*Isla*
Maddox is ravenous, and every cell in my body responds to his touch as he lifts me up from the floor and sets me on the stone table at the center of the gazebo. I can still taste him on my tongue, but he kisses me anyway as he unbuttons his shirt.
My hands press into his chest, feeling the hard, solid muscles there.
“Wrap your legs around my waist,” he rasps, his breath heavy and wanting as he trails kisses over my neck. I do as I’m told, locking my ankles together over his lower back. He reaches between us and drags his fingers over my slit, growling with approval. I exhale, trembling beneath his touch as he teases me, his eyes locked on mine. “I missed you, little flower.”
“Show me how much you missed me,” I choke out, a moan leaving my lips as he positions himself at my entrance. He plunges into me with one hard, near violet thrust that leaves me seeing stars. I clutch his shoulders, digging my nails into his skin as he slowly pulls out again, dragging himself down.
“I mean to take my time,” he whispers, fisting my hair as he thrusts back in. I arch my back, grinding my hips and matching his movements, but he’s achingly slow.
I open my eyes and find him looking at me, his eyes wild and full of heat. I grind into him, and he stills, his mouth slightly ajar as I slide up and down his cock.
“Please,” I whimper as he bites down on my lower lip and buries himself inside me fully. I gasp, tightening my grip on him as he rocks into me again, and again, each movement causing a tight warmth to spread through my core and abdomen.
But then he pushes me down, his hand splayed flat on my chest as he holds me flat against the table we’re so thoroughly abusing. The fingers of his free hand stroke my clit as he works me into a frenzy.
“You’re so beautiful,” he breathes, his voice dripping with desire. “Every fucking inch of you is paradise.” He takes one of my breasts in his hands, squeezing gently. A bead of milk glistens on my perked nipple, and he sighs heavily, dragging his cock out of me once more before thrusting in fully again. “But this part,” he rasps, grinding his hips against mine as he looks between us, watching where his body meets mine, “is my favorite.”
I’m a goner. He’s going to fucking kill me with his cock. I’m begging him for release, and I’m sure my words are nothing but high pitched, desperate whimpers. He slams into me once, twice, three times, and I’m arching off the table, the cool stone digging into the back of my head as I scream from an earth-bending pleasure that has my toes curling.
“Oh, Goddess, yes–” he growls, his head tilted back as my muscles tighten around him. He pulls me into him, his hands now on my hips as he unleashes himself on me. He lifts me up, my legs wrapped around his waist as he carries me across the gazebo and sits on one of the stone benches with me on his lap.
“Tire yourself out already?” I purr, still trembling and throbbing from my own release. I grind against his lap and he lets out a low hiss, his fingers dipping into my ass. I feel a bead of sweat roll down my spine as I continue to circle my hips over his, his cock rigid against my sex.
“Isla,” he rasps, his eyes only open to slits.
“You teased me,” I whisper into his ear, then drag my tongue down his neck. “Now I mean to return the favor.”
“You little minx.”
I reach between us, stroking his length. He sucks in a breath as my finger slides over the head and down again in a featherlight touch.
“Fuck me,” he commands with all the authority of the Alpha King that he is.
“Yes, Your Highness,” I whisper, loving every second of this game. When was the last time we fucked like this? Like we were in our own little world, just the two of us?
I slide onto his cock in one movement. He throws his head back, panting as I slide up and down. He grips my thighs, then my ass, kneading as I start to bounce up and down.
“Oh, fuck–” he cries out, tightening his grip.
“Come for me, Alpha King,” I demand, clenching him tight. He curses, opening his eyes and slamming his lips against mine, tongue and teeth in a desperate dance as his body tightens and he cries out.
He spills himself into me just as another orgasm rips through my core and up my spine.
He holds me against him for several seconds, the two of us panting and sweaty and barely able to come back to reality. I wrap my arms around his neck, my head resting against his. He’s still inside of me, but it feels as if neither of us could move, even if we tried. Even if we wanted to.
“I love you,” he says, so softly and gently it nearly brings tears to my eyes.
“I love you, too,” I reply, raking my fingers through his hair. “Never leave me again.”
* * *
I’m a blushing mess every time I run into Maddox in the castle for the rest of the day. Even in passing, one sultry look from him tells me he’s still thinking of our rendezvous in the gazebo, and I find myself heated and wet all over again.
As I’m on my way down to Hestia’s office with a list of tasks I need completed before a dinner party coming up, I pass him in an upstairs hallway. He meets my eye, and we nod to each other, seemingly going about our own business.
But then I’m flush with the wall, Maddox pinning my arms above my head and his mouth against my neck.
“Maddox,” I whisper, giggling as he trails a kiss up my neck, nibbling behind my ear. “What are you doing?” He presses into me, and through the fabric between us I can feel that he’s more than ready to claim me again, right here, if necessary. I want him to do just that, and when he clamps my wrists together over my head with one hand and drives his free hand into my pants, I’m purring like a cat, ready to let him bend me over right here in the hallway for everyone who passes by to see.
“Goddess, you’re so fucking wet,” he growls, biting down on his lower lip as he roughly thrusts two fingers inside of me, practically lifting me off the floor with the motion. I choke on a breath, silently praying to the Moon Goddess that no one is around to see what’s happening.
“You’re going to get me pregnant again,” I whisper, hitching my breath as he adds a third finger. I’m sure my eyes roll back in my head.
“Don’t threaten me with a good time,” he replies, smiling broadly as I bite down on my lip and arch into his touch. “I've been thinking of you seated on my cock all day, Isla. I can’t wait another second–”
“We have the rest of our lives,” I pant, but he shakes his head, leaning in so his lips are hovering over mine.
“That’s not enough for me,” he whispers, then removes his hand from my pants and reaches for a door next to us, pushing it open and pulling me inside.
I’m bent over a desk in a seldom used office of some sort within a matter of seconds, clutching the opposite side of the desk for dear life as Maddox slides into me from behind. He sighs heavily, pulling out and toying with the lacy strip of my thong that he didn’t even take off before he entered me.
This goes on for some time, our bodies sheltered by the shadows inching across the room as the sun begins to set. He eventually lays me down on one of the couches, my legs locked behind his back as he rocks into me, our breath and muted cries of pleasure mingled with each thrust. He kisses me deeply, his fingers trailing through my hair. When he comes, so do I, our bodies collapsing together once again, and probably not for the last time tonight.
Maybe this wanting is only because we both almost died, separated by miles and miles of space. Maybe it’s because our love for each other is the only constant in our lives right now.
I don’t dwell on it and spend the rest of the day in his quiet company, the two of us enjoying dinner together, and then sitting in the library as a family with Isaac napping peacefully in Maddox’s arms while he reads a book.
But it isn’t until we are readying for bed, alone in our bedroom, that things take a turn.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he says, backing me onto the bed. His lips are mine, his fingers pulling the thin straps of my nightgown over my shoulders.
“Have me anyway you want,” I purr, and my words are met by a deep growl as his hands slide over the silken fabric to cup my ass. But then…
A sharp knock halts us, and we both turn to face the door as whoever is behind waits to be let in.
I right the straps of my nightgown and reach for the silken robe lying on the bed. Maddox, shirtless and wearing only a pair of boxers that are doing nothing to hide his erection, takes two steps toward the door and stops, listening.
“Alpha King?” says a male servant.
“What is it?” Maddox sighs, running his fingers through his hair.
“Beta–I mean Seth, he is asking for you. He is willing to talk.”
Maddox pauses, then turns to me, a look of dread replacing the fiery desire behind his eyes. I find it hard to swallow as I slowly nod, shrugging a shoulder.
“Give me a few minutes,” he says gruffly to the servant through the door before striding over to the dresser and pulling out a shirt, pants, and socks.
I watch him dress, hugging myself with my arms as he murmurs to himself. I hate this for him. I will never forgive Seth, never. And not even for trying to kill my mate, no. But for breaking his heart.
“Don’t wait up for me,” he says a moment later, kissing my forehead.
“You know I will,” I say, buttoning up his shirt before he pulls away. The look he gives me is so full of love I feel as though I might fall to my knees, but before I can tell him that everything is okay, and that I love him, and trust him…
He’s gone, and I’m alone.
I curl into a ball in our bed, hugging my knees as I stare out the moonlit window. I say a prayer to the Goddess, asking her to comfort his heart, and steer him in the right direction.
Then I wait for him to return, and for a new dawn to arrive where there is nothing but peace–for all of us.