47. Day Off with the King
BELLE
My eyes were so puffy from crying all night that they hurt to open in the morning.
I was extremely grateful that I had decided to stay home today instead of going with Minnie.
All I had wanted for the past several days was to get out of Grayson and my wing, but now nothing sounded better than lying in bed and watching movies all day while I licked my wounds.
Groaning, I attempted to roll over, only to be stopped by a heavy, muscular arm wrapped around my waist. I paused.
Grayson was here. Grayson was never here in the mornings. He was sleeping right next to me, pressed close to my body, his grip on my waist tight and unrelenting.
No wonder I felt like I could sleep forever. I always slept better with him by my side.
It occurred to me that I didn’t even remember coming back from Minnie’s apartment last night.
Grayson must have brought me back. I looked down. I was wearing his shirt and boxers. He must have changed me last night too.
I couldn’t remember the last time I had woken up with him at my side. It had to have been weeks ago. I wondered if he knew what time it was. It was
nearly nine.
Was he late for something?
I was sure he had completely missed his training.
“Grayson.” I shook his shoulder. “Grayson, wake up.”
His brows tugged together but he didn’t open his eyes. He pulled me closer to him with a huff. “You’re disturbing my slumber,” he muttered.
I rolled my eyes. I shook his shoulder again, harder this time.
He groaned and finally peeked one eye open, looking down at me.
“Can I help you with something?” he drawled lazily, seemingly unbothered by my confusion.
“You’re still here,” I said, stating the obvious.
One of his brows rose. “Am I?” He lifted his head and made a show of peering around the room. “Huh. Strange.”
I shoved his chest, my heart fluttering when he let out a deep, sexy chuckle that made my stomach take a dip. “I meant, why are you still here? Do you know what time it is?”
He shrugged, setting his head back down on the pillow and pulling me in closer to him. “Don’t care. I’m taking the day off.”
I couldn’t help the look of surprise that took over my face. Since when had taking a day off been an option for him?
“But…don’t you have things to do? Aren’t you a king or something?”
He nuzzled his nose into my hair, inhaling deeply. “Exactly. I’m king so I can do whatever I want. And I’m taking the day off.”
I huffed. Was I missing something? “Do you have plans or…?”
“Yes,” he replied. “I plan on spending the entire day with my gorgeous mate.”
Ah. Okay. I understood then. He felt guilty about what had happened yesterday in the hot tub and was going to try to make it up to me by spending time with me.
I should have been happy. A whole day of Grayson to myself? That sounded absolutely incredible. But it made yesterday feel like a big deal. And I didn’t want it to be a big deal.
I didn’t want him to feel like he had to make me feel better when he didn’t do anything wrong to begin with. I wanted to forget the whole thing ever
happened and just move on with our lives.
And, most importantly, I wanted him to spend time with me because he wanted to, not because he felt bad.
“Grayson,” I started, already feeling the all-too-familiar emotion of embarrassment taking over my chest. “You don’t have to do this. I know you’re super busy. You can go to work. You don’t have to stay with me.”
“I know I don’t have to. I ~want~ to. And there’s nothing that you can say or do that is going to change my mind. I’m spending the day with you and that’s final.
“I have to run to the gym to help Kyle out with some stuff and fill him in on what’s going on, but that will only take about an hour. And then I’m all yours.”
I felt like digging myself a hole and burying myself in the ground for the rest of eternity. Instead, I buried my face in his bare chest and groaned.
Grayson took the opportunity to press his lips to the top of my head, purring in contentedness.
“Let me go,” I grumbled, pushing away from him before his purrs had more than just a calming effect on me. “I need to pee.”
I reached for the TV remote on my bedside table and handed it to him. “You can pick the first movie if you want.”
Grayson laughed and tossed the remote to the foot of the bed. “Oh, no.
There will be no movie watching today. I think we both know you need to get out of this apartment. I’m taking you out.”
“Out?” I repeated. “What do you mean ‘out’?”
“It’s a surprise.” He stood—momentarily hypnotizing me with his shirtlessness and muscular legs—and held his hand out to me.
“Come on. I’m running you a hot bath while I go to training and then we’re hitting the town.”
GRAYSON
When I got back to our room after training, I could hear Belle still in the bath, humming to herself. I smiled as I listened to the sound of her happiness, happy when she was happy.
I felt much calmer after spending an hour in the gym. I had told Belle that I needed to talk to Kyle but that wasn’t necessarily true.
I had seen Kyle and spoken to him for a couple of minutes, but the real reason I had left her was to go work off some tension before I spent the day with her.
I hoped it would help me not attack her halfway through our date. It helped a bit, but the closer I got to my little mate, the more my control started to fade.
Her sweet scent assaulted me and forced me to momentarily pause in the doorway to try to gain my bearings.
I walked over to the bed and sat down on the edge as I slowly took off my shoes. I was still shirtless after training and was excited to see how my mate would react when she saw me.
She was a sucker when it came to my chest and abs. Her pupils dilated and she always fumbled over her words. It was adorable. And sexy.
Shit, stop thinking about things like that.
The sound of her getting out of the tub caught my attention. Complete silence followed. The only thing I could hear was Belle’s breathing as she obviously tried to determine if I was here or not.
I smirked.
Moments later, Belle’s head popped out of the bathroom door.
“Oh. Hi,” she said. Just as expected, her eyes traveled over the muscles of my arms.
She licked her lips. “I didn’t know you were back yet.”
My brows rose. The smell of her arousal filling the air told me she was lying.
I was sure that if she lifted the towel she had wrapped around her just a few inches, I would be able to see just how wet her little slit was for me—and not due to the bath she had just come out of.
No, she was very aware that I was back from my trip to the gym. She could sense me, and her body was already heating up, preparing itself to mate without even knowing it.
Not saying another word, she opened the door and stepped out.
Completely naked and soaking wet.
My heart nearly stopped.
She didn’t even bother to wrap herself in a towel as she strutted across the room, right in front of me, every single inch of her beautiful, perfect body on display for my hungry eyes.
I should have looked away. And, normally, I would. As much as I wanted to watch her get dressed every day, it was easier for both of us if I averted my gaze.
But it was painfully obvious that Belle had planned this. She wanted to seduce me.
And, even though I knew it was best not to give in, she was already so sensitive after everything that had happened yesterday.
I needed to boost her confidence, to show her how much of an effect she had on me.
I decided then and there that it wouldn’t hurt if we spent the first hour or
two of our day off in this room.
On the bed, preferably.
I leaned back, enjoying the show my mate was putting on for me.
Goddess, I loved her and whatever little scheme she was acting out right now to get my attention—as if she didn’t already have my attention all the time, 24/7, even when I wasn’t with her.
She was nervous. I could tell from her elevated breathing and heart rate.
She had planned this.
My little mate was trying to tempt me. And it was working—more than working.
I was salivating. Sweating. My balls felt like they were ready to explode, and my dick was leaking precum in my pants.
Somehow, I was able to hold myself back. It’s for her own good, I kept repeating to myself. ~Stay away from her and you’ll keep her safe.~ This was starting to become much easier said than done.
My vampire started to purr without my consent, watching Belle intently through my eyes. At the sound, Belle relaxed a bit, some of the stiffness disappearing from her shoulders.
She still didn’t look at me, though, swaying her cute little hips all the way to the dresser against the wall across from our bed.
She took in a deep breath before slowly opening the top drawer and pulling out some sort of lacy-looking black fabric.
Belle was putting on fucking lingerie that could make a stripper blush right in front of me.
BELLE
I took my time putting the fancy underwear on, not sparing Grayson a single glance although I was dying to look at him. Was he watching me?
My heart rate escalated.
My palms started to sweat.
Oh, God, what was I doing? This was so stupid. I should’ve known that nothing would come of it.
I walked past him and over to the full-length mirror on the other side of the room. I studied myself, running my hands over my sides in a way that I could only hope looked enticing.
Even I couldn’t deny the fact that I looked good. Well, at least I hoped I did.
I could only hope I was getting Grayson’s attention.
He hadn’t shown any signs of liking—or even noticing—the little show I was putting on for him.
A gust of wind ruffled my hair. I smiled. Grayson’s sparky hands gripped my waist from behind, then abruptly slammed me into his front.
He started to purr, the sound coming from deep within his chest and vibrating through my back, making my entire body feel warm and languid.
Something long and hard pressed against my lower back, and I had to hold in my excitement.
“Are you trying to kill me?” he groaned in my ear, his voice pained and desperate.
I turned in his arms, blinking up at him innocently. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Grayson’s eyes traveled over my lace-encased breasts, darkening significantly. His hands tightened around my waist, purring starting to swell from his chest, automatically making me melt further into his embrace.
“Where the fuck did you even get this?” he asked, his voice coming out all rumbly.
I smirked, wrapping my arms around his neck and digging my fingers into his silk, dark hair. “Minnie went out shopping the other day.”
His eyes narrowed. “So you got this just to torture me?”
Well…if the shoe fits… One of his hands traveled over my rib cage and then ever so lightly over my breast, right where my covered nipple was.
I sucked in a breath. The space between my legs pulsed. “I needed new underwear.”
“You have two drawers full of underwear in our closet.” His eyes unashamedly zoned in on my almost-visible nipple, licking his lips with a hungry expression.
“Not the kind I wanted,” I breathed out. “I read somewhere that women can feel more empowered by wearing sexy lingerie under their everyday clothes.”
Grayson growled and leaned in, his lips skimming against the shell of my ear, inhaling deeply. “Absolutely not. You will not be wearing this today.”
“And why not?”
“You think I’ll be able to make it through the day when I know you’ve got this on?” he asked, kissing my ear and then the side of my neck, right above my mark. “You think I won’t go fucking insane?”
I grabbed his chin and forced him to look at me, then lifted onto my tiptoes and just barely skimmed my lips over his.
He groaned.
“Then it will be doing its job,” I whispered against his mouth.
Without warning, I was swept off my feet and placed on the bed in under a second, Grayson on top of me. His mouth slammed onto mine, claiming me, dominating me.
I kissed him back eagerly, pulling him closer to me by his hair. My entire body lit up at his touch, begging for more.
I pulled back even as Grayson continued kissing me. His lips traveled along my jaw and down my throat, paying extra close attention to my mark. I
whimpered.
“Grayson,” I whispered.
His tongue slipped out and ran over my mark—thoroughly lapping over it and driving me mad—before he responded. “What is it, baby? What do you need?”
“You,” I replied breathlessly. “I need you. Please.”
“I’m right here, beautiful girl. I’m right here,” he said, never taking his lips off of me.
His hands roamed along my body but never went near unhooking my bra or touching my thong. I let out a frustrated huff.
“No, Grayson, that’s not what I meant. I-I mean I…want you to want ~me~.”
Grayson’s body froze on top of mine. He moved back so he could look at me with his pitch-black eyes.
“Want you? Belle… Are you still worried about our conversation from the other day? I thought I made it clear how much I want you. I want you too much.”
“I know…I just…Then why haven’t you…” I swallowed, my cheeks turning bright pink. Was I really about to be this girl? “Why haven’t you… made love to me yet?”
“Shit, Belle…,” he responded, his head dropping.
“Please, Grayson,” I said, not even caring that I was begging or what he might think of me.
“I can’t take it anymore. I need you to take me. I need to be connected to you. I need to”—I swallowed, feeling my face bloom with heat—“feel you inside of me.”
Grayson growled so loudly that the bed shook. “Fuck. Fuck, you can’t say things like that to me, Belle. You…I… Fuck.”
He groaned, dropping his head into my neck, breathing deeply, growls coming from his chest with each intake of air.
Sensing his resolve breaking, I kissed his shoulder, then licked up to the spot that I knew would be where I would mark him if I were a werewolf like him.
I sucked on the spot and then bit down gently. He let out a violent string of curses.
“I need you inside me, Grayson,” I repeated, whispering into his ear while I continued to kiss and lick the side of his neck, attempting to mimic the way I had seen werewolves kiss their mates.
I pressed my core up against his hard erection. “I need you deep inside of me, thrusting in and out, over and over again, until you come deep inside. I need you to mate me. Please.”
Grayson was turning savage above me. His hips were thrusting viciously against me, causing stars to dance in my vision. His purring was louder than I had ever heard it before.
The sound was unbelievably intoxicating. It was causing copious amounts of wetness to pool from my pussy, completely soaking my panties.
Without warning, Grayson snarled and his elongated claws tore through the front of my lacy bra, completely tearing it from my body.
I would have scolded him for ruining my new underwear but didn’t get the chance because a second later, his mouth was latched onto my nipple.
I cried out in bliss. My back arched into his touch and my hands gripped his hair, pulling him impossibly closer. His masculine scent was driving me crazy, making my mouth water.
What I wouldn’t give to have his cock—the same one that he was still thrusting into my swollen clit over and over again—in my mouth, shooting his cum down my throat. I was desperate for it.
But not as desperate as I was for him to fuck me.
Grayson seemed to be feeling a similar way to me. He left open-mouthed kisses down my body until he reached my panties and then tore them from my body.
“Yes,” I panted, opening my legs for him. Any modesty that I had flew out the window the moment his crimson eyes took in my dripping pussy. “Fuck me, Grayson. Please, fuck me.”
Grayson’s growl shook the walls and bed. “I need to taste you first, mate. I need my needy mate to come on my tongue.”
Now, it wasn’t that I didn’t want that. He could lick my pussy for the rest of eternity, and I would never get sick of it. I doubted he would, either.
When he got started, it usually took begging him to stop to finally make him come up for air. But as incredible as that was, I needed more right now.
If he didn’t slam his huge cock into me in the next two minutes, I would most definitely explode.
I opened my mouth to protest but was immediately silenced when he swiped his tongue up the slit of my pussy.
Okay, so maybe one orgasm from his mouth wouldn’t be ~so ~bad… “Oh,” I moaned. “Ohh…”
I was so on edge that it only took minutes to reach my peak, screaming his name while my head thrashed back and forth against the pillow.
“What are you doing?”
“Shh, my needy mate,” Grayson said. He sucked my clit into his mouth, swirling his tongue around it.
My head fell back. “Grayson.” I whimpered his name while my hips ground against his sinful mouth.
As good as it felt, we both knew it wasn’t what I wanted. “Grayson. I need your cock. Now. Please. ”
He groaned. “I can’t take it when you beg.”
Good.
He peered up at me from the juncture between my legs. He made intense eye contact with me as he lapped at my clit, once, twice, three times. It was the most erotic thing I had ever seen in my life.
“Just let me take care of you, Belle,” he said. His voice was so deep and smooth. It sounded like silk as it traveled through my ears.
He kissed my tingling bud with his glistening lips. “Let me make you feel so good, you forget about everything else.”
I stiffened, finally understanding what he meant. He was distracting me so he wouldn’t have to have sex with me.
I sat up on my elbows. “Stop, Grayson.” I pushed at his head. “I mean it, stop.”
Grayson’s tongue slowed to a stop and he lifted from me. His eyes immediately zeroed in on my lips which were rolled into my mouth in an effort not to cry.
“Belle…,” he said. His hand cupped my face. “Did I do something? Did I hurt you?”
I shook my head. Tears were pooling in the corners of my eyes, which just infuriated me. Why did I always have to cry?
I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it tightly around myself. I didn’t look at him as I spoke. I’m just going to say it. “I need you to tell me why you
don’t want to have sex with me.”
“I do want—”
“I need you to tell me why you don’t want to have sex with me without ~lying~ because as of recently, I’ve been thinking it’s because you don’t love me anymore or something.”
I laughed nervously, which ended up sounding like a teary snort. “Which is ridiculous because we’re mates, and it would probably take a lot for your mate to fall out of love with you, right?”
Grayson tried to respond, but now that I had started, there was no stopping my tangent.
“It’s just that, before everything happened, you could barely keep your hands off of me. You couldn’t stop talking about how much you wanted to sleep with me.
“But now…I know you’re under a lot of stress and everything, but I just thought…I know there’s something going on.
“You’ve been avoiding me, working constantly, and you haven’t made love to me yet, which I know has been killing your wolf. I can see your inner battle every time I’m with you.
“What aren’t you telling me? Has something changed? Do you not want me like that anymore? Are you not…attracted to me anymore?”
Grayson looked like he was in the worst possible physical pain when I was done.
Meanwhile, I was hiccuping, my chest making big jumps with the effort not to start sobbing.
He pulled me to him. I wanted to fight against his hold, but he started to purr before I could, and all of my fight left my body.
He tucked me into him, my back against his front, his arms wrapped around me. I knew what he was doing.
From this position, his purrs vibrated throughout my entire form, drowning me in the calming thrumming. My tears slowed to a stop and soothing
tranquility filled me.
“Better?” he asked me after a minute.
As if he didn’t know the effect his stupid purrs had on me.
“I hate it when you do that,” I murmured.
He kissed my forehead, brushing my hair out of my face with gentle, loving
fingers.
“No, you don’t.”
I sighed. He was right. I didn’t.
“You’re right,” he said quietly. “There’s something I have been keeping
from you.”
I silently waited for him to continue.
“Do you remember the portrait of the former queen of the supernatural?” he asked.
I had no idea what that had to do with anything, but I nodded anyway.
“Evangeline.
The woman I met at the diner.”
During my first few days spent in Zaweth, Grayson had taken me on a tour of the castle.
On that tour, he showed me the portraits of every past king and queen— vampire, werewolf, and everything in between—and I was shocked to find that I actually recognized one of the portraits.
I had met the beautiful blonde woman in the painting, even though Grayson claimed it had been painted hundreds of years ago.
It was Evangeline. Evangeline Viotto, the woman I’d met at the diner the night before Adalee attacked me.
When I told Grayson about this encounter, he didn’t believe me.
Well, he didn’t not believe me—at least, he didn’t say those exact words, but he definitely thought the story was a little crazy and far-fetched.
But I knew what I saw. I knew it was her. I wasn’t sure how or why…but the former queen of the supernatural had definitely come to visit me that night.
“Yes, Queen Evangeline.” He ignored my other comment. “Do you know why she was considered to be such an important and influential queen?”
I shook my head.
Grayson took in a deep breath. “She was a fairy, Belle. The last of her kind.”
I turned around in his lap so I could look at him. He gripped my waist firmly.
“A fairy…,” I repeated. “Like Tinker Bell or something?”
The corner of his lips turned up. “I believe you’re thinking of a pixie, although I can remember Tinker Bell commonly being referred to as both in the cartoons.
“Pixies are small, like Tinker Bell. Fairies are human-sized.”
I nodded. “Okay…,” I said, prompting him to continue.
I could see the worry in his expression. He was nervous to be talking to me about this. Why?
“Evangeline Viotto was a member of the Fae, one of the most dangerous and powerful creatures of all time,” Grayson continued. “So powerful that she was hunted and abused most of her life.
“She was taken advantage of and enslaved until her mate found her and made her queen. Many say that is why she made a fair and good ruler. She had compassion for her people.
“She cared for them because she knew what it was like to truly suffer.”
I swallowed thickly. It made sense, really. It was how she was able to take my pain away that night back at the diner. She had powers.
“I have a lot to live up to,” I replied quietly. I leaned into the sound of his purring, seeking the comfort it gave me.
“You are a wonderful queen. It is not my goal to make you feel inadequate.
They say that all queens of the supernatural have known suffering.
“It is what makes them so compassionate and kind toward their people. You will make an amazing queen. But I never want you to be persecuted the way she was for her powers.”
“It’s a good thing I’m just a human then,” I said, giving him a reassuring smile. “No one will care about me, right?”
Grayson’s lips thinned into a deep frown. My heart squeezed in my chest.
“What?” I asked him. I massaged his shoulders, trying to calm him, noticing for the first time they were slightly bigger than usual. His eyes were black.
I hadn’t realized how close to the surface his wolf was. I was just becoming so accustomed to his eyes changing colors.
Something was really bothering him.
“Talk to me, Grayson,” I begged, feeling a little panicked now. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
When he still didn’t respond to me, I did the only thing I could think of. I leaned in and pressed my lips to his. It only took a second for him to groan and pull me closer, deepening the kiss.
His tongue thrust into my mouth, mating with mine in long, teasing strokes that made my stomach flutter and tighten.
His hands ran from my waist to cup my bottom, kneading it with a low growl. The movement only made me shift against him, my hips starting to thrust just slightly.
I could feel his hard length beneath me, long and thick and desperate. I gasped.
“Fuck, I want you, Belle,” he groaned against my lips, leading my hips over his in a way that was driving me crazy. “I want you so fucking bad.”
“You can have me,” I whispered back, just barely brushing my lips to his as I spoke.
“What are you waiting for?”
I squeaked in surprise when I was suddenly flipped around, so I was lying on my back.
I looked up at Grayson with wide eyes as he gently spread my legs and settled his massive form between them, supporting himself with his hands on either side of my head.
His lips slammed back down onto mine in a desperate, passionate kiss. I moaned.
But then he pulled away. He stared down at me for several long seconds before saying, “Come with me.”
