Heart Of A Lycan King
Epilogue 1

One step at a time, I took down the winding stairs that lead to the living room. I was nervous, thinking if the little stunt I was about to pull was going to work out. Or if it was too much.

A sigh escaped my l!ps when I finally reached the living room to find that Aiden wasn’t there yet.

As I sat on the sofa waiting, with my shoes beside me because I needed Aiden to help me with them. The jeering feeling that I may ruin this constantly plagued at the back of my mind. This was the first time I was asking Aiden out on a date. But that wasn’t my only plan.

We had agreed to dress separately for the date, upon my insistence that is, and I wanted to finish first so I could wait for him, give myself enough time to prepare my heart for what I was about to do.

Tomorrow, we’ll be moving to the palace. Nana and Tiffany had already left yesterday, and only Aiden and I remained. I wanted another memory of us engraved in this house, these walls that had helped shape my fears and showed me another side of being loved.

And so, I asked Aiden out on a date, because who says only the man asks or takes their partners on a date? I’m going to take this man out after I have devoured him, then pampered him

‘You mean after we’ve devoured him,’ Erin chirped in.

‘Ahh, yes. After we’ve devoured him. Do you think he’ll catch on easily?’ I asked nervously.

‘It’s fine, Nat. You’ve been planning this for weeks and I’m certain it’ll be fine. Don’t stress too much over it. You’ll do good.’

I sighed, massaging the little box in my handbag. It was my first time doing this, and I just couldn’t seem to calm my damn heart.

Unable to remain seated, I stood up and walked to the window, marveling at the beauty out there. The orange hues of the sun painted a beautiful glow on the tall lush trees and flowers scattered outside. My eyes caught on the daisies planted on the side, reminding me of the flowers I had hidden behind the sofa.

Dear Nyala! Please make this work!

“Nala?”

I whirled at the sound of Aiden’s deep voice. And there he was in jeans, a sweatshirt, with the sleeves pushed up to his elbows, his hair, that he had loosened the braids now, was tied into a loose bun, his beard trimmed. His scent was everywhere, the furrow of his dark brow, that baritone.

Ten months ago, I met this man on this day. This man had stood before me and anyone who could bear witness and declared he wanted me. He had brought me to the capital, wiped a smudge of ketchup from the corner of my mouth as I ate fries, asked to hold my hands in his, with so much love and care. It was on this day that he named me Nala, and he had stuck to that name, calling me Natasha only once.

On this day, ten months ago, I found love.

The thoughts brought tears to my eyes, and I struggled and fought hard to push them back. This was not the time to cry. It was the time to be happy.

“Oh my,” I croaked, unable to say anything more. I just knew one thing, which was me being overly dressed when I had told Aiden this was just a casual date.

“Is…Nala?” He called again, his raspy voice, and the way his eyes danced around my body jolting all the dead cells awake.

“Um, hi.”

Aiden took a step closer, his eyes glazing over. His chest rose and fell, and he stepped forward again. “Is that how you dress for a casual date?”

“Yeah. It is casual,” I whispered, willing for my ragging heart to calm just a bit.

“I see,” he simply said, crossing his hands over his chest and continued to stare at me.

I was wearing the dress the girls and I bought just before the mating ceremony. And I knew it would be impossible for me to go anywhere with it, but there was the thrill of teasing Aiden with it just to draw out a reaction from him.

And I was getting more than I bargained for.

The black dress stopped just a little above my butt, and a slight movement would cause it to move upwards, exposing the cheeks I had tucked into my black cotton panties. The tight fitting dress with spaghetti straps hung onto my body. Thing is, the dress was a see-through, and I could see the outline of my panties in it, the outline of my breast, and the way my n.ipples strained against the dress.

I knew I was looking for trouble by wearing this, and I was waiting to see what he would do about this. But most importantly, I didn’t care that my scars were visible. Because I have learnt to embrace them as a part of me.

“The moment I dare touch you, I’m not sure when we’ll be able to leave this house. Are those beads on your hair?” He asked, voice still raspy and deep.

I nodded, twirling with one of my braids. I had made five braids and adorned them with big brown beads, then I packed my remaining hair into a tight bun, with the curls adorning the top.

“I don’t mind if we don’t leave at all. You can touch me, Rabin Rai,” I whispered, taking in the way his throat bobbed as he swallowed hard and fast.

My heart hammered, the veins in my hands aching from the strain of not reaching him. To hug him, and tuck myself into my recharging corner. This man right here is mine and I’m keeping him. There was no way around it.

There had been a moment in the last few days when I had thought I was too lucky, too lucky to have a man like him as mine. Too lucky to have a family like mine, and too lucky for every good thing that had happened to me. But then, I quickly realized that I deserved all of that, because I was willing to put in the same effort others were putting in.

“Nala?”

“Mmm?”

“Come here.”

I shook my head, trying to play it cool. “I thought you were scared of touching me?”

“You said you don’t mind what happens afterwards. So come here, Nala. Let me tuck you into your recharging corner,” he murmured.

An obstruction formed in my throat at his words, and I couldn’t help the bubble of laughter threatening to break through.

“I’m already mad you hesitated to touch me,” I grumbled.

He growled when I shifted a bit, the dress raising just an inch to expose more of my thick thighs. “I know what I’m capable of, Nala. Seeing you right there, standing and staring at me with such pure innocence made me reflect. If I dare touch you, I can’t remain sane, and perhaps, I may not retain the gentleness I always manage to handle when I’m in your presence.” He paused. “But I can’t hold back now, and I desperately want to hold you, and do more. Can you be mad at me for hesitating while I k!ss you, Nala? It’s all I’ve wanted since I set my eyes on you a few minutes ago.”

There goes my playing it off with a cool aura. Who the heck was I kidding when I was itching for his touch? I was merely trying to play it cool and pretend it didn’t matter much, when in all honesty, my mouth was already watering at the thoughts of his k!sses.

I took one step, then two, and three, closing the remaining distance between us. Aiden had deliberately left the space between us, giving me the choice to either close it or not. And close it I did. He made a gruff sound, wrapping his arms around me as tight as possible, his face buried at the crook of my neck, where his hot breath was fanning.

“There you go, Nala,” he murmured, “tucked into your recharging spot. And I am in mine as well.”

My body shook with laughter, as I s.ucked slowly on his earlobe. His body stiffened, then released before a gruff m**n left his l!ps when I s.ucked on the lobe again. “You have a recharging spot too?”

He k!ssed my neck, s.ucking on the mark the same way I had s.ucked on his earlobe. “Yes. Right here, with your arms around me, your scent wrapping me up, and the knowledge that you own me. I feel the most secure in that place.”

I shuddered at his confession, loving the way he rubbed circles on my back. “It’s great to know we both feel secure around each other. For a moment, I was wondering if your attention was only focused on the outline of my breast.”

With an exhaled laughter, he angled his head back and met my eyes. “Well, it’s not my fault. You practically have them hanging in that dress. And I’m surprised to see you in it, when we are supposed to go on a date. Unless, of course, your plan was never for us to go on a date.”

I laughed, breaking the hug completely as I took a step back. My heart was back to thudding loudly as I walked to the seat. I kept my bag and fished out the little box from my handbag, before I grabbed the bouquet of daisies from behind the sofa.

I stood for another few seconds, exhaling in and out before I finally turned, only to bump into Aiden.

“Ouch!” I winced, rubbing my forehead that had collided with my jaw.

“Are you okay?” He called quickly, holding one of my arms tenderly.

“I’m fine,” I nodded, refusing to meet his eyes. “Um, Rabin Rai?”

“Yes?”

“Can you move back a little?”

“Why aren’t you looking at me?” He asked, without making a single comment on the flowers in my hands.

“Just move back, please,” I repeated, my voice shaking a bit. Dang it! So much for being confident!

He sighed, rubbed his thumb lightly on my bare arm before he took two steps back.

I took in a deep breath, reaching out to Erin who nudged at the bond softly, building back my confidence. Then I lifted my eyes, and dropped them in his, and I didn’t dare move them away as I spoke.

“Ten months ago, I met you, in the most unexpected way. Both of us tangled in spilled water, wet from rolling on the dirtied floor, and a broken woman with scars in the arms of a king. Ten months ago, you brought me here, and through all those months, you helped me heal,” I paused, swallowed, then continued. “You taught me to love, to accept myself just the way I am. You taught me to believe, to battle my demons. Above all, you taught me what it meant to believe in oneself.

“Through those months, you’ve been patient with me, handling my weakest moments the best way you could, embracing my flaws, supporting my decisions, helping me evolve. Every day, you do something that’ll make me fall in love with you over and over again, and I don’t regret it, and I’m certain I never will.”

I moved closer, taking two steps to close the distance between us, before I held the flowers and the white box with a red tie on it in the little space between us.

“Thank you for loving me. For embracing me. For teaching me to love myself and others. Above all, thank you for teaching me to love you, Rabin Rai. Happy ten months anniversary to us. Here is to forever,” I finished, pressing the flowers into his hands with the box on the top.

He didn’t say anything for the longest time, and simply stood staring at me. He swallowed, then wet his bottom l!p with his tongue, then swallowed again. The only thing he did was breathe hard and fast.

With each passing second, my mouth grew dryer, and tension was gripping every living cell cramped in my chest. I swallowed, and swallowed, and swallowed till I had nothing more to swallow. Why wasn’t he saying anything? Or accepting the flowers? Was this too much? Did I ruin everything?

“Thank you,” he finally responded, the gruffness in his voice was worse than it had been when he got here. “You’ve rendered me speechless,” he added, accepting the flowers, while he took the box with the other hand. He sniffed the flowers, eyes closed before he pried them open to look at me. “I was never a fan of flowers. I only got to know about them after I found you, and I found I liked the daisies more, hence the first picture I sent you.” My stomach sank at his words. I had ruined it without even trying. Who gets a man a flower bouquet? Daisies to be precise!

“But you just turned me into a flower lover now, and I’m more calm than Leo is right now. You won’t believe the big puppy is crying and wagging his tail around. Pure sheer happiness brought to us by our mate,” he continued. “I’m not kidding, Nala, Leo is crying. You do know how Erin does when she cries right? Or feels overwhelmed by something?” I nodded. “Leo is currently worse. Can you reach him?”

I swallowed, shocked to hear what Aiden was saying. But I didn’t argue, instead, I reached through the woven bond for Leo. And there he was, his golden eyes glassy with tears, as he wagged his tail around. I had done this. I had caused this royal Lycan to react this way to a simple gift of flowers.

I did this.

‘Have I ever told you I’m a lovesick puppy?’ Leo suddenly asked.

I shook my head, unable to speak as laughter bubbled within me.

‘Well, I am. That should be obvious from the heavy sack I carried for months just for your sake. In that case, while you handle that big-assed man feigning to be tough when this has hit him harder than me, I want Erin with me. I bet she can handle me too.’

This time, I didn’t hold back the laughter. I laughed and my body shook from the impact. Yeah, my mate was everything. Funny and hot. Passionate and gentle. Loving and caring. Everything packaged in one man.

I smiled at Leo one last time, watching as he sat on his front paws, his tongue hanging on the side, waiting for Erin.

‘You’re our big, meaty, lovesick puppy, Leo, and I wouldn’t want you otherwise.’ I murmured, stepping back and allowing Erin through to him before I turned my attention back to Aiden.

He was still standing with the flowers and the box in his hands.

“Thank you for this,” he said again. “I think I’ll never look at flowers the same.”

“Why?”

“Because they are you. I see daisies now, and I see you, Nala. Always.”

“Rabin Rai…”

“I’m honestly not the type to be easily rendered speechless, but you’ve done that. And now the only sane thing I can think of is holding you in my arms and reassuring you of how much I love you. How much I want you. Out of that dress and nothing more.”

I shivered. “And the date?” I asked, my knees growing weak at the prospect of what we were about to do.

“We can do it afterwards. Right now, I can’t think straight, Nala. Would you let me hold you? K!ss you?”

“Yes,” I said raggedly.

He dropped the flower bouquet and the box on the sofa behind us, before he pulled me to him, one of his arms wrapped around my waist, and the other holding my neck in place. He tugged until we were nose to nose. “I love you so much, Nala.”

The moment our mouths collided, I knew I wasn’t wrong. And I knew I made the right choice by wearing the dress.

I m****d and opened my mouth to him, my breath coming in short pants almost immediately, just like his. He’d barely slid his tongue between my l!ps when I gripped his shoulders, drew myself high against his chest and slung one of my legs around his waist, the movement causing the dress to hike up to my butt.

Our k!ss turned from slow, to rough, hungrily s.ucking and licking at each other’s l!ps as he used his hold on the back of my head to guide me left, right, meeting my l!ps with wide slants of his own, swallowing down my little whimpers like they were all he fed on.

“Nala,” he growled, taking two steps and flattening me against the closest wall, his mouth raking down my neck, while his left hand slid up to cup my breast. “I want you, and I don’t think I have enough patience to take you back up into the room.”

My dazed eyes met his, my mouth wet from k!ssing. “I need you now,” I said hoarsely, tugging on the collar of his shirt. “Now, Rabin Rai. Please.”

With a ragged breath, he picked my other leg and wrapped it around his waist, and I was now openly pressed into the wall, his thickness prodding against my open thighs, where my wet black panties rested.

“I want to give your body enough love, but I can’t wait,” Aiden mumbled, hissing as I slipped my hands underneath his shirt and tugged it up till he raised his hands up and I helped him remove it. He had already slipped my spaghetti straps down, bending just a little to k!ss the space between my breasts.

“Then don’t wait,” I said unevenly, wrapping my hands around his neck and meeting his mouth for another k!ss. L!ps-seeking and wet, our k!ss escalated to the point of no return. We both wrestled with my panties, only to remember that my legs were wrapped around his waist.

Aiden allowed me to stand, and while we were both laughing I tugged my panties down in seconds. With my dress resting on my waist, straps down, breast exposed, and now, bare with no panties, I pulled him close again. And then, I was back to climbing him, my thighs skimming up to his waist, his h**s punching forward to get his hardness ease against my softness, pinning me more into the wall in the process.

“Noticed we didn’t have to get any brassiere off,” he said in between k!sses, finding my butt with both hands and kneading them.

I bit his bottom l!p, tugged at it. “It wasn’t necessary with my dress of choice.”

“If I wasn’t desperate for this, I would’ve gotten down on my knees and licked you clean,” he whispered against my mouth, his beard tickling me as always while I tried to get the fly of his jeans open.

Aiden helped, undoing the top with a snap, wincing as he lowered the zipper and his beautiful length surged, filling the little space between our intimate parts. It crowded into the notch between my legs, and I whimpered, digging my heels into his butt to bring him closer, and he came, grinding against my slippery, wet flesh. One thrust, and I’d swallow him.

“We don’t have to do that today. No time,” I gasped, my head falling back as a sob caught my throat. With Aiden licking the line of my throat, catching his teeth on my earlobe like I did with his minutes ago, it was impossible not to buckle against him.

Our heads turned at the same time, and we drowned in another k!ss, pulling me deep and even deeper, with Aiden’s h**s pumping involuntarily, moving, his length sliding up and back through my entrance without breaching in.

“Rabin Rai,” I panted.

“Yes, Nala?”

“Go on.”

We breathed against each other’s mouth, before he dropped his face into my neck as he kicked his jeans off from his ankles. Then reached between us, while pressing me more into the wall. “Ready?”

“Yes.”

I purred in response as he slowly inched himself into me. By the time he had filled me completely, I was shaking like a leaf.

“Don’t you dare go soft, Rabin Rai,” I hissed, my back arching against the wall. “I want it rough.”

Aiden’s first upward thrust drove me up into the wall, and I choked on a scream, feeling the pressure already building in my stomach. He placed one hand on the wall beside me, while the other held one of my legs in place and he pumped in and out. Harder. Faster. Raw. Lovingly. Our eyes met. There was a coiling in the dead center of my chest, and this man was responsible for it.

My eyelids were dropping slowly, and I looked at him through the veil of them, biting my l!p. “Does it feel good enough for you, Rabin Rai?”

Aiden glued his mouth to my heart and started to move even faster, so hard that my legs were jostling around his h**s with every hard thrust. “I’ve been thinking about what it would feel like to have you this way against the wall, and it was even better than I had imagined,” he opened his l!ps on the pulse of my neck, grazing the spot with his teeth, his h**s moving in hard. “Way way better, Nala.”

Our eyes locked just before our mouths did. He took hold of my legs and pushed me higher against the wall. He angled himself, going deeper, inward and up, hitting the right spot inside of me, and he went in on me hard.

My throaty whimpers seemed to be unnerving him, causing his movement to turn more savage then they already were. And I loved it. I loved every bit of it.

“Don’t stop,” my eyes lost focus, nails digging into the skin of his shoulders. “Give it to me as hard as you can.”

And he did. So much so that my whimpers turned to deep m***s, and then small screams, drowning in his guttural m***s. My mouth formed an O, and I tightened up, my hands slapping at his shoulders…and then I crashed, my flesh rippling around him. I writhed between him and the wall, fighting the pleasure and needing it at the same time, my eyes wide, yet unable to see nothing but the man before me.

“Oh my….Rabin Rai.”

That seemed to push him over the brink as well. I held him tight as he bucked against me, holding me tight until I finally felt him easing up. Then he pressed his forehead against mine, breathing heavily.

“That was…” I breathed into his neck, unable to finish up.

“Don’t speak,” he murmured, k!ssing my neck. “Just hold me and continue loving me. I love you so much.”

And that was exactly what I planned to do. Hold him and love him forever.