A Royal Continuum

by Marie Harte

  The muscles on both men strained as they clawed toward climax. Ava wanted to swallow Matthias as she had Tanner, but couldn't stop the momentum pushing them forward. Her clit throbbed as she rubbed her legs together, the moisture between her thighs a reminder of how talented Matthias's mouth truly was. Tanner knew as well, his features scrunched in pleasured pain as he sought that blissful relief.

  "I'm going to come," he warned, thrusting up off the mattress.

  Matthias held him down and sucked harder, groaning when Ava tightened her fist. She brought her other hand over him as well and clenched hard. The press of his tight sack told her he neared his end, and she continued to jerk him off.

  "Fuck," Tanner yelled as he came, and Matthias groaned as he swallowed a mouthful of cum. Then he was jetting over Ava's hands. Thick cream spilled onto his belly and the bed, evidence of shared passion that showed no signs of abating, their sexual forays just growing hotter and hotter.

  Ava slowly drew her hand away and wiped trails of Matthias's cum over Tanner's belly, marking him with Matthias as surely as the Dracon had already imprinted himself on Tanner's stubborn mind. And like before, the Dracon seed vanished from the bed and Tanner's body, as if it had never been.

  Matthias pulled away and pushed Ava over, lying between her and Tanner. Tanner lay still, his eyes closed, his breathing labored, as he recovered.

  "You taste so good," Matthias rumbled. "Both of you do." He reached out and brought Ava over his chest.

  "I don't think I can move." Tanner belied the statement by reaching out to caress Ava's back, and she grinned at the sight of the two men so utterly spent.

  "Now that's what I call a wake-up call." Ava chuckled as they groaned and felt a sudden welling of energy. "Shower's mine first. I called it." So saying, she leapt off Matthias and the bed and darted into the bathroom.

  She heard a few murmurs before she turned on the shower, and then she relaxed into the hot beads of water raining over her. At the rate they'd been driving, another two days and they'd be back at the keep, at Dracon Mount.

  She grabbed the small hotel shampoo and lathered her hair, trying not to think too hard. The lust between them felt so right. Most Dracon had sex and were open about it. Though many shared monogamous relationships, there were those into threesomes and group sex. But matings were strictly between two Dracon. Not that I should even be thinking about mating.

  She cursed under her breath as soap ran into her eye. Washing it away, she wondered if her enjoyment with the males was due to her lingering feelings for Matthias, as well as her growing affection for Tanner. Funny, but she could easily see herself falling in love with Tanner. And she'd never felt so strongly for another male, not since she'd first laid eyes on Matthias so many years ago.

  The confusion that filled her, as well as the remembered hurt, forced her to remember how temporary the situation was. She'd enjoy the sex, work hard to put Tanner in a place to view Matthias with good grace, and face the demons that had driven her from Dracon Mount in the first place.

  Her good mood faded when she realized she'd be running into her uncle in just a few days. Besides her cousin, he was her last living relative. She didn't look forward to their coming encounter, but realized if she ever wanted any peace in her life, she'd have to find closure for the festering wound of her family. Thank God Emmaline was well away. Having to face that witch would make it all the harder.

  But none of that mattered for the next few days, she reminded herself. They had another seventeen hundred miles of driving, and more hotel rooms, before reality intruded. And she intended to take full advantage of their travels. With no chance of getting pregnant due to her unfailingly precise ovulation cycle, and the impossibility of sexual disease since she was Dracon, Ava had nothing standing in her way to great sex and fulfilling fantasies. Now if only her heart would stay the hell out of it.

  Chapter 10

  * * *

  Tanner couldn't help glancing Ava's way as he drove. He'd just taken over from Matthias, who now lay in the backseat, his knees in his chest as he tried to get comfortable. Ava sat in the front next to him. Though she'd been quiet most of the day, Tanner thought he understood her silence. Trying to understand just what had passed the night before and this morning made them all introspective.

  But as the miles passed and she still said nothing, he began to wonder if there was something wrong. He tilted the rearview mirror and saw Matthias sleeping. No better time than the present to talk to Ava.

  "You okay?"

  She turned from the window and smiled, but her grin looked forced. "Fine."

  He wanted to say more, but couldn't figure out how to ask her what he wanted to know. The hell with it. "Did the sex screw with your brain as much as it screwed with mine?"

  Her eyes widened and she chuckled, her laughter soft as she looked over her shoulder to verify Matthias was still sleeping. "You could say that. And the closer we get to Dracon Mount, the more nervous I feel."

  "I'll protect you, lefne." His heart pulled seeing the worry in her large, dark eyes. "Don't worry about that."

  "No, I know you'll help." She stroked his forearm and linked her fingers with his, smiling at their joined hands. "It's just... I'm not ready to face my uncle yet."

  Tanner frowned. "I don't understand something. Emmaline is the one that tried to kill the Draka. So why are you so freaked out about it? And why did you leave Dracon Mount? Shino would have stood by you."

  "He's part of why I left."

  "Huh?"

  She sighed and would have pulled her hand away, but Tanner tightened his grip. "Emmaline was guilty, I know. And I had nothing to do with what happened, or didn't happen, to the Draka. But Shino was involved. The royal family won't believe it, but Emmaline told me Shino was on board with her plan until he heard Lea was carrying. Then he turned her in."

  "But are you sure about that? Seems to me Emmaline has a penchant for lying."

  Ava leaned her head back against the headrest. "I've thought of that. But when I confronted my uncle about it when the news first came out, he looked so guilty. I know Uncle Shino, and I know his moods, his expressions. I've always been closer to him than my own family. So when he got that look in his eye, I knew there was more than he'd told everyone."

  Tanner thought on what she'd said. "But what if he's suffering the same way you are?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "What if he feels guilty for Emmaline? She's his daughter, after all. And as I've heard from everyone in the damned keep, the Tailstacks are an honorable family who've aided the royals for centuries. So maybe he's feeling responsible for it all. Emmaline's his flesh and blood."

  Ava stared, her frown darkening. "I guess I hadn't thought about it that way."

  "And you never asked him what he was hiding?"

  "I didn't want to know," she said softly.

  Tanner could well understand that. It was part of why he'd never tried to find his long lost father. It was much easier to think his father hadn't known about him than to learn the horrible truth that he'd abandoned Mary Flay and his baby.

  "The truth is never easy, but it's something you need to face to remain whole." Matthias's quiet voice resonated from the backseat. In the rearview mirror, Tanner saw that his eyes were still closed, so he must have been playing possum while listening to them.

  "I thought you were sleeping," Ava said, her tone curt.

  "Shino didn't poison anyone, Ava. At first, he was very against Ferin marrying Lea. He told us that."

  "He did?"

  Tanner saw the surprise on her face, and thought Matthias might have come clean about her uncle sooner, to save her some pain.

  "He did. Shino's an upstanding Dracon, an elder with enough wisdom to see that even he has lapses in judgment. But you need to hear the story from him. Not from me. Give him a chance, Ava."

  Give us all a chance. Tanner swore he heard Matthias in his mind, and by Ava's stunned reaction, thought the prince might have sent it to her
as well.

  They continued to drive in silence. Four hours later Tanner switched with Ava while Matthias truly slept in the backseat. Tanner liked the way she controlled the vehicle. Sure motion, even braking and an awareness of the road around them. Her eyes glinted with the night sheen of Dracon vision, and Tanner relaxed and closed his eyes, the rocking of the vehicle making him sleepy.

  "He's a pain in the ass, you know?" He tossed a thumb Matthias's way, not caring if the lout woke and heard him. "Too damned sure of himself. And overloaded with firebreather pheromones."

  Which was the excuse Tanner kept using as to why he'd let Matthias blow him a second time. God, the sex with the man was incredible. The feelings Tanner had for Ava seemed powerful, but explainable. She was beautiful, caring and very giving. Who wouldn't fall for the blond bombshell? Matthias, however, baffled him.

  "Well," Ava paused. "I don't know how sure of himself he is about you."

  Tanner opened his eyes a crack and peered in her direction. "What do you mean?"

  "Just that Matthias isn't really into men. I've never heard of him having sex with a male other than Lucas, and that was part of the ritual to bring Lea over to the Dracon."

  Tanner didn't understand what he was hearing. "Matthias fucked Lucas?" At Ava's grimace, he hastily corrected himself. "Sorry. Matthias and Lucas...were together, like that?"

  She nodded.

  Oh, shit. He was so royally fucked. And the irony of his thought wasn't lost in his panic. Lucas really was going to kill him. Tanner had been playing around with Lucas's special "friend," even if he'd never intended to do so.

  "Wait a minute." Tanner rubbed his temples. "I thought Lucas had a thing going on with Adrian." Was Lucas balling all the royals?

  "You're not hearing me." Ava muttered under her breath. "Matthias dates women. He has lots of sex--" She sounded fierce and stopped herself before continuing slowly. "Sex with women. But he doesn't do men. Never has. That time with Lucas was for the new Draka, to cement the royal bonding. It's easy for him to flirt with me. I'm a female, after all. But you're different."

  Tanner's heart raced.

  "With you he's taking a chance. Because the Dracon won't be content with Ferin's babies. They'll want Ferin and Adrian to ensure the continuation of the species." She chewed her lower lip, and Tanner wanted to soothe the gnawed flesh with his tongue. "I don't see Adrian giving the Dracon any young. He's too into Lucas for that."

  "Really?" Tanner marveled that she couldn't see the truth in front of her face. If Matthias needed young, he had a perfect mate sitting behind the wheel of this truck. Matthias no doubt intended to get Ava pregnant. Why else convince Tanner to help him with Ava? To go to all the trouble of bringing her back himself?

  "Yeah. I figure it's only a matter of time before Lucas and Adrian announce their bond. But Matthias is really killing the hopeful Dracon by waiting so long to take a mate."

  "You think?" He chuckled, wondering how long it would take her to figure out she was being set up. Ava was a smart woman, but when it came to Matthias, she couldn't see past his legion of conquests.

  "What's so funny?"

  "Ava, doesn't is seem strange to you that one of the royal princes came all the way to the arctic tundra just to find you?"

  "Very funny. Cattleback wasn't that cold," she muttered. Her hands tightened on the wheel, and the glare of lights from opposing traffic highlighted the misery on her face. "Matthias is doing my uncle a favor."

  Tanner shrugged. "Think what you like."

  Silence descended, and he'd nearly fallen asleep when Ava spoke. "So you think Matthias wants me? As a mate, I mean?"

  "Who knows what Matthias thinks in that screwball brain of his." Tanner grunted, his neck a mess against the hard seat rest. "All I know is that he could have ordered me to come get you, or had a dozen or more highly trained security experts find you. Hell, he could have asked Lucas to grab you, and you know no one messes with that icebreather. Instead he came himself."

  "But he brought you."

  "No. I was assigned to follow him."

  "Hmm."

  He let her stew and finally fell asleep, waking when the truck jerked to a stop. He heard the door open and slam shut and moved quickly, grabbing Ava when she would have entered the hotel without him.

  "Hold on. Give me a minute to catch up."

  "I'm going to check us in. I'll be fine."

  Tanner glanced at the truck, then back at Ava. He hadn't heard Matthias move at all, and figured he was still asleep. Darting to the vehicle, he locked the doors, checked the parking lot full of cars but fairly empty of people, and escorted Ava inside.

  He stifled a grin when she asked for connecting rooms. Tanner didn't plan on sleeping alone, and he couldn't see Matthias letting that happen. When she tried to pay, Tanner quickly gave the clerk his credit card.

  "It's expensed to the Dekkers. Relax, Ava." She was so damned cute when she frowned.

  Gathering the keys, they went back to the truck, only to find it empty. The flare of panic that crept over Tanner frightened him. And the utter relief he felt when Matthias spoke from the front of the truck threw him into an unexplainable confusion. Because his relief had nothing to do with his job, and everything about a feeling deep within.

  "I think the front right tire's going flat."

  "Dammit." Tanner stalked to Matthias and wrenched the man to his feet. "What the fuck are you doing out here all alone? Don't you know what the word 'safety' means?" He clenched his grip over Matthias's shoulder, digging into the hard muscle. "You should have waited until I came back."

  Matthias shoved Tanner into the passenger side door and gave him a mocking grin. "Watch it, Tanner. Or I might begin to think you care." He looked over Tanner's shoulder, so easily dismissing him. "Hi, Ava. How are you--"

  Tanner cut him off with a furious kiss, effectively silencing the smart-assed royal. When Tanner came up for air, Ava, he noted, smirked and tried not to laugh at Matthias's stunned expression. "God, if I'd known that's what it takes to shut you up, I'd have done it long ago. Now get your ass inside that hotel so we can settle in for the night. We're not out of the danger zone just yet."

  They needed to get past Kansas before they could breathe easier. The states they'd passed during the trip were anti-Dracon, the laws on the side of those with a grudge against shapeshifters. Thus far they'd been smart to attract as little attention as possible. But Tanner knew it was only a matter of time before someone suspected two large men with eyes that shone like rainbows when angry. The most levelheaded of them, Ava could easily pass for a full human, her shorter stature and dark eyes easy enough to explain. Of course, Tanner kissing a man in public, in the deep Midwest, probably hadn't been smart, but it had been worth it, if only to see Matthias off his game for once.

  "A little cocky, aren't we?" Matthias asked politely, his eyes glowing with red glints of anger.

  Apparently, Ava saw them as well, for she hurriedly advised, "Why don't we discuss who's in charge inside, hmm? Matthias, Tanner? Now." The crunch of several feet told them they were no longer alone.

  "Good idea." Tanner agreed and let go of Matthias, waiting for Ava to gather what she needed from the truck. He then preceded the group as he kept a careful eye out for danger.

  Ava mumbled under her breath as they entered the quiet hotel and found their room on the sixth floor. Once inside, Matthias and Tanner relaxed, the tension easing out of them. Ava, however, stood quite still, and Tanner grinned, waiting for the explosion sure to follow.

  "Big place." Matthias frowned at the connecting door and turned a puzzled glance to Ava. "Something you care to explain?"

  Tanner leaned against the secured door to the room and crossed his arms, glad to be out of Matthias's line of fire just now. The look he was shooting Ava said shit was seriously going to hit the fan.

  Ava clutched her duffle tighter and swallowed loudly, but to her credit, she didn't back down. It was that inner strength, that will that knew she could
never defeat Matthias, yet she refused to quit, that made Ava so special. Lust and affection grew even though Tanner's body clamored for sleep.

  "Come on, Matthias. A girl needs her privacy. We still have a few more nights before we're back in Dracon Mount. So I think if it's all the same to you, I'll take the other room while you and Tanner share this one. I got you queen beds."

  Matthias glanced at Tanner, who held his hands up in surrender. "Not my idea."

  With a grunt, the prince turned back to Ava, who shot Tanner a wounded look of betrayal. "Now, Ava. I told you I didn't think Matthias would go for it. The other room has a king," Tanner offered.

  Matthias stared at Ava, and she squirmed under his gaze. "Alright, Ava. Take the other room. But the connecting door stays open. And if I hear your door to the hall so much as move an inch, I'm coming in."

  Ava breathed a sigh of relief and left them. It wasn't long before they both heard the shower running.

  "You're not seriously going to let her stay in there by herself?"

  Matthias gave Tanner a look questioning his intelligence. "Since you have such a problem with me going anywhere without an escort, I'm tasking you to find me some things." He lowered his voice. "It's late, but I'm sure there's an all-night truck stop, or better yet, a super center nearby. Find us some clothes, because I'm sick of the ones I'm wearing. Nothing fancy, but something else, please. And some toiletries would be nice."

  Tanner sighed. "Anything else, my prince?"

  Matthias grinned, the smile so carnal it took Tanner aback. "Yeah, something to work nicely as lube."

  Tanner blinked but nodded, leaving before his hard-on brought to Matthias's attention how much he favored the idea. But as he left the hotel, he wondered who exactly would need the lube. And why the thought didn't bother him as much as it should.

  * * * *

  Matthias let out a breath when Tanner shut the door behind him. His ribs still ached but were definitely on the mend. The sleep he'd needed he'd finally gotten on the trip to ... wherever the hell they'd landed. Water spattered in uneven drops in the room next-door, catching his attention again. With his enhanced hearing, Matthias knew Ava was either washing her hair or body. Both options made him wish he was a bar of soap.