Her Prince: A Reverse Harem Fantasy (Kindred Souls Book 2)

by Helene Gadot

  Aster opened his mouth to respond, but Whist kept going.

  "And your father's laws take those choices away. You either marry your kindred, or you live your life alone. You saw what my father was like. He was a complete asshole and the day he died was the day my mother and I were finally free. She never would have married him if the laws didn't demand it. And since he was her only kindred, she's alone for the rest of her life, never getting to have the relationship she deserves."

  Aster grimaced.

  The special smile of his lit up Whist's face. "Then I find my kindred, a woman who rails against the very thing that broke my mother's heart. And she gets people talking about it and spreading her music throughout the land. Her music makes people think and feel and change their minds and hearts. It's a powerful force that could end this fight even sooner. But yes. Part of me wants to wrap her in seventeen layers of blankets and lock her away. But if I did that, she'd never forgive me and I would break whatever relationship we've been building. Rhapsody can't be manipulated or pressured. She'll make the choice that helps the most people while staying as true to her core beliefs as she can."

  I closed my eyes against the tears gathering in my eyes. Whist so rarely spoke what was in his heart. I wanted to leap from the bed and throw myself in his arms.

  Aster let out a dark chuckle. "She's changed you. You never were one for speeches and feelings. It was always planning and logic and militant stoicism."

  Once I got myself under control, I sneaked glances at them again, hoping Sky's body curled against mine hid my attention. He and Saber were already knocked out. I envied their ability to fall asleep so quickly, whenever, wherever.

  "She has and I don't regret it the slightest. You should fight for her, Aster. She's worth it. She'll change you too."

  Aster glanced over at us. "Sky and Saber seem thrilled too. Like the found their missing piece."

  "They did."

  "How the hell do I fight for her?" Aster threw up his hands.

  Whist exhaled as he leaned against the wall. "Not with your usual flirtations and charm. Saber told you that."

  Aster rubbed the back of his neck. "I can't, Whist. I cannot try and tempt her to stay. Maybe there's a way you four can help us from Havisam. It's what would be best for her and you three."

  "But what about you? What about this kingdom?"

  "Fuck the kingdom and me. We'll either win or we won't, but not with her as collateral damage."

  Aster didn't know it, but his words helped me cement the decision I'd already made days ago, I just hadn't had the courage to admit it yet.

  TWENTY-EIGHT

  I woke alone and cold in the prince's ridiculous bed, the trickles of music filtering through the cracked bedroom door. I stretched and winced at my still sore muscles. The prince hadn't slept with us, instead he'd gone to sleep on his sofa after he and Whist finished talking and plotting. He was determined to keep his distance, something I no longer planned to make easy on him.

  Rolling from the bed, I ducked into the bathroom to freshen up. Unsure where Sky and Saber hid my clothes, I stalked out into the main room in the tiny green gown, skidding to a halt on my bare feet.

  The music came from Aster playing the piano. His back faced me, so he hadn't noticed my entrance yet. I leaned against the wall and watched him. The muscles in his back rippled through the thin fabric of his shirt as his fingers danced and flirted across the keys. The song was unfamiliar but it was beautiful. It was melancholic and bittersweet, reminding me of dark and lonely nights. My fingers itched for my ukulele, wanting desperately to join in.

  "I know you're there, you know." His voice made me jump, but he didn't stop playing.

  "How?"

  He glanced over his shoulder. "I can smell you."

  I couldn't decide if I should have been offended. "I had a bath."

  He ended the song and turned around on the stool to face me. "It's not a bad smell, you frustrating woman. Your scent is... intoxicating."

  "So is yours." I wanted to slam my hand over my mouth at the admission, instead I hurried to change the subject. "You didn't tell me you were a musician too." No one mentioned it, which seemed odd considering everyone wanted us to connect.

  Aster shrugged. "I'm no musician. I can play a couple tunes on here, but it's nothing compared to you. And it's not something many people know."

  "Why is it such a secret?" I didn't understand why he'd hide something like that.

  He looked down at the floor. "Everything I am belongs to the people of Faligrey. I like having something that is just mine."

  "I can understand that. Where are the others?" I hated waking up alone. Something that kept happening lately.

  "They had a few things to take care of, so I said I would remain here with you until they are finished."

  "Do you know where they left my clothes?" I fussed with the hem of the tiny gown, uncomfortable being so bare in front of him.

  His sapphire eyes burned trails up my legs and his voice came out a bit hoarse. "Yes. I will show you." He stood from the piano and approached me, his gaze raking over me like hot coals.

  My mouth dried and my breathing hitched. I wanted to taste him again. I wanted his body against mine. I wanted to know how we'd fit together.

  Instead, I followed him down the hall to his bedroom, his wafting scent making me crave him even more. I shut the door behind us, closing myself in with the prince of bloody Faligrey.

  Aster opened his closet and stood back with a gesture. "They are hanging in here."

  "Thanks." I flicked through the fabric, needing something comfortable. "What am I expected to do today?"

  "Nothing. Relax. Recover from your hellish evening."

  "No training with Elora?" I asked, grabbing a shirt of Sky's and the first pair of trousers I found.

  "She and your assassins are questioning the other guards who were at the gala and who knew your attacker."

  I snorted. "Why bother? Don't we know the king was behind it?"

  "Yes, but he of course acted horrified and demanded we find out if he had any accomplices. So we are going along with it." Aster's voice carried with grim frustration.

  "How do these games not drive you completely mad?" I'd only been here a little over a week and was ready to yank my hair out or plot a royal murder.

  "It's all I've ever known my entire life."

  "That's depressing."

  "Indeed."

  Was it time to tell him my decision? Would he be relieved or upset?

  I decided to show him.

  TWENTY-NINE

  I dropped the clothes I'd chosen on the floor. Aster raised a brow, but said nothing, his shoulders tense, his eyes watchful. My stomach rolled with nerves, unsure how he'd respond.

  My trembling fingers grabbed the hem of my gown, drawing it up my body, my gaze colliding with Aster's. He sucked in a sharp breath through his nose as I pulled the gown over my head.

  His eyes flared and his hands curled into fists at his side. "What are you doing?"

  "I'm not changing clothes." I stepped towards him, so close the heat from his body seared mine.

  Aster's jaw tightened as he glared at me. "Do you know what you're getting into with me?"

  "Not a clue." And I couldn't wait to find out.

  "You certain about this?"

  "Yes."

  Before my consent was completely out of my mouth, he was on me. His mouth scorched mine as he jerked me to him, holding me so tight it was hard to breathe. He grabbed my arms and threw me onto the bed, collapsing on top of me, sucking and licking down my neck, chest, belly.

  He looked up my body from his kneeling position between my legs. "Last chance to back out."

  "Do your worse, prince."

  Aster dug under his mattress and I frowned in confusion. My brow cleared and my pulse sped up when he unearthed cuffs. Four of them. They were connected to the corners of his bed with long chains so they could reach me in the center. He clasped them around my wrists an
d ankles, spreading me wide for his perusal. My chest heaved, and I stared at him with wide eyes.

  "You all right?"

  I nodded, breathless and excited.

  "Tell me any time you want me to stop."

  I nodded again.

  Aster's fingers plucked at the buttons of his shirt, so slowly it was torturous, revealing a muscular and sun-kissed chest. I gulped and struggled against the bonds, wanting to touch, to kiss, to lick, to bite.

  He smirked and shrugged off his shirt, catching it and crawling over to me. He twisted it and then used it to blindfold me. My lips curled in a pout he kissed away. With my sight cut off, I had no idea what Aster was doing. My fingernails cut into my palms as I perked up my ears to try to hear what he was up to. It sounded like he was digging through a drawer.

  The mattress dipped between my open legs and I tensed, waiting for whatever was coming.

  "Relax." Aster stroked his fingers up my legs, a gentle teasing touch. "I promise to take it easy on you today. I do not believe you are quite ready for my appetites."

  I gasped when his fingers dipped inside my core. "Are you worse than Whistler?"

  "Much worse."

  A moan slid past my lips. "Show me."

  "Not today, you incredible creature. I don't want to scare you off and that's a long conversation we need to have before we play that hard. Let me make you feel good, Rhapsody." His fingers fluttered at that special, soft spot inside of me, making me buck against the cuffs.

  He didn't let up, his fingers pressing and playing inside me and his mouth attached to my clit. He sucked hard, and I screamed as I came, the climax sneaking up on me and blasting through me with fury.

  "Again." His voice held a dark command like Whistler's.

  "I can't." My head thrashed against the blankets.

  "Yes, you can." He added a finger inside me and twisted while his mouth continued assaulting my clit.

  My limbs trembled, making the cuffs clang.

  "Fuck, you taste incredible." His words vibrated against my pussy.

  I whimpered and bit my bottom lip, lifting my hips to press against him harder.

  "Come for me, Rhapsody."

  I was helpless to disobey, my body answering his demand as I broke apart, shattered.

  "Beautiful." He pulled his finger from me and then something slick and hard pressed against my tight back hole. It wasn't his cock, it was something else, something smaller but harder. Aster teased me with it, sliding it in a little and circling it around, stretching me, before pulling it back out.

  Without warning, he shoved it all the way inside my ass. Tendrils of pain transformed into warmth and desire. I opened myself up wider. He pumped it in and out of me with harsh, unyielding thrusts. I mewled, wanting more, needing more.

  "Please."

  "Please, what?"

  "More. More, please."

  "Where do you want me?" He slid his finger along my bottom lip. "Your mouth?" He trailed his finger down my skin to my chest where he plucked my nipples. "Between your beautiful breasts?" Lower and lower his finger traveled until he reached my core and pinched my clit. "Your pussy?" He wiggled the fake cock in my ass. "Your ass is already taken."

  I moaned.

  "Where, Rhapsody? Where do you want me to stick my cock?"

  "Mouth. My mouth." I wanted to drive him as crazy as he was driving me.

  "Good girl." Aster climbed up my body, spreading kisses along my flesh.

  He straddled my shoulders and the head of his cock nudged my mouth, I spread my lips and sucked him in, swirling my tongue around his tip.

  "Open your mouth and hold on. I want to fuck your mouth. Can you take all of me?"

  "Yes." I dropped my jaw, and he plunged almost down my throat.

  I relaxed and swallowed, making him hiss in pleasure. He kept his thrusts shallow, careful not to hurt me. If I hadn't been choked out the night before, I would have begged him to go harder, faster.

  Aster reached behind him and pumped the thing in my ass in time with his cock in my mouth. He completely surrounded me -- his taste, his scent, his touch. I wished I could see him, I wanted to watch him come apart in my mouth, I wanted to stare in his eyes while he was deep inside me.

  I sucked him hard, hollowing my cheeks, and he shuddered and stiffened. "Fuck."

  Whirls of desire swept through me, building, building, building. I exploded, my pussy clenching on air, my ass clenching around the foreign object inside me, my scream strangled by Aster's cock.

  He pulled out of my mouth and ripped his shirt off my eyes. My body was completely boneless, after so many orgasms, my head buzzing and spinning. Aster finally came into focus. He stared at me, his hands digging into the blankets on either side of my head, his still hard and swollen cock laying against my belly.

  "If we had more time, I'd take a flogger to this soft, perfect skin. But I can't wait any longer to be inside you."

  I quivered and yanked against the bonds.

  "Think you have one more in you?"

  "I don't think so."

  A wicked smile spread across his lips. "I think you do. More than one. I want to keep going until you're begging me to stop, until you're completely rung out with pleasure."

  A whimpering sigh vibrated through me. Staying in bed with him all day would kill me. If the others joined us, the four of them would destroy me.

  "If Whist was here, we would take turns coloring your skin red. You wouldn't be able to sit on that glorious ass for days. Then we'd leave you tied up and filled with my toys to watch while we fucked. Only once you begged us, would we take you." His eyes dilated as he took in the want on my face. "That turns you on, doesn't it? You want us to punish you, fuck for you, then fuck you?"

  "Fuck yes."

  "You want to feel the sting of the flogger against your breasts? Your ass? Your pussy?"

  I writhed, burning for him. For everything. "Yes."

  Finally, he put me out of my misery and impaled me with his dick. I cried out and arched beneath him as he set up a punishing pace. His cock rubbed against the object still buried in my ass, and I was as full as I felt when my other kindreds fucked me at the same time.

  Somehow, I was coming again. I tilted my hips to take him deeper and the slight curve at the end of his cock pressed against my soft spot. The climax refused to end. Another started before the previous one could end. He captured me with his gaze, his face somber and searching as he tried to understand why I was shattering beneath him, why I had bared myself for him.

  He buried his face in the crook of my neck and sank savage teeth into the same spot Sky had marked me. I wailed as yet another release ripped through me. His cock thickened inside me and he went rigid as he spilled himself.

  Our chests stuck together as we battled for air. He sat back, searching my eyes again. "Are you all right?"

  "I think so." I huffed a breathless laugh.

  He scrambled off of me and unbuckled the restraints, rubbing at my wrists and ankles. He shot me another wicked grin and then pulled the thing out of my ass and held it up for me to see.

  "What is that?" My eyes widened at the carved wooden cock.

  "It's a plug. Created to mimic a cock."

  I tilted my head. "Do you use it on yourself?"

  "Quite often. Why? You want to use it on me?"

  "Maybe."

  He laughed. "I have all sorts of toys. One day maybe I'll get the chance to show them all to you." There was a wistful note in his tone. He thought this was a one-time thing. He thought I still planned to run and deny our bond. He still wanted me to.

  He cleaned us both up and curled his body around mine from behind. There was a fear and desperation in the way he held me, like he was waiting for me to disappear and was trying to soak up as much of me as he could.

  I snuggled back into him with a small smile. I wasn't ready to throw myself completely into a relationship with him, but I decided to trust the bond, to trust my other kindreds.

  More than that
, I wanted to help bring down the king. I couldn't think of a better way to honor my parents.

  THIRTY

  I dozed off and on in my prince's arms, more at peace than I'd been in a long time. The only possible thing that could make it better would be my other kindreds in bed with us.

  Aster finally roused himself. "I have to go. If I don't show my face, there will be questions. I'm surprised no one has banged down the door yet."

  I stretched lazily against him. "All right."

  He kissed me. "I need you to stay here. No one would dare enter my quarters and hurt you. Sky or Saber should be back soon, they were planning on at least one of them escaping to return here."

  "I'll be fine." I snuggled back into the pillows.

  "try to get some rest. I have a feeling you'll be kept up late tonight." His lips quirked with a grin.

  I chuckled low, my body wrung out and sore, but it perked up at his words. "You won't hear any complaints from me."

  "When I return, I need to speak with you about something. I should have before, but..." he trailed off. "Anyway. It's important."

  I had a feeling I knew exactly what he wanted to discuss. Too bad I wasn't going to agree to any of it. "All right."

  He turned me onto my back and cupped my face in one of his hands, pressing a hard kiss to my lips. "I'll see you in a bit."

  I threaded my arms around his neck and pulled him tight to me, sliding my tongue into his mouth. He broke the kiss with a groan, his cock hardening between us, his forehead against mine.

  "Evil temptress." He tweaked my nipples in revenge and hurried off the bed, throwing clothes from his closet.

  Aster stared at me with burning eyes as he dressed. I ran my hand down the center of my body with a teasing smile.

  His eyes narrowed. "You will pay for that later."

  My smile widened. "Looking forward to it."

  He shook his head. "Those assassins have given you way too much leeway and taught you some bad habits."