Stealing Beauty

by Madison Faye

  Damn.

  I was kissing him before I knew it, melting into his lips before turning and doing the same with Caspian.

  “Is that even— I mean, can you even do that? Can you both marry me?”

  Caspian grinned. “It’s our country, and trust me, the dickholes on the advisor’s council that would have opposed this have been catapulted over the castle walls.”

  I raised a brow and Cade laughed. “Nah, not really. They have been banned from the country though. Long story.”

  “I’d love to hear it.”

  “You will,” Caspian said quietly. “Our mother loves telling that story.”

  I felt the warm glow tingle through me as I slowly shook my head. “Both of you. Marriage.”

  “If you’re having doubts—”

  “I’m not,” I said quickly, grinning from ear to ear as I snuggled in close to both of them. “And I never will.”

  “We’ll speak to your parents tomorrow, and explain it all.”

  Cade snorted. “Well, maybe not all of it.”

  We laughed as their arms snaked around me, pulling me close.

  “Mrs. Charming, huh?”

  “Queen Ilana works pretty well too,” Caspian murmured.

  We were quiet for a moment before I slowly grinned. “Do you have secluded gardens in Marland?”

  Cade raised a curious brow, and I smiled.

  “Because I’m about to fall asleep right now, but I think sex with you two under the stars like this might be my new favorite thing in the world.

  Caspian laughed as he pulled me tight, kissing my neck.

  “For you, our queen, we’ll build a secluded forest.”

  Epilogue

  Ilana

  I can hear the crowds cheering — the roar of them thundering up from the main castle courtyard and echoing through the stone walls of the room. We’re in the old part of Marland Castle, and while the newer parts of the palace, like the main living quarters, are updated, this part is still all old stone, and tapestries, and parapets looking out over the courtyard, where kings and queens used to make proclamations and royal announcements.

  …Which is exactly what we’re doing today.

  The crowds assembled outside are cheering for me — for us, actually. You see, I’m a married woman now — as of twenty minutes ago, in a private ceremony involving Queen Lara — now the dowager Queen, my mother and father, my sisters, some of the Charming cousins, and my own cousin Adele, along with her — well, perhaps that's a story for another time.

  To say that my parents took the news without incident wouldn’t be entirely true, but I have to give them much more credit than I’d originally have thought. Yes, there were concerned words, and furrowed brows, and a sharp look from my mother when Caspian and Cade strode into the throne room the morning after that night of the ball. They’d taken a knee each, and in very old-fashioned style, had presented ceremonial swords to my father as they asked for my hand in marriage — a custom that’d basically been forgotten.

  Except, I guess, if you’re a Prince Charming.

  There’d been a moment of confusion, where my father seemed not to know which of them was proposing, until it’d suddenly clicked for him.

  Okay, so, maybe there’d been a moment or two of awkwardness, but it’d passed soon enough. You see, I get my “old-fashioned-ness” from my father, and I think seeing my two princes take the knee like that, and hearing how true and honest they were in pledging to love and honor me for the rest of our lives made him see that this wasn’t some sordid affair.

  My parents ended up consenting to the marriage faster than I could have imagined — or maybe it’s that by that point in the morning, they were just numbed to surprises, after having both my younger sisters pop surprise engagements on them before I’d had a chance to talk to them. After Isla and her beast, and Imogen and her notorious bad boy, I guess me with my princely, old-fashioned Prince Charmings — even if there were two of them — just didn’t shock anyone.

  It’s a shame Adele didn’t have any sisters with surprise engagements to soften things up for her father with her announcement that morning…

  So here we are, two months later, in Marland, as King, King, and Queen. It’s never been done — anywhere, as far as anyone can tell, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work. The people of Marland are into it, that’s for sure. Maybe having formerly had a mechanic of a king and a royal princess of a queen made them see that love comes in all sorts of ways.

  “Ready?”

  I grin as Cade and Caspian step next to me, dressed so handsomely in their royal suits for the wedding as they each take one of my hands.

  “Ready,” I whisper, squeezing their hands and feeling the love flow through me. We’re about to step out on that parapet and greet our subjects as King, King, and Queen, for the first time.

  To the public, we’re the very wholesome, very smiling, and regal, and well, charming royal trio. In private? Well, in private I can’t even begin to describe the filthy, incredible, earth-shattering ways they show me how much they love and want me.

  Like, for instance, that I’m not wearing panties under my wedding gown.

  Like, for instance, that they both made me come with their mouths and fingers ten minutes before I walked down the aisle.

  Like, for instance, that my whole body is tingling with the eagerness to get all this pageantry over with so we can go back to our quarters, so they can do all the dirty things they’ve been promising in whispers in my ear the whole walk here from the chapel.

  First, we’ll greet the crowds, and play the parts.

  Next, we’ll close ourselves away from it all, and my two husbands will strip every bit of clothing away from me and show me just how much they love me.

  And then? Well, and then, it’s the rest of our lives.

  The End.

  Hunting Beauty

  Hunting Beauty

  This is no fairytale, and I’m no prince. And there are much more dangerous things in these woods than big bad wolves or poisoned apples. Things like me.

  They’ll say this is wrong.

  They’ll say she’s too young for me - that she’s too untouched.

  They’ll say a sweet and innocent princess like her has no business being anywhere near a roughneck soldier like me.

  They’re right.

  But poisoned apple or not, I’ve had a taste of her forbidden fruit, and I’ll be damned if I’m not after another bite.

  She should run away. She should say no. But she seems to be having a problem saying anything but yes to the things I want to show her.

  Very, very bad things.

  Her father, my King, wants to send her to suitor’s ball to find a husband. Royal or not, I’ll show these fancy, frilly princes what a real man is, and I’ll show her how a real man claims his woman.

  Princess Adele might not’ve been looking for trouble when she stepped into my woods, but she’s about to find it.

  Every inch of it.

  *Please note that each of the Possessing Beauty books are completely standalone stories centered around one couple, with no cliffhangers.

  JK, I lied. This one’s so sweet it’ll make your fillings hurt. Hunting Beauty is a quick and steamy modern fairytale involving an utterly obsessed alpha hero and enough insta-love, kindle-melting steam, and sugary-sweetness to make you swoon for more. If you love over-the-top, slightly unrealistic, and wildly dirty stories, this one’s for you! HEA with NO CHEATING!

  Copyright © 2017 Madison Faye

  All rights reserved.

  Editing: Sennah Tate

  Cover: Coverlüv

  Photography: Paul Henry Seres

  No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from the author, except in the case of brief quotations used for review purposes.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously. An
y resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, organizations, actual events or locales is entirely coincidental. The author acknowledges the trademark status of products referred to in this book and acknowledges that trademarks have been used without permission.

  This book is intended for mature, adult audiences only. It contains extremely sexually explicit and graphic scenes and language which may be considered offensive by some readers. This book is strictly intended for those over the age of 18.

  All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older. All acts of a sexual nature are completely consensual.

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  1

  Adele

  I shivered as the icy chill of the water engulfed me. I came up sputtering, laughing and shrieking as the freezing cold water of the pool took the air from my lungs.

  “Holy fuck that's cold!”

  Anya raised a brow. “Hardly appropriate talk for a princess.”

  I giggled, rolling my eyes and splashing her, making her shriek.

  “Yeah neither is skinny dipping with the help.”

  Anya’s jaw dropped as she splashed me right back. “Oh you are dead,” she laughed.

  I loved pushing my best friend’s buttons like this. Technically, yes, Anya was my “personal head of royal affairs.” In the olden days, I would have called her my “head lady in waiting” or some other nonsense. But seeing as this was the modern world, she was more than just someone who laid out clothes for me and gossiped with me about royal affairs. Okay, we did all that too I guess, but she was sort of more like a personal assistant, meets secretary, meets personal trainer, meets fashion help, with a big dose of best friend.

  She wasn’t directly royalty, not by blood — and yes, people still kept track of that stuff even in this day and age. But with her mother being on my father’s royal council and her father being a judge, her official title was “lady.”

  I could vouch there there were many unladylike things about Anya, but a best friend never squeals.

  We were the same age, but she was much more worldly than me, having not been raised in the proverbial glass tower I’d been. She’d been to parties, she’d traveled, had boyfriends, had sex.

  You know, unlike me.

  Not for lack of wanting it, I can tell you, but it’d just never happened. For one, because — again, as if this were the ancient world — I was supposed to be “waiting” until I was married off to some prince or something. The problem there was that most, if not all, princes sucked. They were primped, and pretty, and smelled like perfume. And sure, they were usually good looking, but it was always in this store-bought sort of “fake” way. I’d thought plenty of times about running off and just “getting it over with” — just having sex and being done with it. But then, the problem was that any of the ready and available princes who were more than happy to deflower a virgin princess were all that — princes. Polished, primped, arrogant, and snobby.

  Basically nothing that ever turned me on. My problem was, the kind of men who gave me shivers or kept me up at night thinking bad thoughts about were not the prince-ly type. I dreamt of hardened, gruff, manly men. Men with chest hair, maybe older — men who worked with their hands.

  Basically the kind of man I could never be with, being a princess.

  I was always jealous of Anya for having the freedom she had not being true royalty, and I ended up living vicariously through her when she’d go to parties or on dates with the kind of guy I secretly lusted over.

  In another world, she’d be my bad influence — sneaking me out and helping me get to parties. But no, Anya was actually almost like a big sister at times despite being the same age. She was protective, and honestly saw it as her job as both my head of affairs and best friend to keep me out of trouble, not bring me to it.

  Something like today was a nice compromise. It wasn’t parties with drinking and guys, but an escape from the castle life anyways. We’d been coming here to the spring pools in Withering Wood since we were kids. These days, people seemed to have mostly forgot about the pools and waterfall out here. The hiking paths had all but disappeared, and coming out here felt like a true adventure. Plus, it was hot as hell outside, and a cold dip felt awesome.

  “Okay, first of all.” Anya sighed. “This is not skinny dipping. Skinny dipping is nude — underwear is basically like wearing a swimsuit.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Details details. I can strip if you really want the full skinny dipping with royalty experience.”

  She laughed. “Hey you do you. This water is fucking cold enough without getting totally nude. Besides, with skin like yours? Keep that shit covered if you can or you’ll burn.”

  “Yes mother,” I drawled.

  She stuck her tongue out at me as she crawled up onto one of the big flat rocks by the water.

  “I’m just saying, you’re like, beyond pale.”

  “Yeah, which is why I should get a freaking tan for once.”

  She wrinkled her nose. “Nah, don’t. I think tans are overrated. Besides, you look great. With your skin tone with that hair? Please.”

  “I look like a shut in.”

  “No way! Honestly, you’ve got great skin. When the rest of us are all wrinkly when we get older, you’ll be a knockout.”

  A knockout, like Anya was now. Golden skin, long luxurious chestnut hair, and thin hips. Okay, I had her beat in the curves department by a long shot, but still — pale skin and jet black hair wasn’t exactly the fairy tale image of the princess. She was.

  I sighed as I joined her on the rock, laying out and letting the sun warm us. Dainty skin or not, we were basically totally under tree cover here. The sun filtered down through leafy greenery, warming just enough to get the chill of the mountain stream pool off our skin.

  “We should probably head back soon,” she sighed. “Before they send a search party for you and arrest me for kidnapping you.”

  “I wouldn’t want to be kidnapped by anyone else.”

  She laughed. “Well, besides, you’ve got that dress fitting tonight for that ball.”

  I groaned. “Do not remind me.”

  “Hey, princess duties. Besides, it’s my job to remind you. Literally.”

  “It’s going to be stupid.”

  “It’s going to be fun! A ball, at your uncle’s palace in Avlion? Dude, fancy dresses, a gorgeous castle, lots of cute single guys, and duh, your cousins?”

  I grinned, thinking of Isla, Imogen, and Ilana. Okay, it as going to be great to see them, but the rest of it could go stuff itself.

  “Princes, Anya. They’re the worst.”

  “There are some hot princes out there, for the record, some of which are going to that ball I hear.”

  “Like?”

  “Prince Magnus, of Zale?”

  I made a face. “Uh, manwhore much?”

  “Could be what you need?”

  I blushed as she stuck her tongue out at me.

  “There’s the Charming brothers?”

  I bit my lip. “Okay, granted, hot.”

  “See?”

  “But, eh, not my type.”

  “You have no type. Hence being eighteen and a virgin.”

  “No thanks to you!”

  She laughed. “Ooo, there’s Prince Logan”

  My brow went up. “The scary dude from Torsund?”

  She grinned. “Be honest, he is kinda hot.”

  “But terrifying.”

  Anya laughed. “But definitely terrifying.”

 
“Ugh, okay fine. Dress fitting it is.”

  Anya jumped up and dove into the water coming up shrieking.

  “Fuck that’s cold. Okay, that was my last one. I’m going to go dry off and pee and put some clothes on.”

  “Yeah, same.”

  I didn’t jump in, I just jumped off onto the dirt and moss of the tree-line and grabbed my discarded sun dress. My skin was basically dry at that point, so I figured I’d just just take the damp underwear off and wear the dress home to the palace.

  I ducked into the woods and behind a tree and slipped my bra off. I shivered a little, slipping the soaking wet panties down my legs and kicking them off. It’s a weird feeling being naked in the woods, but there was something so fun about it. And for second, I could pretend I wasn’t Princess Adele of Berne and just pretend I was some forest person living here in the trees. I could smell the scent of the woods, and feel the moss and the leaves beneath my bare feet. I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the clean, fresh air.

  There was a breeze suddenly, and my daydreaming was cut short by my sundress suddenly blowing from my fingers. I cursed and raced after it, my bare feet padding over the mossy ground as I ducked behind another tree and finally caught it with my toe.

  “Stupid dress,” I muttered, sighing and standing as I yanked it off the ground and—

  And I froze.

  I would have screamed, but I couldn’t, not with my heart in my throat like that.

  The man was three feet from me, and positively oozing raw masculinity. He towered over me, his dark eyes burning right into mine, his stubbled jaw tight, and his bare chest heaving and sweaty. He was like a hero from a romance book stepping right off the pages. He was the rough, masculine man from my most private dreams, come to life.