The Crown's Entrapment

Inside the King and Queen's bedchamber, Xenia stirred as she carefully moved herself out from Darius's embrace and get up from her bed.

Standing up, she lazily grabbed the nearest blanket and wrapped her naked body for cover. She then quietly walked towards the long and soft cushion chair near the balcony and sat down, casually lazing about as she stared up at the moonlight.

She couldn't help but smile as her thoughts wandered to her friends within the Realm of Eferia. Surely they saw how she had succeeded in the Trial by Combat. "How come no one congratulated me..." she murmured with a pout.

"My love, it's quite cold out there..." Darius murmured to her from behind.

Craning her neck at him, she smiled as she watched him confidently walk towards her in all of his naked glory.

"What do you say?" he sluggishly asked while still properly giving her a good look at his chiseled body. "Do you prefer this view? Or do you prefer the moonlight?"

Opening her arms to him, she murmured, "Hmm... Come here."

Darius quickly joined her on her blanket. "You miss them..." he murmured.

"Well, I've been inside the Element Forest enough for them to grow on me," Xenia shrugged. "They're all nice, you see, and I'm really looking forward to keeping in touch with them. I owe them so much..."

"I owe them too," Darius remarked. "I'll have to arrange a caravan of presents for them after this current situation. We've both been busy lately."

"I will have Pluto bring the caravan inside the forest then," Xenia excitedly said as she nodded in agreement.

Her husband chuckled and jokingly said, "Well, you can let Pluto come back home there and never return."

Xenia gently hit him on his arm and scolded, "Hey, stop targeting my innocent Pluto."

Darius chuckled before pulling her in for a warm embrace. "I can't help but get jealous of it," he admitted. "I simply hate the fact that another man managed to give my wife a more valuable present than me."

"Stop that, my love," she reassuredly murmured into his ear. "You've already given me the best present I could ever have in this world, alright?"

Darius turned to her with snapped brows. Having caught his attention, she simply gave him her sweetest smile and said, "YOU. You're the best present I've ever had..."

Xenia felt her chest burn bright as she felt the burning emotions brewing within him through their Mate Bond. The moonlight was subtle in its light, but it was more than enough for her to see just how red his face had become.

"My love, you're making my heart flutter so much..."

"I know," she giggled. "I can feel it..."

Without so much as a warning, Darius leaned in to kiss her. It was no wonder why neither of them bothered to put some clothes on after their previous lovemaking. They both knew that those sessions wouldn't be enough for them to satiate each other's hunger for the night.

The night was still young... And apparently, the new couple of the Everett Family weren't the only ones having their so-called honeymoon in the manor.

********

Meanwhile, in the bedchamber assigned to Clara and Gilas, the former had remained awake as she sat on the side of the bed. Gilas was so drunk that he had passed out, and their King had to get someone to bring him up into their bedchamber and onto their bed.

She sighed as she stared at Gilas who seemed to be in deep slumber. A while ago, she was with the Queen together with Jayra, Aurelia, and Bella, and she was glad that none of them asked her if she would also mark Gilas or not when their conversation led to the topic of their Queen's curiosity about whether or not Freya would mark Gideon back. It was honestly not a mandatory thing to do between werewolf mates. They were still free to not do so if mates want some kind of wall to stay between them.

[You just don't want to mark Gilas because you don't want him to see through your walls...]  Sheba snorted.

Clara didn't reply. She honestly didn't know yet...

Another sigh came out of her before she finally decided to lie down beside him. She was getting cold, so she moved closer to him to get a bit more warmth. Soon, however, her body began to shiver.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance. How many days had it been since her body started shivering too much for her to handle? For Gilas to attentively give her the warmth that she needed each night? She couldn't remember when it started anymore, but she was already getting used to Gilas's warmth wrapping around her every night.

"Gilas..." she called to him as she moved closer to his body, and she stiffened when his eyes suddenly opened. "I'm cold..." she murmured, wondering if he was fully awake and sober.

As she expected, Gilas pulled her tight into his strong arms. "So warm," she moaned as her body got a reprieve from its constant shuddering. Grateful, she tilted her head to him and smiled. "Thank y-"

Her eyes widened as Gilas suddenly sealed her lips with his. She wasn't able to finish her words, the sudden contact making her melt into his arms as he began ravishing her. She could feel how he seemed hungry for it, and she could taste the faint sense of liquor in his mouth the more his tongue explored the insides of her mouth.

Clara, unknowingly, let out a soft moan. It was an aggressive kiss, and she was taken aback by how her body was reciprocating it. Despite her shivering, her body felt so hot as if she wasn't even cold in the first place. It was like she was inside a volcano, with hot burning lava flowing inside of her that she was getting ready to explode. It wasn't the first time that she and Gilas kissed, but what they were having right now was way too intense when compared to any of their previous kisses.

She felt so weird... in a good way. It was enough that she didn't want the kissing to end.

Clara moaned loudly when she felt his hand caress her body. Oh heavens... his hand was roaming all over her body, touching her curves in ways that he had never done before.

'I should stop him...' she weakly thought to herself, but her body wasn't listening to her. No matter how much she willed it, she couldn't find it in herself to stop him. In the end, she ended up letting Gilas touch her wherever he wanted. Absently, she wondered if she would just end up surrendering herself to him now... to complete the Mate Bond by making love with him.

She was all but willing to surrender when he stopped. Clara opened her eyes, and she could only gulp when she saw him staring at her intently.

"Clara, you're mine..." Gilas firmly murmured, his gaze burning with so much desire that she could feel it through their Mate Bond.

And as soon as she parted her lips, Gilas once again crushed them with his own...

*****

AN: We'll pause the scenes for Clara and Gilas here and you'll have more of them in Volume 3. Darius and Xenia's story will soon wrap up but you will occasionally read them still in cameos in the future chapters of our new volume/s.

PS. Do you think Gilas and Clara do the deed here or not? Lol, This scene will continue on volume 3 of TCE.