Chapter 120

Valerick was right.

There was no use switching around and moving to her room, the main reason she had wanted to go would still follow her there.

Him.

He might even be waiting for her in the room by the time she would get there. It wouldn't be surprising to see that he had already settled in too.

The King loved a challenge and she would be damned if she gave him something to be excited about him right now.

Her mind was too jumbled up with the feelings that were taking turns with her heart, some were not even patient enough to wait for the other and they overwhelmed her.

Her fist around his shirt tightened when she realized that her back had been pressed against the wall, there was a boyish grin on his face and his voice was low when he spoke.

"I like your messy morning hair."

She let go of him instinctively, trying to use her fingers to comb her hair, then he took a step back, his gaze zeroing in on his mark on her neck.

"We have a lot to talk about." His voice was oddly firm, and the way his eyes try to refocus on her face made it seem like he was pulling himself out of a thought that he believed it wasn't wise for him to indulge in at the moment.

She folded her arms across her, waiting for what next he had to say. She would have said something if she even had the strength to, if her brain hadn't turned to jelly by his earlier actions so that she would at least have something to think with.

Then she would have said something.

"How fast do you want the Joining ceremony?"

Her heart dropped and her brain moved away from the jelly position straight into something she could actually make use of.

"Like the one for the Princess?"

"Yes. What do you say, a week's time?"

Joining Ceremony?!

No way?!

"I thought the bond was supposed to be completed before that."

He flashed her a devilish grin.

"It will be. From the looks of things, you might even be the one to take me to bed."

He was teasing her, she knew it, yet goosebumps had pooled at her skin and she had been forced to shut down the link between them so he wouldn't be able to sense the way excitement rushed to her core, but a werewolf could only try so hard.

Her racing heart was giving away the sexually graphic thoughts that took over her mind, and the aura that seeped from her, she believed, wasn't helping to hide it.

He took in a deep breath and when he opened his eyes, the glint in those orbs, was dangerous.

His hands toyed around with a button on his shirt.

"Should I strip for you, my Queen?"

Queen?

She hadn't even been crowned yet?

Why was she even thinking that? As if she would ever become Queen of the vampires?

"Don't be ridiculous." She rolled her eyes, walking past him and straight to the bed.

This was hard.

It was certainly because they hadn't mated yet. Now that they have marked each other, their emotions would be excessively heightened till the last act of the process was done.

Having a real mate was a hassle.

One that she wanted to desperately believe she hated but one part of her mind, the part that was growing bigger and bigger by the second, knew that she loved the piece of work that he was.

The sound of his laughter pulled her back to the present. When her gaze fell on him, he was trying his best to feign shyness, rubbing a hand behind his neck.

"You sneaky thief." His voice held an edge of playfulness.

She threw him a questioning eyebrow, suppressing every instinct that wanted to make her go there and put his mouth to more use that would be pleasurable for both of them.

"You want to steal my virginity already." He sighed, pretending to be defeated and accepting it with a nod. "Alright, I will come to bed."

Her eyes widened the first step he took and she jumped up from bed immediately, he laughed at her reaction and her emotions tipped towards more of embarrassment than rage.

What was wrong with him?

Why was he being so playful?

Did he hit his head or something?

"I'm sorry." He cleared his throat, realizing that she wasn't giving in to the humour. He just wanted to lighten up her mood, seeing that the mate bond was settling roughly with her, but it didn't seem to have worked.

As for him, he was having no problems with the mate bond. He liked how it hummed in his veins and the fact that she had admitted that her wolf had done it because she had wanted it too had made him stop feeling terrible.

"However you want it, tell me."

"I'm not having sex with you," she blurted.

"Ouch." He feigned a hurt expression, although that had been sincerely painful to hear.

"Not yet." She mumbled, feeling the urge to comfort him.

"That holds promise. I was talking about the ceremony though. The crowning will happen when you want it. This is not like my sister's ceremony. It is more elaborate and there will be more crowd. You are right, the ceremony cannot take place till the Mating process had been completed." He stepped forward and she wanted to move back but the irresistible urge to breathe in his rain scent made her stand still and look straight at him.

His hand brushed lightly against her shoulder as he pulled up his shirt she had on, to cover the exposed part of her shoulder.

"Whenever you are ready."

With a stillness, he stepped back.

"I have a meeting to attend. I will see you once the meeting is over. I'm guessing you will be needing company and help. The Physician advised that you take a lot of re---" his voice trailed off at the fear that flooded into his veins at the mention of the word 'physician'.

The fear wasn't his and he couldn't suppress his worry and wait for her to speak anymore. The fact that she had quickly shut down their link after that even made him more worried.

Giving her a thoughtful expression, he asked, "Is there something you want to tell me, Zezi?"

"Wh--at?"

"Tell me."

"What?"

"You are afraid. Anytime I mention the Physician, your fear seeps right through my veins. Tell me please, are you sick, is there something wrong? By the Blood tell me. Please."

"I'm fine. You worry over nothing." She shrugged it off and stepped away, feeling a need to put more space in between them in order to keep her secret.

He was searching through their bond and he was finding nothing.

Nothing that was everything.

This was a form of vulnerability she wasn't used to. Would she ever get used to this kind of closeness she had with him?

"Fine, I guess the Physician will just have to tell me himself."

"Where are going?"

With his hand on the doorknob, his eyes filled with determination and a cocky smirk on his lips, he said, "Where do you think?"

Oh no.