Page 10 of Love Bites Really Hard (Mated to the King #4)

ten

ZORA

I felt better after talking to Bane. His refusal to walk away when I was angry had actually fixed things. I didn’t like that it meant I’d need to try to do that too, but it was what it was.

After he showered and changed, we spent most of the day in meetings. I sat on Bane’s lap for most of them, even when it made my ass numb, because pretty much all of them were with unmated men who were complaining about random shit.

Most of the guys seemed like they were there to argue about the situation with Oscar. When they saw me snuggled up against Bane while he clearly fought his instincts to keep his hands on the armrests of his ginormous desk chair, their anger seemed to deflate.

The feel of my magic slipping over their skin, making them want me, didn’t seem to help their cause any.

Bane was barely holding his shit together when the final meeting ended. I knew I should do something to take the edge off for him, but with the distance we’d put between us, all I could do was smack him on the arm and tell him to shake it off.

Shockingly, that didn’t help much.

My birth control implant wouldn’t do any good because of our new relationship status, so we stopped at one of the monsters’ doctors when we left the office. She pulled it out quickly, paling a little when Bane snarled at her for making a tiny, necessary incision in my skin, but it was over pretty fast.

And it made me feel better. If Bane’s super-sperm had magically knocked me up, I didn’t want anything in me that could potentially hurt the little squirt.

The doctor assured me that a few rounds of protected sex less than twenty-four hours after sealing the bond couldn’t possibly lead to a baby, but I wasn’t convinced.

Bane’s magic was stronger than pretty much everyone else’s. Why wouldn’t his imprint be stronger too?

But I wasn’t going to get my hopes up or anything.

I didn’t really want a baby.

Mostly.

Kind of.

Even though that mental image of me holding a newborn kept popping into my head and making me feel things.

When we were done there, we headed to the female monsters’ portion of the Manor for dinner. We’d agreed to rotate which group we ate with for the time being, and we’d probably made enough of an impression during our meetings. We’d left the camera up in Bane’s office, so Oscar could see us together there constantly.

I lifted my eyebrows as we made our way through three separate security gates on our way to see the female monsters. All three of them seemed pretty indestructible to me.

When the third one finally closed behind us, a set of automatic doors slid open, and we found one of the women from the meeting waiting for us.

It was the woman who had come up with the seductress plan.

I liked her.

Bane tightened his grip on me anyway, like he was worried she was going to take me away from him.

The woman smiled as she introduced herself as Nessa. Luckily for her, she didn’t try to touch either of us. He clearly wasn’t feeling like sharing me, and I felt the same way.

“Do you two want a minute alone before dinner?” she checked. “People are already eating, so it’s not a big deal if you do. Meals are casual, here.”

I glanced up at Bane.

Wow.

Yeah.

He was still gritting his teeth, and I wasn’t even radiating magic anymore.

My no sex plan was going to require more blowjobs. A lot more blowjobs.

I wasn’t opposed, though.

“Let’s just get the meal over with,” Bane managed to say. He was trying so hard to stay neutral, I almost felt bad.

Nessa’s eyes flicked to me.

I let out a breath. “Yeah, we’ll take a minute. Do you have a closet or something that we can borrow?”

He gave a low growl.

Guess he didn’t like the idea of hooking up in a closet like we were some sort of dirty secret.

I couldn’t say I blamed him.

“The king has an office here. It hasn’t been used since Bane took over for the last king, but we started cleaning it out yesterday. Will that work?”

“That would be perfect,” I agreed.

She led us down a hallway and up an elevator. Bane’s arm was around my waist, holding on tightly, as we went. I wrapped mine around him too, hoping it would calm him.

It didn’t.

The office was just across from the elevator when we landed on the top level of the building, so that was nice.

Nessa gave us directions to the dining room for whenever we were ready, and I thanked her as Bane dragged me into the office.

There were a ton of boxes and a bunch of fake plants piled around the room. Plenty of dust, too. But the desk was empty, and looked like it had been wiped down.

There was one problem:

There were windows.

Big windows, across the entire wall that faced the hallway.

Bane lifted me onto the wooden desk without warning, and I made a noise of protest. “We need to close the blinds.”

“Fuck the blinds.”

“Are there cameras too?”

“Not in the female portion of the Manor. Can’t risk any of the tech guys accidentally imprinting.” He kneeled in front of me, tugging my pants and panties down my legs roughly. His tongue was on me a heartbeat later.

My fingers buried in his hair as I gasped out, “The blinds , Bane. Remember Oscar yesterday?”

He bit down on my clit lightly, and I nearly climaxed as I swore at him.

“We’re not supposed to be doing anything sexual.”

“You only said no sex.” He sucked my clit, and I groaned.

“Bane.”

He nipped at me again. “This isn’t sex.”

“Oral is still—fuck you,” I breathed, as he filled me hard with two fingers.

“You said you didn’t want to.”

“Shut up.”

He licked, sucked, and nipped. I couldn’t stop my gasps, or the way my hips rocked. I couldn’t even stop myself from crying out when I climaxed, though I managed to stifle the sound a little with my hand.

Bane seemed slightly more in control when he finally pulled his face from my core and crossed the room, closing the blinds.

The door had been open too—but he closed and locked it.

Suddenly, the room was dark. The windows that looked out over Mistwood were shut tightly, only letting in tiny amounts of light.

I heard the light switch flip, but the light didn’t turn on.

Must’ve burned out.

Bane asked, “Can you see?”

“Do I need to see?” My chest was still rising and falling heavily, and yeah, I was dazed. “We really aren’t supposed to be having sex, though.”

“My cock isn’t inside you.”

“I told you, oral sex is still—ohh, wow.” I hissed the words as he dragged his tongue over my core again, shifted to stone. His fingers dug into my thighs as he held me open wider, but his tongue was hard, slick, and hot.

“You’re way too good at this,” I said, my grip on his hair growing tighter.

Bane pushed three stone fingers inside me. I cried out again as another climax tore through me, and didn’t even try to stifle it.

He still didn’t slow down.

His tongue felt so good, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted more. Needed more. Needed him .

“Give me your cock.”

“You said no sex.”

“Forget what I said,” I snarled. “Give me your cock, now .”

“You’re a needy little thing, aren’t you?” he growled the words, but was on his feet in a heartbeat, his fingers still inside me.

I unbuttoned his jeans, yanking his zipper down and freeing his cock. It took longer than it should’ve, but we were too far gone to our lust to care.

“Open your mouth,” he said, pulling his fingers out of me as I stroked the length of his stone erection.

I started to ask why—and he slid his fingers between my lips.

The taste of my pleasure on his skin made my eyes round.

“Can you taste how much you need me, Sweetheart?” The words were low and filthy. Nearly feral.

And they just made me want him more.

I nodded, and his chest rumbled in satisfaction. “You belong to me.” He shifted back to his human form and lined his cock up with my entrance. With one smooth motion, he filled me.

I gasped around his fingers, and he pulled them free so he could kiss me, cradling my face between his palms. My hands wrapped around his wrists, holding him in place as he thrust into me slowly.

Deeply.

In a way that made my head spin.

He’d fucked me slow before. Bane actually seemed partial to it. I’d noticed the satisfaction in his eyes when he watched my body move in response to his. He loved the way I loved it—which seemed important.

He kissed me as he made love to me, only releasing my face when he needed to adjust my hips.

It was bliss.

Pure, delicious bliss.

And when we finally shattered together, he’d successfully convinced me that not having sex was a terrible idea.

That didn’t mean I should abandon it, though. Some terrible ideas were meant to be followed through with.

Most of the unmated women seemed to have left when we made it down to dinner. The room was half empty, and much smaller than the unmated men’s.

“I thought they’d be more enthusiastic to meet you,” I murmured, and Bane chuckled.

“They are. This is all of them.” His lips brushed the top of my head.

My eyes caught on a gorgeous blonde, and when I noticed she was glaring at me, I realized why she caught my attention.

It was Sierra.

Yikes.

“Your ex-fiancée looks like she wants to murder me,” I whispered, as Bane sat down in his chair and pulled me onto his lap yet again.

My ass was just going to be numb for the rest of my life from sitting on his thick muscles. Maybe eventually, I’d be able to have my own chair. Assuming the seductress plan succeeded at some point.

“Her eyes are red. I can smell her tears. She doesn’t hate you, she envies you.” His lips brushed my ear.

“You’re supposed to be pretending you hate me, Bane.”

“Fuck that.”

He caught my earlobe between his teeth and tugged lightly on the three piercings there, making me fight back a shiver.

“I should probably talk to Sierra,” I admitted. If we weren’t playing our roles, I didn’t need to pretend to be evil. “One of us needs to apologize to her, and I don’t want it to be you. She’ll think it means something it doesn’t.”

“I have nothing to apologize for. I never pretended to consider mating with her.”

“Well your mom was an asshole, and Sierra’s been crying. I have too many sisters not to intervene.” I stood up, and Bane didn’t try to stop me.

Guess his neutrality worked in my favor sometimes.

I strode over to Sierra, and the room around me went dead quiet.

The woman who had been sitting next to Sierra scooted far to the side, giving me plenty of space.

“Hey,” I said, sitting down next to Sierra.

She looked away, wiping a few more tears.

Yikes.

I wasn’t really the sister who did the comforting when someone was crying. I mean, I could do it. But if someone was struggling, Avery or Clem usually took on that role.

“I’m sorry it didn’t work out the way you hoped,” I said, wincing internally when I realized I’d just given the world’s worst apology. “Mainly, I’m sorry that Bane’s mother made you think it was going to work out. That was shitty of her.”

…maybe I should’ve stayed on Bane’s lap.

It had seemed even more cruel not to say anything at all, but apparently I was absolutely shit at comforting people.

“I’m never going to have gargoyle babies now,” she said, turning angry, watery eyes on me. “Unless you convince him to donate sperm.”

I coughed back a snort. “That’s not going to happen. But your kids will have a fifty-fifty chance of being gargoyles, and there are plenty of other cool magical beings. Have you ever been with a vampire? They’re supposed to be great in bed. The biting thing is fun. And mated werewolves do that knotting thing, which is supposed to?—”

Bane snarled.

Loudly.

Furiously.

I coughed again.

Yeah, talking about sex with other kinds of creatures while he listened in probably wasn’t a great call, even if I wasn’t actually claiming to have slept with them.

“Female monsters always mate with other monsters,” she said, wiping at her eyes more angrily. “You’re obviously not ready to be the queen.”

“I didn’t ask to be the queen. I just wanted to get out of mating with Oscar. He’s a great guy. Really romantic. But I don’t really like romance.”

More silence ensued.

“You know, I heard a story about someone breaking an imprint by falling in love with someone else,” the woman on my other side remarked.

My gaze jerked toward her. “You have?”

She nodded. “With all of us locked away, it doesn’t happen anymore. But before the walls were built, it was the go-to answer to an unwanted mate bond. They just found a woman who wanted him. Unless he sucked. Then they teamed up to kill him.”

Hmm.

“Well, if anyone wants to volunteer to try to win Oscar’s heart, just let me know.”

“I liked him a little,” one woman chirped, from the back of the room. “Do you have a picture of him? They don’t let us see pictures.”

“Seriously? Dick move.”

“It’s supposed to even the playing field, because they can’t see us,” another woman said with a scowl. “As if being locked in here doesn’t even the fucking playing field enough.”

“I’ve got your back. He sent me a few pictures when he was trying to woo me. No dick pics, luckily. Guess the virgin thing helps with that.” I pulled my new phone out of my pocket.

Lex had brought me the replacement around lunchtime. He’d gotten my contacts to synch, but he hadn’t managed to get my messages to move over. Oscar or one of his buddies usually would’ve handled that job, but we couldn’t ask them, for obvious reasons.

“Oh. Maybe not.”

My phone vibrated with a message from Bane, and I shot him a grateful look before I tapped on the download to open it up. A picture of Oscar grinning in a white button-up shirt filled the screen.

Sierra looked over and studied it for a long moment. Then, she bit her lip before looking away quickly.

She totally thought he was hot.

And I mean, he was hot. It was his personality that I didn’t like.

I passed it to the other girl next to me, and she sent it around the room.

A few of them made noises of appreciation.

“How would we date him?” another girl across the room asked. “He’s not going to meet us in the screening rooms while the imprint exists.”

“Good point,” I agreed.

“If someone wanted to bond with him, we could lock them in the tech room together,” Bane said grudgingly, from the throne. “Worst case scenario, nothing comes of it. If we send them in with food, they can make it a few weeks without coming out.”

A few oohs went around the room.

“Sounds scandalous,” someone teased.

“Give us some time to rewatch the videos of our dates with him and think about it,” one of the girls called out.

“Deal,” I agreed.

“The inner circle isn’t going to like it,” Nessa warned.

“The inner circle doesn’t get to decide who we mate with,” a woman near her said firmly. “And the king has final say. He obviously agrees.”

She crossed the room, and the chick next to me scooted even further to the side so the newcomer could sit beside me. She was tall and strong, with dark skin and thick, curly black hair. “Here, let me give you my number. My name’s Layla. I can let you know if anyone’s interested in taking Oscar off your hands.”

She recited the number, and I sent her a quick message with my name in it.

Me

This is Zora Sheffield

I stared down at the message for a long moment, and blinked.

Me and Bane were mated.

I would be using his last name, and I didn’t even know what it was.

I felt Layla’s eyes on me for a long moment, before a message popped up.

Layla

Staley, pronounced stay-lee

My gaze jerked up to her, and she gave me a small smile.

Bane growled again, and I looked backward.

Right.

He was still feeling possessive. Sierra’s questions about sperm donation probably hadn’t helped with that.

“You don’t need to pretend with us. Nessa already told us what the situation is. No one wants anyone to end up dead, so your secret is safe.” Layla winked at me. “And if you have any questions about monsters, feel free to text me. Plus…”

She pulled up her phone, and invited me to a group chat called Unmated Monster Chicks.

I stifled a groan. I’d left the Vamp Manor Homies text group a month earlier, after a particularly annoying discussion about Hale’s ass. The guy was basically my brother.

It had been so nice not to get texts constantly.

Layla grinned. “It’s not a crazy group chat, don’t worry. It’s just for emergencies or big news. You should be able to scroll through the past messages to make sure.”

“Alright, thanks.”

“If you need an answer fast and I don’t respond, just message everyone. Someone is always around.”

“We’re all always around,” someone else drawled.

Sierra sniffled again. “It’s not unreasonable to ask Bane to donate to the cause. If you just talk to him…”

I stood up, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder as my annoyance warred with politeness. “Don’t be a species snob. There are plenty of other horny, desperate fish in the monster sea.”

With that, I hurried back over to Bane.

I definitely shouldn’t get in the business of comforting people.

The monster women did seem pretty close, though. Someone else put her arm around Sierra’s back and hugged her loosely.

I hoped they could make her feel better, and talk her out of the whole sperm donation thing. That was great for people who were comfortable with it, but Bane was so possessive, I didn’t see that happening.

And honestly? I wasn’t entirely comfortable with it. He was obviously the one who would have to make that choice, and I would never tell him not to, but it would affect both of us if he did. Sierra clearly wanted him to be more than just a donor, and if a baby came around, she would want him to be involved in that baby’s life.

He was decent enough that he’d want to be in their life, too.

And where would that leave me?

The awkward mate who didn’t belong.

Gargoyles weren’t extinct, so the whole idea of it seemed ridiculous to me. She could take a mate and have a few of her own. He and I could have a few too. They could repopulate their species more by mating with other people.

Anyway, all that aside, I didn’t want to share him with her.

I went back to Bane and tried to sit down in the empty seat next to him, since we didn’t have to play a role anymore. He lifted me onto his lap instead.

“There are plenty of other horny, desperate fish in the monster sea?” he murmured into my ear.

“It’s true,” I whispered back.

His chest rumbled. There was humor behind it.

“You don’t want to donate sperm, do you?”

“No. The only person who will ever have my release inside them is you.” His lips brushed my ear, his words warming me. “I can smell myself still dripping down your thighs.”

My cheeks warmed. “We should’ve stopped at a bathroom.”

“I like this more.”

I did too, even if I wasn’t ready to admit it.

He kissed the shell of my ear, then my throat, before he refocused on his food, and I finally dug into mine.

Maybe I was crappy at comforting people, but I did seem to fit in fine with the other monster ladies.