Page 38 of Their Crowned Mate
"None whatsoever," I said, holding her gaze. She continued to stare me down for a few minutes, and I had to admit, for a coyote shifter half my size, she was pretty damn intimidating. Guess she had to be to run a place like this.
She finally snorted. "Good," she said. "I'm glad to hear it. Lavinia deserves someone who's all in. And if you hurt her again, I'll break your thumbs and then my brother will break the rest of you. Got it?"
I chuckled, even though I was pretty sure she wasn't joking. At all. "Yeah, I got it. Fair enough."
"Good," she said, putting a fresh glass of beer in front of me. "Just so we're clear."
I took a few sips to be polite before heading upstairs to find Lavinia in the middle of going through a box. Most of the apartment had already been cleared out, and she looked flustered, her hair gathered into a high ponytail and her face flushed. Her usually flat stomach was starting to show a growing bump, a reminder that in a matter of a handful of months, we were all going to be parents. Somehow, that had me more overwhelmed than the whole "mate to the queen of a different realm" thing, but only because I was afraid I was going to screw something up.
Then again, I had four other men as backup, so that was one perk of sharing.
"Hey," I said, walking over to take Lavinia into my arms and kiss her. She gasped in surprise and melted against me, returning the kiss as she draped her arms around my neck.
"You're early," she said, looking up at me. "How did everything go with Jax and Damon?"
"You know how they are. Damon was chill and Jax sulked," I answered, shrugging. "They're both fine, though."
There was a look of concern in her gaze as she worried at her bottom lip. "I just feel bad, taking you away from the pack. Away from everything."
"You're not," I said, stroking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. She really was glowing. Just when I didn't think it was possible for someone to be even more beautiful than she always had been. And she was a lot more confident now, which just made her shine all the more. "You're everything to me, Lavinia. I have absolutely no regrets about the choices I've made. I'd make them again every single day of our lives together."
She let out a deep breath. "If you're sure..."
"I am," I said, leaning in to press my lips to hers.
The kiss was full of energy and fire, and it left us both breathless and desperate for more. I tangled my fingers in her hair, pulling her closer as the heat of our connection intensified. Our tongues fought for dominance, dueling in a dizzying dance as we continued to explore each other with unrestrained abandon.
My hands roamed over her body, tugging at her clothes until she was finally free from them and standing before me wearing nothing but her delicate lingerie. Her curves were more pronounced now that she was expecting and it unleashed something primal within me.
I scooped Lavinia up into my arms and carried her across the room to the bed, laying her down gently before settling in beside her. My hands moved over her warm skin with slow care, learning every inch of it like a map I wanted to commit to memory. She gasped softly as my fingertips brushed against particularly sensitive areas, making sure this experience would be one neither of us forgot anytime soon.
"You're so beautiful," I breathed, looking down at her. "So perfect, it hurts to look at you."
She gave a husky laugh. "Were you always this poetic?"
"You mean cheesy," I said, nipping at her neck.
She moaned, writhing beneath me as she started to plug at the buttons of my shirt. "I'm not complaining."
I peeled my shirt off the rest of the way and her hands traveled down over my chest, her fingers dancing over the planes of my abs. "You're pretty damn perfect yourself, you know."
I kissed her again, lowering my body on top of hers as I began to grind against her through my jeans. I started kissing my way down her throat, then to her nipples, tracing each one with the tip of my tongue. She was so perfect, smooth and velvety everywhere, just like a rose petal. I took her nipple into my mouth, sucking gently on the soft flesh until it pebbled on my tongue and she gasped softly, her head falling back against the pillow. I was glad the bed was one of the last things she still hadn't moved.
I continued to kiss my way down her body, exploring her curves and her softening stomach. My lips moved lower still, over the rise of each hipbone until I was nestled between her thighs. She tasted sweet, like honey. Her legs quivered around me as I licked and sucked my way up each thigh until I finally reached the apex of her pleasure.
I rested there for a moment, allowing her to adjust to me before starting again. With slow strokes of my tongue, I began to explore every inch of her hidden depths. All the while my hands were moving restlessly over every inch of exposed skin that they could find, caressing and kneading gently as I did so.
Her breathing started coming out in frantic puffs as she got closer and closer to the edge. She clutched fistfuls of the blankets beneath us as pleasure threatened to overwhelm her senses entirely. I could feel her on the edge of pleasure, my cock throbbing inside the tightened confines of my jeans as I imagined how it was going to feel to be buried inside her tight pussy, when I heard the door opened and caught the scent of another alpha male shifter.
Cole was standing in the doorway, watching us with a look of hunger in his eyes as he studied Lavinia. "Don't let me disturb you."
I instinctively wanted to move away from Lavinia when I saw him, but her hand remained in my hair and kept me where I was. She smiled up at him. "Care to join us?" she asked in a mischievous tone.
Cole's gaze drifted from Lavinia to me, shrugging. "Guess we could give the bed one last sendoff. Unless you have a problem with it," he said pointedly to me.
I hesitated. I really wasn't used to sharing a mate with anyone, let alone another male, but I had signed up for this, and they all came with the package. "Of course I don't," I said, trying not to growl my words.
Cole walked over to the bed and climbed in near the head as he stretched out on his side next to Lavinia, stroking down her hip. He leaned in to kiss her and she happily returned it, putting her hands on either side of his face.
