Chapter 44: Sena - Fated to the Night King

Alkan was no doubt stronger than me. Any resistance I might attempt could be pushed aside for him to gain what he wanted. He knew that he could and so did I. But I felt the certainty that he wouldn’t do that. And it made me brave.

I twisted in his lap, my knees on the bed bracketing his hips, and ran my fingers through his hair as he deepened the kiss. My wolf rumbled happily in my head, and had the sense that she was stretching, arching even as I did when his hands glided down the line of my spine. Even through my tunic, shivers erupted in the wake of his touch. I wanted more of it, needed more.

Heat was spiraling through me, building, and it was most intense in my chest. The bond, he’d explained to me, and it was going hotter as our exploration continued, deepened. Alkan didn’t protest when I tugged at his shirt, desperate for it to be off. My instincts were urging me on, and I knew there was no coming back from this for me. I was already changed, different.

Sena of the Stricken was no more.

Alkan wasn’t unaffected by my touch. His breathing was deeper, harsher with each intake, and he finally pulled back to say. “We do this how you want, ey ruhum. You just tell me.”

It was a comfort to know he understood the fears that couldn’t be completely abolished with a few weeks of kindness. His hands in my hair were gentle, his fingers gliding over me with reverence, rather than seeking my pain and submission. I might never erase what had gone before. But I could create new memories. A new pathway. With a mate who would cherish me.

“I want all of you.” The words were almost a growl, the wolf in me fully aware, wanting her needs met as surely as my own. “I want to claim you and have you claim me.”

He smiled, and it changed his face in the soft light. The first night, it had been forbidding, but over time, I’d seen the many faces of this man. The King. The friend. The ally. And now, my mate.

He made quick work of the rest of our clothes and when we were both finally bare, I thought I’d feel afraid, again. Vulnerable. But he held me close, soothing away any worries with gentle kisses. Refusing to go further until I was ready.

Until I was panting and begging him for more.

His teeth scraped over my lips, his mouth tasted me as he worked his way down my body. I cried out when he sucked one nipple into his mouth, laving the hard bud with his tongue, then switched to the other. He lingered over the swell of my stomach, lavishing kisses over my skin, nipping as he moved. There was nothing for me to do in that moment but relax and enjoy. I felt safe, valued, worshiped even. And my wolf told me that was exactly as it should be.

When he continued on, lower, I wasn’t sure what he meant to do, until he ran his tongue through my heat, lingering over the center, sucking that sensitive spot into his mouth, and a sound I didn’t recognize broke free from me. Keening, crying, but all I could say was, “Yes. Please.” And he gave me everything I asked for. I lost myself in the dizzying sensations of his mouth on me, his fingers sliding inside me when I begged for it, and the pleasure broke me apart when he sank his fangs into the artery at the top of my thigh. Drinking me down as I came apart because of him.

He settled down above me, his thick, hard length impossible to ignore. But he didn’t press forward. He didn’t rush. Instead, it was kisses he gave me. The taste of my own body fresh on his lips, the way he smiled and then rested his forehead against mine so we could catch our breath; it was all so different than I’d known before.

Intimate.

But it wasn’t over. And I needed to feel all of him, to know what it would be like to be fully joined with him. Something he wouldn’t do unless I told him it was what I wanted. The bond between us allowed me a sense of what he was feeling, and I knew he was holding back for me. Giving me the chance to change my mind, to say stop and see he would obey.

My wolf snarled in my head as fear hovered, threatening to interrupt the connection between us. I cradled his face with my hands until his eyes met mine. Drinking in the sight of him, his mouth wet because of me, and whispered, “Give me all of you.”