by Marian Tee
The twins stared hard at their prince, and when he only raised a brow at them, Aluin could no longer help himself.
"Seriously?"
There was a second of silence, and then Lysander's lips cracked a smile. "Seriously."
The twins grinned back even as both of them were working hard to absorb the changes in their prince. His voice was a lot deeper now and more...guttural. Like a man trying to remember how it was to use words instead of growls and snarls.
And it had probably been so, knowing what they did of the countless ordeals that Lysander had to suffer and overcome before he could have Ammon under his control.
The thought of this was more than sobering, and their smiles immediately faded. The prince had sacrificed everything for their race, and in return...
Lysander's lips pressed together in a tight, thin line when the twins pulled their swords out and bowed their heads as they offered their weapons to him. It was a traditional gesture of apology for Faes, and despite the last few corners of his mind that remained hazy and trapped in the seemingly eternal hell he had spent battling Ammon---
He knew exactly what transgression the twins were admitting to.
"We have disobeyed your orders, Your Highness."
And so they had.
Lysander's letter, which contained his blood and was meant to be pressed upon the fresh wound of his chosen mate...had not been intended for Estrella.
Alain and Aluin tensed involuntarily as frozen air stung their skin. A moment later, a wild growl razed their hearing, and they realized that their prince had shifted.
Lysander began to prowl. In his current form, he might not be able to communicate directly with his men, but he had a clearer mind now, and he was better able to read more from their heartbeats.
Concern.
It was what the twins had felt then, doing what they did, even if they had also known disobeying his orders was tantamount to treason. It wasn't everything he needed to know, but it was enough, and as Lysander spun to his back, his tail lashed out, striking both twins' chests with one vicious whip.
Their chests began to bleed, but the twins only lowered their heads even more.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
The punishment meant that they had been forgiven, but if they were to disobey the prince for a second time, death was to be their only option after it.
Long after the two brothers left, Lysander remained outside the bedroom where his bride slept, silent and brooding. Her orgasm had seemed to work like a leash, with his more animal instincts lying dormant while the more rational side of him rose to the fore. It had allowed him to think, and it was only then that he was able to piece the past and the present together...and realize that he had ended up mated to a woman who was not of his choice.
She was his Star, but she was also Domenico Moretti's goddamn sister. He wasn't sure if he could ever get past the fact, but just as it had been with the twins, the past was the past, and it was already too late to change things.
In exchange for the powers he now wielded, the beast held dominion over his soul, and his body wanted what his soul made it want. All his suffering and sacrifices would be for naught...if he did not keep Estrella as his mate.
7
Estrella woke to the feel of her husband guiding her hands towards the edges of the pillow. Her eyes drifted open, and the first thing she saw was Lysander looming over her.
Don't...let...go.
She whimpered.
Understand?
She had barely finished nodding when she literally heard his claws sharpening out---
A tearing sound, and she realized too late he had sliced the upper top of her gown all the way down to her waist. The torn halves fell to the side, revealing its built-in cups and her naked, pink-tipped breasts.
She trembled as his hot, starving gaze swept down, and she could feel her face burning with the way her breasts swelled up, as if they were equally starving. The thought had her quivering, and something inside her ached. It ached so, so bad, and it only grew worse when she saw his hand move close. So tauntingly close, but never quite touching. It was almost as if he was relishing her inner torment, and as she looked up at him, driven crazy with desire---
That was when he finally palmed her breast, and she nearly screamed, nearly bucked off the bed. His touch. Oh God, she had dreamt of this touch. His touch. And it didn't disappoint at all. He palmed her breast like her flesh had been sculpted for him, and she could only clutch the edges of her pillow, wanting and needing to touch him but unable to.
And oh, when his tongue finally laved her nipple---
"Lysander!"
She screamed his name. In her mind. And out loud. It should've probably made him deaf, but instead it only made him laugh, the sound wicked and dark, and something she alone could hear.
He started sucking on her nipple. Sweetly and tenderly at first. But it was only to make her lower her guard, and the moment he felt her relax, it was then the tempo changed. His teeth grazed her nipple, and she cried out...and kept crying out, with Lysander now sucking harder. He was also kneading her other breast now, fingers digging into her flesh with just the sweetest amount of force. And then he was sucking her other nipple, too, but this time there wasn't any foreplay. It was just the most beautifully brutal pleasure, and it was just impossible...oh God, it was so impossible to resist---
Estrella cried his name out as she came.
And came.
And came.
Until she passed out.
When she drifted back to consciousness, she was still a little dazed and breathless, body still tingling after what felt like another impossibly long orgasm. She felt like she was lost and floating in dream land, and she could only blink in sleepy curiosity as Lysander carefully undressed her.
Lysander.
He was really here.
Her husband, here.
No longer gone.
But here.
A part of her still had a hard time believing it, and she unthinkingly squeezed her eyes shut as if unwilling to wake up to reality. When she felt him scoop her up, she didn't even think twice, her arms quickly going around his neck as he effortlessly carried her to the en-suite.
He smells so good, Estrella thought out of the blue and was thus unable to resist taking another whiff. His scent was intoxicating, a mix of fire, earth, and something else. Something...forbidden.
Hot water was already bubbling invitedly in the tub, and Estrella couldn't help sighing in blissful pleasure as he lowered her into the water. She felt him move back, and when she heard the unmistakable sound of clothes being removed, her eyes flew open.
OH.
This time, she couldn't stop staring, couldn't stop drinking in every lethal, masculine inch of his perfection. How overwhelmingly tall he still felt, and the sheer length of him made her feel deliciously small and womanly. Scars marred his chest and legs, but she found each and every one of them beautiful. Sexy was such a pale and inadequate word to describe him, but that was what he was, and try as she might, she couldn't stop her gaze from moving towards what was between his legs---
Estrella's audible gulp made her husband crack a smirk as he got inside the tub with her.
My size. Still...worries you?
She tried to answer but was distracted by the way Lysander had placed her between his legs. And then he was gently pulling her close, until her back was pressed fully against his chest, and there was no way - absolutely no way for her to pretend that it wasn't his overly large, overly excited (overly everything actually) cock rubbing against her ass.
There was another audible gulp, and Lysander's smirk was practically audible.
Not funny, she mumbled in her mind.
"You're...right."
She gasped.
"Not funny, but...terribly...sweet." And by the time Lysander finished speaking, water had splashed out of the tub as Estrella twisted around to look at him, wide-eyed in surprise.
"You're talking no
w," she exclaimed.
His lips pressed together. "Never lost...it. But I'm also...different now." Not wanting to waste more time while he was still struggling to regain his fluency in human speech, he stared at Estrella and showed her how in the two years he spent battling against Ammon, Lysander had been forced to communicate with the beast in ancient ways that had no use for words.
"So now..." His voice was still slightly guttural as he renewed his efforts to speak. "I'm trying to...get used to...speaking. Again. But..."
Estrella saw Lysander's gaze suddenly turn sly.
"You...make...it...easier."
Her eyes widened, and she unconsciously pointed at herself. "Me? How?"
Violet eyes gleamed at her. "The more...you come..."
Her jaw dropped.
"The more...rational...and...powerful...I become." And when this time, she only stared at him, he could no longer help it. He threw his head back with a laugh, and though it sounded like the devil coughing out blood...
The flabbergasted look on his mate's face was worth it.
Unable to resist the urge to feel her skin, he ran his knuckles down one blushing cheek, saying, I told you...didn't I? The beast in me...craves...constantly.
"For me?"
Yes.
He watched her gnaw at her lip and fought hard against the urge to gnaw it for her, knowing that to do so to lead to things best left delayed...for now.
"If that's true," she was saying shakily, "then why haven't you still..."
Fuck...you?
Estrella let out a little moan of embarrassment, but the sound quickly turned into a whimper when she felt his fingers reach for her underwater.
It's because...this is...still...too small.
One finger slowly pushed inside of her as he spoke, and Estrella gasped anew as all thoughts in her mind dissipated.
But...don't worry. I'm...working...on it.
A second finger pushed in, and she quickly became a wet, trembling mess. "Lysander---" His fingers pushed deeper, filling and stretching her, until all she could do was close her eyes and gasp. Oh...oh...oh. Her head fell back. Practice makes perfect, right? So...well...who was she to say no to this---
A sexy, gruff sound played in her mind.
The Prince of Beasts...was laughing. At her.
Oh, frack!
Why did she keep forgetting he could hear her thoughts?
8
The twins arrived just while Lysander and Estrella were having breakfast. But when she tried to scramble off his lap, her husband wouldn't have it at all, his arm around her waist tightening even as she heard the twins' footsteps getting closer.
I've never sat on any guy's lap before---
GOOD.
She rolled her eyes at him. That's not the point I was trying to make!
But Lysander simply stared back at her. Stay.
The command in his voice was irresistible, and so when the Fournier brothers finally came to join them at the table, it was to find the princess seated on the prince's knee while Lysander fed her slices of cheese and meat.
The twins smirked, and she glared at them, knowing that they were very much relishing the sight of her being so docile. It was payback, for all the times she had gone against their instructions.
Meanwhile, Lysander was asking the two men about some report he requested, his voice careful and deliberate as he spoke his words out loud. His voice was no longer as rusty, but it seemed as if its gravelly tone was there to stay.
Estrella didn't mind it though. She really liked how it sounded, and she thought it extremely sexy---
Thank you.
The twins blinked when the princess suddenly lost her balance and almost fell off her husband's lap. When the prince helped her back up, her cheeks were on fire, and the twins looked at each other. Honeymoon stage, probably?
They nodded simultaneously in silent agreement. That was probably it, and since this could only be a good thing for the royal couple, they paid it no heed and went back to reporting to their prince. "We have looked into the matter you requested---"
"What matter is this?" Estrella couldn't help asking.
Lysander's face hardened. "Why...people...want to...abduct...MY WIFE."
The twins saw the princess slowly cover her face, and they couldn't help smirking when the prince, who had noticed the same thing, too, appeared taken aback by her actions.
Perturbed at the strangeness of her actions, Lysander was doing his best to read his wife's thoughts, but all he could glean at that moment was an unquantifiable amount of...gibberish. She was making odd, high-pitched sounds inside her mind, almost like a screeching monkey, and by the way the twins were reacting, it seems as if they understood exactly what was going on.
"Explain," he commanded them. "Her mind...is impossible...to read...right now. Why?"
The prince's words were all the confirmation they needed, and Aluin couldn't help grinning even as he said with sham solemnity, "The princess' thoughts right now, Your Highness...are you saying they're indecipherable?"
"Yes."
"Is she making strange, wordless, high-pitched sounds?"
Lysander frowned. "Exactly."
The twins smirked again. "That, Your Highness---" Alain was the one who spoke this time, albeit in a decidedly dry tone, "---is what's best referred to as internal squealing."
Hearing this, Estrella couldn't help lowering her hands just so she could glare straight at the warrior. "Alain!" But as she did, her gaze accidentally clashed with the prince, who - you know - had just made her dream come true and called her - you know - MY WIFE in front of - you know - other people, and well...
The moment her hands flew back up to cover her flushed cheeks, the sounds inside her mind immediately resumed, and Lysander couldn't help but wince as it was now a thousand times shriller.
"What you are hearing in her mind right now is what we heard - out loud - the first time someone else referred to her as your wife."
As predicted, hearing the last two words had Estrella's internal squealing going up several notches higher, to the point that the sounds threatened to burst his eardrums from within. Not that he minded, now that he knew that all of this...was simply because she was that happy to be his wife.
Had always been that happy, Lysander thought, even when the world doubted his return and disparaged her for being so faithful and loyal to a prince whose race had been vanquished in battle...twice.
The beast in him began to stir. It believed such devotion must be - and could only be rewarded in one way. And the Fae in him agreed.
"I require a private moment with my wife." Lysander had already risen to his feet as he spoke, and by the time he finished he had a stunned and confused Estrella up in his arms. "Wait here."
"Yes, Your Highness." The twins' tone were utterly respectful, but both also rolled their eyes as they watched the royal couple head back to the master's bedroom. Lysander had always had a strong sex drive, but he was practically insatiable now with his princess.
Was that truly a beast thing...or could it be something else?
Back inside the bedroom, things moved fast as soon as the door closed. Before she could even wonder what Lysander required a private moment for, he already had her out of her dress and flat on her back on the bed.
"Lysan----oh!"
As soon as he had parted her legs wide open, he had bent his head down to nuzzle the quivering and already-moist triangle between her legs. Mortification immediately burst inside of her even as a thousand thoughts raced in her head.
Lysander. Husband. Mouth, no, wait - Tongue. His Tongue. Down There. Licking - no, wait, not just that. But also...t-t-t-thrustiiiiiiiiiiiiiing---
I can hear you... MY WIFE.
Her body arched up in an instant, and hearing it was like having the arrow of her pleasure meter swing all the way up to the danger zone, and she was just one pant away from losing her mind. One moment, it was just a tiny, sweet throb, but a moment later, she was close to passing
out, her body back to being a feverish, wet, writhing mess.
He knew...he had to have known what it did to her, hearing him of all people call her that, and yet the darn prince had still done it, almost as if he couldn't get enough seeing her shatter to pieces. She could even feel the dark silk of his amusement coursing in between their bodies and more so when he reached for her legs and placed them over broad, rock-hard shoulders that were rocking in silent mirth.
Drowning in embarrassment, Estrella tried to take her legs off but stopped when he squeezed the cheeks of her ass in warning. Do not...move. Can't...move. Until...I...make you...come.
She couldn't help whimpering and squirming at the command, but hanging onto any sensible thought proved to be near impossible once he started tongue-fucking her in earnest. And just as it had been when he had made her go down on her knees and his cock had taken her mouth, the movement of his tongue was just as masterful...just as exquisitely capable at ruining her.
InOutInOutInOutInOutInOut
And as if the rapid pace of his tongue wasn't enough, she could also feel his fingers, which were already slick with her own moisture, pulling her folds wide open. Wider and wider until her pleasure took on a sharpened edge as she felt herself stretched taut underneath his mouth.
Her hips began to move, wildly and wantonly, uncontrollable as his tongue was methodical in its ability to wreak havoc on every inner inch of her. She could feel her mind splintering with every second that passed, and even as she tried her best to hold on and make it last---
In the end, it was just...too much.
And when she started to break, she could only screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaam.
Screamed and screamed and screamed.
And still, it went on.
Coming for so many minutes that she lost count...and passed out.
The hard, cruel edges of Lysander's lips marginally softened as he felt his wife's legs slowly fall from his shoulders and he heard her quick pants slow down and fade into the steady rhythm of sleep. Still between her legs, he rose up to a crouching position and gazed down at her.
Seeing his wife naked in his bed, with his fingers still gently stroking the flushed folds of her well-pleasured pussy, was enough to have desire coiling tightly within his body, and his inner beast roared with frustrated need.