The Alpha's Temptation

Tania was breathless after the kiss. She rested her face on his chest as he draped his arms around her possessively. She didn't know if she would be able to kiss him again like this, but things between them changed. She became hyper aware of the fact. She wondered if she would have stopped kissing him ever. The feeling was… surreal. And fearsome.

"Would you be able to kiss like this every day?" he asked, resting his chin over her head. "Only once a day?" His chest rose and fell against her breasts. Their heartbeat was in tandem. Wild. "I will stop myself even if you wouldn't stop me." He paused as he exhaled heavily. "What I mean is that I wouldn't take you even unless you would want me to."

Did he read her mind? How could he speak of the fears she was thinking about? And what did he mean by taking her? She was confused about that part. She didn't say anything because she loved the intimacy between them. She loved the way his chin rested on her head and how he had curled his big arms around her. He slid his hand up to her neck and curled his fingers around her nape. He started brushing the pulse point on her slender neck. "You didn't answer my question, Tania."

"If I say yes, will that make me a bad girl?" A pulse of liquid heat tingled in her body. She really didn't know of the relationships between a man and a woman, but she knew where all this was about to go.

Eltanin eyes became wide for a moment and then became heavy-lidded. A groan came out of his lips. "That would make you a very, very bad girl, Tania." Her eyebrows furrowed. "But then you would be my bad girl." Gods knew how much he wanted to stoke her bad-ness. The possibilities— "Ah!" he shifted a little to adjust his rock hard shaft which twitched.

"You promise not to tell anyone about it?" she asked innocently.

Eltanin was so amused by her question that his chest squeezed. There were numerous girls who would advertise everywhere that the king kissed them, but here she was. Also, he would never tell what she did to him or he did to her. "I would never." Though if at all she made marks on his back in throes of love, he would show them off to the world.

She looked up at him, gazed in his eyes and said, "Also, I wouldn't have stopped you from taking me." She wanted to know what taking her meant.

Eltanin was speechless. His body shook and a wild rumble emanated. "What are you doing Tania?"

She thought that she was really a horrible girl to even think like that. "I am a terrible girl," she said, feeling a pang of guilt. Being the personal slave of her Master, no boy or man approached her out of fear. So, she didn't know a lot.

"Hell no!" He kissed her forehead. If anyone was horrible, it was him. He was corrupting the innocence of his beautiful, naïve mate. "You are a lovely girl. Don't be shackled by the foolish expectations of your Master." He kissed her temple and then gazed at her again. "And I want you to be my bad girl. Would you kiss me like this once a day?" His arms slid down on my sides.

She lowered her eyes not able to stare into his. Heat must have crept on her cheeks because she was feeling very hot. Her lips curled up and she nodded. "I will kiss you like that once a day but that's all."

Eltanin's wolf was somersaulting on the inside because he had cinched the greatest deal of his love life which was only a few days old. He was so happy that he would have jumped up in ecstasy, but when Tania settled her cheek over his chest, he just wrapped his hand behind her head and his arms around her waist, pulling her closer.

Tania didn't know for how long they stayed cocooned in the darkness of the willow. She didn't want to know either. She closed her eyes hoping for her heart to slow down, hoping for him to cool down. Neither of them moved from their place, savoring the connection, savoring the taste of each other on their lips. After a long moment when the air became colder, he said, "It is time for you to be tucked in your blankets, Tania."

"Oh, okay," she replied without moving. She loved his body heat and she felt that it was enough for her to stay alive. Sudden realization that she was appointed as spy here hit her hard.

"Tania?"

"Yes," she said against his shoulder, not wanting to step out of this cocoon. "But I am happy to be here. I don't want to go back." She knew that he wouldn't understand that she never wanted to go back to the monastery.

Eltanin became silent for a long time and she wondered if he had understood what she meant. Did she say anything wrong? She would eventually have to return and hoped in the meantime that he didn't suspect her to be a spy. She thought that he would ask her to leave, but his arms tightened around her and both of them fell into silence for some more time. "I don't want you to go…" he whispered.

Eltanin got up from his place, taking her with him. He set her feet on the ground, his arms still on her. He kissed her temple again and held her hand. Soon they were on their way back to his chamber through their secret passageway.

---

"Are you sure?" Morava growled. Her nostrils flared.

Ivy had narrated the incident and what she heard in the courtyard. She was strolling in the corridors of the palace and had come to the courtyard which she found amazingly beautiful. It was a cold day and she brushed her arms when the sea breeze from Jade River blew, ruffling the leaves of the tall and thick willows in the courtyard. The yard was enveloped in the soft yellow light of the flames of the sconces that flickered. The place smelled of roses and Carolina silverbells.

She was about to leave when she caught a soft conversation. It was between a man and a woman. King Eltanin was with someone under the willow. Ivy froze at her spot. Her heart beat fast. What was the king doing with a woman beneath the willow? She focused hard to hear the muffled conversation, but she only heard unintelligible voices. Her first instinct was to go under the trees and confront the king. But she didn't have the audacity to go to expose him. What if he killed her on the spot? Moreover, that was kind of expected from the kings—debauchery. However, she had to inform Morava about his wild ventures in the palace. She turned to leave and her sandals squeaked on the floor. Gasping in fear that they must have heard it, she fled from there and stopped only when she reached in front of Morava's room.