Pounding Earth

by ERIN BEDFORD

  Aeis’s laughter died off, and she sniffed. “Well, excuse me for wanting to see my sister. And I brought every soldier except those already on missions and what was necessary to keep our kingdom secure.”

  “You know that’s not what I meant,” I tried to apologize and then added, “You brought the whole army?” I gaped at her and then shook my head. “Not that I’m complaining just … that’s a lot of people. Where did you stick them all?”

  “They’re over the next ridge in an open field, making camp.” Aeis gestured outside. “We didn’t want to assume Lord Fafnir would have enough room for everyone. And no offense …” She glanced around the house. “But you’re a bit humbler in your needs.”

  Lord Fafnir didn’t get upset, but he did lace his hands in front of him a sign that he didn’t appreciate her comments. I didn’t see how he could be offended by it though. It wasn’t like she said it was a crap heap, which it wasn’t. I liked the smaller palace compared to my father’s and the rest of the lords. It was homey. You didn’t get lost after five minutes.

  I could see how Lord Fafnir might not see it that way though. My father and Lord Dannon were the types of pointing those kinds of things out, often and incessantly.

  “Either way,” Aeis quickly continued when Lord Fafnir didn’t respond how she expected, “I am grateful for your hospitality while I help my sister and her men.”

  Nodding, Lord Fafnir glanced off to the side to a lingering servant. “I’ll have a room readied for you. Please, let us know if there is anything else I can do to make your stay more … humble.” With that, Lord Fafnir inclined his head to Jack and headed down the hall, leaving us alone with my sister.

  “Man, you still know how to clear a room.” I shook my head and laughed. “I don’t know why I always thought you were the diplomatic one of us. You were also the less tactful if that’s believable.”

  Aeis shrugged. “What can I say? Sometimes my mouth gets away from me.” She unbuttoned her jacket and draped it over her arm, for once she wasn’t wearing a ridiculously impractical dress she insisted on wearing in court. Her shirt clung to her chest, the neckline dipping down to show a hint of cleavage. The pants seemed poured onto her legs, her boots stopping just beneath her knee. I’d never seen my sister look so fierce and hot at the same time.

  “Did you take that from my closet?” I asked, pulling at her shirt sleeve.

  “No,” Aeis scoffed, and I gave her a disbelieving look. “Is it that hard to believe I own something battle-ready? I was the first in my class after all.”

  “I think you look lovely.” Jack supplied, and I rolled my eyes.

  “I didn’t say she didn’t look good, just that it looked like mine. Of course, she looks good. She’s my sister for God’s sake.” Looping my arm through hers, I guided her away from the doors and toward further into the house. Her guards followed us. I didn’t bother trying to tell them to take off, I knew they wouldn’t. My father might have me as the heir, but she was still his favorite. He’d have strict orders to keep an eye on her.

  “So, dad didn’t want to come?” I asked, leaning into her to whisper. “Couldn’t take the time to see me himself?”

  “No,” Aeis answered, shaking her head, her dark hair falling over her shoulder. “I asked to come. Actually, when I got your request, the only way I could assure him that it wasn’t some silly cause was for me to go myself. That way if it did end up being a joke, I was the one to take the blame.”

  “Good ole dad.” I sighed. “He’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he never takes the blame. What a leader.”

  “Maya, stop it.” She nudged me in the side. “You know why he wouldn’t believe you. Remember the incident when you were thirteen?”

  I pressed my lips together tightly. “That’s not even the same thing. How was I supposed to know the spies I thought I saw were really night guards training?”

  Raiden snickered, and I shot a glare behind me. He sent me a wink, making me smile slightly.

  “So, can we not talk about dad for once?” Aeis clutched my arm tightly. I had a feeling that things were not all good and well with my sister and father. Knowing him, he probably was doing what he usually did, running his mouth without any care for who he might hurt.

  “Alright,” I agreed as we approached the dining hall. “This is where we eat our meals and where Jack made a huge scene and banished his ex-girlfriend for being a raging bitch.”

  Aeis gasped, and Jack made a rude noise.

  “I did not make a scene.” Jack clicked his tongue and then crossed his arms over his chest. “It is part of the tradition to cast someone aside publicly. If I had done it in private, I would have been seen as a coward.”

  “Fine, fine.” I let him have that one. Though I thought it was stupid.

  “And this” - Raiden shoved his way in front of us with a wave of his hand - “is also where Maya flirted her way into the cook’s good graces when she offended his famous raspberry tarts because of her pregnancy cravings.”

  “Really?” I arched a brow. “You’re still on that?”

  “Yes.” Raiden stared me down. “You’ve never fluttered your lashes at me for anything.”

  Oh, God. What a child.

  I sighed dramatically and threw a hand up. I released Aeis and took a deep breath. I clasped my hands together in front of me and fluttered my lashes more than I ever had in my entire life. “Please, Raiden forgive me for stooping so low to use my feminine wiles on Carl. I was only thinking of the welfare of the triplets.”

  Raiden’s grin stretched across his lips and broke my pouty face. We broke into giggles just as Aeis grabbed my arm, pulling me back to her.

  “Hold on a second, triplets?” she glanced down at my stomach and then back to my face. “When were you going to tell me this?”

  Still laughing, I wiped the side of my eye. “Uh, now?” When she didn’t seem happy by that, I added, “We just found out ourselves, and you just got here. Besides, I’m still getting used to the idea.”

  The way her brow furrowed and the hurt in her eyes told me there was more to her displeasure than my omission. She wasn’t upset with me for not telling her I was having triplets. This had to do with something else, something more personal. Suddenly, I felt like a huge ass.

  “Guys,” I said, turning to Jack and Raiden. “Could you give us a moment? I’ll catch up with you at the training grounds in a little while.”

  Raiden and Jack exchanged a look, and then each gave me a kiss on the cheek before leaving. When they were gone, I took Aeis by the hand and brought her over to an empty table. A maid walked by, and I asked her for some tea. “Carl will know what I mean.”

  Turning back to my sister, I held her hand tightly. “I’m sorry, Aeis. I hope I didn't seem boastful about my pregnancy. I know this must be hard for you.”

  Aeis swallowed and blinked several times. “No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I’m happy for you, I really am.” She left out a heavy breath. “It’s just hard sometimes. I’ve always wanted a child. Thought I’d have one by now and then turns out that’s not in the cards for me.” I squeezed her hand, urging her to continue. “Then here you are, pregnant not with one baby but three. Like, how is that fair?” She hung her head shamefully.

  “Aeis, do not even feel guilty about this.” I thanked the maid when she sat down our cups. The herbal tea had been one of my only drinks for the last few weeks, and I hoped it would help calm Aeis as it calmed me. “I would feel the same way if I were in your position.”

  “But you’re not in my position.” Aeis stared at me. “You have three wonderful guys who love you, babies on the way, and the whole of Western Waesigar waiting for you to take the throne.”

  “Okay.” I leaned my head from side to side. “So, the first two are right but the last bit? I doubt it. You and I both know me getting pregnant is just a failsafe for if dad ever dies. If.” I stared her down, hoping to crack a smile. “We both know he’s too stubborn to ever croak, no matter how m
any times we wish it.”

  Aeis’s lips quirked up at the edges.

  “There it is.” I poked at her with a grin. “There’s that smile. Now, why don’t you stop focusing on what you don’t have and what you do?” Her brow furrowed in confusion. “Three nieces or nephews to spoil rotten. Well …” I took another drink of my cup. “One is a girl for sure. The seer said so. The other two are still up in the air. I can just hope they come out before they kill me or someone else with their wacky new powers.”

  “Powers?”

  “Oh yeah,” I grimaced, wishing I hadn’t said anything. I was trying to make her feel better, not brag more about my powerful embryos. “Apparently, babies channeling their powers through their mothers is a thing.” I tried to downplay their abilities, so it didn’t seem so much like I was shoving it in her face.

  Aeis didn’t get upset like I thought she would. She seemed curious. At least that was better than feeling sorry for herself.

  “Anyway,” I continued, not elaborating on the powers, “while we wait for Firestar to come back with a yay or nay from his father, the guys are supposed to help me channel those powers safely. I knocked the power out last night and let me tell you, no one wants me to be out of control of these powers less than me.”

  “So, what should my men and I do while we wait? Father won’t be too happy about me hanging around doing nothing with his army.” Aeis crossed her arms over her chest, a displeased scowl on her face.

  I opened my mouth to tell her exactly what I thought Father could do with his impatient army when two people that made me grin came into the dining room. A wicked idea came to mind, and I had no doubt it showed on my face.

  “What?” Aeis asked following my eyes to the two delicious pieces of man meat coming toward us.

  “Aeis,” I grinned coyly. “Have you met Raiden’s brothers? His twin single brothers.” A flush spread across my sister’s face and down her neck, as she swallowed visibly. This was going to be fun.

  8

  “We shouldn’t be doing this right now,” Jack reminded me again even as I backed him up into the bedroom.

  I licked my lips hungrily, my eyes scanning over his form. “You know I can’t control when my hormones act up. And right this very second, they want nothing more than to taste every inch of you.”

  Jack’s gaze turned dark, and the evidence of his desire pressed against the line of his pants. “While I would love to give into your every whim, we’re supposed to be training.”

  Sashaying across the room, I began to undo the buttons of my shirt, my eyes trained on his the entire time. Shrugging out of my shirt, I let it fall to the floor. I stood there, my chest still encased in my bra with his heated gaze on me. It gave me the incentive I needed to slide my thumbs beneath the top of my pants and drop them to the floor.

  Kicking them to the side, I played with the straps of my bra as I walked toward him. I pressed myself against the front of his chest, my fingers pulling down the straps and then unsnapping the back, leaving it so that the only thing keeping it up was Jack’s chest.

  I trailed my fingers along the line of the neck of his shirt, his head angling to the side allowing me to explore him fully. I reached up on my tiptoes and traced my tongue along the line of his jugular. I bit down slightly, making him groan, his hands gripping onto my hips.

  “Jack,” I cooed in his ear. “Sweet Jack. You wouldn’t leave your mate to suffer on her own, now would you?” I rubbed against him in a circular pattern, making sure to brush against the front of his pants as much as possible.

  He was silent for a moment, the only sound in the room was his labored breathing. Then, by some miracle, his hands dropped to my butt, cupping them as he pulled me tightly against him. I shifted my arms and moved back enough to let my bra fall to the ground, leaving me bare against him.

  “Fuck it,” Jack growled, lowering his mouth to mine, fiercely ravaging my lips. My hands laced into his hair, tugging him down closer as I lifted my leg to wrap around his thigh.

  Grabbing me beneath my thighs, he lifted me up into his arms and turned us, laying us down on the bed behind me. I fell on the bed with a poof, the bed sinking in beneath me. Jack left my mouth and dragged his lips along my neck and down to my chest. Taking my breasts in both hands, he pressed them together before kissing them each in turn.

  Licking and sucking on the tips, he had me begging for more by the time he continued his trek down my body. He hovered over my stomach, taking special care to lay a kiss on it before his fingers curled underneath the sides of my panties. Without warning, he ripped them off, the action burning against my skin before he tossed them to the side.

  Before I could complain about him ruining one of my only good pair of underwear, his mouth covered my pulsing bundle of nerves. I gasped, my back arching off the bed as he nipped and sucked me into his mouth.

  Barely able to catch my breath from the intensity of it all, I gripped the bedding beneath me, balling it into my fists. My toes curled under and I dragged them along the back of Jack, my heels digging into him. If it bothered him, he didn’t say, but he did slip a finger inside me, rubbing from the inside and out.

  “Jack, I’m about to …” My voice trailed off as my body grew hot and stars exploded behind my eyes.

  I didn’t have a chance to revel in my release before Jack jerked back and shouted, “Fire!”

  “Huh? What?” I asked, still a bit incoherent. I followed Jack’s eyes, his finger pointing at the bed next to us. There was indeed an actual fire next to me on the bed. How had I missed that? Oh, yeah, I was in the middle of orgasming.

  “Did I do that?” I asked as I backed off the bed. Jack used his magic, ice coming out of his hand and extinguishing the fire before it could spread. Unfortunately, the bedding was ruined.

  “It would seem your powers are becoming more unpredictable.” Jack’s brows furrowed a thoughtful expression on his face. He started to say something else, but I put my hand up with a warning look.

  “Don’t.”

  “What?” Jack raised a brow.

  “Don’t tell me I told you so because I already know.” I dragged my hand through my hair and sighed. “Training above sex. I never thought I’d have to make that rule. But hey!” I grinned at him. “At least I got off.”

  Jack cast his gaze to the sky before shaking his head. “Come, let’s go to the library. There might be something there we can find to help you train.”

  “Yeah, because nothing is sexy about a library,” I said sarcastically as I dug around for some new underwear.

  “You find libraries arousing?” Jack asked, surprise in his voice.

  I snorted and dragged my pants and shirt on. “I find the sight of you eating arousing right now, but libraries have always been something I’ve enjoyed. Besides, fucking against a bookshelf?” I wagged my eyebrows at him. “So hot.”

  Jack shook his head again and ushered me out of the room. “I’ll have to keep that in mind, but after we get your powers under control.”

  “Whatever you say, sensei.” When Jack just looked at me curiously, I waved him off. “Never mind. Let’s go.”

  We walked down the hall in silence, me thinking about what had just happened, Jack thinking about God only knew what. Probably about the hard on I’d left him with. Though the prospect of catching on fire might have been enough to kill that wood.

  “Hey,” Raiden called out to us as we passed the dining hall. He had a raspberry tart in one hand with most of it already gone. “I thought you were going for a little one-on-one time?”

  My mouth twisted into a grimace. “It was interrupted by the reminder that I should be training.”

  Raiden glanced to Jack. “How’d you convince her of that?”

  “Oh, I didn’t. I fully gave into her feminine wiles.”

  Raiden chuckled at Jack’s answer. “So, she decided that for herself?” Raiden shook his head in disbelief. “That doesn’t seem likely.”

  “I caught the bed on fire
, okay?” I snapped, stomping past him and to the library just down the hall.

  “Wait, what?” Raiden asked, running down the hall after me.

  The moment I stepped into the library I caught sight of my sister and the twins sitting at a table together. “Shh!” I held my hand up and then ducked behind a nearby bookshelf, gesturing for the guys to follow.

  “Is that my brothers?” Raiden asked, his interest in my incident thankfully forgotten.

  “Yep,” I nodded. “And my sister.”

  “I do not think this is appropriate,” Jack said, moving in beside us..

  “Shh, they’ll hear you.” I waved him off as I tried to get a better look at my sister and the twins between the books on the shelf beside us. They sat in the library chatting about something or another. I couldn’t really make out what they were saying, but Aeis kept laughing and brushing her hair behind her ear, a sure sign she was into them.

  Ever since I’d introduced them and saw the instant attraction, I’d done my best to put them together as much as possible. Sitting next to each other at meals. A tour of the village. Even sparring when I knew the twins would be on the training grounds. I’d never been one for matchmaking but seeing my sister so depressed gave me a need for nothing else but to see her happy. The twins could make her happy.

  “I’m just saying that we should be training and not spying on your sister. She is a grown woman and can find her own mates.”

  I pursed my lips and shot Jack a look.

  “Lighten up, Jack ole boy. We have plenty of time to train. Besides, my brothers need a woman like Aeis to tame their wild ways.” Raiden nudged Jack with a grin, trying to get a better look himself.

  “You mean, how I’ve tamed you?” I cocked a brow. He winked at me, and I rolled my eyes, turning back to the scene before us. “You overestimate my sister’s abilities to tame a man. The last one didn’t go very well for her, but I’m hoping your brothers will help her not be so serious. She needs a bit of fun, after all she’s gone through.”