Filed To Story: Traded To The Lycan King Novel (Colette & Merikh) by MG Wattsons
When his mouth opens, I follow his lead and his tongue traces over my lips before closing and coming back more forcefully. I hear nothing as I get lost in the kiss, my body responding in ways it only ever has for Grady, and I moan enough for him to hear.
Just as quickly as this kiss came on, he is tearing away from me and raising his arm, cheering like a wild man. I look for his eyes to find me again, trying to find a comfort there that maybe this was more than some silly show for the people screaming for entertainment, but it never comes as he drags me down the hall.
Merikh saunters over to the edge of the bed, loosening his tie as he sits, all the while his eyes stay trained on me. My mouth goes dry when he undoes the top button, and I clench my fingers into a fist. I’m his mate now and along with that title come…certain expectations. The kind I have never experienced before. I glance away, my cheeks burning with embarrassment as I wait for him to instruct me.
“What is wrong?” he asks, standing, his fingers move deftly down his button-up shirt. I gulp, the mate bond we created drawing me towards him. My wolf whines to be near him, to touch him and feel those sparks we were so convinced we would never get to feel again.
“I have…” I swallow, “How do you…”
Merikh chuckles, removing his shirt from his body as he takes a step closer. I step back on instinct, bumping into the chair behind me with a surprised ‘oh’. He isn’t just massive, he is a literal wall of defined muscle. He is perfection. My heart thumps wildly and I feel lightheaded.
“Calm yourself, Colette. I can sense your panic and your worries.” He sighs, sounding bored. “I’m a virgin,” I blurt out, watching his eyebrows shoot into his hairline, his lips twitch, then he shakes his head. “I-I am not sure I can do this….yet…”
“Did I ask?” He responds, sounding amused.
“No… It’s just that… I mean…you are huge.” I fumble over my words. He takes another step toward me, his lips in a full smile as he observes my freak out. “I don’t mean huge as in down there-I mean, I guess I haven’t even seen it to compare, so I can’t really say it’s not. But in general, you are a big alpha, that is what I mean.”
“And you are scared?” He asks with a cocked brow.
I bite my lower lip, my legs shaking in fear. Will he force himself on me tonight? Do I not get a say in when we mate?
“We won’t be consummating this union today.” He says, reaching out and tilting my chin up with his index finger. His eyes find mine, making sure I am giving him my undivided attention.
“We won’t?” I ask, tears of relief burning my eyes as I clutch my nervous stomach. “Not tonight, my little Luna. Not Tonight.” He murmurs, “For now, we rest.” He strips out of his black slacks and I swallow, spinning away from him.
“S-should I sleep on the couch?” I ask hopefully. His soft chuckle breaks through the room as the lights turn off and I hold my breath.
“I may be huge, as you say, but there is still space on the bed for you,” he teases “I don’t have any clothes in here,” I whisper into the darkness and he sighs. After a moment, something hits me in the face, and I quickly change into the oversized shirt. The chilly breeze nips at my exposed flesh as I run and jump into the bed, yanking the covers onto my cold body.
“Merikh…?” I whisper, and he groans. “Can I ask you a question?”
“what?” he says after a moment and an exasperated sigh.
“Does it bother you that I am a nobody?” “Clearly not if I accepted you.” He says dryly, and I press my lips into an unimpressed smile.
“I am a maid. To the Alpha’s daughter.” I murmur, “My wolf is weak, hardly ever surfacing when she is called and my mate rejected me hours ago…”
He says nothing and for a moment I convince myself he has gone to sleep. Then the mattress dips beneath me and the light flickers on. Merikh turns to face me, his hand reaching out as he pulls some hair from my face.
“I know exactly what you are, my little Luna. Question is, do you?” He hums, twisting a strand of my hair between his fingers with a victorious smirk on his lips.
I stare at Merikh’s back; the moonlight filtering in and highlighting the jagged raised scars that litter his skin. My fingers itch to touch them, to trace it down under his shoulder blade and across his spine, but I don’t.
He wasn’t wrong when he said he carries many scars but not on his face. A deep gash catches my attention, and I sit up slightly, leaning in to get a better view. It looks like teeth marks and a chunk of his flesh was torn out.
My hand gently flutters across it, his hot skin sending a thrill up my arm and straight to my chest. What had he done to get these scars? Who had he fought and how awful was his pain? Questions rush to the forefront of my mind and I realize. Even with everything going on, the rejection, being mated-well, verbally mated to the scariest guy in the lycan and werewolf realms, he is just a man.
“Do they gross you out?” He asks and I jump, my hand recoiling from his skin as I blaze in embarrassment at getting caught.
“Where did you get them?” I ask him. Merikh sits up in the bed, his back muscles rippling around the scars that make up the majority of his skin.
“Do they gross you out?” he asks again and I frown.
“Of course not.” I tell him, though he doesn’t seem to believe me as he scoffs and reaches for a shirt. He tugs it over his head with a heavy sigh, then looks over his shoulder.
“When do we leave?” I ask, changing the subject as I watch him slide on a pair of denim pants and move toward the dresser.
“Are you eager to leave?” He asks, pausing and looking at me over his broad shoulder.
“yes…” I admit.
“Then we will leave now.” He says. “All your stuff was packed and placed in the vehicle up last night.” “But it’s two in the morning…” I tell him, my mouth gaping open, the thought of not being able to say goodbye to Grady, rejected mate or not. He was the only light spot in my life for so long.
“I just want to be home with my Luna.” He levels me with a stare and I gulp. “The pack will be excited to meet you.”
I feel that thick sludge of shame creeping back up in my mind, and I look away. His pack will hate me when they sense how weak I am. Will I be some joke there too? Or worse, am 1 just the means to an end for a political statement and he has someone else back in his pack?
It would explain his desire to get home. His lack of wanting to be intimate as the mate bond dictates and even as we kissed I could feel His hesitation. My chest burns at the thought and I tuck a hair behind my car, trying not to think about it. I know I have no right to be upset. I’m barely a real werewolf. Of course, that is why he selected me.
I am weak, easy to manipulate, and less likely to comment on him having a preferred mistress. And why shouldn’t he? It’s not like I would promise him any strong heirs. No, I’m a pawn.
A piece on his chess board to further his reach in the werewolf lycan communities. And I’m okay with that. I think. But if that were true, then why does the thought make me want to throw up? “What is going on in that mind of yours?” He asks softly and I lift my eyes, my gaze clashing with his. I force a smile. But he doesn’t seem to buy it, though he doesn’t say anything either.
“Just excited to leave this place.” I tell him honestly.