We were about to take a big chance, a huge chance, and Willow shook nervously on my back as I descended to the landing pad. I was needed in my world, and it was time we took that chance. Willow had changed, she’d learned far more control outside of the Amazon world than she had in it, and the wedding had gone off without a hitch. It was time to test her in my world.

“How do you feel?” I asked as I shifted and set her down on the ground. I examined her face and body for signs of stress, but there were none.

“Good. Okay.” I could tell by her shortness that she was tense, but she didn’t seem to be twitchy. That was good.

“Let’s go inside.” The current plan was to hunt down the factions in our own world and trace Zlo’s dealings here. Then we could find out more about how this all tied to my father.

“It’s not so bad.” Willow broke into my thoughts as we walked through the halls of my father’s castle. “Much better than last time.”

She looked around with curiosity this time, not fear. She didn’t feel threatened now, she wasn’t so afraid, and she had far more confidence in herself. This would be alright.

I took her to the hall where the meeting between the wolves, bears, and my father would take place. It was a meeting to discuss the plans to address the lack of mates and children amongst the wolves and the bears.

Unlike the Alexander clan, who could shift into any animal they wanted to, we only had shifters who could change into one animal and one alone. You didn’t get to choose which, you just were.

We arrived just as my father made another refusal to the pleas of the bears.

“You cannot kidnap human women from other worlds. It is simply against the law here.”

Willow went still beside me. She stared around the room and her gaze settled on my father. She was okay, so I followed her gaze. He seemed far twitchier than she did, as if he was nervous, or had bugs crawling on his skin. His behavior had been rather erratic of late. He had tried to kill Arista and Malcolm not so long ago, after all, and now he sat there scratching at his beard, at his head, his arms, and kept moving around as if he couldn’t sit still.

Why hadn’t I noticed any of this before?

He’d looked healthy lately, really healthy, and had seemed to be more harsh than usual, but he hadn’t looked like this. He sat on his throne, his scarlet and gold robes unclean and in disarray. Something was very wrong here.

“Sire, we know the laws. We’re dying out though, and we have no other solution.” This from a bear named Bjorn.

“We’re dying off, and you don’t seem to care, my king.” A woman named Lupe, of the wolf delegation, came forward.

“What would you have me do, Lupe?” My father sighed and opened his hands. “There will be no kidnapped human women in this world. I can’t say it enough times.”

“What if they are willing to come?” Bjorn asked, his voice hopeful.

“I’m afraid that won’t be acceptable either.” Father sat up straight then, as if he had been hit by lightning. “Oh.”

I felt Willow move around beside me, her gaze on my father. She seemed engrossed in what he was doing, and to be honest, his odd behavior had my attention too.

“Well, perhaps...” Godwin looked confused, as though he was surprised at what he’d said. “Perhaps if they are willing...” He slapped his hand over his mouth, his eyes wide. What was wrong with him?

The whole room started to buzz as my father seemed to struggle with his own body. “Perhaps if they are willing, we can allow some exceptions to the laws.”

The entire room gasped. Godwin had just wavered on a law! It was more than the wolves or the bears could have ever hoped for.

It was, in fact, more than I could believe. I watched my father twitch again, his hand jerked away from his mouth and his eyes went wide.

“This is my decree...” He paused, and it looked as if he was fighting for control of his own tongue. What was wrong with him? Why didn’t anybody check on him?

“Wolves and bears may take human women as mates, if the woman signs a contract that says she will never ask to go back to her world, that swears she will never attempt to go back to her own world, and that she is fully aware of her companion’s state of being a shifter. All children born of these unions will be citizens of this world and will not be allowed to go to the world of their mother’s. If the mate is a man, for a female shifter, then the same must be agreed and signed. Other than under these circumstances, you will not be allowed to kidnap mates from the other worlds, at all. I will not have it. Am I clear?” His voice slurred at the end, but it was clear to all what he meant.

It was a solid decision, though it did put us in danger of being discovered and revealed to Willow’s world. In truth, I think it was the only decision that could be made if my father wanted to maintain peace in our land. Something was wrong with him, but it was good to see a little bit of his fairness return.

We hadn’t forgotten what we saw in the woods, or rather what Malcolm saw, but we did have to maintain a balance for now. We were investigating and making an attempt to maintain some semblance of normality in our world. For a moment, I felt overwhelmed, the way Willow must have felt in the beginning of our relationship. So many worlds, so much at stake, so little time to absorb it all.

Six months ago, I was a soldier, a man with his own life, and a prince. Now, I was a husband, a mate, and soon to be a father. I lived a double-life, and the constant flights between my world and hers, the constant turmoil from the problems in both of our worlds, made my head spin. I walked out of the hall and Willow followed.

“Are you alright, Henry?” she asked, her hand on my back to comfort me.

“Yeah, I just need some sleep. I’m a little drained. Watching father was a little hard too. What’s wrong with him?”

She had an odd expression on her face, but then it smoothed out. Gas, maybe?

I led her back to my own home, and she went down to the kitchen to retrieve some wine. She came back up to my bedroom—our bedroom now—and slid into bed with me, two glasses in hand. One held apple juice and the other wine. It was a dark red wine, dragon wine, and full of flavor. I took a sip, and let my head fall to my pillows. With her beside me, the duvet over me to keep me warm, and my world still slightly spinning, I let my eyes close.

“I just want an hour of sleep. That’s all.” I fell asleep before I’d even finished my glass of wine.

I fell into dreams of Willow, our future together, and the many ways we could explore our passion for each other. In my dreams, she was the same wildly passionate lover I had in real life. She danced through the jungle, away from me, only to turn back with a laugh or a smile as I chased her. Sunlight danced on her silky skin, in her hair, and I knew she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.

Everything about her caught my gaze. To someone else her eyes might be too far apart, her shoulders a little too muscular, or her waist not narrow enough, but to me, she was perfect. Her waist was the perfect size to span my large hands around, her shoulders were muscular because she played the piano, she played the music that soothed the dragon inside of me. Her eyes revealed the things she thought, the love she had for me, the things that amused her.

I caught her in the jungle foliage and fell with her onto a bed of flowers. Their delicate petals brushed our skin, tiny fingers that delighted the senses. Her legs wrapped around my waist, her tongue wrapped around mine, and the world was perfect again. I closed my eyes, and when I opened them, I had her in my arms, and we were in a world of darkness, the yellowish-green glow of fungi the only light. Her eyes glowed within the darkness, a golden-brown honey that soothed my mind.

A blink found us in our home in her world, our bed, her old bed, cradled us as we danced together, our bodies joined where she straddled me. I watched her as she teased herself, her fingers tight on her own nipples. I loved it when she made herself moan like that. She’d done that a few times for me now, teasing herself into an orgasm as I watched.

I loved to watch her, every aspect of her fascinated me. The dream morphed again, and we were in one of the establishments in another world. A house where sex was bought and sold, where people who couldn’t be themselves acted out whatever desire they had together, for payment or for free. It was a house where anything went; a place my father had taken me a long time ago. I walked down a long hallway, searching for something, not sure what until I saw Willow in a red corset, red panties, with long red leather boots strapped over her legs. The leather came up to her thighs.

She sat with her arms behind her to prop her up with her breasts thrust out. Her legs were open, bent at the knees. Her hair was in a long braid down her back, and her eyes were dark with kohl. She was sensuality, temptation, and deliverance in one promising package. I walked into the room and she pulled her thighs together.

“What can I do for you, sir?” Her smirk told me she knew exactly what she could do.

I walked up to her, my dick already hard and ready for those ruby red lips she’d painted with gloss. I wanted to see them wrapped around my dick.

“What do you offer?”

“Oh, I’m only here for you, sir. I am yours alone.” She moved then, a slow crawl across the bed, her eyes held mine captive. She was like a snake as she moved across that huge bed of black lace and satin.

“Open for me.” Her eyes held mine still, but her red-tipped nails stroked down the fasteners of my pants. I popped the buttons free and let her open the panels to free my aching flesh. She gasped, that same gasp she’d made the first time she saw me naked. It often replayed in my mind.

Her fingers danced over my pants and they disappeared, while her other hand gripped me, strong and eager. Her hand stroked me just the way I’d taught her to. My own reached out to stroke under her chin.

“Are you going to suck my dick for me, princess?”

Her eyes blazed up to mine. “No, but I am going to fuck it, sir.”

I shivered, her response a naughty defiance that I found tantalizing.

A wet heat enveloped me, and that’s when the dream broke. The liquid walls that gripped me brought me back to reality. Willow was naked, straddled over me, and I was deep inside of her.

“You’ll have to tell me about that dream you were having later, Henry,” she purred above me, but she was too lost in how it felt to have me inside of her to say anything more. I heard how wet she was when her slick flesh ground against me, and her clit pressed into me. She was going to get herself off without any help from me at all if I didn’t do anything.

I took her breasts in my hands, my thumbs directly over her nipples to stroke them into tight peaks. “You’re so wet, Willow. What were you thinking about when you decided to ride my dick, princess?”

“I was thinking about dark rooms, the sounds of others as they found their pleasure, and watching other people.”

“Were you indeed?” This was a new side to her. One I hadn’t known existed, but I liked it. “You want to listen to other people fuck? Watch them?” I gave her an extra thrust as her walls swallowed around me when I spoke. “Do you want to see their pleasure, Willow? To hear it as I fuck into you?”

“I do, Henry. Fuck, I do want it. I want it so much.” Her fingers fluttered on my chest, and one went down between her thighs to work the throbbing pulse of her clit. She was so close her soul was already weaving into mine.

I wasn’t far behind her. Another gasping sigh or an accidental touch as she moved on me, seeking her own pleasure, would send me over the edge. It was... just... right... there...

“Willlllllooooow...”

Her name sighed out of me as she pulsed around me and I pulsed into her. The world became the blue and white smoke of our souls that threaded together into a light blue singularity. I poured myself into her as I became her, and she swallowed every single drop of me as she became me.

“I can’t stop loving you, Henry. Fuck, I can’t stop. I don’t even want to try, but I couldn’t if I did. It’s so good, baby. Loving you is just so perfect.”

Her words intruded on my mind, and I had no idea how she found the ability to speak. All I could do was groan wildly as she sucked every inch of me with her tight pussy. It didn’t matter, she was right, I couldn’t stop loving her either. There was just no way it could ever happen. There was nothing more perfect than this.