Page 38 of The King

“Yeah, but you know patience isn’t my thing.”

“I do, mi amor, but your lack of patience is also very endearing.”

"Right back at you with being endearing," she winked before again narrowing her eyes and contemplating something.

In no time, his miraculous Mate turned in his lap, looked him right in the eye, and blurted out, "How about you ask me what you want to know?" Gently tapping his temple, she winked. "I know there's something you're not saying, and I will not go diggin’, even though I could.” Giving him a quick kiss, she added with a shrug, “So, go for it.”

“Okay,mi amor, you are right. There is something I've wondered for a very long time.”

“And?”

"I want to know why you, Claire, and the others call each other 'cousin' when you are actually sisters - or half-sisters?"

Laughing out loud, she patted his shoulder and sighed happily. "Oh, my Great Goddess, you never cease to amaze me, Catman Do.” Taking another sip of her coffee, Bridgette nodded and smiled. "Well, it's a ridiculous and short little story. But for you, I'll spill the beans." Inhaling deeply, she let out the breath and winked, "Well, it's all because of our moms. It seems unlikely after you meet all of us, but the moms are a bit old-fashioned when it comes to love, sex, and pretty much all forms of PDA. So, since we were all raised together and close to the same age, they didn't want to tell us that we shared a father."

Leveling her gaze, the twinkle in her eyes damn near making him forego the story and take her upstairs to make love to her, Max waited as patiently as possible and was rewarded with a brilliant smile as his Mate continued. "Actually, they didn't want us to know that they'd all slept with the same man – actually, god - because they didn't know until right before each of us was born and had Divine Powers. Suffice it to say, they were all mortified."

“You are kidding,mi amor.”

With her hand over her heart, Bridgette solemnly promised, "No way. Not even a little bit. They had no idea. I guess they had all talked about the 'guy' they were dating, but since they were never in the same place at the same time when he was around, they never put two and two together. Anyway, after they got over the shock, they decided to wait until we were older to tell us. Well, by that time, we all thought of each other as cousins. And that's the way it stayed."

“I see.”

"But that's what you really wanted to know, right?"

“I can get nothing over on you, Amada,” Max smiled. Pulling her close, he kissed his Mate deeply. Breaking the embrace before he was at the point of no return, the King winked when Bridgette pouted and chuckled, "Okay, here is what I really want to know." Waiting for a single beat of their hearts, he asked, "Why did you deny our Mating for so long?"

A blush colored her cheeks as she gasped and bit the end of her straw. Then, with a single nod, she looked him right in the eye and confessed, "Because I thought I would be a bad Mate."

“What? No. That cannot be.”

"Oh, it's true," she shyly admitted, her eyes looking everywhere but at him. "I was sure I would suck with a capital S at being a Mate. Ask Eden if you don't believe me." She took a quick breath and powered on. “Okay, so here’s the deal. Like we just talked about, I didn’t really have a ‘happy Mates’ role model. Don’t get me wrong, mom was and is the best ever. And growing up with all my Aunties and my cousins was the best. But as far as watching how men and woman communicate and make things work – I had none of that.”

“Over the years, I saw it a lot with other Mated pairs, but that was just a glance into how it all worked. Like five minutes out of an entire lifetime. I know I am a serious pain in the ass. I like things my way. I like to be right. And… I just could not imagine anyone ever wanting to put up with my stubborn ass for a week, let alone an eternity.”

Gently taking her chin between his thumb and forefinger, Max coaxed his brilliant Mate to look at him. When their eyes met, he pushed all the love, adoration, and absolute affection he felt for her into their Mating Bond and professed, "Bridgette, you have been my everything since I first laid eyes on you. There is quite literally nothing you could ever do that would make me turn from you."

“But I…”

"Yes, you are stubborn and headstrong and always have to be right and have things your way, but that is who you are. That is the woman I love. And that woman –youare also beautiful, stunning, caring, loving, intelligent, strong, independent, and a whole host of things that I could be listing them off for days and days." Once again, he kissed the tip of her nose. "And you are the woman I love more than anything in the world."

Laying his lips on hers, he whispered into her mind,“And you are the woman I am going to make love to right this very minute.”

On his feet with Bridgette in his arms, Max stopped by the breakfast bar for her to get rid of her glass, then made quick work of the stairs leading to his room. Stepping over the threshold, he kicked the door shut with the heel of his shoe and stalked across the room like a man possessed. Gently laying his Mate on the soft down of the black and gray comforter, Max settled his body atop hers, holding his weight on his forearms where he’d positioned them on either side of her head.

Settling in between her legs, his erection throbbing within the delicious heat of Bridgette’s body, Max rolled his hips. Holding her captive, he basked in the look of complete abandon and unadulterated passion on his Mate's beautiful face. Shifting his hand to the side, he felt his way across her hip and up her ribs until his fingers came to rest under the beautiful fullness of her breast.

Teasing her nipple through the silk of her bra with his thumb and forefinger, Max smiled as Bridgette arched her back, trying to force his touch to her bare skin. Pride, unlike anything he'd ever felt, filled his soul when she moaned his name like a prayer to the Heavens. Although he hadn't meant to torture his Mate, there was no denying that watching her go wild by his touch alone had just become his new favorite pastime.

Unable to stand his own torment a moment longer, Max pushed up onto his knees and pulled Bridgette into a sitting position with her chest against his. Tasting along her collarbone, he made short work of her blouse and bra. His mouth watered, and Casimiro’s growl shook the inside of his mind as his Demi-Goddess’ voluptuous breasts and berry-colored nipples came into view.

Licking across the first one and then the other of her hardened peaks, he was quickly rewarded with a mewled, "Oh, Max… Oh, my Catman Do… Oh, my Goddess, please… please never stop.”

Needing to leave no part of his Mate untouched, the King took one of her nipples between his lips. Teasing it with his teeth and tongue until her head thrashed from side to side, his reward was complete when she pushed more of her breast into his mouth and begged him never to stop.

The scent of their love filled the room as he pushed Bridgette's arousal higher and higher before releasing one nipple and moving to the other. Needing her blessedly naked for him to love, mark, and worship, Max removed the denim jeans from her body with a single thought. Abandoning her nipples, he kissed the delicately tender skin between her breasts, working his way across the swell of her stomach until he reached the lace waistband of her panties.

Inhaling deeply, unable to resist the heaven of her body any longer, the King knelt between her thighs and ripped the silk panties from her hips. Throwing the offending material over his shoulder, he gazed at his blessedly naked and extremely beautiful Mate. As slowly as his need to be inside her would allow, he took it in, memorized, and visually devoured every inch of her glorious body.

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