Her legs still shook. As did her hands. Cold? Forget cold. She was burning hot. Red freaking hot. Jolene had never come so hard in all of her life. It shamed her how hard she had come.

Screaming his name had been an accident. A total accident. One she would repeatedly make if they did that again. There would be no doing that again though. No way! She hadn't been lying though when she had said she'd had better.

She may not have come so hard in some instances, she hadn’t come at all in others. In fact, she’d been left hanging more times than she cared to admit, but at least there had been feelings involved. Previous encounters hadn’t just been hardcore fucking. It had never been sex for the sake of sex and the end result. At least, it hadn’t ever been that way for her. And yes, while sex with Storm had rocked her world, it had done nothing to move her soul. It had done nothing to move his either. She could see it in his eyes the moment she turned around.

Why had she given in?

It was over! She’d given him exactly what he was after. Her body. It was done. They were done. Come morning, he was going to send her on her way. The sadness that welled in her was confusing. She should be happy. She shouldn’t be jealous when other women flirted with him. She shouldn’t be sad, hurt, even now that he was done with her. This fiasco was finally over. She could move on with her life.

“I’m going to take a shower.” She needed to wash him away. To be just as done with him as he was with her. Walk away with dignity.

“Be my guest.” He gestured to the bathroom. “Are you happy with steak for dinner? Or would you prefer pasta?”

“Steak would be good.”

Now he was being polite to her. It sucked! No, it didn't. This was good. Great even. Tomorrow, she could actually start working on her life. On her dream. Her forever.

No more Storm.

No more irritation.

Forget Golden Boy.

His mind reeled. Adrenaline coursed. Storm paced up and down while Jolene was in the shower. He couldn’t seem to calm himself down. No female had ever left his bed unsatisfied before. Or had they? Maybe they had and he just didn’t know it.

Not a fuck!

You didn’t scream a person’s name if the sex was bad. Whether it was an accident or otherwise. Jolene had enjoyed it. Her pussy had tightened around him almost to the point of pain. The noises she had made. His name on her lips. The wet sucking noises her channel had made as he drove into her. None of that would have happened if she wasn’t turned on as fuck. If she hadn’t come damn freaking hard.

Storm only realized he’d left his chamber when he found himself walking down the long hallway. He knew what he had to do. Storm walked into the great hall and looked around him. All the males nodded when he looked their way. Several kept their eyes averted.

There! He needed answers and he knew exactly where to get them. He locked eyes with the person in question. “Can I have a word?” he whispered as he drew nearer.

“Yes, my lord.” Her smile morphed, turning seductive.

Storm sighed. “It’s not like that, Crystal.” If only Jolene was this interested. That would make his day. His fucking life.

“Oh.” She made a face. “What did you want to ask?”

He looked around. There were dozens of shifters all around them. “It’s personal, can we go somewhere a little more private?”

“You sure you’re not just trying to get me alone?” She giggled and fluttered her lashes. A move that had worked well for her in the past. Right then, it only served to irritate him.

“Very sure,” he growled. “I just need to talk to you about something. It’s important.”

She frowned. “Okay.” Then she smirked. “Your loss though.” They walked in silence for a minute, leaving the great hall and making their way through the hallways.

Storm gestured to a door. It led to one of the many balconies. He opened the door and Crystal walked through first. “What’s got you so rattled, my lord?” she asked as she turned to face him. “Falling for the human?”

“No,” he snorted. “Of course not.” It was ridiculous!

“You’re welcome, by the way.” She laughed.

“What are you talking about?” Females of all species were infuriating. They talked in circles, the lot of them.

“I can scent she finally gave in and did her duty. The human just needed a push in the right direction.” Crystal winked at him.

“So that’s why you came to my chamber earlier. To help give my female a push in the right direction?” He raised his brows. That didn’t sound like Crystal at all.

“No, I came to do my duty as your subject.” She touched his jaw with just the tip of her finger. One quick brush. “Almost fully healed. You do realize that you just called her your female?” She looked at him knowingly. “Yet, you’re not planning on keeping her, I hear.”

“You know what I mean, and no, I’m not keeping her.” Jolene was leaving in the morning. It was on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it. He was still pumped full of those blasted hormones. It wouldn’t take long and she’d be out of his hair. His life would be able to get back to normal. Thank fuck!

Crystal nodded. “Understood.”

“I came to ask you something.” He sucked in a deep breath, looking up at the sky before locking eyes with her. “Your opinion.”

Crystal cocked her head. She looked taken aback for a few moments. Then she smiled. “My, my but you are in a strange mood today. All the ‘pleases’ earlier and now you want my opinion. Are you feeling okay?”

“I was trying to be nice earlier,” he grumbled. “It was recently brought to my attention that I might not have treated you ‒ any of the females I rutted ‒ with respect and kindness. That’s not true is it?” He shook his head.

Crystal shrugged. “What does it matter? We were rutting. You’re a prince, you have a certain commanding way about you. You’re not…kind.” She laughed. “That would be silly. I mean, you’re you. Storm, Prince of Water.”

The youngest of four. Heir to nothing. Storm nodded. “Am I an asshole?” He already knew the answer to that question.

Crystal widened her eyes. She smiled, looking shocked. Like she couldn’t quite believe he had asked her that. She pulled in a breath. It looked like she was mulling it over.

“Look,” Storm folded his arms, “you can tell me. You have to be honest. I don’t want you glossing things over because I’m the prince and you want to stay on my good side. If you think I’m an asshole, you can say it.”

It took a few more long seconds before she finally answered. “Yes, I guess you are a bit of an asshole, but you’re royalty, you’re allowed to be. You’re a touch arrogant and a lot spoiled. Asshole comes with the territory. I like it.” She winked at him.

Crystal was both honest and she glossed her answer over like a pro. “There’s more,” he said.

“Ask away, my lord.” Crystal bowed her head.

“This conversation needs to stay between us.”

“No problem! I can keep a secret,” Crystal said.

“It’s not a secret per se,” he quickly said. “Just not something I want…talked about. It’s delicate.” He was turning into a pussy. He sure as hell sounded like one. He didn’t want word of that getting around. Storm had a reputation to uphold.

“Okay. You can count on me.”

“Did you…” Storm locked his lips. “Were you…” He ran a hand through his hair. “Did I please you, sexually?” A fucking pussy! “You’ve always maintained that we’re compatible. Is it really true or were you buttering me up?”

Crystal chuckled. It was deep and throaty. “Good lord, but that human has done a number on you.”

“Answer the question, Crystal, please.”

“We are compatible.” She answered but said nothing more.

“Was it good though? Have you had better?” He didn’t like where this was going. He could see the answer to his question written in her eyes.

“Other males work harder at pleasing me, so, yes, I have had better but…”

Storm groaned. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He’d always rated himself highly. He’d always seen himself as the best at fucking because he was usually the best at things. Fighting, flying, strategizing, picking up human females…it had all come easy to him. He assumed being amazing between the sheets was a given.

Crystal laughed softly, not unkindly. “Don’t be hard on yourself. You are very good. Fantastic in fact, but…”

“Not the best.” He sounded defeated.

“No.” She shook her head. “You do have one thing most males don’t have, you’re a prin—”

“Don’t tell me I’m a prince and that it makes it all better.” It didn’t make it better. Not even close.

She shrugged. “You are though. You’re gorgeous and a royal and that makes rutting with you awesome.” Her eyes glinted. “You’re arrogant and don’t give a damn. You have this way about you.” She smiled. “You like demanding that a female has an orgasm instead of making her achieve one, and you know what? It works.” She laughed. “It worked on me in the past.” She took a step closer, taking his hand. “All of this talk of rutting is making me—”

“No. This is serious. What you are saying is that the only thing I have going for me is this.” He touched his golden chest, feeling stricken. Like someone had just told him his cock was going to shrivel up.

“You’re good, my prince, better than good but you’re not…you’re…well, you’re all about the endgame. You think you’re god’s gift to females because well, look at you and because you’re—”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m a royal.” He wanted to roll his eyes. “Humans don’t know I’m a royal though. Humans love me anyway.”

“Humans are easy to please.”

If only that were true!

She smirked. “All except for your human, it would seem.” There was a humorous lilt to Crystal’s words.

“Jolene wasn’t impressed at all,” he mumbled. “She doesn’t think we’re compatible.” His voice was deep. He sounded a touch choked and it shocked him when he realized he was.

“You don’t feel the same way though?”

“I thought we were highly compatible.”

Crystal touched the side of his arm. The female looked like she felt sorry for him. “I’m going to give you some advice on how to fix things. On how to change her mind about you. More importantly, I’m going to give you a few tips that will blow her mind between the sheets.” She bobbed her eyebrows. “You need a few pointers, that’s all.”

“No!” Storm shook his head. “Thanks, but don’t worry about it. She’s leaving in the morning. Going to another male. One more suitable.”

“It’s probably for the best. From what I’ve heard and have seen, the two of you are polar opposites.”

He nodded. “Definitely, and Crystal…?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Thank you. I appreciate your help.” He touched the side of her arm in the same way she had touched his. This ‘being nice’ business was new to him. He hoped he was doing it right.

Crystal smirked. “This human might be leaving in the morning and she might only have been in your life for less than a week, but,” she cocked her head, “you’ve changed.”

“Jolene isn’t afraid to tell me like it is. Forget glossing anything over. It’s helped me open my eyes to a few things. A couple of things I don’t like about myself.”

“Don’t go changing too much.”

Storm chuckled. “I won’t.” He narrowed his eyes on hers. “Don’t go telling anyone about this conversation. It stays between us.” He had turned into a pussy. It wasn’t something he wanted everyone knowing.

“And if I disclose all?” She rubbed her lips together.

“Don’t do it, Crystal! You don’t want to know what will happen if you do, only that you won’t like it.”

“Now there’s the prince I know and love.”

He chuckled, heading back to his chamber.