Chapter 28
CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
Stephan
F uck, she comes a little, not much, but the act of me putting my mouth on her is enough. And I’m so fucking hard, I’m going to almost regret this.
Almost. But now her taste is in my mouth, on my tongue. And there’s no way I can fucking regret it.
I lick her, up to her clit. It’s not slick, but she’s so fucking sweet, so divine, I know if I’d done more than touch her as she came down from her heat, if I’d been allowed near her while she was in the throes, no one could have stopped me. Not one person. I’d have killed everyone just to get her taste.
And then I’d have spent a week rutting her, knotting her. I’d have done it, prolonged it as much as I could, and then repeated the act until neither of us could move.
I can barely keep my dick in my pants as it is, and she is beyond anything. This sacred gift belongs to me and only me, and if anyone, ever, tries to touch her, I’ll rip them apart limb from fucking limb.
Slowly, torturing us both, I lick her, dipping my tongue into the tight heat of her canal, and the tiny little throbs of her cunt on my tongue almost set me off.
She tastes the way I think violets should. Sweet and addictive, like honey. She’s summer. Spring.
She’s all the decadent things I’ve ever had, and she’s mine.
I suck on her clit, and she cries out. I want to just get her off with my tongue, and as she starts to writhe against me, pulling at me, shoving that fucking hot little pussy into my face, grinding it, I know she wants more, so I add my fingers.
I’m going to add eating her out for hours to my list of things to do to her after we’re officially mated. Just her naked and me buried between her legs, praising her, feeling her shudder and squirm and come on my tongue.
I push two fingers into her, curling them to stroke against that spongy knot of nerve endings in her, and she cries out.
Lifting my mouth, I look at her, thrusting in a slow, deliberate rhythm with my fingers. “Open your eyes, Princess.”
She does.
“Good girl, sweet girl.” I watch her as I dip down, licking her and lapping at her stiff little clit. “Mmm, fuck, Princess. You’re delicious.”
She whimpers like speech is out of her reach, and I return to my dessert because that’s what she is, sumptuous, special, something wonderfully sinful I could indulge in daily.
Her movements start to get frantic, her fingers tugging at my hair and her thighs squeezing at my head as I push her higher and higher.
She starts to stiffen and fight and then she comes, her pussy clenching my fingers, her juices so fucking delicious. I keep going, right until I get one more extra set of spasms from her, and she cries out.
Then my princess shudders and lies back, boneless. I slowly pull my fingers out, sucking them clean, and then lick her pussy one more time, all along her inner and outer lips, sucking on them until I’m sure I have all her juices. I lap her clit but she twists from me.
Grinning, I put her lace panties back in place, the ones I picked out yesterday. Violet is dreamy, her eyes dilated, slightly unfocused, but I help her up, putting her back together. Then I sit back and wait for my raging boner to go down. I’ll have to deal with the ache until I can get home to relieve it, but that’s fine. It’s something I sort of want. A reminder of this with every twinge of discomfort, every ache in my balls tonight.
I wipe my face with a hand towel.
She sits up, unsteady, and blinks, like a whole new world’s been opened to her. Like all this time, I was the key.
I lean forward.
“That, Princess Violet, is called eating you out.”
The battle-ax is in full commander mode. A dress today, a simple drape, no latest style for her, but it’s encrusted with jewels. All, I assume, are real.
“Something has changed.”
Violet, bless her, blushes bright red and twists her hands in front of her. I don’t need to read her mind to know what she’s thinking.
Us in the car. Pussy-licking.
“He didn’t… We didn’t…”
Sophine sighs. “This…” She waves a hand in the air like the room we’re in is the party. “This is just a normal event. But it’s one where I’ll be announcing the date of the mating ceremony.”
“Want to let us know when? Since we can’t do that our fucking selves apparently?” I snap.
“Stephan. You’re my sister’s son. I didn’t like your father and I never let him speak to me that way, and that goes for you too. So watch your tongue.”
“Glad the dead can defend themselves, here.”
It doesn’t matter that I share her sentiments of my fucking father. But she sided with him in the whole thing with Cecilia. So fuck them both.
“Even Penrith doesn’t have the guts.” She looks at Violet like she’s studying a hothouse flower for bugs. “I’m the Monarch and you are my Luxe. I get to decide.”
When Violet doesn’t reply, Sophine raises a brow and smiles. “There’s no point in waiting, in my opinion. You both were so eager to get into this situation that I think sooner is better.”
Is she punishing us for faking a relationship and manipulating things in our favor? I wouldn’t put it past her. The woman can carry a grudge.
It must run in the blood, because so can I.
“Out with it already.” I glare at her.
“This coming weekend.”
Violet’s panic spikes. It rolls off her in waves.
“Calm,” I say, using my Alpha voice. I touch her hand, and the Monarch’s eyes lock on the subtle connection. “Don’t you think that’s going to set tongues wagging?” I ask her.
“It’s more to pin you down now, Stephan,” she says, lifting her nose in the air. “You have seven days.”
Shit.
“It was a nice party, don’t you think?”
She looks at me, then leans on the balcony railing of the second floor. The door’s open and the balcony’s a good size. Little lights twinkle and the chatter and music from below drift up. There’s even a gentlemen’s room across the hall from this modern event hall Sophine chose for this evening’s event.
So fucking old-fashioned…
“We have seven days.” The princess pauses, looking out. Not at me.
I can still taste her. I’m thinking of asking her to move in with me, but when I’m about to say those words, she turns, looks up at me.
“Are you okay with that, Stephan? Do you need to do anything, see anyone? If you do, this week’s a good time. ”
“Do what, exactly? I dated. I won’t deny I have a past, but I wasn’t seeing anyone when I came here.”
She nods. “Your co-star… Rue told me about her.”
“That’s…complicated.” Violet’s too honest, so in case someone here asks her, I’ll keep it like that til I can explain. “But there’s nothing to worry about, nothing unfinished.”
“Okay. Well, this is your week.”
Someone comes in. I look over, mentally measuring the space between us.
Heath, and he glowers, gruff at his edges. “You two shouldn’t be here.”
“Neither should you, Gardener.”
Violet moves away. “There’s too much Alpha energy here. I’m going to find Mom and see about going home. Don’t kill each other.”
When she goes, I think about what she said. There’s Cecilia’s parents, if they’re still here on Sabine. Last time I saw them, they made it clear what was already in my head. My fault.
Which is why Violet’s never?—
“You told her?” Heath asks, leaning his hip on the balcony railing next to me. “About Cecilia?”
I sigh. “Yes and no.”
“And that means…?”
“I told her we were together, and that I lost her, but I didn’t say how.”
“She mentioned to me about you not being able to have kids.”
“I never said I wasn’t able,” I say. “I told her I couldn’t.”
“Ashford,” he growls. “They sound pretty damn similar to me. ”
“What the fuck do you want me to do? I’m not ready to remember that part of my life yet.”
“It’s not fair to Violet,” he says. “She wants kids. You know this. It’s not that you can’t have kids. It’s that you choose not to because of what happened years ago. It was tragic, yeah. But that doesn’t mean it’ll happen again.”
I cross my arms and peer out onto the street below where cars pass and couples stroll along the sidewalks. “It’s better not to risk it.”
“Stephan—” He rests his hand on my shoulder, but I jerk away, anger biting.
Why doesn’t anyone understand? The pain, the absolute torment I went through when I lost them…
But then, like usual, the rage deflates into a heavy, heavy sorrow.
How could they understand? There’s no way to put that kind of loss into words.
I don’t know what this is, what I feel inside for Violet, but it’s big and there and fierce. I could spend forever trying to satiate myself on her sweetness. I’d kill for her. Maybe that’s enough, so I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment and draw in a deep breath. “I-I won’t lose her too.”
When his hand returns to my shoulder, I let it stay.
“Gardener,” I begin after a beat or two, “I have some stuff I need to do before the ceremony. Do you think you could come tag along? We can make it like old times.”
“Without the girls?”
“For me, yeah, but you’re still available.”
His brotherly touch turns into a fist, which he hits me on the arm with. “Not interested.”
“Okay, not like old times then. ”
“What did you have in mind?” he asks.
“I don’t know. I figure we’d say fuck it to the traditional bachelor party bullshit. Maybe take some days, go somewhere, away from here.”
He shakes his head. “I’m not going anywhere. I can’t. There’s a lot to do. I don’t shop for fucking dresses, but Violet?—”
“I’ll pay. Or I will through Pen or Clea,” I say. “As for arrangements, something tells me the Monarch will deal with that. She seems very fucking invested in this for some reason. But I like to think we’re both overdue for a vacation.”
“I don’t know.”
“It’ll only be for a day or so. Three tops.”
“Three’s pushing it.”
I smirk. “So is that a yes?”
“Fuck no.”
My lips split into a full-on grin. “I’ll take that as a yes.”