Loch felt the back of her dress for her zipper.
She didn’t care that she nearly fractured her wrist, getting into place. If she could bear the thought of removing her lips from Loch’s, she’d be begging him to break the zipper.
Thankfully, the zipper wasn’t harmed as Holly’s dress fell open. Loch pushed the yards of silky fabric down her body until it pooled at their feet. Both had the good sense to carefully step around the dress before tumbling down onto the bed.
Holly frantically undid the button of Loch’s jeans while he slid her panties down her leg. He kissed his way back up her thigh. Holly let out a sharp gasp as his tongue stroked her entrance. She spread her legs, silently begging for more.
Loch didn’t disappoint.
Within minutes, her legs trembled, and stars exploded behind her eyes. Loch kissed his way up her body, smiling over her skin as she trembled beneath him. He traced his tongue over each nipple before finding her mouth.
Holly kissed him hungrily, the fire inside her still raging.
Loch pressed his cock against her soaking slit. He pulled away just enough to look into her eyes. Without exchanging a single syllable, Loch asked for permission, and Holly gave it. In one swift stroke, he buried himself inside her to the hilt.
Holly arched up into him, a cry of perfect pleasure tearing from her lips. She didn’t care if anyone downstairs heard her. She felt like she was taking a sip of water after roaming the desert for months.
Loch thrust into her mercilessly.
Holly clung to him for dear life, sinking her teeth into his shoulder. This wasn’t a tender moment to be drawn out and savored. This was passion in its rawest form. The bed collided with the wall over and over again.
“Holly,” Loch murmured against her flaming skin. “I’m in love with you.”
“I’m in love with you, too.”
She had strong feelings for all four of the shifters in her life, but she’d never gone so far as to say such a thing out loud before. She meant it with her whole heart. She wanted to tell him so over and over again, but soon, pleasure drowned out her words.
She tightened around him as she began trembling once more. This time, she wasn’t alone as she climbed to her highest peak.
Loch buried his face in her neck to muffle his roar. He gripped her hips, forcing his cock as deep as he could while he reached his climax.
Holly lost herself in the sensation of being joined to someone so completely. She never wanted this moment to end. But, alas, it had to.
Her sense of space and time slowly came back to her.
There was a war council about to take place downstairs. Holly needed to be there. Loch needed to be there.
When he brought his lips to hers, she forgot herself all over again.
“If you keep doing that,” she moaned against his lips, “we’re never going to leave.”
“I don’t have a problem with that.” He chuckled.
“You will when we’re overrun by dark shifters.”
“Good point.”
Holly wanted to cry out in protest when Loch drew his cock out of her, but she refrained. If everything went well, she’d have plenty of chances to do that again.
Loch helped her to her feet and picked up the discarded gown. “I hope I didn’t break anything,” he said.
“If you did, we’d know,” she assured him. “Zip me up?”
“You bet.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO—Holly
Twenty minutes later, Holly’s dress was zipped, her hair was smoothed, and a new sheen of perfume coated her skin. She couldn’t do anything about the post-sex flush, but hopefully, she could blame it on the stuffiness of the room.
Loch came downstairs first, so it wouldn’t be abundantly obvious that they’d been upstairs together.
Holly followed a few minutes later.
As she walked down the stairs, the heads of at least fifty shifters turned to look at her. Most of them were men, though there were a few women scattered throughout. Holly found Jess immediately. She was the only one who was smiling.
Some looked at her in awe, which she liked. Others looked completely indifferent to her. One or two looked at her with disdain. She stole a glance at the pendant around her neck. It still shone blue. There was no reason not to trust anyone in this room…yet.
“Holly.” Keller stared up at her from the foot of the stairs.
She smiled down at him. When she reached the last step, she took the arm he offered.
“I would’ve put on a suit or something if I knew,” he murmured.
“Don’t worry about it. You’ve done amazing so far.”
“Thank you,” he replied. “You look beautiful.”
“So, this is the Maiden, hmm?” A burly man with a scruffy beard and worn work boots spoke up. “She don’t look like much.”
“I thought this was a war council meeting, not a prom.”
Holly’s expression soured. Maybe the gown wasn’t a good idea, after all.
“You all are blind fools,” another man, who Holly couldn’t see, spoke. “She’s the spitting image of the Maiden carved into the stones.”
Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd.
“Be that as it may,” the scruffy man said, “that don’t mean she knows anything about winning a war.”
“I don’t,” Holly agreed. “But I’m committed to learning whatever it is I need to learn so that I might serve the Maiden. She’s honored me by selecting me as her vessel. I will do my best to honor her in kind.”
This seemed to appease the majority of the shifters in the room.
“Until I’ve learned enough to call the shots myself, you will defer to the firstborn sons.” Holly gestured to Keller, who was more than happy to take over.
“Gentlemen, I’ve prepared
