Chapter 22 #2
After he parked at my apartment building, the next moments were a flash of movement as we stumbled into my apartment and bedroom while my bodyguard held me, placing small kisses on my neck.
“Hayden, I’ve never—”
“I know. It’ll be okay, Princess.”
He pulled down the zipper on the back of my dress, his fingers brushing against my skin, and I trembled. Hayden eased my dress off, leaving me in my strapless bra and panties.
His gaze swept over my body slowly, as if committing to memory every curve. I wasn’t built like the other tall, strong she-wolves who circled around him back home, but he never paid them any attention.
His eyes were glued to me. He constantly watched me because it was his duty, and I was the prime target for hunters and vampires. The enemy could easily disarm the King by getting to the princess.
But now, with Hayden’s heated gaze full of desire, this led me to believe he’d watched me back then for reasons other than his duty.
He made me feel desired, and a strange fluttering spread across my chest. Could Hayden be my fated mate? The thought hit me hard. Perhaps I felt the mate bond in a different way as a human. But most likely, I wasn’t blessed with a mate by the Fates, seeing that I wasn’t supernatural.
He undressed with efficiency and tossed his black pants and white dress shirt behind him on the floor. Then he reached behind me and unclasped my bra, letting it drop to my feet.
He hooked two fingers on each side of my panties, and as he pulled down, he crouched and then knelt in front of me. I stepped out of my panties. We were completely naked, and I instantly wanted to cover up again.
His head was right in front of the most sensitive part of my body, and blood rushed to my face. Hayden’s gaze dropped to my birthmark, and he traced the circle and petals of the daisy in it. I shivered and attempted to squeeze my thighs together, but Hayden didn’t let me.
“Don’t hide from me, sweetheart. You’re beautiful,” he whispered, and more heat warmed my face.
He stood before me, all naked and unashamed.
My bodyguard’s muscled body was that of a gladiator.
I gawked at him. I couldn’t help it. His abdominal muscles stood out like ridges on a mountain.
His taut muscles were as hard as stone, and his penetrating gaze locked on my own.
His sculpted body was a testament to his dedication to the protection of another.
Me.
As my gaze roamed over him, I realized he had no tattoos or pack markings on him. Once a werewolf was part of a pack, each person received the pack marking. Hayden was part of the werewolf kingdom for many years and should have had a crescent inked on his neck, shoulders, or chest.
As if he could read my thoughts, Hayden said, “I was a rogue, and I don’t feel like I belong anywhere really.”
I wanted to tell him not to worry about it and that I understood his sentiment since I didn’t have the royal pack tattooed on me either. Maybe because I was a human.
I didn’t belong among the werewolves. Maybe that was what connected me to Hayden.
Before I could say anything, Hayden stepped into me, and I stepped back, but the back of my knees hit the mattress, and I dropped onto the bed not very gracefully.
But Hayden didn’t want a perfect woman. He wanted me.
I scooted to the middle of the bed, and his heavy body pinned me. His weight settled over me. Our hot breaths mixed.
“I’m grateful you trust me with your body, Princess. I’m not worthy as a mere warrior,” he said in between the small kisses he placed around my neck and shoulders.
“Rank doesn’t matter,” I said.
I let out a small moan as tingling sensations spread everywhere on my chest.
He pulled his head over mine and stared at me for a long moment. “Thank you for your gift, sweetheart.”
Hayden referred to my virginity, making me feel better that my first time was with a man who appreciated it.
Royal werewolves had a tradition of waiting until they found their fated mate. It was preferred if a she-wolf’s first time was with her fated mate.
The old tradition, which had no place in modern times anymore, was based on a superstition that the virginal blood of the she-wolf bonded the mates together. Since blood was considered life, it was believed that the mates connected deeper when the she-wolf bled during her first time.
But I wasn’t a she-wolf and didn’t believe in the old traditions.
Supporting himself on his elbows, he lowered his head to my body. He blew a hot breath over my nipples, and they immediately responded. He licked and kissed the skin there while I lost myself in the pleasurable sensations.
I would give this man my body. Not because of spite or anger. Not because I rebelled against old traditions for mates.
I needed Hayden to take away the hurt, not with words, although he certainly tried to do so, but with his touches. He devoted himself to me, which was enough for me now.
I didn’t plan to give away my heart and soul, but only my body. Hayden was my lighthouse in the sea of disappointed glares and bullying in the werewolf kingdom.
He slid one finger inside me, and I let out a moan I couldn’t hold much longer. His thumb sank into my wetness, and then he withdrew it to massage my clit. He left small kisses below my belly button.
“I’m ready, Hayden,” I said. “No foreplay is needed.”
He chuckled. “As you wish, sweetheart.”
As Hayden lifted himself up, I opened my legs wider for him, and he stared at my left thigh again.
My daisy wheel birthmark.
“Does it look weird?”
“Not at all.”
His finger traced the daisy's petals again and then brushed over the circle around the flower. Why was he so obsessed about my birthmark? He touched me so close to where I needed him the most that I lost my train of thought.
Some strange emotion passed like a shadow over his handsome face, but it was gone as fast as it came. I questioned my fuzzy brain, still buzzing from the tequila.
Hayden adjusted himself between my legs and kissed my mouth.
“Hayden, wait.” I placed my hand on his chest. “Condom.”
I couldn’t believe I almost forgot.
His eyes sparkled.
“I want to feel you everywhere around me. I want to connect with you on a much deeper level, sweetheart. And I’ve never had sex without a condom. Would you be okay if we don’t use one?”
“Don’t tell me you believe in the magic of the virginal blood nonsense?”
Hayden was only five years older than me, and the younger generations of werewolves didn’t care much about the old traditions and rituals.
Someone like my dad still believed a she-wolf should wait for her fated mate for a reasonable amount of time. But Hayden…
He kissed my lips again.
“Well, call me old-fashioned, but I believe the blood has magical properties. So yes, we’ll connect deeper if we don’t use a condom.”
He kissed my shoulder, and my core tightened with anticipation.
“But aren’t you afraid I’ll get pregnant?” I asked, studying his face carefully.
Wouldn’t he freak out if he got the princess pregnant? That would be the gossip of the century.
Hayden gave me his signature playful grin, and there was a gleam in his eyes I couldn’t completely understand.
“Whatever the Fates throw our way, we’ll deal with it,” he whispered in my ear and sucked on my earlobe. “Don’t overthink it, sweetheart.”
I wasn’t sure if Hayden was my fated mate, and I sure wasn’t going to let the Fates decide my destiny.
I only asked him to gauge his reaction. I couldn’t tell if he wanted to wait and have kids later in his life or wanted a family now. I only knew I wasn’t ready to commit to him on such a deep level.
I received birth control injections every three months, and I had the last one only a few weeks ago. I trusted him with my body, and the chances of pregnancy were low.
I snaked my hand around his waist and pulled him closer to me.
He pecked my lips. “Thank you for trusting me.”
Hayden entered me so slowly. I was going to lose my mind. I wanted more of him. I wanted to feel good. He pulled his head up and looked at me intensely, and my heart did a weird hiccup behind its cage.
When he thrusted gently, he said against my lips, “You’re beautiful, but your true beauty is in your soul.”
My soul? I didn’t even know what my soul was since I couldn’t explain my human heritage. But did Hayden see something in me that I couldn’t?
I gasped at the invading thickness that filled me while his words warmed my chest. He pushed another inch in and scanned my face again as if he were ensuring I was okay.
Then Hayden pushed again and paused, gritting his teeth as he forced himself to slow down. Pain lanced through me but only lasted a moment. I squeezed my eyes shut, and when I reopened them, the pain was gone.
Soon, pleasure returned, and my bodyguard gave me a small smile. I found my rhythm, and we moved together.
My second-hand bed frame with a spring mattress creaked and rattled with each thrust. Hayden made a hungry sound that vibrated from his chest. Overlapping waves of pleasure took over my body. The tension had become unbearable, and I wanted to let go.
After a moment, the rocking of my hips sent me over the edge, my body convulsing, my channel squeezing around him. I was so sensitive that I thought I couldn’t continue as he kept on thrusting inside me.
He moved fast and hard now as if desperate to find his release. He exploded inside me, letting out a low growl.
While he was still inside me, connected, Hayden dipped his head to mine. I wasn’t prepared for his heated kiss. His tongue traced the outline of my lips and dived through my parted lips, exploring and devouring me.
He communicated without words, letting me feel his passion with his mouth.
Guilt laced through me as I realized that giving him my virginity and having sex with him didn’t mean the same to me as it did for him. It appeared to mean more to him.