Tara
And teach me he did.
First came the lesson about how to properly kiss a Scottish alpha king….
Magnus cupped my face in his hands and took my mouth with a lazy, tongue-swirling kiss nowhere near as fleeting as mine.
His kiss lasted for what felt to me like long, tantalizing hours.
And when he finally pulled away, I found myself back in the bedroom with him, my hands fisted on top of his borrowed sweatshirt.
Next came the lesson on how to consort with a king. “Firstly, you must turn around. Let me take a good look at ye …”
Magnus took me by the hand and spun me around, a slow smile spreading across his face as he did so. He looked at me as if I were dressed in the loveliest ball gown he’d ever seen, instead of a towel and badly torn nightgown.
I rolled my eyes and tried hard not to smile at his antics. But something thrilled inside me as his gray eyes followed my twirl with frank appreciation.
“And now that the king has taken a gander of you, he will be honored to remove your clothes.”
I lifted my hands to loosen the towel. “I can do it.”
Magnus gently knocked those hands away. “Nae, mo leannan. There will be no further law-breaking from you.”
He slowly began to undo the towel I could have easily removed myself.
“I am almost positive there are no laws stating that you have to undress me,” I said, my voice dry with disbelief.
“I assure you there are, mo leannan,” he answered, his eyes darkening as he took in my breasts.
“Consorting with a monarch is serious business. It can decide the fate of entire kingdoms, which is why we made rules to cover this verrae important subject. Rules that mean I get to unwrap these beauties myself.”
As if to punctuate his point, Magnus dropped the towel, then pushed down the straps of my ruined nightgown, letting it fall to the floor in a silky pool around my feet.
For a moment, he looked at me standing there completely naked.
“Now do I undress you?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable and awkward under his stare.
“Not without permission. What you did to my clothes last night was highly unlawful. I’ll allow it this time as you were taken by your heat and likely didn’t know what you were doing.”
Arrogant. So arrogant. Still, I asked, “Will you allow it now, Ri Faol?”
I only guessed at his title from the story he’d told me, but I must have gotten it right. His chest hitched, and his eyes softened. “Aye.”
Two could play at this game, I decided.
So, I took my time, holding his gaze as I pulled off his brother’s university sweatshirt. Then I slowly unbuckled his kilt and let it fall to the floor.
Instead of touching him right away, I looked him up and down in the same frank manner he’d looked me over until he chuckled darkly and said, “Yer a verrae good student. Now, lie down on the bed. I have a few more things to teach you about receiving a king’s kiss.”
I did as commanded, my body hot with curiosity and a sparking desire.
Magnus crawled after me onto the bed, looking incongruous against the soft pink duvet. He was a huge splash of wolf that didn’t comfortably fit into my designer life.
But all thoughts of how opposite we were disappeared when he dipped his head down and his hot, wet mouth covered my lips … but not those on my mouth. His wicked tongue delved in and out.
Not long after came the lesson about how to beg an alpha king to take me, though I was no longer in heat.
Which he thankfully did, sliding home between my legs and once more claiming my mouth so I had a taste of my own essence on his lips.
I came with a long moan a few short moments later, my naked body wrapped around his, clinging to him as the storm hit.
Of course, we needed a shower after that. And that’s where I received the lesson about how to brace myself against a slippery slate wall as an alpha king took me with deep strokes from behind.
I thought Magnus might be tired after claiming me thrice in one day, but I quickly learned my lesson. Several times actually. On the couch when I tried to return work emails while he watched the sports news. Then later at the stove as I was unboxing our Indian takeaway.
“Sorry, mo leannan. I cannae help myself,” he said as his hands slipped under the top half of the Kate Spade pajama set I’d put on when the delivery man dropped off our food.
“I’m not used to the sight of a woman preparing dinner for me.
Makes me want to take care of your needs the way ye are taking care of mine. ”
“It’s just takeaway, and I’m a terrible cook,” I answered. “My family wasn’t even allowing me near the stove by the time I left out for university …”
“Doesnae fash me none,” he answered, as he pushed down my pink-and-red pajama bottoms and taught me yet another lesson.
It was dirty. Wrong. And ohhh so good.
In the end, it turned out to be a very educational week indeed.
At first, there had been some talk about us trying to go somewhere.
We considered Spain. Then we dialed that plan back to Blackpool...
but even that seemed like too much to pull off.
Magnus was insatiable. He barely let three hours go by between hitting me with one of his mauling kisses and manipulating my overused body until I found myself forgetting about my soreness and begging him to claim me. Again.
Sigh …
Magnus appeared to take special pride in making me beg. Even after four days of non-stop sex, he continued to tease me about it mercilessly.
“Are ye sure you want me inside you? I’d heard talk about you not liking me verrae much,” he asked that Saturday morning over the ruins of the breakfast I’d attempted to pull together for us.
Magnus had come out of the bedroom looking like an angry bear searching for his missing mate. When he found me preparing a breakfast tray, he thanked me for my consideration by shoving the platter aside and placing me on the counter so he could show me exactly what he was hungry for that morning.
“Please, your majesty,” I pleaded, tugging on his hair.
I’d learned that addressing Magnus by a royal title was his sexual kryptonite.
He lifted his head from my core as I’d asked, his heavily muscled body moving with the agility of a true athlete. I let him see how much he impressed me right before I reached forward to take him in my hand with a naughty smile.
This was what a week of lessons had done to me. On Tuesday morning, I could barely fathom Magnus fitting inside me. But by Saturday, I boldly wrapped my hand around his long length and tugged it toward my aching sex without a reservation in the world.
Magnus had taught me well.
“And besides,” I added. “It doesn’t matter if I like you.”
He pursed his lips comically. “I will not be used as a tool to satisfy your lust, you greedy she-wolf.”
“You mean like you used all those human women before you knocked me up?” I teased.
A sudden shadow fell over his face. This time he didn’t just frown at me, he removed my hand from his cock and stepped back. He actually looked hurt.
“Oh, hey. I’m sorry.” I bit my lip. “I was only joking.”
When he didn’t immediately reply, I tried again. “Milly told me about the law you guys have—the one about wolves not being allowed to have a long-term relationship with humans, so I … um … understand, I guess …”
God, why was it so hard for me to do this with him? My parents had raised me to regard others with compassion and patience. But it felt like I was handing over a secret nice girl part of me when I said, “I know you weren’t really using all those women, no matter what my boss said—”
“There were she-wolves, too,” he admitted, his voice low and flat.
“Young widows with an eye on my crown. I used them like I used the human women. I wasnae a gentleman before I finally found you—or even decent about how I handled the business of relieving my sexual frustration. I’m a rugby player and a king besides …
I can’t remember a time when birds didn’t flock to me. ”
My brows went up while my mouth frowned down. And just like that, my sexy mood withered on the vine of his past. “If bragging about all the wolf and human women that came before me is your idea of foreplay, I’m here to tell you it’s not. I know you think I should be impressed by your stats, but …”
I looked away from him, hating how vulnerable it made me feel to admit, “My wolf doesn’t like the thought of you doing to someone else what you do to me. Thinking about all the women who came before me makes me feel the opposite of turned on.”
I peeked up at him to see how Magnus was receiving my truth. The answer probably should not have surprised me, but it did.
Instead of looking even a little bit contrite, a huge, arrogant smile spread across his face. Like he’d just eaten a canary.
“You’re jealous!” he said, his voice set at 100% gloat.
“See, this is why I don’t like you!” I shoved him out of the way and pushed off the counter with a huff. “If you’re not making me beg, you’re acting like me telling you how I feel about all the women in your past is food for your ego—which is already, like, the fattest thing ever. Ugh!!!”
I started for the bedroom, wanting to be alone for the first time since I opened the bathroom door for him last Tuesday.
But before I’d made it more than a few steps, his arms came around me from behind.
“Nae, nae, Tara, that’s not it at all,” he said, folding me into his bare chest. “I’ve been looking for a sign—any sign—that ye fancy me as much as I fancy you.
Ye’ll have to forgive me for being an arse about it.
I was only grateful to finally get it. That’s all.
Because in truth, my ego has never felt as small as it does with you, mo leannan. ”
“Stop playing, Magnus!” I said, struggling against his hold. “You were just saying how women have been throwing themselves at you all your life. I know this isn’t the first time you’ve made someone jealous. I mean, the sex alone would get any woman’s head all twisted.”