Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Selene
“I should get back to work,” I say, pulling my hand away from Zane’s reach as we stand near the fountain in the palace gardens.
His jaw tightens, frustration flickering across his handsome features. “Work? Selene, we’ve barely had an hour together.”
“I know, but—” I clutch my satchel closer, manufacturing apologetic regret I don’t feel. “My schedule has changed. I have some daytime duties now, so I can only sneak away for short periods.”
“That’s ridiculous.” His voice sharpens before he catches himself, smoothing it back into concern. “Surely, as a royal healer, you have some flexibility?”
“Not as much as you’d think.” The lie tastes bitter, but I force a smile. “I’m lucky to get even this much time.”
“What about your friends?” Zane steps closer, his cologne overwhelming in the warm afternoon air. “You’re close with Queen Astra. Surely being Her Majesty’s childhood friend has some perks?”
Every muscle in my body goes rigid. My wolf stirs uneasily, warning bells clanging in my mind.
“I—” I start to say I rarely see Astra, the protective lie forming automatically.
But then I remember Lucian’s briefing, Seth’s warnings, the whole reason I’m standing here pretending.
I need to know what Zane wants. “I have lunch with Astra twice a week. The infirmary gives me those afternoons off.”
Interest sharpens his gaze. “Twice a week?”
“Yes.” I keep my voice light, casual, even as my heart hammers against my ribs. “It’s nice. We catch up, talk about—you know, normal things.”
“That’s wonderful.” His smile widens, but there’s something calculating behind it now. Something that makes my skin crawl. “The next time you have one of those lunches scheduled, you should tell me. We could meet up afterward.”
“Meet up?”
“Yes.” He reaches for my hand again, and I force myself not to flinch away. “We could meet somewhere near where you’ll be with the Queen. That way you won’t get in trouble for being late returning to your duties.”
My heart sinks into my stomach. There it is—the confirmation we’ve been waiting for. He wants access to Astra. He wants me to bring him closer to the Queen.
But I smile, letting my fingers go limp in his grasp. “That’s so thoughtful of you.”
“I just want to see you more.” His thumb strokes my knuckles, and my wolf recoils in disgust. “You’re so busy, and I miss you when we’re apart.”
The words should make me feel good. They sound sweet. But they are like poison coating my skin.
“I miss you, too,” I lie, the words catching in my throat.
Before I can react, Zane leans in to kiss me. I try to turn my head, to avoid his lips like I have every other time, but his hand catches my chin. His mouth presses against mine—chaste, brief, nothing like—
I shove the comparison away violently.
When he pulls back, I have to fight to keep my smile in place.
My wolf is snarling, clawing at my ribs, desperately trying to reject the foreign touch.
At least Astra’s masking scent is working; the particular musk that marks mated females is completely hidden beneath the concoction she created.
Without it, Zane would smell Seth all over me and know immediately that I’m bound to another.
“I’ll see you soon,” Zane murmurs, his fingers brushing my lower lip.
“Soon,” I echo, already backing away.
The moment I’m out of his sight, I break into a near-run toward my quarters. I need to wash his scent off my skin. Need to scrub away the feeling of his lips on mine. Need to—
I freeze mid-step.
Seth stands at the end of the corridor, leaning against the stone wall with his arms crossed. His green eyes lock onto mine, and even from this distance, I can see the fury blazing in them.
My breath catches. How long has he been there? Did he see—
I spin on my heel and head in the opposite direction. I’ll take the long way. I’ll—
Strong fingers wrap around my wrist, yanking me backward. I barely have time to gasp before Seth drags me around a corner and into a shadowed alcove next to a tapestry. His hand catches my jaw, tilting my face up so I have to look him in the eyes.
“You let him kiss you.” His voice is a furious whisper, rough with hunger and rage. “I warned you, Selene.”
My eyes widen. “Don’t you dare—”
His mouth crashes onto mine, swallowing the rest of my protest.
The kiss is nothing like Zane’s careful, calculated touch. This is fire and fury, possession and punishment. Seth’s tongue demands entry, and my traitorous lips part for him willingly. He tastes like anger and want and something uniquely him that makes my wolf sing with joy.
For three weeks, I’ve been avoiding him—pretending he doesn’t exist, running away every time I catch his scent. My wolf has been whimpering and pacing the entire time, missing what she shouldn’t have to miss.
And now, she’s drowning in satisfaction.
My hands grab Seth’s shirt, pulling him closer when I should be pushing him away. The mate bond roars to life between us, hot and insistent, making my skin burn everywhere we touch. His hand slides into my hair, gripping tight enough to sting, angling my head exactly where he wants it.
I should stop this. Should shove him away and run. But my body has other ideas.
I deepen the kiss, and his answering growl rumbles against my lips, a low, dangerous sound that vibrates through me. My hands slip lower, tugging, pulling. I don’t even know what I’m doing—only that I can’t stop. My mind is going hazy, every thought blurring into a single desperate need: more.
Seth breaks the kiss just long enough to murmur against my mouth, “We’re in the open. Anyone could see.”
“I don’t care,” I breathe, my lips chasing his, the words shocking me even as they spill out. I don’t care. I should, but my wolf is clawing at my insides, and all I want is his touch.
He curses under his breath, a vicious sound, and then his mouth finds mine again. One of his hands grasps me by the nape of my neck while the other slides lower, dragging across my waist, my hip, then pressing hard against the front of my pants.
My gasp is swallowed by his tongue as his fingers work the button and plunge beneath the waistband, pushing the fabric down just enough to claim what he wants. Heat scorches through me when his calloused hand finds my slick folds.
“You think you can run from me for weeks,” he growls against my lips, his words hot and obscene, “and then melt the second I touch you?” His fingers slide over my clit in slow, punishing circles that make my legs tremble.
A strangled cry comes out of me, but he swallows it with a bruising kiss, his tongue thrusting deep, forcing me to choke down my own moans.
Then his hand shifts lower, and two thick fingers push inside me in one relentless thrust. The stretch steals my breath, rough and perfect, filling me so completely that my walls clench tight around him. My body jerks, back arching into his chest as the air leaves me in a ragged gasp.
“Fuck,” he snarls against my mouth, feeling the way I’m clamping down on him. “So tight around my fingers. You should’ve known you couldn’t run from this.”
He pulls those fingers out almost all the way, then drives them back in, curling up hard until sparks explode behind my eyes. My nails dig into his shoulders as I feel helpless, every thrust causing a whimper that he devours with his mouth.
The thickness of his fingers stretches me open again and again, each pump harder, deeper, wetter. His palm rubs against my clit with every stroke, making me grind back on his hand without even realizing it.
“That’s it,” he whispers, filthy and relentless. “Ride my hand. Show me how bad you need it.”
My hips buck without my permission, chasing the friction, relishing the sharp curl of his knuckles as he fucks me harder. The wet slap of his fingers plunging in and out of me fills the alcove, drowned out only by the frantic press of our mouths.
“You’re dripping all over my hand,” he growls, rough and vicious. “Soaked through your fucking pants for me. Look at you—squirming, moaning, desperate for more.”
Every word sears into me, each thrust wringing me tighter, winding me higher. My wolf howls inside my head, clawing and thrashing for release, for him, for everything I’ve been denying.
The coil snaps violently. Pleasure rips through me in jagged, shattering waves, my entire body convulsing around his fingers as I come undone.
My cry bursts free against his mouth, smothered by his kiss, every sound swallowed as he drives me through it, fucking me with his hand until I’m shaking and weak.
Finally, he stops, slowly dragging his soaked fingers out of me. They glisten in the dim light as he holds them to my lips, eyes dark and merciless. “Clean them.”
Shame and hunger war inside me. But my mouth opens obediently, and my tongue curls around his fingers, tasting myself while his gaze devours me.
When he finally pulls them free, his hand shifts to my jaw, holding me captive to the fury and possession blazing in his eyes. His voice is low, dangerous, meant for me alone.
“Go to your room”—his thumb brushes over my swollen lip—“and wait for me like a good girl.”
These words trigger a violent shiver down my spine. My knees wobble, heat blooming fresh between my thighs, but I nod, trembling, unable to stop the pulse of desire that floods me all over again.
My legs feel unsteady as I stumble out of the alcove, the walls of the corridor blurring around me. Every step is a battle against the fog clouding my head, my body still recovering from what he just did to me. My thighs are slick, my lips swollen, my skin burning everywhere Seth touched me.
My human mind is screaming at me to think—think, damn it—but my wolf is howling, drunk on his scent, on his taste, on the way he filled me with just his fingers. We’re at war, the two halves of myself pulling in opposite directions.