Page 182 of Settle Down, Princess

He was asking me to trust him, I saw that now. While Arik’s concerns were valid, the prince had caused me far more pain than Creed ever had, so I pulled myself up and out of Silas’ lap.

“You’ve got clever fingers,” I told the dark haired man over my shoulder. “Put them to use now if you please. I think Creed’s wolf has a mind to tear this dress from me, but I quite like it.”

“You’re reckless, girl.” Silas’ breath traced shivery little circles along the skin of my neck, but I felt his fingers move, smoothing over the nape of my neck, then going to work. “That’s why you’re perfect for us.”

Creed’s keen eyes took in the release of every button, watching my dress slowly sag from my form before surging forward.

“This has always been the way of it,” he told me in a voice that was as hoarse as his tone was gentle. “You and me together. Now we just acknowledge that.”

Every important moment of my life was marked by a dress, but this one? It wasn’t until I was free of this pretty, brocaded riding habit that I could embrace it. No satin, or fur trim, or pearls would help me this time, just this. He wrenched himself free of his clothes, emerging brown skinned as a nut and hard for me. My eyes traced the scars and the shape of all those glorious muscles, trailing down until I saw plainly how he differed from human men.

“The knot is the only part of the wolf that remains during mating,” Hazel had told me at their kitchen table. “They call us beast men for a reason. We are not humans. Our love is not the fair weather thing of your kind. If you choose my grandson, you will know this. His love will never waver, nor his ardour for you.” She and Saffron shared a smile then. “Once you have claimed a wolf’s heart, he will never look at another woman. He will be yours, mind, body and soul, and you need to be comfortable with accepting that responsibility.” She smiled and sighed. “That gift.”

I nodded now to the woman who had helped me to understand this, to the man she called grandson. I nodded to make sure the others knew that I agreed to this. Their concern was sweet, but not needed, not now.

“Then make me yours, Master Creed,” I said, tugging his head down.

Chapter 103

Creed

Gods, I’d waited my whole life for this moment and still it didn’t feel real.

Jess emerged from her dress like a goddess might the foam of the sea, her radiance temporarily blinding me. It didn’t matter because my other senses were working overtime, bringing me her scent, the feel of her ankles under my claws, the sound of satin slipping free of her skin. Then she had to turn her head towards me and say those words.

“Then make me yours, Master Creed.”

I knew she called me that as a nod to the way she had referred to me when we met, but the title didn’t fit. I felt like master of nothing, subject in all ways to her. That didn’t stop my claws from reaching for her, my muscles tensing as I watched the sharp points dimple her skin. I willed them away with a promise to the wolf that I could do this. For the both of us, I would claim Jessalyn, starting with her mouth.

The way she sucked in a breath, her whole body melting against me when I kissed her. My arm shot out, ready to take over holding her up. It didn’t take much to haul her closer, fitting her body against mine.

Her hot, wet little cunt. I felt it kiss the length of my cock, cum spilling helplessly out of me at that touch. The need to pin her down rode me hard, for my hand on the back of her neck forcing her to submit as I took her , but that wouldn’t happen now. When her heat came, when she was begging for everything I could give her, I’d do just that, but this moment was for the man, not the wolf. He pressed kisses into her neck, trying to memorise the feel of it, so when I walked free of this tent, I’d feel that satin against them every time I spoke.

“Jess…”

I whispered her name as my lips dropped lower, down to breasts that seemed to rise up, ready for my touch. My tongue flicked over one swollen nipple to the sound of her hiss, then the others. The wolf wanted out. In the halfway form between man and wolf, our tongue was longer, more mobile and he knew what that would do to her. Make her feel every swipe through her whole body, but I pushed him back. Not here, not now. My mouth closed over one tight point and sucked it in, allowing me to feel Jess writhing against me at the stimulation. That was it, that was what I needed. Her fingers in my hair, not letting me pull away for a second. And when she was sure I would obey her, she slid her hands across my shoulders, my arms, as if she were learning the shape of me, before she scraped the nails of one hand against my nipple.

I didn’t need any further stimulation. The edge I was riding threatened to collapse at any point, throwing me into a pit of pure bliss. Not until I was inside her, I told my body over and over. I needed the velvety hot clasp of her around my cock, my body delving deeper until there was no more territory to claim, then she’d be all mine. I tugged her wrists free, drawing them up over her head, then pulled away to growl at Silas.

“Got it,” he said, rising like a shadow behind her shoulder. His gaze strayed, taking in every movement of Jessalyn’s body as he stretched her arms out, pulling her taut between the two of us. “You need to be a good girl for Creed. If he’s anything like me, he can’t take your touch. You can do that for me, can’t you?”

Her lips were red and swollen, her eyes heavily lidded as she searched his face before nodding. He kissed her once, unable to stop himself—a lack of restraint I was well familiar with. I felt like I was gorging myself on her perfect little breasts, the sounds of her muffled cries urging me on. One nipple, then the other. I couldn’t bear for one to be neglected and that’s when Roan moved forward.

“Oh!”

Her gasp filled the whole tent, and I growled around my mouthful of her, lest anyone come near to listen. Jess’ cry came in response to Roan claiming her other breast, the two of us working together to push her arousal higher. The sweet scent of flowers filled the tent, along with the saltier scent of her, until I was forced to pull away and seek its source.

“Well, look at you…”

Arik didn’t talk to me, but Jessalyn and as I slid down her body, I saw why. Held fast and kissed senseless by Silas, while Roan kissed and sucked one breast, his fingers plucking the other. She was stretched out tight between us, but our circle wasn’t complete. The commander wanted to make sure we were doing the right thing at all times, but the alpha… He had to know what this was, what we were to each other. How things would go from now on. His fingers twitched, right before he slid them down the white plain of her stomach, tracing small circles there, before twisting his wrist to skim his knuckles against it.

“They had no idea what they were raising, those royal parents of yours,” Arik said. “In some ways I’ve come to appreciate the veil, the strictures. I’d never deny a woman her pleasure and the right to seek it wherever she might find it, but…” His brow creased right as I pressed a kiss to the hard swell of her hip bone. “There is something very dark, very selfish that glories in the fact you’ve only experienced this at our hands.”

Roan pulled his fingers free, but Arik was there to replace them. He rubbed his thumb over the nub of her nipple until the skin around it began to wrinkle, then pinched down cruelly. A growl built in my throat, ready to stop him in his tracks when her whole body stiffened, but that little whine that escaped her lips? It echoed the sound of my own need.

“I tried to warn you, tried to stop this from happening, but you persisted on stumbling on where angels fear to tread. We are not good men, that you already know, so in taking us as yours this becomes your burden. Every pleasure, every pain…” Her hips jerked as he pinched down tighter, worrying the nipple between his fingertips, but her thighs spread wider, allowing me to see the silvery sheen of her arousal. “Every response you have is ours. Say it.”

She pulled away from Silas, her brows creasing in confusion, but before she could give voice to that, my tongue slid between her folds. Salty, sweet, her taste burst on my tongue, making clear I would crave it above all other things for the rest of my day.

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