Mated to the Alpha: Sold to the King

Chapter 102: 0102

Lorelei POV

Hearing him call me beautiful made something inside my chest tighten painfully.

Even though I looked identical to my sister, who had always been regarded as the most beautiful woman in the pack, I had never truly felt beautiful myself.

The scars. The bruises. The years of being treated as though I was worth nothing.

Even after those wounds had faded from my skin, they had never really disappeared from my heart. I had never felt worthy enough to be called beautiful, not even when Jaxen used to say it.

But here was the Alpha King, a man who had absolutely no reason to pay any attention to a maid like me.

He had power. Status. He could have any woman he wanted.

And yet, he was looking at me as though I was something precious.

If only he knew the truth.

Or worse... what if he eventually got tired of me, just like everyone else always had?

The thought alone made my chest ache.

Tears instantly welled in my eyes, but I blinked them away before they could fall, quickly looking away from his searching gaze. I needed to change the subject before he noticed the insecurity written all over my face.

"Aren’t you tired?" I asked, my voice cracking ever so slightly despite my attempt to sound casual. "We’ve been at it all night, and I’m pretty sure you barely got any sleep."

At that, Kaelen let out a quiet chuckle before releasing my chin and rising to his feet.

Completely naked.

He had turned his back to me for a moment, giving me a clear, unobstructed view of his broad shoulders and the long expanse of his muscular back.

It was covered in angry red scratch marks.

My scratch marks.

I’d left them there during the height of last night’s madness, digging my nails into his skin like a rabid cat as he drove me completely out of my mind.

Seeing the evidence of my own desperation etched across his back sent another wave of heat rushing to my cheeks.

At the same time, though... I couldn’t stop the tiny smile tugging at my lips.

At least he wasn’t the only one who had left marks after last night.

Kaelen stretched lazily, the powerful muscles beneath his skin shifting with the movement. Despite the long red scratches running across his back, he didn’t seem bothered by them in the slightest.

"I have somewhere else to be later today," he said, looking over his shoulder at me with a knowing glint in his amber eyes. "So a long sleep will have to wait."

"Oh," I murmured, the tiny sense of satisfaction I’d been feeling quickly fading, replaced by that familiar ache in my chest, though I did my best not to let the disappointment show.

Of course he had duties. He was the Alpha King, after all.

Why would someone like him spend the entire day lying in bed with someone like me?

"But before I go..." he added suddenly, leaning back down until his messy hair fell across his forehead, framing his face. "Didn’t you say you were heading to the bathroom?"

I blinked at him, wondering if he was finally going to let me sneak away to wash up in peace.

"I... yes," I replied. "I need to wash up."

"Perfect," Kaelen murmured.

Before I could even process the look in his eyes, he slipped one arm beneath my knees and the other around my back, effortlessly lifting me into his chest.

"Let’s take a bath together."

"What? No..." I stammered, immediately pushing against his chest, horrified by the very idea of bathing with the Alpha King, but none of my protests made the slightest difference.

Kaelen didn’t even flinch at my weak attempts to resist. He simply tightened his hold on me and carried me toward his bathroom as though I weighed nothing at all.

The moment we stepped inside, I froze.

The bathroom was almost as large as my entire bedroom.

Smooth marble stretched across the floor beneath my feet, warm enough that I could feel the heat rising through it. A massive sunken bathtub occupied the center of the room, large enough to look more like a small pool than an actual bath.

The entire room radiated luxury.

It only made me feel even more out of place.

Gently, Kaelen set me back on my feet.

The instant his warmth left my body, I instinctively shuffled backward until my back nearly touched the wall. Wrapping both arms tightly around myself, I tried to cover as much of my bare, marked body as I possibly could.

Barely sparing me a glance, Kaelen walked over to the shower and turned the golden faucets.

The steady rush of steaming water soon filled the room.

Only then did he look back over his shoulder and catch me trying to disappear into the corner.

"Why bother hiding when I’ve already seen all of you?" he asked with a quiet sigh, running a hand through his hair while his amber eyes remained fixed on mine. "Come on. The longer you stand there, the harder it’s going to be to wash all those sticky remains off you."

I still didn’t want to move.

My heart hammered against my ribs, and my face felt like it was on fire.

I had never bathed with a man before in my life, and doing it with him felt... overwhelming. But judging by the stubborn set of his jaw, I already knew he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

Realizing I didn’t have much of a choice, I slowly lowered my arms from my chest and kept my eyes firmly fixed on the floor as I took a hesitant step toward him.

To my surprise, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I’d imagined.

Aside from how ridiculously close we had to stand beneath a single showerhead, it actually felt... nice.

The warm water melted the soreness from my muscles almost instantly, washing away the lingering exhaustion from the night before.

Everything was going surprisingly smoothly. I kept my attention firmly on his chest, refusing to meet his eyes even though I could feel his gaze lingering on me.

Then, without warning, one of his arms slid around my waist, pulling me closer against him while the other slipped between my thighs.

"What are you doing?" I gasped, my voice shaky as his fingers brushed against my still-sensitive folds.

"You still have some of my cum inside you," he murmured, his voice low and rough against my ear. The warm water cascaded over both of us as he gently pressed two thick fingers inside me without warning, making me gasp loudly. "I’m sure the strongest swimmers had all night to do what they needed. So it’s safe to clean up the rest."

With that, he slowly curled his fingers, scooping and drawing out a mix of our combined fluids that immediately washed away beneath the shower spray and disappeared down the drain.

I whimpered, my hands instinctively gripping his shoulders as my legs trembled beneath me, but I didn’t stop him. I simply let him finish cleaning me up until he was finally satisfied.