Clearing my throat, I ordered, “Guards. Please leave us be. Let the servants know we are not to be disturbed.”
Wordlessly, the guards bowed and left the room. As the door closed behind them, I felt instantly more at ease. I was safe. The thought pierced through me as my gaze shot to the still-eating alpha sitting at the table. Did I feel safe with Gus? Strangely enough, I did. I felt an odd connection to this alpha, like I’d met him before, or that a bond was already forming between us. Why I felt so differently about him, I’d yet to figure out. Maybe it was because he would be breeding me soon? Or perhaps it was the fact that he seemed so genuine with me now that he was starting to let his guard down?
“Is everything all right? Your Majesty?” Gus’ voice held a hint of concern as he looked at me.
I’d been caught staring at him; how embarrassing. I cleared my throat. “I am, yes.” That seemed to please him as he smiled crookedly, then continued eating the carrots, making happy sounds between bites. I dared say it was adorable.
I was itching to know more about him, but I also didn’t want to upset him by asking too-personal questions. I knew this Hal person, who he was fond of, couldn’t be brought up; that would simply add to his earlier distress, so instead I focused on his work.
“What is it that you do for work?” I knew him to be a farmer, like most alphas were in the countryside, but what he did exactly was never explained to me. I doubted my advisors even cared about that when they’d picked him.
Gus placed his fork carefully on the table before he met my gaze full on. “I work in the fields, Your Majesty. Tending to crops, sowing seeds, and harvesting.”
“You certainly look like you reap what you sow,” I teased, drinking in his strong build, then froze and eyed the almost empty glass of wine in my hand. Just how strong was this particular wine? Ineverteased. Or outright flirted. There had simply never been a need for it.
Then, the most beautiful sound reached my ears. Like a siren song made just for me, all velvety and deep.
Gus was laughing.
I forgot everything as I watched this strong alpha turn into the most beautiful being alive. I was mesmerized, pulled into his orbit without a thought. Without any resistance. I wanted to see that smile again and again, how his face transformed, the features softening, when the smile reached his eyes, and he lit up from the inside. I wanted to memorize how he looked right now forever—a wayward lock of blond hair teasing his eyebrows, two dimples appearing in his cheeks, digging into the skin like little valleys, his lips so pink and full.
Before our dinner, I’d planned on eating with Gus and then telling him there’d been a mistake and he was not to be my royal breeder after all, but now? Well, right now I wanted to jump him and let him eat those damn carrots off my naked skin. Maybe even add some fresh honey, knowing he would lick every drop of it off my body like an eager puppy. He would make sure I was cleaned to perfection by the time he was finished with me.
As quickly as it had started, Gus’ laughter stopped as he sniffed the air, then his head snapped up, his gaze dark and penetrating. His upper lip curled with what I clearly recognized as desire.
Fuck, my slick! I had definitely soaked through my pants during that honey fantasy of mine, and my distinct omega scent hung heavily in the air around us.
“I apologize,” I said, clearing my throat. “I’m very close to my heat.”
“I can tell,” he rasped, his gaze locked on mine with clear hunger.
“Wine!” I blurted, hurrying to fill his glass before adding more to my own. “We should celebrate!”
The fact that I hadn’t actually asked Gus if he wanted to breed me was forgotten as we both took a healthy sip of our wine. His clear want for me and the way my body reacted to him was answer enough, and I decided to wait until tomorrow, when I was in better control of myself, before I asked for his full consent. Then he wouldn’t be drunk on wine.And me.
Two hours later, Gus and I somehow found ourselves sitting under the table, giggling like we were kids hiding away from the world, a bottle of wine between us that we’d shared, drinking straight from it as we passed it back and forth. I couldn’t remember when I’d last had this much fun. Gus barely fit underneath the table, and he kept bumping his head against it whenever he moved and gestured with his hands.
“I just really wanted honey,” Gus whined, tears trickling down his sun-kissed cheeks, as I laughed even harder. His tale of the honey-seeking quest, where he’d gotten stung because he’d failed to realize they weren’t bees but wasps, was highly entertaining. “How could I know they wouldn’t have my honey? They were… what’s the word?” he slurred, blinking at me, his eyes swimming with intoxication.
“Imposter bees?” I snorted.
Gus frowned at me, digging his teeth into that ridiculous plump bottom lip of his.
“You don’t know what that means, do you?” I spoke softly, my fingers itching to brush that stray lock of hair out of his eyes.
His blush deepened. “Sorry. There’s a lot I don’t know.”
“It’s okay. It’s just when things appear to be something other than what they really are.”Like this strange alpha, who was nothing like I’d expected.
Gus nodded, then whispered, “Like you, Your Majesty?” and my heart nearly imploded then and there.
“Perhaps,” I said, then shook myself before I jumped him and attached myself to his lips like a suckerfish. Smiling, I bumped his shoulder. “We can get you all the honey you want,” I promised, before my brain once again went all rogue on me.
“Royal honey,” he reminded me, throwing us both back into a laughing fit.
Three loud knocks on the door had our laughter dying down like water to flames.
“Your Majesty?!” Clive’s concerned voice filled the room before two of my advisors peered under the table and eyed Gus and me with confusion and a tad of annoyance.
