The Lycan’s Curse
Chapter 12

Cassius

I stretch my neck as I move through my suite towards what is now our bedroom. My parents shared the original king and queen quarters which included separate bedrooms, but I refuse to have Larissa anywhere but beside me as we sleep now. My Lycan is eager to get back to her, to see what other scents we can gain off her now.

When I took her to our rooms earlier, helping her from her gown I didn't expect for her to be covered so little beneath the dress. She didn't stop me from seeing her naked chest, her body bare but for a tiny pair of underwear or stop me from helping to dress her in the silkiest, sheerest chemise. A gift from my mother to continue tradition, something we couldn't overlook even with her knowing that what was supposed to happen upon me seeing my mate in that outfit and her crown upon her head would not.

I added her robe onto it, in case anyone looked in on her while I was back at the reception, before I had to force myself to leave her. Even if it were just Kai, I wanted her covered more until I could return to her. For more free novels, visit FindNovel.net She's resting back in the bed when I reach her, taking in the beauty of her in my bed for a long moment. "I can move to another room..."

"No." The words come out harsh with the sudden burst of anger her offer creates. "You are my mate, safest next to me. I want you here, Larissa. This is where you belong."

"Alright, you looked shocked for a moment, that's all," she says, and I stall my move towards the bathroom and drop a kiss onto her forehead.

"No, just letting my eyes capture the beauty you turn my bedroom into. It was devoid of life and color, until you. I'll be right back," I add hurrying through my movements in the bathroom to get back to her.

I nearly forget and grab a pair of shorts at the last second before climbing into the bed with her. "Do you want to sleep with the robe on?"

"No, it's a bit hot actually," she says, and I help slide it down her arms then pull her down against me. The thin fabric hides nothing, and her skin emits a new scent from her breasts. I smelled it earlier and it was a hit with my nose and my Lycan. I'm selfish and I lower my head, getting the best of it, until she falls asleep, and with a grumble, I follow her into it.

The next week follows the same pattern, beyond doing my best to get Larissa more comfortable with my touch. I let my hands stray along her body, gliding against the edges of her breasts and that new scent grows deeper each time I touch her there. Despite the work on my desk, the requests and demands from alphas and my dukes, I can't keep her from my thoughts, wanting, wishing she understood what I now know. That delicious scent wafting from her breasts is desire. Her body enjoys my touch, but I wonder what it will take to get her mind to want it as well.

To have my little wolf want me, want my touch so I can give her pleasure. Ah my sweet Larissa...

Cassius?

Her voice inside my head means one thing, I called out for her unknowingly, and she heard. 'I'm sorry, little wolf. I was just thinking of you. I didn't mean to disturb you!

You aren't. I'm all alone and bored. No book or TV seems to be of interest or holds my attention today. Are you busy or can you come up early tonight?

'I will be right there,' I respond, putting away the work to get to my mate.

I request her meal be brought up early, adding a plate for me to it, then send Mother a message to inform everyone that I will be unable to attend dinner tonight as my mate requires my presence. Some might imagine that to mean that I merely would rather sleep with her than attend dinner, but most will take into consideration her health and express their hopes that she's well.

Since the coronation not one single woman has been rude to her, quite the opposite in fact. Amal told Dominic at the reception that she didn't understand it at all, that all animosity she'd felt just moments before disappeared. Both Hanna and Gloria expressed their apologies for any ill behavior they projected towards Larissa as well, telling me that whatever was causing it was truly gone now.

I reach our suite as the kitchen is delivering the meal and bring Larissa out to the table as the maids finish setting it. The smiles they give her are genuine and I send them away with my thanks, giving Larissa a soft kiss as they try to discretely turn back our way to spy a bit more for gossip for the others before they leave.

"Dinner with me as well? What did I do to deserve such a gift?" she teases but the mention of gifts makes me come up short.

"Your birthday was the same day as the coronation. Why didn't you remind me, little wolf?" I ask, lifting her gaze to mine.

"What other gift, in all the world, did I need beyond what you'd already given me, not to mention becoming queen over those that seemed to despise me?" she adds, grinning and I drop another kiss onto her lips unable to stop myself.

"I don't know but, I will think of something to give you for my mistake. I did not even wish you a happy birthday."

"I didn't think Lycan celebrated them that much. You all do live far longer than normal shiften, so you have a lot more of them. Other than fifteen and eighteen, which do you celebrate?"

"The big milestones, fifties and hundreds. My hundredth will be next year whereas you my mate, are but a babe still at nineteen," I muse.

She is correct. Most shiften are ancient if they make it past seven hundred, slower and more susceptible to diseases, whereas Lycan can easily live past fifteen hundred and only appear to be perhaps fifty in human years.

That's another reason for the decline in Lycans, with having such a long lifespan, many imagine age to mean nothing if a family is desired, but just as with humans, the older one is, the harder to conceive it becomes. Granted for us, it's not until after one is past a thousand years old, but it still helped to contribute to it.

Becoming my mate extends Larissa's life to coincide with mine. She will not die until I do. Double Lycan mates can outlive one another, but Lycan-Shiften mates, will live as long as their mate may, unless killed.

If by some cruel twist of fate, I die before Larissa's natural death, she will survive until then. It is not something that I worry over now, however. No king has ever been killed necessitating the heir take the throne early. I am the youngest king to take the mantel but that is solely because my father didn't wish to share the power with a queen.

It's a cloudless night and I take Larissa out onto our balcony, settling onto a lounging bed I purchased for the space specifically for her. The stars twinkle unchallenged in the night sky, a new moon evening allowing it to recharge.

"This is just what I needed," she says, turning into me further, her head nestled under my chin.

"I'm sorry I've neglected you..."

"Neglected me?" A laugh shakes her chest, and she lets out a soft sigh. "You are king of all beasts. It is a challenging and impossible job and yet, you have been beside me as often as possible. If anything, you've neglected some duties, I'm sure. I merely meant being outside under the stars once more. I quite often went out into the woods, hiding in the trees and watched the night sky, not once growing tired." "But we have kept you inside once the sun has gone down for several months."

"And it was winter before that and not nearly as comfortable to do so," she says with a nod. "I can only imagine the winters here."

"They are surprisingly not that bad," I admit, soothing my hand up and down her side. "Someone foolishly chose to have me visit a pack in Montana at the end of January into February. If it weren't for being Lycan, we likely would not have survived the weather. You've seen the large fireplaces that we have. They are used to keep the palace warm so should a bad storm hit, we are prepared. As for our fire, I have a feeling that we will never have to fear it unable to be lit considering the protective dragon watching over you." "True, very true," she agrees, and my hands slip along her body, moving against her breasts further inward until her face lifts to mine, questions in her eyes.

"You enjoy being touched by me, little wolf." It's not a question but a statement and her cheeks pinken. "My Lycan approves of the scent you give off when we touch you, even more than your normal sweetness. It may not be pleasure, but it casts out any negative thoughts or feelings trying to build inside us. And if it gives you joy, pleasure, we want to provide it."

"Cassius..."

"You may say no, tell me to stop and I will, but if you find it welcome, wish to feel more, then all you need do is lie here and enjoy."

A little cry strangles in her throat before her hand slips onto my shoulders, holding tighter to me. Her mouth lifts, meeting mine, letting me taste her as my hands explore her further.

She moans when I take her breast into my hand, her scents deepening, and my Lycan growls rumbling against my chest. He surges forward and I turn Larissa onto her back, lifting up to see her. It's not enough and he surges forward again wanting her taste and scent surrounding him, but I hold him back.

My hands slip to the buttons of her dress, slowly undoing them until her breasts are bare under the starlight. I keep going until the dress falls from her shoulders, pooling underneath her and once again all that covers her is the tiny scrap of her panties. "You glow like moonlight with your paleness, like you alone are here to be worshiped."

"Worshiped how?" she asks, her voice breathy, deeper than normal.

"Like this..." The words come on a growl from my Lycan as my lips drop to her skin, first on the mark where we claimed her drawing a gasp, then down towards the scent of her desire emitting from her breasts.

My tongue wraps around her hard nipple, teasing and nipping at it then the other, again and again. Her skin holds the same sweetness as the scent of her desire, and I can't stop. My canines lengthen, sinking into her skin around her n****e, and her body goes tight. It only takes a moment to realize what happened as I pull back, licking the bite shut.

"Mmm, this smells even better," I warn moving down her stomach until my nose touches the center of her panties. They're soaked and her scent almost blinds me. It's a struggle to keep my Lycan from bursting out to get even closer to that scent. "Cassius..." Larissa moans, her breath held, and I force my hands on her hips to relax.

"Tell me I did not hurt you, little wolf," I state, panting in my efforts to keep my Lycan back. All the years that I wanted him to just break free, to prove that he was there, and now, the times he's tried it are the ones that I can't allow it to happen. "No, just a little too tight," she says, her hand slipping through my hair as my head rests on her stomach. "Do mates always...you know when a Lycan bites them?"

"That I don't know but would like to find out. If so, I might have to taste you everywhere." Her shyness about it is adorable and I press a kiss to her stomach, letting out a groan when her sweetest scent increases again. "Tell me to stop now, Larissa, or I will not be able to keep from tasting you more."

Her eyes widen as they hold mine, my finger brushing against the wet center of her panties. "There?"

"There, little wolf. The scent is calling to the beast, and he wants more of it, wants to taste it just as much as I do, see if it is sweeter than the rest we've learnt." Her breasts rise and fall quickly but she doesn't say a word, doesn't stop me and my hands slide to the sides of her panties gripping the little strings tight. "If you do not say something now..." "Please Cassius, it...hurts, not pain just..."

"Need," I finish for her, discarding the remaining fabric with one quick jerk. The scent magnifies and I lower my nose down to her core breathing it in. "This is where I want to be when I die because it is surely what it smells like after the stars take us home." There is nothing stopping me from tasting her now and one is all I need. This is where I'll live for years to come. Each swipe with my tongue makes her taste grow and soon all I hear is her small cries of bliss as my mouth discovers her secrets. I tease at her tightness and receive a sweet reward, the taste coating my tongue.

I swallow it down on a growl as she lets out a louder cry, her legs clamping against my head. Even with them covered her cry is too loud, I'll kill anyone else that hears it. In an instant she's in my arms, and I stalk inside, settling her into our bed.

"I need more," I growl, almost shouting when her legs fall open letting me have what's mine once more. Over and over, I send her there, my tongue delving for every last drop I can get.

She cries out again, and I drink down every bit of it, but on my last lick up, her legs shut bringing a snarl from my Lycan at the loss. "I can't...Cassius, I can't."

Her words penetrate the haze her scent had us trapped in, my Lycan surging forward to get to our mate, ensure she's okay. Her eyes glow with the pleasure we gave her, but the exhaustion is seeping into them, overriding it.

With a curse at myself for not remembering her strength was still just returning I bite into my wrist, bringing it to her lips. "Drink. Drink, little wolf, please."

Her lips touch my skin, warming it, and she does. Her breathing calms, the exhaustion fading, and she begins to stop. "No, drink until it heals, then it's rest for you. We forgot the world existed with your scent, your taste in our mouth, but I never will again, I swear." She doesn't argue and I hold her nakedness to my chest. It warms my skin wherever we touch, and I tuck her in beside me, holding her close as her eyes fall shut, asleep in moments.

My face lowers to her neck, drinking in our joint scents and I join her in rest, eager for the next time I can indulge in her taste.