The main hall had emptied, the drama of Rina’s departure leaving a hollow silence in its wake. Ravin led me back to our quarters with a hand at the small of my back, his touch possessive yet gentle, as if he were afraid I might dissolve into smoke if he gripped too hard.
Once inside our den, he released me and moved to the center of the room, his shoulders tense, his tail lashing with agitation. "I can’t let this happen," he said, his voice low and rough. "I can’t let her take Leon."
I settled onto the edge of our stone bed, watching him pace. The firelight caught in his hair, turning it to spun gold, but his expression was dark. "Ravin," I said softly. "Come here. Talk to me."
He stopped. Turned. And the look in his eyes; helpless, desperate, hungry, made my breath catch.
He crossed the space between us in three strides. Sank onto the furs beside me and buried his face in my neck, his arms coming around me like iron bands. "I’m losing my mind, Krys. The thought of her touching him, using him, discarding him when she’s bored..." His voice broke. "I would give anything to save him. Anything."
I stroked his hair, his back, feeling the tension coiled in his muscles. "We’ll find a way," I whispered. "Together."
He lifted his head. His eyes were wet, his face ravaged by worry. But beneath that; beneath the fear and the desperation, was something else. Want. Need. The same hunger I had seen in him since the moment we met.
"Krys," he breathed, and my name was a prayer and a plea.
He kissed me then, not with the practiced seduction I’d expected, but with a desperate, clumsy hunger. His teeth clicked against mine, his tongue thrusting deep without prelude, his hands pawing at my dress with frantic, directionless urgency. It was as if he were trying to consume me, to merge our bodies through sheer force of need.
"Wait," I gasped, pulling back, placing my hands on his chest.
He froze, his eyes widening with hurt. "I’m sorry... did I hurt you? I didn’t mean—"
"No," I said quickly, softening the rejection with a smile. "You didn’t hurt me. But..." I hesitated, choosing my words carefully. "Is this how it always is? Between mates? Just... rushing to the end?"
He looked confused, his ears flattening slightly. "What do you mean?"
"I mean..." I bit my lip, feeling my cheeks heat. "Don’t you have... foreplay? Touching, tasting, building up slowly?"
"Foreplay?" The word was foreign on his tongue. "We mate. The male mounts the female, they join, they create cubs. What is there to build?"
I stared at him. He was serious. This proud, powerful prince; this creature who had killed wolves with his bare hands, was utterly innocent when it came to the art of pleasure.
"Ravin," I said, my voice dropping to a whisper. "Has no one ever touched you? Really touched you? Taken their time?"
He shook his head, his golden eyes wide and curious. "That would be a sin towards the Beast God. Males are not allowed to copulate with any female unless they are bonded together. How could anyone have touched me? You are my only mate. My first time is with you."
A laugh bubbled up in my throat; hysterical, delighted, touched by his vulnerability. "Oh, my love," I said, the endearment slipping out unbidden. "Let me show you."
I pushed him gently until he lay back against the furs. He went willingly, his body tense with anticipation, his arousal evident beneath the strip of fur at his hips. I knelt beside him, my hands finding the tie that held his covering in place.
"May I?" I asked.
"Yes," he breathed. "Please. Anything."
I untied the fur and pulled it away, and then I saw him for the first time.
He was magnificent. Thick and heavy, rising from a nest of golden curls, the skin flushed dark with blood. He was larger than any man I’d known, proportionate to his size, and for a moment I hesitated, wondering if I could even take him into my mouth, let alone inside me.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, anxiety creeping into his voice. "Am I... deformed?"
"No," I said quickly, touched by his insecurity. "You’re perfect. Just... big."
I wrapped my hand around his base, my fingers not quite meeting, and his whole body jerked, a gasp tearing from his throat. "Krys—"
"Shh," I soothed. "Just feel."
I started slow, my hand stroking him in long, firm pulls, learning the shape of him, the way he throbbed against my palm. His head fell back, his eyes squeezing shut, his hands fisting in the furs beneath him.
"Good?" I asked.
"Yes," he panted. "Yes, but I don’t understand; why are you—why aren’t we—"
"Because this is foreplay," I explained, my voice dropping to a purr. "This is taking time to enjoy each other. To learn each other." I leaned down, my breath ghosting over his tip. "And this... this is going to blow your mind."
I took him into my mouth.
He was too large to take fully; I could only manage the first few inches, but the sound he made when my lips sealed around him was worth every moment of hesitation. A roar, almost, but broken, desperate, shocked. His hips bucked upward, then immediately stilled, as if he were afraid of hurting me.
"Krys—Krys, I—what are you—oh gods—"
I pulled back, swirling my tongue around his tip, tasting the salt of his pre-cum, then sank down again, taking him deeper, hollowing my cheeks. My hand worked what I couldn’t fit, stroking in time with the bobbing of my head.
He was trembling. This powerful beast of a man, his whole body shaking with the effort of holding still, of letting me lead. His hands found my hair, not guiding, just touching, his fingers tangling in the strands as if I were the only real thing in his world.
"Krys," he gasped, his voice breaking. "Something is—I feel—I can’t—"
I knew what he meant. I could feel him swelling even larger, his pulse hammering against my tongue. I doubled my efforts, sucking harder, stroking faster, wanting to give him this, wanting to see him fall apart.
He came with a shout; my name, or a prayer, or both. His seed flooded my mouth, thick and hot, and I swallowed around him, milking him through it, until he collapsed back against the furs, boneless, panting, his chest heaving.
I sat back, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, feeling strangely proud. He lay there, staring at the ceiling with wide, unseeing eyes, his body still twitching with aftershocks.
"Ravin?" I asked, suddenly worried. "Are you alright?"
He turned his head slowly, his gaze finding mine with something like wonder. "What," he breathed, "was that?"
I smiled. "That was a blowjob. Foreplay."
"I’ve never—" He shook his head, dazed. "I didn’t know...I never imagined—" He sat up suddenly, his hands finding my face, cradling it with a tenderness that made my heart ache. "Can I do that to you? Is there a way?"
I laughed, delighted by his enthusiasm. "Yes. There is."
"Teach me," he begged, his eyes darkening with renewed desire. "Please, Krys. I want to make you feel what I felt. I want to learn how to pleasure you properly."
I lay back against the furs, opening myself to him, and guided his head down. "Start here," I whispered, pulling him up to my mouth. "Kiss me. Everywhere."
He understood. Or perhaps his instincts understood what his mind could not yet grasp. He began at my lips; soft, reverent kisses that gradually deepened, his tongue learning the shape of my mouth, the rhythm of my breath. His hands found my shoulders, my arms, tracing the lines of me as if memorizing a map he would need to navigate in darkness.
"Lower," I breathed against his mouth.
He moved to my throat, his lips grazing the pulse point, his teeth grazing with just enough pressure to make me gasp. He paused, worried, but I threaded my fingers through his hair and pressed him onward. He learned quickly, this beast-prince, his mouth trailing fire down my collarbone, across the swell of my chest.
When he reached my breasts, he stopped. Stared. His ears flattened slightly with uncertainty.
"Touch them," I whispered. "Kiss them. They’re sensitive... be gentle."
He cupped them with hands that trembled, his thumbs circling my nipples until they hardened under his touch. Then his mouth; hot and wet and impossibly soft, closed over one peak, and I cried out, my back arching off the furs. He switched to the other, learning the rhythm that made me moan, the suction that made me writhe, the scrape of his teeth that made me beg.
"Lower," I gasped, my hands guiding him down. "Don’t stop."
He kissed his way down my ribs, my stomach, the soft swell of my belly that I had always tried to hide. But he worshipped it; pressed reverent kisses to the curve of me, murmured praise against my skin as if I were fertility itself made flesh. His hands spanned my waist, his thumbs tracing the stretch marks I had always been ashamed of his tongue dipping into my navel until I squirmed.
"Please," I whispered, my legs falling open. "Here. Now."
He moved lower still, his breath hot against my inner thighs. He paused, looking up at me with those golden eyes, seeking permission even now. I nodded, my fingers finding his hair, and he lowered his mouth to me.
The first touch of his tongue was tentative; exploratory, curious. He made a sound: appreciation, maybe, or discovery; and licked again, firmer this time, finding my clit with unerring accuracy.
"Yes," I gasped, my hands tightening in his hair, my heels digging into the furs. "Like that. Just like that."
He learned quickly...too quickly, almost, as if he were memorizing every gasp, every shudder, every cry that tore from my throat. He used his lips, his tongue, even the slight scrape of his teeth, adjusting his pressure and rhythm based on my responses, a dedicated student of my pleasure. His hands gripped my hips, holding me steady as I bucked against his mouth, his growls of satisfaction vibrating through my core.
When he slid a finger inside me; curious, testing, I arched off the furs, a moan ripping from my chest. He growled against me, the vibration sending sparks through my nerves, and then he was relentless, driving me higher with mouth and hand working in perfect, devastating tandem.
"Ravin—Ravin, I’m—" I couldn’t finish the sentence. The orgasm crashed over me, white-hot and blinding, my whole body seizing as wave after wave of pleasure radiated from where his mouth was still pressed against me.
He didn’t stop. Not until I was pushing at his shoulders, oversensitive, trembling, begging for mercy. Then he sat back, his chin wet with my arousal, his eyes glowing with pride and satisfaction.
"Was that correct?" he asked, his voice rough.
I laughed, the sound breathless and giddy. "That was perfect."
He crawled up my body, settling his weight over me, his face hovering above mine. "I didn’t know," he said softly, his thumb tracing my swollen lips. "I didn’t know it could be like that. So... intimate. So consuming."
"Now you know," I whispered.
"Now I know," he agreed, and kissed me; deep and slow, tasting of me and him and us. "And I intend to practice. Often. Until I’ve mastered every way to make you scream."
I wrapped my arms around him, holding him close, feeling his heart hammer against mine. "We should sleep," I murmured, though my body was already stirring again, wanting more.
"Yes," he agreed, though his hand was already sliding down my side, cupping my hip. "We should."
Neither of us moved.
---
[Main Hall – The Next Day]
This was not how I had envisioned this day unfolding.
"I won’t settle for just any mate, Mother. I want what my brother has. I want love," Leon declared, his voice ringing through the grand hall.
Lisa; Ravin and Leon’s mother held her younger son tightly, her fingers running through his dark hair. "There isn’t time for you to ponder, son. Many females covet the chance to be your mate. But this is the only way to break free from Rina’s hold over you. Your father made a promise that we must honor."
Leon buried his face in her chest. "What am I to do, Mother?"
"Brother, is there anyone who catches your interest?" Ravin asked. "Even a flicker of attraction?"
Leon was quiet. Then his eyes flicked to me; just for a moment, before he quickly looked away.
My breath caught. That look. I knew that look. It was the same way Ravin looked at me, but softer, more hesitant. Hopeful and heartbroken all at once.
"No," Leon said quietly. "There’s only one I truly want... but she would never consider me."
Ravin went very still beside me.
"Who?" Lisa pressed. "Who is it, my child?"
"It doesn’t matter, Mother. She won’t have me."
"I will speak with her," Raon, their father declared.
"Please," Leon said, his voice breaking. "If I’m meant to be with Rina, then I’ll just see it as fate."
In that moment, all doubt evaporated. He meant me.
Oh, Leon. Why did you have to fall for me? I’m already bound to your brother.
---
Later that evening, Ravin found me pacing our den.
"Krys," he said, his voice careful. "I need to ask you something. Something enormous."
I turned to face him. "What?"
He told me. The words came out in a rush; about Leon’s love, about Rina’s threat, about the only solution he could see. "Take him as a mate," Ravin finished, his eyes pleading. "Please. Not for him. For me. Because I cannot watch my brother be destroyed, and you are the only one who can save him."
"Ravin," I breathed, shocked. "Do you realize what you’re asking? To take your brother as a mate?"
"I know it’s strange. But we share everything, Krys. And I don’t mind if it means saving him. will you take him too?"
I thought of Leon; his shy smiles, his gentle hands, the way he looked at me like I was something precious and unattainable. I thought of Ravin; proud, fierce, willing to share rather than lose.
And I thought of myself, alone in this world, bound by blue light to a fate I hadn’t chosen.
"Okay," I whispered.
Ravin’s face transformed, relief and joy warring for dominance. "Thank you," he breathed, pulling me close. "Thank you, my love."
---
The ceremony was simple. In the main hall, before Ravin’s parents, I offered my arm to Leon. He looked at me with such wonder, such terrified hope, that my heart cracked open.
"Are you certain?" he whispered.
"No," I admitted. "But I’m here. And I’m willing to try."
He bit me. The pain was sharp, fleeting, and then; the blue light. It flared around his neck, around my wrist, matching the one that bound me to Ravin. Two rings of sapphire fire, two males, one female.
"It’s blue," Raon stuttered, shocked.
"Please keep this secret, Father," Ravin said quickly. "The elder warned; it will attract danger."
"Blue binds," the king murmured, wonder in his voice. "I’ve heard the stories. Rest assured, my son. Krys is family now. I would never put her at risk."
---
That night, the three of us returned to our den.
The bed was a bit cramped for three people, but it would have to do until our new den was ready. Ravin settled on one side, Leon on the other, me between them like a bridge.
"Leon," I said, turning to the younger brother. "I need you to understand something. I’m still adjusting to this life. Where I come from, women have only one mate. This—" I gestured between us. "—is foreign to me. Give me time. Don’t expect me to treat you as a true mate. Not yet."
"I understand," Leon said softly, his dark eyes gentle. "Big brother told me. I won’t press you. Simply being near you is enough."
I lay back, staring at the ceiling, two warm bodies flanking me. Two heartbeats. Two sets of breath. Two males who loved me or were learning to.
And I wondered, as sleep pulled me under, if I was the luckiest woman in any world...or the most foolish.