Elis
I've never been a man who needed to be told to rest. Rest was something I took when I could afford it…briefly, sharply, never fully letting my guard down. But when Lily told me to lie down, I did. Not because I was tired. Because it was her voice.
She stepped closer, her gaze soft, her touch deliberate as she reached for the sash at my robe. The fabric loosened, and cool air brushed my bare skin. Her palms were warm as they settled on my chest, smoothing over tense muscle, coaxing the knots from my shoulders with slow, careful strokes.
"You always carry so much," she murmured.
You have no idea, I wanted to say. "I do," she whispered before I could answer. "That's why I'm here."
Her lips touched my collarbone; a soft, unhurried kiss, and something in me tightened. Not in resistance but in awareness. Her fingers trailed lower, mapping the ridges of my abdomen before she slid my pants away entirely. My breath hitched, and when I opened my eyes, her gaze was waiting; dark and unwavering.
"Lily…"
She silenced me with her own hands, loosening her dress until it slipped from her shoulders. My control shifted. My thoughts narrowed to nothing but her.
When she straddled me, kissing me slow and deep, the world outside my chamber ceased to exist. There was no crown, no kingdom, no threat but only Lily, and the undeniable fact that I wasn't letting her go.
***
Lily was unpredictable, but she had a gift for choosing moments when I least expected her. The first time, I was dining alone. The candlelight was warm, my thoughts elsewhere, when she appeared; perched on my table, legs crossed, stealing grapes as if she belonged there.
"Missed me?" she teased.
"You're getting bold, Lily."
"I call it mastering my craft." Then she vanished, leaving only the faint scent of wildflowers behind.
The second time, she was much bolder. I'd been soaking in a bath, letting the heat bleed the tension from my body, when the air shifted. She appeared beneath the water…bare, unashamed and pressing against me with a sly smile.
"Am I interrupting?" She whispered.
"You knew exactly what you were doing." I smirked.
"And yet, you're not asking me to leave."
I caught her waist, ready to pull her closer but she was gone again, disappearing with a laugh, leaving only ripples in the water. By the third time, I was ready. She appeared behind me in the hall, and I caught her wrist before she could vanish. "No more teasing, little witch."
She only smiled. "Then let's go somewhere new."
The world blurred, and suddenly we were standing in a garden bathed in moonlight. Night-blooming flowers glowed silver, their scent heavy in the air. Fireflies drifted lazily through the dark.
"This is… far," I said.
"The farthest I've ever gone," she admitted.
"And you brought me with you."
She led me to a vine-covered bench. "It's safe here. No one can reach us."
I studied her; how her eyes gleamed in the dark and how the moon caught the edge of her smile. "You've come so far, Lily."
"I have to. For you." Her words caught somewhere deep in my chest. I cupped her face. "For us."
We stayed there until dawn, speaking in quiet voices, stealing kisses, pretending the world couldn't touch us. And when the light crept in, she whispered, "Let's go home."
A breath later, we were in my bed, the scent of wildflowers still clinging to the sheets.
I've never been easily shaken. As Alpha King, I learned long ago how to master myself; my face, my voice, my thoughts. Nothing got through my guard. Until her.
At first, I told myself it was just magic. Just her way of testing herself, teasing me because she could. But it wasn't just teasing. It was deliberate. It was personal.
The night she appeared in my bath, I'd felt something raw and dangerous coil inside me. She had looked at me like she was daring me to take her and I'd wanted to. More than I'd wanted my next breath.
And then the garden…Standing there with her, surrounded by moonlight and silence, I realized something. She wasn't just testing her powers. She was testing me, seeing how far I'd let her in.
The truth? She was already inside. I'd thought I was the one guiding her. Somewhere along the way, she had begun to lead me; pulling me out of the walls I'd built, out of the control I'd lived in for years.
And I let her. I wanted her to. Because she wasn't just the woman I desired. She was becoming the one thing I couldn't afford to lose. Which meant Lily wasn't just my temptation. She was my weakness. And if I wasn't careful… she'd be my undoing.