by Lexie Davis
EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ®
www.evernightpublishing.com
Copyright© 2017 Lexie Davis
ISBN: 978-1-77339-265-3
Cover Artist: Jay Aheer
Editor: Karyn White
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
THE KING’S MATE
Romance on the Go ®
Lexie Davis
Copyright © 2017
Prologue
“Get your hands off me! I didn’t do anything wrong!”
Piper Marsh lifted her head from the desk she’d been hunched over for the past three hours. With a quick glimpse out the window, she saw the king’s emblem and hurried to the door. Struggling in one of the king’s guard’s grip, her father protested his arrest.
“What are you doing?” she yelled at the men. “Let him go!”
A guard stopped her. “Your father was reported trespassing in the village. A lion shifter said a human fitting his description was harassing them which you know is against the rules.”
“I did no such thing, Piper,” her father objected. “They’re lying.”
She stared at the guard. Unfortunately, she knew all the king’s guards a little more than she wanted. They knew her quite well, too. The one standing before her leered at her a little too much. The damn past was coming back to bite her in the ass.
“What do I have to do to make this right? Pay a fine?”
His gaze raked over her body. “A fine isn’t going to fix the issue.”
She scowled at him. “Then I’ll have a meeting with the king.”
“Good luck with that. The matching ceremony is in a few days. You can’t get anywhere near the palace unless you’re a shifter. And we all know you’re not.” The guard reached out to touch her arm, and Piper flinched. “You’re smart if you’re scared of our kind. I could have you if I wanted. I could also kill you with a flick of my wrist. Let this be a lesson to you. Don’t cause trouble in the village. Other lion shifters aren’t so nice.”
Piper watched as they carted her father off. He yelled back at her about his innocence. He shouted that the king would understand, that she just needed to speak with him.
She watched them until they left her sight.
The king.
She ran her fingers through her hair as she thought about their situation now. Piper didn’t know how the king would react to her coming to see him, but he was her best and only shot of getting her father out of the dungeon. If she had to suck up her pride and face the king, then so be it. She’d do whatever it took.
Chapter One
“Ah, shit.”
Aleo sat on his throne staring at the human waiting in line before him. The matching ceremony was for lion shifters only. Females from all over the kingdom came to the castle to try to appeal to the king for the potential to mate him. The ceremony was ancient, and everyone knew the rules. Humans weren’t allowed.
So what the fuck was she doing here?
Her sea green eyes met his in pure defiance across the room. The strands of her long brunette hair would feel silky in his grasp. She wore a white dress that left little to the imagination, and he was fairly sure that if he stared hard enough, he could see the dusty rose color of her nipples. His mouth watered to taste them, to pinch them and suck them like he had every fucking right. As if she could read his mind, she folded her arms over her chest. They’d known each other for two years. When they’d been together it had been intense. His father had put a stop to them seeing each other when he found out things had grown serious between them. But it didn’t stop him from fantasizing about her. The woman was a real piece of work, and his cock hardened in his pants just thinking about it.
“What is it, sir?”
He didn’t say anything as he kept his attention on the woman in white. Hell, she was gorgeous. Her pouty lips were rosy and plump. He’d pictured them wrapped around his cock more than once over the past few years, and the image of it now only made him harder. She had a look of innocence that he found so damn alluring. He knew from experience though that she was far from the image she portrayed. Forbidden. He knew it. She knew it. Everyone knew it. His cock, however, didn’t get that fucking memo.
“Ah.” Keenan, a royal guard, grinned as he saw the troublemaker wreaking havoc on King Aleo. Hell, everyone saw it, even the females that he was able to be matched with. “I’m guessing you want me to get rid of her?”
He scowled at his friend, and Keenan held up a hand. In more bold defiance, she stepped out of the line and walked toward him, completely disregarding the rules altogether. Several of his potential mates glared at her while Aleo couldn’t help scratching his chin in amusement. She was one hell of a woman, and it fucking sucked that she had to remain completely off-limits.
“I need to talk to you,” she said. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs leading to his throne. When he didn’t say anything to her, she lifted her dress and climbed them. Keenan made a half-hearted attempt to stop her, but Aleo held out a hand, curious as to what she intended to do. Nobody approached him. It was a well-known rule for meeting with the king.
“My father has been arrested by your goon squad. I want him back.”
Aleo blinked a few times. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me. He was in the village. There was supposed to be a peace agreement between your kind and humans, but your goons arrested him for trespassing.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t know what kind of game you want to play, but I can tell you right now, you won’t win.”
Threatening a king was a serious offense. The maximum punishment was life imprisonment. How the hell did he land himself in this position with her? “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but I will look in to it.”
“That’s it? You’ll look in to it?”
“As you can tell, I’m kind of busy right now.”
“Kind of busy? Like when we were in the cabin together and you stepped outside to talk with your father?”
Yeah. She was never going to let that go. Thoughts of her naked body facing him filled his mind before he could stop them. He’d been wild and carefree back then. He’d also been a prince without any responsibilities. When he’d whisked her away to a cabin in the middle of nowhere to have his fill of her, his father found them. Aleo had tied her to the bed and planned to have his wicked way with her, but instead, he’d had to indulge his father’s command to meet him outside. Not only did he get a lecture by the king on the forbidden nature of humans mixing with shifters, but he’d left her naked and exposed with the rest of the guard. His men still talked about her. A smile tilted his lips. Two years had passed, and she was still pissed at him for it.
“Being royalty is more difficult than you think.”
She jumped on him, reaching for his throat. Aleo grabbed her, quickly forcing her arms to her sides before she could do any real damage. Once he captured her, he motioned for his guards to clear the room. Not only did she threaten him, but she tried to strangle him, too. The people would demand punishment if he wasn’t careful, and he’d have to do something to keep the peace.
“I know you’re fucking crazy, but don’t ever do something so stupid like that again.” Pressing his forehead against hers, he panted against her lips. His fucking ha
rd-on didn’t help the situation any. His fingers wrapped around her tiny wrists tightly. Because he could, he forced her arms above her head as he pressed her body in to the wall behind him, pinning her in place.
“Or what?” she asked boldly. Her nipples poked out beneath the thin white dress, begging for his attention. Her breasts brushed against him, and he held back a groan while she struggled in his hold.
“You won’t like it.”
It would be so easy to fuck her right there. Her dress left little to his imagination. A simple tug would have her breasts bared to his gaze. She wore nothing underneath, and he could have her open to him within seconds, plunging deep into her wet warmth before she even had time to protest.
He caught a whiff of her scent and nearly groaned out loud. The predicaments he found himself in were intriguing. He’d seen hundreds of women, some were gorgeous, some were friendly. None were like the firecracker standing before him. It’d been so hard to keep himself away from her for two years, and it seemed even harder now to not lean in and taste her lips.
“Get that stupid expression off your face,” she commented, drawing his attention back to the present situation. “I’m not here to mate you or bed you. I want my father released. I couldn’t care less about you.”
“I said I’d look into it.” His attention focused on her pouty lips. “But if you think you’re going to come to me making demands, threatening me, and attacking me, to get what you want, you’ve clearly forgotten who I am. My father would have had you executed.”
“Would you rather me show you my tits?” She shimmied a bit in his hold.
He smirked before he could stop himself. “I think you need some time to cool off. That temper of yours is getting the best of you. Quite frankly, I want to wring your neck myself.”
She narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything. What the hell did he do with her? Besides stealing her away to his room, there wasn’t much else he could do at the moment. His potential mates had seen her attack him. Most of the people in the kingdom knew she was human. Piper Marsh had a reputation thanks to his brief relationship with her and his father’s intervention. He had to punish her somehow for the day’s events.
He glanced over his shoulder at Keenan, who did his best to keep his expression neutral.
“I think Piper Marsh needs some time to cool down in the dungeon.” He passed her off to Keenan. “King’s orders.”
“Yes, sir.” He took her out the side door.
Scrubbing a hand over his face, Aleo tried to focus on greeting his guests. Behind Piper’s defiance was a serious amount of hurt. Aleo knew it was because of him. Not only with the shit that happened years ago, but with the matching ceremony, too. He didn’t know what the issue was with her father, but he’d fix it. Taking a moment, he adjusted himself. It wasn’t so easy for him to get over her either. He kept his distance, after his father had threatened him with exile, but thoughts of her never stopped entering his mind and driving up his libido.
How the hell did he live with a woman from the chosen line-up, when there was only one that made him burn? He sat down on the throne and motioned for the doors to be opened again. The women before him came and offered their best in the hopes that they’d appeal to him and be chosen. Hell, he didn’t even pay attention. It pissed him off that Piper had defied him. He also found himself liking it more than he should. The sexual frustration alone had him damn near ready to walk to the dungeon himself, lay her on the flimsy mattress in the cell and fuck her until he got his fill. He tried to pay attention to the women before him, but the sassy Piper Marsh was the only woman on his mind.
Chapter Two
Piper stepped into the dungeon, scowling at Keenan as he locked the door behind her.
“Hey, I’m just following orders. I had nothing to do with you attacking him in front of a roomful of people.”
She rolled her eyes. Aleo was the king now. He’d been a party boy up until his father’s death nearly a year ago and spared no feelings about how much he loved the ladies. He also never shied away from the attention he gave human females either, much to his father’s dismay. It was forbidden for shifters to be with humans, but Aleo always did whatever the fuck he wanted.
Today, she took her cue from him.
She rubbed her arms as she stared at the guard. “So he’s going to keep me down here while he picks a mate upstairs?”
“Probably.”
“And then what?” She tilted her head to the side. “He’s going to beat me? Kill me? What exactly is my punishment?”
Keenan glanced to the right. “He’ll probably forget about you. You can’t be a thorn in his side if you’re out of sight and out of mind.”
“Right.” She folded her arms over her chest. She knew the king’s thoughts about her. She’d felt his reaction when he pushed her up against the wall. “Don’t you have something better to do? Wipe his ass, maybe? Isn’t that your glorious job? The royal ass wiper?” She paused a moment. “Oh, wait. No. It’s royal ass kisser. I forgot.”
Keenan’s face turned red. “I don’t know why he doesn’t just end you. You’re not worth the trouble.”
He left her alone, and she glanced around at her new home. It was less than stellar, but she’d stayed in far worse. The mattress was bunched up in the corner of the cage with no blankets or pillows. Once she found out where her father was, then she’d work on getting them both out of the dungeon.
Sitting on the mattress, she thought about the first time she’d met Aleo. He’d been a pretty boy back then, not that he wasn’t that now. He used his looks to get whatever he wanted and thought he was damn well entitled. It pissed her off mostly, even though she would never admit he had an effect on her.
She’d been one of those dumb girls back then, too. Fell victim to his charm and ended up in his bed. It fueled her temper just thinking about it. She relived the embarrassment of that night every time she saw a royal guard. Aleo had left her there, naked, for everyone to see. She’d never had so many men stare at her naked body before. It had taken a while, but after screaming at them to let her go, one of the guards finally cut her loose.
Piper stared at the torch hanging on the wall. Aleo hadn’t protected her. He’d been so angry with his father that she ceased to even matter to him. It was the cold dose of reality she’d needed to get her head back on straight.
And she was still pissed about it.
“Well, look who got herself arrested.” Tito, a king’s guard, smiled as he peered in her cage. “I’m assuming the king doesn’t know you’re down here?”
She snorted. “He put me down here.”
The guard laughed. “I never thought I’d see that day. He’s had a hard-on for you since he first saw you. You must have done something really bad.”
“Do me a favor. Tell me where you’re keeping my dad.”
He glanced toward the left. “You mean that old man that keeps begging us to meet the king?”
“Where is he?”
“Don’t worry about it. He’s in good hands.” The guy laughed as he walked off.
Piper chewed on her lower lip before standing. “Dad? Dad, can you hear me?”
She listened and heard nothing. Huffing a breath, she went to the corner of the cell and peered through the bars. Cage after cage went for as far as she could see. There weren’t that many people in the dungeon, and she figured that her father was being kept as far away from her as they could get.
So how did she get herself out of the mess she’d gotten herself into? When Piper had gone to the castle, she’d fully intended to seduce Aleo into giving her what she wanted. One look at him and she understood why women came from all over the fucking land with the hopes that he’d chose them as his mate. Hell, like he really even had a choice. They put names into a cup, and the shaman drew one out. It was completely out of his hands, though she supposed he had some say in which names went into the fucking cup. He wouldn’t mate some ugly girl with missing teeth or a hairy birthmark. He was mor
e superficial than that.
And his personality sucked.
After sneaking into the castle, she’d stood in line like the other women, convincing herself that she could do it. She could walk up to him calmly and offer herself in exchange for her father’s freedom. Ha. That lasted all of five seconds when she got into the throne room. Flashbacks of his naked body moving along hers were enough to get her hot and bothered, but her temper got the best of her.
When she had stepped out of line, she’d had every intention of talking to him. Yet, he always had a cocky smirk on his face, and she wanted to rip his head off. She probably should have felt bad about attacking him. That alone could get her some serious time in the dungeon. She didn’t want to admit that her body still tingled from him pressing her up against the wall. He smelled like pineapples since they were his favorite fruit. He’d probably had a few before she got to the throne room. Maybe one of his little bitches had brought him a fruit as a way to buy his love.
She snarled, though she didn’t know why she was so damn pissed off. He claimed he didn’t know what happened with her father when she knew he was aware of everything. He was the fucking king, for crying out loud. The feigned ignorance was another thing that set her off, and she couldn’t really be surprised that she found herself in the dungeon.
Bored and cold, she stayed in her cell for nearly an hour before Keenan appeared. He unlocked the cage and opened the door.
“The king wants to see you.”
She glanced around and shrugged. “He knows where I am. He put me here.”
The guard narrowed his eyes. “Do you want out, or not?”
“I’m fine where I am.” She pulled her leg beneath her. “Go bug someone else.”
Keenan cursed and slammed the door shut. She watched him walk away in frustration knowing that Aleo wouldn’t be happy. She was probably the only woman he’d ever met that didn’t cater to his demands. Hell, she came so damn close that one night, but fortunately, his father had knocked some reason in to her. Aleo showed her who he truly was, and that was something she needed to stay away from.