Page 7 of Loved By The King

Guilt swells within me, dark and bitter. This isn’t her fault; it’s mine. I’ve brought her to this edge, and now I teeter alongside her.

“Forgive me,” I murmur, though the plea is lost amidst her guttural cries. I fear she might hate me once the dawn breaks and clarity returns. For now, I am swept away by the tempest of her heat, and all I can do is hold onto her and hope we survive the night without me fucking her senseless.

The first hints of dawn creep through the glass panes of the observatory, casting a soft glow across her flushed skin. The wildness that had consumed her is now a mere shadow behind her eyes, the heat remains strong and I have no idea how she’ll break it but I know being here isn’t helping her condition.

“Easy, you’re pretty banged up,” I whisper as she stirs beside me, a gentle touch upon her arm to ground her to this calmer reality. She’s no longer rabid, no longer thrashing or growling with an untamed hunger, yet the fire still simmers alongside her heat that refuses to die.

I rise from the floor, muscles protesting the movement, every bruise, scratch and bite mark has healed on me, her not so much. My hands can be seen on her everywhere from holding her tight, fighting her from trying to fuck me. She watches me with heavy-lidded eyes. The vixen she became last night replaced by something softer, vulnerable, yet undeniably potent.

“It should break, I know you’re uncomfortable,” I say, my voice rough like gravel, and I can hear the guilt in my own ears. Bree’s eyes flutter.

“What do you mean?” she yawns, it’s clear she is still not quite awake because she suddenly jerks upright, peering around before glancing down at where she lies on the mossy floor.

“The heat… it should lessen soon.” Usually mates handle a heat but hers isn’t here, and I know she won’t tell me who he is, so I can’t force him here, either.

“Max?” she gasps.

“He’s safe, and inside where I need to be so your heat abates.”

She sighs in relief and nods. Her gaze lingers on me, a silent question in the depths of her eyes, but I can’t stay, not when my presence only makes her heat worse. I move toward the door, knowing the maid unlocked it this morning.

“Wait!” she calls out and I stop. “You don’t have to leave.”

Turning back to face her, I stare at her. “If I stay, I will only make your heat worse.”

She glances away from me, her cheeks flushing. “Maybe you could…”

I stare at her. “You want me to get a doctor? I can try to find one, maybe suppressants will still work?”

She shakes her head. “Or… or you could—” she stops, fumbling over her words, she isn’t usually this nervous.

“What do you need, Bree, I will organize it, I will find…” her eyes turn glassy suddenly and she swallows thickly.

“Right, I… it’s okay, you can go, I get it,” she tells me. Get what? And why does she look like she is gonna cry?

I turn to leave, only to stop again. I’m on the verge of ripping my damn hair out. “So you want the doctor, right?” I ask her.

“Can I just have some clothes?” she asks, suddenly trying to cover herself. Her entire demeanor changing swiftly.

“Now you want clothes?” She nods, and I move toward the door. “I will go get some for you,” I tell her. Yet why do I feel like she was asking for something else?

Shaking the thought off, I step outside into the fresh air and I let out a breath now that I can think clearly without her scent overwhelming me. I open the mindlink to the servants and guards. “Can someone grab Bree some clothes, and me. I don’t fancy strutting through the place naked in front of my parents,” I ask.

Damian answers immediately saying he’ll grab them before calling me an idiot.

“Just meet me at the glass doors in the rear courtyard,” I snap at him. I move across the thick dewy grass and walk to the back glass door to wait. I don’t have to wait long before Damian comes with what I asked for, including bottled water for her.

“Man you suck at reading body language. Should I just send one of the guards in there for her?” he asks, and I punch him. My fist connects with his face in a knee-jerk reaction, his nose breaks and sprays blood everywhere but his laugh is loud.

“Don’t talk like that,” I snarl at him.

“Well, I figured after you all but rejected her, I would offer their services!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Observatory cameras, you idiot, she doesn’t want clothes, she was asking you to take care of her heat!” he snaps at me before breaking his nose back into place.

“She did not…?” I retort though it comes out as more of a question.