(GAVIN)
All four of us were unsettled at breakfast, knowing today is the day that Liora will be going to the doctor to discover whether or not she is pregnant.
It is my turn to be with her, assuming she isn't pregnant, so part of me is hopeful that it hasn't happened yet.
That seems silly. I should be hoping that she is pregnant and that the baby is mine so that I can be the king, but I see so many downsides to having it be my child she's carrying that I'm honestly not sure how I feel about it.
After all, the "winner" has to marry Serena, and I know I don't want to do that. I'm not sure which is worse–not getting to be king or having to marry that crazy bitch.
Rather than going into my room to work or do something fun, I am pacing the hallway near Liora's room. I'm a bit surprised I am the only Alpha out here, but maybe the others are not as on edge as I am to find out what the situation is.
When I see Liora and Shelby coming down the hallway, I stare at them, digging my toes into the bottoms of my shoes to try to keep from running over to her. I want to go and ask Liora what the doctor said, but I wait as patiently as I can for her to grow closer.
"Alpha Gavin?" she asks, her forehead creased. "What are you doing here?"
"Hi, Liora ," I say. "I just… wanted to see how it went and make sure you're okay."
Liora opens her mouth to answer me, but it's Shelby who interjects, "As if you care!"
I turn and glare at her, but Liora puts a hand on her arm. "I'm fine, Gavin, thank you." Liora plasters a smile to her face, but I don't quite believe her. I think something is wrong.
"Did the doctor–"
Before I can finish my question, Nico's door opens, and the other three Alphas come out. "Hey, Gavin," Nico calls, "King Malric wants to see us." He notices Liora, and a grin forms on his face.
The other two are smiling at her, too. Issac greets her. "Hello, Liora, sweetie."
She lifts a hand and waves at him, and I notice her cheeks turn pink. "Hello, Nico. Theo, Leo ," she says, though the way she says Leo 's name isn't as friendly.
"Hello, darlin'," Theo says while Leo replies, "Good morning, my little flower."
Does everyone have a nickname for her?
"Come on," Theo says to me, and I know I have to go because it's the king, after all.
"I'll be back," I tell her, and she sort of shrugs. She really is angry with me still, after all these weeks.
The four of us go to visit the king, who only wants to see us to tell us that Liora is not pregnant yet, something she would've told me herself if he'd given me two seconds.
He also says that the physician thinks it's best that we keep trying because of her unique two uterine horn anatomy. Something seems slightly off about King Malric, almost like he's happy that she's not pregnant, which seems odd to me, but I can't question it at the moment. I'm too excited.
Since she's not pregnant, that makes tonight my night with Liora.
I head back to the hall where our rooms are ahead of everyone else, not wanting to hear the other guys talk about the rules or what I'm supposed to do. I'm so sick of all of this squabbling, and I am beginning to realize that if Liora starts to have feelings for more than one of us, we will have to figure out a way to get along.
After all, her happiness is more important than our egos.
I knock on her door and wait for her to call me in, but her maid pulls it open, her eyebrows raised. "Yes?"
"May I speak to Liora, please?" I ask her.
The maid looks over her shoulder, and a moment later, Liora is there, pulling the door open wider.
"Hi, baby," I say, smiling timidly at her. She swallows hard, and I know I've got a lot of convincing to do. "Can I come in?"
She purses her lips, pulling them to one side of her face before she nods, and I enter.
"Vienna, you can go," she pardons her maid, and Vienna gives me a narrowed glance before she walks out the door.
Liora walks over to a chair by the window, and I sit on the windowsill next to her. "What is it, Gavin?" she asks. "If you're here to tell me you want to forgo your turn because the first time was so miserable… I'll understand."
"Miserable?" I repeat. "Liora, you have to know I would never say anything like that. That was all Serena."
She looks at me for a moment, but I can see she doesn't believe me.
I drop to my knees and reach for her hands. "Baby, I had the best time of my life with you. There's no one I'd rather be with. Anywhere. Believe me, if I didn't mean it, I would just haul my ass in here later and get through it. But you are more important to me than this stupid contest."
Her eyes widen. "You can't mean that. The throne–"
"The throne is nothing if you're upset with me, baby." I mean it, and I hope she can see it in my eyes.
A tear forms in the corner of her left eye, and as it spills over, I reach over and wipe it away with my thumb.
I can't wait to be with her again. I don't want to wait until the sun goes down–I want her now.
I lean in and find her lips, kissing her softly, and she hesitates but then reaches for me, her soft hands resting on either side of my face.
She leans forward, and I deepen the kiss, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her toward me. I move so that I'm between her legs, and I can't help but sift my hands through her hair, breathing in her cantaloupe scent.
She makes a soft moaning noise, and I whisper to her, "Liora, I want you now."
Her breath catches in her lungs as she pulls back slightly and looks at me, still cupping my face. She nods, and then I know that she's forgiven me for what she thought I'd said.
Scooping her up, I move her to the bed, depositing her in the middle as she kicks off her sandals. I fall on top of her, continuing to kiss her as I slowly undress her, taking my time and rubbing my hands all over her.
She pulls my shirt off over my head and fumbles with the button and zipper on my jeans as I discard my shoes and socks. In my boxers, I slide down the length of her beautiful, naked body, and spread her legs, hoping to give her some more pleasure this time before I get my own.
I run my tongue up the length of her and then between each of her folds, probing her as deep as I can, tasting her, and then taking her nub between my lips and sucking her gently until she begins to rock her hips, her fingers woven through my hair. When she cries out, and I feel her go into spasm around my face, I know my job is done.
I kiss her soft mound before I stand up and strip out of my underwear, reclaiming my place between her slick thighs.
Smiling down at her, I notice her slitted eyes and the sheen of perspiration on her fair skin. I press inside of her, glad it no longer hurts her like it did the first time, and then, I slowly begin to move my hips, thrusting gently at first and then picking up speed.
Her fingertips run the length of me, and though I manage to get her back to her peak and keep her there for a few moments, she feels so good, I can't last as long as I'd like to.
I deposit my specimen as deeply inside her as possible and hope that those little suckers will swim as fast as they can up the right path to the uterine horn that's discharging this time, but at the Same time, I'm just happy to be with her.
Completely spent, I roll off her and pull her to my chest, grabbing a blanket and tossing it over us. "Thank you so much, baby," I tell her.
Her eyes are still half-closed as she lays her head on my chest. "You're amazing," she whispers. "Especially with your tongue. Well, and your… and other parts of you."
I snicker and brush her hair back. "Thank you," I repeat. "You're pretty damn amazing yourself."
"Nah," she denies. "I just lay here."
"You inspire me with your beautiful body," I confess. She wrinkles her nose up at me, like she disagrees.
"What?" I ask her. "Surely, you know you're beautiful."
Liora shrugs. "I have never felt beautiful. My parents always told me I was average looking so I shouldn't expect too much."
My eyebrows arch, and I find myself saying, "Oh, I didn't realize your parents were sightless."
"What?" she asks, her forehead crinkling.
"Well, they must be to say something like that." "No, they're not."
"Are they just stupid then?" I question.
She laughs. "No… well, I mean, they're not very nice, but no one back home ever said I was even pretty, so–"
"So your entire pack is full of stupid people who can't see very well.
Got it."
Another giggle escapes her lips. "I don't think so."
"Well, I know that you're gorgeous, so that's the only explanation."
Shaking her head, she explains, "My nose is too long for my face, for one thing."
"This nose?" I slide my finger down her nose before I lean down and kiss the tip of it. "You have a perfect nose, Liora."
"Thanks," she accepts, "but even Serena pointed it out the first time she saw me."
"Serena is an idiot," I tell her. "Believe me, I've seen girls with big noses before." I think of that maid from the breakfast room. "You do not have one."
She smiles at me. "You're too sweet."
"I'm just being honest. So… your parents aren't very nice. What about siblings?"
"It's just me," she explains. "I never had a lot of friends either. Everyone was always afraid to get too close to me because my father was the Alpha. They thought I was too good for them. Even though I had to work jobs in other packs, like at a sewage treatment facility."
"Really?" I ask her, my eyes widening. She nods. "Yeah, gross, huh?"
"I couldn't do that," I admit. "But I admire you for doing what needed to be done to help your family."
She takes a deep breath in and looks away, and I think there's something she's not telling me. But she asks me a question before I can clarify. "What about you? Tell me about your family."
"Oh, well, that's a long story. Basically, my dad is a perfectionist who always expected me to do everything exactly as he would, and when I'd fail, he'd be the first to tell me. He stepped down about ten years ago, and he and his second mate are living on the beach while I run the kingdom, and my little brother spends all of the money my dad saved up over his career."
"Seriously?" she interjects, and it is my turn to shrug.
"At least he's not spending pack money," I declare. "It's fine, though. If I become king, that'll show my father that he was wrong about me."
Liora reaches up and touches my face, and I realize I feel comfortable bearing my soul to her.
"This isn't just a competition to you, though," she realizes quietly.
"No, it's not a competition at all," I admit. "Liora, I care more about you than I do winning this contest or the throne. I just want to be with you. You make me happy."
She smiles and lifts her lips to mine in a sweet kiss, and I feel like I could tell her anything, and she would make me feel better about it, no matter how traumatic.
Liora is amazing, and she is the real prize here, not the kingdom. Not to me, anyway.