You guys ready for one last stop tonight? I ask, basking in the glow of my bonds.
As long as we are with you, sweetheart. We will follow you anywhere you go.
Bring it on, zvezda. We are yours and you belong with us.
We love you, petit chou. Always.
I am theirs and they are mine. Together, we are unstoppable.
The End
Thank you so much for reading this exclusive novella set in the Underworld Hijinks world. I hope you enjoyed Kyrie and her mates. Your review is much appreciated.
My Underworld Hijinks world is a series of interconnected paranormal novelette-length stories that can be read together or alone. They often have a bit of mythos and a lot of steam! Kyrie’s story started in Hell’s Angel and I just loved her so much, I wanted her to have her own spin-off. While a full-length expanded novel is not currently on the 2020 schedule for this fearsome foursome, it’s not outside the realm of possibility in 2021 when I re-release this title. Want more Kyrie in your life? Need some of those deleted scenes and expanded POVs? Let me know in the reviews or pop into my Book Club!
To catch up on the Underworld Hijinks world or to get more background on the characters featured in this book, check out the rest of the series. Note: pairings vary in this world. Books 1 & 2 are not reverse harem. Book 4 is currently MMF and book 5 is… a surprise! :)
Underworld Hijinks Series
1. Calypso Springs (Hades & Persephone)
2. Hell’s Angel (Goddess Melinoe and Prince Ozes + a little bit of Kyrie)
3. Reaper’s Last Homecoming (Kyrie, Santos, Thane & Dmitri)
4. Of The Sea (Poseidon MMF -- coming December 2020)
5. *COMING SOON*
Happy Fall, y’all!
About the Author
Bee Murray is the pen name chosen by a quirky writer based out of the Pacific Northwest. A voracious reader turned writer, she dreams of everything from grand adventures with complex characters to pun-filled romantic comedy, weird paranormal situations, extra steamy romance, and anything else her heart comes up with. Don't expect any love triangles here, Ms. Murray is a big fan of ethical non-monogamy and it comes out in her menage romance and reverse harem stories!
Want to hang out with the author, share memes, participate in giveaways and more? Join Bee’s Book Club on Facebook here “Bee Murray’s Book Club.” Come say hi!
Stay in touch! Join Bee’s Book Club newsletter that goes out on a semi-regular schedule. There’s almost always a freebie or contest/giveaway included! sendfox.com/beemurraybooks.
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The Dragonshadow Princess
KM McKenna
Baera
“His Majesty will now hear the next grievance. Please step forward.”
A slight burr of irritation rumbled under Sir Voryn’s voice. He was tasked with announcements today and seemed less than pleased to hold the position. I would be irked, too, if I were forced to stand for hours in full ceremonial garb. The midsummer sun showed no kindness to the guard in their layers of chain mail and leather.
From the way he constantly shifted his weight, his face contorted in discomfort, I suspected his member needed adjusting, too. It was all I could do to not erupt in peals of laughter at the sight. According to my father, it was improper to think of a man’s member unless you were wed—and equally improper to laugh in the courtyard during proceedings.
I, however, did not believe those things should be improper. If I had my way, these types of proceedings would have jesters and entertainment in place of the endless hours of sitting on my throne silently, relegated to one side of the room along with the other women of the court. Also, if I were in charge, women would be able to think about any part of a man they wanted to—especially a man with Sir Voryn’s reputation.
Rumor had it that every woman in the house of ill repute wished to bed him after he’d visited just once, and it wasn’t for the coin. He had certainly piqued my interest, but I was already betrothed to the crowned prince of Alwar and couldn’t marry anyone without a title.
Titles be damned—he could be the duke of my unplowed earth any day.
Of course, in the world I had created in my imagination, a woman could bed any man she wanted, regardless of her marital status. So I continued to stare at—and daydream about—Sir Voryn’s member, at least until I tired of it and began examining the rest of the nobles in court that morning.
That, too, quickly grew tiresome, so I finally turned my attention to the actual proceedings.
A mousy woman in tattered, stained robes stood next in the queue of townspeople who had gathered for my father to hear their complaints. She hesitated, then slowly came forward, lowering herself into a deep curtsy. An oversized hood hid most of her face. She had been in line for the better part of three hours; it had taken me almost as long to realize that she was, indeed, a woman. If it weren’t for the white-blonde plait peeking out from the hood and her smallish breasts, only sometimes discernable under the layers of fabric, she could have passed for a man, her robes were so ill-fitting.
I sighed and leaned back in my chair.
Gods, I was bored.
Lord Voryn pulled at his collar for what seemed like the hundredth time that day, revealing his collarbone and the firm roundness of his muscular shoulder. He must have had tattoos there as I saw small dark lines against his caramel skin. I went back to examining his member, trying to work out its dimensions under his uniform, wondering if it was as big as the ladies of the night had whispered to my handmaid. Was it the same shade of brown as his shoulder? Darker? Lighter? Whatever the case, they had said it was like having endless chocolate covered strawberries—so delicious and sweet, and even though you felt sick after eating too many you still wanted more.
There was rarely a word of gossip that didn’t reach my ears and in this instance, I was glad to have some useful information about one of the more sought-after knights of my father’s guard. How to use that information required some thought though, and so I pondered until I caught Sir Voryn staring straight at me from his post across the room.
Voryn
Ten, eleven, twelve… fifteen. Fifteen more stood in the queue before I could rest. I hoped the King would grow weary of hearing the townsfolk complain about drunkards in the street at all hours or yet another servant’s grievance about an unrelenting mistress. Most of the courtier’s eyes had already glazed over in boredom—those who remained awake at all, of course.
I hated days like this one—so many bodies in one place, all sucking up the same humid air. At least we were outdoors and not inside the castle. I would rather have been sparring, but I had been chosen for announcing today. Much like everything else, it was a role no one volunteered for, and one sprung upon those of us in the guard at a moment’s notice. Secretly I wished the king had a schedule for this as he did most other matters so I could conveniently be ill or otherwise occupied.
I suspected that was why he didn’t schedule the duty, truth be told.
The small woman standing before the king continued to speak at length about a disorderly neighbor, an issue that could have easily been dealt with outside of court, like many others being presented today. I heaved a deep sigh, careful not to be noticed. After the long hours standing here, I wasn’t willing to get a scolding from His Highness about proper protocol during proceedings.
Proper protocol. Hmph. Always with the protocol.
There wasn’t much to look forward to at court—perhaps the evening meal afterward, and the ladies of the court in their best gowns, smelling of exotic flowers as they passed me by.
I stole another glance at Princess Baera. She looked quite dashing in emerald green—it brought out the sparkle in her eyes that made every man in court and out lust for her.
The sparkle she had every time she looked at me.
Without realizi
ng it, I had allowed my glance to become a stare. I quickly tried to recover by looking away, but not before she noticed me, all but undressing her with my eyes.
A burn spread through the pit of my stomach like wildfire and continued clear to my fingers. I felt like I was going to be sick, but not in the usual way. My heart was alight with joy, its hammering in my chest so loud I feared the whole court would hear.
I caught another glimpse of her from the corner of my eye. Her head was lowered, a broad grin playing on her red-stained lips. The perfect lips I’d come to know, a smile I adored. Small smile-wrinkles pulled at the outer corners of her eyes above her high cheekbones, now flushed a rosy pink atop her glowing ivory skin.
My face grew hot as I felt the bulge next to my thigh growing longer and harder. My blood pulsed through my veins and my heart quickened. I shifted my weight, attempting to offset the need pulsing through my loins.
King Aere would have my head on a spike if he knew the thoughts running through my mind about his daughter, second-born as she was. She was not mine to be had. My rank would never allow me to get close enough to court her, betrothed or not.
Even so, I couldn’t disregard her radiance, the glow she brought into a room, brighter than the light of the sun and the stars and the moon combined.
I couldn’t forget the memories of us as children, the days she escaped the watchful eye of her governesses to frolic in the gardens with me, a lowly butcher’s son, instead of attending needlepoint lessons as a proper princess should.
Promising myself this would be the last time I gazed upon her beauty this day, I shifted my eyes in her direction—only to find her staring back at me. The way her raven curls fell on her cheek made me desire her even more.
I did not have the will to pull my thoughts from her, but I could at least turn my eyes away. I scanned the courtyard to push aside my foolish thoughts.
The woman had almost finished speaking when Derene burst through the hall’s doors.
“Sire,” he choked out, “they’ve come! Ready the men, the walls have been breached!”
I did not even wait for an order. Instead, I dove toward my Baera, determined to reach her, to save her from any possible attack.
But I was too late.
Screaming death dove from the sky, a line of fire blazing a path through the guards closest to the king.
And then the gold dragon swooped down from the sky and plucked the princess from her small throne at the side of the courtyard.
Baera
I’m fairly certain Father would have disapproved of the words I screamed when the dragon grabbed me from the courtyard and swept me into the air, assuming he—or anyone—could have heard me over the dragon’s screech.
The last thing I saw as I rose into the air was Voryn, first running toward me, and then stumbling to a stop in front of my throne, staring after me, his shoulders slumping in defeat.
Now I’ll never get to find out about his member.
It was a foolish thought—I knew it, but somehow it seemed easier to focus on that than on the fact I’d been kidnapped by one of the giant golds from the Dragonlands to our north.
The dragon soared ever higher, the air becoming thinner and more frigid as we rose.
I couldn’t bear to look down. I had never been so far up in the sky, not even in the silken balloons Father had commissioned for me two summers earlier.
I screamed until my throat was raw, but humans can sustain sheer terror for only so long. Eventually, I drifted in and out of consciousness, uncertain if I was tired or if the air had grown too thin to sustain me.
By the time we landed, my teeth were chattering from the cold.
The dragon shifted almost as soon as he dropped me to the rough flagstones of his castle.
Apparently, I was still lightheaded from the flight, because the first thing I thought when I looked up to find his golden human form standing above me was, So that’s what a male member looks like.
I shook off the thought and rubbed my eyes.
“Interesting, I’ve never had a woman fall for me that quickly,” he jeered, a smirk flashing across his chiseled face.
My mouth dropped open—such a bastard!
“Take her to the dungeon,” the Dragonlord instructed the servants who ran to wrap him in a robe the color of his scales.
“The dungeon? But why? What gives you the right to take me as your prisoner?” My voice rose to a screech, despite my raw throat. “My father will have your head on a spike tomorrow, mark my words—”
“What gives me the right? You will know in due time, Princess, and your father will need to breach these walls first,” he mocked before turning on his heel and exiting the room, slamming the doors shut behind him, leaving me gaping behind him.
First one servant and then the other grabbed me by my arms to pull me up. I refused to move, kicking and struggling to break free of their grip. They weren’t getting anywhere, so the taller of the two beckoned to a third, larger servant. He scooped me into his muscular arms as if I weighed no more than a feather and flung me across his burly shoulders like a sack of potatoes.
As he carried me through the poorly lit keep to the dungeon, the pungent odor of ash and burnt flesh met my nostrils, mixing with the salty stench of his sweat; the smell was so thick in the air I could almost taste it. My stomach churned as his uneven gait jolted me to all sides, the smell further unsettling my insides to the point I felt I might be sick. I stopped thrashing about and pounding his back with my tiny fists, allowing my body to lay limp on his shoulders and wishing this would end sooner rather than later. My attempts to fight him were pointless, only a waste of energy. I was sure my punches were no more than a tickle to him.
It took a few moments to realize that night had fallen while my mind had toyed with consciousness. Wherever I was, it had taken us a long time to journey here. My hopes of being rescued anytime soon faded with each step as I contemplated escape—if the possibility even existed.
A shiver ran through me, forcing the hair on my arms and neck to stand on end, my nipples hardening through the thin fabric of my gown at the sensation. The servant chuckled softly to himself, telling me there wasn’t an honorable bone in his body--not if he’d enjoyed my breasts’ reaction to the combination of fear and cold.
I could imagine the sick thoughts coursing through his mind as we reached our destination, a dank, closed space encircled by barred cells. A few guards sat to one side, huddling over stones marked with runes. Possibly a game? But somehow I knew better. I’d never seen these stones before, and yet they appealed to me. Even hanging upside down from a servant’s shoulder, I wanted to reach out and touch them.
They’re mine.
I shook my head to dispel the odd thought, then stilled as dizziness overtook me.
Stepping into the central space, the servant grunted to one of the guards, who broke away from the group to fetch a ring of keys and open one of the cells. There wasn’t anything gentle in the way the servant tossed me into the tiny cell, and as he slammed the heavy iron gate behind him I jumped, prompting a hearty laugh from the pit of his belly that echoed off every stone wall around me.
He puckered his lips, blowing a small kiss to me as he continued to laugh.
“Goodnight, your highness,” he sneered before giving me a mocking bow and walking away.
Gods, that made my blood boil.
Without even realizing what I was doing, I stood and balled my fists. My knuckles turned white as my nails cut into my palms, a small drop of blood oozing from the middle of my hand. I took a deep breath, then screamed.
The shrill, piercing sound reverberated from ceiling to wall to floor.
Heat pulsed from my hands up into my arms, making its way to my core, as if I were bursting into invisible flames.
Those flames sent out a blast of hot air, surrounding me into a cyclone before an explosion of energy shot outward in all directions. Parts of myself shot out from my body through my fingertips, coalescing int
o a glowing purple orb floating in my cupped hands.
“What in the name of the great blue goddess?” I whispered as I crumpled to the floor, my knees giving way in the aftermath of … whatever it was I had just done.
Voryn
“We can’t wait for the king to recover from his burns,” Derene announced from the head of the council table. “We must send out a rescue party. The princess will be returned at all costs. Do I make myself clear?”
A murmur of agreement spread through the small, crowded room. I trusted Derene to lead us more than any man among us, no matter the end result. He’d always ensured that as many men as possible returned from battle, even if it meant risking his own neck. Eight years my senior, he was everything I dreamed of becoming—fearless, honorable, dignified, and a beloved leader.
My gaze shifted from one concerned face to the next. The fear and uncertainty choking the room were enough to make me want to run away, but I was determined to prove myself courageous, not a coward. We were talking about rescuing my Baera, and I’d sworn long ago to protect her by any means, even if the seven hells and death itself met me in the process.
“It is decided then,” Derene continued. “We leave before nightfall. Every moment is precious in recovering the princess from her captors.”
Without a word, three of the men next to him headed toward the stables to ready our mounts.
I made my way toward the door behind the throng of guardsmen before me, all heading to the armory and kitchens for provisions. Before I could reach the exit, Derene spoke once more.
Wicked Souls: A Limited Edition Reverse Harem Romance Collection Page 183
