really, really like watching your ass, Laszlo. It’s so perfect.” It really was, too. He had the best ass she had ever seen on a man, or woman, in all her life. “Thank you.” She nodded as she got up and into the SUV and buckled in, waiting for them
to get on with their errands so they could come home and nuzzle.

  Climbing in at her side, he opened the door as he started the engine and pulling out, hit the button again for the door to close again. Glancing to her once they were on their way, he wondered just how to put what was on his mind into words. “I probably should have mentioned this before we left,” he began in what he hoped was a casual tone. “But since we’re on the way I figure now is as good a time as any.” Yeah, like that wouldn’t put her on guard. “You know how I mentioned that all your senses are super charged now?” he asked. At her nod he smiled. “Just remember that when we’re out today, love.”

  She frowned and turned to fully look at him and asked, quietly, “You know I hate puzzles, Laszlo. Please just put it out there plain and simple for me and my feeble little mind?” There was nothing feeble about her mind, but when he said something as cryptic as what he did, yeah it raised ten million and one red flags in her mind.

  Snorting at her, he burst out laughing. “Good god, woman, if your mind is feeble I’d hate to have met you when it was working.” Chuckling he shook his head. “Your senses are much more than before, Des,” he said once he calmed a bit. “Your sense of smell, your eyesight, though that’s still progressing and will get better so that you will have the same night vision all wolves have. Your hearing will take another couple of weeks at least, it’s a gradual build but you’ll likely notice that you can hear much clearer then before even now. You already know that your sense of touch is amped up.” He grinned at her. “And of course your sense of taste will become stronger in correlation with your sense of smell.”

  She shivered, a full on body shiver when she thought of her sense of touch. “Oh gods.” She moaned and nodded. “All right, I will try to keep that in mind.” Reaching out she touched him, needed to touch him. “And what happens when my libido rocks out of my control and I want to fuck you six ways from Sunday?” It sounded casual, but the question was anything but.

  “We find someplace private that won’t get us arrested and ensure that you have no complaints about your mate,” Laszlo said with a wicked grin, as though thinking of her just jumping him for shits and giggles.

  “Now that just sounds like the perfect thing to do, Laszlo.” Just the thought of dancing the intimate dance of pleasure with him somewhere where it was just the two of them, while a hundred people milled outside. “On your desk. I want you to take me on your desk so that every day when you have to be at work you will smell me, you will feel me, you will fucking taste me there.”

  “Christ, Desmonda,” he breathed out as he became, again, one huge throbbing erection. “Not the thing to mention while I’m operating a motor vehicle, my love,” he told her even as he shifted slightly in the vain hope of relieving a bit of the pressure on his cock.

  She bit her lip and grinned, her hand reaching out and touching him as she asked, “If you would like, I can help you with your problem there, Laszlo.” Good god when had the adult in her fled and the horny teen taken over? “You have nice and dark tinted windows, there is plenty of room for me between you and the steering wheel where I can”—she licked her lips expressively—“kiss away the pain.”

  Growling at her, and not the normal growl but one more of warning, he shook his head in a slightly canine manner. “You do that and we’ll really be buried in the ditch trying to come up with an explanation for the tow truck driver and cops as to how we got there and why I look so damned happy about it.”

  “I would be pretty damn happy about it, too, Laszlo.” Her fingers stroked over his cheek and neck as she spoke. “How long until we are at the office Laszlo? And please tell me you have underground private parking?” Because she was close to attacking him where they sat. She didn’t know why but her sex drive was amped so hot and high that she could barely sit still.

  “A half hour and yes,” he said eyeing her carefully before he frowned slightly. Reaching out a hand he laid the backs of his fingers to her cheek and the warmth he felt along with the color and slightly glassy look to her eyes and it all clued him in. “Uh, don’t know if I should mention this or not, but I think you may be in heat, love.”

  “What?” She screeched as she moved so fast from his fingers that she slammed against the passenger door, “You mean like a dog, in heat?” Oh lordy, she fanned herself and shook her head. “That can’t be. I’ve only been a wolf for a couple of days, Laszlo, don’t I get more of an adjustment period?” But she had to admit, she could practically taste him, feel him on her body, in her body, and it was driving her to distraction.

  Rubbing a finger in his ear he winced. “Watch the volume, woman,” he told her as he moved his jaw in an effort to pop his ears. “Well you are obviously close to your human”—he blushed—“time of the month,” he mumbled. “Or you wouldn’t be in heat already.”

  She mentally began to count and groaned. “Three days away,” she muttered and then, “Good god, what do we expect with this?” She had no idea how to deal with whatever ‘being in heat’ meant to a werewolf. “I think that the floor needs to open up and suck me in now, Laszlo.”

  Snorting at that he shook his head. “You know how it’s said that some women get very, uh…” Oh god, his face seemed to say, how the hell had they gotten on this topic? “Horny when it’s that time, multiply it by about twenty and you’ll be in the low end range of what being in heat will be like. Of course”—he cleared his throat when her jaw dropped—“every woman is different and I have heard stories that some females are so horny that their mates end up needing medical care after the fact because they aren’t allowed out of the bedroom for any reason, any reason,” he said.

  She felt like passing out from that comment and rolled the window down. “Maybe I will be on the opposite end and not want you anywhere near me?” Yeah right, and she was going to sprout wings and fly off into space.

  “Uh-huh,” he said in disbelief. “If that happens we’re calling Ripley’s because, as embarrassing it will be for my reputation, I want it documented,” he told her. Not that he was buying it, evidently, considering how she was reacting already and she wasn’t even into the full heat. “Of course, there is a bonus, love,” he commented with a perfectly straight face, “It will only last two, three days max.”

  “And that’s all? Ever?” She could handle two, three days of heat in their lifetime, “No more heat, no more hormonal roller coaster, sweet, well I think I can deal with that, love.”

  “Uh, no,” he said, as though he suddenly wished he were anywhere but where he was right then. “Again, this all depends on the female, but for the first year it will be monthly and then it tends to lengthen from there, not coming quite so often,” he told her and wondered if he should fear for his life. “After about five years it’s said that it only happens every four months and after a couple more years you only need to deal with it twice a year for the rest of your life.” God, his face seemed to say, he needed a really, really stiff drink.

  “Fuck the office, Laszlo, hit the Edge. I need to get drunk. Now.” She echoed his sentiments exactly. “I need to get good and damn drunk so that I don’t have this intense urge to either fuck like crazy, or shoot someone.”

  He’d mention the Wolf alcohol when they got there because he was not mentioning that detail while he was driving. Turning down a secondary road he came up on the backside of the Edge twenty minutes later and parked in the lot. Sliding out, he moved around and pulled the keys for the backdoor out unlocking it and then disarming the alarm before he let her pass. “Head for Janos’s office, don’t bother with the stuff behind the bar, that’s all human grade, love.”

  “Human grade?” she asked but shook her head. “Later, when I have had like half a bottle.” She started to move toward Janos’s office. Once in the plush office she shook her head and grinned. “The boy knows how to live, I will give him that.” There were images all over the place of Mina and Katherine, of his brothers, it was a bar, but the office looked like a den.

 
“Be nice to him, he keeps us in liquor,” he reminded her as he went to the small cubby behind the desk and unlocked it. Since he’d taken Katherine into his life Janos had turned into the oddest being, everything that could possibly harm the child was under lock and key. Saying a small thanks that he had the keys, Laz dug out a bottle and two glasses. Pouring her two fingers he held it out to her. “Remember this is so much more than hundred proof, love,” he said as she took it from him. Pouring himself a finger he tossed it back and hissed at the burn as it slid smoothly down his throat.

  She tossed her drink back and hissed. “Son of a fucking bitch! Another one, I want another one, Laszlo, so that I can try to get over the burn I still have for you. If anything I want you more.” She hated to admit that, but there it was. Out in the open like a giant white elephant on a unicycle.

  “Alcohol for a Wolf only makes them hornier,” he commented with a grin as she tossed back two more fingers of liquid fire. See, Laszlo was not a dumb Wolf, he’d had his one drink and now was perfectly happy to ride roughshod over his soon to be liquored and very, very enamoured mate.

  “Terrific,” she muttered and poured herself another glass, more than half full she sloshed it back and then narrowed her gaze on him hungrily. “So you got me drunk to fuck me? Wasn’t necessary, Laszlo.”

  “I would never do that, Des,” he said, his tone tight at the affront she’d very deliberately spoken. “You obviously don’t know me half as well as you continually claim,” he added, his temper having been sparked but he kept it held under very tight control.

  What happened next, Desi wished she could blame on her wolf, but she couldn’t. She jumped from her seat at him, toppling the chair. He sat backward as her mouth found his and began to kiss him with hungry need, demanding he give back to her everything she gave him.