Then it was his turn. Happy fucking days! He wanted this over with so that he could get his hands on his female. Amber had refused to let him in last night, stating that she desperately needed a good night’s rest.
Like a horny teenager, he’d been forced to take a long shower and to take things into his own hands, so to speak. Seriously humiliating but what option did he have? None. It wasn’t just that he had agreed to being exclusive, he found he didn’t want any other female. It was just a matter of time before he grew tired of Amber. Just a matter of time, but until then…he couldn’t wait to get his hands all over her.
“No one.” It wasn’t lost on him how Amber seemed to sigh softly. She was relieved that he hadn’t picked her. What the fuck!
“Are you sure?” Zane raised his brows.
“Yes!” He answered more harshly than he intended. Lance cleared his throat. “Thank you for the opportunity to change my mind, but no,” he quickly added.
The male rolled his eyes and smirked. “You do realize that males in the second round may only pursue a female if they picked her.”
What? This was the first he was hearing of this. “No, I wasn’t aware.” He frowned. “That can’t be right, I didn’t pick anyone in the first heat, yet…”
“You fucked around anyway.” Brant growled. “It’s the exact reason why we changed the rules before the second heat. If you’d paid any attention you would’ve been aware. Is there someone you wish to pick? If so, say her name now or stay away from the females.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Amber give a small shake of the head. To any of the others it wouldn’t look like anything but he knew better. She didn’t want him to pick her.
The seconds ticked by. For the first time in a long while, he didn’t know what to do.
“Well?” Zane smiled. He was loving every minute of this…the bastard.
Then Brant went all dickhead on him. The male stuck his finger in Lance’s face. “I swear to god that if you so much as sniff at one of the females, I will have your dick…do you hear me?”
He bit the inside of his cheek. Wanting so badly to tell his king that he didn’t swing that way. Lance glanced towards the females. Amber’s eyes were wide. She’d gone from a healthy flushed look to as pale as a bloodless corpse. And, there it was, the slightest shake of the head, disguised as a flick of her hair.
Did she realize that their time together would be over if he stayed silent? He would not be able to go near her again. Fuck that! He wasn’t done with her. She might not want to admit it right now but she wasn’t ready for this to be over with either. She wasn’t. The female already hated him…she could hate him even more. So fucking what.
Fuck!
Brant turned away from Lance. “Good…moving on—”
“Amber,” Lance said, quickly before he could stop himself. There was the sound of collective feminine gasps.
Brant’s back stiffened. He turned slowly, looking as shocked as hell. “What?”
The fucker had heard him. The dickhead was going to make him say her name again. “Amber,” he repeated, this time much softer.
He kept his eyes on Brant who quirked an eyebrow. Then he shook his head. “Fine,” he huffed.
Zane laughed. His king strode over and slapped him on the back. It wasn’t like that. At least the one person who counted knew that it wasn’t fucking like that.
Amber.
Shit! She looked pissed. Her eyes were narrowed and her lips pursed. Her arms were still folded across her chest. They were together…full fucking stop. Not together, together but…exclusive. It went both ways. The sooner the others knew it, the better.
Lance was glad they all knew. He glared at Brynn, who looked like he was ready to burst a coronary. Then at Kai whose jaw was clenched. The male swallowed hard. He stepped forward. “I’d like to say something please.”
The human females continued to titter amongst themselves like little pecking hens.
Brant sighed dramatically. “Go ahead.”
Kai looked at Amber. “I’m sorry but I’m going to have to retract. You see…” He paused. “Three’s a crowd but four is…too many. I hope you understand.” He raised his brows, looking pained.
Amber tried to smile. It didn’t reach her eyes. She gave a nod of the head. “I do.” Her voice was close on a whisper.
“That was fun.” Brant smiled. Dick. “Congratulations to those of you that were chosen. The rest of you need to please return to the hotel. You will be given two hours to pack and to say your goodbyes. I need to add that if you were chosen but wish to leave…” He looked pointedly at Amber. Motherfucker! Brant could be a jerk. That was for fucking sure.
Lance grit his teeth and looked away.
“You are within your rights to do so,” Brant resumed. “If you were chosen, you are free to leave whenever you would like. There are strict protocols in place to ensure your safety. These will be explained to you during your debriefing prior to leaving our territory. Thank you all for taking part. I hope to see a mating, or two, at the end of this heat.”
When Lance looked back, Brant was looking at him. The male smirked. Not a fuck. They could all go to hell.
Nothing had changed. The only thing that was different was that he had staked his claim. Brynn may have picked Amber but the male wasn’t getting anywhere near her. He made eye contact with the male and flashed a fang. In Brynn’s defense, the male didn’t look away but neither did he retaliate.
Bring it the fuck on.
When he looked back towards the humans, Amber was gone. His little human could run but there was no hiding from him. Lance moved quickly from the room, following her sweet scent. Roses in full bloom. Mouth-fucking-watering.
Amber was walking so quickly that she was almost going at a slow jog. One of the guards was at her side.
“I’ll walk the female.” He was sure to keep his voice deep as he stepped in next to the male at her side.
The guard nodded.
“No!” Amber shook her head. Her eyes were blazing. “You stay.” She pointed at the guard. “You can go away.” She glanced at Lance before looking straight ahead. Her nostrils flared.
“Fuck off.” He gave the guard a look that could kill, whose eyes took on a look of panic. Good! Best he be afraid. Very fucking afraid.
“Don’t you dare go anywhere. I’m not talking to you. You’re an asshole!” she shouted.
His mouth twitched. Oh how he loved it when she called him names. Next, she’d give him a couple of choice slaps, maybe even a hard punch. He couldn’t wait.
The male stayed where he was, he stayed positioned between himself and Amber. Motherfucker was about to get himself killed. A growl came from somewhere deep in his throat.
“Please.” The guard put up a hand. “Don’t… I can’t just leave the human. She has asked me to stay.”
Lance didn’t raise his voice. “You will go and you will fucking do so immediately.” The guard gave a jump and Lance almost felt sorry for the poor fuck. “Or so help—”
“Stop being a bully. What’s wrong with you?” Her eyes were wide. Her lip wobbled. It fucking wobbled. No…it wasn’t supposed to go down like this. “I told you I didn’t want this getting out. I asked you nicely.” She sniffed. A tear tracked down her cheek. What the fuck! No. He couldn’t stand to see her upset. Everything in him tensed.
Lance pushed the other male aside.
“Don’t touch me.” Her eyes widened. “How dare you? You had no right.” She shook her head, looking so sad. It tore at him to see her like this.
“Leave us.” He used a softer approach with the guard. “Please… I will take care of her. I will ensure that she gets to her room.”
The guard finally nodded when Amber didn’t retaliate.
He gripped her hand and rubbed his thumb over her palm. Another tear tracked down her cheek. She waited until the guard had moved away.
“Come with me.” Lance looked her in the eye.
She shook he
He spoke again, softly this time, not wanting to spook her. “We need to talk this out.”
“There is no ‘we’, Lance.” She pulled her hand out of his.
“Yes,” he said, more sternly, “there is.”
“You’re wrong. We…have sex…and that doesn’t mean anything.” She wiped her face. “Make that, we used to…have sex.”
“It’s not over, Amber. Nothing has to change.”
“Everything has changed. I didn’t ask much of you. One measly little thing and you couldn’t even do that. You told everyone that we are, that we’re…”
“Fucking.” It was so cute that she couldn’t say it. He smiled. “No one knows shit, Amber.” He looked around them. “Look, any minute the others are going to come and if they see us together…you crying, they’ll put two and two together. Come with me, please. We need to talk.”
She shook her head, her eyes on the ground.
“Please, sweetheart.” The endearment fell from him lips yet again. He needed to stop doing that. He’d never called a female by that term.
Then she huffed out a breath and looked him in the eye. He watched as everything in her softened. “Fine but I’m not having sex with you. You can forget that.” Some of the fire returned.
“Come on.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her in the direction of the gardens. They didn’t stop until they were in one of his favorite alcoves. It had both a view of the garden and was obscured enough for total privacy. It was tranquil and beautiful.
Lance took both of her hands in his but she tried to tug herself free.
“Hear me out,” he said. Lance had to smile. “Firstly, you said you only asked one thing of me but that’s not technically true. You asked me to give you orgasms and I have.”
She gasped, her stunning mouth fell open. Then she frowned. “That’s rubbish. I never asked you—”
“Your body did. Loud and fucking clear. I love how receptive you are. I delivered and will continue to deliver. Second, you asked me to go against my most important fucking rule… I agreed to be exclusive. I have been exclusive from the first time we were together. I haven’t touched another female and I don’t want to.”
“Oh.” She cleared her throat. She sucked in a breath. Amber looked shocked at his admission. “You shouldn’t have picked me though.” Her lip quivered and her voice hitched. “I don’t want everyone to know about us. I told you that. I don’t want to be just another conquest.”
“You’re not.” It just came out. “You’re not,” he said a little softer when he realized it was true. “I like you and I do care for you. It doesn’t mean I want a relationship. You’re unlike any other female I’ve been with. I can’t explain it but it’s true.”
Amber shook her head looking horrified. “We have zero in common. So it doesn’t change anything. We’re still just having dirty sex.” She shrugged. “I didn’t want anyone to know, that’s all.” A tear fell. “I don’t know why it’s so important to me but it is.”
“They don’t know anything, sweetheart.” He cupped her cheek and wiped away a tear.
“You chose me.” Her big brown eyes shimmered. Her lashes glistened. “They will know. How could they not?”
“Three of us picked you. There may have been more if I hadn’t stepped in. You’re not worried about what people think of the other males.”
“I’m not sleeping with the others.”
“Exactly! The only reason you’re freaking out about us is because we are fucking but no one knows that. Only we do.”
“They’ll know soon enough.” She wiped away another tear.
“No. They won’t know about our past. As to the future. That’s up to you. All they know is that I’m interested as fuck in you. Lots of the males are. Other than that…” He raised his brows.
“Yeah, but if we have sex…”
He nodded. “They’ll know it’s you since I’m not permitted to be with anyone else.” He put his arms around her. “I don’t want this to end just yet. You care too much about what the others think. What about what you want?”
She made a hiccup noise. “I just don’t want people to think that—”
“Fuck what they think, Amber.” Lance stroked the hair back from her face and swiped a tear from under her eye. “I picked you. That means something. We can continue to be exclusive. That means something as well. Other than that, it’s nobody’s business but our own. Think carefully about what you want. I bought us a little time. If I had stayed silent…” He shook his head, not liking the thought of having to stay away from her.
She looked thoughtful.
“Don’t answer me now but think about your options. Do you want to go home right now? Do you really want this to end now…?” Fuck no! He hoped not. “Do you want to date Brynn?” He tried to remain passive even though his fangs throbbed in his gums and his muscles bunched. “Or, you can forget about what the others think and we can continue where we left off.”
“They would know…what we were doing…before I mean.”
“Yes they would, but fuck them,” he growled. “I’m not done and neither are you. Why should we stop? We are both adults.” He kissed her. Just a quick touch of the mouth. He wanted more. So much fucking more but he needed to give her space. “I will take you back to your suite.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled. “You’re not going to even try and get into my pants?”
Lance shook his head. “If I didn’t know you better, I would say you were disappointed.”
She looked serious for just a moment. “We do have really hot sex.”
“I seriously fucking love your pussy.”
She gasped. “You didn’t just say that.”
“I did and I know for a fact that you love the hell out of my cock.”
“You’re too much…you know that don’t you?” She giggled and he found himself loving the sound.
“Yeah, I’m an arrogant asshole.” Then he took back her hand. “Just think about it and let me know when you are ready.” He dug in his pocket.
Amber nodded. “What are you doing?”
He palmed his phone. “I’ll call a guard to take you back. I’m sure you don’t want to be seen with me.”
Amber shook her head. “No, I’m sorry. Let me think about it.”
There was a part of him that had hoped she would just agree right then and there. Maybe it would be best if they did end this now. He wasn’t done but maybe he should be.
Lance nodded and dialed Titan. The male answered immediately. Within a few minutes, he watched Amber’s retreating back. Then he found himself some roses and sniffed the fuck out of them.
Chapter 14
The next afternoon…
Why had he given Amber an ultimatum?
What the hell had he been thinking?
He’d put the ball in her court and she’d disappeared with the fucking thing. There’d been no word whatsoever. Not a one. She hadn’t been at breakfast, or at lunch. There was no way he was calling her. One thing was for sure. He was done waiting.
Done.
Waiting around was for pussies. Lance had picked her. He’d fucking picked her and she wasn’t happy about it. Either she was in or she was out. It was simple. This was the reason he didn’t do exclusive. Why he didn’t do relationships. Not that what they were in was a real relationship. Fucking was fucking.
It was humiliating and damned frustrating. No less than three females had approached him in the last twenty-four hours. He’d turned them all down flat and without having to think about it for a second. Lance hadn’t been tempted. They weren’t Amber. They lacked her fire, her spirit, her energy. He needed to touch her lush body, to feel her tighten around him, to hear her moans of pleasure. He needed it right fucking now. No more waiting.
No fucking way.
Brynn walked out of the human accommodations. The male hadn’t been at lunch. His hands were in his pockets and Lance could see that he was distracted. Deep in thought.
Lance couldn’t help but to growl at the male as he neared him. He sounded like a fucking beast. The thought of someone else touching Amber was abhorrent to him. She was his until he said otherwise. His. Damn. It.
The male leapt to the side, his hands curled into fists and his eyes were wide.
“Stay the fuck away from her,” he growled. Shit! Amber would have his balls if she heard him now. It couldn’t be helped though.
The male took in a deep breath, his chest expanded for several seconds before he released the air. “Amber explained things to me,” he finally said.
She had?
What?
Lance nodded even though he had zero clue what Brynn was talking about. He watched as the tension eased from Brynn’s body.
“You’re really lucky that she’s giving you a chance.” He shook his head. “Please don’t hurt her. She’s special. I haven’t known her very long but she’s different. She doesn’t see herself the way that we see her. Sexy, yeah but she’s also sensitive, she gives a shit.”
Lance growled. He felt like a bastard for doing it but couldn’t help himself.
“You seem to really like her, which is good…surprising but good.” Brynn nodded his head.
Lance still didn’t say anything. He only hoped that the shock he was feeling inside wasn’t written on his face and that the years of training he had been through as a warrior would stand him in good stead. Not to mention all the poker games.
“So, you’re going to be dating… I can hardly believe it.” Brynn raised his brows. “The ultimate bachelor brought to his knees by a human female. I guess if it was going to happen, Amber would be the one to do it.”
Dating? Not a fuck.
Brought to his knees. Forget it.
Lance swallowed hard.
“Take good care of her. Just promise me that.”
Lance nodded. “I’ll take good care of her.” He wasn’t lying. He would take excellent care of the female…at least, his dick would do a good job of it.
It seemed to appease the male because he nodded once and walked away. Lance looked back at the human accommodations. He picked up his pace as he strode towards the building. Dating? Not a fuck. Just no. Exclusive fucking was one thing. Small talk, flowers and candlelit dinners was another thing entirely. It wasn’t him. It just wasn’t.
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