Will You Sleep With Me?

*Isla*

“Would you like to dance?” the king had asked me.

I’d looked from his intoxicating eyes to his outstretched hand, and my first thoughts had been of my two left feet.

Even back home, when I was dancing at school dances with boys of little consequence, I was the most ungraceful person in the building.

He is a king and has likely danced with all sorts of beautiful, graceful women over the years.

I would make a fool of myself!

So I said, “No.”

I see his face falter slightly and inhale deeply, wishing I had the words to explain.

“I, uh… don’t know how,” I stammer.

“Oh,” he says, grinning at me. “I see. Well, that’s no problem, Isla.”

I love the way my name sounds when it rings from his lips. Like I am an unexplored territory in paradise….

“It isn’t a problem?” I ask him, feeling my cheeks redden.

He shakes his head and reaches for my hand, gently guiding me from my chair. “I can lead you.”

“Oh, but I….”

He cuts me off. “Don’t worry. It’s just the two of us.”

I don’t tell him that is precisely what I am worried about.

Not to mention, that’s not exactly true. There are servants bustling in and out of the room. But I suppose, to the king, they are no one.

He leads me away from the table, keeping my left hand in his right while he wraps his arm around me and places his other hand on the small of my back. In this dress, that is bare skin, and the feel of his palm against my flesh makes warmth radiate throughout my body, pooling in my core.

He smells like the air after a rainstorm, and I can’t breathe him in deeply enough.

With a reassuring smile, he begins to move me slowly around what has become our dance floor. The room isn’t large, so we don’t have a lot of room, but it is enough for just the two of us.

“There,” he says, his voice a soft whisper near my ear. “It’s not so bad, is it?”

I don’t know what to say. No, it’s not bad. It’s fine. In fact, it’s lovely. He moves so agilely, it is as if he was born to the sound of music. Perhaps he was. I don’t even fear tripping with his arms around me.

I find myself leaning into him, wanting to get closer, as if being pressed against him isn’t quite close enough. I can’t see his face now because he’s taller than me, and my head is nearly on his shoulder, but I know him well enough already to envision the expression in his eyes.

“Some say that making love is a lot like dancing,” he says in that breathy voice, and I feel a flutter deep within me. Visions of the dreams I’ve had of him flash before my eyes, the two of us tangled in the bedsheets, my fingers clawing for a grip as he thrusts into me, deep and fast, over and over again.

I say nothing, only make a noise in the back of my throat that is meant to be an agreement, or an inquiry that he should say more.

He does. “It’s the give and take, the rhythm, the two bodies moving so fluidly together.”

I can see that. Sometimes, at school dances, teachers had to break couples apart who had forgotten they were in the gymnasium at school, not the bedroom.

We are not doing that particular kind of dance with the grinding and the gyrating, but as he moves me, as my body glides along with his, I understand exactly what King Maddox is talking about.

I lower my head to his shoulder, overwhelmed by his presence. I have never known anyone like him before. Not only does his magnetism command the room, one glance from him makes my body react in ways it never has before. Even now, I can feel myself growing damp beneath my silk panties, and I wonder if he can smell my arousal with his heightened wolf senses.

Even though I am pressed tightly against him, I cannot say whether or not he has any sort of attraction to me at the moment. If his body is physically responding to mine, it is subtle beneath his jacket and suit pants.

I long to know…. Was it just the drug the other night or is it possible he might actually be curious about me?

He can have any woman he wants, and so many are more beautiful and poised than I. Yet, I am the one in his arms right now. I am the one he has chosen to spend his time with.

It can’t just be because of his investment in me… can it?

“Isla.” My name is a moan as it escapes his lips, and I feel a trembling in my lower extremities. The warmth of his lips sends tingles radiating throughout the flesh of my neck as he carefully places kisses beneath my ear and down to the spot where my shoulder disappears beneath the gown.

If he truly wants me… he can take me now. I would gladly surrender myself to him. I am like a flower petal in his strong hand, waiting to be caressed… or crushed.

Maddox lifts his face to look into my eyes. His eyelids are hooded as if he is just as intoxicated as I am.

He reaches up and runs his hand along my cheek, his thumb strumming my cheekbone. I close my eyes and lean into his hand.

“Tonight, I planned only to get to know you, beautiful,” he says, and I open my eyes to look into his. “I want you to know that I am worthy of your trust. That I understand that it wasn’t your choice to be here or to give yourself to me.”

I nod, feeling my insides crumble. He is letting me down gently. He has no intentions of fulfilling the fantasies I have had about him these past few days.

“But…” He pauses, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, the scent of the brandy he had with dessert filling my lungs. It makes me want to plunge my tongue between his perfect pink lips. “I am fascinated with you, Isla. I will not force you to come back to my room like I forced you to dance.” A crooked grin slides into place on his handsome face, and I smile back at him, thinking it’s true, he did force me to dance. “But I must invite you. Do you think… you might want to accompany me back to my room? At any point, if you change your mind, I’ll make sure you get safely back to your own chambers.”

If all of this has been a ploy, a way to make me think that I have decided to be his breeder, rather than simply being a servant purchased for a purpose, then he is the most sincere actor I have ever met.

I truly feel that he is offering me a choice.

The ache from between my legs tells me I only have one answer that will satisfy my growing need. “Yes,” I say, barely recognizing my own heady voice.

His eyebrows arch slightly. “You’re certain?”

I bite my bottom lip and nod.

His smile widens and he lowers his head, softly brushing his lips against mine. I rise up on my tiptoes, wanting more.

He accommodates me, making a second pass and lingering. He kisses me several times, as he had when his lips were exploring my neck. When his tongue glides along my lower lip, I open my mouth and let him in. The rough surface of his tongue as it taps against mine has me threading my fingers through his hair and leaning into him. He tastes like cool mountain water, and he is the only thing that can extinguish the flame flickering inside of me.

Maddox attempts to pull back away from me, and I groan a protest before I realize what I have done. He smiles at me and smooths his palm against my cheek again.

“If we stand here and kiss all night, we’ll never make it back to my room,” he reminds me.

I feel my face flush again, but I am incapable of a verbal reply.

With my fingers wrapped around his, we turn and head for the door. As we make our way down the hall, past the priceless works of art and the interesting historical displays, I say nothing. I concentrate on keeping the air in my lungs and my head from spinning.

Is this actually about to happen? Is the Alpha King about to claim my virginity?

My mind slips to an unhealthy place as, for a moment, I imagine his teeth sinking into my neck as he marks me, making me his own. I know that it will never happen, that I am not meant to be the next Luna, only the woman who will carry his child. Still… I cannot help but think of how perfect it would be if the two of us could truly be in love, and I could be the wife that makes him happy for the rest of his years.

Thinking of marrying him makes me remember that he has been married before.

Queen Rebecca.

She died….

Some say he killed her.

I can’t imagine that’s the case. He’s so kind, so thoughtful.

No, I won’t believe it.

We turn the corner, and I recognize the hallway. The king’s chambers are up on the right. Just one more corner and a bit of a hallway, and we’ll be there. I bite down on my lip again, the butterflies in my stomach taking flight in a flurry of wings.

He pauses before we get to the last hallway. Looking at me, he says, “Isla, sweetheart, are you still sure?”

I nod. “Yes, King Maddox. I’m sure.” I am surprised by my own confidence, but it gets a smile from him.

We round the corner, my heart beating out of my chest, my face beginning to ache from smiling so widely.

And then… we both come to a halt as we take in the view in front of us.

“Oh, thank the Moon Goddess!” the woman in front of us says. “Your Majesty, help!”

I freeze, covering my mouth with both hands as I stare at her.

It’s hard to recognize her, considering the state she’s currently in, but I know who she is.

It’s Zabrina, Alpha Jordan of Elm Pack’s daughter.

She is standing there with her hands wide, wearing a fancy light yellow dress, her hair pinned up, as if she’d gone somewhere nice tonight.

But now… her dress is ruined, and she looks… like a nightmare.

“Please, help!” she says again as Maddox steps forward.

“What in the world happened, Zabrina?” he asks.

Then, he asks the same question I’ve been wanting to know since we first saw her.

“And why the hell are you covered in blood?"