Chapter Six
Piper stretched, yawning, as she woke from one of the best sleeps she’d ever had. She opened her eyes and turned to her left, bumping into a large, warm body. For a second, she couldn’t remember what happened the night before. She squeezed her thighs together, and all the memories came flooding in.
Aleo groaned in his sleep, draping his arm over her body. She’d actually slept with the king. Lifting his arm, she tried to push him away. Instead, he pulled her closer.
“Sir, there is a situation going on with the shaman to perform the ceremony.” Keenan stepped into the room and stopped when he saw Piper in the king’s bed. “Uh…”
Aleo groaned and sat up. “I’m sure someone else can take care of it.”
Piper glanced around the room, clutching the blanket to her chest. The thin garment she wore hung off a chair on the opposite side of the room. There was no way she was standing, naked, in front of Keenan to grab it.
“Perhaps.” Keenan stared at her. “Uh, sir, I must warn you about what others may think of this.”
“I’m aware.” Aleo rubbed a hand over his face. “Take care of the shaman problem.”
Aleo stood from the bed, nude, and grabbed a dressing robe from the hook on the wall. He pulled it on and tied the sash as Keenan left the room.
“I’m assuming my servant status is complete.”
He stared at her. “It is. You’re free to go.”
She nodded. Pointing at her dress, she said, “Will you please hand me that?”
He turned and grabbed it, holding it out to her. Piper took it and pulled it over her head. She blushed at the memories of the previous night. She couldn’t move without recalling the way Aleo filled her, the way he took control over her body and made her ache for him.
Piper stood next to the bed and glanced over at Aleo’s grimace. “What’s wrong?”
“You need something else to wear. That dress is too revealing.”
Piper glanced down. Her nipples beaded beneath the thin fabric the longer he stared at them. Beard burn marred the skin of her breasts and thighs, and it took an extreme amount of effort to keep from reaching out to touch the sensitive areas.
“I’ll have someone bring you something,” he said finally. He walked to the door and yelled at one of his servants.
“It’s really okay.” Piper walked around the bed. “The less people who know what happened the better.”
Aleo didn’t say anything. She could only imagine how it looked to the outside. A woman was about to mate with the man for life, and he’d just spent the night before with another lover. She swallowed hard. It made sense to leave before anyone else woke up.
“Uh, I’m going to go.” She walked toward the door. “Good luck with the matching ceremony. I hope you get the woman you want.”
He smiled. It was an arrogant smirk that had her skin warming. Something about his expression said that he’d already had the woman he wanted, and the thought made her blush. What happened was in the past. There was nothing she could do to change it.
She escaped out the door and took the nearest stairwell to let herself out of the castle. The matching ceremony had twice as many people attending since the families had come to support their daughters. She did her best to keep from being noticed by anyone.
Before she could make it out of the castle, one of Aleo’s guards grabbed her arm and pulled her into a nearby room. She jerked away from him, glaring at him for touching her.
“The king wants you to be present during the ceremony.”
“Why?”
“King’s orders.” The guard shrugged. “You can wait in the throne room with the rest of the women.”
If she left anyway, he’d send out a squad to hunt her down. Why did he want her to watch him get mated to another woman? She walked toward the throne room before choosing instead to head out the side door of the castle when the guards weren’t looking. There was no reason to stay. Last night had been foolish, but she didn’t regret it. Maybe Aleo was right. She wanted to rectify their unfinished business before he mated another female. Whatever it was, Piper knew it had ended, and she had to find a way to move on.
Shifters filled the castle grounds each hoping that their pick was chosen. Piper did her best to make her way through the crowded area before someone stopped her.
“What on earth is a human doing at the matching ceremony?” A young lion shifter held out his arm, his eyes pinched as he stared at her. His question drew the attention of his friends, who all circled around her.
“I had business with the king, and now it’s over.” She shoved at his arm. “Let me pass.”
He grabbed her and pulled her to him. “No human will ever take the place of a female lion shifter. I don’t care how good the pussy is under that skirt.”
Someone touched her thigh and she tugged her dress down. “Let me go.”
He sneered at her and shoved her toward a female in his group. “She’s trying to steal your place, Tasha.”
The woman shoved her to the ground, causing her to fall back in a puddle. The cold water splashed her legs and butt, soaking her thin dress with mud. Piper struggled to move as the female shifted, her fangs exposed as she growled.
“Uh-oh. What is a little human female like you going to do to a shifter?” one of the guys mocked.
The female pounced, and Piper scrambled away, an entire audience staring as the lioness came after her. She had no defenses. She had no weapons. The female swiped her nails along Pipers dress, and she screamed as she ran. Fear pumped through her veins as harsh and cold as the mud coating the backs of her legs. The tips of the female’s nails scratched the surface of Piper’s back, the burn aching the more she ran. Sweat stung the scratches, and her legs and feet ached from running so fast.
A roar sounded behind her, and Piper turned to see another ball of fur coming toward them. She screamed, tripping over a branch. Her body landed facedown on the grass, and she huddled into a ball, shaking as she waited for death. Instead, Aleo knelt beside her, running his hands over her hurt back before he took off his jacket and wrapped her in it. When she didn’t move, he lifted her into his arms and held her a moment.
“Shh. I’ve got you. It’s okay.”
She blinked a few times before wrapping her arms around him. “Was that you? The big ball of fur coming after us?”
“Yes.” He held her to him. “You’re okay. Nobody is going to hurt you.”
She glanced around. “The girl?”
“Taken away.” He cupped her cheeks and stared into her eyes. “I’ve got you.”
Piper let him carry her back to the castle doors. Plenty of people stared at them all with questions dancing in their eyes. Aleo had shifted to save the human woman. That spoke more than any words ever could.
“Put me down.” Piper stood, thrusting her arms into his jacket and walked inside the castle. She made her way to the throne room and took a seat on the left side of room, across from the potential mates. He wanted her to watch him mate someone else, then she would. But she was going home afterward and never gracing the doors of the palace again.
It seemed everyone stared at her messy self while they took their places and waited for the matching ceremony to begin. Piper couldn’t help feeling self-conscious. A lion shifter had attacked her. Not to mention, the king wanted her to hang around and witness someone else getting what she couldn’t have. Any other woman could have let her emotions get the best of her, but Piper couldn’t. She wouldn’t show weakness in front of the shifters no matter what happened to her.
Sucking in a breath, she watched as Aleo stepped out of a doorway, taking his seat on his throne. For a man that had everything he could ever want, he played the part well. His clothes were expensive. He wore his royal robe. He looked like a god on the throne, and all the women below him were willing to bow down and worship without question. His gaze scanned the large room and stopped when he spotted her. Just one look from him had her body tingling despite everything. He didn’t stare at her like a giddy lover that liked her. He stared like he owned her.
The entire ceremony was crazy. The shaman collected the names of the women on the right side of the room and put them in a golden cup. He said some magical words over it and then picked one of the names for the king. Piper folded her arms over her chest and watched. Drums played an ominous tune. She didn’t know why everything had to be so dramatic, but she sat there hoping it would all end soon.
The shaman took the cup up to Aleo, and the king reached in to pull out the name. Once he read the name of his mate, he stood. The shaman frowned as Aleo kept his eyes on her. The intense expression made her feel even more self-conscious about everything.
“The old rules don’t apply.” He was speaking to her. Piper glanced around as everyone stared. “My father’s rules don’t apply. I am the king, and I will mate whoever I want.” He held up the slip of paper that the shaman gave him. “This … this doesn’t matter. Not to me, anyway. I knew who I wanted the very moment she said hello to me in the village. She has my heart, and there isn’t a god in the universe that will ever change that.”
Piper shook her head. He was making a fool of himself if he broke every rule and called her name. There would be so many unhappy females. Maybe even challenges to the throne. They could be banished for going against the old rules. The gods could punish them, too.
“But…” he continued. “I must do what the gods choose for me to do. It is my job as king. And part of that job is to accept who is chosen for me to spend my life with. This person will be your queen. She will be the female alpha leader of this pride. She will be my lover.” He stopped and stared at Piper. “My confidante.”
Why did he have to rub it in? If he would just say the female’s name and get it over with, it would all end and they could move on with their lives. The longer he stared at her, the more her emotional wall started to crack. She just wanted to go home. To crawl in her bed and pretend she never met him.
“I protect what is mine, too. Should there be any problems with this decision, you will reap the consequences of my wrath.”
Was that a warning? Piper thought. She rolled her eyes as she rubbed splotch of mud on her dress. She was done fighting with him. He could do whatever he wanted with whomever he wanted. She had no desire to protest against the decision.
“So, now that everyone knows the rules, I will admit I did bend them a bit.” Aleo finally looked away from her and addressed the crowd of women seeking his affection. “I added a human to the cup.”
Gasps sounded in the room before all gazes landed on her. An empty chair she hadn’t noticed sat across the room, and Aleo held out his hand for her.
“Piper Marsh, would you please take a seat on the other side of the room?”
She stared at Aleo, curious as to how that could have happened. She was human. She couldn’t be mated with the king. How did her name even get in the cup? The shaman was supposed to oversee it even if Aleo did tell him which names to put in there. He would have protested a human being tossed into the mix.
Piper stood and walked over to the empty seat. The room was so silent that she could have heard a pin drop on the expensive marble floors. People waited for the revelation. But Aleo kept drawing it out. He studied her, and Piper wanted to know what it was that he saw so fascinating. She was a mess.
“Will you get on with it?” Piper finally asked. “Reveal who you’re going to mate and let the rest of us go home.”
He smiled at her, that sexy knowing smirk that made her tingle. God, what the hell was wrong with her? All the emotions swirling inside her made her a fucked up mess.
Aleo handed the paper to the shaman and took his seat on the throne. The shaman, an older gentleman, set the cup aside and opened the paper.
“The gods have chosen. The mate of King Aleo is … Piper Marsh.”
The room erupted into chaos. Piper stared at him, wondering how he’d managed to pull it off. The gods surely didn’t pick her out of everyone to be his mate. The whole thing had to be rigged.
“She can’t be the chosen one. She’s human!” One of the women came after her, and Piper jumped up to defend herself before the woman shoved her down to the cool marble flooring. A loud roar sounded as a flash of golden fur filled her line of sight. Aleo roared at the crowd, standing between her and them in his lion form. She shrank back, seeing only the gold mane of hair and the large paws. He had the stance of an alpha protecting its mate. Piper sat up, watching as he effectively dismissed the women from the ceremony, daring anyone to make another peep about the decision.
Piper watched him in all his glory. The real beast had come out last night when he’d been inside her. But she liked this side of him, the wild side, that made her feel protected.
Special.
When the room had cleared he changed back into his human form and turned to her. Instead of saying anything, he scooped her into his arms and sat with her on his lap in the chair she’d once occupied.
Piper’s muddy legs draped over his expensive clothes, and he didn’t seem to care. She let him brush her hair from her face and kiss her lightly on the lips. “How did that happen?”
The whole point of mating was to preserve the bloodline. By Aleo putting her name in the cup, everything was threatened.
“There’s no rules for which names go in the cup.” He brushed her hair from her cheek. “I told the shaman to put your name in the cup, and he did. I had no power over whose name was chosen, but I think the gods knew who was best for me, shifter or not.”
His hands cupped her ass as he held her on his lap. “I love you, Piper. I think my heart threatened to beat out of my chest when I saw you running from Tasha. I’d never felt that way before. I honestly don’t want to feel that way again.”
He leaned in to kiss her.
He loved her? When did that happen? Her mind reeled with all that was going on. He held her close, and she simply lay against him, resting in the comfort of his arms. She wasn’t scared or upset. Somehow, he managed to soothe the emotions running wild through her.
However, she hadn’t accepted yet. Nothing was official. He had to have her consent to mate before anything became official. Piper sat back and met his gaze.
“Maybe I don’t want to be your mate.”
He stared at her a moment before chuckling. “Why would you not want to be my mate?”
She swallowed. In the moment, she didn’t have an answer. Her body still tingled from his touch. Her head was still whirling from the fact that he’d admitted publicly that he wanted her. Out of everyone that came to pledge their love and allegiance, he wanted her. And when some didn’t like the choice, he defended her like an alpha male would.
“My father was arrested.”
“It was a misunderstanding.”
“You threw me in the dungeon.”
He licked his lips. “I probably should have left you there. You tried to strangle me. And let’s not forget that slap you gave me when you didn’t get your way in the bedroom.”
He did have a point. Caressing her arms with the tips of his fingers, he made her forget what her point was.
“Let’s not forget our original dispute over you leaving me naked on the bed in front of your father and the royal guard.”
He chuckled. “That was two years ago! But I will say that hot pussy had everyone hard for weeks. I’m getting hard now just thinking about it.”
She narrowed her eyes. “It’s not funny.”
He cleared his throat though he didn’t hide his amusement. “I promise to cover you with my own naked body from anyone peeking in on our affairs.”
She rolled her eyes.
“What do you want me to do? Beg?”
He sat her on her feet and dropped to his knees in front of her. Wrapping an arm around her legs, he said, “Please have me. I’d be nothing without you.” He slid her dress up and dipped his head toward her so that he could press a kiss to her bare pussy. “I need you.” He flicked her clit with the tip of his tongue, glancing up at her. “I want you. I love you.”
Piper closed her eyes as he sucked her clit between his lips. She dropped her head back with a moan. “You’re lying.”
He lowered her to the marble floor and forced her legs apart. “Am I?”
She nodded as he slipped two long fingers inside her. “You don’t beg for anything.”
“True.” He pressed his lips against her mound. “I take what is mine. And you, sweetheart, are mine. I told you this last night.”
Piper ran her fingers through his hair, tugging so that he met her gaze. “I’m not yours.”
“No?” His tongue circled her clit.
She melted beneath his touch. When she’d first met him, there had been an instant connection. It went beyond attraction and beyond anything she’d ever felt with another man before. He was a shifter. She’d seen him change his form twice, and it was to protect her. He didn’t scare her. Just the opposite. She felt safe with him. Aleo didn’t lie about anything. She believed him when he said he wanted her. He could fuck anyone he wanted, so it went beyond sex. Something deeper developed between them over the years, and she was glad they could finally enjoy it.
“No.” She tugged at his hair forcing him to look at her. “You’re mine. Don’t forget it.”
The End
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