And for that, she was grateful.
The moment of honesty warmed her. She knew, then and there, that there would be no bullshit between them.
Honest questions would be answered with the truth. For both of them.
The idea that she was working on a level playing field settled any uncertainty she might have had over how things would be.
She did not approve of how Marianne was kept in the dark about certain matters, and hadn’t been sure of how to raise the topic with Edward.
If she was in danger, then she wanted to know. Not be protected and cosseted.
Their eyes met and held. A silent agreement formed between them. Surging to life as desire surrounded the moment of mutual respect.
But before the desire could take hold, a throat cleared, and they both jolted at the intrusion.
She peered over to the intruder and scrambled onto her knees when she saw Xavier and George in the open doorway that consisted of two sides of the white cloth that sheltered them from the sun, pinned up and held in place to form an aperture.
The servant, a discreet little man in black trousers and a black polo, disappeared the moment Edward nodded at him. When he’d gone, Xavier peered around the tent, while George grabbed the loops that held the swags apart and set them down to give them total privacy.
“That’s better,” he said jovially. “Now, where’s my kiss?”
She laughed as she scrambled over the side of the sofa rather than heading for the small sliver of space that broke up the perfect circle of the low seating area, and shot toward him.
He grabbed ahold of her and spun her in a circle; then, before she could do more than laugh once more, he tipped her down over his arm and brought their mouths together. But just as she sank into the kiss, he raised her once more, only to sweep her legs up over his arm. When she was aloft, laughing and squeaking all the while, George moved over to Xavier who bent down and pressed a kiss to Perry’s forehead.
“Congratulations, darling,” Xavier told her gently.
“Congratulations to you,” she chided. “We’re all in this together, aren’t we?”
He studied her a second, then his lips quirked to the side. “We are indeed.” He cut George a look. “You drop her, you answer to me.”
“Drop this itty bitty thing?” He snorted, then proceeded to let go of her then catch her after a split second.
The rage on Xavier’s face had Perry hiding a laugh. “Don’t worry, Xavi. That’s not the first time he’s done that, nor will it be the last.”
George pouted. “Am I that predictable?”
“Deadly predictable.”
“Even I saw that one coming,” Edward retorted, sliding his arm across the back of the sofa.
That sense of peace seemed to drift from his very pores again. She’d never imagined he could be so relaxed, and she loved seeing him that way.
George, after carrying her to the sofa, plunked down with her in his lap. Once seated, she resettled herself and asked, “Have you had breakfast?” When they both nodded, she asked, “Fancy some coffee?”
“No. Do they have any of that mint tea? I’m getting addicted to the stuff.”
She pressed her thumb to his jaw. “When you lose all your teeth because of all the sugar, I’ll still kiss you.”
“That’s true love, that is,” he countered, but his grin exposed those white dazzlers.
She reached up a little to press her lips to his cheek, and she sucked in a deep breath, loving the scent of him. Loving that he was here.
The truth was, now they were all here, the way Edward looked, she could actually start to feel.
Was it weird?
Hell, yeah.
Was it the way of it?
Damn straight.
She needed the three of them. She’d needed the sight of them at the abbey to calm her. Had needed to catch them at the reception, watch them glide like sharks through the deepest seas to keep her afloat.
Just being with them let her breathe a little deeper, a lot easier.
She turned, moving in George’s arms so that she was straddling him. The minute he was there, his hands came to grip her ass through the shorts she was wearing. As he palpated the skin, she reached up for his mouth and connected their lips.
The minute they touched, she breathed out, loving his taste, needing to savor more of it.
A groan escaped her, and she arched her pelvis, loving his responsiveness to her as she could feel the hard thickness of his cock between her legs.
A yelp escaped her as a sharp slap rang out—one that came from him tapping her on the ass.
Hard.
She pulled back and glowered at him. “What was that for?”
“For being naughty,” he told her, relaxing back into the sofa. In fact, he relaxed so much, he was diagonal against it rather than straight up.
“Naughty? I was kissing one of my husbands,” she said huskily. “How is that naughty?”
“You’re tired. We all are. And there’s no need to rush.”
She blinked at him. “Rush?”
He quirked a brow at her. “Yeah. You know what it means? Need a definition?”
“I know what it means.” She glared at him and slapped his arm with the flat of her hand. “How is it rushing? It’s the morning after my wedding and I haven’t slept with any of you.”
“Are you feeling neglected?”
Xavier’s voice was teasing, but she focused her grimace on George. “What’s going on? Don’t you want me?” She made the complaint even though she knew it was bullshit.
He snorted at that. “Can cats shit in human toilets?”
For a second, her mouth worked. “I have no idea how to respond to that.”
“Think the more common phrase is, ‘do bears shit in the woods?’ George.”
Edward’s tone was bland, and she couldn’t tell if he was trying to hide the humor in his voice. What humor could be found in this situation, she wasn’t sure.
Her bottom lip popped out in a pout, and she couldn’t stop herself from rocking her hips once more.
Another tap on her butt was the only response she got.
She glowered at him. “Stop doing that.”
“Stop trying to get me to respond, witch. There’s no need to take things too fast, Perry.” He reached up, and with the hand that had slapped her butt, cupped her cheek. On her face. Not down below. Sadly, Perry thought. “The last thing I want is for you to head into something when you’re still tired.”
She frowned at him. “Too tired for what?”
“For the three of us.”
Her eyes widened. “Three of you? At once?” Her eyes stopped widening and downright flared open. “In my pussy?”
A snort escaped George, and the men at her back chuckled, although they tried to hide their laughter by coughing and by repeatedly clearing their throats.
“No, love.” He tapped her bottom lip. “Here.” He rocked his own hips, making her eyelids flutter with the wonder of that hardness pressing against her hot softness. “Here.” And then, with his other hand, he squeezed her ass cheek. “And here.”
She licked her lips. “Oh.”
“Yeah. ‘Oh.’ I’m not ready to do that until you are. So, until then, let’s just take things at our own pace. Now, we have all the time in the world.”
She blinked, still taken aback by his generosity. In her experience, men didn’t worry if their woman was tired.
Apparently, she had three men who were concerned about her because neither Edward nor Xavier spoke out against George’s remarks.
Which had to mean they were in agreement, too.
For a second, she just stared into George’s delicious jewel-like eyes, at the handsome face that had caught her heart all those years ago, but more, at the intellect, wit, and charm that had trapped said heart and forever made it his.
She asked herself if she was ready for more. If she didn’t still need to rest.
She was horny. There was
no doubting that. And the need was there. But so was the need to relax. To chill. To take things at their own pace, as George had said.
She knew that any other woman, faced with three delicious specimens of masculinity like her men, would deem her crazy, but they hadn’t just gone through what she had.
The wedding, the preparations, the struggle with the EA? Then, the emotional turbulence of coming to terms with the fact she wanted three men, of learning that a group of extremists wanted to hurt Edward…
George was right. It was all too much, and the chance to relax was exactly what she needed.
A moment in time to be with the men she loved without lust getting in the way.
Which it would.
Soon.
The minute she was back on fighting form, they were going down.
In the best. Possible. Way.
And that was a promise.
Chapter Twenty-One
It went on like that for two days.
A strange kind of truce between them all. The minx that was their woman teased them at will, kissed them like there was no tomorrow, and felt no shame in nuzzling up to them, but he certainly didn’t mind and neither did his cousins.
Xavier loved how tactile she was. And after two nights of good rest, he could see the spark was back in her eye.
He’d been surprised at George’s declaration when they’d made it to the Palazzo. He’d expected his hothead of a cousin to pounce on Perry the first instant he could.
Instead, he’d been patient, and had shown a deeper understanding of her than Xavier had expected. Even if that was short-sighted of him, considering how long George and Perry had been friends.
But, Xavier understood.
In those shorts and a thin camisole at breakfast, it had hit home exactly how much weight Perry had lost. As autumn had drawn close, she’d been wearing long sleeves and thick fabrics to ward off the faintest of chills.
Here in the scorching heat of the desert, there was no need to cover up and he saw her. They all had.
She’d been pleasantly plump upon her entry into Veronia. An armful, granted, and more than enough for one man to worship at her feet. Now? She was edging towards slender.
Her breasts were still large, thank God. But they had perpetuated the notion that she hadn’t lost that much weight. The camisoles and the bikinis she wore disproved that.
And so, for two days, they’d fed her. Watched her sleep at the side of the pool, taking advantage of the tent and the comfortable day beds, or relaxing back into one of those pods with the retractable roofs.
They’d teased her, made sure she ate, ensured she was back on fighting form.
Xavier was a gardener first and foremost. He knew that to tend to a seedling was the way to make the most beautiful of flowers flourish and blossom brightly.
That was how they’d cared for Perry. They cherished her, bathed her in their love, and like the most delicate of flowers, she flared to life.
And, in the interim, he and George had totally dropped the pretense of staying at Jane and Laura’s. They were tucked away in Sheikh al-Habib’s stunning Palazzo. Away from their government, free from their duties… he knew he hadn’t wanted to leave Perry, and neither had George. So, they’d stayed close, if not in the same quarters, and he had been enjoying the chance to simply be.
It wasn’t something they often managed to do. In truth, it was the truest of luxuries. More than the exquisite palace and the delicious food, the chance to be themselves was the most glorious of wonders.
There was always trouble in paradise, of course. His worry about the dams wasn’t far away, and he was sure George and Edward had their own concerns waiting for them back home, but Perry had a knack. She seemed to sense when they were getting bogged down in their thoughts and would tease them out of it.
Not for the first time, he found himself in awe of her, and felt like the luckiest bastard when she looked upon him, her heart in her eyes, and made him aware of how deeply she felt for him.
As she was doing now.
The tease.
He shook his head at her antics. “Don’t think giving me moon eyes will put me off-guard.”
She smirked as she moved her rook. “Who said anything about moon eyes?” Her grin was like quicksilver. “I love you. There’s nothing moon-like about that. Oh. And check.”
His lips twitched at her self-satisfaction.
George called out. “Watch her. She’s the chess equivalent of a card shark.”
“Now he tells me,” Xavier grumbled.
Laughter pealed from her glossy lips. “Tell you what. If you can checkmate me in five moves or less, I’ll suck you off. Right here. Right now.”
He squinted at her. “You’re not ready.”
She huffed out a breath. “Who are you to decide that? I know my own body, Xavier. You were right the other day to be concerned. All of you. I was really tired. More than that, I was weary. Even though I was happy, too.
“Now I’m not.”
“It’s been two days. Hardly enough time at all,” he retorted, tongue-in-cheek.
She growled under her breath. “Five moves. It’s possible. It’s not easy. But it’s doable.”
“What do you get if I don’t win?” he asked, scanning the board and trying to find a better option than her offer of five moves.
If she offered five, then there had to be a reason for it. Either she could checkmate him in fewer moves or she was stuck and needed him to maneuver.
“You suck me off instead.”
Her words were like silk, so much so, he knew Edward and George who were at the other end of the tent, in the circular sofa, were too far away to hear.
He eyed her a second, wondering what her game was, but that flush on her cheeks was too enchanting to ignore.
“You’re on.”
He moved his bishop. And she devoured him whole.
Checkmate in two moves.
He cocked a brow at her as he folded his arms across his chest. “You played me.”
She grinned, bobbing merrily in her seat. “I did. It worked.” She clicked her fingers. “Now, time to pay your dues.”
He laughed, loving the sparkle of dominance in her eyes. “But the tent flaps aren’t closed.”
“Go close them then,” she murmured drily.
He pursed his lips as he stared at her a second. There was something else going on here.
But, unlike before, she wasn’t betraying a damn thing.
He drummed his fingers against the table and then got to his feet. It took a minute to drop the flaps, and he knew the move attracted his cousins’ attention, but he ignored them and returned to the chess table that took up one corner of the huge tent.
The damn thing was the size of a small house. Had more nooks than Masonbrook, stank of incense, and Perry loved it in here.
Said it made her feel like a slave girl.
Xavier, ever dubious, wondered how the hell that could ever be a good thing… still, he’d kill to preserve that smile on her lips.
When he returned to the table, there was a bottle beside his king.
He laughed. “You totally played me,” he groused, picking up the lube and tossing it from hand to hand.
Her grin was cheeky. “We’ve already established that.”
They were seated on a smaller version of the seated circle where George and Edward were leaning back and relaxing. As such, she had only to fall back against the cushions to recline… hell, it was more accessible than a damn bed.
These Arabs knew how to live, that was for damn sure.
He rubbed his chin as he stared at her. He’d seen skimpier bikinis, barely there scraps of fabric, but nothing satisfied him like the one she wore.
With its ties at the hip, the substantial cups that supported her generous breasts, the tie-dye pattern that consisted of different shades of pink, it further highlighted the glow she’d earned while swimming and sitting outside.
“Sunkissed” was the word, and
she was delicious.
Now that she had his attention, she reached down and unfastened the knots at her hips.
“Whoops,” she murmured, her mouth rounding in false surprise. “How did that happen?” she asked, as she moved the scrap aside and revealed her bareness.
He watched, teeth clenching and his cock already responding, as she traced a few fingers over the soft, hairless skin.
“George’s wedding present to himself,” she said softly, apparently not wanting to attract his and Edward’s attention.
Maybe because she knew she’d lose against the three of them.
But one on one?
Hell, he wouldn’t be surprised if Edward had been fucking her at night. Even though they’d all agreed to leave her alone for some RnR.
An eager Perry, a Perry with one thing on her mind, was incredibly difficult to ignore.
He licked his lips at the smoothness he wanted to feel under his tongue, and with a grunt, sank down on the sofa at her side.
He could smell her. And Jesus, she was potent.
She was all female. His. Clean and sweet and just, Christ, his.
He let out a groan as she parted her legs, sliding further along the sofa so that she was flat against the cushions. She lifted a calf and rested it on the back of the low seat, parting her lips so that he could see the telltale slickness of her arousal.
The sight had his cock throbbing with need. He needed in her. Now.
Her call was too strong. Like a siren, she’d sung him into a danger he ignored willingly as he fell upon her like a drowning man offered a life jacket.
The minute his tongue was on her clit, she arched into the cushions, her ass sinking deep as she jerked her hips in response. Her hands came to his head, threading through his hair to keep him in place.
But she’d ensnared him in her trap. There was no way, no how, he was moving from this spot.
He sucked her clit, fucked it with his tongue and teeth. Then, he licked down, suckling the lips, going down, down until he could slip his tongue into the hole of her sex.
He thrust idly for a few seconds, sampling more of her taste, then he pressed a finger to her tightness and reveled in the soft moan that escaped her in response.
Her Highness, Princess Perry_Contemporary Reverse Harem Page 31
