Lancelot gave me one firm nod. “I believe I have been ready since I pulled you into my arms the night of the attack on that village.”
My brows lifted in surprise. “Really?”
For the first time I saw a true smile form on the alpha’s face. “Yes, but I have been too much of a, what was it you called me before?”
“A stubborn ass?” I provided, lifting a hand and pressing it into his warm chest, feeling his heartbeat that would, hopefully, soon match with mine.
“Yes, a stubborn ass,” he agreed. “You have a way with words that fascinates me.”
One of Lancelot’s hands drifted up from my side and his fingers trailed down the line of my pulse that was thrumming in my neck and in between the valley of my breasts. The motion created gooseflesh in his wake and I shuddered, wanting to be more than brushed by the man above me.
“These compliments of yours sure seem to be flowing freely now,” I teased dryly. “I always thought you just didn’t like to talk.”
I didn’t add that it always seemed that he hated being around me in general. That obviously wasn’t true now that I could feel his stiff length prodding my thigh.
“What comes from my lips and what I think in my head are two vastly different things,” Lancelot admitted. “And I am uncertain whether it is the drunkenness I feel from your heator finally giving in out of fear of never being able to experience what it is like between your thighs.”
Lancelot leaned in for another toe-curling kiss, but I stopped him with a gentle hand on his mouth.
“What do you mean?” I asked with a frown.
Lancelot’s lips pursed together into a slight frown, his dark brows drawing together. “You chose Merlin, did you not? To complete your pack?”
I gaped at the man, trying to understand his words. Were men in all times so obstinately obtuse?
Not to mention the fact that he seemed to be finally ready to bare his soul to me… right when I was in the beginning throes of my first heat in years. I was torn between wanting to dig my teeth into his skin and pull him into me and the desire to talk about how I really felt about him.
But even if I was just about ready to light on fire like a bundle of dry kindling, Lancelot needed to know and know now.
“It wasn’t a one or the other type of situation, Lancelot,” I whispered softly.
Lancelot let his hips rest against mine for a moment, his skin feeling cool as he sighed. “But what could you possibly want with me when you have a king, a wizard, a musician, and a wise warrior in your pack?”
“Why do you need to be anything?” I shot back, reaching up to cup the back of his neck. “Why can’t you just be Lancelot?”
“I fear I am not very easy to love,” Lancelot mumbled, his eyes shifting away from mine. “Is it not just our instincts pulling us together like this?”
“You may feel you are not easy to love, but you are also incredibly hard to hate. Besides, even if we did live in a world without alphas and omegas, that isn’t the only reason I felt drawn to you. Not even close.”
Lifting my head, I pressed my lips softly to Lancelot’s, feeling them part after a moment of resistance.
I kept it short so I could continue my speech, spurred on by more than just my desire to feel his skin against mine. No, now I had a point to make in the same way I had with the rest of the pack.
“It’s true you are broody, mistrustful, and infuriatingly stubborn,” I began, pressing kisses in between each adjective used to describe the alpha above me. “But you are also a fantastic brother, unafraid to stand up to bullies like your father, braver than most people I’ve ever met, and a damn good archery teacher. All of those things made me look at you, Lancelot, they made me want you.”
It all sounded a bit like the end of a cheesy romance movie to me, but my words were true and Lancelot had no idea what a movie was, so he was none the wiser.
Then, much to my shock, I watched tears form in the corner of Lancelot’s eyes before he dropped his head into my chest so that I couldn’t see.
“I am… uncertain of how to respond,” he murmured, his breath tickling my skin.
“Just say you’ll be here with me—with us—and become a part of our pack,” I told him, running my fingers through his hair before adding in a tight voice. “And maybe help me through this heat because holy shit does it not feel good.”
Lancelot jumped up as if he had forgotten why we were lying naked in the bed in the first place, his expression shifting into one of desire.
“Apologies, my queen,” he rumbled, his tone shifting as he slid his hands under my ass and tugged me down from the headboard and flat underneath him.
Then, much to my surprise, the alpha began to slide down my front, his intent clear.
