Silk and Shadows

Maya’s POV

The bathtub was ready, the water giving off an exquisite fragrance of lavender and jasmine oils. I submerged myself up to my shoulders, letting my body relax a little after everything that had happened in the great hall. I looked down at my arms and legs, and for the first time in years, I did not feel the terrible urge to disappear and become invisible. The water reflected a strong she-wolf who had made her tormentors fall to their knees.

When I stepped out, Elga and two maids from the royal court were waiting to dry me with cotton towels. But I held my breath when I noticed what they had left on the bed.

They were not loose robes or the same wool sweaters I used to wear in the Silver Moon Pack to hide my body from Chloe’s mockery. It was a silk nightgown, almost transparent, in a blue color. The fabric was so delicate that it seemed designed specifically to mold to the body, not to hide it.

“His Majesty, King Lawrence, ordered your entire wardrobe to be replaced,” Elga announced as she helped dry me. “He personally specified that he did not want anything that would hide the beauty of his beloved Queen.”

I blushed immediately. With trembling hands, I slipped the silk over my head. The nightgown hugged my waist, falling over my wide hips and full thighs. When I looked at myself in the mirror, I held my breath.

The garment concealed nothing, but instead celebrated the fullness of my figure and the silver glow that my mystical wolf had begun to radiate across my skin. I looked… beautiful, sensual, like a real woman.

The maids withdrew, leaving me alone in the vastness of the royal chambers. The silence of the night settled over the room, broken only by the crackling firewood in the fireplace.

Suddenly, a subtle change in the air pressure made my skin tingle. A rich scent of sandalwood and storm slipped beneath the door before it slowly opened.

Lawrence walked in.

He was no longer wearing his imposing royal cloak or his ceremonial armor. He wore a black linen shirt, partially open at the chest, revealing his hard muscles and battle scars that made him look dangerously masculine. As he closed the door behind him, his gray eyes, as intense as a storm, swept across the room before locking onto me.

He stopped dead in his tracks. His gaze slowly traveled down my body, tracing the blue silk clinging to my hips and the generous neckline framing my chest. I heard a low growl, an animalistic, primal sound that rumbled from deep within his chest and instantly made my pulse race.

“Lawrence…” I whispered, feeling a sudden wave of shyness. Instinctively, I crossed my arms over my abdomen, slipping back into my old habits for just a second.

With slow, calculated steps, like a predator cornering its most precious prey, Lawrence closed the distance between us. Every step he took made the golden sparks dancing across my skin react violently. When he was only inches away, he stopped my hands and, with incredible gentleness, lowered my arms, making me leave my body exposed before his eyes.

“I told you never to hide from me again, Maya,” he whispered, his voice noticeably rougher and darker than usual.

His large, rough hands, warm as fire, settled directly on the sides of my waist. His fingers dug firmly into my softness, gripping my hips with a savage possessiveness that drew a gasp from the back of my throat. There was no subtlety in his touch; he claimed me with every inch of his palms.

“You’re trembling,” he murmured, leaning down until his warm breath brushed against my ear. “Are you afraid of me?”

“I’m not afraid of you,” I confessed, looking straight into those gray eyes shining with overwhelming desire. “I’m afraid… of not being what you expect. Hunter always said my body was a disgrace for an Alpha.”

Lawrence’s grip on my hips tightened so much that it hurt in the most delicious way. He pulled me sharply against him, pressing my stomach and my soft thighs against the hardness of his rock-like muscles. I could feel the scorching heat radiating from his skin and the rigid evidence of his desire against my body.

“That idiot is blind. He couldn’t see the divinity standing right in front of him,” Lawrence growled, and one of his hands slid up my back, tangling in my dark hair to make me tilt my head back. “Look at yourself, Maya. You’re perfect. This softness, these curves… Moon Goddess, you’re driving me insane. I could devour you whole right here, and it still wouldn’t be enough.”

Before I could respond, his lips crashed against mine in a hungry, rough, desperate kiss. His fangs brushed my lower lip, unleashing a surge of pleasure that made my legs weaken. I wrapped my arms around his neck, clinging to his broad shoulders as I surrendered completely to the warmth of his hands, which now moved lower to trace the fullness of my hips through the thin silk.

Lawrence pulled back only a few inches, breathing heavily, his eyes completely darkened by his wolf’s instinct. He rested his forehead against mine, caressing my cheek with his thumb.

“I’m going to take care of you, my Queen. I’m going to erase every damn insult they ever made you endure,” he promised in a broken voice. “But tonight, just let me adore you. Let me show you how a true King loves.”