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“Yes…” I found myself whispering.

“Yes, what?” he snapped, threading his fingers into my hair and gripping the back of my head, tilting my head backward until his mouth skimmed along my jaw. “Tell me!”

I closed my eyes tightly, trying to catch my breath as he kept a steady pace, a tingling heat building between my legs. “Yes! I thought of you, Caldor,” I panted breathlessly. “When he was inside of me, it was always you… Your tongue, your hands, and your cock.”

The truths were spilling from my lips, and I couldn’t stop them, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Maybe he needed to know this truth of mine. That after all these years, I never once forgot him. I never forgot the way his mere touch would steal my breath and make me wish that I had been born a peasant girl. My fate had never been my own, and we’d known that, but this… this just hurt.

“Fuck…” he said with a long groan. He shuddered, his eyes closing tight as his whole body locked up. He spilled himself into me as pleasure rolled through my body. I clenched around him, gripping on tight as his seed spilled from me, dripping down my thighs and onto the floor between us.

As the tremors began to subside and his hips stilled, locking us in place against the wall, Caldor craned his head back and gripped my chin between his fingers—not tight enough to hurt, but enough so that I couldn't look away from the drunken haze of his eyes. “Finally, the truth for once in your wretched life…”

Xmara

Iwoke with bleary eyes to sunlight streaming through the frosted over window. My mouth was parched, and my head throbbed. With a groan, I reached for the side table where my satchel lay discarded, fumbling for the vials inside until I found the right one.

I uncorked the little black bottle and took a swig of the bitter contents, making myself gag in the process. It tasted like swill, but it would do the trick. The moment it reached my stomach, I began to feel better, my head clearing up and the light sheen of sweat on my forehead already drying up.

It took a moment for it all to rush back. I sat up with my heart in my throat, scanning the room for any signs of Caldor, but he was gone. I might have thought I imagined the whole thing if it weren’t for the pleasurable way my body ached from his touch. I could feel the bruising on my back from when he’d thrust me up against the wall and the soreness of my thighs from wrapping them around his strong body.

Everything was coming back to me now—the moans, the sweat, the raw need. What had come over us? Ten years apart, and we’d hardly spoken to one another aside from snide remarks, insults and accusations. Perhaps the king was right to restrict a woman’s access to drink if this was the unintended result. But that didn’t explain Caldor’s actions. The way his eyes had scanned my body as we stood in the doorway had said more than words ever could.

There was a quiet knock on my door, so I gathered up a sheet from the bed and wrapped it around my naked body, opening the door narrowly to find a pile of freshly folded clothing waiting for me on the floor. Poking my head out, I looked left and right but found nobody around.

Snatching them up and shutting the door again, I realized the clothing was mine, only freshly laundered and smelling of lavender. I frowned at the bundle in my hands, wondering how someone managed to get my clothes when they had been strewn around the floor haphazardly. Unless… Unless Caldor had requested someone wash them for me. The thought had my head spinning. Surely Caldor wouldn’t have bothered to do something so thoughtful on my behalf.

I washed in the cold water left in the washroom basin, chills racing up my spine the moment my feet hit the water. After braiding back my dark hair, I dressed, feeling strangely refreshed, though my thighs were still aching. Slipping on my riding boots, I was strapping on my potions satchel and belt when there was another knock at the door.

Before I could call out for them to enter, the door opened, and Remus stepped in. His mouth was open, ready to say something charming or snarky, but he paused. His eyes brightened to a feline green as his nostrils flared. I stood there utterly still as he went rigid, scanning the room with a clenched jaw. I noticed belatedly that his fingers looked off, and upon closer inspection, I realized why. Claws were protruding from the tips of his fingers. They were long and black and needle thin at the tips, sharp enough to shred flesh and bone.

I sighed, trying to pretend as if I had no idea why he was acting this way as I said, “Well, let’s get a move on then.” I headed towards him as he refused to move an inch, his shoulders heaving with every breath.

As I went to pass him, his hand shot out and blocked my way, anchoring his claws to the door’s wooden frame, digging in deep enough to leave gashes. His eyes flitted to mine, and I could have sworn there was a flutter of movement beneath the skin of his arm where his shirt sleeves were casually rolled up to the elbows. I realized why he was so utterly still. He was trying to keep his shift at bay.

“I smell the captain all over this room,” he growled out, his teeth clenching hard. He inhaled again, filling his lungs with my scent. “You let him touch you…”

Irritation washed over me as I squared my shoulders. I refused to be intimidated by any man. Forcing a bland, careless expression, I said, “Actually, I let him fuck me.” I gestured to my right with a shrug. “Right there against that wall.”

He hissed, stepping towards me, the sound so feline and feral that my heart leaped into my throat. Remus looked ready to pounce, his dark hair unbound around his broad shoulders, his slanted eyes bright, flashing green and slitted down the center, and his long claws extended. I could only begin to imagine what he looked like in his shifted form, but a part of me longed to see it in the flesh.

He moved into the room as I backed up, shutting the door with his foot. My back hit the wall where Caldor had me pressed against it as Remus closed in on me. He was so much taller than I was that I had to crane my neck back to meet his furious eyes. His hand came up to the side of my cheek as he lightly trailed his claws along my skin. “You’re betrothed to me, Xmara. How dare he touch what’s mine…”

“I belong to no one,” I spat, my whole body going rigid. “Do you think because the king spared your life, it gives you ownership over my body?” I leaned in until our lips were almost touching. “I would die before I ever let another male own me.”

He hissed again, exposing his fangs that gleamed white in the sunlight streaming through the window. “Do you honestly expect me to believe you feel nothing for me?”

His words made me pause, my eyes flitting rapidly between his. I wanted to scream at him that no, I didn't feel a thing for him… but was that true? I prided myself on my ability to read other people well enough to know when they were lying, but shifters could smell it, and I knew if I said the wrong thing, he would know the truth.

Did I care for Remus? In my own messed up way, I supposed I did. When I looked at him or touched him, there was a feeling in my stomach akin to the fluttering of hundreds of tiny little wings. My skin burned where his hands gripped me, but it wasn’t painful. I’d only felt this sensation with one other person in my life, and he’d left my room in the night without so much as a word to me.

“That’s what I thought,” Remus said when I hesitated for too long. His thumb moved over my bottom lip, his claw leaving a scratch behind.

His eyes zeroed in on the scratch, and before I could stop him, he was leaning forward, sucking my bottom lip between his and licking away the sting. My heart was beating so loud that I knew without a doubt he could hear it.

But then he backed away, taking each step slowly as his lips stretched into a wicked grin. “Let the games begin then.”

Xmara

Tonight we would meet King Basillius.

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