Page 56 of Settle Down, Princess

“That…” She breathed the word out. “Need that! Creed—”

“Don’t you fucking dare.”

Arik. Alpha. The two parts of me gave him different names, but they meant the same thing. The only way a pack could work was if one member took the lead, showing the others the right way to go. He stared at me, making clear he was insisting on taking that role.

“She feels like fucking wet satin, doesn’t she?”

I didn’t even know what the hell satin was, but it was his tone, not his words, that convinced me. A painful awareness of how good she felt: that’s what I got from his voice, coupled with a desire to feel it all over again. I nodded.

“Because she’s hot, wet, and slick for you.” He turned to watch Silas kissing Jessalyn. “And him. But all that will go away if you give into your instincts right now.”

A low, rattling, threatening growl escaped my lips without any thought. Arik might be the alpha, but he didn’t know everything. Humans made decisions based on what their brains came up with, not what their hearts knew to be true. Jessalyn was hot, wet, slick, and swollen. Every stroke of my cock made clear just how ready she was for me. She’d part around me, swallow me deep inside her, and then I’d—

“It’ll hurt her.” Silas pulled away, staring over Jessalyn’s shoulder as Arik said the words. Her nipple popped free of Roan’s lips, and he blinked, coming back to himself at the commander’s words. “I’m not sure what it’s like for female wolf shifters, but…”

“The first time for a human woman hurts like a bitch.” Roan’s eyebrows pulled down as the haze of lust gave way to a hotter, harsher red mist of anger. “You can’t be her first. Her hymen doesn’t have to tear, but it will with you.” His brows creased. “You’ll make her fucking bleed.”

That was a slap to my face, forcing the wolf back and bringing the man forward. The one Jessalyn needed. My hands slid up, tracing the shape of her ribcage and torso as I tugged her closer and just held her. I closed my eyes and breathed her in, over and over, until I got myself under control.

“So how…?”

I didn’t need to spell out my request because we all knew. They weren’t wolf shifters, so it took them longer to put two and two together, but Jessalyn, she was our mate. Ours. So it made sense that whatever we did with her, we did together.

“What do you need, my sweet?” Silas asked her, kissing her to punctuate each word, sliding his fingertips down her throat.

“More,” she cried out, writhing now, the red tide starting to rise. “More, I need more.”

“Well, then, Princess, more is what you shall have.”

The flash of his knife had me snarling, but it sliced through the rope, freeing Jessalyn, not hurting her. He never would be able to, I saw that in the way he lowered her arms slowly, rubbing the skin to make sure the blood flow was returning, kissing each tip of her fingers as he undid the binding at her wrists, then checking the colour for good circulation and the marks left there.

“All perfect,” he said, shooting her a slow smile, one she returned. “Just like you. Do you trust us to satisfy your hungers?”

“Yes!”

She slid her hands around his neck and jerked his mouth down on hers. Whatever Silas had planned, it was set to one side as he pulled her from my grip and cradled her against him. He needed her just as much as I did, and the realisation came as a shock. Humans were so very good at hiding these things.

Right up until they broke and couldn’t pretend any longer.

“You heard the lady.” Silas pulled away to regard each one of us. Then Jessalyn’s hands raked down his chest. His eyes widened, then became heavily lidded when she cupped the front of his breeches. “None of that, not right now. You’ve got me right on the edge from just holding you.”

He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, then turned her around to face the three of us. Together, we’d endured a beating, faced down seemingly insurmountable odds, and defeated enemies on the battlefield. But all of that paled into insignificance. Nothing we had experienced would have more meaning than this.

“Hands around my neck,” Silas said. “That’s it, lass. That’s it,” he added when she did exactly as she was bid, rubbing up against him like a cat in heat.

And perhaps that fitted the state that all of us were in.

That wasn’t enough for Silas. He hoisted her up into his arms, offering her up like the sweetest of treats, using his grip on her thighs to spread them wide. Her pink, glistening treasure made my mouth water and my cock throb with urgency. Somehow the princess didn’t baulk at being offered to the lot of us in this manner. Instead, her eyes opened just a crack, daring us to come closer.

“Well, gentlemen,” Silas said, “our mate needs satisfying. Are you up to the challenge?”

We all glanced at each other, and that same sense of camaraderie we’d carried with us everywhere made us grin like boys before we lunged forward.

Chapter 32

Two nights ago, the first time I’d taken roseblood, I’d been filled with a rebellious urge to break all the rules my family had imposed upon me. That could’ve been dismissed as youthful indiscretion. The second time, though? I’d chosen to have this fire raging through my body, leaving me feeling hot, heavy with need, and they hadn’t made a move to satisfy yet.

“Ready, Princess?” I loved the feel of Silas’ breath on my skin, but I loved the hunger in his voice more. I tilted my head so I could stare into his eyes.

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