Page 13 of Love Bites Harder (Mated to the King #3)

thirteen

KAI

I showed Clementine the castle’s library, and she pulled out a stack of romance books before we got comfortable on opposite sides of a couch together. Everything had been cleaned since the last eclipse, and everyone was subdued, like they usually were whenever the realm was at peace.

Though I wanted to take her to the beach a short distance from the castle and show her that there were perks to the fae realm she despised, I knew I couldn’t. I had too damn many journals to read. And she’d want to swim in the ocean, but the creatures beneath the waves were far too dangerous.

I’d have to figure out a way to build a pool in the castle.

Or clear out a pond or lake nearby, and build a structure around it so nothing could get in.

I forced myself to refocus on my father’s journals even though it was the last thing I wanted to do.

She spent the last few hours of the day on her side of the couch, and I spent them on mine.

When we finally went back to our room together, I warned her that she would need to sleep in more clothes—and she rolled her eyes at me.

It made me fucking hard.

Not that I’d ever been soft around her. My desire for her had only been heightened by the way she’d come undone on my cock in that elevator, and the vines would respond to it while I slept, no matter how much I tried to contain them.

“I like your vines, Seven. If they want to fuck me, I’ve got no problem with it,” she said, slipping into my bed. She hadn’t bothered changing out of my shirt, even when we’d unpacked her clothes.

I liked seeing her in them, so I wasn’t going to complain.

She spoke like my vines had a mind of their own. Like they weren’t just an uncontrollable extension of me. I’d already explained otherwise, so I didn’t bother to clarify.

She’d get my vines whether she wanted them or not, so I was glad she did.

Partway through the night, she woke me up with soft cries of pleasure.

I bit down on the pillow to stop myself from ripping her pants down and driving into her. I could feel the vines inside her and moving over her clit, working her to climax. And fuck, it took everything I had not to join them.

She came down from her high without calling out to me.

The woman probably assumed I was asleep—as if I could sleep through her pleasure while she arched her hips the way she did, pressing her tight little ass harder against my cock.

She sighed softly, and her breathing evened out a minute later as she fell back asleep.

I forced the vines to release her, and though my cock ached fiercely, I eventually managed to fall asleep again too.

We fell quickly into a rhythm.

She spent her mornings in the bathtub, after we made out for a few minutes on the days she needed to feed. I spent mine in the shower, jerking off when she was beneath the water. It didn’t even take the edge off, but it was the only real option. She’d only let me take her when she wanted to save her ex-lovers’ lives, so that was off the table.

Our days were spent in the library, with her reading romance books that made her face red. She shifted positions frequently enough that my cock was constantly hard. We had our meals there, too, and I forced myself to keep going through my father’s journals.

When night came around, I woke up to watch my mate climaxing not on me, but on my vines.

Every fucking time.

It happened more frequently with every night that passed.

Nearly two weeks in, I had only just fallen asleep when she was up the first time, moaning softly into the sheets.

There weren’t words to describe how much I wanted her.

As soon as I managed to fall asleep, the vines woke her up again, and I swore silently as I bit down on the pillow. I had to fight every cell in my body not to take her the way I wanted to.

It took longer than it should’ve to fall back asleep—and as soon as I managed it, the vines went to work again.

Clementine got off over and over, until the early hours of the morning when I couldn’t fucking take it again.

When I knew she was out, I forced myself to roll out of bed and strode into the shower.

I couldn’t turn the water on without the risk of waking her up, but I didn’t have to. She never took showers, so she wouldn’t realize what I’d done.

I pressed a hand to the wall and finally took my cock in my fist.

It was a poor substitute for the tight, silky heat of her channel.

I needed her.

I needed her badly.

I stroked my cock, clenching my jaw to fight my groan as my balls tightened and I finally lost control.

The release felt empty without her, but it eased the tension slightly.

One wasn’t enough, though.

I jerked myself off again, going over the edge just as a soft voice behind me said, “Kai?”

Knowing her eyes were on me, I couldn’t suppress my growl as I lost control, coming harder than I had before.

She stepped up behind me, wrapping her arms lightly around my middle.

My eyes slammed shut.

My chest rose and fell rapidly.

I still felt the urge to take her. To pin her to the shower’s wall, and fuck her until her legs shook so badly that she couldn’t walk.

“We need to talk,” she whispered.

I bit the inside of my cheek to stop myself from acting on my desires.

“Alright,” I managed

She released me, stepping around me to press her back to the wall just below where my hand was. Her bare toes, painted a rich shade of red, were only inches from my release.

My cock throbbed.

I still needed her.

“Stand like that, and you’re going to end up with me between those pretty little thighs,” I warned, but she didn’t move.

Her face was almost the same color as her hair, which was a gorgeous, tangled mess after all the writhing she’d done beneath me.

It was fucking perfect.

“That’s what we need to talk about. I think we both know that your vines have been screwing me. Every night. Repeatedly. It’s amazing, and I have no complaints, but I think I understand why. You’re horny.”

“I’m fine.”

She bit her lip, and tense silence filled the space between us.

I shouldn’t have lied.

I obviously wasn’t fine.

“Do you ever let people help you?” she finally asked.

I blinked. “Orvin and Steve keep the castle running. Austin, Paul, and Rocky handle a lot of the Manor shit.”

“They make sure there’s food to eat and try to stop most people from dying,” she agreed. “But do you ever let them do anything for you , specifically? Like… give you birthday presents? Or listen to you when you’ve had a rough day and aren’t sure what to do? Or help you with something that causes you pain, like reading your dad’s journals?”

My forehead creased. “Of course not.”

“Because they’re not your friends?”

“No.”

“Well, am I your friend?”

“No. Kings don’t have friends.”

“Then what am I?” she didn’t look offended.

Just fucking gorgeous.

“You’re my mate, Clem. Thought that was pretty clear.” I lifted a hand to her throat and brushed the mark lightly. My mark.

“Everyone knows you’re supposed to mate with your best friend. Spending your life with anyone else would be miserable.”

My mood darkened. There was no world where anyone would call us best friends. “You didn’t even want to mate with me.”

“I didn’t even know it was an option at the time. How could I have wanted it?”

She had a point.

“I have a lot of friends,” she said.

My jaw clenched.

I didn’t want to know about her friends . Thinking about the ones I’d met still made me violent.

“And I consider you one of them, okay?” She pulled me out of my murderous thoughts with that. “We’ve been spending a lot of time together, and I like it. It’s not the mate bond I hoped for, considering you never even answered the questions on the list I spent so long making—but I’m happy with it. We’re figuring things out. But you don’t let people help you.”

“No.”

“That’s going to change now. With me.”

I didn’t respond.

What did she mean?

“The next time your vines wake me up because you’re horny, we’re going to fuck,” she said, and my eyes slammed shut.

I had to clench my jaw hard to stop myself from pinning her to the wall and taking her, right then and there.

“I love sex. I love being woken up for it, too. If you’re turned on or you want me, you’re going to let me help you. Because I’m your friend.”

I tipped my head back, forcing myself to focus on my breathing instead of her words. “You don’t understand what you’re offering.”

“You woke me up at least a dozen times last night. I understand exactly what I’m offering. If I’m going to get off that many times, I’d rather do it with your cock inside me.”

My entire body throbbed with need.

Desire.

Desperation.

She wrapped her soft little hand around my length. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

I groaned when she stroked me once, and fought my release with everything I had.

“You don’t have to let anyone else help you with anything,” she said softly, dragging her hand slowly down my length again. “But you can’t get away from me anymore. You claimed me. Now I’m yours. And I want to feel you come inside me.”

My control snapped in a heartbeat.

She’d given up on underwear days earlier, so I was slamming into her less than a second later, lifting her off her feet as I screwed her against the wall.

She was so fucking wet and slick.

So fucking mine .

I snarled my release, filling her with my pleasure.

Once wasn’t enough.

Her fingers gripped my hair, the sounds of her pleasure mingling with mine as she came with me the second time.

And the third.

Until I could finally breathe without feeling the insane, intense desperation that had been clinging to me for weeks.

My forehead pressed against the wall as Clementine caught her breath against my shoulder. Her hands moved slowly up and down my arms, her lips brushing my skin in a way that made me feel something I had no words to describe.

Something new.

Something… important.

“Did that work to convince you?” she whispered.

I couldn’t help but bark out a laugh. “The better question would be if it made me addicted to you.”

“Did it?”

“Beyond belief.”

She made a soft noise of surprise as I carried her back to our bed, my cock still buried inside her.

I wasn’t letting go.

Not for a while.

“I think it’s the morning,” she said.

“You barely slept, Five. You need rest. The morning can wait.”

“I’m not going to be able to sleep like this.” She gestured toward the place our bodies were connected.

I pulled out of her long enough to set her down on the bed on her stomach, and opened her thighs. While she looked over her shoulder at me in amusement, I propped a pillow under her abdomen to lift her hips, then filled her again.

Her eyes closed, a soft groan escaping her. “You think I can sleep with you inside me?”

“I think the alternative is sleeping with my vine inside you, and I’m tired of letting those fuckers take my place.”

“You were supposed to sleep too,” she said, lifting her hips a little.

“That’s not going to happen.”

“How about you just screw me again and we both actually get some sleep afterward?”

My eyes narrowed.

Her lips curved upward, and she rocked her hips, driving me deeper inside her. “Come on, Seven. One more for the road.”

“There’s no road involved,” I said, though I couldn’t help but thrust to meet her.

“The road is sleep. It’s a figure of speech.” She lifted her ass higher, and I growled as she tightened around me.

All thoughts fell away as I fucked her hard—and afterward, let her have her way as we fell asleep together.