by Celia Kyle
“I love you so much, Amy. We love you so much.” His teeth caught her earlobe and he nibbled her there for a long moment before Shon pulled away and whispered in her other ear.
“We don’t want to spend another night without you.”
Judging by the thick erections against her hips, she believed them. A thrill of excitement wound its way to her heart, speeding it up. As fast as all of this was, she cared for both of them too—more than cared for them—but she wasn’t sure if she was ready say the words they deserved to hear.
She’d just have to show them. When she reached for Tahvo, he rolled off the bed, out of reach. Before she could turn to Shon, he’d followed suit, leaving her all alone in the big bed, whimpering for them to return. Holding her hands out to them, she whined, “Come back to bed.”
Instead of complying, as they should have, they smiled, and each grabbed one of her hands. Groaning in protest, she allowed them to pull her out of bed and lead her to the middle of the room. Shon held her gaze while Tahvo found his trousers on the floor and pulled something from the pocket. As he walked behind his brother, Tahvo passed off something Amy couldn’t see.
“If you’re thinking about becoming a professional magician,” she said, trying to peer behind them to see what they were hiding, “you really should keep your day job.”
Without a glance or a word, they both dropped to one knee in front of her, each holding out a tiny velvet box. Amy gaped down at them, trying to convince herself this was a big joke they were having on her. But she knew in her heart they weren’t kidding around.
“Amy, you are our beloved, our true love, our mate,” Tahvo said, his voice thick with emotion as he smiled up at her.
“As twins,” Shon continued, “my brother and I share a special connection, and it makes so much sense to us now that our fate was to fall in love with the same amazing woman.”
Tahvo picked up the thread. “You make us both want to do more with our lives. You inspire us, Amy, and we know we could do the same for you.”
Shon cracked open the little box, revealing an exquisite platinum ring shaped like a curved pear, with a ridiculously large diamond at the crest. Tahvo’s box held an identical ring, only it twisted in the other direction.
“Last night we claimed you as our mate,” Shon said, “but we know you need more than that. Amy, will you marry us and live here with us as a princess of Adikar?”
Amy forgot to breathe as she stared at the rings, then the men, then the rings again. She didn’t need to be a jeweler to know those diamonds were real. Her mind raced as fast as her heart, trying to make sense of everything. They couldn’t be serious, but she could see they were. If the diamonds weren’t enough to convince her, the openness in their faces did the trick. Two naked men were kneeling on the floor in front of her, asking her to marry them. Marry them!
How would that even work? It was insanity! Beyond insanity! She’d only wanted a little fun while on assignment. Yet they kneeled before her, their eyes begging her to say yes, to change the entire course of her life after a couple of admittedly mind-blowing hookups.
“What the ever-living-fuck!” she said, running her hands through her bed-mashed hair.
Tahvo shot Shon a worried glance before speaking. “Nothing can tear apart the bond between us, so sharing you is the only way.”
“You say that like it’s the most rational explanation in the world,” she said with a completely unamused snort.
“It is,” Shon insisted. “We’re both happy for each other that we found our mate, that we’ve fallen in love. And we know you love us too.”
“Oh, you do, huh?”
How could they know such a thing when she didn’t even know it herself? She had to admit she’d never felt this way about a man before—let alone two men at once—but she couldn’t say she loved them. And even if she did love them, she wasn’t about to throw away the career she’d spent her entire life building just to become a kept-woman in a foreign land.
“You need to leave,” she said quietly as she turned away from them.
Tugging a sheet from the bed, she wrapped it around her naked body and turned to face them again. They both remained on a knee, staring at her with disbelieving expressions. Her heart clenched at the pain she saw in their eyes, but she needed some space to think.
“Leave!” She pointed at the door and felt as if she’d just kicked two of the sweetest puppies alive.
They looked at each other and then nodded, shifting into their panther forms. For a moment, she wondered if they would attack her, but the devastated look they both gave her made her feel even worse than she already did. Yellow-eyed Shon used his big paw to pull down the door handle, and then they were gone.
Closing the door behind them, Amy leaned against it and closed her eyes. The world spun around her as she played back the last few minutes in her head. Tears burned at the backs of her eyes, remembering how heartbroken they’d looked before leaving her.
Her heart broke too, but even a few minutes away from them gave her the space to think a little more rationally. She couldn’t deny being tempted by their offer—every little girl dreamed of being swept off her feet by Prince Charming—but the arrangement simply wouldn’t work. Those little girl dreams never included two Prince Charmings.
Besides, society would never accept it, especially one in which harems were common. Even if everyone in Adikar was completely fine with their princes marrying a human, she didn’t have to guess at what King Zafar’s reaction would be.
Forgetting all of that, she had her work. Her career wasn’t just a job to her. She’d worked her entire life to get where she was, and she wasn’t about to throw all that away. Women all around the world depended on her, wealthy and poor alike. It would be impossible for her to turn her back on them.
But the thought of refusing Shon and Tahvo’s proposal was just as unimaginable. Every time she was near them, she lost her senses and did wild and foolhardy things. If she had to face them again, she knew she wouldn’t be able to break their hearts while her own shattered into a million pieces alongside them.
She couldn’t. She wouldn’t.
Rushing around the room as if her life depended on it, Amy pulled on a sundress and stuffed everything into her bag. Taking a deep breath, she took a few minutes to go over her notes on Nabila, even though she had the chart memorized. Satisfied she was no longer needed to care for the queen, she scribbled a note to call if Nabila fell ill again and tossed the clipboard on the mussed bed.
After a week in the palace, she had a better handle on navigating the many confusing corridors. She’d head for the royal garage and find the driver who’d collected her from the airport. AmEx had given her a generous credit limit, so she’d pick the next flight out of the country, no matter the destination, and then figure out a plan of action from there. By the time the twins discovered she’d fled, she’d hopefully already be halfway to wherever she was going.
She would never see them again, of that she had no doubt. Wealthy princes didn’t chase lowly doctors all over the world hoping she’d change her mind about marrying them. But even so, she nearly crumpled to the floor at the thought. Grabbing the bedpost to steady herself, Amy gave her room one last survey, wanting to etch it all into her memory so she would never forget the most magical night of her life.
Finally, able to stand on her own, she headed for the door and nearly tripped over something lying in the middle of the floor. Two somethings, to be precise. With tears cascading down her cheeks, Amy stepped over the engagement rings and ran from the room.
Chapter 17
Shon’s knuckles were turning white from gripping the leather-bound book tighter and tighter as he listened to Tahvo recount the story of their failed proposal to Aziz. They’d gone to him seeking counsel, hoping he might have a suggestion for getting Amy to accept their unorthodox proposal.
Aziz sat quietly, listening carefully to every word but never speaking. When Tahvo finished, Shon eased his grip
on the book and returned to his steady pacing between the bookcase and the overstuffed chair where Aziz sat.
“We opened our hearts to her, Aziz,” Shon added, “and she kicked us out.”
She hadn’t said “no,” and they agreed to hold on to that threadbare shred of hope, but she could walk through the library door at any moment and reject their love. Reject them. Why she would do such a thing remained a mystery to Shon because he knew she loved them both as much as they loved her. Even their panthers were in agreement. Amy was their mate, and by all rights, she should be celebrating their joint engagement at that very moment.
For a full minute, they waited for Aziz to speak. When he simply sat there, staring off into the distance, Tahvo stepped in front of the old man to make sure he was still awake.
“What should we do, Aziz? You were our father’s most trusted advisor, and now you’re our brother’s. Please bestow upon us some of your wisdom.”
Aziz studied each of them before speaking. “First of all, sit down. Your incessant pacing is tiring me.”
Shon clenched his jaw in frustration but did as Aziz instructed. Tahvo sat next to him, facing Aziz.
“Good,” the old man said, standing and starting to pace the room himself. “I think Your Highnesses are forgetting one very important fact. The doctor is human.”
Shon shot Tahvo a sideways glance. As if we didn’t know that? Tahvo shrugged.
“I see you don’t understand my meaning. Humans don’t feel instincts as keenly as we do. Our panthers are always there, lurking just under the surface, ready to fight, love, kill at a moment’s notice. The instincts of humans have been dulled since the days they needed to kill to survive. It’s not their fault, but it is a weakness they all share.”
Shon’s panther rumbled at the near-insult against their mate, but Shon calmed him. Aziz wasn’t insulting Amy, just her species. A fine line, perhaps, but nothing to get a panther’s tail in a twist.
“You must also remember humans don’t claim their mates as we do. They fall in and out of love as if it were a fashion. Their under-evolved brains cannot conceive of the fated mate bond. Another weakness, but not one she can control.”
Now Shon was becoming irritated by Aziz’s criticism of the human race. After all, weren’t they all part-human?
“The last thing you’re forgetting is that her society isn’t accepting of the situation you proposed to her. In America, it’s one man, one woman. Or one man and one man. Or one woman and one woman.” Aziz rolled his eyes and sighed. “Until someone better comes along. Regardless of how they do things, you must understand that all of this is foreign to her. I suspect she felt rather overwhelmed at the sight of you two kneeling before her, proposing marriage.”
Tahvo nodded and then glanced at Shon. “We should have thought of that. Humans don’t mate two at a time.”
Shon gritted his teeth. “If she loved us, it wouldn’t have mattered what humans do. She would have stayed with us no matter what.”
Amy could match any she-panther he’d ever met. Human or not, she knew what love was. She knew they were destined to be together.
Didn’t she?
“I must say,” Aziz continued, settling back into his chair, “you both chose well. Unconventional? Certainly. But your father would have been proud. She’s headstrong and isn’t afraid to speak her mind. You both need that to keep your egos in check.”
Shon scowled. “Gee, thanks.”
Aziz chuckled merrily. “But don’t you see? That should give you the hope you’re seeking. It will take her longer to find her way to you. She’s not familiar with our ways and customs. She must discover them for herself. Only then will she accept you.”
Shon opened his mouth to argue, but a loud knock interrupted them. The head of the royal guard rushed in, worry etching is lined face. Something must be really wrong if he didn’t even wait to be invited in.
“Your Highnesses, you must come immediately. The queen has fallen ill again. Worse than we’ve seen so far. She’s—” he glanced between Aziz and the twins “—in agony.”
Without a word, the three men rushed out of the library, leaving Aziz to follow as quickly as his arthritic bones would allow. As they approached Nabila’s quarters, Shon turned to the guard.
“Fetch Dr. Sullivan immediately.”
The guard stopped in his tracks and blinked rapidly, his mouth pulling into a frown and his skin turning pale.
“What?” Tahvo demanded.
“Your Highnesses,” the man said, dropping his gaze to the floor, “we went to her room first, but all we found was this.”
The man held out a piece of paper, which Shon snatched away. The blood drained from his own face as he read the words and then handed it to Tahvo. Disbelief and rage battled for dominance in Shon’s heart. He couldn’t believe what Amy had done—what they’d made her do.
Tahvo’s face grew grim as he read, and then he turned to Shon. “You know what you have to do.”
Shon nodded before glancing at Nabila’s door. “Look after her. I’ll be back.”
Unwilling to waste another second, Shon sprinted down the corridor, leaving Tahvo to deal with Zafar and Nabila. He just prayed he wasn’t too late.
Bursting into the bright sunlight that radiated off the palace roof, Shon ran for the helipad. He’d been flying the family helicopter since he was a teenager, and had even earned his pilot’s license for small jets. As he raced through his pre-flight checklist, he used his cell phone to call his contact at the airport and demanded that all flights be grounded until further notice. The man wasn’t happy, but he didn’t dare argue.
Carefully navigating the chopper off the roof, Shon followed the route of the only road that led to the palace. If he was lucky, he’d catch her on the way to the airport, saving them valuable time that Nabila didn’t have.
As the desert passed beneath him, Shon’s rage grew hotter. He couldn’t understand how she could leave as she did, without even saying goodbye or rejecting their proposal. She’d run away like a coward, leaving them to wonder what had happened to her or if she’d ever loved them at all. And then there was Nabila. What kind of doctor just walked out on a patient in need?
Shon spotted a plume of dust rising up from the road in the distance. Pressing the throttle forward, he pushed his little chopper to its limits. Only when he identified the vehicle as belonging to the royal livery, did he ease up a little. Buzzing past the armored SUV a fair distance, he set the helicopter down in the middle of the road.
The SUV braked hard and kicked up a mushroom cloud of dust before it skidded to a stop twenty feet away from the helicopter. Shon had barely unbuckled himself when a faint screaming made its way through the loud whoop-whoop-whoop of the rotor blades. Leaping from the cockpit, he sprinted for the small figure stomping toward him, waving her hands.
“What the ever-living-fuck do you think you’re doing?” she yelled at the top of her lungs. “Move that thing right now! I need to get back to my clinic—”
Shon didn’t bother trying to talk to her—it was far too noisy and she was far too furious to think straight. Stooping low, he threw her over his shoulder easily and headed back for the chopper. As angry with her as he was, he couldn’t help noticing the way her ass jiggled in his face as he walked. It took every ounce of internal fortitude not to slide his hand up her skirt and bury his fingers deep into her luscious curves.
The blows of her tiny fists on his back felt like gnats to Shon. Her protests fell on deaf ears. He just dumped her into the passenger seat and buckled her in. By the time he reached the pilot’s side, she was fumbling for the clasp. One dark glare from him and she stopped.
“Nabila’s sick,” he shouted over the noise of the rotors as he eased the helicopter back into the air.
Amy glared right back at him. “Don’t lie to me! Her tests—”
“Your tests were wrong,” he snapped.
He couldn’t help it. Having her so close to him only made the wound in his he
art grow deeper, more painful. The first time he’d opened himself up to a woman, and she’d deserted him. Tahvo too. She’d left them both without a mate—two broken pieces of one whole.
They’d been willing to change their entire lives for her, to do anything to make her happy, but she left without an explanation. Pain stabbed his heart again as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye. After growing up listening to sappy love songs about broken hearts, Shon finally understood what it felt like. And frankly, he didn’t like it one little bit.
Chapter 18
After learning Nabila had fallen ill again, Amy spent the rest of the flight back to the palace trying to make sense of everything. She’d tried asking what Nabila’s symptoms were, but Shon had merely shaken his head and kept his eyes facing forward. Either he didn’t know or he wasn’t speaking to her. Since one of his most endearing qualities was his devotion to his sister-in-law, Amy knew the answer. He wouldn’t risk Nabila’s health simply to give Amy the silent treatment.
But she felt no relief over it. His presence—so close she could touch him, but emotionally so distant—was a reminder of her betrayal. Shame consumed her, and the fact she was grateful he wasn’t looking at her only ground it into her heart even deeper. If only she could find the words to explain her actions, but she barely understood them herself.
As she’d stood in her room after they’d proposed, trying to figure out what to do, her rational mind had insisted leaving was her only option. Seeking out Shon and Tahvo to refuse them would only have been torture for them all. And deep down, she’d known if she saw them again, she never would have found the strength to leave them. Besides, she had responsibilities. People counted on her.
People such as Nabila.
A fresh wave of guilt hit her, imagining Nabila suffering and wondering why her doctor had abandoned her. Zafar would scream from the rooftops about how untrustworthy humans were. And worst of all, they’d both be right.