Heart Of A Lycan King
Chapter 32

NATASHA.

It was…too much. His scent was too drugging. The way his arms wrapped tightly around me. His hot breath fanned the curve of my neck.

Everything was…too much.

I should focus on the new feelings, new sensations. Instead, I was on the verge of hyperventilating, and my muscles were so tense. So I pushed back a bit to give us some space, or rather, give me some space. Instead of laying my head on his chest now, I placed it on his shoulders, pulled my other arm sprawled over him and left the other still clasped behind him.

He sucked a deep breath, his face still buried in the crook of my neck, and then, I was shaking. Because it was too much. He then pulled back, removed his other arm from around me and began running his fingers lightly on my bare arms as he stared down at me.

I found myself smiling up at him.

Emotions crossed his face faster than I could read them. He shook his head, swallowed. A small smile hinted at the edge of his lips before he withdrew his hand from running them on my arm to rub his jaw. He cleared his throat, but his voice still came out rough when he said, “Thank you, Nala.”

“For what?” I blinked.

“For this,” his fingers were back running on my arm, and it was a whole new sensation. It shouldn’t matter. Just tiny tingles here and there shouldn’t matter. Yet it mattered.

I loved it.

‘One of these days, I am going to lick him clean before you do, Nat,’ Erin purred as she jumped back and forth. ‘One of these days, Nat.’

‘I think you’re more obsessed with licking him than I am now,’ I said, rolling my eyes.

‘Oh, of course yes! I’m eager to see his wolf and find out if he and I have a certain connection like the one I share with Aiden,’ she said dreamily.

‘You have a connection with Aiden?’ I asked in shock.

‘He’s my mate too, woman. You don’t expect to be connected to him alone. There’s a deeper sense of connection between him and I. You just never noticed because you are in your own bubble,’ Erin replied.

‘Ptttffss,’ I snickered, my eyes falling to the working of his throat. How is it possible to find that attractive?

‘Trail your fingers along his throat so we know how he feels there, Nat,’ Erin slurred. His scent was getting stronger.

‘You do it!’ I whisper yelled, as heat rose up my cheeks.

‘I could if you’d let me, duh!’ she sneered. ‘I am more creative at things like this than you are, just admit it.’

‘You are becoming too…’

‘Too what? Oh Nat, what name do you think he’ll call me? He’ll give me my own pet name, right?’ Erin asked thoughtfully.

‘Why don’t you ask him that?’ I laughed.

‘It’s fine. I know he’ll find something fitting for me. I just need to find one for him too. Do you think Sarki is good?’

‘Sarki as in king? That’s calling him king in Umma’s language,’ I scoffed.

‘What? That is because he is the king of my heart, Nat. He is my Sarki.’

‘Duh! I guess you aren’t as creative as you think,’ I put my tongue out and rolled my eyes.

Erin huffed at my comment then snorted. I laughed as I watched her lay her head on her paws and fixed her attention back on Aiden.

I shifted my attention back to him as well, embracing all the new sensations.

“If you wanted this, why didn’t you ask?” I found myself saying. My fingers twitched as I dragged them across the decadent expanse of his throat, where the top three buttons of his white shirt were undone, and over his hard chest. No idea why I was doing this. But I felt I wanted to.

He sighed, shut his eyes and placed his mouth on my forehead. He had deprived me of any skin to skin contact since yesterday. Was he waiting for me to make the move first? Was he tired of always making the first move? Was that why he had been quiet and looked like he was sulking all this while?

I should ask him that, but I was afraid it would break the little magical moment we had, so I clasped my lips shut and waited for his response.

“I…” His arm behind me tightened, and a golden tint appeared in his eyes before it vanished. “I wasn’t sure if you’d like it,” he mumbled.

“Well, we could’ve found out if you’d have asked. Not that I mind asking though,” I mumbled also, ducking my head down and shifting my eyes to the working of his fingers on my arm.

“Okay, can I do something?”

“Something like?” I asked.

“Well, it should be a surprise. But if I tell you, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore.”

I searched his eyes for anything, but he wasn’t giving anything away. Except of course, for the tilt of his lips just a bit to show he was planning something…mischievous.

“Okayy…” I said, laughing a bit. “Go ahead and show me.”

“Come here,” he said.

I rocked forward to pull away so I could look at him clearly, but he stopped me, wrapping his arms tightly around me and settled me over his lap. Our skin was touching everywhere, albeit through the silkiness of our clothes. My cheek on his chest, his arms around my shoulders, my side to his front, and I was achingly conscious of the dampness of my perspiration.

“Relax, Nala,” he whispered. “This is cuddling as well, just a different type than the one I was sure you had in mind,” he clasped one of my hands in his, interlaced our fingers, and held on with firm pressure.

I couldn’t speak, instead, I stared down at our hands, noting the way they fit together as always. Like the rest of him, his hands were beautiful works of art with long fingers and strong veins on their backs.

I found his free hand and opened it up. One large callus covered the base of his palm. I traced my fingertips over the hard patches of the skin.

“What are these from?”

“They’re farming calluses.”

“How?” I asked, surprised.

“How what? You think I can’t farm?”

“Not exactly. Just…surprised,” I admitted.

“You said the same thing when I told you I played football,” he chuckled, his chest reverberating from the impact.

“I was just surprised a king does other things besides giving commands and growling,” I laughed a bit.

“I have lots of talents, Nala,” he said, running his fingertips down the bridge of my nose before lightly pinching my chin.

“What are they?”

“I think time will let you know all of them.”

“You can tell me too,” I insisted.

He merely smiled and turned his gaze to the window.

“Our date still stands, right?”

“If you show me the diary you promised, yes,” I smiled. “And when do I get to meet Leo?”

“After the ceremony,” he answered. “Anything from the shadows again?”

I shook my head.

“How tall are you? I used to pride myself for being tall, but despite the fact that I was sitting on your lap, you’re still taller. How is that possible?” I pouted.

“I guess it is an Alpha King kinda thing,” Aiden teased. “But I like it this way. Makes the cuddling even better, cause I can wrap you in my arms and tuck you into my chest with no problem,” he laughed.

I shook my head and laughed as well. No lies, I liked it this way too.

“Why do you think I wasn’t in heat when I was mated to Matteo?” I asked one of the questions that had been bugging me. “There were times I’d wish he’d touch me,even if it were only my fingers, especially on days he makes me watch him and Camila have…” I shut my mouth, wondering why I had told him that.

“You watched them do what?” Aiden hissed, his voice barely above a controlled rage.

This is bad. Really really bad.

“Nothing really,” I forced a smile. “I’m just trying to understand why I went into heat the second day we met,” I added quickly.

“You can talk to me, Nala,” he murmured, his voice rough as tipped my chin up. “The scars on your body…some have healed and vanished, right?”

I simply nodded.

“But the ones from the silver are going to be long term scars,” his thumb lightly grazed the scar on my neck, and I shivered underneath his caress.

“It’s just a matter of time before I completely embrace them like I did now,” I smiled, and it was a genuine smile. “You’re helping me get through it all,” I added, staring into his dark eyes.

“You’ll tell me when you’re ready, right? You’ll tell me about everything when you’re ready, won’t you?” he asked, the desperate ache in his voice made my heart twitch.

I hesitated for a while, before I touched the scar mark beside his eye and smiled.

“I wish. But I’m afraid you’d find out all the dirty things I did and…hate me,” I confessed, the scenes where I had been forced by Matteo to give him a bj before he makes me watch as he takes Camila flashing before my eyes.

I shut my eyes tightly, willing to get rid of the scene.

As though noticing the inner turmoil I was dealing with, I felt Aiden’s warm lips placed on my neck, directly where my scar mark was. He stayed on moving, but the sensation, the intimate toe curling feeling he stirred took my mind off the gruesome images I was seeing of Matteo.

“Take a deep breath, Nala,” he murmured, lips still pressed against the skin on my neck, one hand cupping my cheeks, and the other wrapped tightly around my torso.

I could feel the rigidity of his muscles, pressing against the soft pads of my breast. I could feel the fast thudding of his heart, as my hands pressed against his chest.

This was the most intimate I had ever been with anyone.

“You were shaking,” he added, pulling back just a bit so he could look into my eyes. “I won’t push you to speak about your past, and I will never, never hate you for whatever reason. This heart here,” he pulled one of my hands from its rigid stance on his chest and placed it directly where his heart stood, “beats solidly for you, Nala. Nothing or no one can ever change that.”

My eyes welled up with tears, but I knew I couldn’t cry. Knew I shouldn’t. Because one, I’ll ruin my makeup, and two, I’ll ruin his white shirt. Then We’ll all be a mess by the time we arrive at his parents.

I. Won’t. Cry. I shut my eyes for a brief moment before I opened them, only to end up locking with his. I smiled softly, then placed my head back on his chest.

“We should cuddle more often,” I murmured, taking in his drugging scent even more as I tightened my arms around him.

“We should,” Aiden whispered, kissing my forehead.

But a loud knock from the door, and Mama’s voice broke our little moment. It was then that we both figured the car was not moving anymore. Which means we had arrived at his parents’ place, for how long? No idea.

“Do you two have any plans of getting out of the car?” Mama’s voice floated through the dark tinted car window.

Oh dang!