Finally, Ophelia had brought us a supper tray, which interrupted our marathon lovemaking session. After we had finished eating, she had taken me into the bathroom for a “Cleansing Ceremony.” This mostly consisted of her having me take a bath in some sweet-smelling herbs and washing my hair with some special shampoo that smelled like lavender and vanilla.
She had dried it afterwards and then gave me one last stick to pee on. When the Heat Cycle box came up bright red, she pronounced me “Ready to Conceive,” which made me shiver uneasily. If Jake really did get his knot into me tonight, I might very well get pregnant with my stepbrother’s baby—a “Royal Child,” as Ophelia put it. Or “The Savior of our Race” which was another phrase she liked to throw around about the baby that Jake was supposed to plant in me.
Anyway, the whole ceremony had taken time and by now it had been three or four hours since I’d last had Jake inside me. I hated to admit it, but I was beginning to feel like I really needed him badly. Even if Tainer hadn’t been holding a gun on us, I would have begged my stepbrother to breed me. Maybe not in his fur form, but I definitely needed to feel him inside me.
Jake was looking at me uncertainly and I gave him a significant look. We had to do this—it was the only way.
“Very well—if we’re agreed, then we will move off and give you some room,” Sorenson said to us. “But remember, please, that Tainer will be holding the gun on you the entire time. He assures me that he’s a good enough shot to hit a non-vital area that will not impede the Royal breeding.”
He and Tainer and Ophelia—who had been standing in the shadows—all stepped back to the other end of the attic.
“Aw, I wanna see ‘em do it!” Tainer complained.
“They are not here to put on a show for you—they’re here to save our race by creating the next Heir to the Royal Line,” Sorenson said severely. “You’re close enough to keep them in your sites, are you not?”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Tainer muttered.
“The two of you on your hands and knees,” Sorenson called to us. “Jacob, when you have entered the Royal Omega fully, except for your knot, tell me and I will come and unlock the cuffs.”
I looked at Jake and he looked at me. Without a word, we got into position with him behind me, both of us on our hands and knees. Well, I was anyway. It was more awkward for Jake, since his left hand was still cuffed to the headboard. Still, I could feel him behind me, his muscular chest against my bare back. It had been so long since I’d had clothes on it almost felt normal to be naked.
“Ani, I’m not going to do this to you—not going to Shift while I’m inside you.” His breath was warm and ticklish on the side of my neck as he murmured the words in my ear. “I’m going to pull out the moment I start to turn.”
“Do you think you can?” I murmured back.
“I’ll have to.” Jake’s voice was grim. “Because I won’t do that to you, baby—I won’t hurt you that way,” he added, his voice going hoarse with emotion.
“I’m betting Tainer is going to be distracted by just seeing you, uh, inside me,” I murmured back. “He wants to see us put on a show—so we will. Pretend like you’re fucking me really good and deep—like you have to do it to get me ready before you can Shift. And the minute he drops the gun even a little…”
“I’ll jump him. All right.” Jake said. “Then let’s go—I’m gonna have to fuck you hard, baby—we’re going to have to put on the show of our lives.”
“I can take it,” I told him, hoping I was telling the truth. “I’m not afraid, Jake.”
“I’ll be as careful as I can,” he promised me. “And don’t be afraid of my Wolf after I Shift. Remember, I’m sentient in my fur form—I can understand you just as well as I can in my human form, though I won’t be able to talk to you.”
“I understand,” I murmured. “I—”
“What’s takin’ so damn long?” Tainer demanded. “Go on and shove it in ‘er!”
“Come a little closer if you’re so eager for a show,” Jake growled. I knew he was trying to get the big hillbilly close enough that he could jump him the minute he shifted forms, but it still made my skin crawl to think of Tainer watching us do this.
Still, he had watched us do other things, I reminded myself. I needed to forget about him and just concentrate on Jake and what was about to happen between us.