CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
STERLING
The prince was an ass.
Sterling was no longer locked in her guest room since she and the Prince of Carnage were meant to unite the court. Or so the king had said.
The night before, she hadn’t argued when King Valco had caught her off guard, nor had she fought against the request. If she and Winter were mated, then that could give her some sort of leverage, and she could free her brother on her own.
Otherwise, Winter would continue to do what he’d been doing—toying with her, keeping her brother locked up so she’d be at his will.
Becoming a princess didn’t mean Winter and his father wouldn’t control her.
She would be nothing but a puppet, a front, but perhaps the court could be united.
That was something Cyan had always wanted.
Something her mother would’ve wanted. Her grandmother, on the other hand, she believed would’ve hated her for it.
Even though Sterling was a guest in the king’s castle, that didn’t give her free reign. The few times she’d left the room that day, Lijah trailed her. Red Riding Hood wouldn’t easily be forgotten, regardless that she had no weapon.
Sterling sat alone at the massive ornate dinner table eating a bowl of steaming shrimp bisque. A small bit spilled on the simple dress she’d been given that morning, and she dabbed at the fabric with a napkin when the voices of two guards passed down the hallway.
“Make certain the servants retrieve the most lavish fur and silk blankets,” Caston said. “This is a royal mating. It doesn’t matter that it’s with a human—she’s to be our princess.”
“Of course. How many chairs are needed for the guests to watch?” a female asked.
Sterling choked on her soup and spit some into her bowl as a rack of coughs barreled through her. A brunette servant rushed over and patted her back to save the future princess from dying. One who would have to fuck in front of guests, watching her from chairs like a carnival performance.
She held up a hand to stop the servant from whacking her. And, once Sterling found air, her breathing steady, she turned to the servant with wide eyes. “There will only be people watching the prince and me tomorrow night for the ceremony portion, correct? Not the … mating?”
“All of it.” the servant said with a smile. “You attended a mating ceremony last night, so you should know what to expect.”
“But I thought it was different for a royal!”
“It is. This one will be more lavish, with more guests. Everything is formal.”
It didn’t matter if the blankets were the silkiest of silks, Sterling would not fuck in front of an entire audience.
She wasn’t a prude by any means, and she didn’t have an issue with changing her clothing in front of wolves at the dress shop, or watching a mating ceremony, but this was different.
While she’d been naked in the prince’s lap, kissed him, they hadn’t even gotten one another off.
It was clear the pair from the prior night had fucked time and time again before their ceremony.
“Will you take me to the prince’s room when he returns?
I need to speak with him.” Sterling’s chest tightened.
She hadn’t thought much of marriage over the years—she’d been too busy taking care of Cyan, avenging her grandmother’s death, running a meat shop, and fucking her closest friend to ever consider anything seriously.
“Certainly.” The servant lifted Sterling’s empty glass. “Do you need anything else?”
“No, I think I’ll return to my bedchamber.
” Sterling stood from her seat and returned to her room where she spent the day pacing its short length, her boots thumping against the wood.
If she had a bow and arrow in her clutches she could ease her tension out in the forest hunting.
Once she was wed, would the king and prince trust her enough to allow her weapons?
Sterling didn’t know how much time had passed when a soft knock came at her door. She answered to find the young servant who’d helped her earlier awaiting her. “The prince has returned, and he said you could meet him in his bedchamber.”
“Thank you,” she said.
As Sterling left down the hallway, Lijah followed farther back.
Not bothering to knock on the prince’s door, she entered Winter’s bedchamber.
It looked similar to his room at the manor, only a cage didn’t rest inside the large space.
The prince sat in a chair, his legs spread apart, shaving down a shapeless piece of wood.
His sleeves were rolled up his forearms, and several buttons were undone to expose his taut chest, his feet bare. At least one of them was relaxed.
He continued to chisel, the wood chips falling to the floor, but he didn’t seem to care.
“I’m still waiting for you to actually make something,” Sterling said, breaking through the silence.
Winter’s piercing blue stare lifted to hers. “What do you need to complain about?”
“What the fuck do I need to complain about?” she hissed while he casually sat there as if he didn’t know. “Are we really supposed to fuck in front of an entire audience?”
“Mmm. I thought you understood that after witnessing the mating ceremony last night.” He arched a brow.
She should’ve, but she hadn’t! “I think we need to talk to your father about other arrangements.”
“No.”
“No?” Sterling whisper-shouted. “This is nothing like the mating ceremony where that couple looked like they’ve loved each other for years.
I’m also not a wolf who just fucks in front of anyone.
Most humans have a normal ceremony, then consummate elsewhere in private!
We’ve never even been intimate with each other. ”
“I’m not a human.” Winter set down his carving tools on the desk and left his chair to go out on the balcony without a glance back at her.
Sterling gaped at the door he’d just walked through. Infuriating bastard. Who did he think he was walking out on? They were engaged now, after all. She tightened her fists and met the prince outside, the crisp autumn breeze ruffling Winter’s hair.
“We’re in the middle of a discussion,” she said between gritted teeth.
“Never say I don’t listen to my betrothed’s concerns. Sit on the ledge,” Winter demanded.
Sterling scoffed. “And fall to my death? Or have you push me? No.”
He smirked. “You’re not dying tonight. Now sit. I won’t let you fall.”
It was sturdy enough, she supposed. Sterling side-eyed him but climbed up on the stone edge of the balcony.
Before she could adjust herself, Winter’s strong hands gripped her knees and spread her legs apart.
She gasped at his sudden rough movements, but then his hold loosened slightly.
The prince’s hands skated up her thighs, making goosebumps rise on her skin.
His grip tightened once more on her hips as he drew her against him.
“Go on then,” he encouraged. “Let’s take our fill of intimacy before the ceremony.
” He leaned in and skated his lips over her jaw.
“Make the guards below envious that I’m the one between your legs right now.
” Sterling dragged in a shaky breath and glanced over the edge of the balcony to see three guards standing in the gardens.
Winter nipped at her earlobe, drawing her attention back to him, and heat pooled in her core.
He wanted to … practice? One night of touching each other wouldn’t be enough to make her comfortable with the mating ceremony, but her traitorous hands loosened the buttons of Winter’s shirt.
She ran her palms up his bare chest, memorizing the hard planes.
Her breath hitched when he slid his sharp canines across her skin. His warm lips brushed her ear as he whispered, “Take off your dress.” And then he backed away from her, watching and waiting to see if she would listen, obey.
It was a hint of what was to come, and if she were to unveil herself in front of a full audience, she needed the practice. Swallowing deeply, Sterling kicked off her boots and hiked up her skirt to peel the fabric over her head, then let the dress drop to the ground.
Winter’s eyes grew hooded, and he skimmed a callused hand down her side, the curve of her breast, her waist, to her backside.
Arousal pooled between her legs and she fisted his shirt, ready to beg for him to help her find release.
Seeming to sense as much, Winter knelt before her, his fingers digging into her flesh, and he bit his lip while staring up at her.
A moment later, his mouth found her center.
His tongue licked up her core, and her eyelids fluttered.
When his thumb found her clit, she whimpered, her back arching while his other hand maintained its strong grip on her hip, preventing her fall.
Winter tasted her fully, devouring parts of her that she didn’t know could be sampled. She tangled her fingers into his hair, pulling on it as she moaned, not minding how loud she was as her body quaked with pleasure.
“There. Easy enough,” Winter said, his tone bored. He turned away from her and sauntered back into his room as if he hadn’t just fucked her with his tongue on the castle balcony, as if it had all been one of his wicked games.
Sterling caught her breath and slid down from the balcony. What the fuck is wrong with him? Without bothering to grab her clothing, she stomped into Winter’s room and found him in his chair about to carve again.
“What is wrong with you?” she spat.
“Many things.” He smirked.
She took the block of wood and hurled it across the room. “I’m not one of your harlots. What are you going to do tomorrow night? Fuck me and then act as if it’s just any other day?”
Winter stood from his chair, tilting her chin up harshly with his forefinger.
“You’ll ride me, and then, yes, I’ll pretend none of it happened.
Even though that’s all I will fucking think about.
You. As I have been. If you had just died in the first game, things wouldn’t have been so complicated. This is your fault.”
“Because you saved me, you fool!” she seethed, shoving his chest. “Twice, I might add.”
Winter narrowed his eyes. “Why do you, a pitiful human, make it impossible to think of anything else? Why have you been on my mind ever since we first met, ever since I let you go at your bitch grandmother’s? Why couldn’t you have just been a fucking wolf?”
Her nostrils flared as she glared up at him. “And why couldn’t you be a human who isn’t half cruel.”
“Only half?” He backed her into the wall until there was no space between them, and she could feel the strain of his hard cock.
“You’re a bastard.” She kept her eyes trained on his and drew off his shirt, then unfastened his trousers.
He didn’t bat an eyelash as she yanked them down to his ankles and knelt before him.
Sterling took in his long perfect length, the glistening pearl at the glorious tip.
She gripped him roughly and licked the bead from his cock before taking him fully into her mouth.
“Fuck,” Winter growled. It was him this time who tangled his fingers in her hair, squeezing it roughly as he guided his length further between her lips.
She pumped him while discovering his flavors, letting him fuck her mouth, again and again, working him until he jerked, his warm salty cum spilling onto her tongue. And then she stood, mirroring the bored image he’d displayed earlier. “I suppose I’ll go for a walk.”
Before Sterling could grab her dress and boots from the balcony, Winter’s strong hand clasped her wrist and he whirled her to face him, his lips crashing to hers.
He kissed her with a ferocity that she didn’t quite understand, but in a way she wished would never end as he led her to his bed.
Winter held her on top of him, skin against skin, and kissed her until his cock hardened once more.
He sat up with Sterling straddling his strong thighs, his fingers pressed deliciously into her hips while he glided her along his velvety length. She moaned, needing more. More of his savage pleasure.
“I need you inside me,” she begged.
“Not tonight,” he said gruffly. “Now come for me again.”
Sterling held onto his shoulders, her tongue dancing with his. The friction within her built, more and more until she cried out, her body trembling blissfully.
Winter halted Sterling, her chest heaving. “Return to your room,” he demanded. “That’s enough for the night.”
He hadn’t gotten off though… “But what about you?” she asked.
“I said that’s enough,” he whispered.
Frowning, Sterling peeled herself from his warm body, then retrieved her things from the balcony and got dressed. When she slipped back into Winter’s room, he was propped up against the headboard, his shoulders hunching forward, and he didn’t meet her gaze.
As she opened the door, she peered over her shoulder. “You’re half your mother too. Not entirely wicked.”