He nodded once. “So, try me. What is it you don’t think I’ll understand?”
“I loved Larus,” Sophia said. Malak’s brows lowered in an instant glare. Was he jealous?
“You lie.” The words weren’t as forceful as usual.
“No, I loved him. Deeply. And I loved Devlin just as much. You can’t know what it’s like to love like that and then just have it taken away as if it were nothing. Devlin looked at me with his vampire eyes and I loved him. Now, all I have is an empty memory to remind me what love can be like and the knowledge that at any time someone can come along and do it again.”
“You didn’t love Larus,” Malak insisted. “It was just a potion.”
“Potion or not, it felt real to me.”
“There is a way,” he insisted. “A way that no enchantment of that kind can harm you again. You can stay here, with your sister, in this realm.”
She thought of her childhood home. He was right. It wasn’t a nice prospect and being a lone woman traveling to France wasn’t a safe bet either. She knew that, she’d just been too stubborn to admit to it before now. “I know. I can end it by marrying someone. But how can I do that?”
“I saw what you had to go back to, Sophia. You would be better off here. Your sister is married to a king. That does count for something and I would offer my home to you as well. There is no need for you to starve.”
“I can’t accept your charity and I’m afraid of what the payment would be if I were to stay here with you.” She closed her eyes. The idea of being Malak’s lover did hold some appeal, but she wouldn’t be able to bare the ending of their time. Or if he went to another, she’d die a little inside. “As to marriage, how can I bind someone to me for eternity knowing that whatever we feel for each other isn’t nearly what it should be? I’d be using him for protection and he’d get what?” She shrugged delicately. “A wife that married him because she had no choice?”
Malak grinned. “I can think of a few rewards to such a thing.”
Sophia tried, but she couldn’t suppress a small laugh. What was it about this man? Did he have to be so… appealing?
“You could always take me up on my offer.” His eyes didn’t leave hers.
Sophia shivered, remembering what it was like to be in his arms. His skin was so hard and warm and when he kissed her she felt it all the way to her toes. Drawn to him, she couldn’t seem to stop herself. She was so alone and she only felt safe when in his arms. If ever she needed someone to hold her, now was the time. Lightly, she touched his cheek.
“What are you doing?” he asked, his voice hoarse.
“I’m offering myself to you, Malak. I believe you. I trust you to have told me the truth about us not being under a spell.”
“I’ve never lied to you.”
“I believe that. I do.” Running her hand down his smooth chest, she trembled. Desire wound its way down her arm, filling her stomach with need. Her breasts ached for his kisses, for his touch. One time in his bed wasn’t enough. She wanted to be completely aware this time. Trying to sound tough and detached, she said, “I’m going to let you… lift my skirts, but it doesn’t mean I’ve changed my mind about anything, got it? I might still walk out that door after we’re done. I’m doing it for me, not you. This has nothing to do with you.”
“I beg to differ. This has a lot to do with me,” Malak said.
“Well, if you don’t want to do it, I can always ask Devlin to come get me.” She started to walk away.
Malak grabbed her arm, turning her into his embrace. His words a growl, he threatened, “Don’t you dare.”
“One sword is as good as any other.” Her words were low. Being blasé was harder than she thought.
As if reading through her thin façade he laughed. “Spoken like a woman who’s never been to battle.”
Okay, she could admit when she’d gotten herself in over her head. She stopped moving, letting her hand rest above his heart. Unable to look him in the eye, she whispered, “Malak?”
As if sensing her need, he cupped her cheek and lifted her mouth to his. She was surprised at how tenderly his lips moved along hers. Slowly, he turned her, kissing her as he backed her up against the hard stone way. It was a strange contrast to the warm plains of his chest. His tongue slid along the crease of her lips before thrusting past to explore every inch of mouth. A shock or pure ecstasy went through her, stirring her blood like never before.
Sophia moaned, grabbing his face to keep him close. His hands were on her body, touching every inch of her as he deftly stripped her of her gown. The cool breeze tickled her naked flesh as she was exposed, but his looming body kept her warmer than the gown ever could. The emptiness she felt left her when she was with him, whether they were fighting or kissing, she felt safe, complete. From the first moment, she’d wanted him. But that is what scared her. How could she want someone so much without being under a spell? How could Malak’s nearness make her feel so complete, as if she’d found what she’d been looking for all her life?
His mouth left hers and she gasped for air. Her heart pounded as if she’d ran for miles. Malak’s lips didn’t stop. He drew his mouth over her neck, nipping and biting at her flesh. Sharp fangs pierced into her, but she didn’t care. Let him mark her again. She knew in this perfect moment that she could never belong to any other.
Sophia was tired of fighting her feelings. Maybe things could work out. So what if the odds weren’t good. That had never scared her in the past.
He slid his hands boldly over her chest to fully cup her breasts in his palms. Small bonfires of pleasure erupted on her nipples, sending a trail of fiery passion throughout her blood. The rough material of his clothing rubbed against her, hiding the press of his erection. She grabbed at his waist, pulling frantically at the material until it came loose. Jerking him forward, the large press of his shaft burned her with its need and she couldn’t help but respond.
Then, to her surprise, his hot kisses left her nipples and moved lower. A gold fire burned within his shifted eyes, adding an exciting danger to his touch. With a low growl sounding in his throat, he kneeled before her. The breeze stung her breasts with cold where he’d wetted them.
Malak grabbed her leg and pulled it over his shoulders. Only too late did she realize what he was doing. She gasped as his mouth closed over her sex, licking and sucking it like she was the sweets at the end of a banquet. His sharp fangs teased the sensitive flesh, but didn’t hurt her as he did wickedly delightful things with his long tongue.
His hands ran over her length, touching everywhere they could from his position between her legs. She grabbed his hair, at first because she was going to pull him back, but as he latched his mouth onto her wet slit, rolling his tongue along the sensitive bud he found hidden within her folds, she pulled him tighter against her.
She’d never felt anything so glorious. Hard fangs combined with the soft probe of his tongue and she couldn’t stop her hips from thrusting forward in acceptance. His long tongue worked lower, dipping intimately inside her.
“Malak,” she gasped, rocking her hips harder, riding his mouth.
He growled passionately, his fingers replacing his tongue inside her body as he stretched her wider. Her knees weakened and she reached behind her head to hold herself up, clutching onto the uneven stone of the wall. She cried out, riding his hand even as his mouth continued its intimate massage. It felt so good she couldn’t stop.
He curled his fingers and she spasmed with delight at the sensation. Malak was in her head. She felt him, magnifying her passion with his own. The pleasure mounted, pouring over as she came in one blissful moment of jerking perfection.
Malak tilted his head back and howled. Sophia collapsed into a shivering mass of sensations. Instantly, he grabbed her, lifting her easily into his strong arms. His steps eager, he carried her down the stairwell toward his chambers. Laying her down on the bed, he groaned as he came next to her. His hard shaft rubbed against her hip and she realized that while sh
e’d taken pleasure, he had yet to find his release.
With a playful laugh, she rolled him onto his back. Her body was wonderfully numb, but she quickly found strength as she tasted his flesh. Licking and biting a light trail over his chest, she licked one nipple and then the other. Malak’s body strained as he squirmed beneath her touch.
“So sweet,” he whispered, his voice gruff in his native tongue.
His hand rubbed her shoulders, pushing her insistently lower with each kiss until she was close to his navel. Rimming the small hole, she heard him gasp. His hands pushed, urging her to go down.
“Is this what you want?” she asked, licking a muscular hip. Her cheek bumped the side of his arousal.
“Aye,” he groaned. Grabbing her head, he pulled her mouth to his erection. “But here.”
There was no modesty in him when it came to these things and Sophia found she had none as well. Everything thing she did seemed to bring him pleasure and he had no problem guiding her as he taught her how to give him pleasure. His passion had only fueled hers to burning. Only when he was straining and grunting did he pull her mouth off of his arousal.
“Sit on top of me,” he ordered, pulling at her arms to get her to obey. She did, mindlessly yielding to his expertise in this matter. Her sex rubbed along his hard stomach and she wiggled on top of him, stimulating herself against him.
“Mm,” she moaned. Little dark hairs sprouted on his chest and she ran her fingers over them. She liked it when the beast threatened to emerge. It reminded her of all he was capable of, his strength, his power, his wild ways. The hairs spread over his stomach and she moaned as the friction of them tickled her sex. Rocking harder on his stomach, she groaned, “I love your skin.”
“You torture the beast,” he growled. “Take me now. Lift up before I lose all control.”
Malak grabbed her breasts, pinching her nipples. There was something to his smell, his untamed look that took away every doubt, every sense of pain or fear. Grabbing her hips, he pushed her back so that she was seated next to his erection. The shaft seemed larger than before but she couldn’t see it to confirm. Golden eyes stared at her and she felt a sense of power as she wiggled her butt along his shaft.
“Sophia,” he groaned, pleading with her to end her torment. “You don’t know what you’re doing. I… argh!”
Fascinated, she watched his face. Something inside her drove her on. “Does the wolf want to come out and play?” She lifted herself up, reaching between them to draw the tip of his shaft along her wet slit. “Is this what the big, bad beast wants?”
Looking down between her thighs, she stiffened. It wasn’t her imagination, he had grown in size. The tip of his thick shaft dipped along her moist folds, parting her lips as he aligned his body. Malak grabbed her hips and pulled. Claws dug into her flesh as his hands slid onto her upper thighs. He was too strong and he didn’t stop as he impaled her, stretching her wide.
Malak roared, a victorious sound. The fullness of him didn’t rip her apart as she feared it would, but instead filled her with a burning need. Digging her nails into his chest, she squirmed with him deep inside, wiggling back and forth.
His hands kneaded her thighs and he looked to be in pain. “You’re so small, so soft.”
Leaning forward, her hips lifted as she whispered, “And I’m not going to break so easily, my lord wolf.”
Malak moaned and she sat back on his lap. The movement felt amazing and she did it again, lifting and falling against him. The tension built anew, mind numbing in its intensity. Like an animal she took over, riding him hard, ramming his body into hers. There was no pain, not like the first time, only pure realm-shattering pleasure as they climaxed in unison.
Sophia fell against his chest, unable to move and not wanting to. What a strange, long adventure it had been, getting to this moment. Whatever the future brought, she would not regret being with Malak.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, not stirring beneath her, except for the heavy rise and fall of his chest.
She frowned. Okay, well, at least she didn’t have any regrets. “There is nothing to be sorry for. You didn’t hurt me.”
“I know, but…”
“You’re not going to apologize for taking advantage of me, are you? Because that would really ruin the moment. I’m a big girl, Malak, and I make my own choices. I choose to be with you.”
He laughed softly. “I don’t know any other mortal woman who would admit to that so easily. Most of you hide from your passion.”
She lifted up, moving to dance her fingers along his chest. “Do I look like I’m hiding?”
“I’m sorry because I didn’t ask permission.” He looked serious.
“If you noticed, I didn’t really stop to ask you if you minded being bedded either, so I think we’re even.”
“Mm, no, not for that. I didn’t ask permission before…” He paused. “Let me ask you something first. Would you mate to me, Sophia? If I asked you to, would you mate to me with the knowledge that I know what you said earlier and I accept the fact that you don’t love me as you thought to have loved others?” His eyes fell and she felt as if his pain was her own. It tore at her insides. “Would you stay here, with me, as my mate?”
“Are you asking?” she breathed, her body unable to move. Inside her mind screamed, ‘Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!’
‘Was that a yes?’
Sophia tensed. Malak’s voice was in her head. ‘How…?’
‘It’s the mind link. It’s how the other lycans and I communicate with each other in lycan form and it’s how mates communicate after they’ve…’
“Did you just say mates?” Sophia gasped. Pleasure ran through her at his confession. “We’re…? You and I?”
He nodded. “I couldn’t stop myself. You were so beautiful cast in red moonlight and you tasted so sweet and I looked up at you and suddenly, it happened. You were in my head as well as my heart.”
He looked as if he expected her to yell at him for binding her against her will. Slowly, she smiled. “I’m glad you did it.”
“What? You’re not mad? I know how you value your independence--”
She shushed him by placing her hand to his lips. “I’m happy you did it because it proves that you love me as much as I’ve loved you from the very beginning. I saw you and I felt so much more than I ever did for Devlin and Larus combined. That’s what scared me. I was frightened that it wasn’t real. But knowing you couldn’t control yourself, knowing you just had to have me, as I burned to have you...” She smiled, her love shining from her eyes as she looked at him. “When I stepped through that portal and you didn’t stop me…”
“I couldn’t. I gave my word to see you through it.”
“I know and I was too stubborn to stop from leaving. But the moment I landed in the mortal realm I knew I’d made a mistake. I was scared. Can you forgive me for being scared?”
“There is nothing to forgive.” Malak growled, grabbing her and flipping her on her back. He devoured her neck with kisses, repeating over and over, “I love you, Sophia, I love you. You are mine.”
Epilogue
Cupid gulped as he looked at the three very angry lycans and their even more repulsive lovesick mates. Lady Sophia, the supposed tool of Malak’s hate, reeked of her husband’s scent. And, to make matters worse, her belly was swollen with the lycan’s child. Almost as round was Lady Mina. Cupid shivered in disgust. The women were all rosy cheeked and bright eyed. They looked happy and that made him miserable. Hearing a baby cry, he grimaced. He’d forgotten Lady Rhiannon had given birth only a week before. The sound of the child tore at him and he clawed his head, trying to dig his wrinkled, gnarled fingers into his ears.
“Ach! Bah!” Cupid cried. “Enough!”
“Say it’s over, Cupid,” Sophia demanded, her voice like twinkling stars.
“Swear by every wart on your body,” Rhiannon added.
“Or we promise to name every single baby we have after his sweet cherub of an
Uncle Cupid.” Mina grinned.
Cupid screamed, a high-pitched sound of horror. “I promise! I promise! I will no longer meddle in your lives!”
“And the lives of others,” Larus said.
“Aye, aye, only don’t call me their uncle. That hideous, horrible pink cheeked bundle of…” Cupid gagged, tearing his eyes away from Rhiannon and Ilar’s baby. “I promise not to meddle in the lives of lycans again, just get the baby away from me.”
“Good,” Ilar said.
“We better make him swear it,” Malak added.
“I swear it!” Cupid howled. “Now please, get that baby out of here and take the round ones with you.” He motioned at the pregnant women, before moaning, “Ruined. I’m ruined. Three lovers. Ruined.”
“I think he gets the point,” Sophia said.
“Hmm, aye, I don’t think he’ll be meddling in our lives anymore.” Malak wrapped his arm around his mate and grinned, kissing her temple. Cupid gagged, closing his eyes tight.
“If we find you’ve lied to us today, we’ll make sure everyone know what you did,” Larus warned.
“They already know,” Cupid wailed, thinking of the baskets of love darts that filled his cave. He was running out of places to get rid of the offensive things. Already he’d darted all his goats with them, making them fall in love with trees. What other use was there for such magic?
“Oh, he means the mortal world as well,” Sophia said, laughing. “We’ll make a day each year honoring your trade as a creature of love. The whole world, for all eternity, will think of Cupid when they think of love.”
Cupid screeched, beating his feet on the ground.
“I think we’ve tortured him enough,” Rhiannon laughed. “Come on, Ilar. Let’s get your son home.”
Cupid kept his eyes closed until they’d walked away. Standing, he patted the dirt into his clothes, trying to make the dirt stay. Then, turning, he laughed. “Stupid lycans. Stupid lycan mates. I promised not to meddle in the lives of lycans and those three couples. I said nothing about the lives of mortals, or of their half human, half lycan children.”
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