Because that’s all I’m feeling in this moment. So much love for my mate. My alpha. The male who’s taken care of me through my heat. Pleasured me beyond anything I could have everimagined. Claimed me… Our bond pulses at my neck, through his mark.
King Aster goes still above me, his grip tight on my hips, throbbing inside me. Then he leans to nuzzle my neck. “I love you too, my queen.”
CHAPTER NINE
ASTER
Ariana’s heat finally calms enough for my queen to sleep deeply, her body exhausted from two days of constant breeding. She’s curled against my chest, my cum still leaking from her well-used pussy, her belly swollen with my seed.
It’s time to take my queen home to the palace. To the royal chambers, where she belongs.
I gather her carefully in my arms, making sure not to wake her. She murmurs something unintelligible and burrows deeper into my chest, trusting me even in sleep. The trust she has in me, her monster, her king, makes my chest tight with emotion.
I carry my omega through the maze, her small body weighing nothing in my arms. When we emerge, we’re in my private wing of the palace. Then I lay her on the bed and watch her eyes flutter open. She gasps at the sight. The bed is massive, built to accommodate my size, and covered in luxurious silk and furs. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the entire kingdom, with mountains in the distance painted purple by the setting sun. The ceiling is painted with constellations, embedded with gems that catch the light.
“I… Where…?” she stutters.
“Our chambers,” I reply. “Where my queen belongs.”
“Aster, it’s beautiful,” she breathes, taking in her surroundings. The golden fixtures, the marble floors, the tapestries that tell the history of our kingdom.
“You’re beautiful,” I correct, running a finger over her soft skin.
She’s a mess. Hair tangled, bruises from my grip on her hips. And fucking perfect.
“Come,” I say, lifting her again. “You need a proper bath.”
The bathing chamber makes my mate go wide-eyed again. It’s a pool carved from stone, big enough to swim in, filled with steaming water that comes from the natural hot springs that run under the palace. The water shimmers with fragrant oils that will soothe her soreness.
I set her in the shallow end, and she moans as the hot water embraces her. I join her inside the tub, pull her on my lap, and start washing her. Running my hands over her generous curves.
“I can do it myself,” she says, lowering her gaze.
I chuckle. “Are you getting shy on me, little one?” I take her mouth. Tangling our tongues, sucking and biting on her full lips until she’s panting, her small hands clutching my forearms, fucking purring for me. “Let me care for my queen.”
I wash every inch of her body, careful with the places I know she’s sore. My bite on her shoulder, the marks I left all over, her thoroughly used pussy. She melts under my touch, letting me look after her.
I work precious oils into her hair. Run my hand over her swollen belly, feeling my cum still inside her. “My seed has taken root, little one. I can smell it on you.” I cup her breasts, loving how swollen they already are. “Soon you’ll be leaking milk.”
Ariana shivers despite the hot water. And I lift her from the bath. Sit at the edge of the pool, holding her in my lap to dryher lush body with plush cloths. Then I take her to the dressing chamber.
“These are yours now, my queen,” I say, opening wardrobes filled with gowns made of rare fabrics that the palace regularly replaces while we waited for the one true queen.
I reach for a tunic made of a delicate, sheer fabric that’s so thin it’s barely there, a deep shade of red that I know will look perfect against my omega’s dark skin.
I dress her slowly, letting the fabric drape over her curves, and hide nothing. Her hard nipples are showing through; the shadow between her legs is visible. She looks like a fucking vision. Then I open box after box of jewels to cover her in gold and rubies.
Ariana stares up at me with disbelief, her soft lips parted. “Aster, that’s… too much.”
I smile, cupping her cheek. “You’re the Minotaur’s Queen. You will drip in jewels, be covered in the finest silks, and want for nothing.”
I take her hand to lead her to the mirror and stand behind her, my massive form dwarfing her. Then I lean into her ear. “Look at yourself. Look at my queen.”
She stares at her reflection, the tunic, the precious jewels, her heavy breasts and stomach full of my seed, my mark on her shoulder. “I look…”
“Like mine,” I rasp.
My hands roam over her delicious curves, feeling her through the fabric. I hungrily watch her nipples harden, and my nostrils fill with the scent of her arousal.
