Chapter Surrender in the Stacks

LIANA

Looking up into his eyes, I see so many different emotions.

Surprising me, he snarls slightly and gets off me quickly to add some distance. I get to my feet too, but he backs up even more. I whine a little and step closer, but he shakes his head, stepping back and bumping into the shelf, growling again.

What just happened?

He shifts quickly and leans back against the shelves, panting. The scrunched-up look on his face hurts me.

“Sorry,” he pants, calming his breathing a little. I look up at him and shift too, bringing myself closer to him and putting my hands on his tense chest.

Wrapping his arms around me, he burrows his nose into my neck with a sigh and relaxes into me.

“Are you okay?”

“Fine…just a little overwhelming for him…”

“Oh…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“Hey. It’s okay. It’s not your fault we crave you so badly.” His words tingle me and I chew on my lip a little. Am I teasing his lycan? I would never want to be a tease. “Don’t think about it too much, baby. It’s okay. We just get a little carried away with you… I forget myself sometimes.”

“I know how you feel,” I agree, and he pulls back a tiny bit and looks down at me.

“You do?”

I nod. I do know exactly how it feels to be unable to control yourself. He drives me crazy.

“Yes…my wolf…she is quite attached to you.”

He is very still for a moment. Then he presses his lips to my neck. “Say yes, Liana.” His warm breath heats up my neck, making me tingle all over. “Be mine, my love… I wish to feel you—all of you.”

I know what he means.

“Then feel me…right here.”

That spikes his breathing once more, and he looks down at me, chest heaving, and nods. Quickly stooping down, he jerks me up into his arms and crashes me back into the shelves. Books fall around us like rain, and I giggle. Then his mouth comes down on mine, and I let it consume me.

The mild pain just turns up the heat of our movements as he draws his mouth back a moment to spit on his fingers and coat them in his saliva before he shoves them into me. I cry out at the intensity, and he pulls my face into his neck, cradling the back of my head.

“Shh, it’s gonna be rough baby… I got you. Trust me.” His voice trembles and I know he’s hanging on by a thread. I whimper and nod, completely compelled into giving my mate everything he needs from me. But Lucian’s not just any mate or king, he’s one that gives back in every way.

Gripping me hard, he thrusts his fingers into me again with a force I didn’t know I could handle. I cry out again and he cradles me steady and fucks me harder.

“~Fuck!~” he snarls, and it makes me shiver, but in the best way. My senses spike to new heights; everything feels soft and glowing. Moans escape my mouth, loud and uncontrollable. His hand moves from me and he grips a shelf with animalistic snarls as it splinters in his grip.

All my hairs stand on end, knowing it’s me making him lose control like this—and I love it.

“Ah! Fuck! Lucian!” I scream and his blind eyes meet mine as if drawn to them. I can see his wolf within the pale blue ocean that seems to glow in this soft light.

“Say yes, Liana. Oh Goddess, please!” He is genuinely pleading, but I can feel his carnal needs buried within his words.

I stare back into his eyes, bathed in our pleasure. It’s strange how his eyes no longer look ~through~ me, they look into me, and caress my soul with silk.

In this moment, I am nothing but ~his~ mate… My pack, my father, Zeke—they all slip from my mind, and all I can focus on is him.

I want him…

“Yes.” I whisper, completely entranced.

Everything in him relaxes. I can feel his center calming and radiating his warmth into me.

“Oh, baby.” He moans softly, throwing his head back as my insides grip his fingers. He pushes them into my sweet cluster, drawing my orgasm from me until I crumble into pieces. “Mother have mercy…fuck…” he breathes out quietly into my neck, nuzzling and kissing along the column. “What have you done to me, Liana?”

***

We had the best night together. It just felt so normal and down-to-earth. For a king, Lucian never ceases to surprise me by his lack of pomp and ceremony. He ordered us takeout, and we sat in his ridiculously large bed and ate while we talked. Although he didn’t watch it, we put on a film and snuggled up together. In a way, it’s odd that someone his age is so…youthful. I expected him to be so different, so haughty and ancient, but really he acts as if he’s in his twenties. He is so calming and comfortable to be with that it’s catchy. With him, I can let go of every insecurity I ever had. I really feel like an open book, free to be myself. It eases something in me that I never knew was all wound up.

I said yes yesterday. I agreed to accept him as my mate.

I don’t regret it…

I like Zeke; maybe once I even thought that I more-than-liked him—but he isn’t my mate. Lucian is. That much is blindingly obvious. The time we’ve spent together has been natural and unforced—and the space from my pack has given me a clarity that I needed.

I’ve fallen for him… I admit it. I can’t deny the feeling that has grown uncontrollably powerful since being here with him. It’s only been a day and a night, but the moments we’ve shared already—the raw passion, the pure, unadulterated ~need~—I can’t walk away from them, or from him.

I want more. I know he wants more too, and that’s what drew the ~yes~ out of me.

Even so, we still haven’t gone all the way together. We are saving that for when we officially mate. Lucian says the experience will be all the more powerful if we wait. We did a few things to keep ourselves occupied though, and in the end we barely slept.

“Morning, beautiful.” Lucian’s deep, throaty voice vibrates through me as my eyes flicker open. His are still closed.

“Good morning,” I respond quietly, and he smiles sweetly. He has such a handsome face, so chiseled and strong. Despite his age, he has not a wrinkle in sight. His hand slides across my outline, feeling me softly. I take the chance to do some exploring of my own.

Using two fingers, I lightly slide them up the jut of his jaw over the darkened stubble, feeling it tickling my fingers. He goes very still, letting my hand rove. I move my hand up and glide along his cheekbones, over his nose, and up to his strongly-shaped brows. He sighs when I reach his cheek once more and presses himself into my palm.

“I’ve waited so long for you, Liana,” he whispers, his own hand pausing its track over me for a moment. He’s almost deathly quiet, and I frown a little before he speaks again. “Liana…”

“Yes…?”

“I love you.”

My heart thumps wildly in my chest, and I hold my breath.