Chapter Ten
K issing an alpha for the first time in years was an almost electrifying experience.
Before I started taking suppressants when I was twenty-two I had gone through only a few spotty heat cycles since awakening as an omega.
My memory of those times were a blurry memory of soft-spoken alphas that soothed the dull burn inside of me and made sure that every inch of me was calmed so that the heat wouldn’t last longer than it needed to.
But this? This did little to cool the anticipatory inferno that had been building slowly in between my thighs ever since I’d stepped into my nest.
Arthur’s mouth was all-consuming, his beard tickling my face as his fingers slid from my cheeks to cup my jaw and tilt my face upwards for better access.
Never before had I kissed someone who felt as hungry as I was. It was almost enough to help me forget about the fact that we’d just gotten married on the fly.
Almost. There were so many questions I still had and I needed to find Merlin in order to ask them and they were still in the back of my mind as Arthur’s tongue slid deliciously against mine.
Was it possible for me to change a future that seemed so set in stone? Was I making a mistake letting myself fall head first into what could only end in sadness?
My instincts were telling me that it was. That maybe, if I stayed around long enough, I could avoid the deaths of Arthur and the strange men who were supposed to be a part of his pack.
But I couldn’t even ask Merlin his thoughts because the damned wizard was avoiding me.
“Little queen,” Arthur’s voice surprised me. I hadn’t even realized he had pulled away from our kiss until he spoke. “You should not get distracted.”
He reached up and knocked his fist gently against my forehead. “I want to be the only thought in this pretty head until morning.”
“Until morning?” I squeaked, gawking at the alpha who smiled for the first time since we’d come into these chambers.
“You do not think I would be so callous as to only bring my new wife to the greatest pleasure she could ever experience just once did you?”
My face flushed hot at his words.
“That’s one way to overblow your expertise, my king,” I couldn’t help but tease.
Arthur’s blue eyes darkened with a mixture of mirth and desire. “May I enter your nest, omega?”
“I’m surprised you know the words,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper as I slipped back out of his hands and let myself fall back onto the cushioned material.
Arthur blinked, clearly also surprised. “Truthfully, my mind just seemed to supply them for me.”
Instincts , I thought with an inward scoff. I guess they haven’t changed much over the centuries .
I could still remember sitting in the required classes that omegas were required to take and being taught the song and dance that we were all supposed to know by heart.
‘Never let an alpha into your bed unless they ask properly, omegas,’ the old battle axe of an omega teacher had told us as she showed us different versions of the words that had existed for as long as the evolutionary designations had existed. ‘If an alpha can’t get down on their knees for you then they have no business courting an omega.’
I hadn’t taken her words to heart at the time because I had already decided that there would be no way I would ever make a nest for an alpha. My plans to be independent like my mom were already underway regardless of my designation.
And up until tonight I had kept my word.
The handful of times I used the heat centers I never made a nest and instead forced myself to block it all out as the unfortunate byproduct of my shitty luck. Once I was prescribed suppressants by the only doctor in the state of Washington that was willing I never looked back, ignoring his advice to wean myself off once a year.
But now, after whatever Merlin had done to me when I fell through time, all of those long pushed down instincts had come roaring back to the surface as soon as Arthur with his damned delicious scent and even more delicious voice had reaffirmed that I was his wife and not just in name only. It was the real deal.
Before, my hands had moved automatically to arrange the luxurious furs that had been left behind by one of the maids and before I knew it I was giving into my baser desires as if the half-a-decade of denying them completely hadn’t existed at all.
Arthur moved to get into the nest but my bare foot shot up and pressed into his chest, stopping him.
The alpha frowned, his golden-red beard twitching as his blue eyes slid along my bare leg that had been revealed by the motion. “Omega?”
“Ask again,” I told him, my foot still on his chest.
A warm, callused hand wrapped around my ankle, rubbing small circles into the hollow just underneath the bone there. “May I enter your nest, omega?”
This was it. My last chance to stop him and tell him no.
It was completely crazy to do this—to accept being his wife and to accept that there was very probably a future where he died.
And yet here I was about to do it anyway. Something about Arthur’s scent screamed to me that all was well—like it had always been meant to be this way. No alpha from my time had ever smelled like him. Their scents had all been slightly acrid, like they were milk that had just curdled and gone bad.
I always chalked it up to the suppressants doing their job and pushing down those omega instincts that had been an annoyance and blockade to my goals.
But now as my foot slid down the embroidered surface of Arthur’s tunic, I couldn’t help but draw in a large inhale of it.
“You may enter, alpha,” I finally surrendered, my voice sounding nothing like it usually did. It was more breathy and rolling, almost like the purr of a cat. I had never purred for anyone before and it surprised me almost as much as it seemed to surprise the alpha hovering at the edge of my nest.
Arthur’s expression seemed to smolder as the permission echoed in between us.
My decision had been made.
Ironically, I wasn’t sure what the future held. There had never been any mention of the Guinevere from the legends being anything other than a cherished princess.
They definitely hadn’t mentioned that she was a depressed theater kid from the future who was still trying to grieve the loss of her mother.
If I was so different, maybe I could change things, starting with tonight.
Arthur reached up and yanked at the neckline of the tunic he was wearing and drew it over his head. It fell to the floor with a dull thud as he began to systematically work on the flowing white shirt that he was wearing underneath.
In the dim candlelight, I could see each plane of his broad, scarred chest and the smattering of red-gold hair that trailed down into the dark breeches he still wore. But hair wasn’t the only thing on Arthur’s chest. There were also what looked to be hundreds of scars from different wounds reminding me that the man in front of me wasn’t just an alpha but also a warrior who had seen his fair share of battles.
Then I watched as his hands moved to the ties on the front of the breeches he was wearing, tugging at the knots until they loosened and the trail of hair thickened again as the waistband started to sink down his hips.
Only then did he step into my nest, pressing one knee into the thick furs, his gaze moving to me and the dress I was still wearing.
I was suddenly glad that fate had seen fit to send me back to a time before corsets and the complicated dresses of later on in history because I was eager to undress for the man in front of me and I was pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to do it in any sort of elegant way if I was stuck in a laced up whalebone corset.
Instead, the pale dress that the maids had dressed me in this morning was held together by soft ribbons that were the same colors as the pearls and lilies still woven in my hair.
Rough fingers tugged at the line of ties that were on either side of my waist before he moved on to the ones that held the dress up on my shoulders. Once those were untied, the dress was easy enough to pull down, exposing the thin white tunic underneath.
Just like the night he’d seen me in my nightgown, I followed Arthur’s eyes as they skimmed the shadow of my breasts.
Before he’d looked away because it was inappropriate, but now I was his wife and he could look his fill.
“Aren’t you going to finish?” I asked after an extended pause, gesturing to the outer part of the dress which was still pooled around my waist. “Or should I do it myself?”
Arthur’s growl vibrated through his hands as he gripped the dress on either side and the sound of ripping filled the room as he tore through the material as easily as if it were paper.
“The maids will be sad about all of their work being shredded,” I told him, but my lips pulled up into a self-satisfied smile as I ran a finger along the chemise I still wore. “You missed one.”
The chemise was pulled from my body in a flash, so quickly that I barely felt the material being slid out from under me, leaving me completely naked on top of the furs I’d so meticulously arranged.
It was done with such finesse that the image of a magician pulling a tablecloth out from underneath a table full of dishes rose unprompted into my mind and I couldn’t help the laugh that tumbled out of my mouth.
Arthur’s brows drew together. “Is something funny, little queen?”
I shook my head, knowing there was no way I would ever be able to describe what had made me laugh to the alpha in front of me. “It’s nothing.”
I watched his expression shift as his lips pulled down into a frown at being left out of the joke.
It made me want to laugh again but I held myself back this time. “I didn’t know that King Arthur, the king of kings and alpha of alphas was capable of pouting.”
“This is not a pout,” Arthur growled and I saw the tanned skin of his face flush darker. “I do not pout.”
With that, he gently pulled me up from where I reclined back on the furs and pressed his mouth to mine again with more force than before.
His skin was hot against mine as I molded myself to his chest, all of my earlier shyness and worries forgotten completely as I finally gave into the instincts that had been trying to force their way to the forefront of my mind ever since Arthur started taking off his clothes.
Fine , the last rational part of me finally said, raising its metaphorical hands in surrender as reason snapped and I was lifting my hands up to cup the sides of Arthur’s neck as his tongue slipped hungrily into my mouth. I writhed against him, seeking more of the delicious friction from the slide of his skin against mine.
One of his large hands pressed into the curve of my back, holding me closer than I ever thought possible as I finally let myself blindly explore each ridge and plane of whatever I could reach.
The muscles in Arthur’s back rippled under my fingertips as I was softly dropped back down into the nest, my eyes flying open in time to see Arthur nudge my thighs apart to peruse the part of me that hadn’t been seen by an alpha’s eyes in years.
I watched his expression for any hint of displeasure about my body, a sudden stray hint of self-consciousness threading its way through me, but all I saw was desire as he lifted a hand and ran it through his carefully coiffed hair.
Then surprise filled me as he dropped his face in between my thighs.
“Wait!” I gasped as the tip of his nose pressed into my clit.
I didn’t know much about the historical sexual practices of men but I did know that I wasn’t used to any man just jumping right in.
The stiff swipe of his tongue made me suddenly glad for the ritual cleansing that the maids had woken me up with this morning which amounted to dunking me in a bucket of cold, blessed water.
I made a mental note to make regular bathing the first priority of everyone in Camelot as I let out a gasp as the sensation of tingling pleasure nearly made my toes curl.
A sturdy finger prodded at the entrance of my pussy before slipping inside, eased by the suddenly overwhelming presence of my slick.
That was another thing I never had to worry about thanks to the suppressants, but now it seemed to be leaking from my body in droves as the alpha tested a second finger, his tongue continuing to lavish my clit as I gripped the furs tightly in my fists.
“You will be tight,” Arthur’s voice vibrated against me as he stretched both fingers. “So very tight.”
He leaned back and I nearly had to cover my face with embarrassment when I realized his lips were still shiny with slick. Never before had I thought about it so deeply when I was in the throes of my heat but now my sober mind watched with a mix of fascination and horror as he grinned at me and licked the moisture right off of his lips.
Seeing my embarrassment, Arthur huffed a laugh as he used his free hand to wipe his lips almost reverently.
“It will be covering far more than my face before we are done, little queen,” he told me, a note of teasing in his voice as he gently twisted his fingers inside of me until the butt of his palm rested against my clit, pressing down until he drew what could only be described as a mewl from my lips.
Arthur’s smile grew even wider and I had half a mind to clamp my thighs around his hand to stop him from moving completely, but the sensation was too good to pass up. Instead, I reached up and absentmindedly tweaked one of my stiff nipples.
Blue eyes burned into my skin, watching me with interest as I continued to touch myself.
“You are a brazen little omega,” Arthur said, his voice soft as the fingers inside of me stilled.
When I stopped my own touching, Arthur quickly shook his head and withdrew from my clenching entrance. “Continue on, my queen.”
I let out a surprise whimper when he replaced his fingers with the blunt head of his cock. It had been hidden by shadows before when I was looking at it but now I could feel pressure as it sought out entry and Arthur pulled one of my thighs around his waist.
“Guinevere,” Arthur chided as he paused the sudden onslaught. “I asked you to keep going.”
I blinked up at him in hazy confusion, then with a jolt I remembered his directive.
Giving my nipple a tentative pinch, I watched as Arthur’s furrowed brow smoothed and a pleased smile returned to his face as he continued to press inside of me.
He was large—even for an alpha—and I very nearly asked him to stop as he seated himself all the way up to his partially inflated knot.
My one request during all of the assisted heats had been no knotting. It felt too intimate at the time, but now as I felt the edges of Arthur’s knot pressing against me I wondered how it would feel.
Once, when I’d made the mistake of going out with Trini to the pubs after work she had gotten plastered and whispered in my ear that I was missing out by never letting an alpha knot me.
‘It’s like the universe opens and gives you a jolt of the yummiest electricity you could ask for,’ she’d said with a giggle as she held up her shot of vodka to me. ‘And don’t even get me started on having multiple at once.’
I’d barely been able to look in her alphas’ eyes later on that night when they came to pick her up. They all seemed like quiet tech engineers with their sweater vests and glasses, but with the way Trini described them, they were kinky sex aficionados behind the scenes.
Arthur’s mouth descended on mine almost desperately as his hips rolled, pushing the edges of the ring of flesh inside of me before withdrawing.
I slid my arms under his and pressed my fingertips into the hard muscles of his back as he slid slowly back in again, this time pulling out faster than he had before.
I needed him to move faster, to push me over the edge into the heavens as he’d said he would.
Why wasn’t he going faster than the slow, measured thrusts that were getting us nowhere?
Then it hit me.
He’s being careful, I realized with a jolt of surprise tenderness. Despite his seemingly brusque nature, the king and alpha above me was trying to be gentle out of compassion for me.
Digging my fingers a little harder into the planes of his back, I broke our kiss.
“Faster,” I urged, watching as his expression registered my words in a flash of shock.
“Are you certain?” he asked, his pace slowing even further.
My nails raked not-so-gently down his back, answering his question.
Arthur gritted his teeth and plunged forwards more roughly than before.
It felt damned good and I cried out louder than I meant to, my voice echoing off of the vaulted stone ceiling of the chamber as lips caressed the side of my neck, the whiskers of his beard scratching the sensitive skin there.
The sound of our skin slapping together increased in tandem with my moans and every time he pressed forward and buried himself deep inside of me my eyes were drawn to the large window and the now swirling stars outside.
I couldn’t be sure, but even as the haze of pleasure filled me, I was fairly certain that the movement of the stars wasn’t just thanks to the handsome alpha currently making me wonder why I hadn’t had sex more often.
Even the faded memories of my heats had never felt anything like this and it made me half-believe that maybe there was more merit to Merlin’s words about fated mates than I’d originally given the man credit for.
Arthur’s rough fingers dimpled the skin of my thighs and the pace picked up.
“Touch yourself again,” I vaguely felt him murmur into my lips, his words muffled. His tone of voice was soft, but there was a command in his voice that brokered no room for protest and the force behind it sent a pleasant shiver down my spine.
Without thinking about it further, I slid my hand in between our bodies and pressed my fingers to my clit.
The scent of sex and allspice surrounded me, filling my nose and making sure that I couldn’t think about anything other than the alpha above me. I felt his hips stutter forward, his knot slipping fully inside of me for the first time since we’d started and my eyes flashed open as I felt the overwhelming sensation of being overly full.
Nothing Trini had ever said could adequately describe what I was feeling now and it wasn’t even locked inside of me yet.
“Faster, little queen,” he urged through gritted teeth. “Or I am afraid I will lose myself first and utterly fail as a husband.”
His eyes, while squinted with concentration, were filled with humor as he gripped my hips and pulled the half-inflated knot back out with some difficulty.
My hand moved faster and it wasn’t long before I felt the first shocks of an orgasm. I sucked in a breath, chasing the sensation as Arthur uttered a curse against the skin of my neck and pushed his knot inside of me. Instinctually, I knew it was the last time before he was locked inside for good.
With one last small thrust, the knot seemed to double in size. It brushed against a part of me that I never knew existed—a sensitive place just inside of my pussy. It triggered the same sensation that the dance of my fingers were currently creating on the bundle of nerves at my clit.
It was electrifying and my body stiffened underneath Arthur as I felt him spill inside of me. Then he let out a growl that made the more animalistic side of my brain purr with satisfaction.
Amongst the warm, buzzing haze of my orgasm, I felt a sharp sensation on the side of my neck and then nothing.