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Grayson’s tongue slowed to a stop and he lifted from me. His eyes immediately zeroed in on my lips which were rolled into my mouth in an effort not to cry.
“Belle…,” he said. His hand cupped my face. “Did I do something? Did I hurt you?”
I shook my head. Tears were pooling in the corners of my eyes, which just infuriated me. Why did I always have to cry?
I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it tightly around myself. I didn’t look at him as I spoke. I’m just going to say it. “I need you to tell me why you don’t want to have sex with me.”
“I do want—”
“I need you to tell me why you don’t want to have sex with me without ~lying~
because as of recently, I’ve been thinking it’s because you don’t love me anymore or something.”
I laughed nervously, which ended up sounding like a teary snort. “Which is ridiculous because we’re mates, and it would probably take a lot for your mate to fall out of love with you, right?”
Grayson tried to respond, but now that I had started, there was no stopping my tangent.
“It’s just that, before everything happened, you could barely keep your hands off of me. You couldn’t stop talking about how much you wanted to sleep with me.
“But now…I know you’re under a lot of stress and everything, but I just thought…I know there’s something going on.
“You’ve been avoiding me, working constantly, and you haven’t made love to me yet, which I know has been killing your wolf. I can see your inner battle every time I’m with you.
“What aren’t you telling me? Has something changed? Do you not want me like that anymore? Are you not…attracted to me anymore?”
Grayson looked like he was in the worst possible physical pain when I was done.
Meanwhile, I was hiccuping, my chest making big jumps with the effort not to start sobbing.
He pulled me to him. I wanted to fight against his hold, but he started to purr before I could, and all of my fight left my body.
He tucked me into him, my back against his front, his arms wrapped around me. I knew what he was doing.
From this position, his purrs vibrated throughout my entire form, drowning me in the calming thrumming. My tears slowed to a stop and soothing tranquility filled me.
“Better?” he asked me after a minute.
As if he didn’t know the effect his stupid purrs had on me.
“I hate it when you do that,” I murmured.
He kissed my forehead, brushing my hair out of my face with gentle, loving fingers.
“No, you don’t.”
I sighed. He was right. I didn’t.
“You’re right,” he said quietly. “There’s something I have been keeping from you.”
I silently waited for him to continue.
“Do you remember the portrait of the former queen of the supernatural?” he asked.
I had no idea what that had to do with anything, but I nodded anyway. “Evangeline.
The woman I met at the diner.”
During my first few days spent in Zaweth, Grayson had taken me on a tour of the castle.
On that tour, he showed me the portraits of every past king and queen—vampire, werewolf, and everything in between—and I was shocked to find that I actually recognized one of the portraits.
I had met the beautiful blonde woman in the painting, even though Grayson claimed it had been painted hundreds of years ago.
It was Evangeline. Evangeline Viotto, the woman I’d met at the diner the night before Adalee attacked me.
When I told Grayson about this encounter, he didn’t believe me.
Well, he didn’t not believe me—at least, he didn’t say those exact words, but he definitely thought the story was a little crazy and far-fetched.
But I knew what I saw. I knew it was her. I wasn’t sure how or why…but the former queen of the supernatural had definitely come to visit me that night.
“Yes, Queen Evangeline.” He ignored my other comment. “Do you know why she was considered to be such an important and influential queen?”
I shook my head.
Grayson took in a deep breath. “She was a fairy, Belle. The last of her kind.”
I turned around in his lap so I could look at him. He gripped my waist firmly.
“A fairy…,” I repeated. “Like Tinker Bell or something?”
The corner of his lips turned up. “I believe you’re thinking of a pixie, although I can remember Tinker Bell commonly being referred to as both in the cartoons.
“Pixies are small, like Tinker Bell. Fairies are human-sized.”
I nodded. “Okay…,” I said, prompting him to continue.
I could see the worry in his expression. He was nervous to be talking to me about this. Why?
“Evangeline Viotto was a member of the Fae, one of the most dangerous and powerful creatures of all time,” Grayson continued. “So powerful that she was hunted and abused most of her life.
“She was taken advantage of and enslaved until her mate found her and made her queen. Many say that is why she made a fair and good ruler. She had compassion for her people.
“She cared for them because she knew what it was like to truly suffer.”
I swallowed thickly. It made sense, really. It was how she was able to take my pain away that night back at the diner. She had powers.
“I have a lot to live up to,” I replied quietly. I leaned into the sound of his purring, seeking the comfort it gave me.
“You are a wonderful queen. It is not my goal to make you feel inadequate. They say that all queens of the supernatural have known suffering.
“It is what makes them so compassionate and kind toward their people. You will make an amazing queen. But I never want you to be persecuted the way she was for her powers.”
“It’s a good thing I’m just a human then,” I said, giving him a reassuring smile. “No one will care about me, right?”
Grayson’s lips thinned into a deep frown. My heart squeezed in my chest.
“What?” I asked him. I massaged his shoulders, trying to calm him, noticing for the first time they were slightly bigger than usual. His eyes were black.
I hadn’t realized how close to the surface his wolf was. I was just becoming so accustomed to his eyes changing colors.
Something was really bothering him.
“Talk to me, Grayson,” I begged, feeling a little panicked now. “Why are you telling me all of this?”
When he still didn’t respond to me, I did the only thing I could think of. I leaned in and pressed my lips to his. It only took a second for him to groan and pull me closer, deepening the kiss.
His tongue thrust into my mouth, mating with mine in long, teasing strokes that made my stomach flutter and tighten.
His hands ran from my waist to cup my bottom, kneading it with a low growl. The movement only made me shift against him, my hips starting to thrust just slightly.
I could feel his hard length beneath me, long and thick and desperate. I gasped.
“Fuck, I want you, Belle,” he groaned against my lips, leading my hips over his in a way that was driving me crazy. “I want you so fucking bad.”
“You can have me,” I whispered back, just barely brushing my lips to his as I spoke.
“What are you waiting for?”
I squeaked in surprise when I was suddenly flipped around, so I was lying on my back.
I looked up at Grayson with wide eyes as he gently spread my legs and settled his massive form between them, supporting himself with his hands on either side of my head.
His lips slammed back down onto mine in a desperate, passionate kiss. I moaned.
But then he pulled away. He stared down at me for several long seconds before saying, “Come with me.”
GRAYSON
After we were both dressed—and I made sure that she wasn’t wearing any of the fucking lingerie Minnie got her—I led Belle through the halls of the castle.
It was a bit of a long walk, but I never let go of Belle’s hand for a single moment.
She smelled incredible, like sweet sex and mating pheromones.
I nearly swore when I thought back to the way she had begged me to take her back in our room, thrusting her wet pussy up against me, licking and kissing my marking spot, and whining in my ear.
Fuck, she had almost killed me. It was a miracle I made it out of there alive.
She had a right to know exactly what she was asking from me. And it was about time I told her.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
She had never been to this part of the castle. It was blocked off for a reason.
“The archives,” I responded.
“Why?”
“Because there’s something I need to show you.”
Belle’s small hand gripped mine with so much strength that, when I looked down at it, I saw it was white. I was scaring my poor little mate.
I gently pulled her to me and lifted her into my arms, cradling her to my chest. I purred for her as I continued to walk and only relaxed when I felt her nuzzle into my neck with a sigh.
We traveled down several flights of stairs until we could go no farther, arriving at the absolute bottom level of the palace, deep underground.
It was one giant maze down there with twists and turns that could trap you in a never-ending loop if you weren’t careful.
I maneuvered it easily, though, having come down there hundreds of times when I was still searching for Belle.
I finally came to a stop at the end of a long corridor, which finished with an archway. I stopped in a small brick room. It was dark, and the air was thick with condensation.