Chapter 5
Sebastian
I couldn’t help eyeing Gus as he ate. The alpha clearly wasn’t used to the number of forks that I was. He seemed to struggle with the grip on the smaller ones, too, since his hands were simply too big to use them properly.
“Use the biggest one,” I suggested. “You pick the one you feel is best for you.” It was a lie, of course, but he didn’t need to learn proper manners. No, Gus was here for one thing only, and manners definitely wouldn’t be at play there.
“Oh,” he whispered softly, a light pink coating his cheeks, before taking the biggest fork in hand.
It was still too small for him, but at least he could use that one.
I gulped as I took in his paw-like hand wrapped around the delicate silver fork.
My mind instantly went to all sorts of places that weren’t appropriate during dinner.
What else was big on this peculiar alpha, who was nothing like the alphas my grandfather had warned me against?
How would his big hand feel when wrapped around my—No! I needed to stop. We needed to talk!
Gus hummed around a mouthful of meat, then licked his lips.
“Better?” I smiled knowingly. This alpha was amusing me in the best way. There was just something so innocent and different about him. Endearing almost.
“Much, Your Majesty.”
We continued to eat in silence; the only sounds in the room were our plates slowly emptying and the occasional servant who came to remove empty platters and put new dishes on the table.
“Try the carrots,” I urged, pointing to the newest platter of honey-glazed carrots.
They were cooked in the oven with lemon juice and some thyme and were delicious.
It seemed the cooks were having fun with this particular dinner.
The small additions they’d made were more colorful than usual, and way more honey-oriented.
Gus filled his plate with a generous amount of the sweet carrots, and I felt warmth spread through my chest at the gesture.
Either he trusted my judgement enough to know he would like the dish, or he was willing to please me by adding so much of it to his plate.
Whatever the reason, it was heartwarming.
With my own stomach sated and full, I focused all my attention on Gus, on the way he carefully stabbed a carrot onto his fork, then inspected it with a curious frown before tasting it. I shifted in my seat, and a shiver moved through my body as I watched his lips close around the end of the carrot.
A loud moan escaped Gus, and I felt the telltale sign of my slick starting to spread.
I was in so much trouble here. My alpha guards would soon be able to smell my arousal, and if I knew what was best for me, I would need them gone before their instincts took over, and I wound up being claimed right here by five horny alphas.
Not that things like that really happened, but my advisors enjoyed reminding me that it theoretically could happen, so why tempt fate?
More slick started leaking from my hole, and I cursed myself for my wandering thoughts.
Clearing my throat, I ordered, “Guards. Please leave us be. Let the servants know we are not to be disturbed.”
Wordlessly, the guards bowed and left the room.
As the door closed behind them, I felt instantly more at ease.
I was safe. The thought pierced through me as my gaze shot to the still-eating alpha sitting at the table.
Did I feel safe with Gus? Strangely enough, I did.
I felt an odd connection to this alpha, like I’d met him before, or that a bond was already forming between us.
Why I felt so differently about him, I’d yet to figure out.
Maybe it was because he would be breeding me soon?
Or perhaps it was the fact that he seemed so genuine with me now that he was starting to let his guard down?
“Is everything all right? Your Majesty?” Gus’ voice held a hint of concern as he looked at me.
I’d been caught staring at him; how embarrassing. I cleared my throat. “I am, yes.” That seemed to please him as he smiled crookedly, then continued eating the carrots, making happy sounds between bites. I dared say it was adorable.
I was itching to know more about him, but I also didn’t want to upset him by asking too-personal questions. I knew this Hal person, who he was fond of, couldn’t be brought up; that would simply add to his earlier distress, so instead I focused on his work.
“What is it that you do for work?” I knew him to be a farmer, like most alphas were in the countryside, but what he did exactly was never explained to me. I doubted my advisors even cared about that when they’d picked him.
Gus placed his fork carefully on the table before he met my gaze full on. “I work in the fields, Your Majesty. Tending to crops, sowing seeds, and harvesting.”
“You certainly look like you reap what you sow,” I teased, drinking in his strong build, then froze and eyed the almost empty glass of wine in my hand. Just how strong was this particular wine? I never teased. Or outright flirted. There had simply never been a need for it.
Then, the most beautiful sound reached my ears. Like a siren song made just for me, all velvety and deep.
Gus was laughing.
I forgot everything as I watched this strong alpha turn into the most beautiful being alive.
I was mesmerized, pulled into his orbit without a thought.
Without any resistance. I wanted to see that smile again and again, how his face transformed, the features softening, when the smile reached his eyes, and he lit up from the inside.
I wanted to memorize how he looked right now forever—a wayward lock of blond hair teasing his eyebrows, two dimples appearing in his cheeks, digging into the skin like little valleys, his lips so pink and full.
Before our dinner, I’d planned on eating with Gus and then telling him there’d been a mistake and he was not to be my royal breeder after all, but now?
Well, right now I wanted to jump him and let him eat those damn carrots off my naked skin.
Maybe even add some fresh honey, knowing he would lick every drop of it off my body like an eager puppy.
He would make sure I was cleaned to perfection by the time he was finished with me.
As quickly as it had started, Gus’ laughter stopped as he sniffed the air, then his head snapped up, his gaze dark and penetrating. His upper lip curled with what I clearly recognized as desire.
Fuck, my slick! I had definitely soaked through my pants during that honey fantasy of mine, and my distinct omega scent hung heavily in the air around us.
“I apologize,” I said, clearing my throat. “I’m very close to my heat.”
“I can tell,” he rasped, his gaze locked on mine with clear hunger.
“Wine!” I blurted, hurrying to fill his glass before adding more to my own. “We should celebrate!”
The fact that I hadn’t actually asked Gus if he wanted to breed me was forgotten as we both took a healthy sip of our wine.
His clear want for me and the way my body reacted to him was answer enough, and I decided to wait until tomorrow, when I was in better control of myself, before I asked for his full consent.
Then he wouldn’t be drunk on wine. And me.
Two hours later, Gus and I somehow found ourselves sitting under the table, giggling like we were kids hiding away from the world, a bottle of wine between us that we’d shared, drinking straight from it as we passed it back and forth.
I couldn’t remember when I’d last had this much fun.
Gus barely fit underneath the table, and he kept bumping his head against it whenever he moved and gestured with his hands.
“I just really wanted honey,” Gus whined, tears trickling down his sun-kissed cheeks, as I laughed even harder.
His tale of the honey-seeking quest, where he’d gotten stung because he’d failed to realize they weren’t bees but wasps, was highly entertaining.
“How could I know they wouldn’t have my honey?
They were… what’s the word?” he slurred, blinking at me, his eyes swimming with intoxication.
“Imposter bees?” I snorted.
Gus frowned at me, digging his teeth into that ridiculous plump bottom lip of his.
“You don’t know what that means, do you?” I spoke softly, my fingers itching to brush that stray lock of hair out of his eyes.
His blush deepened. “Sorry. There’s a lot I don’t know.”
“It’s okay. It’s just when things appear to be something other than what they really are.” Like this strange alpha, who was nothing like I’d expected.
Gus nodded, then whispered, “Like you, Your Majesty?” and my heart nearly imploded then and there.
“Perhaps,” I said, then shook myself before I jumped him and attached myself to his lips like a suckerfish. Smiling, I bumped his shoulder. “We can get you all the honey you want,” I promised, before my brain once again went all rogue on me.
“Royal honey,” he reminded me, throwing us both back into a laughing fit.
Three loud knocks on the door had our laughter dying down like water to flames.
“Your Majesty?!” Clive’s concerned voice filled the room before two of my advisors peered under the table and eyed Gus and me with confusion and a tad of annoyance.
“What on earth are you doing under the table, Your Majesty?” Jerold scolded.
“We were celebrating!” I snapped, angry that my happy moment with Gus was ruined. The sweet escape was now over, since I knew they wouldn’t leave us be after seeing us together under the table.
“Gus,” Jerold began, his tone neutral as he gestured for the alpha to get out. “I will ask one of the guards to escort you to your room. You can see His Majesty in the morning.”
Gus gave me one last lingering look, then crawled out from under the table, and before I could even tell him goodnight, he was escorted out of the dining room.
“Your Majesty?” Clive asked, still eyeing me where I sat stubbornly under the table, my arms crossed in front of my chest.
Couldn’t he tell I wasn’t ready to come out?
He sighed. “Come out, Your Majesty. Your bed awaits.”
An empty bed. Right.
My head was throbbing as I sat up in my bed, morning light filtering through the curtains, reminding me that I’d been too drunk last night to close them properly.
Yesterday was perfect. Gus was… different.
My body warmed just thinking about us laughing under the table together like long-lost friends.
I’d even told him stories of my childhood, something I wouldn’t even have dared to do with another alpha.
The intimacy between us had felt so effortless that I’d forgotten to keep my guard up.
Could we maybe remain friends after this? I guess we could if I were secretive enough. My advisors wouldn’t take kindly to it if they found out, and maybe they’d even ship him overseas, as they’d done with my alpha father.
No, it was better to shake those thoughts away. Gus was just my breeder, nothing else. We couldn’t trust alphas. They were dangerous.
So why was Gus different? How come I felt this instinctual need to let my guard down around him when it only rarely came down? I couldn’t explain it.
“Good morning!” Elias sang as he barged into my room. “I’ve got gossip!”
I groaned, rubbing at my face.
“No, none of that! It’s good, I promise!”
Then, my bed dipped under Elias’ weight as he settled comfortably next to me.
“Fine, tell me, but keep it down, will you? I feel like my brain is trying to escape my skull.”
He snorted. “Yeah, yeah. So, get this!” His excited tone was too much for me, but I loved him, so I ignored the urge to kick him out of my bed. “Yesterday, right? The servants were getting a certain alpha ready for you.”
“Hmm.”
“And they got to see the goods, if you know what I mean?”
My head snapped up to see Elias waggling his brows suggestively.
“They saw Gus naked?!” I gasped in outrage.
“They did!” Elias cackled, unaware of the possessive anger bubbling up inside of me. “And they’ve told every omega in the palace just how lucky you are!”
I couldn’t speak. They’d seen Gus when I had yet to take a look for myself.
And why did it bother me so much? Gus wasn’t mine; that was absurd.
Omegas didn’t keep alphas. Alphas were only for breeding, heats, and security here.
But the anger wouldn’t dissipate. It seemed logic was lost to me as I pictured those servants seeing something that wasn’t for their eyes. Only mine.
“Let the palace know that I am the only one allowed to see Alpha Gus naked from now on. If someone fails to adhere to my demands, they’ll find themselves out of a job immediately.”
I stood, ready to take a bath and erase the thought of Gus’ manhood on display.
I left Elias gaping in shock as I closed my bathroom door.
I eyed my red eyes in the mirror, knowing only a miracle could help with my appearance today.
I trusted Elias to alert the servants of my new demands, so I could spend a little more time getting myself presentable this morning.
Even if all I truly wanted was my bed and a certain alpha to snuggle with.
Shit. I blinked at the thought, then scoffed at myself. This heat better come soon. I feared I was starting to lose it.