The thought filled me with a depressing ache. The bar had been my life. My baby. Now I was on the way there with Luis and Sebastian to pack up the money in the safe and discard anything that would expire before we reopened.
Once we were inside, I took a second to walk around, my fingers trailing across the bar’s wood counter. I really did hope I’d get to reopen. After I had my moment, I went about helping Luis and Sebastian close the place down. We disconnected the CO2 tanks to the soda machines and threw any refrigerated stuff into the dumpster or packed it up to take back home. I let Sebastian have the recipe for our chicken sliders, which made him happier than I’d seen him since he’d heard the news of Abi being taken.
As we worked on removing the trash and doing one final clean, my thoughts went to Nico. I wish he’d been there with us. I was a little disappointed when he said he wasn’t coming. This was difficult for me, and I would have liked to have had him here for it. He’d given me a pretty lame excuse about needing to be home for a video call. Like he couldn’t take that on his cell at the bar. It made me think I’d done some irreparable damage to our relationship.
His absence from shutting down the bar made more sense when Luis pulled up to Nico’s house to drop me off. There were rose petals and candles on the walkway leading up to the front door. I glanced over at Luis and gave him a quizzical look.
He shrugged. “Don’t ask me.”
I got out of the truck and walked up the path to the door and opened it. Inside, there were even more candles and rose petals strewn along the floor. I rounded the corner and found Nico standing in the living room. He held an open bottle of champagne and two flutes. He was dressed in a tuxedo. The thing must have cost a couple thousand dollars. I’d never seen a suit that fit someone as well as fit him. He looked like he’d walked right out of some old 1920s twenties cocktail party. He looked amazing. Probably the most gorgeous I’d ever seen him, and that was saying something.
I took a few steps toward him. My face must have betrayed my confusion. He put the bottle and glasses down, then took a step toward me and grabbed my hands. “Maddy, I have a proposal for you.”
“Oh really?” I said, wincing inwardly at how dumb my response sounded.
He grinned. “I love you. Forever and always. I promise I’ll protect you and keep you as safe as possible. I want you to be my partner for life. Shifters don’t typically do this the way humans do, but…well, here it goes,” he said and got down on a knee, still holding my hands and looking up at me. “Will you take me as your mate? Can I claim you and make you mine forever?”
I put a hand to my face as tears blurred my vision. I’d never been so happy in my life to hear something. I’d gone days thinking I’d messed things up. Instead, Nico had been planning this. He’d been getting ready to propose to me. My head was already bobbing up and down before I could speak. “Yes. Yes, Nico, yes, I will.”
He grinned and stood, pulling me into his arms and hugging me. He kissed me, and I tasted my own tears on our tongues. He pulled away and licked his lips. “Mmm, salty.”
I burst out laughing, and Nico poured us each a glass of champagne. We walked up the stairs, sipping at the champagne as we went. Once we got into his bedroom, I started undressing, looking into his eyes as I did. He stared back at me as he pulled his own clothes off. My wolf was growing impatient and pushing me toward Nico. She wanted to be claimed as much as I did. She was desperate to have what she’d wanted for so long-a mate, and to be able to come out into the world.
I slid my panties down my legs and unhooked my bra. The cool air in the room kissed my skin, and my nipples hardened. I stared across the room as Nico removed the rest of his clothing. His thick cock was already getting hard. His muscles, much like that you’d see on a marble statue in Rome, rippled. Urged on by my wolf, I made the first move, walking over to him. I looked into his eyes, wrapped my hand around his cock, and kissed him. He groaned, the rumble echoing into my mouth.
I stroked him as we kissed, our tongues dancing as my fingers slid up and down his shaft until he was rock-hard and fully erect. Nico slid his hands up my hips, then up to my ribs until he filled his hands with my breasts. I sucked in a breath as his thumbs circled my nipples. I dropped to my knees and took him into my mouth. Feeling him fill me like that sent a cascade of warmth to my pussy, I was already dripping wet, desperate for him. His back arched as I sucked his cock. A pleasant happiness filled me, knowing I was making him feel so good. I moved faster, then slipped a hand to his balls, caressing them as I sucked him off.
After a few moments of that, Nico tugged me up off the floor and laid me on the bed. When I was on my back, he knelt beside the bed, lifted my legs and slipped his tongue into me. I clutched the sheets and gave a quiet sigh as he went to work. He slipped his tongue from inside my pussy up to flick across my clit, then down to circle my anus. Nothing in life had ever felt so good as the way his mouth did. I moaned and panted for breath, letting him do what he wanted to me. A finger slid into me as his tongue probed my ass, then a thumb rubbed at my clit-all three sensations damn near making my eyes cross with pleasure.
I finally patted his arm. “Make love to me, Nico. Please,” I whispered.
He looked up from between my legs and grinned. “Yes, ma’am.”
He crawled up onto the bed, licking my left nipple as he moved up, eliciting another gasp from me. I slid my hands along the thick ropes of muscle that made up his body, in awe of this man who was mine. All mine. My wolf licked her chops and growled. The sound erupted from my own mouth.
Nico smiled and raised an eyebrow. “Are you ready?”
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak. Nico moved his hips until I felt the head of his cock right against my pussy. He pressed until it had just barely started to slide into me. He leaned down and kissed me while he slipped the rest of his length into my body. Each inch filled me until I could feel his balls pressed tight against my ass. He was so thick, and I shuddered, my orgasm cresting just from having him inside me.
When he started thrusting, the entire world seemed to disappear. Everything vanished. It was like we were making love in the darkness of space, surrounded by nothing and everything all at once. I dug my fingers into his shoulders, urging him to fuck me harder. His full length slammed into me over and over again. I was almost dizzy with lust. The building orgasm felt like a wave cresting, but this was a tidal wave, massive and almost terrifying in its mass.
My breath burst in and out of my lungs as my hips rose to meet his. His cock crashed into me, and the first flash of heat and pressure exploded inside my pussy. I called his name as wave after wave of pleasure rocked my body. My legs were vibrating, and I couldn’t catch my breath, but Nico was still moving, going faster with each thrust.
I was whispering into his ear, begging him to claim me. To make me his forever and all eternity. Finally, I felt his shoulders tense and a deep satisfied groan erupted from him. His cock pulsed within me. Still moving his hips, he sank his teeth into the fleshy hollow between my neck and shoulder. I felt the icy hot flash of pain, and my eyes bulged as the blood seeped out of my skin. The pain somehow melded with the pleasure of the sex, and a second and even more powerful orgasm rocked me. I wrapped my legs around him, locking my ankles together to hold him.
Nico rocked against me, slowly grinding into me as I continued to shake involuntarily. The wolf was there. I could feel her. Stronger than I thought. I only thought I’d felt her before. She was so powerful, like a storm inside my mind. I felt encompassed by her, our two souls twisting together. I could see her in my mind, teeth bared and strength growing with each passing second.
There was no doubt about what she was. Everything about her screamed alpha.
FATED TO ROYALTY
MADDY
“Right there,” Nico hissed, pointing at the screen. “Zoom in.”
Felipe clicked the image and expanded the area Nico had pointed to. Felipe and Sebastian had brought over the pictures Viola had sent us of my parents and Abi. They were trying to find the location of where they were being kept. Nico was sure they could use the metadata of the images to figure it out. I sat to the side, watching as they converged in front of the screen. We were working on the photo of Mom and Dad, but I couldn’t even tell what he was pointing to. To me, it looked like a red-and-black blob.
“Is that what you’re talking about?” Felipe said.
“Yeah,” Nico said, nodding. “Is that a billboard? Out the back window?”
Sebastian leaned forward, squinting. “It says…Resorito’s. I think it’s a restaurant billboard.”
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