Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King

Chapter 101: 0101

Lorelei POV

"Don’t tell me you’re thinking of running off again?" His voice came out low and rough with sleep.

I froze mid-step, my heart leaping straight into my throat.

I didn’t even have to turn around to know he was awake. I could practically feel his sharp eyes following the bare line of my spine.

The rustle of the sheets behind me only confirmed it as he shifted, the mattress groaning softly beneath his weight.

"I’m just going to the bathroom," I muttered, keeping my back to him because I knew my face was already burning red while my thighs trembled slightly under the strain of standing.

It wasn’t a complete lie. I really did need to wash up, although I didn’t dare use his private bathroom.

A low, dark chuckle drifted from the bed at my answer, completely devoid of the sleepiness that had been in his voice only moments ago.

Before I could take another step, a strong hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist. With one sharp tug, he yanked me backward until my knees gave out beneath me. I tumbled onto the mattress, landing right on top of his chest.

"That’s a lie," he whispered.

His arms immediately wrapped around my waist like iron bands, locking me against him as he buried his face in the crook of my neck and inhaled deeply.

"You just want to get away from me so you can go spend your time with someone else."

I frowned, a spark of irritation cutting through my exhaustion.

Why would he even think that?

"Why would I lie about something like that?" I protested, turning my head as much as I could to look at him. "Just look at me. I’m completely exhausted. I just want to shower and then maybe sleep for the rest of the day. Besides, if anyone has been avoiding anyone, it’s been you avoiding me, not that I..."

My words were cut off the instant his teeth suddenly sank into my shoulder.

"Ow!" I yelped, wincing as the sharp sting shot through me.

"What the hell..." I gasped, the unexpected bite jolting me completely awake.

Anger flared inside me, and I spun around to glare at him, ready to snap back. But he never gave me the chance.

In one swift, effortless movement, he pulled me back onto the bed and shifted his weight until he was hovering directly above me.

As he caged me beneath him, the morning sun finally broke through the curtains. Golden light spilled across the room, reflecting in his amber eyes and giving me my first clear, unobstructed look at his incredibly well-defined abs.

The sight alone was enough to make my head spin, but it was the quiet dominance in the way he held himself over me that kept me completely frozen.

"That’s a very bold assumption," he whispered, his deep voice vibrating through the small space between us.

His gaze slowly drifted over my exposed body before settling on the fresh bruises and faint bite marks scattered across my skin. The corner of his lips lifted into a dark, satisfied smirk as he silently admired every mark he had left behind.

"Considering this was always the plan."

"To sleep with me?" I couldn’t help asking, my voice barely above a whisper. As far as I knew, that was the only plan I had ever been aware of.

"To have you beside me," he replied instead.

The unexpected answer caught me completely off guard, but before I could even process what he’d said, he leaned down and captured my lips in a deep kiss.

He kissed me with a desperate kind of hunger, and between each lingering brush of his lips, his voice came out rough against my mouth.

"Why would I want you away from me when you’ve been all I’ve been able to think about these past few weeks?" he murmured. "You’ve been driving me crazy."

"How crazy?" I asked before I could stop myself.

My hand instinctively reached up to grip his forearm, feeling the hard muscle tense beneath my fingers.

"Very crazy," he admitted.

The honesty in his voice made warmth immediately rush to my face and my heart skip a beat.

Only then did he finally pull back. He looked down at me with a surprisingly gentle expression in his amber eyes as his large hand slowly brushed a few tangled strands of hair away from my face.

"Good morning," he whispered.

"Good morning, Alpha," I replied automatically.

Almost immediately, a frown creased his features at the formal title.

"Kaelen," I corrected quickly. It was definitely going to take some time to get used to calling him by just his name.

The moment his name left my lips, the tension melted from his face, and a small smile returned. He shifted, sitting back slightly on the bed, but his hand never left my skin. Instead, his palm slowly slid down to my thigh as I pushed myself into a sitting position.

I tried my best to ignore the sparks dancing across my skin as his fingers lightly brushed the inside of my right thigh before tracing over a specific spot.

"You have a birthmark here," Kaelen murmured, his eyes fixed on the small patch of skin as the tip of his thumb slowly traced its edge.

Oh.

Right.

That hideous mark I used to get bullied over.

My mother had always called it the Moon Goddess’s mark, the symbol that sealed my fate as the cursed twin. Maybe she had been right after all. This stupid mark was the very reason Jaxen had refused to believe I was innocent because another man had claimed to have seen it. And now... another man was staring directly at it.

"It’s shaped like a half moon," he continued, lifting his gaze to meet mine. A soft smile tugged at his lips. "It’s cute."

My face immediately flushed a deep crimson, and I quickly looked away, shifting uncomfortably beneath his attention.

"It’s just an ugly mark," I mumbled. "You don’t have to flatter me."

"Ugly?" Kaelen repeated, his voice dropping into a low, almost offended growl.

He hooked a finger beneath my chin and gently guided my face back toward him.

"There is absolutely nothing ugly about you," he said quietly. "Not this mark. Not your waist. Not even your very pink nipples."

A startled, embarrassed laugh slipped past my lips despite myself.

"Damn it..." I muttered under my breath, my hands instinctively flying up to cover my chest.

Why the hell was he always so blunt about things like this? Couldn’t he see how embarrassed he was making me?

Kaelen simply smiled before gently catching my wrists and lowering my hands again. His fingers lingered around them for a moment as his amber eyes searched mine.

"Everything about you is beautiful," he finished softly.