by Elle Cross
"My queen." Ranek saved me from answering that penetrating gaze of hers, because that vastness shifted back to him. "I didn't mean to be evasive. Why don't I start from the beginning instead and you can ask me questions from there?"
Karina
"I think that would be acceptable." I moved toward the sideboard, my men arranged themselves around me. I had already eaten everything in that fruit and cheese platter, yet I was hungry.
Without having to ask, Havoc took something out of his pouch, and with whatever he had found on the sideboard, he prepared another plate for me.
Well that was convenient.
He traced a finger along the back of my hand, and I swore I felt it along my center. I shifted in my seat, very self-conscious of the gathering liquid between my legs. Enver sat close to me, practically scooping me in his lap. I obliged him, and sat between his legs so that he was wrapped around me.
His hardened erection was imprinted in my back, and it took a lot for me not to wiggle against him and feel him squirm.
I focused on the food in front of me and on Ranek's words to keep me on the task at hand and not on sex.
Ranek summed up all that he had shared with me.
My men were the most shocked and disturbed at the news that there hadn't been a queen here for years. I took it in and made a note to ask about it in the future. At my inquiring look, Enver merely raked his fingers through my hair like he liked to do, looping the ends around his hand.
It brought to mind other times when he wrapped his hand with my hair; times that ended with him thrusting into me forcefully until I forgot my own name. His cock twitched against my back. I met his heated gaze, and I could tell that he had at least heard that thought. Possibly even seen it.
"And felt it," he said.
It was my turn to blush and look away. He nuzzled my neck, hugging me against his body.
Ranek took that moment to reveal his secret. ca"The reason that I knew that our queen was a bounty is that my father was the one who ordered it."
There was a collective intake of breath. The rising power in the room was thick and threatened to choke me.
I clamped my hands down on Enver, otherwise he would have risen and throttled Ranek. As of now, whatever bond they were speaking through made Ranek go down on one knee. His eyes were bloodshot and blood started to leak down his nose.
"Stop it, now."
Immediately, it was as if Ranek was released. Enver breathed heavily, gripping my arms as if he wasn't sure whether to keep me with him or to fight against the order I gave him to stop.
I turned so that I straddled his hips and made him look at me. He was still taller than me, and looking up at him like this, when he was so full of unspent anger made my breath quicken.
"I know. He already told me, and you need to listen to him."
"I swore, I swore on all things holy that I would kill whoever pronounced that bounty..."
"Okay, I get it, but remember. He was desperate. He didn't know. He just wanted his daughter back. Lord Basilius is...eccentric, but kind. I felt it through Ranek…through Raya. You even said yourself: You were surprised that he was even still alive after the passing of his queen. And didn't you tell me that my death would kill you. Like literally kill you? Heart, body, and soul?"
He looked at me then, the intensity of his rising power so thick that it penetrated me as surely as any touch. Even then, his touch against me, against my skin was gentle. I trembled in the pull of hot and cold against my skin.
"Listen to him, please."
"I already know all that I need to. You trust him, and wish to have his power to fuel your court. That's all I need to know. Anything else I am willing to listen to for your sake." He kissed past my cheek until he got to my ear flicking my earlobe with his tongue. "Of course, we can talk about a strategy to find Raya and belabor the point that we'll need to have audience with Lord Basilius. Or, you can fuck us all, bind us all together to your Inner Circle while we feed you power knowing that our knowledge, strength, everything, will be yours to command when you present yourself to this man in the morning."
I smiled at his worried face. It was good to know that the shields I had thrown up were still strong after all. As a queen I would still have privacy, and that I could still tell them to fuck off whenever I tired of them.
Though, I didn't think that would happen any time soon, because I realized the more that I had them with me, at my back, in my bed, at my side, I wanted more of it. We were stronger together than we could ever be alone, and my mistake was thinking that I ever wanted to do this, any of it, alone.
I smiled as I kissed him. He laughed before it turned into a growl against my mouth. He buried his fingers in my hair like he had wanted to, ensnaring himself to me.
Someone was at my back, tugging at my top. I refused to let go of Enver, and even if I wanted to, he kept his grip in my hair, on my hips, grinding himself against me.
I felt the deft pull of a wickedly sharp blade through fabric, and I knew it was Havoc behind me. The cold air didn't have time to touch me; his hot lips scorched a trail down my back, raking my skin with his teeth.
I didn't know how they managed it, but one moment I was dying to get more of their skin on me, and the next, I was completely naked, and being lifted in the air as Enver buried his face between my thighs.
Havoc held me tight against the hard planes of his chest, my arms locked to my sides. I loved the feel of him restraining me. I tested his hold just for a moment and he growled against me, locking his teeth on my neck to hold me still.
Enver wrapped his arms around my hips, locking me there, my legs over his shoulders as he feasted on me. I couldn't last. I was already trembling.
"Let go, my queen. Come all over our Dark Prince’s face so I can bathe my cock inside you next."
Havoc’s words undid me. I cried out my pleasure heedless of who heard me.
Enver worked his tongue and fingers inside me, spreading my hot juices all over my slit, making me orgasm again from the aftershocks. I clenched my muscles against his probing fingers, needing more inside me. "Please."
"My queen doesn't beg." And with that they maneuvered my body so that I slammed down on to Enver's rigid dick. I wrapped my power around him like a silken ribbon that grew in strength and intensity. I rode him furiously. In the same way, we flew together in the shared space of my mind.
He lifted me off of him, and I would have protested, but he angled me so that he had access to my nipples, clamping on one while Havoc tilted my hips up and sank into my needy sex, and took up the furious thrusting for Enver.
I loved the friction, needed it inside me. He had me to the hilt, his balls swinging so hard with every thrust they hit my clit. I was so close, I needed something against me, and he obliged, two fingers sank into my folds and against my clit and I exploded against him.
He was still hard, they both were, and he withdrew from me so I could sink down onto Enver again. Havoc pushed me forward, and with his well-lubed cock, sank inch by inch between my cheeks.
The pressure and the tight space filled with two large dicks left my mouth gaping wide, desperate for breath, for release, for more.
The men pressed tight around me, pressed against me. They groaned and thrust in gentle rhythms, figuring out the pace between us. Fuck their gentleness I needed more. Desperate, I cried, "Fuck me harder dammit!"
A collective masculine chuckle reverberated around me. And then, I suddenly got my wish. Another hand cupped my head and drew me in for a kiss. West was so talented with his tongue. Whatever magic he did in my mouth, I fel
t on my clit. "Room for one more, my queen?"
I gasped in pleasure as Enver thumbed my clit. "Yes!"
West disappeared his clothes, and presented his hard gleaming cock in my face. I licked my lips, and greedily took him in.
I felt Enver and Havoc hiss at the sight.
I loved hearing them in my head.
In answer, West tightened his hold in my hair, holding me still so that he was fucking my mouth. Enver tightened his hold around my ribs thrusting up into my sex. And Havoc's grip on my hips was enough to bruise while he pushed into my ass. They brought me higher and higher until I was sensation and a bundle of live wire nerves. I couldn't hold it together anymore.
All the pleasure I felt was being poured into them, while they fed theirs back into me, just like our power, just like our strength.
I quivered, about to unravel.
And that's when Enver's powers concentrated, pooling into his midsection. I felt the coldfire of it pressing against me. "Karina, my love, let go," he said through grit teeth.
I was so close. So close.
And he pulsed that power up and it was like another cock filled me though there wasn't any space for it to go. I dug my fingers into flesh, gripping tight as the orgasm rocked my mind. I screamed around West's cock as he pumped into me. Havoc groaned behind me, collapsing, and Enver, my dear Enver was the last to hold out before pumping a glorious tide of liquid inside me.
I saw stars and nearly blacked out.
My eyes fluttered open and Taran's lovely face was above me. He had my head resting on his lap. "Hi." My voice sounded small and far away.
His eyes crinkled as he smiled. "Hello, my queen." His voice was like a warm blanket. His fingers trailed up my torso, and I loved the light sensation.
Another set of his hands spanned my waist and I looked down to see that Ranek had stripped naked and was patiently waiting his turn between my legs. "Hello, Prince." I waved like he was far away.
He smiled, despite the intensity that rose around him. "Are you ready for me, my queen?" His fingers curled around my hips as he hovered over me, closer to me. But he didn't do anything more. He waited. And for that I allowed him to taste my power.
I let a little bit of it crawl over me, and then over him, wrapping him in shadows. The power grew weighty, fueled by the touch and bonds of my men. Once I touched him, the shadows became a vise that brought him to his knees. His arms were tied tightly behind his back, bowing his back as he shuddered, hissing between his teeth. His cock was ramrod straight against his stomach.
I loomed above him. "Do you still want me, Prince Ranek?"
He bit back another shudder, his erection straining for release. "More than ever, my queen." His voice was hoarse, as if he was holding the weight of the world.
I looked behind me to Taran's waiting form. My rock. My mountain. As patient as the earth itself. Leaning forward, I arched my back and tilted my hips up, my dripping slit an open invitation to fuck me.
He didn't wait. He threw open his breeches, and he dragged his pierced cock over my slit, playing the head against the opening, against my clit, all the way over and around until finally, finally dipping into my opening.
I sighed at the entrance. As the biggest of my men, Taran was careful, always careful, of being inside me. Waited until I was dripping wet and needy before he entered me. He never just thrust into me. He fucked just as he lived, with sure purpose and patience.
He stretched me, and I relished that feeling of being deliciously filled.
I swept my gaze over Ranek who knelt before me aroused, but still. Waiting, watching as Taran moved into me from behind with agonizing slowness.
“Are you ready to take me now?” I asked between strokes.
Ranek’s breaths were shallow. “Yes.”
He would be gone soon, taken over by the bliss that my wrap of power had on him. “Then hear my words. I will allow you to be in the Inner Circle. But, if you lie to me again, we’re done. I don’t need some fucker thinking he can make unilateral choices for my own good. When you bond with me, you bond with my men, too. This is not the time to play lone cowboy, okay? If you can’t handle that, I will walk away from here, thoroughly fucked and spent, while you writhe in blue ball agony. This applies now, and also the future. Do you understand me?”
My anger caused the shadows wrapped around him to tighten harder. “Yes!” he gasped. If it was possible, his cock grew ever harder. I clenched around Taran’s length inside of me while he swirled an insistent finger over my clit.
I moaned at the sensations. “Welcome to the Inner Circle, Prince,” I gasped between thrusts.
Ranek’s pulsing cock was too much of a temptation to me. I licked my lips. I wanted to taste him.
I released my restraints on Ranek, and to his credit, he didn’t jump on me. His fingers dug into his thighs as I went down on my knees to inspect him closer. Taran obliged my movements, kneeling behind me as he kept fucking me.
My face hovered over Ranek’s dick, and then licked up his entire shaft, concentrating on the tip. He swallowed, breathing hard, chest rising and falling. His face contorted in a beautiful agony that I could watch shifting all day.
I took his length into my mouth. He hit the back of my throat, and I swallowed automatically to accommodate him, and hit against the gag reflex. The deep throated groan above me was answer enough that he loved what I was doing.
I hummed in response, sighing and moaning at what they were both doing to me. I hoped they knew, that they could feel exactly how they made me feel. I wanted them to know the intense pleasure. I made sure not to hold anything back from them.
More hands joined us, and I realized that they not only knew, but they and the rest of my men felt the same thing. With more than their words they urged me on.
Taran thrust into me harder than he'd ever done before, coaxed on by my desperate yearning to be filled by him. Hands and power supported me so that Ranek was in position to thrust into me with earnest, his fingers tangling into my hair.
They worked me in tandem and I drowned in their power and scent and wanted more. Needed more.
I felt power wrap around me and push against all the right parts of me and it was like my soul was being turned inside out. I felt my power building up inside me, just under my skin, and then burst up through me and around me.
I was mindless, hungry flesh demanding to be answered. Taran thrust harder until I felt him expand once more before his shouts of pleasure echoed into the room, followed by Ranek's as he too spilled inside of me.
I drank him down, and still I needed more.
West pulled me up and gently turned me over so that I clung to the sofa back. That was all the warning I had before he slammed into me from behind. "That was so fucking hot." He rammed into me over and over again like he was a piston that could keep going forever. "So wet, so good." He gripped my sweat beaded body as I writhed underneath his torment. The winds roared and storms howled in my ears, but I held on to that sofa even while my fingers lost feeling.
His fingers pressed on my clit, and I was gone.
Sometime in the night, one of them, West or Ranek shifted us all into a room with a bed that was more like a cushioned stage it was so large. It was positioned under an oculum, and it was under a night of stars, under a moon nearly full and calling to me, that we loved, touched, sighed well into the night.
Karina
THE COURT WASN’T WHAT I'd expected. What looked like a plain house hid many winding passages of the outer and inner baileys. Each path took you to a destination that was different than where you would expect it logically.
Which is exactly what I ou
ght to have expected from a Vagari stronghold.
Rufus, one of my mother's most trusted consorts, and one of my personal favorites, though I never wanted to talk about favorites, would often regale me with stories about the Vagari. That they were a noble race of people who were more concerned about family and their homestead than they were about status and what other races thought of them.
As such, their powers and their world were hidden.
Rufus had had the privilege of fighting with them against a common enemy, and they had shared a bunch of campfire banter. He censored a lot for my younger self, but looking back on it in my adult context, I couldn't help but wonder the type of things they must have talked about.
Especially since Rufus was able to get what they thought about sex and marriage and family. From what I'd gathered, they weren't as polyamorous as the Nightmare Court. They still followed a queen of course, that part was a given. And they took their succession very seriously: the eldest daughters almost always became queen.
Even if the younger daughter or other relation was stronger and could hold the court together better, the succession went with the eldest daughter.
But, if the queen did not conceive a girl-child with her consort, or if she felt like she didn't want to wait, she would be able to take on another man to ensure she would be pregnant with an heir apparent.
In rare circumstances did a male inherit, but in most cases without a female to inherit the line, especially a queen, the lands and dowries were married off to a stronger familial line.
I had a feeling that what Ranek wanted to do—defect and swear allegiance to my court—would not be as welcome as he thought it would. But he knew his father better than me. Maybe one who was driven to madness at the death of his wife, and then the subsequent kidnapping of his daughter and heir would welcome the logical arguments of his son.
One could only hope.
Enver caressed my arm, not romantically. Just a simple gesture to let me know that he was there. He was present.
I warmed from the inside out.
We were brought into a large open feasting area, and I knew that this was the main gathering place regardless of what the rest of the house held. There were large tapestries on the wall, a combination of purposes. They told their family's story as well as a practical way to keep the drafty castle warm.