Chapter 10 #2
The last words were a whisper, and they shattered something in his soul.
Because she’d tried to tell him. Tried to tell him all of this, and he was so concerned with keeping her safe from him, he’d missed being what she actually needed him to be.
He hadn’t meant to, but the lessons ingrained in him his entire life had taken over, doing exactly what she’d accused him of.
Relegating her to a place of doing what she was told, only he’d convinced himself it was to keep her safe.
Her hand slipped lower again, and he almost let her go. Almost let this new bold side of her slip that hand into his pants and pull him out, but he halted her movements where he still gripped her hips. More tears slipped free, but these were angry tears of frustration.
“You said you wouldn’t stop me,” she said, the words threaded with defeat and exasperation.
“I’m not stopping you, kitten,” he said, gently moving her off him and scooping her up. “I’m controlling the pacing.”
“What?” she asked, the irritation morphing into confusion as he deposited her properly onto the bed.
But he didn’t answer. He slowly slid his shirt over her body, letting his fingers scrape and drag lightly along her sensitive skin.
Watched her chest hitch with a stalled breath at the touch.
Felt his own mouth go dry at having her bare skin waiting for him.
Taunting him. Testing every bit of his self-control not to taste her blood, although that desire was there.
If he hadn’t drunk an entire bottle of blood this evening, there was no way he’d be letting himself do this, but she was right.
She deserved more than being protected behind closed doors and glass windows.
She deserved to be worshipped.
He said nothing when he pushed his pants down over his hips, kicking them off.
Then he crawled in beside her, gently rolling her to her side.
She went willingly, this sudden give and take between them more intoxicating than anything.
Anticipation of when she’d take control again lingered just beneath the surface, and he loved it.
He loved her, and damn him to the Pits of Torment for ever letting her doubt that.
Lifting one of her legs and spreading her perfectly for him, he nestled in behind her. Her head fell back against his shoulder, a soft moan falling from her lips as she pressed back against his cock.
“This isn’t going to slow down anything,” she rasped.
“No?” he teased, pressing a kiss just below her ear.
She shook her head, grinding back against him again. “Nothing will slow it down. I’m too close. I’ve been…”
“I know, kitten,” he whispered, running his nose along her jaw and down her neck. Breathing her in.
Then he let his fangs scrape the barest amount along her throat, and she froze.
“Axel…”
“I won’t,” he rasped, doing it again. “I won’t unless you let me. And not until I’m sure I can control it.”
She was silent long after he pulled back, running his fingertips down her bare arms, back up, along the side of her full breast. Feeling the gooseflesh he left in the wake of his touch.
“After the babe comes,” she finally breathed.
“Gods, you’re fucking perfect,” he murmured, gently kneading her breast in his palm, pulling another moan from her that went straight to his cock. “Are you throbbing yet?”
“Wh-what?” she gasped as he plucked at her nipple.
“I can feel how wet you are,” he said, rocking his hips against her ass. “But if you’re not throbbing here,” he continued, sliding his hand down her stomach and brushing his thumb along her clit, “I have some work to do.”
“Please, no,” she whined. “Just fuck me.”
“Such filthy words, kitten,” he chided, and she let out an honest-to-the-gods growl. “I’m not going to just fuck you, Katya,” he said, turning serious and pressing a kiss to the juncture between her neck and shoulder. “You said you needed me to prove myself to you—”
“I didn’t mean…” she panted, her words trailing off as he brushed along her clit again before dragging his hand back up over her stomach and between her heavy breasts.
“You did, and you’re right,” he said. “So no, I’m not just going to fuck you, Katya.
I’m going to worship you. I’m going to feel you, and you’re going to know that I am yours and you are mine.
In this life and the next.” His hips rolled again, his tip nudging at her center but never entering, and her already short breaths quickened even more.
“So tell me, kitten. Tell me how to love you.”
“I… Axel.”
His name was a whine as he gently cupped her breast, and her hand flew up to clutch at the back of his neck.
“Yes, kitten?” he said, smiling against her neck as he rolled a nipple between his fingers.
She arched against him. “You love me when you truly see me,” she gasped out. “When I’m not just something to protect. When I’m not just a Fae—”
“You were never just a Fae, Katya,” he said sternly.
“You make me believe that,” she said, panting now and her fingers flexing on his nape. “I need you to trust me to know when I need to be protected.”
“I do, kitten. I don’t trust myself.”
“But I trust you, Axel,” she said, arching again when he turned his attention to her other nipple. “You love me when you let me help you and don’t insist on doing things alone. You love me when you see me,” she said again.
He paused his ministrations, and she turned her head, letting him capture her lips. She was the one who demanded entrance with her tongue, and he gladly let her, growing impossibly harder with every swipe against the heat of her mouth.
“I hear you, Katya,” he said when they were both gasping for breath. “I see you.”
Her head fell back against his shoulder again. “You love me when you give me what I need,” she said between panted breaths. “And right now, I need you.”
He didn’t bother saying anything as he slipped inside her. He was done prolonging this as much as she was over it.
“Yes,” she moaned at the same time he hissed, “Fuck.”
It was the first time he’d been inside her since before he’d handed her over to Tristyn.
Months.
It’d been months of being terrified to properly love what was his.
Never again would someone take something from him that wasn’t his choice to give.
Never again would he be at the mercy of someone else.
Not his father. Not Bree. The only one he’d go to his knees for was the female currently taking her pleasure from him, and for her, he’d give away his soul.
He thrust in again, and she hadn’t been lying. She was already there, teetering on an edge.
“More,” she whined, arching into him and guiding his hand back to her breast. “Touch me, Axel. Everywhere.”
No problem there.
His hands roamed, cupping breasts, sliding over hips, brushing along the crease of her thigh. Within minutes she was clenching around him, forcing him to follow her into the depths of ecstasy. She muffled her cry into a pillow while blinding pleasure ripped through him.
He waited a bit for them both to come down before he helped her clean up, and when they were back in bed, his naked body curled around hers, he dropped a kiss to the top of her head. Her breathing had already shifted, and he could swear she was asleep before her head had even hit the pillow.
He skimmed his hand over her belly, holding his palm flat. He could hear the babe’s heartbeat, the rhythm strong and steady.
And then there was the smallest of flutters beneath his hand.
“Kat?” he whispered.
“I know,” she murmured, clearly not as asleep as he’d thought she was. “You could have felt him a while ago.”
“You didn’t say anything.”
“I tried,” she said around a yawn, pressing back into him. “You were too…consumed. You wouldn’t talk to me.”
“Never again. I promise.”
She hummed, pressing even farther back into him as she slipped into a truly deep sleep. He meant those words. Meant that promise.
And as he slipped into dreams of his own, he made another promise. This one to his unborn son.
He promised him he would see the stars.
He kept his head held high as the doors of the make-shift throne room thudded shut behind them.
Katya’s hand was clasped in his where she was to his left, while Theon stood to his right.
But while Theon was dressed in his usual suit and tie, Axel had opted for something a touch more casual.
He’d ditched the suit coat and tie, wearing only black pants with a black button-down, leaving the top two buttons undone.
Something to show he wasn’t here as a Legacy to lord over them, but that he was still someone to reckon with. And the female at his side?
Gods, Katya was stunning in a black dress that hugged her figure and accented her belly, eliminating any possible doubt.
Long sleeves and a high neckline that reached to her chin may have hidden flesh, but the deep slits of the sides that went to the tops of her thighs made up for it.
Her flat sandals were gold with various colored gems along them, and the band on her finger shimmered in the low lighting of the room.
She’d piled her ebony curls atop her head, a few of them framing her face, and if anything, he wanted this meeting over with so he could take her home and have a repeat of last night.
None of them faltered as they strode to the front of the room, stopping before the chairs that were clearly meant to portray thrones. They stopped as one, none of them even so much as dipping their chins as they met the stares of the Alpha and Beta.
The Beta was the first to speak, her chin propped in her manicured hand. A nail filed to a sharp point tapped her chin as she said, “I don’t know if you are aware of this, Theon, but this is your brother. Not our missing Shifter prince.”
Without missing a beat, Theon said in a tone that betrayed nothing, “It appears I didn’t need your assistance after all. I always find a way to get what I want, Giselle.”