Page 10 of Love Bites Hard (Mated to the King #2)
ten
PORTER
I forced myself to breathe through the intensity of my mate’s magic. My fists were clenched, my cock throbbing painfully, and I couldn’t stop myself from imagining having my mate’s body around mine in every way there was.
“You good?” Hale asked, watching me closely. We sat on beach chairs just outside the lake, with the sun shining down on us.
“Can’t you feel Blair’s magic?” I gritted out.
“Yeah. Feels fucking good.” He flashed me a grin. “But she knew this was a possibility and prepared me for it.”
He’d undoubtedly sated himself on her blood and screwed her. Repeatedly.
The way I wanted to with Izzy.
Hell, the way I needed to.
I was on the verge of mentally calling her back to the surface and taking her into the trees so I could have my way with her. Being able to think straight again for a few minutes afterward sounded like a necessity.
But I knew her well enough to be sure that asking would result with an immediate no .
Which would hurt.
“So you’re not good?” Hale checked.
“I’m fine.”
“The moon’s almost full. I can’t imagine that’s making staying in control any easier.”
I grunted in response.
It didn’t. The full moon was the next night, and I had no doubt it was going to cause me even more problems with my mate.
He added, “You sound like you’re in pain. We can move further from the water. It’ll help.”
I wanted to ease the pressure, but I couldn’t go further from my mate. I needed to stay close to her, to protect her.
Not to mention, her magic was urging me to dive into the water and not come up until I’d found her. Which would obviously kill me, because I couldn’t see a damn thing down there.
“You should be at least a little used to her magic at this point.” He studied me a little more closely. “You have felt it before, haven’t you?”
“No. I feed her before she gets hungry,” I gritted out. “And she’s good at keeping it under control.”
“Even if she is, it shouldn’t be affecting you this badly if you’re screwing. You are, aren’t you?”
I stared at the lake. He didn’t need an answer.
It wasn’t his business what I was or wasn’t doing with my mate.
“Damn, man. No wonder it’s hitting you so hard.” He grinned. “You’re not going to last all day. Wave her over the next time they surface, and tell her the truth.”
“If that worked on your mate this soon after you met her, she’s a different kind of woman than mine.”
Hale chuckled. “Fair point.”
“How long did it take you?”
“To win her over? Longer than I would’ve liked. She only hated me for a few weeks, but from there, it was a while before she was willing to even consider having feelings for me. When they were young teenagers, Blair’s father killed all of their mothers out of some deluded idea of love. They joke about taking mates sometimes, but I don’t think any of them have ever had a reason to really believe in mate bonds.”
“Even your mate?”
His smile widened. “Well, she does now.”
Fuck, the thought made my chest ache.
Knowing that my mate didn’t have that, and it was my fault, fucking hurt. I needed to do better.
Two of the women’s heads popped up in the middle of the lake. I recognized my mate immediately, noticing that her light hair was braided back the same way it had been the day Arthur touched her. One of her sisters must’ve done it under the water.
The one with her had curly hair. I was pretty sure it was Zora, but none of them had bothered introducing themselves to me.
Straining my ears, I tried to hear the conversation but only caught a few words.
Weak.
Hungry.
One of them clearly needed to feed.
The way they both looked at me told me which of them it was.
Isabella shook her head and disappeared back beneath the water.
I let out a harsh breath, unable to stop myself from reaching my mind out to hers.
“If you’re feeling weak, come up here and let me feed you.” The words came out sharper than I intended.
“I’m fine.”
I could feel that she was lying.
Force didn’t achieve anything with her, so I didn’t bother going that route. Instead, I asked,
“Won’t the lake be purified much faster if you have more power to use on it?”
She huffed. “You’re trying to goad me into feeding on you, and it’s not going to work.”
“Alright.”
I withdrew, though I was fairly confident I’d just won the battle.
She really wanted the lake purified.
Ten hellish minutes later, her head finally broke the surface of the water right by us.
The intensity of her magic had me closing my eyes and breathing through the fierce need that pounded through me. My cock fucking hurt. My balls, too.
“What’s wrong with him?” she asked Hale.
“He’s horny.”
“It can’t be that bad.”
“I don’t think he’s ever felt your magic before, so yeah, it can. Incoming full moon doesn’t help.”
A pair of small, soft hands combed my hair away from my face, and I couldn’t suppress my groan. The pressure of her magic eased a little, but her presence erased any relief I may have had.
When I opened my eyes and found myself face-to-face with her breasts, straining against her black bikini while the water on them caught the light, I gripped the chair’s armrests tighter.
“I’m getting a phone call,” Hale said, and the words barely registered.
Some part of me heard him walking away, but I couldn’t tear my gaze from my mate.
She sat down on my lap, and her eyes replaced her breasts in my immediate line of sight. The pressure of her body against my cock made everything hurt more—and feel better too, at the same time.
Surprisingly enough, she looked amused.
“I didn’t think my magic would affect you.”
“Then why have you kept it under wraps since we bonded?” I gritted out.
Her amusement faded. “Habit.”
One of her hands was still in my hair, and she tried to use it to pull my face to hers.
I resisted. “If you kiss me, I’m going to lose complete control of myself.”
Her eyes gleamed. “Sounds like fun.”
One of my chair’s armrests snapped beneath my hand, and her lips curved upward.
When she pulled my face to hers again, I didn’t resist.
I didn’t want to.
I couldn’t .