Chapter 182

I pulled my lips free from Nolan’s. “Careful,” I whispered. “You do remember we are not alone, right?”

He smirked guiltily and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

“Right now?” I looked at all the commotion around us. Cindy and Lucy had somehow slipped right by me and Nolan while I was distracted. They were already halfway across the room, heading for the bar.

“Yes. Right now.” Nolan’s eyes went dark, his expression turning hard and serious. The energy of his desire started washing over me. It felt like I was falling under a spell.

I slipped my hand into his and let him lead me quickly (and conspicuously – I saw lots of people watching) through a side exit near the stage that led back to the palace lobby. Heads kept turning as we passed, but Nolan paid no attention to the curious stares of all the noble men and women in the lobby and hallways. He just kept hurrying me on until we were far away, rounding the corner into our wing of the palace.

“You were teasing me,” he said suddenly as we neared our room.

I, for one, was nearing giggles after letting him drag me fast through the palace like that, but Nolan’s voice was still lusty-serious. He seemed very focused.

“Huh? When?” I had no idea what he was referring to.

Nolan held the door to our bedroom open and ushered me inside. “The notes you left me,” he said. “You were teasing me.”

I blushed a little, pressing my lips together. “Yes. I’m sorry about that. I had to get you over to the ballroom somehow.”

He locked the door behind him and started undressing. There was a lot involved in a tuxedo. The jacket came off first. Bowtie came undone. Shoes off. Shirt sleeves loosened.

I didn’t even realize I was starting to undress as well, until Nolan told me to stop. I obediently climbed up into bed still wearing my black evening gown, and watched him.

Eyeing the length of my body, his hands steadily unbuttoning his waist coat, Nolan softened a little. “Thank you,” he said. “That was incredible, what you did tonight.”

I grinned. “It was fun, wasn’t it? And we raised plenty of money for the renovation. I can’t wait to tell you what Cindy and I have planned for the new theater.”

Nolan shushed me. “Later,” he said darkly. He moved on to unbuttoning his crisp white dress shirt. Just a few pieces left.

“Okay.” I laid back in the bed, stretching lazily. He watched my movements intently.

And then off came the belt, and then the pants, and Nolan’s very slow and serious strip tease was complete. My heart started pounding as I looked him over, my body going warm and tingly. I started inching the skirt of my dress upward.

To my surprise, Nolan climbed into bed with me but didn’t get on top of me. Instead he knelt between my legs and began placing kisses all up the insides of my thighs. His face disappeared under my dress.

Somehow he managed, then, to inch my panties down with his teeth, doing this very slowly and carefully until I thought I would absolutely lose my mind under all the light touches. A petulant voice that didn’t even sound like my own started begging him to fuck me. I felt his hot breath on my skin as he laughed devilishly in response.

“Nolan,” I whined. “Stop teasing me. Please.” I tried to pull my dress up and off, but he held it in place and told me he liked it before diving back underneath the heavy skirt.

With a low growl, he suddenly had his fingers inside me and his mouth all over me, kissing and licking expertly and working with his hands until my limbs felt like jelly and I started to shake.

He didn’t stop until he felt a lightning bolt of pleasure strike under his touch, sending a jolt all through my body that took my breath away and made my heart feel like it might explode.

NOLAN

Yena had had a very long day and was fully exhausted after a few hours in bed.

But the sex only had Nolan feeling wide awake and full of energy.

He lay with her for a few minutes after she passed out heavily, but quickly realized he was not going to be sleeping tonight. He was way too wired. He decided to just get up and get ready for the new day early. After finishing off the last of the room service they’d ordered earlier, he took a hot shower and started getting dressed.

Nolan had more pre-dawn business to attend to in a matter of hours, anyway. A meeting with the human president by video call. It would hopefully be short and simple, mostly just a follow-up from the prior morning’s televised speech, to gauge her thoughts on how it had gone over with her people.

The change in the President’s energy was apparent from the instant her camera went live.

She was smiling. It had been some time since Nolan had seen a smile on this woman’s face. It transformed every single one of her features and made her look like a different person altogether.

“Prince Nolan,” she said in a clear, chipper voice. “You’re looking well.”

“President Easton,” he responded in kind. “I was just thinking the same about you.”

“Perhaps your victory agrees with us both.”

“Perhaps you’re right. Does this mean things are well in your world?”

“I would say so.” The President nodded, straightening her spine. “Your address was well-received. Of course, a threat like this cannot be forgotten easily. The culture of fear Adan stirred up… it was far-reaching, to say the least. But polls are showing that a majority of the human population believes that the threat of war with the werewolves is now in the past.”

“That’s a relief. I only wish there were more that I could do to put their minds at ease.”

“Well… I do have one recommendation for you, if I may offer some friendly advice.”

“Of course. Please.”

“Princess Yena is polling off the charts. Keep her on camera with you. It’s good for your image. With her at your side, you look… less like your brother.”

Luna visited Nolan in his office shortly after the video call was over.

He took advantage of his mother’s tendency to speak slowly and keep you waiting to hear what she wanted, and asked her a question of his own, first.

“Do you think Adan and I look a lot alike?”

His mother reeled back, caught off guard by this question. “Huh, well, I suppose…” She squinted at her son, frowned. “I know you too well to give an objective opinion.”

Nolan shrugged. “What can I do for you, mother?”

“Actually, I am just here to check on you. I was wondering how that went.” She gestured vaguely to the big screen TV Nolan used for video meetings.

“It was fine,” he answered cautiously. “President Easton says the poll results were good. The speech went over well.”

“Good news. And yet…?” Luna arched an eyebrow.

“Just something she said. Something I hadn’t thought about before…”

Nolan could not put his finger on what exactly was bothering him so much about the President’s comment about him looking like his brother.

“Let me ask you something else,” he added, changing the subject. “Yena keeps telling me that I overestimate Adan’s influence. She says I should trust that we have put his insurrection to rest. What do you think? How big of a following do you think he managed to pull together before we caught him?”

Luna closed her eyes for several seconds, preparing to say something unpleasant.

“Yena has many unique and admirable qualities,” she finally said.

Then she cast Nolan a rather serious look and sighed.

“But she is naïve,” she continued. “You are wise not to underestimate Adan. I could not say how large, or how powerful a group of followers he may have amassed over this past year. But I would advise you to keep a very close eye on your brother. For as long as he is alive.”