Chapter Six
ESTRELLA'S APARTMENT had been a wedding gift from Domenico, even though at that time, he had made it public that the Moretti pack did not approve of her marriage.
I've never lived here, though, she took pains to let Lysander know as the elevator whizzed them up to the penthouse floor.
And the only reason we're here now is because it's the closest place we own, and I don't want to risk traveling at night.
Beside her, Lysander simply nodded. His thoughts were completely masked, his silence unnerving. It wasn't that Lysander was the talkative sort in the past, but in those days, he had a more easygoing manner about him, and he didn't choose his words as carefully as he did now.
When they reached her floor, the twins stepped out first, along with the half-dozen soldiers that accompanied them. Lysander and Estrella were the last ones out, and although his hand immediately took hold of hers as they walked down the hallway, he remained quiet otherwise.
Is everything alright? she finally couldn't help asking.
But he only nodded.
You're sure?
Another nod, but Estrella still felt something was wrong, and as soon as they were inside his apartment, and he was closing the door behind them, she couldn't help confronting him, hands planted unconsciously on her hips as she said his name.
"If there's something wrong—-" Her words ended with a gasp as the next thing she knew, Lysander already had her up against the wall, with one hand curving under his bottom while another imprisoned her wrists over her head.
Need you...again.
So that was what was wrong—-
The rest of her thoughts disappeared under the hard press of his mouth, and not once did it even occur to her to resist. This was Lysander. Her first love. Her husband. Her mate. Of course, she'd give him her all.
And as these thoughts ran through Estrella's head, Lysander was listening, his hunger for her growing with every word.
Her complete surrender to him blew him away, and it ate at his control.
He was hoping he could be gentler with her this time.
But it was impossible. Fucking impossible, when she was this hothouse flower he had been dreaming about for years.
Estrella could only whimper as the rugged sensuality of Lysander's kiss had every part of her melting. His kiss was just the right touch of brutal that the punishingly deep dive of his tongue only made her buckle and writhe under his passionate onslaught.
Please, she begged him in her mind. She wanted to get closer. Feel more. Ache harder.
But he resisted and responded by tormenting her even more. Her nipples, now pebble-hard with need, constantly scraped against his chest, but no matter how much she rubbed herself against him, no matter how much she pleaded—-
Husband...oh God, please!
He just wouldn't touch her breasts, and the pressure just kept building—-
His tongue pushed deep.
And building and building—-
So, so deep that it reached the most secret parts of her mouth.
And then it just suddenly happened, her orgasm coming like a stealthy, overwhelming wave of pleasure that she had no hopes of escaping.
She could only sob his name as it took her completely by surprise, over and over she sobbed his name as she willingly drowned in the agonizing, scorching bliss of it—-
Lysander. My Lysander. Mine.
Lips brushed against hers as the last waves of pleasure shook Estrella's body.
Yes...
Yours.
Always.
****
THE TWINS CAME TO THEIR feet as soon as their prince stepped out, and the first thing they sensed was the change in him.
The raw energy pulsing within Lysander's body still possessed a dangerously primeval quality to it, but his power no longer felt as volatile or violent.
His presence was more Fae than beast...or at least it was for now.
When their questioning gazes met Lysander's, the prince simply nodded at their unspoken question.
Yes.
The two brothers exchanged glances. Since the princess' gasps a few minutes ago were more than enough clue to what the couple had been doing, and then there was also the way they had made the van shake like there was a tornado locked inside it.
..wasn't Lysander basically saying...he constantly needed to fuck his bride in order to remain, well. ..calm?
The twins stared hard at their prince, and when he only raised a brow at them, Aluin could no longer help himself.
"Seriously?"
There was a second of silence, and then Lysander's lips cracked a smile. "Seriously."
The twins grinned back even as both of them were working hard to absorb the changes in their prince. His voice was a lot deeper now and more...guttural. Like a man trying to remember how it was to use words instead of growls and snarls.
And it had probably been so, knowing what they did of the countless ordeals that Lysander had to suffer and overcome before he could have Ammon under his control.
The thought of this was more than sobering, and their smiles immediately faded. The prince had sacrificed everything for their race, and in return...
Lysander's lips pressed together in a tight, thin line when the twins pulled their swords out and bowed their heads as they offered their weapons to him.
It was a traditional gesture of apology for Faes, and despite the last few corners of his mind that remained hazy and trapped in the seemingly eternal hell he had spent battling Ammon—-
He knew exactly what transgression the twins were admitting to.
"We have disobeyed your orders, Your Highness."
And so they had.
Lysander's letter, which contained his blood and was meant to be pressed upon the fresh wound of his chosen mate...had not been intended for Estrella.
Alain and Aluin tensed involuntarily as frozen air stung their skin. A moment later, a wild growl razed their hearing, and they realized that their prince had shifted.
Lysander began to prowl. In his current form, he might not be able to communicate directly with his men, but he had a clearer mind now, and he was better able to read more from their heartbeats.
Concern.
It was what the twins had felt then, doing what they did, even if they had also known disobeying his orders was tantamount to treason. It wasn't everything he needed to know, but it was enough, and as Lysander spun to his back, his tail lashed out, striking both twins' chests with one vicious whip.
Their chests began to bleed, but the twins only lowered their heads even more.
"Thank you, Your Highness."
The punishment meant that they had been forgiven, but if they were to disobey the prince for a second time, death was to be their only option after it.
Long after the two brothers left, Lysander remained outside the bedroom where his bride slept, silent and brooding.
Her orgasm had seemed to work like a leash, with his more animal instincts lying dormant while the more rational side of him rose to the fore.
It had allowed him to think, and it was only then that he was able to piece the past and the present together.
..and realize that he had ended up mated to a woman who was not of his choice.
She was his Star, but she was also Domenico Moretti's goddamn sister. He wasn't sure if he could ever get past the fact, but just as it had been with the twins, the past was the past, and it was already too late to change things.
In exchange for the powers he now wielded, the beast held dominion over his soul, and his body wanted what his soul made it want. All his suffering and sacrifices would be for naught...if he did not keep Estrella as his mate.