Happily Harem After

by Amy Sumida

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” my stepmother said just before she started sucking on Bernard's member.

  “All the way in,” the King commanded. “Just as you do at our parties. There you go. Is she not talented, Bernard?”

  “Yes, Your Majesty,” Bernard groaned as he grabbed at my stepmother's breasts.

  I jerked back and hurried down the hallway. I didn't stop till I was in the gardens, then I burst into laughter.

  “Saw the Duchess, did you?” My mother asked as she came through the gardens. “She's got herself a mouthful.”

  We started laughing together.

  “I have to admit,” I said to her, “watching all of this happen to them is worth remaining their servant for awhile longer. But, Mother, I don't think the princes will fall in love with me. Not like this.”

  “Madelyn,” Mother tsked, “I think you know the opposite to be true, but you're scared.”

  “I'm not scared,” I huffed.

  “You're scared that I'm right.” She waggled her finger in my face. “That these men have more to them than what you believed. That maybe you misjudged them, or even worse, were uncharitable in your opinions. That you did to them what everyone does to you; took one look and thought you knew them.”

  I went silent.

  “Did they tell you that they intend to marry their Lily?” She asked me. “All of them?”

  “Yes,” I admitted. “But I had faith in you. I knew you would keep your word.”

  “Sweetheart, I had nothing to do with it. Remember that I said I would handle their parents, not the princes.” She laughed. “That's why I'm mentioning it. Those boys decided they wanted to marry you, all on their own. They didn't even ask for permission; they just told their parents that they were going to marry the same woman. When their parents tried to protest, they said that their lives had been lived in ways that other kingdoms found shocking, so why stop at their marriages?”

  “That's a rather good point.” I smirked.

  “Yes, it is,” she agreed. “And their Majesties thought so as well. They've given their consent.”

  “But the King is going to use this situation to his best advantage.” I nodded back to the house. “He's doing that to all the hopeful mothers.”

  “He is indeed a scoundrel.” Mother grimaced. “I'll have to think about what to do about him.”

  “Well, you have a good think,” I said. “In the meantime, I have to go and curl my stepsisters's new dark locks.”

  “Oh, that turned out awful.” Mother made a horrified face.

  “I know.” I chuckled. “The dye was the worst I could find; it just made their hair look dry and flat. They look like they're covered in charcoal dust.”

  “That's what they get for trying to replace my daughter.” She smiled and stroked one of my raven locks behind my ear. “A glistening blue-black color like yours is only found on fairies.”

  Chapter Twelve

  The King was good to his word, and the very next day, the three princes came to the manor with my glass slipper. My stepsisters were in a tizzy, all except Ava, who sulked. But Ava had the last laugh.

  Hazel and Kaylee, with their awful dye jobs and their poor, injured skin (angry red instead of a healthy blush), were allowed to try the slipper on despite the distaste evident in the princes's faces. Even had they managed to fit their foot into my slipper, the princes wouldn't have married them. That much was clear from their expressions. But their father had promised the Duchess that her daughters would be given a shot at the shoe, and so, they were.

  Neither foot fit.

  Then Prince Ashton turned to Ava and kindly offered her a try. She brightened as her sisters gaped. Ava plopped into the chair before the Prince and shoved her foot into the glass slipper. She pushed and pushed, and when Ashton tried to remove the slipper, she grabbed it desperately and tried to bend her toes into the tip. Ashton waited patiently. Evidently, he was used to this sort of thing. When Ava finally gave up, he bowed to her as if nothing strange had happened, and returned the slipper to its resting place: a carved wooden chest.

  I rolled my eyes.

  Then Ashton spotted me. My eyes widened as he stepped forward, looking as if he'd ask me to try the slipper. Oh, no, I had no intentions of making it that easy on them. If I tried that shoe on, they'd know for certain that I was Lily, but I would never be certain that they wanted me for me, and not because my mother's spell had captivated them for an evening.

  So, I ran.

  “Madelyn!” Ashton called after me.

  I ran faster. I didn't stop running until I was safely hidden in the forest, and up my favorite tree. I stayed there until I heard the royal carriages pass by, and then I climbed down and returned home... to find an enraged stepmother.

  “What did you do?” She shrieked at me. “Have you been speaking to the princes?”

  “No,” I huffed. “As if they would talk to me. They came by the night of the Ball, asking about that woman. I told them I hadn't seen anyone. That's it.”

  She narrowed her gaze on me, but seemed to calm... slightly. “Well, you ruined my girls' chances at snagging a prince. Your ineptitude with the hair dye and the bleaching has left them looking like harlots. I blame you for their failure.”

  “It wasn't their hair but the size of their feet that cost them the princes,” I pointed out.

  I shouldn't have done that; it only made it worse. I was set to cleaning out the stables, top to bottom, and then the entire house. My chores kept me busy for a week, but I didn't care because every day at noon when I took a short break to eat, the princes would come to visit. They came together now, and they rode in through the woods so that my stepmother never saw them. They began to bring lunch with them, and then one day, when I said I had to return to work, they offered to help.

  I was so shocked that I nearly fainted.

  “You want to help me muck out the pig pens?” I asked Weston. “Are you mad?”

  “I think that every man needs to experience some hard labor,” Wes said. “And if it helps you in the process, Maddie, then all the better.”

  Oh right, I forgot to mention. I'd started calling the brothers by the first half of their names: Ash, Wes, and Brax reserving the second half: Ton, for when I referred to them as a whole. And they had begun to call me Maddie.

  Yeah, I was in love with them, okay?

  Chapter Thirteen

  “Come with us, Maddie,” Ash purred as he took my hand.

  “I'm in the middle of my morning chores,” I protested.

  “No, you're not,” Wes said. “There will be no more chores for you.”

  “What?” I blinked in surprise.

  “Just come along, Mads,” Brax growled. “Don't worry about those bitches; we'll handle them.”

  “Where are we going?” I asked as Brax helped me up into Ashton's saddle.

  “The forest,” Ash said as he mounted behind me.

  Ash slapped the reins, and we galloped off. His brothers followed closely, and we rode through the woods for at least fifteen minutes before Ash pulled up short before a crumbling stone church. I frowned at it as he dismounted. Then he helped me down, and the brothers led me into the abandoned building.

  “What's going on?” I asked as I saw a priest waiting for us at the end of the building, where the altar used to be.

  There was a stained glass window behind him; several panes busted out. Still, it was beautiful with the sun shining through it, and the whole place seemed magical with its crumbling walls covered in ivy and the wooden beams crossing a ceiling that was missing in several places. Wooden pews were set to either side of an aisle, most of them broken. A place that the forest had reclaimed.

  “Maddie,” Ash said as he went to his knee before me, “I have never known a woman like you. You've made me feel real again, like I was a statue before I met you. Please, make me real forever. Marry me.”

  “What?” I gaped at him.

  “I love your laugh,” Wes said as he too took a kn
ee before me. “I love your smile and the way that nothing holds you down. I need that every day. I need to wake up and see you smiling beside me. Please, Madelyn, will you marry me?”

  “I ...”

  “Dear God, you drive me mad,” Brax knelt beside his brothers. “You know that's why I gave you that nickname. But I can't live without your madness. I can't imagine spending another day without you chiding me or challenging me to be a better man. Make me better, Mads, and marry me.”

  “I can't marry you,” I finally spoke. “Your parents would disown you if you married a servant.”

  “Let them,” Ash shrugged. “That's why we're here instead of in the royal chapel. They're not here to stop us.”

  “I'm sorry that we have to do it this way,” Wes said. “But once we marry, our parents will have to accept you.”

  “Then we can have the grand wedding that you deserve,” Brax added. “And we can present you to the kingdom as our wife.”

  “What about Lily?” I asked softly.

  “Lily was a dream,” Ash murmured, “you are real.”

  “We were chasing a fairy.” Brax shrugged. “And my time for fairy tales has long passed.”

  “We want you, Maddie,” Wes said firmly. “Not Lily.”

  “Just say yes,” Ash begged. “Say yes.”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  The men smiled brilliantly and stood.

  “She said yes!” Brax shouted to the priest, who smiled indulgently.

  “Come forward then, and be bound together before God,” the priest said gently.

  We walked down the leaf-ridden aisle and up to the broken stained glass window. I felt as if I were walking down the aisle of the grandest cathedral. Standing beside them made everything more beautiful. It was a shocking revelation, but it was true. I loved those three lechers. I loved them more than anything in my world, and I was both relieved and grateful that I could continue loving them for the rest of our lives.

  The ceremony was simple, but it was perfect for us, and when it was over, the priest gave us his blessing and quietly left. There was no one to proclaim our new status to, no one to ask to hold their peace forever. It was just the four of us pledging our commitment to each other.

  “To us,” Ash held up a glass of wine after he'd passed glasses out to each of us.

  “To an unusual love that will last forever,” Wes added.

  “To madness”–Brax smirked–“may I never know sanity again.”

  “To the princes who saw past the cinders,” I added.

  We clicked glasses and drank deep. Then they looked at me with wicked smiles. I deliberately placed my glass down and opened my arms. Ash rushed forward and lifted me into his embrace as the other brothers hurried off behind a pew. When I pulled away from Ash's kiss, I saw that Wes and Brax had laid furs down on the ground, right below that beautiful window.

  “Came prepared, did you?” I asked, and they all smiled sheepishly.

  “I've been dreaming of touching you,” Wes whispered as he undid my apron.

  “Let me get that,” I said anxiously as I grabbed the apron and wadded it up around the slipper that I carried with me always.

  “She's nervous,” Brax noted in surprise.

  “Just a little,” I admitted as I laid the apron on a pew.

  “We'll be gentle,” Ash promised.

  I nodded, and the men undressed me. I rubbed self-consciously at my dirty cheeks as they stared. Then Brax removed his velvet tunic and used it to clean my face. The others got undressed and drew close. I looked over their beautiful bodies, appreciating them more now that I loved the hearts inside them. Now, I knew they were truly beautiful.

  Wes undid my kerchief and tossed it aside as Ash undid my hair. They stopped then and stared at me with wonder in their gazes.

  “Dear God,” Ash whispered.

  “So lovely,” Wes said. “How did some smudges and old clothing hide all this?”

  “We're absolute morons,” Brax muttered and yanked me to his chest.

  Brax's kiss was seductive, but it was also a lot more than that. There was a softer quality to it now, a yearning that drew out my passionate response. Ash and Wes pressed in on my sides, nuzzling my neck and nibbling my shoulder until Brax was finished kissing me. They each had their turn, making my head spin with pleasure.

  They were so tender as they drew me down to the furs, hands gently gliding over my skin like I was precious. Ash and Brax settled in on my sides, each one working a breast into their mouths, as Wes spread my legs. He kept his hot emerald stare fixed on mine as he lowered his mouth to me, and then began to lave me determinedly. I moaned, clutching Ash and Brax closer as they rubbed their hard cocks into my hips. My hands roamed down, over their muscled backs, as tongues licked my sweet spots, and then Wes slipped a finger inside me.

  I came with a languorous groaning, legs shivering with pleasure, and then Wes got to his knees.

  “Hold her up for me, Brothers,” Wes said.

  Ash and Brax slid their knees beneath my hips, angling me up to Wes, and then they drew my thighs further apart with their hands.

  “This feels rather practiced,” I said breathlessly.

  “We may have planned a little,” Wes admitted with a smirk. “And drew straws to see who would take you first.”

  “Ridiculous,” I chided, but then he placed himself against me, and I moaned as he rubbed his flesh over mine.

  “Just relax, sweetheart,” Ash purred as he slipped an arm beneath my back.

  Brax did the same, and I was lifted off the furs, my head dangling back so that my breasts were raised.

  “No,” Wes said. “I want her to watch us come together.”

  Ashton's hand went to my neck and lifted my head so I could see Weston slip his manhood into me slowly. I groaned, wanting to close my eyes, but Wes kept me enthralled. A sunbeam crossed over his face, setting his eyes to glowing, as he sank himself all the way inside me.

  “Oh, sweet Maddie,” Wes moaned. “You're like velvet and heat, a tight fist around my cock.”

  “Will you please make love to our wife before I come from just watching you two?” Ash begged.

  Wes smiled wickedly and began to move in and out of me. His pace increased slowly until he was slamming into me so furiously that the other men eased away and gave Wes the ground for leverage. He had my knees pushed back to my ears, and I could feel his heavy sacks slapping into my ass with every push. Finally, he came with a shout, filling me up with his passion.

  Wes moaned and rolled aside, but he was swiftly replaced by Ash.

  “I'm sorry, my love,” Ash said as he helped me onto my knees. “But I need you so badly. Please, just brace yourself as best you can.”

  I wondered what he meant as I pushed myself up on hands and knees, and then I felt him part me and shove into me violently. Ash groaned as he pumped into me, his hands gripping my hips tightly as each shove slapped our flesh together. The sounds were nearly as sexy as watching Braxton, who laid before me, working his cock with slow strokes.

  “Come here,” I said to Brax, but he shook his head.

  “We decided that we'd each be with you alone, this first time,” Brax said. “You're special, Madelyn. You're our wife now, and we want to at least have this moment be as separate as possible.”

  I smiled softly, but Ash was moaning and pounding into me, and it was hard to remain tender under such a sensual onslaught. I began pushing back into him, meeting each thrust with eagerness, and Ashton called out his passion with an echoing shout. He jerked against me, leaving me trembling with the aftershocks of my own orgasm, and then slid out of me and backed away.

  “At last,” Brax growled as he pulled me over to him.

  Brax sat on the furs, legs extended, and had me straddle his lap. His cock rose proudly between us, and he lifted his hips to rub it against me. I clung to his shoulders as he slid his thick forearms beneath my hips and drew me up, above his rod. I reached between us and took hold of him, angl
ing him into me. Then I wrapped my legs around his waist and my arms around his shoulders as he began to buck and grind.

  I rolled my hips over him, and he tightened our embrace as he buried his face in my neck.

  “Mads,” he moaned as he pushed deeper. “I love you.”

  “I love you too,” I whispered.

  Brax began bucking more violently; then he eased me back so that he could rub at my clit.

  “Come for me, Mads,” Brax purred and then bent his head to my breast.

  He sucked me in as he continued to work me below, and I leaned back on my hands and screamed my ecstasy to the forest.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “I have to tell you something,” I said to the princes–my husbands–hours later after we'd finally appeased our desire.

  “Yes?” Ashton exchanged an odd look with his brothers before he gave me his attention.

  “I'm not a servant.”

  “What?” Wes sat up, taking me with him.

  “I mean, I am now, but I wasn't always,” I amended. “I wasn't born a servant.”

  “The old duke,” Brax whispered. “You were his first child, weren't you?”

  “Yes,” I admitted. “My mother was the Duchess who disappeared, and my father remarried.”

  “And after he died, they made you their servant?” Brax growled.

  “Yes.”

  “Those evil fucking bitches!” Ashton shouted. “They will pay for this, Madelyn. They will fucking pay.”

  “Easy now, Prince.” I held up a hand. “Technically, my stepmother did nothing wrong. She continued to provide for me; she just did so in a poor manner.”

  “You don't treat a noble girl like that,” Wes said. “There's no technically about it, Maddie. She broke the law, and she will be punished for it.”

  “Oh,” I whispered.

  “And we're going to get your home back,” Ashton vowed. “It belongs to you, not her. That's why she made you a servant. A second wife only holds property until a legitimate heir can claim it. She has no right to it, and neither do her daughters.”