Chapter 123: Need You

(MAYA)

The celebration continues late into the night, but eventually, Griffin guides me away from the revelry, through quiet corridors to our private chambers. The rooms have been prepared for us, fresh flowers in crystal vases, candles casting a warm glow across polished surfaces, and the bed turned down invitingly.

The door clicks shut behind us, the sound loud in the quiet after the celebration. My heart is racing. The pulse in my throat pounds like a drum, and my skin feels hot beneath the layers of silk and lace I’m still wearing. Griffin is behind me, silent but close, so close, I can feel his heat at my back.

I turn slowly, and when I meet his eyes, everything in me tightens. There’s no trace of the calm, composed king in his expression now. His gaze is dark, stormy with want, his jaw tense, lips parted slightly like he’s holding back a growl. The same growl that makes my knees weak.

“You’re mine now,” he says, his voice low, rough, possessive. “And I’m done waiting.” He steps forward, and I suck in a shaky breath, lifting my chin.

“So, take me.”

His lips crash into mine.

There’s nothing gentle about it. His hand fists in the back of my hair, angling my head as his tongue slides deep, claiming, devouring. I moan against him, and he swallows it, groaning into my mouth like he’s been starving for this, like I’m the only thing that will ever satisfy him.

We stumble back until my spine meets a wall. He presses against me, his hard body fitting into mine like it belongs there.

His hands are everywhere—my waist, my thighs, cupping my ass and pulling me closer until I can feel just how hard he is. “You drive me insane,” he breathes against my neck, nipping the skin just below my ear. “The way you looked at me during the ceremony…Knowing I couldn’t touch you yet…”

“You can now,” I whisper, breathless. “You can do anything you want.”

He growls low in his throat and lifts me without warning. My legs wrap around his waist instinctively, dress riding up as he carries me to the massive bed in the center of the room.

The mattress dips beneath us as he lays me down, looming over me like a wolf ready to devour his prey. He doesn’t look away as he strips off his shirt, revealing muscle by muscle in the candlelight. His body is beautiful, scarred and powerful and mine.

“Take it off,” he says, voice rough, eyes on my gown. “All of it.”

I sit up, trembling slightly, and reach for the delicate clasp behind my neck. He watches me the entire time, eyes hot, dark, reverent, as I shimmy the dress down my body and push it aside. My breasts are bare. My thighs shake. I’ve never felt so exposed in my life.

Or so wanted.

He exhales sharply and kneels on the bed, grabbing my hips and pulling me to the edge until I’m flush against him. He doesn’t give me time to be shy. His mouth is on my neck again, trailing lower, kissing a path down my collarbone. When his tongue flicks over my nipple, I arch with a gasp, and he groans, sucking harder.

“Griffin—” I pant, fingers twining in his hair.

“I need you,” he growls against my skin. “Right now.”

He drags his hands down my sides, pushes my legs apart, and settles between them. I can feel him, hot and hard through his pants, pressing exactly where I need him most. My hips buck involuntarily, and he smirks, watching me squirm.

“You’re already soaked for me,” he says, dragging a finger along the slick heat between my thighs. “You were made for this, weren’t you?”

I can’t answer. My body is shaking, burning.

He undoes his pants and frees himself, and I gasp when I see him. He’s thick, long, flushed with arousal, and I know he’ll stretch me. I know it’ll hurt—but I want it. I want him.

He grips my hips and pushes forward, just an inch, and my breath catches. “Look at me,” he says, his voice hoarse now.

I do. Our eyes lock, and slowly, he pushes in deeper.

Every muscle in my body tenses at the burn, the pressure, but his hand comes up to cup my cheek, grounding me. “You’re okay,” he murmurs. “You can take it. You’re mine, Maya. You were made to take me.”

God, the way he says my name, it’s reverent yet filthy, full of heat.

He seats himself fully inside me and stills. I can feel his pulse, the way he trembles with restraint. I’m so full of him that I can barely breathe.

Then, he moves.

The first thrust knocks the air from my lungs. The second makes me cry out. His rhythm is hard, deep, possessive, like he’s trying to imprint himself into every part of me. And maybe he is. I want him to. I want this forever.

His mouth finds mine again, swallowing my cries. His body moves over mine like a tide that won’t stop until I’m wrecked, ruined.

“You feel like heaven,” he pants against my lips. “Mine. Only mine.”

“Yes,” I whisper, clinging to him. “Yours.”

He pins my arms above my head with one hand and slows down, each thrust maddeningly deep, slow, intentional. His other hand cups my jaw, keeping my eyes on his.

“I want to see your face when you fall apart,” he murmurs. “I want to remember it.” I’m so close I can barely hold on. My body is trembling, every nerve on fire.

Then he thrusts harder, one, two, three times, and I break. I cry out his name, my back arching as pleasure crashes over, me in waves.

Griffin groans, deep and guttural, and thrusts once more before he follows me, his body tensing as he spills into me. His lips find mine again, gentler this time. Softer.

He doesn’t pull out right away. He stays inside me, breathing hard against my throat, his arms wrapped around me like he’s afraid I’ll disappear.

When he finally moves, it’s to roll us both onto our sides. He pulls me to his chest and kisses the top of my head.

Griffin’s breathing slows, but his arms stay wrapped tightly around me. His body is warm, solid, and I feel utterly wrecked, sated and trembling, my heart still galloping from everything he has just given me.

But then, his lips brush against my temple, and he says, “I’m not done with you yet.”

I tilt my head to gaze up at him, and the look in his eyes makes heat flood through me all over again. He’s not satisfied, far from it. He’s insatiable, and I’m his target.

“Griffin!”

He rolls on top of me again, kissing me with slow, consuming intent, his mouth making promises I already know he’ll keep. “Tonight,” he murmurs against my lips, “I make sure there’s not a single part of you that doesn’t know who you belong to.”

The world narrows to the drag of his hands over my skin, the heat in his voice, the way he moves like he has forever to worship every inch of me.

***

Later, much later, we stand on the balcony overlooking the sleeping palace grounds. The night air is cool, but Griffin’s warmth at my back keeps me comfortable. His arms encircle my waist, his chin resting on top of my head.

“What are you thinking?” he asks, his voice a rumble that I feel more than hear.

“I’m thinking that when I first saw you in that cell, I was scared, but not completely. Was it because a part of me recognized you from my childhood? Or was it because, deep inside, our fated mate bond prevented me from totally fearing you?”

“Who knows? I’m just glad you don’t remember that time.”

I smile softly, turning around to face him. “I never understood why my father left us, you know. But after what you told me, I reached out to one of my mother’s old friends. It turns out that when I found my way home, after you saved me, my father freaked out. That was when my mother figured out that I hadn’t been kidnapped.

The love of her life had sold their daughter to human traffickers. She left him, not the other way around. She sent him to prison. All this time, I thought my mother was weak when she was strong, so strong. She protected me when I needed it. His actions broke her, but she fought for me. I wish I had known. I wish I could thank her.”

“She knows.” Griffin kisses my tears away. “She was so proud of you. You got her strength.”

I smile into his chest, my heart aching. “She would have been so happy if she’d lived to see this day.”

“She’s watching, along with my parents. They’re all getting to know each other.”

I chuckle. “That’s a nice thought.”

We stand in silence for a few minutes and then I murmur, “I am glad that I trusted you. Even when everything in me was screaming not to, not to believe you, I pushed past my own grief and listened. I’m so happy I did that.”

“Did you really throw away everything I got you up in Seattle?” he asks lightly. “No.” I feel myself flush. “I just said that to be mean to you.”

“Well, you broke my heart.”

I kiss him lightly on the lips. “You can punish me later for that.”

His hand squeezes my ass. “I fully intend to.” He wraps his arms around me even tighter. “Although, I didn’t make it easy for you.”

“No, you did not,” I agree with a small laugh. “But the best things rarely come easily.”

We fall silent, watching the moon’s slow progress across the star-filled sky. The peace of the moment doesn’t disguise the challenges that lie ahead, though. The Silver Ring is still out there, and Mathew remains at large, planning who knows what new horrors. The disease continues to mutate, requiring constant vigilance and research. The noble families remain divided about my legitimacy as queen.

But for now, in this moment, none of that matters. What matters is the bond humming between us, stronger than prophecy, stronger than death itself. What matters is that I’ve found my place in a world I never knew existed before Corrine crashed into my life all those years ago.

“We’ll be ready for whatever comes,” Griffin says, responding to my unspoken thoughts. “Together.”

“Together,” I agree, smiling up at him. “I may be new to this whole wolf thing, but I protect what’s mine. And this, you, us, the life we’re building, is worth protecting.”

His eyes gleam with pride and something deeper, something that makes my heart race. “My fierce mate,” he murmurs, brushing a strand of hair from my face. “The Silver Ring has no idea what they’re up against.”

I feel the wolf inside me stir with agreement. “No, they don’t. But they’re going to find out.” His grin is all predator, all promise. “Yes, they will.”

Right now, I know with absolute certainty that whatever storms lie ahead, we will weather them. Whatever enemies emerge from the shadows, we will face them. Not just as king and queen, not just as mates, but as partners who have already overcome the impossible.

The future stretches before us, uncertain but bright with possibility. And for the first time since my mother’s death, I find myself looking forward to it with hope instead of dread.

This is not the ending I would have written for myself when I was human. It’s so much more than I could have imagined. A new beginning, a new life, with the man who holds my heart standing steadfast beside me.

As Griffin leads me back inside, I silently thank my mother for her final piece of advice: to trust this man, to give love a chance despite the risk of pain. I hope, wherever she is, that she knows I finally listened.

And I hope she’s proud of the wolf her daughter has become.

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