Hot in Here

*Isla*

Alpha King Maddox is on top of me, and even though I’m terrified, the more he touches me, the more I want to be touched.

His warm mouth latches on to mine, his tongue probing deeper and deeper. The taste of wine and something else, something bitter, glides over my tongue as his twirls around mine. I am afraid to touch him, so my fingers intertwine with the bedsheets as I try to stabilize myself. He’s kissing me so deeply, I’m growing dizzy and breathless.

Finally, he releases my mouth, and his lips slide over my neck. I find myself arching my back, leaning into him, the ache between my legs growing with every touch of his fingers against the thing fabric of my nightdress as he continues to thumb my erect nipple.

I can feel his erection against my belly, and the urge to spread my legs for him is undeniable, but I can’t at the moment because of the way he is lying on top of me. He is a mass of muscle, heavy and solid, and I couldn’t free myself if I tried.

Not that I want to try. The more that he licks, sucks, and nips at my neck, the more clouded my thinking becomes. I remind myself that this is exactly why I am here. I am his breeder, after all. He owns me. He can take me any time that he wants to.

While I don’t understand his urgency tonight, it’s not my place to question the king.

The Alpha’s hand slides down my stomach as he lifts himself slightly off me. His hand glides beneath my nightgown, leaving a steaming trail across the flesh of my stomach. I find myself whimpering slightly, and then, his hand is on the outside of my panties. I’m so wet, he has to know that my body is longing for his. He presses against the outside, his fingers spreading me even with the barrier of cloth between us. I wish he would slide his fingers around the thin garment and touch my bare skin again, but for now, him pressing against me, stroking up and down, feels so good, I find myself grinding against him.

He nips at my ear. “Do you like that, little flower?”

I moan an answer as his other hand slides my nightgown down off my shoulder so that my breast is exposed. When his mouth comes down around my nipple, I lift a hand for the first time and press it against the back of his head. His tongue laps at my sensitive skin as he sucks. I hold him there, my fear fading as pleasure takes over.

I feel his finger slip around the satin of my panties, and then he is exploring my folds, sliding around in my wetness, teasing me by touching the entrance to my pulsing core but not coming in.

He lifts his head and finds my mouth again as he presses one finger inside me, just up to the first knuckle, not far at all. It stings a little, but the pleasure far outweighs the pain, and I want more. I want more than just his finger. His hard cock continues to rub against me, hitting my thigh as he kisses me deeper and deeper.

And then… there’s a knock on my door.

Maddox groans into my mouth, clearly displeased. We ignore it, and he continues to kiss me. My hand is resting on his back, and all I feel beneath my palm is a wall of rippling muscle.

The knock continues until I hear Beta Seth’s voice. “Sir, I know you don’t want to be interrupted, but it’s very important.”

Maddox lifts his mouth away from mine. “Not now, Seth!”

“But sir… I need to tell you something immediately!”

The king lifts his head and rests it on my shoulder, withdrawing his hand from my wet pussy. “Just a moment, darling,” he says to me, and I begin to wonder if he even remembers my name.

He steps away from me, leaving me exposed to the coldness of being without him. I pull my blanket back up over me, panting, wondering if this has all been a dream.

I can’t hear what they are saying right outside of my bedroom door, but I do hear Maddox ask, “What the fuck?” loudly, and I know that whatever his Beta has told him, it isn’t good. A moment later, I hear another knock at the door.

“Yes?” My voice cracks with nervousness as I keep the blanket tucked beneath my chin.

“It’s Seth. Can I come in?”

“Yes,” I say again.

He steps inside, but his eyes are not focused on me, and I can tell he is as embarrassed as I am. “I beg your pardon, Miss Isla, but I need to gather the king’s clothing. He has an emergency to tend to.”

“All right.” What more can I say? I can feel the heat reddening my cheeks, and it has nothing to do with passion. I am so embarrassed. Seth knows what we were doing, and even though I know that that’s why I’m here, it’s still difficult to get past the idea that the entire castle will know that the king and I are having sex.

Well… we will be. Eventually. I suppose.

He picks up the items Maddox left on the ground and then turns to go, only telling me, “Goodnight,” as he pulls the door closed.

“Goodnight,” I whisper, but it doesn’t matter that he’s too far away to hear me because he wasn’t waiting for me to speak.

I sink into the bed, making sure my clothing is righted. My heart is heavy as I wonder whether it was something I had done wrong. Perhaps King Maddox had used the mindlink to ask Seth to come and get him away from me.

I roll over and close my eyes, hoping to fall asleep, but with every breath, I inhale the scent of the king, and I wish he was still here with me. Even though I was frightened to give myself to him, I am his to claim.

At least, if he had done it, everything would be over. Now, I am here, alone, wondering what is wrong with King Maddox that he had to leave, wondering what is wrong with me that he didn’t stay.

* * *

Maddox

“Whatever the fuck you interrupted me for, it had better be good, Seth,” I say as I follow my Beta down the hallway to my office.

“I told you, Alpha,” he says, giving me a minute to button my shirt. I’ve scrapped the tie and my socks, but at least I have my pants and shirt on, as well as my shoes, “one of the kitchen maids found something in your glass when she was doing the dishes after dinner.”

“I know. It’s wine!” I practically growl.

Seth only shakes his head. “No, that’s not it. Just come to your office, and I’ll show you.”

That’s what he said to lure me out of Isla’s room, and now, my balls are so blue, I can hardly think straight. What the hell is the matter with him? I was about to get it on with that beautiful girl, and she was actually into it—which wouldn’t be surprising, except she’s a virgin, and you just never know how they’ll act.

We walk into my office, and I see a familiar wine glass on the desk. At the bottom of it, there are some crystals of something, some kind of powder.

Now, I get what he’s so uptight about.

“What the hell is it?” I ask him, wondering if someone has tried to poison me. Was someone trying to take my life?

“We’re not positive, but I asked the healer to come in and look at it before I went to get you, and both of us think it’s probably red wolf’s blood.” Seth picks up the glass and sniffs it before putting it down.

“That makes sense,” I say, not needing to smell it myself. I have already tasted it. I distinctly remember thinking there was something bitter in my glass at dinner. Red wolf’s blood is bitter tasting.

It is also a powerful aphrodisiac.

I sink into my chair behind my desk and rest my hand in my palm. No wonder I was so eager to go jump that poor girl’s bones.

I’d been drugged….

She probably thinks I’m some sort of a horny monster.

“So… the wine came from Zabrina,” I tell him. “She has to be responsible for this.” She must’ve thought she could seduce me. All I can do is shake my head.

“Zabrina?” he repeats. “Did you see her put anything into it?”

I stare at Seth like he is an idiot. “No,” I tell him. “She wouldn’t have done it in front of me. She had a maid bring it in.”

“Right,” he says. “I guess we need to speak to that maid.”

“I guess so.” I look at him expectantly, and he picks up the phone on my desk, calling the kitchen to find out if anyone there knows who she was. Once he has a name, he calls security to go get her and bring her into the office.

It takes about fifteen minutes before the girl is located. I wasn’t paying too much attention to her at dinner, but I recognize her. Besides, the fact that she’s crying makes it obvious. “Sit,” Seth tells her as two guards walk her in. She’s still in her maid outfit, and she’s wiping at the tears on her cheeks.

“What’s your name?” I ask her, not losing my cool because I know it’s not her fault, that she likely had no choice but to do as she was ordered. Still… if it had been poison, or if I’d been allergic to it, I’d be dead at her hands.

“Alva,” she says. “Please, sir—”

“Hush, Alva,” I tell her. “No need for all of that. Tell me what you put in my drink.”

“I don’t know,” she said, bursting into tears again. “I only put in what I was told to!”

“And who told you to?” Seth asks.

She is too busy crying to answer, and before she can speak, my office doors fly open, without so much as a knock.

“What in the world is going on?” Zabrina asks, bursting into the room in a pink silk robe. Her father is right behind her. He is dressed at least. Alpha Jordan looks confused, but Zabrina just looks angry.

“What’s going on is that someone put something in the Alpha King’s wine at dinner, and we’re trying to get to the bottom of it!” Seth exclaims.

“Well, you can’t think Zabrina had anything to do with it!” Alpha Jordan says.

“Did we say she did?” I ask him, tipping my head to the side to watch his reaction carefully.

“No, but you think her maid did,” he says, gesturing at the crying girl in the chair.

“The wine came from you, and was served by your girl,” Seth countered, looking at Zabrina.

“So what? The glass isn’t mine, and for all I know, one of the pack floozies His Majesty has hanging around did it. Like that pathetic little blonde girl I saw in the garden today!” Zabrina had her hands on her hips like this was her office, and I was the intruder.

Had she run into Isla in the garden? Was that what this was about? Was Zabrina trying to get to me before I could get to anyone else?

“Listen,” I say, too tired and too pissed off to argue, “I know that your girl put the substance in my drink. I just need to know if you ordered her to do it or not.”

“Of course, she didn’t!” Alpha Jordan says, but Zabrina’s face tells me everything I need to know.

Still, she says, “No, I did not, and I will not take the wrap for her.”

“Very well,” I say. “Then the two of you may leave.”

Alpha Jordan looks like he wants to say more, but it’s Zabrina who speaks. “You pathetic little whore,” she says to the shaking girl in the chair. The two of them exit as Alva continues to cry.

“Sh-she made me,” she manages to get out.

“Of course, she did,” I say. “Nevertheless, you could’ve told me the situation. You could’ve let me know what was happening.”

She nods. “I’m so sorry, my King.”

“Yes, well, perhaps a few days in solitary confinement will make you think twice next time.” I gesture for Seth to take her away, and his eyes widen. He thinks I’m being unfair. But I don’t have a reputation for being a cruel king because I am kindhearted and fair.

The girl cries louder as Seth helps her up and walks her out to the guards who are waiting outside of the door. He tells them what to do with her, and her wailing echoes off down the hallway.

He returns to me as I stare at a note on my desk. It’s not important, and I’m not even looking at it, not really. I just want him to leave.

“Sir?” he says.

“What, Beta?” I ask him, not looking up.

“You know you’re punishing the wrong party. Won’t this teach Zabrina that what she’s done is all right?”

“Don’t worry about Zabrina,” I tell him. “I have something else planned for her.”

He knows better than to question me, and at the moment, that’s a good thing because I haven’t quite worked all the details out yet, but Zabrina will pay for what she’s done to me.

One way or another.