The walls of her pussy were still contracting with the last waves of her orgasm when my fingers retreated. I leaned against the couch, hoping my dick would get the message that it didn't get to come out and play tonight, but the painful throbbing only intensified.
"Alek." She yanked on my hair, and I went willingly, taking her mouth in a deep kiss.
"God, I want you," I said against her mouth, keeping my hands firmly planted on the cushions beside her.
"Then take me," she whispered, reaching for my belt.
I groaned in sheer frustration. "We can't."
"I'm pretty sure we can." She gripped my length through my pants.
Pleasure shot up my spine. I'd never felt this urgent before, never needed to fuck a woman more than I needed my next breath. But we couldn't, not tonight.
"I want nothing more than to drive myself inside your body, but we can't. Not until we're married." Yet another reason I'd been staying away from her. Vampire law was absolute when it came to royalty, and I would never let my own lust jeopardize my throne, not when it was the only thing keeping her alive.
"I'm sorry?" Lyric froze. "Did you say married?"
“Married.” I nodded, already moving to slip her panties back into place.
She arched her hips as I slid her underwear over that incredible ass. Twice now I'd had my hands on her and had to yet to see her naked. Soon, I promised myself.
I stood and helped her to her feet, but she didn't look like a satisfied woman on the cusp of wearing her own crown. She looked pissed. Alarm bells went off in my head as she backed away, shaking hers.
"I am not marrying you over a severe case of Stockholm syndrome!" She continued retreating, and I followed, matching her step for step.
"You're my mate." My brows drew tight, not understanding why she thought we had a prisoner-captive relationship.
"I'm a doctoral candidate who has missed three weeks’ worth of meetings with my advisor!" Her beautiful green eyes widened in obvious panic. "I just met you. My best friend is probably going out of her mind. I've gone so nocturnal trying to keep your schedule that my eyes water as soon as the sun rises." She lifted her fingers to her temples. "Not that you would notice, since I'm the only one sleeping in your bedroom. It almost took an act of God to get outside your house in the morning considering the whole place locks down with iron over the windows like you're expecting some kind of hurricane."
"Why would you go out in the sun?" My stomach roiled at the thought of her wandering unprotected, where I couldn't get to her.
"Why am I a prisoner?"
"You're not a prisoner. You’re protected," I countered.
"You can't keep me here forever." She turned on her toes and strode the door. I would've stopped her, but then I would have been guilty of exactly what she was accusing me of. "Marry you," she muttered as she reached for the door handle.
"Would it really be that bad?" Sure, I hadn’t gotten down on one knee, hadn't presented her with a ring, either, but was this really how this was going down?
"I have a life!"
"You are now my life," I snapped.
She paused at the door, then muttered a curse under her breath and stepped into the hallway. "You have to be fucking kidding me," she said. "Were you listening at the door?"
I didn't bother to walk, I wended straight into the hallway. Lyric stood with her arms folded, glaring at Cassandra.
Shit. I stepped between them, and bared my fangs slightly to warn the pain-in-my-ass-noble that Lyric was off limits.
"Seriously?" Lyric stepped to my side. "I can take care of myself."
Cassandra was bold enough to laugh. "Oh, you silly little thing."
"I'm silly?" Lyric lifted her arm, bearing the mark she wore on her wrist and facing it toward Cassandra. "At least I got my mark for free."
Cassandra's eyes shot to mine, startled and slightly accusing.
I nodded once. I wasn't hiding the fact that I’d found my mate, but I hadn't officially announced it either. Which was probably a good thing, considering she refused to marry me. Now that was a problem I hadn't foreseen.
"That's right," Lyric snapped. "Unlike your decorative tat, mine means something. So you can stop offering to feed him and casting little doe-eyed looks his way."
Well, this was interesting. Had to admit, Lyric’s possessiveness was sexy as hell. It was also the trademark of a mated female. She might not have wanted to marry me yet, but she wouldn't be leaving either. She would feel the pull between us just as strongly as I did.
"You may bear his mark, but you'll be dead long before I am," Cassandra said with false sympathy, earning my growl. "My poor Alek." She shook her head slowly, casting her eyes downward. "Humans have such short lifespans."