Chapter 17

Rinan

Refreshed after our meal, we gather in King Talon's bedroom. Having to sit through an entire dinner wore him out, so he'd already found his bed. Although, the bed is where we always find him now, resting, even though we've found nothing to stop the Illness once it takes its hold.

Watching the Talon pack's most fearsome warrior be reduced to this – this shell of a man with his broken, sickly body – tears me up. I once watched him rip a man's arm clean off his body. Now, he can barely even stand without assistance.

We aren't ready to see him fall, at least not to an illness. This is not a warrior's death. It's not the way any man would want to die. And I hate the witches for it. I hate whatever sick plot led them to make us sick and then force us to marry their princess to save our people.

King Talon's been a part of my life since I was a pup; he took on the role of my second father, and raised me up along with the rest of us princes like we were all his own. Everything I know about being a warrior, I learned from him. If he fell right now in battle, I'd be heartbroken, but I'd know that was simply the way of the gods. But laying in the bed slowly dwindling away, weak and incapacitated half the time? No. This isn't how he's supposed to go.

"Father?" Arlys asks, and his father's eyes flicker back open. "You wished to speak to us."

He nods tiredly and seems to take a long minute before he speaks. "I know none of you are happy with your part in the peace treaty."

That was an understatement. Arlys and I were heartbroken over it. Drogo was pissed as hell.

He continues after a moment, his breathing labored. "You had your own hopes about who you'd marry, who you'd potentially share, and now you've been given this witch."

"We know this is our duty," Arlys says, but his gaze is hard.

"But in an ideal world, marriage and duty would not go together. Marriage and love would," he tells us softly, then begins to cough.

My chest aches, and I'd look away, but looking away would be weak. If this man can be strong with the Illness, I can be strong in his presence. It's the least I can do.

His coughing subsides, and he continues, his voice gravelly. "This is the only way we can fix our problem. We need her to heal the Illness." He pauses to cough again, harder this time, and we all go rigid until his breathing calms once more. "I know the witches are the reason we have the Illness. The fact that we've never been sick before, how fast it came on, and the way it spread everywhere at once… it has to be them. I hoped the alliance and the marriage would be enough to make them stop it, but it will take more than that. It's going to take us using Princess Tara to search for the cure and fix it before hundreds more lives are lost. She's powerful, I can feel it in my bones, so we have to do whatever we can to help her root this out." His labored breathing makes him pause.

"We understand," I say, even though I don't completely, not really. How will one witch and one marriage fix all of this? It has to be more complicated than that. Right?

"Swear to me that you'll protect her. That no harm is to come to her." His dark gaze sweeps through us.

"You have my word," Arlys says, without hesitation.

"And mine," I say as firmly as I can.

There's a painful moment of hesitation as we all stare at Drogo before he says, "And mine."

"Her safety depends on the three of you," he warns, and his words hang heavily over the room.

"We'll keep her safe," Arlys says. "You don't need to worry about this, father. You can trust us."

His father regards him for a moment before continuing. "You don't trust the witches, even the one you've married, but I need you to trust me. She is the answer to all of this. Keep your promises to take turns sharing her bed. She mustn't ever sleep alone. The marriage must be consummated and done so regularly. Your seed must find its place within her. If one of you three create a shifter with magic as powerful as hers, that heir may be the solution to any future wars with the witches." He has another coughing spell, then sighs and closes his eyes, ready to sleep.

"We will take turns sleeping in her bed," Arlys promises, even though we'd already promised as much when we agreed to this insane plan. Sleeping and fucking are two very different past-times. We hadn"t made an oath we wouldn"t keep, just used semantics.

Sleep in her bed. I wet my lips as an image of Princess Tara spread sweetly on her bed comes to my mind, and my blood starts rushing in my veins. The woman is fucking beautiful. So different from any woman I've seen in my life. She's petite, impossibly tiny, with big expressive eyes and full lips.

It's not just that though. She has a small waist, perfect hips, and breasts that would fit perfectly in my hands. And her scent… her fucking scent. It drives me mad. Teases me. Makes my cock so hard that I've stroked it every chance I get, just thinking of her and her scent. If she wasn't a witch, if she wasn't my peace bride, I don't think I could have resisted her this long. Hell, I know I couldn't, I'd have been all over her, and Drogo and Arlys would be fighting me for her attention.

But we can't. Drogo, Arlys, and I made that stupid deal. None of us are to touch her. We'll have no heir with her. We'll have no relationship at all.

My smile fades.

"Your eyes," the king says to his son, reaching up to touch his face. "You look just like your mother."

He did. Arlys' mother had the same brilliant green eyes. I remember them staring blankly at the sky when we found her that horrible day. She'd fallen from a tree. If she'd landed on anything but her neck, she would've been okay. It was just bad luck.

A tragedy.

Arlys had struggled after that. It was customary when pups bonded like Arlys, Drogo, and I had to spend a lot of time together. Bonding like we did the first time we met meant we would share a bride, so it only made sense for us to spend our childhoods bouncing between our various homes. However, when Queen Talon died, everything changed. My parents and Drogo's parents had handfuls of other kids to spend time with. They felt that Arlys needed us, and that King Talon needed his son, so we remained here.

And our parents were right. I don't think they ever could've pulled out of their depression if not for our presence here, reminding them that their house was still a home.

The king's head rolls to us, and his hand drops. "You both have the strength of your mothers and fathers. You weren't the eldest of your families, but you carry yourself like alphas, through-and-through. I'm proud of you."

"Thank you," I whisper, even though I want to say more.

King Talon's eyes open wide, and another coughing fit takes over his body. This one is so bad that he's gasping for air and turning bright red.

"Healer! We need the healer!" Arlys calls out.

A woman instantly appears.

"Clear the room, Princes," she says, shooing us away before she tends to the king.

We congregate in the hall. Arlys looks worried while Drogo looks pissed.

"Princess Tara should have fixed it by now. We made the fucking deal. We married her. King Talon should be better," Drogo insists.

Thinking back to the table and her surprise about the Illness, I feel the need to defend her. "I don't think she knows anything about it."

"It doesn't matter. She's a witch. A witch created this illness. Therefore, she should have fixed it by now. I don't care if she was the actual one to spread the illness or not," Drogo retorts.

I roll my eyes. "Look, I want her to fix the Illness too, but maybe we'll catch more flies with honey than vinegar."

"She won't be getting honey from any of us," Drogo says, pointing at my dick like it's dipped in honey.

Arlys clears his throat and looks uncomfortable. "Speaking of which, Rinan, you're first in her room. Just remember the rules. You guard her, and you sleep. No sex. Don't slip up," Arlys commands.

Drogo bores a hole in me with his glare. "If we fuck her, we can't get out of this marriage, so no consummating the damn thing, you got it?

"I got it." Damn, do they think I'm some young thing with no self-control? I'm going to follow through with our plan. It'll be a piece of cake.

Drogo moves closer to me, waiting until a servant passes us in the hall. "This is the first time in our lives that I'm telling you not to get your dick wet."

"No wet dicks? Understood," I say, feeling a little irritated by his intensity.

"Good luck," Arlys says, and our eyes lock.

He gets it. He finds her attractive too. Not that we'd tell Drogo that.

"Thanks," I say. I take a deep breath and head down the stairs to Princess Tara's room.

When I slip out of their sight, I feel my shoulders sag, and the rhythm of my heart sounds too loud. Okay, so I'll be spending the night with Princess Tara, the beautiful witch. I can handle that. Can't I?

Except, she's going to expect me to be ready and willing. Prepared to fuck her all night long, probably. If I don't make a move, will she? The idea makes my cock harden. I imagine her begging me on her knees for just a little taste of my dick, and me insisting that she can't have it.

Although… a little dick tasting should be okay, right? As long as my mighty python stays out of her pussy, I've fulfilled my part of the agreement. Maybe?

Or maybe I could touch her a little. Maybe after days on the road of us not touching her, she'll be wet and ready for me. I can trail a hand under her dress and touch her slowly. Gently. At first. And then, maybe, I can make her orgasm. Make her come screaming my name.

I reach her door and realize that I'm fully standing at attention. Reaching down, I shift my cock, then think of Drogo. The fucker's ugly mug is what I use any time I have to calm Little Rinan down, and like usual, it works. The last thing I want to do when going to a woman's room to not fuck her is to come in all sprung and horny.

Even if I'm still a little horny.

Reaching up, I knock softly on the door.

After a minute, I hear her say, "Come in."

Hesitating, I take another deep breath, then open the door, not sure what to expect.

Tara's standing by the edge of her bed, her cheeks flushed as her gaze meets mine. She's wearing a silky white nightgown that comes to her creamy thighs. The nightgown appears to be sheer, but fortunately, or unfortunately for me, she wears an open robe over it, concealing most of her flesh.

I'm hard again. She looks so damn pure and innocent in white, like I imagine a bride on her wedding night. I never knew that idea would turn me on, but it does.

But that's not what I'm here for. I'm here to offer protection, to make our people believe that I'm doing my duties as a husband, and to sleep. That's the directive.

"Hello."

I take a step closer, and her scent hits me… lilies, sweet and sensual. My wolf perks up inside of me, and I feel a strange sensation move through me. My fucking wolf loves the way this woman smells, he responds to her like a cat purring. It's almost embarrassing.

Get control of yourself, I command my wolf, but he doesn't. He paces inside of me as I breathe her scent in and try not to picture those creamy legs of hers wrapped around me while I thrust deeply inside of her.

Tonight is the perfect opportunity to give in to what my wolf and I both want: her. She's expecting it as any bride would when faced with her new husband. Maybe even wanting it. But I can"t. I gave my word to the two men I consider my brothers, so I fucking can"t.

"Did you, uh, need something?" she asks, and her scent comes again: lilies, but also fear, and arousal.

I bite down on the groan that builds in the back of my throat and focus on the hint of fear. I don't want her to be afraid. I need to shift the blood from my dick to my brain and actually speak.

"I'm sleeping in here tonight, if you're okay with that," I say, taking another slow breath in, taking in her scent again as my dick continues to suffocate in my pants, yearning to spring free and have some fun.

Damn horny bastard.

"Um," she begins with a shaky voice as she closes her robe and tightens the belt. "If that's what you want to do."

I clear my throat. "Yeah, the job of the husband and all that."

"Job, right."

She awkwardly takes off her robe, and my mouth goes dry as I stare at the incredible curves of her body. The nightgown isn't perfectly see-through, but enough to see the sharp points of her nipples and the dark space between her thighs.

My eyes are glued to her as she walks to the side of the bed furthest from the door, climbs in, and pulls the covers up all the way to her chin. It's like she thinks the covers will keep me away from her, which is cute. A laugh catches at the back of my throat, but I swallow it down. Instead, I take off my shoes, then all my clothes save for my boxers, and climb into the bed next to her.

We lay in silence for a few moments before she turns to me and just stares at me. Those big brown eyes of hers are even bigger than usual. Her full lips are parted like she has something she wants to say, but she doesn't say anything. I don"t know what to do. She"s only making this whole thing harder.

Finally, she says, "I"ve never done this before." Her eyes are wide and the scent of fear grows more intense. During our travels, we all slept separately from her, just close enough to keep an eye on her. Is that what she means? She doesn't want to sleep near me?

I feel like my brain isn't working while lying beside this intoxicating woman, breathing in her sensual scent, mixed with the scent of fear, which doesn't seem to make sense. Why is she afraid? How the hell am I supposed to lay beside someone this beautiful and not touch them?

"What are you talking about?" I ask, my voice coming out husky.

Fucking hell.

She hesitates. "I"ve never… had sex before."

My body stiffens. She's a virgin? That should not turn me on, but it does. It turns me on so hard that I actually have to curl my hands into fists to keep from reaching out and touching her. From reaching out and pulling her against my hard, aching body. She's never had another man inside of her before. What a gift it would be to be her first.

Damn it.

My wolf rumbles inside of me, wanting her also on a deep instinctual level that's hard to comprehend. He wants her to smell like us. He wants us to claim her for our own. I"m starting to rethink this plan of ours, because how the hell am I supposed to make it through this night without touching her, without feeling her body on mine, without being inside of her?

"We won"t be doing anything but sleeping tonight," I grumble, pissed that it has to be like that. Pissed that I ever agreed to spend my nights lying next to an intoxicating woman and not touching her.

"No sex?" she asks, clearly surprised.

Fuck, does she know she's torturing me? "No."

"Not even later in the night?"

Maybe. Maybe just a little bit of… "No."

"Oh, um, okay," she replies, and I scent the relief on her. She settles under the covers. "Shifters must be different than human men, because a human man would definitely want sex from his wife."

Don't remind me.

She turns away from me and snuggles in. I lie, rock hard, listening as the hours pass and she eventually settles into sleep, her breathing calm and even. But my dick never softens. My wolf never stops demanding her for himself.

I'm tempted to wrap a hand around myself and just relieve some of the tension, but stop myself when I picture her waking up to find me in such a state. There's no way I could stop from fucking her then. So, instead, I lay, miserable as hell, hating Drogo and Arlys and this whole stupid plan.

More time ticks by. She turns so she's facing my direction, but she's asleep. She's breathing evenly, her full lips parted, the creamy swell of her breasts visible above the covers.

Fuck it.

Scooting the covers down, I yank out my dick and start jerking myself off. I'm surprisingly close. My hold tightens. My rhythm increases. My breathing comes in and out in little rasps, and my gaze locks onto her breasts. I'd like to spill my seed all over her. Hell, I'd like to yank her little virgin pussy on top of me right now and ride her until she comes.

Instead, I tighten my hold, moving faster, her scent washing so strongly over me that I'm consumed by it, until a gasp slips from my lips and my cum spills down my shaft. It feels… good. Better. But not as good as I'd hoped.

As I continue breathing rapidly, I reach out, my finger inches from her breasts, then drop my hand, frustrated. My gaze moves to her face, and I see her eyes are open. They widen when our gazes meet, and I curse under my breath.

My dick hardens again, and I reach for her, expecting her to pull away, but she doesn't. My fingers skim the tops of her breasts, and my blood thunders in my veins. She's so hot, and she smells so damn good.

The pact. Remember the pact.

Quietly, I turn away and clean myself up, then lay back in bed. My gaze slides to her. Her eyes are closed, but I don't think she's sleeping… and the humming is back under my skin. The one that demands this woman.

Fucking hell, this is going to be a long night.