Ruby’s Pride

by Romy Lockhart

  I ignore them as the big heavy doors close with an earth-shuddering bang behind us.

  “Little witch, you came.” He grins at me, his red-eyes making me shiver.

  “Of course I came,” I tell him, stalking forward. I have to make this quick. Aside from the fact that time is ticking away from me with every passing second, I have to run on instinct here. I have to throw a damn chair. Metaphorically. Probably. “Did you expect me to ignore this?”

  I wave my hand at Aster who’s unconscious. Of course she is. If she wasn’t she could easily free herself with her magic. A swell of panic rushes over me. I’m on my own here. She’s out of it.

  Doesn’t matter, I remind myself as I stare into the lion’s unnatural eyes. I’m the only one who can banish this asshole. I’m the one who’s going to save Oz. It’s my damn home now. Trespassers aren’t welcome.

  My men protest in a murmur of whispers behind me, but they don’t try to stop me.

  “Let her go,” I demand, my gaze drifting to the stack of straw gathered around the base of the pole.

  “Witches are good for nothing but kindling,” The assassin growls, scratching his claws down the pole and igniting a spark. Droplets of fire rain down from his nails onto the straw, starting a roar of flames below Aster’s feet.

  “I beg to differ,” I tell him, snapping my fingers hard and visualizing what I want to happen. Our surroundings blur and change until all six of us are in the courtyard in the Emerald City. Well, look at that. I guess I just came in to my full powers. The smile on my face is lit up from within. Nothing could kill it.

  I gaze to the sky and snap my fingers once more, to direct the drizzle of rain overhead to grow heavier and put out the beginnings of the fire at Aster’s feet. She gasps awake under the downpour and frees herself of her bindings.

  The assassin is enraged. “How dare...”

  “It’s time for you to go home,” I tell him coldly, reaching out to clasp his shoulder. The entity within the lion’s body loses its hold on this dangerous creature. I feel the dark spirit ripping away before I see it behind the lion. “Be gone from this world and never return.”

  The curse I cast is sealed on a bolt of lightning from above. The spirit is gone when the sky clears up ahead. The sun has set, but I turn my shoes from white to red on my own and smile as the color stays put.

  My magic isn’t abandoning me. It never will again.

  “Ruby, watch out!” I just catch Ax’s warning before the assassin can slam his fist into the side of my face. Oh, shit, yeah. How could I forget there’s still an actual fucking assassin to take care of?

  I stagger backward as he approaches to take another swing at me. I don’t give him the chance to get close. I magically call a chair into mid-air out of nowhere, and use my force of will to slam him across the chest and face with its metal legs before letting it drop. He tumbles back, cracks his head on the edge of the water feature and doesn’t get back up. I watch him until blood flows from the wound.

  I feel arms close around me from behind, but something gnaws at my memories and Aster’s grim look confirms it just as I remember. I start to pull away but Ransom and Corwin don’t want to let me go.

  “We have to finish this. He’ll come back,” I tell them. “He’s immortal.”

  Horror fills me as the assassin starts to move. I knew this was coming, but I don’t quite know what to do to keep him from continuously rising. Then a dark shadow appears behind him as he starts to pull himself up. Shit. Did I not get rid of the Darkness? How the hell am I supposed to get rid of it? I mean, if a curse and a lightning bolt doesn’t work...

  The shadow’s arm moves around the creature’s neck and I hear a loud crack as I see the arm is very human, and attached to the hardest to pin down of my mates.

  “Warner!” I gasp out a breath as he turns away from us.

  The grisly sounds that follow his abrupt turn are shudder-inducing, but I can live with it if it means I never have to worry about the assassin coming after me again. He drops the body, a piece at a time, wipes his mouth and turns back.

  I can see he’s about to leave again, and I don’t want him to do that. I think about the curses I lifted before. The Woodcutter, The Darkness. Don’t even try to tell me I can’t do my mate that same courtesy. “Wait!”

  I step forward as he pauses, barely meeting my eye as I approach him. I touch his shoulder and he gazes at me curiously. I close my eyes and see the moment this curse was placed on him and the way to heal it. It was a price paid a long time ago and he has more than earned his way free of it. I open my eyes and remove it, wordlessly. It’s lifted. He doesn’t have to leave.

  He stares at me, his jaw slackening, before he pulls me into an elated hug.

  “I can’t quite believe it,” Aster says, her voice dream-like. “The dark shadows are gone. You did it, Ruby. You saved us all. You saved The Land of Oz.”

  “Yeah, she did it,” Ransom says, his voice hollow. “She can leave now.”

  He turns and walks away, and I’m left staring at his retreating figure, while Warner’s hand tangles in mine. What the hell?

  Chapter 42

  I only realize Ax is staring at me when I break my gaze from Ransom’s fading figure in the distance to blink back the tears that are threatening to fall. It has to be the pregnancy hormones. I already knew Ransom was an asshole. His outburst shouldn’t come as any surprise.

  “He’s just...” Corwin starts, his expression conflicted.

  “Are you really going to leave?” Ax asks, as if he hadn’t realized that was what was supposed to happen. He sounds so mournful.

  “This isn’t her home,” Corwin says, eyeing me carefully. “We can’t force her to stay here if it’s not what she wants.”

  What the hell? Corwin too? Man, these guys have really taken a turn for the fucked up.

  “So, that’s it, huh?” I ask. “Knock a girl up and send her packing? You guys are such dick-holes.”

  I catch Warner smirk when I’m talking and it makes me drop his hand too.

  He grabs my hand again and pulls me in close, shaking his head. I didn’t understand his meaning. He likes my fire and believes his brothers are being idiots. My heart starts to melt, but his mouth is still kind of bloody so I shake my head at him and he seems to realize what I’m protesting at when I frown at his mouth.

  “What are you talking about?” Corwin asks, coming closer. “I don’t understand.”

  The irritation that’s rising in me fades when I realize he looks as if his heart is breaking. He thinks I’m going home. Of course he does. I never told them I decided to stay. They must not know it’s what lifted the restriction on my magic. “Corwin, I’m not leaving.”

  “I knew she’d stay,” Ax says, slapping his brother’s back. “Did I not say this, brother? Just yesterday. She is ours. She goes nowhere.”

  Blondie’s untapped enthusiasm makes me smile.

  “Truly?” Corwin asks, his gaze fixing on me intently. “You are staying with us in Oz?”

  I start to nod, then stop. “Yeah, but not in the creepy cabin in the woods.”

  “A witch is worth many times her weight in gold pieces,” Aster says, drawing my attention to the fact that she hasn’t left us yet. She’d been so quiet, I’d forgotten she was still around. “You will have your pick of the abandoned castles in this land for yourself and your pride.”

  “My pride?” I ask, thinking of the lions living in that field.

  She nods. “You do not need to have them live so close at hand, but considering you killed their leader they are now yours to command.”

  Wait. I killed their leader? “I thought that guy was an...”

  “He was their King,” she says, shrugging her shoulders.

  Oh, that little bitch! She lied to me about who he was.

  My mates nod as I gaze around them.

  “Seriously?” I ask.

  “Yes,” she says, a small smile on her face. “You are their queen now. Your word is l
aw.”

  Holy hell.

  “What will your first act as queen be?” Ax asks, grinning at me. I can tell by the lust in his gaze what acts are on his mind. Any other time, I might be quick to indulge them. Right now, there’s something else I need to do.

  “That’s going to have to wait,” I tell him, breaking away from Warner and taking Corwin’s hand. I look at Aster. “Can you make sure these two don’t get into any trouble for a while?”

  She nods. “Of course.”

  Corwin frowns at me, but there’s no time to explain. His brother has almost disappeared into the distance. I transport us before I can lose sight of him. There’s something we need to sort out before I start playing house with these guys.

  Chapter 43

  Corwin gapes at me as I let go of his hand to chase after his twin. I’m not sure what he thought was about to happen, but it wasn’t this, apparently.

  “Ransom!” I call out.

  He sighs as he turns, stopping to allow us to catch up without resorting to running.

  “What do you want?”

  You, to stop acting like an asshole, is what I feel like saying. But that’s the anger talking. I need to be better than that now. “You.”

  Hope flickers in his gaze but it dims again as he searches my eyes and doesn’t find what he’s looking for. “Ruby, I am not one of your mates.”

  “I don’t care if my eyes don’t flash or whatever, Ransom. You’re mine.” I know it like I know my own name. “I’m staying, and I want all of you to live with me.”

  His gaze drifts to his brother. “I am glad you are staying. But this is not the way things are done among our kind. My brothers will not stand for me to be with you when I am not a true mate.”

  I glance back at Corwin, take in his helpless expression and shake my head before I turn back to Ran.

  “I just became queen of your pride. I’ll decide how things are done.”

  He moves in close, but his gaze doesn’t stay on me. “I wish I was yours.” His lips touch mine briefly and I decide to move on to the next part of my plan without warning either of them. We transport to the bedroom at their cabin, and I strip out of the dress in a flash, dropping it to the ground.

  “You are mine, Ransom, and I will claim you with your brother as witness to prove it.”

  The tension in the air around us is thick. Neither of them are sure about this, even if one glance below their waists would make it obvious they’re both more than ready for whatever I ask of them in this bedroom.

  I give Ransom’s chest a push. “Lay down.”

  He hesitates for the briefest of moments, and then murmurs, “This will change nothing.”

  He’s wrong. It’s going to change everything. I take a moment to appreciate the fact that I’m about to get my birthday ménage wish with two very well endowed twins. Don’t get me wrong, what I did with Ax and Ransom was a lot of fun, but this is some next level shit. How many people ever actually get to do this? I mean, outside of the realm of celebrity, and even then it’s freaking rare.

  “Just lay back and watch me with Corwin.” I watch until he does what I tell him. I’m not going to explain myself. I’m just going to give Ransom exactly what he needs, and get myself off doing it. Where’s the harm in that?

  Corwin still looks uncertain. I’m about a hundred and ten percent sure it’s because of what Ransom said before. That he’s not my mate, and his brothers are not okay with sharing when that’s the deal.

  I move in close and stroke the hairs on the back of Corwin’s neck.

  “This isn’t really...” he starts, trailing off when I press my body against his.

  “Do you trust me, Corwin?” I ask, making sure he looks me in the eye.

  “Of course, Ruby. You’re my mate.”

  “Then trust me,” I tell him, before pressing my lips to his and slowly opening up the kiss to stroke my tongue against his. I can feel his heart pounding against my palm, and his cock throbbing against my belly, as his strong hands grope at my ass and keep me pressed tight against him.

  By the time he allows me to break the kiss, I’m breathless and wet between my legs. Aching to be filled. Corwin’s dark eyes are full of lust, though a hint of doubt leaks in when he glances at Ransom.

  I pull Corwin with me on to the bed from the other side, putting myself between him and Ransom.

  “This feels wrong,” Corwin tells me, as I straddle his brother and begin to stroke Ransom’s cock.

  Ran makes a choked sound as I work my fingers along his length.

  “Trust me, Corwin,” I say, keeping my voice steady. “Both of you have to trust me if I’m to be your queen.”

  Ransom reaches out to put one hand over mine, making my grasp firmer. Showing me how he likes it. That’s a good start, though I wish Corwin would relax enough to let me work my magic on his brother. Well, not my actual magic. More like my womanly wiles.

  “I ache to be inside you, my queen,” Corwin tells me with a longing look.

  He’s stroking his cock in a similar rhythm to the way I’m stroking Ransom’s. I shake my head slowly at him. “Not yet.”

  I ache for it too, but I can wait. I lick the tip of Ransom’s cock and begin to wet it with my mouth. I’m soaked already. I’m primed for him. I just need to wait for the perfect moment. He needs to be off guard, relaxed to the point of losing it. He’s been pulling away from me since day one. Knowing I won’t stay, and not willing to let me own him when he might lose me right after. Now, everything’s different, and he’s holding on to his denial out of misplaced fear.

  The same way I held onto my anger all these years. If I can let that go, he can let this go.

  Corwin sits up and moves behind me. His hands stroke my ass and I hear him sigh impatiently as he moves one hand between my legs.

  “You’re so wet I can almost taste it. I need to taste it, Ruby.” He plunges two fingers inside and I buck under his touch, swallowing more of Ransom’s cock than I even knew I was capable of.

  Corwin’s fingers distract me so much I almost miss it when Ransom starts to get close to coming. I back up quickly, but Corwin’s fingers are still pumping into my pussy.

  I move off, gasping as I move away from Corwin and work myself into position over Ransom’s shaft. He stares at me longingly as I position his cock at my slick entrance, desperate to push down onto it but not willing to do so until he accepts that he’s mine.

  “Tell me you’re mine,” I demand.

  He groans. “Ruby, don’t do this.”

  “Ransom, I’m not going anywhere until you say it. I’ll torture you to the brink of pleasure as many times as I need to. You don’t get to spill your seed inside me until you damn well promise me your heart is mine and mine alone.”

  Still, he hesitates. I feel Corwin’s hands skimming my ass and wonder how he’s doing. He must be going nuts back there. I’ll get to him soon. Ransom comes first.

  “I can’t,” he whispers.

  “You’re not stealing me from your brothers, Ransom. You’re all mine. Tell me you know that.”

  He groans, and Corwin’s hands move to my hips. As his fingers dig in, I wonder what’s up to. He leans in close to my ear and I feel his erection stab me in the back as he whispers, “Do you trust me, Ruby?”

  My heart begins to race as I answer, “Completely.”

  He pushes me down onto Ransom’s cock. The sensation almost fries my brain, taking in that thick length that fills me so completely and grinds perfectly against my g-spot with every movement. It takes me a second to realize Corwin’s helping me to seduce his brother. When I do, I can’t even find the right words, but that’s okay because Corwin has them for me.

  “You’ve been a fool, brother. She is yours as much as she is mine. You just couldn’t see it. Open your eyes.”

  And I see it in his face when my eyes flash gold. He stares at me intently for a moment, before pulling me down to kiss and moving to roll on top of me.

  “Say it, Ransom,” I
demand, even as he begins to thrust. My body tenses for a second under the force of his acceptance. Then he slows and the slow build of an intense climax begins at my core.

  “I am yours,” he breathes. “Yours. There is only you, my queen.”

  Finally. I turn my head to gaze at Corwin. “Get over here.”

  Corwin comes in close and kisses me as his twin slowly thrusts into me, driving me wild with his measured movements.

  “She likes her kisses slow, brother. With lots of tongue,” Ransom says as he moves up, lifting my ass off the mattress and controlling his movements even more as he holds my lower body exactly where he wants it. I moan at the gentle squeezes of his hands on my ass.

  Corwin slows his kiss at his twin’s instruction, and swirls his tongue against mine languorously, as if he’s taking his time tasting my mouth. It feels so damn good. One hand steals to my right breast and he caresses my hard nipple with the tips of his fingers, making me gasp and raise my hips a little higher for Ransom. I’m so fucking close right now with the two of them touching me so softly.

  “I will not move from this bed all day, my queen,” Ransom tells me. “I am yours to command.”

  I smile as Corwin breaks our kiss. It makes me incredibly happy to hear that Ransom is committed to this fully, after all the aching he put me through. “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll wear you out, Ran.”

  He gazes down at me. “My brother is desperate for your touch, Ruby. He would enjoy having your mouth.”

  “Her mouth?” Corwin sounds curious.

  It’s adorable how green these men are. I’m going to enjoy teaching them all kinds of kinky.

  “You saw me lick and suck Ransom’s cock.” I look at Ran. “I’m going to turn around so I can do this properly.”

  It’s sweet torture to pull away from his cock even for a few seconds like this, but I know it’ll be filling me up again soon. I turn around and motion for Corwin to kneel before me. Ran strokes a hand between my legs as I lean down to begin stroking his twin’s cock. He’s straining and ready as I take him in my mouth, while Ransom fingers my aching pussy from behind.