As I finally roused from my deep sleep, my eyes felt heavy and grubby.
Blinking a few times, I saw the familiar rococo bedside table and caught the scent of strawberries mingled with a faint tang of pine resin.
These familiar details, confirmed by my sight, immediately told me where I was: my Moldovan castle, in my largest bedroom.
Not everything registered at once; I was naked under the covers and didn’t immediately consider how I’d gotten there or how long I’d been asleep.
Despite some noticeable changes around me, I initially failed to register them as I focused on waking my mind and assessing my body.
Feeling warm and desiring a stretch, I assumed I was alone.
I threw off the thick blanket, exposing my naked form, and stretched luxuriously, enjoying the sensation of my muscles awakening, my eyes mostly closed.
Suddenly, a sound broke the silence.
I relaxed my muscles but kept the blanket off.
While old castles often make noises, this sound had a distinct quality, one that alerted me.
To my utter surprise, my bathroom door opened, and Damon stepped out, wearing only my favorite towel around his hips.
He stopped near the bed, his gaze traveling from my head to my toes with undeniable heat.
“Wha– what are you doing here?” I managed to stammer, completely flabbergasted.
After all, a Moldovan castle had long been a point of contention between Damon and Mariella.
“I told you, baby,” he replied, his voice a low rumble.
“Remember?
I said this looks like something I want to live in.
So, here I am, in our castle.
Now, my wife,” he continued, a playful smirk touching his lips, “it seems you still need some physiotherapy in bed.”
I gulped.
It had indeed been a while since we had fucked, and he seemed more than ready.
As I squirmed slightly, I noticed an indentation on the bed next to me, evidence that he had slept there.
His scent, too, lingered in my most perfect bedroom.
He looked at my naked body, which was not yet in its best shape, and lazily untied the towel around his hips.
Without waiting for a reply, he joined me back in bed, naked, hard, and ready to reduce me to a whimpering mess.
As he crawled into bed, he told me, “By the way, Wulfe is fine. They’re all fine, though physically they need some physiotherapy, as do you. But now, little one, it’s time to spread and spread well.”
His words, meant to relieve what I felt was immense, almost made me shake with bewilderment.
I hadn’t had time to process anything before he crawled on top of me and kissed me as if it were our last kiss ever.
I could feel our special bond, stronger than ever before, as if it had evolved.
Love blazed between us, from me to him and from him to me.
As he thrust his hot, hard cock into my pussy with little asking, I gasped from all the delicious sensations that were evoked within me.
There were no thoughts, no plans, only this moment, only our fucking, only our bond.
We used our bodies and our emotions to show each other what we meant to each other, what we needed, and how we felt.
The moist sounds, gasps, grunts, and the smell of sex and pheromones filled my bedroom, transforming it into our sanctuary.
It felt so incredibly perfect that Damon, the most important being here, in my ultimate sanctuary, fucking me out of my mind, felt so deeply lovely and perfect that I had no words to describe the feeling that blazed in my soul.
It was as if he were finally claiming me as his, on a much deeper level than Mariella ever had.
I had already claimed him, biting and nibbling all over him, marking him as mine, my mate.
When we finally stopped, it was as if a fucking machine and a sex beast had found their rhythm.
This was at least the eighth bedroom we had sanctified, and I wasn’t sure how long it had taken.
I was sure I was in better physical and mental shape.
As I lay on top of Damon, looking up at the roof he had also made into a netting, I could sense his happiness.
We were still attached, his cock nestled deep within my pussy, and as I lazily moved my hips, I made him jerk his hips in response.
“Baby, you are insatiable once you get me in your web,” he said, kissing me.
“Eight weeks. The rest of the pack has been using the same method to fix themselves, mainly as I directed our lust waves into the hive.”
I devoured him, not wanting to stop kissing him anytime soon.
Perhaps it was the fear of losing him to Mariella once more, or perhaps I was just in the mood.
Little did I know what his plans were, and there were quite many of them.
After our frenzied fucking finally subsided, a few more days passed.
I awoke in one of our newly sanctified bedrooms.
Damon was sleeping soundly beside me, utterly spent, and a smile touched my lips.
While a part of me was annoyed that he had claimed my ultimate sanctuary, this was, after all, a merger of two ancient castles, creating the largest castle imaginable.
I knew its every nook and cranny.
I rose and headed for the shower, still smiling.
It wasn’t easy to exhaust a fucking machine, I thought.
As I stood under the warm water, faint memories of our time in the forest flickered through my mind.
Had it truly happened?
Perhaps I would ask him about it later.
He hadn’t been in this particular shower.
Just as I was rinsing the last of the conditioner from my hair, he stepped in, naked and still groggy.
“Oh, naughty wife,” he mumbled.
“Already done, are you? Well, I suppose it’s time for breakfast, too. I need to see what kind of kitchen you have, or rather, we have.”
As I stepped out, leaving the water running for him, I replied rather smugly, “I happen to have eight kitchens. Five are warm kitchens, and three are cold ones, for things like chocolate. I haven’t yet decided which one to use.”
He grumbled upon hearing my boast.
“Well, go and wait for me. I’ll pick out what you’ll wear and fix your hair. Then you can show me all the kitchens so I can choose which one to use. And after breakfast, my wife we’ll explore this castle. You’ll give me a tour, won’t you?”
There was a steely undertone to his voice as he lathered his hair and continued his wash.
I had to admit; he was a magnificent sight.
Reluctantly, I went to sit on the bed, contemplating whether the bedding might need changing at some point, as it carried a rather distinctive aroma.
I was sitting there for about 15 minutes or so as Damon finally emerged from the shower, again wearing one of my favorite towels.
Fuck, it was just one more towel, and I could get more; I should not get pissed off about a towel.
He looked at me and said, “Let’s see some clothes on, shall we? As you know, baby, I have not brought mine here just yet, so I just have to make do with what you have; you usually have quite a nice selection for me as well.”
And then he went to my dresser and wardrobe to pick his own clothes, meaning my comfy oversized T-shirts as well as one pair of black jeans with studs, not too feminine, and he changed the pattern as well.
For me, he took a long look at my fancier clothes, as I had reserved some of them here in case I needed to dress up.
So for me it was actually a short pencil skirt, light yellow, and a powdery pink satin blouse with short sleeves.
I could see my tattoo, which had grown, and there were also scenes from the forest, so it had really happened, and I had had no time even to process it just yet.
He also picked one set of fancy pumps for me, dark blue with shimmer on them.
So I could not have them as muted colors, but there was always some damn color that just did not suit the theme.
As I said, I had eight of them, and as this castle had over 25 floors, there was some walking to do.
Damon stopped from time to time, appraising some paintings and taking pictures of them, checking their value, and logging them in our system, yet he did not even hint that he wanted others here.
It was as if he was creating this to be our nest.
Which was fucking surprising for me.
He might stop at some door, open it, and step in, look around again, take pictures, and grunt but not say a word.
I had no idea if he was angry or what, but I would not probe too deeply, and I just waited for him to talk, as I had used to deal with Salvatores in our time in the pocket universe, meaning they would take their time.
There was no use in pressuring them.
He stopped at one of the crystal rooms.
I had not named them or put a kind sign, but I knew what each room was.
Yet he did not pluck information out of my mind, but he preferred to explore; he was curious.
As he opened the door, he took a sharp intake of breath and cussed softly.
“Fucking shit, here is quite damn strong loading here, darlin’,” he muttered as he stepped in.
Well, it might be so; I was, after all, an unwilling siphon, and this room housed rarer minerals and stones, so I had no idea if they were something I loaded up; it seemed at least some of them were.
As he was browsing the room, I went to the next room; it was actually one of my bedrooms, and I recalled I had some nice sweaters there that I ought to put away unless I did not want my husband to pilfer them.
I also had one of my work phones there, and I just checked on messages.
Was there anything?
And there was one message unrelated to work, so I replied to it.
It was going to be good.
I put my phone in my pocket, as my smart pencil skirt had actual pockets, and I stepped out.
Damon was waiting; he had now closed the door of my stone room, sealed it somehow, and his eyes glowed violet, his magic flaring up.
“You know, baby, a few wizards, maybe magic houses, will come at some point to deal with that room. I mean, it is a bit much even for me, as one stone has a lot of hatred for Krycheck, making me want to kill him over and over. The next stone might have a good dose of your lust, making me want to fuck you, and then there is frustration, even your bloodlust, or your need to be with me, and everything else.” His voice was tight, and he was still struggling to decide what to do.
The phone in my pocket vibrated, and I plucked it out and answered it, showing Damon with my finger that he could move on.
“Hello, Gedric. I just saw your messages. Yeah, I am right about fit; it took some time, but did you load for me?”
Gedric, the main hunter on my hunting team who got a lot of game for me, said, “Yeah, we have about 300 kg of deer, 150 kg of rabbits, and 80 kg of small game. Organs are removed and processed as usual.”
I said, “Excellent. When can you deliver?”
I had no time to ask more as Damon snatched my phone and talked to Gedric.
After introducing himself, he then swiftly directed him and his team to deliver the meats here in the docking bay backyard as well as in a few other houses after he had asked where the hunters were hunting.
He then rattled off his phone number, email, and contacts for number two, saying they would take care of the meats and tell him where to deliver it, not me.
His voice was firm but not overly hostile; he was relaxed yet dominant.
Again, he had snatched one of my things out of my hands.
After the call, he checked my phone again and asked, “Who is this, Trevor? And Bobby, you have called them quite a lot?”
I said, “They are those rescue boys back in the day; nowadays two of my best snipers and killers, fucking dominant and utterly loyal to me and not afraid of me. Maybe they are something like Jake and Rob were to me, not yet that important but very important. Both are single, carefree, seductive, and lethal.”
Damon’s expression was neutral, but his brows furrowed slightly as he processed the information.
Surely boys were useful, but then again, they could be good breeders as well, or work for him and his vampires, not me.
Damon had a bit of an issue if someone was way too loyal to me, worshiping me more or less.
Only the future would show what would happen, and surprises were coming my way for a long time too.