by Ivy Clyde
“Don’t stop,” I bit out.
A slow smile spread through his lips.
“She can take more,” said Leon in a rough voice.
Cade’s gaze flickered to him and then back to me.
He started moving inside me once again. His strokes became long and hard, hitting me at that perfect spot, making me want to shout out at every thrust. My mind was delirious with pleasure and lust. Never in my wildest imagination did I dream of being in the same bed with Leon and Cade. They were in control of me, making me moan and come at their will.
The hard throbbing in my core made me look up at Cade. Rough groans escaped him as he thrust into me despite the tightening of my walls around his cock.
“You feel so good, Moira,” he whispered, lowering his face into the crook of my neck. His teeth sank into the soft skin just as his control shattered. My core pulsed and clenched around him, determined to milk him completely. His white-hot seeds filled me up and spilled out of me in thick streams to gently drip on my thighs.
Our breaths sounded short and erratic. Cade pulled out of me gently and fell to the side.
Before my mind and body could calm down, I felt another weight sinking on top of me.
“My turn,” said Leon, looking down at me with deep golden eyes. “Though I don’t think I’ll last long after watching you two.”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him against me. “Thank you for making this happen,” I whispered before claiming his lips.
Leon slipped inside me easier because of my slicked channel. His mouth sucked on my nipple as he started thrusting into me.
Within a minute, his rough groans mingled with my soft moans.
His eyes burned as they looked down at me. Hints of pure lust and possessiveness lit up his gaze as he plunged inside me.
My core clenched around his hardened shaft, making him curse out.
He was right about not being able to last long. His body sank onto mine as he thrust into me with hard, short strokes, making my pleasure rise higher.
“You’re so fucking tight,” he rasped. “Damn this!” His mouth came to close around mine as he suddenly shattered. Our bodies shuddered together as we held onto each other tightly. His seeds filled up my core, mixing with some of Cade’s essence. Some of it dripped onto my thighs as he pulled out of me. Breathing hard, he lay down beside me.
“She looks fucking beautiful like this,” Cade’s voice whispered from my right side. “Her lips are swollen and her eyes are gleaming with secrets.”
A rough chuckle escaped Leon. “I know. She feels incredible, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah.” There was a hint of pure appreciation in Cade’s voice. “She is unlike any woman I’ve ever been with. Everyone pales in comparison.” I turned to the side to glance at him. He was already sitting up with his trousers on.
“Can’t you stay here longer?” I asked him, feeling completely boneless. It was also very comfortable to have his hot body against mine.
Cade smiled and pulled on his tunic. “I wish we could but Leon and I aren’t really supposed to be in the royal harem without permission. If a passing maid heard our voices or accidentally saw us, there would be hell to pay.” Leaning down, he kissed me. “I’ve loved every second with you and would love to spend the night with you but your safety is much more important to me.”
Warmth spread through my chest. Despite my disappointment, it felt good to hear those words.
Leon climbed out of bed next. After collecting his clothes from the floor, he got dressed too.
“We’ll see you again very soon,” said Leon, donning his tunic. His face still had a sweaty sheen to it. He ran his fingers through the thick mass of his flaming red hair, making it look even more disheveled than before. Anyone who saw him could tell what he’d been up to.
Cade looked the same. Despite the crispness of his silken tunic, his sunshine-gold hair looked completely crumpled and uncombed. It only enhanced his allure, adding a touch of danger to his otherwise suave look. They both walked toward the open windows, leaving me to sit on the bed with a sheet clutched to my chest.
They both blew me kisses before leaping out of the window.
I wanted to lie back in bed and sleep but the warm stickiness between my thighs was uncomfortable. Exhaling a long breath, I climbed out of bed.
Ignoring the nightgown lost somewhere under the swathes of blankets and bedsheets, I walked naked to the bathroom.
Reaching the wide marble basin set in the bathroom, I looked toward the vast, spotless mirror on the wall before me.
A low groan escaped me as I stared at my flushed face, red, swollen lips, and messy hair. My blue eyes sparkled with a life of their own. To be completely truthful, I looked pretty in a messy, crumpled sort of way and understood why both my mates thought me to be beautiful even though I was a blushing, panting mess after sex.
I splashed cold water on my face to cool the color on my cheeks and proceeded to wash and wipe my pussy. A hot bath would have been nice but my exhausted body yearned for the soft warmth of the bed. Feeling much more relaxed than before, I headed back into the room.
Cade and Leon made me forget everything bad that happened today. My body thrummed with the memory of their heated touches. I didn’t want to think of anything else at the moment but the feel of their throbbing cocks buried deep inside me. My core pulsed at the thought, making me wish Rowan was here too. If I was honest, I could go for another round. I blushed at the thought. Seriously, what had happened to me?
I closed the windows and climbed into bed. Pulling the covers over me, I lay down on the pillow. Within seconds, I fell into a comfortable doze.
28
Leon
Cade and I walked through a wild, overgrown pear orchard of one of the abandoned palace quarters in the west wing. There was nothing of value here. Everything was either burned or broken. Tall grass grew through the cracks in the broken ancient courtyard floor. No guards watched these parts and no maids came to clean the ruins, providing us the perfect place to have a little private chat.
“What are you thinking?” asked Cade.
“Way too many things to make sense of anything,” I replied, meeting his gaze. Moonlight shone over him, lighting his gold blond hair with a silver sheen. He looked the same as always, exceedingly beautiful and suave, but there was a new emotion in the depths of his gleaming lavender-hued eyes. Even though I hadn’t been close to him in the past few years, I could feel something brewing inside him. “Why did you decide to defy the queen?” I asked.
“I don’t want her to destroy the rest of our family,” said Cade. “Our bonds have already fractured enough. We have already suffered enough without needing to add fratricide to our conscience.”
An icy shiver ran down my back. I couldn’t believe the ruthlessness of Queen Brenna. How could she even contemplate killing Rowan and me after securing the throne for her son? She had no empathy left for her husband, the king. Father was heartbroken after the death of Lady Cynthia. How could he bear it if his beloved sons perished as well?
“Do you want the throne?” I asked.
“Not really,” said Cade. He leaned against the remnant of a brick wall and glanced toward the moon. “While I enjoy the game of politics, I am not suited to be on the throne. Rowan is the only one who is fit for that position. Don’t you agree?” He met my gaze.
“Yeah,” I agreed. “Rowan is the only one who can suppress his emotions well enough to deal with the two-faced politicians and nobles.”
A chuckle escaped Cade. “You don’t even pretend to want the throne.”
“Why bother pretending when I don’t want it?”
“You just want to keep painting and playing Ceòl.”
Surprise flitted through me. He still remembered the name I’d given to my flute.
“You may hide your creations but you can’t conceal the smell of paint always wafting from you,” said Cade with a smug smirk. “I also recognize the tunes you’ve been pla
ying since you were just a snot-faced boy.”
I scoffed. “Stop acting like you’re my elder just because you were born two months before me.”
He laughed. “Don’t you forget that fact!”
“So, you’ve known all this time?” I asked, feeling something warm swirl in my chest. Cade hadn’t really betrayed me, after all.
“Yeah,” he said with a shrug. “Why make a fuss of the matter when you clearly wanted to hide your talents? You’re free to hide or shout your truth from the treetops.”
We stayed silent for a while, listening to the wind rustling through the grasses at our feet.
“Moira,” I breathed, closing my eyes. The smell of apple blossoms still seemed to cling to my skin even though her body was no longer entangled with mine.
“I am glad she came to us,” said Cade in a low voice. There was a confession in his soft, warm tone.
“She might just be the key to help us regain our power,” I said. “I wish Rowan wasn’t so busy fighting off Coran at the moment. We still don’t know how he would feel about sharing Moira with us.”
“Moira said he likes her,” said Cade.
“Is that fondness enough to share the same bed with us?”
He chuckled. “You weren’t too open to the idea either.”
“No,” I confessed. “But it’s different when we’re with her. All my attention is focused on her. I love watching her face flush and desire casting a haze over her eyes. I barely had time to glance at your naked ass.”
Cade laughed. “I understand what you mean. She is the one who commands all my attention. If Rowan is truly interested in her, he is missing out on the best fuck of his life.”
I cleared my throat. “Don’t make it sound so cheap.”
“I make it sound exactly like it is. The word doesn’t make it cheap. No other woman’s cunt ever felt as good as Moira’s. It’s like she was built for me.”
An exasperated sigh escaped me. I felt the same as Cade but it was hard for me to utter those words with such a casual air. Perhaps, I’d been alone far too long. Hiding my feelings and emotions had become second nature to me. I waited for Cade to stop laughing at me before continuing to speak.
“Rowan has been careful,” I said after a while. “Can you imagine how many more attacks Moira would have had to suffer if he openly showed his liking for her? She wouldn’t even be safe in the palace.”
Cade sobered up at once. “I know. It was hard to believe Desiree and her friends attacked her when I was so close by. If Moira’s untamed magic didn’t come to rescue her in time, she would be lost to us already.”
“Moira’s magic is the same as those of the ancient lunar fae monarchs,” I said slowly.
“Yes.”
“But she also has the powers of a solar fae.”
“Yes.”
“It has been eons since our kind mated,” I said after a while. “Moira is close to our age. It is almost impossible for our kind to be involved in a romantic relationship.”
“Almost impossible but not completely implausible,” said Cade.
“Was that the reason she was abandoned in the human realm for so long?”
Cade shook his head. “There has to be more to it than just hiding their offspring.”
“Yes,” I agreed. “The parents could have hidden with Moira in the human world. They would have been able to stay there without any fear. I believe they’re dead already.”
“I believe so too.”
“Other than us and Lady Chantal and Demitria, has anyone else seen the seal on Moira’s body?”
“My mother and her gang of maids saw it,” answered Cade through clenched teeth. “I doubt it’s a secret she has the ancient lumina seal on her body which makes her a prospective mate to the heirs of the lunar fae.”
“Their king died eighteen years ago,” I said. “He didn’t leave any heirs.”
Cade reached out and plucked a pear from an overhead branch. Rubbing the fruit on his sleeve, he took a large bite. “Tell me more,” he said through a mouthful. “I don’t know much about the lunar kingdom.”
“The lunar kingdom was without an heir for at least fifteen years,” I told him. He munched on the fruit, listening to me attentively. “Recently, a mysterious person has appeared as the next heir but as far as I know, there has been no official ceremony to announce him as the king. The nobles there are as tight-fisted with power as they are in our realm.”
“Who is this heir?”
“I don’t really know. He keeps to himself and rarely makes an appearance.”
“Isn’t it strange the whole royal family died,” said Cade. “They’re supposed to be our enemies but it has been ages since we fought a battle. I wonder what could have killed them all.”
I stayed quiet, mulling over the facts. “If the three of us don’t step up, our family would soon perish too. How easy it would be if you became king and then finished me and Rowan. Father would wither away in grief. How long until the nobles get rid of you too? What could the queen do but to relinquish all power to Coran?”
Cade crushed the half-eaten pear in his hand. “Don’t speak of it,” he warned.
“Doesn’t your mother ever think what would happen if your own family isn’t around to keep you safe? Who else can she trust? Who will trust a king who backstabbed his own brothers? Tell me, Cade. What is your mother really up to?”
His gaze turned grim. “I don’t know,” he said. “Someone is pulling the strings from behind the curtain. It is Coran but I don’t know what is binding her to him.”
“Could it be related to Lady Cynthia’s death?”
Cade’s face blanched.
“I’m sorry, Brother,” I said. “Your mother started being offensive toward Lady Cynthia. We’ve all witnessed the slights. Everyone suspects her hand in what happened.”
“I don’t want to believe it,” he said in a tight voice. “If it is ever proven, I will never be able to forgive her. Lady Cynthia and Lady Ingrid are my mothers too.”
I nodded, deciding to stop the conversation here. We’d just reconciled to be Moira’s mates and work together to keep her and our kingdom safe. There was no point in pursuing a subject that was ripe with suspicion and mystery with no real answers to it.
“Let’s keep an eye on things for a while before approaching Rowan,” I said.
“Agreed,” said Cade. “Also, let’s meet up with Moira again. I can’t wait to be inside her again. Just thinking of her makes me want to make sweet love to her and pound into her at the same time.”
“Maybe you keep your thoughts to yourself.”
Cade laughed and dug his elbow painfully in my ribs. “You want that too. Just admit it.”
I pushed him off me. My angry frown seemed to delight him. He laughed in my face again.
“You never change,” I said, stalking away from him. “Annoying as always.”
Cade’s wild laughter followed me as I walked away from the wildly overgrown ruins.
29
Moira
I woke up feeling energized after the deep, undisturbed sleep. My body was no longer sore but I still wanted to have a bath. Sitting up in bed, I watched Gilly set up the table with plates of sliced fruits and other dishes. This morning, she wore fresh robes of purple and gold. She still had a veil covering her face but otherwise, looked stronger than before. The palace seemed to be looking after all her needs.
“Gilly, come here,” I said, swinging my legs over the edge of the bed.
“Merry morning, My Lady,” she said, turning toward me and giving me a low bow.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Much better. Thank you, My Lady.”
“Are they letting you eat well?”
“Yes. I get to eat as much porridge with butter and cream as I want,” she said in a happy voice. “They don’t let me starve here.”
“Did they starve you in Lord Coran’s manor?”
She gave a single nod. “They said it was to k
eep us disciplined.”
My nostrils flared as anger rippled through me. Suppressing the urge to curse Deirdre and her father, I decided to get to the point. “Can you go out of the palace on your own?”
“Of course, My Lady. You can tell me what you need and I will get it for you.”
“It’s not something I need. Can you take a message to Isla and bring back a reply?”
“I can do that,” said Gilly. “Would you like me to serve you breakfast first? I can deliver the message while you eat.”
I smiled. “That’s so thoughtful of you. Before delivering the message, I need you to confirm something else. Can you sneak me out of the palace?”
“You are not a prisoner here either, My Lady.” Gilly walked to a corner and opened a set of white-painted drawers. Taking something from inside it, she came back to me. “With this seal, you can command maids and guards. You can also use it to go in and out of the palace gates.”
“That’s good to know,” I said, taking the heavy, carved jade pendant from her. There were symbols carved on it in the ancient fae tongue and denoted a number. I guessed it was kind of a code they put on badges to use as an identity. Turning my attention back to Gilly, I said, “What if someone followed me? Can you keep a watch from a distance and alert me?”
She gave a nod. “I can do that, My Lady.”
“Yes!” I cheered and hopped off the bed to hug her. Gilly stiffened in my arms but I gave her a gentle squeeze before letting go. “Okay, here’s what I want you to do. Go to Belenus Court, find Isla and ask her if she can meet me at the Centaur’s Hoof Tavern this evening. Sometime between five and six P.M.”
“Would you like me to help you with anything else before I go?” she asked.
I shook my head. “I can get dressed on my own. Just bring me back her reply.”
“Yes, My Lady.”
Gilly walked out of the room, leaving me to stretch my sore limbs. Warmth spread through me as memories of last night floated back in my mind. Cade and Leon lavished me with attention until I was squirming and moaning with pleasure underneath them. At the heel of those thoughts, came the nagging worry about my connection to the lunar fae.
