Chapter 2 - Just a tension reliever
LAMIA
“Fuck me, alpha,” I whispered, and that was all it took.
He growled low and deep before capturing my lips in a hungry and bruising kiss, only pulling away when his hands traveled under my shirt and lifted it from my head. Once gone, he returned his mouth to mine, plunging his tongue in and tasting me. I met him stroke for stroke as I moaned into the bruising kiss. I let my free hand run up his naked chest while the other gripped his hair tightly, pulling him to me hard.
He lifted me by the ass and my legs wrapped around his waist on instinct. His eager lips trailed down my jaw to my collar bone, softly nipping at the skin and finally reaching the hardened bud of my nipple. I gasped when he took the peak into his mouth and sucked. Biting and sucking hard, the pinch of pain only heightened the pleasure and had my pussy weeping.
He threw me on the bed, quickly peeling off my leggings, and climbed back over me. He greedily sucked on my other nipple, paying it the same attention while harshly kneading the other and rolling the swollen pebble in his fingers. His warm tongue and wet lips trailed down my body to my hip. He stood up and removed his shorts, his cock bouncing free and looking more than ready to play. I leaned up on my elbows and spread my legs wide.
I smirked at him. He knew what I wanted and he wasted no time diving in. His fingers spread my wet folds and I moaned when his tongue licked all the way up and sucked on my clit. Goddess, I shuddered at the pleasure that one act gave me.
He did it again. “Goddess yes!” I groaned and he latched on to my core and plunged his tongue in deep and hard, probing in and out. I began gyrating against his mouth, hands holding his head and pressing him into me as his tongue fucked me. He slipped two fingers in and began pumping while his mouth went back to nipping and sucking my swollen clit. I felt the pressure building when he curled his fingers and found that magic spot. A few more pumps of his fingers and my walls were clenching them tightly. He bit down on my nub hard, and I wantonly squealed as my climax came gushing out.
He didn’t stop his assault, lapping up every drop of juice I spilled.
Once I was coming down from my short high, he let up and leaned back, sucking his two fingers clean, and palmed his cock, giving it a few long strokes before rubbing it over my still wet and ready pussy.
He entered me with one hard thrust. “Travis!” I gasped in pleasure, and he only stilled for a second before pulling back and harshly ramming back into me with a wicked smile on his face. The room filled with the sounds of his grunts and my moans in-between the rhythmic beating of our skin slapping together.
I awoke in a cold sweat, my forehead and chest beaded with perspiration. I looked over to see if Travis was still in my bed. He was lying on his stomach, softly breathing, undisturbed. I sighed and pulled my knees up to my chest, resting my forearms on them. It wasn’t often Travis and I shared a bed, but every now and then we allowed each other the comfort we found in one another’s company.
We weren’t in love; it was just purely sexual. It was something that happened one night and became a way for both of us to relieve our stress and tension. It wasn’t a good idea the first time or the second, and it still wasn’t a good idea a year later, but it was something we both needed and something we could only get from each other. There were no expectations, at least not for me and I hoped not from him. I was still hoping the Moon Goddess would grant him a second chance mate. If anyone deserved a second chance, it was Travis. He was the strong, quiet type, but his presence was commanding and his aura demanded respect, a true Alpha in all ways and loyal to me to a fault.
“Nightmares?” his groggy and deep voice grumbled in the dark.
“Something like that, go back to sleep Travis,” I told him.
Yes, I still had nightmares about my time in captivity here and so did he. Almost every night, if it wasn’t the tortuous dreams of bear shifters or the dead rogue king invading my subconscious, it was the repetitive reoccurring dream of the library. The same old story, pun intended, of standing there and pages flying from the books, highlighting different words as they embedded into my mind. It was neither of those dreams that had me waking up in a cold sweat tonight.
No, tonight it was the steely silver eyes that had penetrated my thoughts and consumed my subconscious with visions of those eyes piercing my soul and burning into me. In my state of dream, those shinning silver orbs had created a heat and yearning for something or someone. Those eyes were hardened yet alluring, piercing but familiar. For the past few weeks, that penetrating and lust-filled gaze had consumed my sleep.
I heard soft snores coming from Travis. Not being tired anymore, I decided to get up. I knew that if I tried to go back to sleep, I would just be tossing and turning or better yet, staring at the ceiling.
I opened my dresser, grabbing a pair of workout shorts and a sports bra. I tugged them on and slipped out of my chambers. It was still dark and dawn wouldn’t be breaking for a few hours so I headed down the stairs, into the corridor, and down another flight of stairs until I reached the first floor and side door. Opening it, I was met with crisp cool air. It was certainly getting colder, and winters could be rough here. I made my way toward the indoor gym we had built for training. There was nothing better than working out your frustrations by hitting the bag or fucking and well, I had already fucked Travis and still had some pent-up tension. Besides, I don’t think I could let him fuck me while those eyes were still dominating my thoughts.
The gym was quiet and given the fact I was the only one here, it would be. I got to work pounding on the bag mercilessly, each hit harder than before. I came in here to work off some steam but for some reason, my agitation grew to a higher level every time my fist connected with the sand-filled punching bag. Past memories plagued me, current problems vexing my already seated frustration and trying to work out why my dreams were being consumed by those platinum sexy eyes. Who did they belong to? I was sure I had never seen eyes like that; eyes that resembled those of a god, framed by thick dark lashes, eyes that called to my very soul.
The creaking of the gym door had my head snapping up just to see Hunji entering.
“My queen.” He nodded to me.
I stilled the bag and dropped my arms. “You and Travis are the only ones to address me as such. I am not a queen. Not yet.” I said, turning to face him as he came closer.
“That is what you are, and it is about time you took that title,” he said with a light growl of agitation. He was the first wolf to pledge his loyalty and life to me, way back before I even knew what I was. He had been a mentor and teacher when I attended the Alpha Academy and followed us back to the kingdom the day we left. Since then, he has always been by my side and never once has he let me down.
Hunji had always been considered a sort of warrior monk. That was the best way I could describe it. He trained and lived with monks in the Mountains of Mint, harnessing their skills and knowledge. When he fought it was to protect, when he killed it was to protect, never in malice or with ill intent.
He was quiet, a man of little words, brooding, always thinking. He was a worldly person, at the age of 32 he had traveled far and wide and crossed oceans and deserts in a quest for peace. Not world peace, more of a ‘soothe the soul’ type of peace for him and his wolf. I never had learned the whole story, but it was to my understanding that Hunji had a mate who betrayed him by taking another to her bed and refused to reject him, which in turn caused him immense pain and he almost died trying to rip his own heart out. He killed his mate one night when he decided he wanted to live. He forsook the Goddess’ gift when he killed her and would remain mate-less for the rest of his life. It was the first and last time he had killed in hate.
I loved Hunji, he was a big brother of sorts, and I always wondered how he calmly dealt with us ‘pups’ as he would call us.
“Hunji, I am not about to proclaim myself a queen. Doing that would make me no better than these self-proclaimed pompous Alphas, I would be no better than Silas. I will wait until the high council has made their decision and call me to court.” I huffed out.
“You will never be like those bastards; you are so much more Lamia.” His tone softened and he held love for me in his dark, almost black eyes. He sniffed the air, “You know you can’t keep this up with him, don’t you?” he said of me and Travis.
“I know,” shame laced my voice. “That’s why I have decided to send him to the Pacific Moon Pack and from there he will make his way to Briarshire. Maybe this time he will make time to visit his home.”
“For how long?” he asked curiously.
“As long as it takes him,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders. I wasn’t looking to get rid of Travis, but Hunji was right - what Travis and I had was becoming too comfortable; at least I thought it was for him. He needed to go home and see his family. He hadn’t been back there since his dead mate, Kira, had tricked him, kidnapped him, and rejected him. That was almost three years ago now and his younger brother was getting ready to take his place as Alpha of the pack. Travis had rejected the position, wanting to stay loyal to me and our building empire.
“Did you know King Armand has requested Tawny for an audience?” I asked him cautiously, watching to gauge his reaction.
“Yes.” He gritted and clenched his fist, not looking me in the eye.
I knew it had broken his heart when she decided to return to the werewolf’s Royal pack to finish school. I had hoped my best friend would have returned to MacTire after graduating, but the prince offered her a position as his personal advisor and she accepted, opting to stay at the pack with her father.
I also knew Hunji and Tawny had had a thing at one point but never acted on it, and he still held a deep admiration for her. I could never decide who was more disappointed, me or him, that Tawny hadn’t come to stay here. Personally, I miss my best friend. I was in a man’s world and my only friends were men. I guess it just would have been nice to have that female confidant and support around.
“I want you to assemble a team of a dozen of our best werecat warriors to accompany her. She is going to pass through here on her way to Armand’s Kingdom and I would be happier knowing she had our Elite fighters with her.” I ordered.
“Do you not think Prince Kellen would send any guards with her?” He cocked his head, a few of his dark strands falling over his eyes.
“Of course, but he would send wolves and the disowned werecat princess will not and cannot walk into the Camibador Kingdom with wolves. They will never allow them to cross the border and I won’t have her unprotected.” I regarded him for a minute and knew he would only pick the best to escort Tawny.
I began to walk away when a thought occurred to me. “And no, you cannot go. So don’t even ask,” I threw over my shoulder. “My office in two hours please, we have a few things to go over,” I finished, and promptly went back to the castle to my suite to shower. Now the sun was up over the horizon. My workout had done little to ease my restless mind and now it was time to begin the day.
Travis had already vacated my room by the time I returned, much to my relief. That was one of the perks of our ‘arrangement’. We never lingered and never expected anything more than the respite our sexual endeavors offered. After showering, I put on a pair of black slacks with a white blouse and black cardigan, pulled on a pair of black boots, and braided my long-streaked hair to the side. I hardly ever bothered with makeup, only if we had a formal function or outside visitors. I left my chambers and began making my way down to my office which sat to the side of the throne room.
I walked in and sat behind my desk. This was another room we had gutted and remodeled. Actually, we pretty much remodeled almost every room in the castle, modernizing the internal dated slate walls. I had commissioned Damon’s father to re-plaster every fucking wall in this place and give it a new coat of paint when we had electricity installed in the place. That’s right. This castle was so old there was barely running water, no electricity, and bare stone floors. It was literally a castle out of a medieval history book.
Goddess, we have come a long way in such a short period of time. The north wing had still not been a hundred percent finished, it cost a fortune for all the upgrades and modifications we did. I hardly paid for labor, but the materials alone almost wiped me clean. So how did I afford to do all this? Some have asked. Well, luckily for me, I had a huge trust fund from not only my parents but also from the king himself who was, for all intents and purposes, an uncle. Bit by bit we built this place to the glory it now is. Natural wood covered the floors from top to bottom, the stair halls were carpeted in wine-colored patterned runners, and rooms were adorned with large area rugs, some fully carpeted. Furniture was replaced and bathrooms gutted and rebuilt along with new ones installed.
My office was decked out with a modern light oak desk and a high-back rolling chair. On the other side of the desk sat two black, metal-framed cushioned chairs. In the center was a round table that sat eight and behind that, soft black leather couches that sat in front of the wall. A huge picture sat on the wall printed in black and white, an aerial view of MacTire’s territory. It was a gift from Damon, he had taken the picture with one of the drones he had built and I loved it. On my desk sat several pictures. The first one was of me, Kellen, and Mike. This was taken on Mike's eighteenth birthday, back at the academy before everything had gone to shit. We were all smiling and so happy. The second was a picture of my mom and dad at their mating ceremony. Time had been kind to them and they look just as good now as they did then, with the exception of some grey hairs on my father and his heart condition from the silver poisoning. And they were as much in love now as they were then too. The third picture was my favorite, I picked that one up and let my fingers trail over Zane’s handsome face. Tawny had captured this moment, a rare occasion when Zane was letting anyone besides myself see his panty-wetting smile. That day we had been swimming and, as usual, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. I had jumped on his back, playing around in the pool and goofing off. I had my arms wrapped around his neck as I laughed at something he said, he had his head slightly tilted towards mine, but you could see every emotion in his icy blue eyes, all of his love and happiness in that one moment.
“I will always love you,” I whispered to his picture before setting it back on the desk. The memories were always hard to swallow; I wondered if I would ever feel the happiness and completeness I had felt with him. Somehow, I doubted it.
Ashe had said I would be fated to another, but it had been over two years now. I was twenty and a widow, I didn’t think I really wanted to find another mate anyway. So, I was glad in a way. I don’t think I could ever let go of Zane. I could never love another like him.
Alpha! We have had a breach at the border. We are taking the intruder to the dungeons. My self-pitying was interrupted by the mind link from border patrol.
Very well, I will meet you down there in twenty minutes I replied. There had only been a handful of times that we had had a breach that warranted locking the intruder up.
Travis, meet me at the dungeons in twenty. We had a breach and they were captured. I’m going to go interrogate. I reached out linking Travis.
His reply was instant. Yes, my queen, twenty minutes I rolled my eyes, there was that title again.
Didn’t they get it. I couldn’t be a queen until the high council voted on it, and then the rest of the realm's kings and queens had to vote and approve the official status. I mean I didn’t have to do it this way, but it was the right way and the lawful way. If I just upped and told everyone I was queen, I would never gain any favors amongst the kingdoms. I would essentially just be considered a rogue queen. I would never associate the word rogue with the title of queen. Over my fucking dead body would I ever let them call me that!