“What?” I breathe, fascinated and delighted. “Since when do courtesans come to court!?”“They’ve always been here, Everleigh,” Mahl murmurs, not minding, apparently, that I’m not appalled at Margot’s occupation and am, instead, clearly curious. “They just…didn’t come into the circles of Lunas in the years that you were present at court. Things have changed a bit since you have been gone.”“Oh,” I say, looking up at him again. “Why?”And I regret the question immediately when Mahl looks away.I stutter a moment, making awkward noises in my attempt to apologize or find something to say, but Mahl just looks calmly down at me. “A story for another time,” he murmurs as we arrive at the back door to my chambers, the same door through which Tara traveled this afternoon to bring me my coffee.I take a deep breath and try to settle my emotions – my still-burning curiosity, my embarrassment at blatantly asking Mahl why he lets courtesans mingle with his best friends’ wives – before going into m
I roll my eyes at Auden, annoyed by his idea that he can come into my room and dismiss my servants at will. I don’t know what he’s getting at with this power move, but two can certainly play this game.“Great,” I say breezily, pushing past him and heading directly for my wardrobe, thinking about getting into some more comfortable clothes. As I pass through the door, I call casually over my shoulder. “Will you come and help me unlace this dress? Since you sent all my servants away, it’s either that or I sleep in it.”Auden laughs lightly, seeing what I’m doing, but I hear him follow after me. I quickly sit down on a comfortable poufy ottoman in the wardrobe and pull my silk stockings from my legs before Auden walks into the room. Then I stand, turning my back to him and putting my hands on my hips.“You start from the top,” I say, “and work your way down –““I know how to unlace a dress, Everleigh,” Auden murmurs, his voice a little annoyed but not without humor.I laugh a little too a
“Mama!”I gasp as Niall comes barreling into the room. My eyes instantly fill with tears as he leaps for the bed and begins to climb across it towards me. I barely have time to put my wine glass down before my little boy throws himself into my arms, making me reel backward a little bit. Vivi runs into the room as I clasp Niall to my chest, Coco flying after her.“Mommy!” Vivi shouts, likewise running for the bed. “Where have you been all day!”I’m still gasping with surprise and laughter, brushing stray tears from my cheeks as Vivi clambers onto the bed as well. I reach out one arm to her, wrapping her up with it and using my other arm to hold Niall close. “Babies,” I murmur, pulling them close and kissing them each on the head before closing my eyes and taking a deep breath of their scents. “Oh, babies, I missed you!”“We are not babies,” Niall murmurs into my shoulder, “but we missed you too.” I laugh and turn my head again to nuzzle Niall for a moment as Vivi pulls away to settle c
“You can name the horses whatever you want, Vivianna,” Auden says, grinning at her. “Two days from now I’ll send for all of the horse dealers in the city to bring their best and you can pick.”Niall wiggles disconsolately in my lap. I can tell that he is jealous.“Perhaps,” I murmur, loud enough to get Auden’s attention. He looks at us. “Perhaps Niall could go with you, when Vivi picks,” I say softly, hoping he takes my meaning. “Maybe he will change his mind.”“I won’t,” Niall murmurs, his face still tucked against me, but I smile at Auden and nod a little to let him know that he will.We continue like this for a good little while, talking through what their new lives might be like, and Auden and I tell Vivi and Niall all about where they will go to school, and the new children they will meet – including two uncles and an aunt just around their age, which the children find very funny. But before long, I can sense that they’re getting tired.“All right,” I say, working to stand up and
“So,” Auden says, seating himself on the wide balustrade that marks the far side of my little terrace. I move to stand next to him, handing him a glass and then pouring the wine for both of us. “They’re smart. You didn’t tell me that they’re smart.”I take a moment to look Auden over, noting the way he tucks one leg beneath him and lets his other leg dangle, the way he smirks at me when he talks about our kids.I can’t hide my own smirk in response. “Are they?” I ask, playing dumb because I want to hear what he’s thinking.“They can read, Everleigh?” he asks, grinning at me before taking a sip of his wine. “Seriously? At five? I mean, are you exaggerating? Do they just know their letters –“I laugh and shake my head, taking a drink of my wine before I answer. “Test them, if you want,” I say, giving a nonchalant shrug before taking the bottle with me over to a little stone bench across from Auden and settling myself on it. “But they can read - really read. I mean, they’re not going to
I frown, not understanding how whether or not Vivi and Niall are a Prince and Princess is my decision. I lean back on the stone banister, my silence an invitation for him to continue.“Well,” he says, taking a deep breath and running a hand through his hair – a gesture I’m beginning to understand is him working through a problem. “I’ve claimed them as my natural children, which is…fine. They will have Alpha status. But I have not yet marked them as heirs to the realm, which would be necessary,” he says, watching my face closely for a reaction, “for them to be, officially, a Prince and a Princess.”I turn my head to the side, considering this.“My father,” Auden continues, hesitating a little, “would…want to have a say in this. He told me so when I informed him, today, about my plans to claim them.”“Oh yeah!” I say, turning to glare and swat him on the arm, suddenly remembering that little surprise. “Thanks so much for the update on that, by the way! I almost had a heart attack when y
“No, we don’t scent mark mama,” Auden says, turning his smile on Vivi now. “Just you and Niall, because you are special. Yes?”“Mama is also special,” Vivi says, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at him. My lips quirk at the corners to see her defend me, but I just stand up with a pretend sigh, grateful to her for giving me a moment to collect myself.“Mama,” I add, “has a whole shelf of new perfumes. And I don’t want any stinky Auden smells messing with them,” I add, leaning over and wrinkling my nose at my daughter, who laughs.“Dad isn’t stinky,” Niall says, frowning at me. “He smells nice. Like the woods.”I smile at my little boy and don’t bother informing him that I know precisely how nice Auden smells. And that it’s not just balsam he’s detecting in Auden’s scent, but also cloves and sweet orange as well - a combination that’s so warm and rich and delicious that it makes me want to spend my entire day curled up next to -“I’m going to go pick out my perfume now!” I say s
I turn my face away from the Duke and towards the horns that begin to blast in the open field before us, already exhausted by the fact that I have to wonder about international politics before I’m even Queen. But now, with my children potentially in the line of succession, and Auden…But before I can think further on it, the King interrupts.“You look very beautiful today, Everleigh,” he murmurs, dipping his head close to mine so that I alone can hear his words. “The dress suits you well.”I blush a little and look down at the green and gold gown that the seamstresses have made for me today. It really is lovely – less formal than what they dressed me in yesterday, with yards and yards of airy fabric that floats in the wind on the slightest breeze.“Thank you,” I reply, turning my face up to Mahl with a smile. “The seamstresses have really crafted a piece of art with this one. I’m very grateful to be able to wear it.” “It is good to see you smile, little doe,” Mahl murmurs.I look up
“What are you doing?” I gasp.“It’s easier this way,” he murmurs, settling down on top of my legs. He pauses for a second, but then his fingers wrap again around the edges of my dress, pulling it down a little lower so that half of my booty is exposed.“Auden!” I gasp, my head flying up.“Calm down, Everleigh, this is strictly medical. I just need to see the extent of the bruise.” His voice is low, entertained.“Oh, I hate you,” I murmur, tucking my head back down against my arms, my cheeks flaming.“No, you don’t,” he murmurs, making me smile. A soft scraping sounds, the lid of a jar being unscrewed, and the balmy scent of mint and eucalyptus fills my nose. “This will be cold.”I sigh and nod, consenting to it, thinking that sounds quite nice against the hot ache growing in my lower back. But I still gasp at the first t
Auden shuts the door behind him and I still in the middle of his room, looking around, quite curious.Everything’s lit only in the soft blue glow of night but still – I find myself surprised. All of the furniture is very finely made and neatly arranged, but it’s all very…sparse.Except for one little stuffed bunny rabbit, sitting on top of his pillow, one ear flopping down before its beaded eye. I burst into a smile, loving that a great deal.“What?” Auden asks, coming to stand by my side and seeing my smile.“It’s just…you live like a soldier,” I say quietly, turning my face up to him.“I am a soldier,” he says, frowning at me.My smile widens. “You’re a General, Auden. But still, I just…didn’t expect you to have a guest.” I tilt my head toward the pillows and he turns, his frown deepening before it spread
My fingers continue their work. His head just hangs.“What do we do?” he whispers.“I don’t know,” I reply, my tone matching his for confusion and sorrow. I sigh and take a step away, turning toward the window. “Let me go back to my room, I’ll sleep on it – and you’ll sleep on it – and we can –“But his hand reaches out and takes my arm again, gentler this time. I look back at him, frowning when he shakes his head.“Everleigh, you were here for a reason,” he murmurs. I stand straighter as I realize that he’s right – that I completely forgot that the castle halls are host to what is basically a gigantic orgy right now and that I was here in Auden’s rooms to avoid detection. “If, somehow, your fucking magical spell on Margot fails and Mahl storms into your room…”I grimace, turning back to him. “Yea
“I don’t know about you, Everleigh,” Auden says after a long moment of choosing his next words. I flash my teeth as I realize that he has apparently chosen very poorly. “But I can control myself.”I laugh at Auden, low and derisive, leaning forward to do it – an act that only makes me wince as the bruise on my back stretches. “Auden. No, you can’t.”He glares at me, clenching his jaw. “Yes, I can!”“No!” I say, laughing a little more and shaking my head. “You can’t! Your whole life is about control and keeping things in line – about trying to fucking – fucking harness the wind, or something impossible like that! Keep a fucking muzzle on Mahl – these impossible tasks that you tell yourself that you can do, that you have to, and then you let them eat you up and you loathe yourself when you fail &
Auden leans his elbows on his knees and dips his head like he does when he’s thinking. I watch, and as the seconds pass my anger comes back to me a bit. Not at him – not…not really. Or, maybe not at all at him?Or, well. Maybe a little at him.What the hell was he doing getting all high and running across the castle, anyway? What the hell was he doing fucking me like that – like our god damned lives depended on it – and then not pulling out at the end?He knows as well as I do that the consequences of a pregnancy that is not Mahl’s means…death.Death. Again, death! All roads in this fucking life lead to an abrupt and brutal death.But my anger at Auden is minor compared to my anger at myself for losing control. And at this fucking world for being a place where something as simple and natural as a pregnancy after a much-desired sexual encounter would spell the d
I shout, my muscles clenching, my head falling back. I hear and feel Auden groan as he pitches forward on top of me, pressing me hard back against the bureau as my inner walls tighten against him, squeezing tight against his cock. Auden thrusts forward one last time and I feel him come, feel the warmth of him spreading in me, delicious and soothing after such rough play –My whole body tingles and I cry out again, little moaning sounds, my arms finding their way around his shoulders as I start to shake all over, clinging to him, everything I know and understand grinding to tiny broken pieces.He groans and holds me tight as the last final jerks pulse through his body. He loses a bit of control, his knees weakening, and his weight falls against me for a moment in a way that makes me gasp –My eyes fly open and he steadies himself, cursing lightly under his breath as he gets his legs under him again, finding bala
Auden again shifts back, his cock withdrawing slightly, the sensation against my inner walls agonizing and fantastic at once, and then he starts to pound into me at a steady, punishing pace, fucking me hard and fast and relentless – just the way I want him to.My face turns hard to the left as my hands slam down on the wood of the bureau, balancing me as Auden wraps his hand around my back and pulls me further forward so that my ass is no longer on the wood at all. Instead, he holds my body tight against him, my lower back pressed painfully to the edge of the bureau as he picks up his pace, thrusting himself deep into my core again and again with a fervid need that makes me dizzy.My mind spins as my body tenses, as heat and some fucked-up need builds within me. Because this is all wrong – all of it is fucking wrong – I hid from this man for years, I’m keeping secrets from him that would break his heart, I’m engaged to his goddamn father –But none of that – none of that fucking matte
There is nothing soft and sweet about what happens next.Auden grabs the ends of my skirt, hiking it high over my knees and pushing it back even as his lips part mine, his tongue sweeping into my mouth in a kiss that makes me dizzy with its absolute assurance, its claiming.I give myself over to him completely, one hand wrapping around his neck and the other smacking down hard on the bureau so I can lift my hips when his hands move all the way up my thighs and reach my hips, his hands wrapping around the edges of my panties and yanking them firmly down.A pathetic little whine breaks from my lips when he steps back for a second – but Auden just snarls, pulling the dainty scrap of fabric down over my knees and letting gravity do the rest of the work. His hands move fast to his belt and I move on impulse, a creaky moan sounding in my throat as I lean forward, grabbing fistfuls of the fabric of his shirt, tugging upward –He snarls, low and fierce – a wordless command to leave him be as
Allowing me to see Auden standing in the doorway to the suite, his hair and eyes wild, his chest heaving with his panting breath as he stares right at me.My eyes flare wide. Wider. I go very still.What…the fuck is happening.Auden slams the door shut.The crashing sound makes me jump and shriek as I snap my eyes first to the door and then back to him. But something breaks in me when he reaches for the lock and flicks it, sealing us in.“What are you doing!?” I shout.He just growls, slowly starting to prowl toward me.“Auden! Are you fucking high!?”He reaches the end of the bed, still wordless, glaring down at me.Not – not mad –But the fucking heat in him right now –I shriek and roll to the far side of the bed as he starts to bend, reaching for me. My feet find the ground and I whip myself up, spinning to face him, my book going sprawling.“Get over here,” he growls.“Auden, you asshole!”He just starts around the bed and I shriek again, jumping up onto the bed and then down to t