“It is.”
“Can we go please?” Drayga’s voice was small, her question directed at Vitoria.
Vitoria nodded and squeezed her friend’s hands.
“Of course.”
She kept hold of one of Drayga’s hands as they walked up the stairs. Vitoria had no idea what was going on between Drayga and Caleb, but she knew her friend was upset, and that was all that mattered.
“Go to our suite,” Matilda’s voice was gentle. “We will have food sent up for you Drayga.”
“I’m not hungry,” Drayga said.
“Thank you for bringing Drayga home, Cal,” Matilda’s voice had turned hard, cold. “You may leave now.”
Vitoria pushed herself a little harder to keep up with Drayga, who was walking quickly up the stairs, her hand gripping Vitoria’s tightly.
“I have some business outside of Palici,” Cal was saying. “But you can call me if you need me and I plan to return as soon as I can.”
“We won’t need you,” Matilda said. “It will be an easier separation if you’re further away.”
“You won’t?” Cal scoffed. “You allowed my… You allowed Drayga to leave the region. She was in an inn! An inn.”
As Cal’s voice got louder Drayga moved faster, letting go of Vitoria’s hand so she could rush ahead.
“Can you imagine the harm that could have come to her?”
“She is not a prisoner Caleb,” Antonio’s voice was steady. “She is a submissive without…”
Vitoria didn’t hear the rest as she turned a corner. When she walked into the suite, Drayga was seated on the sofa, her knees drawn up to her chest, arms wrapped around them. Her tears fell silently, her eyes stared blankly.
“What happened?”
Drayga didn’t say anything. She just shook her head. Vitoria took a seat next to her and put an arm around her friend. Drayga leaned into her and cried harder.
“I fucking hate Cal,” she said eventually. “I hate him.”
“Who is he? Matilda and Antonio said he had a connection to you, he could find you.”
“He’s my mate.” The words were bitter and Vitoria’s heart ached for her. “He can track me because dominant mates can. Once the mating bond has been triggered dominant mates can track you. They can even read your damn mind when you’re in danger.”
Vitoria didn’t respond. She didn’t know what to say to that, so she tightened her embrace.
They sat in silence for a couple of minutes until Drayga broke it.
“He was my best friend when we were growing up, and when we became adults the mating bond was triggered. We were happy for a while but then I did something reckless and he didn’t want me anymore.”
She raised a hand to her heart. “It’s a physical pain. When mates are separated the bond hurts, but the physical pain will end eventually. The further away we are from each other and the more time that passes, the less it hurts.”
“Does it hurt him, too?” She hoped it did. She hoped that he was in unbearable pain for what he was putting Drayga through.
“Yes. Apparently so. I guess the pain just isn’t as bad as having me for a mate.”
“Oh Drayga, no. This isn’t you, it’s him. He’s the problem.”
Drayga wiped away her tears and took a shaky breath.
“I wish I was born somewhere else. Anywhere else but here. If I had just never met him things would’ve been okay.”
“Things will be okay soon. He’ll be gone and the pain will fade and it will all be back to normal.”
“Things are never really okay. The physical pain might go but I’m still a submissive who was rejected by her mate. Sometimes submissives turn their mates down but never the other way around. Everyone knows I’m defective.”
“You’re not defective. Perhaps you’ll find your other mate and be happy with them.”
Drayga let out a sob.
“She doesn’t want me either.”
After Drayga had eaten a little of the food Matilda brought her, Vitoria walked her to her rooms. Antonio was waiting for her when she returned. He stood up from his seat on the sofa, opened his arms to her, and she all but threw herself into them.
“Are you okay, precious one?”
“How can he do that to her? I thought mates were supposed to be forever.” Perhaps she had read too many romance novels. Perhaps she had spent too much time daydreaming about her own happily ever after.
Antonio stroked a hand down her back. “Cal’s doing what he thinks is best for Drayga. It’s a complicated situation.”
Vitoria pulled back from Antonio, just enough so she could look up at him. “Because she’s a Solviso?”
“Because he’s a single dominant and she’s a submissive. You have to understand, when their mating bond was triggered we were in the middle of a war and Caleb was young. It’s supposed to be that dominant mates find each other first, but it didn’t happen like that for them, and he knew he could never protect her on his own. The law says that submissive Solviso who are rejected by their mates can reside within one of the royal palaces. It was the safest place for her.”
“That’s a ridiculous law. Anyone who needs protection should be allowed to stay here. You should change the law.”
“And have everyone apply to live in a palace?”
“The war is over, why hasn’t he claimed her?”
Antonio pulled away from her, took her hand, and sat down, pulling her down on his lap. She leaned her head against his chest and he kissed her forehead.
“I don’t know. All I know is nothing would ever keep me away from my mates. I don’t understand Caleb. We were friends in school. Me, Cal, Matilda, and Drayga. I always knew Matilda was going to be my mate and I think Cal and Drayga knew they were destined for each other too. I guess none of our lives turned out how we expected them to.”
“This isn’t how you planned your life?”
He placed another kiss on her forehead and paused before answering.
“No. This was nothing like how I wanted my life to be. I never wanted to join the armed forces, never wanted to be King. I wanted to go to university, become a historian, find our mate and have lots of babies. Not strictly in that order. Matilda is a warrior, she always planned to join the armed forces. I followed her into the army because she was my mate and we were at war, and I would rather have died on the battlefield with her than live without her. But in times of peace I wouldn’t have joined.”
“How did you become King? We used to have monarchs in Calibrai and they inherited the throne.”
Antonio rubbed her arm, the connection easing some of the lingering anxiety, his voice soothing.
“It’s not like that here. At the end of the ruling monarch’s reign they nominate a successor, and if the council agrees it, the throne is offered to them. We were chosen unanimously. I guess we were the obvious choice. The country was at war and Matilda and I were generals in the army. They had to appoint monarchs who could actually fight in the war. We never thought much past what would happen when the war was over. At the time, it felt like the war would never end, and if it did that we would be unlikely to survive it. And now our lives are on hold until our reign is over.”
“You can’t have babies while you’re ruling monarchs?”
“No.” There was sorrow in his voice and she turned and kissed his chest. “Matilda and I are both obliged to take contraceptive pills until our reign ends. It didn’t seem like a huge sacrifice during the war. It wasn’t like Matilda was going to take a break from the front line to have a baby. Still, we’ve only another five cycles of our reign left and then we shall have as many babies as Lencura blesses us with.”
Vitoria’s heart ached. She had always wanted children of her own and the thought that one day Matilda and Antonio would have them, without her, hurt. “I hope she blesses you with many. You deserve to be happy.”
Antonio kissed the top of her head.
“What about you? I assume running off to Malita and being s
tranded in Palici was not your dream.”
Vitoria laughed.
“Actually, when I was a child I used to dream about leaving Calibrai. My father worked on the docks when I was young and I used to watch the travellers boarding the ships and wish I could take my father and go with them. But now…” She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. “I miss home. I would never go back, not the way things are there, but I wish I could. I wish I could go back and make things better.”
“Maybe one day you will,” Antonio said.
Vitoria closed her eyes and listened to the steady beat of Antonio’s heart. A heart that belonged to someone else. He had said it himself, he would never let his mates go. But there he was, hoping that one day she would go home, away from him.
Chapter Thirteen
It was the middle of the day, but Matilda and Antonio weren’t in their office when Vitoria returned from her physiotherapy appointment. She was convinced her physiotherapist was a sadist and after an hour at her mercy, all she wanted was to curl up in their lap, either one of them, and be petted.
She walked quickly up the stairs, begrudgingly acknowledging that her muscles weren’t as tight as usual, and the walk was easier than it had been before her physiotherapy sessions had started.
She heard Antonio’s grunts and Matilda’s moans as soon as she opened the door to the suite. She closed the door behind her and stood with her back against it for a moment. The sound of her lovers’ passion sent a jolt of arousal straight to her pussy. Was it okay for her to join them?
She walked down the hallway and into the living room, stopping at the open door to their bedroom. Her breath caught. Matilda sat astride Antonio, who was sat on the edge of the bed, his mate’s legs wrapped his waist as she rode him. Matilda’s head was thrown back, her eyes closed, soft red hair cascaded down her back. Antonio gripped her hips, fingers splayed over her arse as she moved up and down on his cock.
They looked perfect together. Her heart swelled almost painfully as she watched them. Her King and Queen. Her master and mistress. Her monarchs. Except they weren’t hers. They belonged to someone else. Some other submissive was out there for them, waiting for them. Was there someone else out there for her, too? No. She knew this was it for her. No one else could ever measure up to them. It hurt to even think about being with anyone else. The cocoon around her heart tightened painfully when she imagined what it would be like to kiss another person, to take someone else into her body, to submit to someone else. For Vitoria there would only ever be Matilda and Antonio.
Antonio looked up, his eyes caught hers and his lips curved into a seductive smile. He crooked his finger at her, beckoned her towards them. Their mate might be out there somewhere, their mate might have their future, but she was there now and the present belonged to her.
She walked towards them and Matilda turned her head to look at her. Matilda’s eyes were hooded with desire and Vitoria leaned down and kissed her swollen lips. When they pulled apart Matilda rose and gracefully turned to face Vitoria. She settled on Antonio’s lap and he wrapped his arms around her, his hands cupping her breasts, his lips brushing her neck.
Matilda’s eyes roamed down Vitoria’s body. “You’re wearing clothes. I need you to fix that. Now.”
Vitoria unbuttoned her dress, slowly revealing inch after inch of creamy bare skin. A few weeks ago, she wouldn’t have had the confidence to strip so seductively in front of them, but now she felt powerful. Their eyes were on her, she had their full attention. She slipped the dress off her shoulders and let it fall to the floor. She reached behind and unclasped her bra, holding it to her chest so that her breasts were still covered. Usually she wouldn’t wear underwear at all but as her physio required her to remove some of her clothes she felt more comfortable in her underwear.
“Drop it,” Matilda all but growled the words.
A smile played at Vitoria’s lips. She was discovering that she enjoyed teasing them. She turned her back to them and dropped the bra. She looked over her shoulder at them.
“Like that?”
“Come here, you brat,” Matilda ordered.
She turned towards them and sauntered over. When she reached Matilda, her breasts at mouth level, Matilda took one hard nipple into her mouth. Her hands caressed and squeezed, her teeth grazed lightly over her nipple and the unexpected bite of pain sent a ripple of pleasure through her.
“Your tits belong to us,” Matilda said.
“All of me belongs to you.”
“Don’t forget it,” Antonio said.
Antonio’s hands dipped down to Matilda’s pussy. Vitoria watched, her breath heavy, as he inserted three fingers into Matilda. “Tell me if she’s wet as you are,” he rasped into Matilda’s ear.
Matilda pushed aside Vitoria panties and ran her fingers over her dripping slit. She thrust two fingers inside her and Vitoria cried out in pleasure. “Please,” she begged.
“She’s wet,” Matilda said, removing her fingers from Vitoria’s pussy and bringing them to her own lips. She licked Vitoria’s arousal from her fingers. “Nothing tastes as sweet as you.”
“Please touch me,” Vitoria begged, desperate for more. “Please.”
“Bratty subs have to earn their orgasms,” Matilda said. “What are you willing to do for yours?”
“Anything.”
A wicked smile crossed Matilda’s face. “Anything? Kitten, you have no idea what anything could include.”
“I don’t care.”
In that moment, she didn’t. In that moment, she needed them to touch her more than she needed anything else.
“Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.”
“If you let us do anything,” Antonio said. “We’ll make sure there’s no doubt who you belong to and where you belong.”
“Where do I belong?”
“On your knees. On your back. In whatever position serves us best,” he told her.
Matilda stood, Antonio following suit. Matilda moved behind her, and hooked her arms around Vitoria’s so that they were pinned behind her back. Antonio approached, his gaze predatory. He tipped her chin and kissed her. His kiss was hard, though not as hard as what was pressing against her stomach. She wanted to reach out and stroke him but Matilda was restraining her. She struggled a little, hoping Matilda would release her hands. She tightened her grip.
Antonio’s hand dipped down to her panty clad pussy, pushed aside the material that covered her there and slid a finger into her. He buried his face against her neck and bit down against her pulse. She cried out and pushed her hips forward, grinding her pussy against his palm. He removed his finger and stepped aside.
“Take them off,” he said.
Matilda released her arms and Vitoria slid her panties over her hips and down her legs and stepped out of them. Matilda pushed her towards the bed and bent her over. Vitoria held onto the mattress, using her hands to steady herself. Matilda kicked her legs apart leaving Vitoria exposed. Another finger, she wasn’t sure whose, slid into her pussy and was joined by a second and then a third. She gasped at the fullness. She felt something probing at her back entrance and forced herself to remain still. All the fingers retreated and she felt something wet against her arsehole and shot upright.
“It’s just lube,” Matilda told her.
Antonio’s hand stroked her back and pushed her gently back down. “We’re going to start with Matilda’s finger and work our way up to a plug,” he told her.
She gasped as Matilda pushed one long slick finger into her arsehole. Antonio’s hand remained firmly on her back as Matilda moved her finger in and out, getting a little deeper with each thrust. The sensation pushed all thought from Vitoria’s mind.
“The plug will prepare you for me,” Antonio told her.
“A plug?”
Antonio removed his hand from her back and she heard rummaging before he returned to her.
“This,” he said, holding a small plug in front of her face. “Is a butt plug.”
> “And you’re going to…” She swallowed hard. “Put that in me?”
Antonio chuckled. “You said we could do anything. Today, it will just be this plug, but soon you’re going to take my cock.”
Her arousal was like a current, dragging her out of her depth, but she was desperate for them, desperate for everything they had to give her, desperate to give them everything they needed and wanted. She pushed back against Matilda’s finger.
“Good, kitten,” Matilda praised her. “Just relax.”
Vitoria closed her eyes as Matilda used her fingers to penetrate her and get her ready for the plug. When Matilda placed the tip against her, Vitoria bolted upright again. Antonio placed a firm hand on her back and pushed her back down. “If you want us to stop, you only have to tell us.”
She shook her head.
“I don’t want you to stop.”
Her breathing was heavy as Matilda pushed the plug in. Antonio reached around the front of her and stroked her clitoris. “That’s it precious one, you can take it.”
His fingers on her pussy felt good and she rocked against his hand, the motion pushing her back against the plug.
“I’m really close,” she told them. “Please master, let me come. Please.”
Antonio pressed harder against her clit. “Good subs get orgasms,” he told her. “This is your reward for taking the plug. Come.”
Her orgasm rocked her, making her legs shake, making it difficult to stand and she sagged against the bed.
“Don’t lose the plug,” Matilda said, helping Vitoria back to her feet. “I want you to keep it in while you watch Antonio fuck me.”
She guided Vitoria onto the bed, pushed her onto her back and crawled onto the mattress. Vitoria watched her through hooded eyes. Matilda was all power and grace, predatory as she pushed Vitoria’s legs open, baring her to Matilda’s gaze. Matilda bit down on one of her lips as she stared hungrily at Vitoria’s dripping pussy. Then she dipped her head and licked her still sensitive clit. Vitoria let out a long, loud moan and lifted her hips as ripples of pleasure went through her.
She watched as Antonio came up behind Matilda. His cock stood up against his stomach, long and thick. He took it in his hand and began to stroke from base to tip and back down again. He placed his cock at the entrance to Matilda’s pussy. Matilda inserted two fingers into Vitoria and it felt impossibly tight with the plug in her arse. How could she be so close to coming again?
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