Chapter Six

Gwyneth grew completely exhausted after eating. When one need had been taken care of, another pushed to the front with an unimaginable power, and Gwyneth could feel herself blinking faster. Kiran suddenly moved to stand, and Gwyneth went right into her protective mode. However, Kiran noticed the slight guard she put up and shook his head a bit.

“Gwyn, if there is one person in this world you should never fear, it is me,” he vowed.

“That comes from a stranger who cannot back up his words,” she retorted.

“It comes from your mate, who cares for you, despite not knowing you. Have I not fed you?”

“Maybe it’s to win my trust.”

“And then what?”

“I don’t know. Get me in your bed,” she replied, but more jokingly.

Kiran chuckled and shook his head. “You will come crawling into it despite the food.”

“I will not!” she shouted as he walked past her. Gwyneth stood up and followed him. He still had her bag, and it annoyed her that he would not give it to her. So, when she thought he was not looking, she tried to reach for it. He saw her coming out of the corner of his eye and lifted the bag high. Gwyneth cursed low as she grabbed around nothing but air and stumbled a little in front of Kiran. “That’s mine.”

“It is, but I am keeping it safe for you.”

“Why?”

“Have you noticed how different it is?” He gestured to the bag.

“I come from the future.”

“Yes, but I think it would be better if I kept it safe. I am the king, after all.”

“Yes, and an annoying one,” she mumbled.

“What was that?” Though he had clearly heard her, he challenged her to say it again.

“Nothing,” she replied and crossed her arms. “Lead the way.”

Kiran sighed before he opened the wooden double doors, and Gwyneth and he walked into the royal chambers where she could see he obviously slept. Gwyneth felt the same as when she had stepped into the dining hall—completely mesmerized. Her mouth opened slightly as she took in the glorious room with the high ceilings, the many curtain-covered windows, the giant bed with the dark red sheets and a huge seating area in front of an unlit fireplace. It even had a door leading into a separate bathing room to offer complete privacy. She had seen nothing like it. While it reminded her much of what she had seen in history books, it also carried its own touch, making it unique and different from her own world.

“Are you coming inside so I can close the door?” Kiran asked.

Gwyneth stood trapped somewhere in the middle of it all, not quite inside and not quite outside. But it made it hard for Kiran to close the bedroom door.

“I…” Gwyneth stepped in, though she felt reluctant as she did, and he closed the door with them inside. “We are now staying in the same room?”

“These are the royal chambers. My room,” he pointed out.

“And why am I sleeping here?”

“Because you are—”

“Your mate?” she finished for him, making Kiran smile.

“Yes,” he confirmed.

“No.”

“No?”

“I stay in another room. Heck, let me stay in the dungeons. I’m not sleeping beside a werewolf who claims me to be his destined partner. Who knows what he will do to me?” she retorted.

“Because we are destined partners, I cannot hurt you,” he promised.

“Oh really?”

“Really. We are not meant to hurt each other, but complement and make the other stronger.”

“No.”

“No?” he asked, looking confused.

“I don’t agree with this. I have not consented to being your mate!”

“It’s not like you have much choice.”

“Sounds like force to me.”

“You’re getting on my nerves now.” He sighed.

“Oh, only now?” she asked with a little smile.

“We cannot change it,” he stated.

“I think we should try. We could do that break glass thing.”

“I have no wish to reject my mate. I want to build a life with her. Mates are sacred, so could you stop being so disrespectful toward it?” he asked.

“But I don’t believe in it.”

“But if you had a belief, would you want me to be rude toward it?” he challenged.

Gwyneth could see he had a point, but this was more complicated than saying she did not believe in God. Her goal was to find a way home. Not to get cozy with the werewolf king, despite how handsome he was. “I can be less rude, but I will not sleep in your room.”

“It is instinctual,” he explained.

“What is?”

“Having you here.”

“Meaning you are a little bit animal?”

“You could say that.” He chuckled. “Having you here, though, pleases me a lot, and I do not want it differently. I want you in this room, sleeping beside me.”

“Why?”

“So I can keep you safe?”

“Are you hiding monsters under your bed?”

Kiran shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. “No monsters under the bed. But they are out there.” He pointed toward the covered window.

Gwyneth turned and looked at it before focusing on Kiran. “But I’m in here,” she replied.

“It isn’t the first time they have breached our walls. I would rather want to be on the safe side.”

“I’m a fighter.”

“But you’re also human.”

“Is that bad now? Do I not please you, my king?” she teased as she spoke his title condescendingly.

“You please me a lot.” Kiran moved closer to her. “If you said yes, I would have you naked in my bed right now.”

“I’m sorry?” Gwyneth had not expected the response. She had only been teasing him, but now he spoke of having her naked, and she hated to admit her body liked the thought. While her mind told her she was crazy, he did something to her.

Kiran must have noticed the change in her because he came closer. “You can say yes,” he told her.

“What?” she whispered.

Kiran reached out and gently grabbed her chin. “To me. Say yes, and your interesting clothes come off.”

Gwyneth’s heart was pounding faster and faster inside her chest. It almost felt like it was going to jump out at any minute, and she couldn’t speak. Her head was empty for words as she looked up into the king’s intense green eyes. Did she want it? The kiss? He somehow broke through her guard, and soon she found his lips hovering over hers as his warm breath fanned them, making her body tingle.

“What do you say?” he whispered.

“I…”

Gwyneth saw nothing but Kiran. He filled all her senses, and it made her completely melt. Never had anyone overpowered her so easily.

“Maybe you need a good night’s rest before you know the answer.” He chuckled and moved back, giving Gwyneth some space, and she was able to think again.

She took a big step away from him, but it made Kiran look displeased. He did not comment on it, but instead told her that he would find her some clothes and a servant to help her bathe. He suggested giving her a hand himself, but Gwyneth made it clear it would not happen. She did appreciate the help of the servant who came to aid her, but when she was in the warm tub, she realized Kiran had completely gotten her where he wanted her—in his room.

How had he done that? How had he made her lower her guard so fast and gotten her to think it was right for her to sleep in the room? It made no sense, and she shook her head lightly.

After her bath, the servant dressed her in clothes that were so new to her that she did not know how to feel about them. It was a long and thin nightgown, but she was given a robe too. When she walked into the bedroom, the king chose to bathe as well, while Gwyneth got a chance to look around. She could not stay there! She had to be in her own room, not his!

But it wasn’t long before the king came into the room as well, only wearing pants. Gwyneth looked at his amazing physique. It was clear he trained hard, but living in the medieval age often required doing a lot of hard work. Kiran must have felt her eyes on him because he turned his head and smiled before he sat down on the bed and patted it.

“Let’s rest,” he suggested

“What? No!” Gwyneth shook her head, and Kiran chuckled.

“You’re tired and we can talk some more tomorrow.”

“Rest? In your bed?”

“It’s very comfortable,” he assured her.

“I’m sure, but I would still prefer a bed you’re not in.”

“I already told you how I feel about that,” he reminded her.

“And how about how I feel? I don’t sleep in the same bed with strange men.”

“Well, that pleases me to know,” he said with a small smile.

Gwyneth sighed and shook her head. “Let’s not discuss exes.”

“Exes?”

“Never mind. I’m not sleeping in your bed!”

“You aren’t leaving the room.”

“It’s very controlling, Your Majesty. Anyone ever told you a woman doesn’t like to be bossed around?” she retorted.

“I am not trying to boss you around, but I cannot help myself. I will follow you. Even to another room.”

“So my own stalker?”

“Protector.”

“It’s creepy.”

“It’s my duty,” he countered.

“Then can I release you from it?”

“No.”

“I don’t like this.” She sighed. “I don’t like any of it! Where have I ended up?”

Gwyneth’s head was going to explode. She was sure of it, and she grabbed her hair and groaned loudly. Kiran got off the bed, coming up behind her, and wrapped an arm around her waist, bringing her closer and offering her comfort. If she had not been through so much and been hurt fighting a wild wolf, then she would have pushed him away and told him to keep his hands where she could see them. But there was something about the king—something she could not deny herself as he offered himself to help her find some relief. She grabbed onto the arm around her, and placed her forehead against it. He ran a hand down her back, and they stood like that for a little while.

“I can’t comprehend it. It’s too much,” she whispered.

“It’s why you need sleep,” he told her.

“You will stay on your side?”

“I will only touch you if you tell me to,” he promised, and she heard the slight chuckle in his voice.

“It will never happen,” she promised.

“So you say, but I don’t believe that is true. Now let’s rest. Your body and mind have been through enough for one day.”

“Enough for my entire life.”

“It’s a lot, I agree.”

“You believe me?” She looked up at Kiran, but he still appeared uncertain. “You don’t.”

“It’s not that I don’t. It’s that I want to find an explanation I can understand. Yet so far, this seems to be the only one there is. However, I find it hard to wrap my head around it. How can you be here if you are from another world, even another time?”

Gwyneth nodded. When she had first been told of the possibility of time traveling, she was sure it would be an unsuccessful project that would never see the light of day. Even when it began to seem more possible, and she was offered the training necessary for her to fulfill her mission, she still couldn’t believe it.

“I don’t know,” Gwyneth whispered. “But I understand why it is confusing. It is to me, too.”

“Then don’t take it to heart when I say I have a hard time believing it.”

“I don’t…”

“I think you do a little.”

“I’m alone here.” She drew back. “I was supposed to be with a group of people. Some of them I knew well. Now I’m… me, in a strange land with people who should not exist.”

“I understand. But you have nothing to be afraid of because I will be by your side,” he vowed.

“I don’t know if I can trust that.”

“I will prove it. But not now. Now you need rest.”