Fated Betrayal: A Paranormal Erotic Romance (The Twisted Destiny Saga Book 2) (3 page)

“I know. I just…I can’t right now,” she said, looking away, unable to meet his gaze.

He reached for her hand and she jumped back.

“No! Don’t! Please!” she screamed.

Ryan didn’t know what to say. He just stood there staring at her in disbelief. A gut-wrenching pain ripped through him knowing that he had caused her to react that way to him, that he had hurt her. Intentionally or not, it had happened. He felt sick with it. And for the first time in his life, he didn’t know what to do.

David stepped between them and told him, “I will take her to her chambers. You should give her some time.”

Ryan didn’t respond. He just stood there, dumbfounded, as he watched another man lead his wife away from him. His wife who was now terrified of him.

CHAPTER 3

Cora sat on a white loveseat beneath two stained glass windows depicting unicorns running freely through what looked like the royal gardens she’d just visited. David had pulled a blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her. She clutched it to her protectively and sat with her knees drawn up to her chest, glancing around at the unfamiliar surroundings of the bedchambers that her father’s servants had prepared for her and Ryan. A gorgeous, four-poster bed carved out of white stone was the central feature of the room. Crimson, silk sheets and dozens of pillows and decorative deep-red and pearl-white cushions made it look so welcoming and warm. Silver drapes hung down from the bed frame and brushed the floor. Bowls of what looked like potpourri sat atop the bedside tables. A wall of white closets lined the opposite wall. And just beyond that was another door, which she assumed led to a bathroom. The walls were like the rest of the room—bright and beautiful—white with silver adornments. The room was gorgeous. She’d never been in the presence of such luxury before. Well, she knew she had when she’d lived in the White Realm palace for the first hundred years of her life. But those were years that she didn’t remember, because of her father’s spell.

“Here,” David said suddenly, cutting through her thoughts.

She looked up to see him holding out a mug for her. “What is it?” she asked hesitantly.

“Herbal tea. It will help you to regain your strength quicker than normal after you heal.”

She smiled and took it from him. She sipped at it and was pleasantly surprised by how good it tasted. “Mmm…like strawberries.”

He chuckled. “Yeah. Everything here tastes good. Wait until you try some of the food.”

“How did you know…about the waterfall…what was happening there?” she asked.

He sat down beside her and said, “Your father sensed your distress.”

“What?”

“You are both connected, especially when you are within the White Realm. You will learn to sense him, too, once he teaches you how. He felt your agony and saw the…situation. He sent me, rather than going himself because of the…nature…of the situation. I’m sure you can understand why he did not go to you himself.”

“Oh my God.” She blushed at the knowledge that her father had actually seen her and Ryan fucking like wild animals in a vision. “He saw…everything?”

“Enough,” David responded with a flicker of amusement in his eyes.

“Well…thank you for helping me,” she said. “Ryan…he’s never been like that before.”

“He’s a wolf, what do you expect?” David said brashly.

Cora’s eyes narrowed. “He is my husband.”

“He is a creature of darkness, Cora. Dangerous.”

Cora shook her head. “No. It was the magic. The water was enchanted. I felt it.”

“The water brings out our deepest desires. That is all. It cannot manufacture darkness. It would only enhance what is really within us, what we really want.”

“You’re saying Ryan wanted to do that to me?”

“Deep down, yes.”

She hastily moved away and got to her feet. “No. Stop it.”

David rose to his feet as well. “I am just speaking the truth, princess.”

“The truth? I watched you die, David! From a vampire attack—five years ago! And you dare to talk of truth to me?”

* * * * *

David had been waiting for her reaction to seeing him alive and well within the White Realm. He had been surprised that she had taken so long to offer any response. She was very much like her father in that respect. She could hold in her feelings, no matter how intense, until she deemed it appropriate to let them loose. She had obviously understood how inappropriate it would have been for her to do so as he’d walked her through the palace halls to her chambers earlier with people around them.

“You were human, David. I would’ve felt it if you’d been at all supernatural. I can sense magical energy.”

“I know you can. It is one of your gifts as Princess of the White Realm. I was in human form when I came to you. A glamour spell, courtesy of your father.”

“My father knew about this?”

“Yes. I am a member of his Royal Court. He tasked me to watch over you when you took on your role as a Seeker. It was against his wishes, but your mother didn’t heed his warnings. He was concerned for your safety. He feared that you touching the supernatural world through your so-called duties, pushed on you by your mother, would lead Luca and Nathanial right to you.”

“Did he tell you to propose to me as well?” she snapped.

He shook his head sadly. “If you remember, the day after I proposed, you found me ‘dead.’ Your father had been furious at me and had pulled me out of the human realm, away from you. What you saw—what you thought was my body—was just a glamour, my sweet.”

“Don’t call me that!” she demanded. “I am not your
sweet
anymore, David.”

He stepped towards her and told her, “I truly did love you, Cora. So much so that it overruled my sense of duty to my King.”

“Yet, you’re still a member of his court? He forgave you?”

“Yes, after some time.”

“How?”

“That is a long story, one which I do not wish to discuss with you right now. Another time, perhaps.”

“You don’t like Ryan because
he
is my rightful mate,” she accused.

He shook his head. “That is not why. You belong in the light, Cora. Not with a creature of the dark.”

“Ryan isn’t like that.”

“He was ripping you to shreds!” David yelled, suddenly losing his temper.

“I told you, it was the magic!”

“It was more than that. You know it too, that is why you ran away from him earlier. I saw the terror in your eyes. You are afraid of him, of his true nature, now that you have finally seen it up close and personal.”

She looked away and put her mug down on the bedside table behind her. “I need to take a shower,” she said as she brushed past him.

But before she could get very far, he gripped her arm and pulled her back to him.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered.

“Stop it,” she said, struggling against him.

“Just look at me,” he implored her in a hypnotic tone.

He watched her eyes delve into his, her pupils dilate. In the next second, her struggles ceased and she no longer detested his hand on her arm.

It’s working.

“I just want to hold you in my arms again, princess. Don’t you want that too?” he crooned in the same hypnotic voice.

“Yes,” she responded, dazed eyes still on his.

He wrapped his arms around her and she reciprocated, holding him tightly against her. He stroked her hair gently and they stood together for a long while in peaceful serenity.

And then he pulled back, saying, “Weren’t you going to take a shower?”

“That’s right. I remember.”

He held her gaze as he walked backwards, holding her hands and drawing her with him into the bathroom. He released her and turned them around so that her back was to the shower. He leaned against the bathroom door and smiled reassuringly at her.

“You don’t need your robe, do you?”

She shook her head. “No. It will get wet.”

“Good girl. Undress.”

He watched as she untied the belt. He swallowed hard as she opened it, revealing her gorgeous, naked body—a body that he had missed dearly for the last five years. He felt his cock harden at the sight of her perfect little breasts. Still so perky, still begging to be touched. He remembered how amazing they had felt in his hands. So soft. His gaze swept over her as she pushed the robe off her shoulders and stood before him, allowing him to inspect every inch of her, just as he was willing her to. Her pussy was bare aside from a tiny, little landing strip, something he suspected the wolf enjoyed seeing. It was a place she had never let him go in all the time they’d been together. His magic hadn’t been very strong when they’d been together in the human realm, because of the crippling weight of the glamour that the King had forced upon him to make him appear human, even to someone as sensitive to supernatural creatures as her. But here, in the White Realm, his magic was at its strongest.

He stepped towards her and reached between her legs. “You’d like my fingers inside you, wouldn’t you, my sweet?”

“Yes.”

He smiled with amusement at her delicious submission and he couldn’t help himself from pushing it further. “Tell me what you want,” he breathed, holding her gaze more intensely, just in case him pushing it further caused her to resist.

“I want your fingers on my bare pussy, stroking me and inside me, filling me.”

“Your wish is my command, princess.”

He made sure to hold her gaze as he drew his index finger along her slit. To his surprise, she wasn’t wet at all.
Because she technically belongs to the wolf.

He didn’t want to hurt her, so he licked his finger, lubing it up with his own saliva. And then he eased it gently inside her delicious core. She was so incredibly tight, despite having been defiled by the wolf. He pumped his finger in and out of her and she moaned. Just as he felt her body responding and starting to milk his finger with her arousal, he sensed an approach. He pulled back quickly.

“You won’t remember any of this. I made you herbal tea and then I left. That is all.”

She nodded. “Yes, David. You made me tea. That is all.”

“Good girl. When I close this door, go take your shower.”

“I will,” she said, smiling sweetly at him.

He adjusted his pants to conceal his throbbing erection. And then he stepped out of the bathroom and shut the door.

Just as he heard the shower start, the door to the chambers opened and Ryan walked on in.
That was a close call.

“What are you doing in here?” Ryan snapped.

“She was upset about what happened at the waterfall. I made her a tea and we talked.”

“Fine,” Ryan said. “I am here now. Leave.”

David nodded and brushed past him.

As he did, Ryan lunged at him suddenly and slammed him against the wall. “Her scent is on you!” he growled.

“You saw me carrying her in my arms when she was injured by
you
,” David choked out as Ryan’s hand wrapped around his neck.

“No, it’s stronger than that!” Ryan roared. “A sexual scent!” he bellowed. “You’ve touched my wife!”

“I…I picked her up…while you were…making love,” he struggled to speak.

He watched Ryan hesitate. He knew that had been the case. David had succeeded in confusing him, making him question his initial thoughts.

“You’re…emotional. It can affect…a wolf’s…senses…Ryan,” he choked out as Ryan strengthened his grip.

He held his grip steady for a few moments more and then released him roughly and stepped back. “You better hope I
am
wrong, asshole. Because if you
ever
touch my wife, I will kill you. And believe me, when I set my mind to something
nothing
can stop me.”

David nodded his understanding and rushed out of the room.

* * * * *

Ryan slammed the door shut and mumbled under his breath, “I hate that guy.”

There was something off about him, but he just couldn’t put his finger on exactly what. He made a mental note to find out. But, right now, his focus was on Cora. He had to talk to her about what had happened tonight.

He crossed to the bathroom door, but hesitated on opening it.

No, he’d let her shower and get dressed first. The last time he’d touched her when she was naked he’d hurt her, because of that damned spelled waterfall. It wouldn’t be a good idea to remind her of that. No, he’d wait until she was fully clothed. Besides, whenever they were near one another unclothed, they always ended up fucking.

He eased himself onto the bed and laid his head on the mountains of pillows propped up against the headboard. He closed his eyes and breathed a tired sigh. It was then that he realized that he couldn’t even remember the last time he’d actually slept. Between watching over the hundreds of wolves under his protection at the wolf compound and seeking out Shaye to help with the full moon and with Cora’s migraines, he’d been so busy lately.

I’ll just rest my eyes for a moment.