A Royal Continuum

by Marie Harte

  Resigning himself to the inevitable, Matthias sank into Ferin's favorite leather chair. "Go head and say it."

  "Two mates? I'd think one is enough." Ferin scowled at Lea but softened his look when she rubbed her belly.

  Her husband's attention focused on her stomach, Lea winked at Matthias and returned to looking appropriately chastised when Ferin met her gaze again. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you when Matthias called me. But he confided in me, Ferin. He needed my help. And Matthias needed time to sort things out."

  "It's not like I chose this course. I can't help my feelings." Matthias tried to convince his brother as well as take any blame from Lea.

  "That's understandable, Matthias. But you couldn't have waited to talk to me about this before you went ahead and mated with them?"

  Matthias flushed, wondering where all his discipline had gone. A snort had him shooting Lea a sharp glance.

  "Sorry. Indigestion." She lied through her pretty white teeth.

  "What?" Ferin barked.

  "I just remember us coming together. Granted, you took some time to bring me over, but you didn't exactly ask your brothers' permission before you had your wicked way with me."

  Good point. Matthias waited to see what his brother had to say to that.

  "It's not the same at all, Draka. I knew you were the one for me."

  "Just as I know Ava and Tanner are mine," Matthias quickly pointed out.

  "But I still included you and Adrian, and Lucas, in the mating."

  "Because you had to, not necessarily because you wanted to," Lea reminded him. She had been human, and Ferin had needed the help of his brothers, as well as Lucas, to aid in her claiming and transformation into a Dracon--an act only the king could perform.

  "Yes, but we all know that the claiming of a Dracon queen is a rite that must be followed."

  "So you're telling me that if you hadn't had to bring Lea over, you would have waited for me and Adrian to approve of her?" Matthias stared at his brother in disbelief.

  Ferin, at least, had the grace to flush. "No. Okay, I see your point. But two of them? And a male at that?"

  Lea spoke before Matthias could, the researcher in her ready to be heard. "But there is some precedent to this, love. Several hundred years ago, when the Dracon were in dire fear of dying out, they created A Royal Continuum, a mandate by which a royal member may take more than one mate in hopes of perpetuating the line."

  "But I've got you now, with three Dracon on the way. And you mentioned the 'Continuum' was created hundreds of years ago."

  Lea crossed her arms over her chest, her defense of Matthias heartwarming. "Which doesn't make it invalid, just out of use. And I hate to say it, Ferin. But there's no telling how hard this birthing might be. And though everyone seems to be in favor of a prior-human as a Draka, I'm sure there are still plenty like Emmaline who would love for me and my young to be out of the way."

  "Don't say that." Matthias didn't like the truth any more than Ferin did. "Nothing is going to happen to you, Lea. We won't let it."

  "No, we won't." Ferin's eyes turned red, and he worked to calm himself. "But I see you've been thinking about this. And much as I hate to admit it, you have a point." He turned to Matthias. "You've taken two Dracon to mate, and the clan will be pleased. I understand Tanner has some issues which may need to be addressed." He drew a breath and continued before Matthias could say anything. "But I think Tanner will be the perfect example I was hoping to make. I'm tired of the way our kind are becoming more and more like the ignorant humans."

  "Hello?" Lea frowned.

  "You're Dracon now. And even as a human, you were far more open-minded than any I've ever known." Lea glowed at the praise. "It hasn't escaped my attention that the few progeny of both human and Dracon parents in our clan are treated abominably. That's part of the reason Lucas urged me to accept Tanner. He sensed a strong Dracon with a steady hand and big heart. And if you've fallen in love with him, that must be true. Ava, I take it, has no issues with him either?"

  "No. Not at all." It's just me she doesn't like.

  "Good, then. So both Tanner and Ava are prepared to stand by you and the family, to add to our line? From what Lea mentioned of the Continuum, Tanner will become a Dekker. Most males are rather taken with their birth name. He's alright with this?"

  Matthias didn't know how to answer. He didn't want to lie, but he didn't know how Tanner would react once he knew he'd been mated not only to Ava, but also to Matthias.

  "Matthias?" Ferin narrowed his gaze.

  A knock at the door saved Matthias from answering. Thank God. But he quickly changed his mind as Tanner, Ava, Lucas and Adrian filed inside. Tanner and Ava gave Matthias blank looks, and to his consternation, he couldn't read either one of them. Dammit.

  "Matthias, help me up, would you?"

  Not sure what the hell was going on, Matthias gently helped Lea to her feet. She patted his arm and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Good luck."

  "What--"

  The next thing he knew, his brothers and Tanner had a hold of him. He fought their grip, not sure what the hell was going on.

  "In there." Lucas nodded to a side door, and Matthias began to struggle in earnest.

  They pulled him into Ferin's special room, a place where Ferin used to join his brothers in sexual games with unmated females, until he'd married and mated Lea. Now Lucas and Adrian usually made use of the room, and Matthias occasionally tied up a bedmate on the large, wooden, square frame in the center of the room. But he'd never been tied to it himself. He'd normally used the cabinet holding the restraints and sexual toys, playing on the giant, king-plus bed in the corner of the room laden with silken sheets and stacks of goose-down pillows.

  So when the others began fastening his wrists to the frame's beams, Matthias knew he was in for it. He kicked out but only managed to get his feet caught. Lucas and Adrian stripped off his boots and socks and strapped metal cuffs around his ankles. All the while, Ava merely smiled, a wicked grin that made his heart race.

  "There." Ferin and the others stepped back, and Ferin caught Lea to him in a hug, a wide grin on his face. "Now that you've convinced me that you deserve to be bonded to Tanner and Ava, maybe you can convince them." Ferin nodded to Matthias's mates. "Have at him."

  Lucas and Adrian teased him on their way out, and Lea wiggled her brows before Ferin whispered something and dragged her away. But the minute they left, a heavy silence descended over the room.

  "Ah, I can explain."

  Tanner and Ava stared at him, their arms crossed over their chests, mirrored expressions of cool anger waiting.

  "We're mated," he blurted, as if they didn't already know.

  "So we heard." Tanner leaned over to Ava and murmured something Matthias couldn't make out. She nodded and gave Tanner a kiss.

  Tanner walked over to Matthias and began shifting, his hands turning to claws. With sharp talons, he slicked through Matthias's clothing in moments, leaving Matthias naked and exposed on the beams. Then Tanner stood back and stared.

  "That's about right. Now how about you tell Ava and me what the hell you've been cooking up in that complicated brain of yours? And make it good. Now would not be a good time to piss either one of us off, not with you hanging naked there, tied up and vulnerable." The grin on his face showed how much he planned to enjoy this.

  Turning to Ava, hoping for some support, Matthias saw to his dismay that she, too, had a hard smile on her face.

  "Well, we're waiting, Matthias. Or should I call you, mate?" She stepped forward and ran a soft hand over his belly.

  He hissed, pleasure spiraling deep in his gut, and to his chagrin, his cock announced his arousal in no uncertain terms.

  Then Tanner lifted his hand out to Matthias. "And I guess I should call you mate, too, hmm?" Damn it, Tanner held a tube of lubricant in his hands, the same type Matthias had used on Ava. "Well, mate, I think you'd better start talking, and fast, before you find yourself royally screwed."

  Chap
ter 14

  * * *

  Ava watched, fascinated, as Matthias turned sheet white and then red as arousal coursed through his blood. She could feel the heady reaction Tanner had generated showing Matthias the lube, the same desire she'd stoked touching Matthias's gloriously hard stomach. To hers and Tanner's shared amusement, Matthias swallowed loudly and licked his lips, his inner shields no longer raised as he mentally broadcast his desire.

  "Nervous, my prince?" she murmured, petting him in swirls, her hand moving southward over his skin but not quite touching his cock, much as she wanted to. She and Tanner had agreed that Matthias needed to be taught a lesson. If Matthias truly wanted mates, he'd found equal partners who had no intention of being left out of major decisions ever again.

  Though she had to credit Matthias for his sheer deviousness in using Ava and Tanner to unknowingly work for him, she didn't like being manipulated. And it was time to let Matthias know that in no uncertain terms. Tanner's method, sexual torment, seemed spot on. Pushing Matthias past his control would definitely make their point.

  "I, ah," Matthias said nervously, his tension a surprise in the normally unflappable royal. "How the hell did you manage this? I thought you needed to talk to Shino."

  "We had an interesting conversation with Lea earlier. She mentioned how fond you are of this room." Ava appreciated the fact that he groaned. "And I already talked to my uncle." She crossed her arms, stepping back from him, and heard his mental plea to return to his side. "Seems I was under the wrong impression. Uncle Shino wasn't in bed with Emmaline's plan, not the way she made it sound. He was taken in by the idea of his child being the next Draka. But even he admitted Emmaline needs help. She's not fit to be a queen any more than she's fit to be a Tailstack. Uncle Shino disowned her." And she still wasn't sure how she felt about that. To Ava, family was everything, which had made her tension with her uncle so hard to bear.

  "I'm sorry." Matthias tenderness underscored how much he understood her.

  She wiped at her eyes, unaware she'd been tearing up until the first drops fell. "I'm not. Emmaline's a bitch, and I'm glad my uncle wasn't in on any plans to hurt Lea or her babies. And it made me realize how anal my dad always was about our reputation."

  "Finally," Tanner muttered. "I've been telling you that all week."

  "I know." She smiled at him, and he came to her side, kissing her softly. The kiss, however, turned aggressive when she moved into him. And she noted out of the corner of her eyes how Matthias watched them hungrily.

  He's getting harder, she sent Tanner. This is more fun than I'd thought it would be. Want me to keep distracting him while you circle around?

  Perfect, he purred, sucking on her tongue again. But we might have to hurry this along. I'm as ready as Matthias looks.

  They both turned to see Matthias panting as he stared, his cock beading with arousal. Ava wanted to suck him, and she sent Matthias an image of herself on her knees before him.

  "Ava," he groaned, leaning his head back. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you two the truth."

  "And that is?" Ava asked, beginning to unbutton her shirt.

  Having caught and now holding Matthias's attention, she kept her gaze on his face while Tanner walked behind him. When Matthias started to turn his head, she shook the shirt from her body. His eyes widened.

  "This is revenge, isn't it? You're going to get me hot and hard, and then leave me here, right?"

  She smiled as he panted, and with slow, sure movements, she kicked out of her shoes, socks and jeans.

  "The bra and panties, too, baby. Please."

  Matthias watched as she slowly lowered her bra, teasing him with a glimpse of her nipples before losing it. She eased the panties down her thighs, kicking them to the side. And then to further frustrate him, she ran her hands over her body.

  "You like watching me, don't you?"

  "You know I do." Matthias leaned forward, straining at his wrists and ankles, when Tanner reached around from behind him to grab his cock. "Fuck. Where did you come from?"

  "That's what I'd like to know," Tanner said, surprising Ava that he could joke about his origins after being so sensitive about them for so long. "Why don't you answer some of our questions, Matthias? And if we like your answers, we'll make this pleasurable." Tanner stroked Matthias hard, and Ava's response was typical. She couldn't help being so turned-on watching her lovers play. The sight of Tanner's broad hand over Matthias's shaft was so erotic, the sight of a blond head next to a darker, sexually needy one unaccountably sensual.

  "When did you plan this?" Tanner stilled his hand while Ava found her sex wet and throbbing. She eased a finger over her clit and saw Matthias's pupils dilate with lust.

  "I...shit, Tanner, move your hand over me again."

  "Answer the question."

  Ava sighed and pulled her finger out, only to push it back in, thoroughly entranced by the reaction she was getting. She could feel Tanner's tension as well and sensed his desire growing, the scent of sex heavy in the air.

  "Fuck. Alright." Matthias growled, cursing when Tanner let him go. "I've been after Ava for years."

  She was startled at the revelation, and ceased her movements.

  "Don't stop. Please," Matthias asked, his voice hoarse. She continued fingering herself, and he continued. "Shino's an elder, a powerful man my entire family respects. I couldn't tell him I was lusting after his niece. Besides, years ago you were too young."

  "I was eighteen."

  "Too young, and too naïve for what I wanted to do to you."

  "But I'm not too young now?"

  "Shit, no." Matthias groaned. "Tanner, what the hell is pressing against my ass?"

  "That would be my hand. With my very large, thick fingers."

  Matthias's eyes flashed red. "I'm talking, dammit, like you said. Don't touch me there. I'm supposed to--"

  "Answer the fucking questions and do what we tell you to do." Tanners hand cupped Matthias's balls, and arousal swelled around the three of them as they felt Matthias's response. "Why did you wait so long to move on Ava?"

  "I wanted her," Matthias's voice was thick with need. "But Shino was adamant about protecting his girls. He had a real thing about keeping Ava pure, to stop her from becoming like Emmaline. But when she vanished in June and refused to talk to him, he knew he was fighting a losing battle. I offered to go after you myself, Ava. To help Shino, yes, but for more selfish reasons. You stood up to your uncle, finally rebelling against your family. And I knew you were ready for me."

  "How nice," Tanner said, releasing Matthias. "Ava, lefne, you want to take over for a minute?"

  She stepped close to Matthias, her attention divided between his increasing arousal and Tanner getting naked. She still couldn't believe she'd been fortunate enough to land two hulking, handsome Dracon as mates.

  "So when did you decide to go after Tanner?" she asked.

  "Like it was with you, I knew as soon as I saw him that he was special. That he meant something to me."

  "Love at first sight?" Tanner mocked over Matthias's shoulder, and Ava swallowed hard at the steely erection Tanner sported.

  "Yes," Matthias answered honestly, and the three of them grew silent at the simple honesty of his response.

  "Then why didn't you simply tell Tanner how you felt?" she wanted to know. "And when you did finally have us both together, why didn't you tell us the truth? Why mate with us without our knowledge? We should have had a say in it."

  "You did," Matthias burst out. "I could never have marked you with my scent, mated with you both if you hadn't allowed it, even subconsciously. I know you love me, Ava, even if you refuse to admit it. And I know Tanner wants more of me than even he admits. He just needs to let go of his fear and we can all become one."

  Ava frowned. Matthias had somehow regained ground. He wasn't supposed to dominate this discussion. He was in their power now, under their control. Tanner nodded, reading the images she projected.

  Ava licked her lips and slowly bent to
her knees, where a cushion had been placed by Tanner. She stared at Matthias's cock, so proud and stiff before her. And then she took him into her mouth, catching his lust and his love in one large gulp of emotion as she ran a tongue over his pulsing shaft.

  * * * *

  Tanner watched with a surprising hint of envy as Ava did what he'd been dreaming about. But he had his own part to fulfill in their little play, and he'd be damned if he'd do it on his knees while Matthias mastered him. Not that the prince was actually commanding Ava at the moment, but Tanner needed a dominant position to make his point.

  "You should have told me what you were doing," he whispered in Matthias's ear before tonguing the sensitive shell and nipping the lobe.

  Matthias shuddered, thrusting into Ava's mouth as far as his restraints would let him.

  "But you like to be in charge, don't you, Matthias?"

  Matthias groaned and shook, trying desperately to ease his frustration. But Ava kept him on edge, and Tanner teased him from behind, adding to the sensation. "But you're not in charge right now, are you, lefne?" Matthias continued to moan, and Tanner stepped closer, pressing his cock into the crease of Matthias's ass. "Answer me. Who's in charge right now, lefne?"

  "You are. Christ, Tanner. Can't you and Ava feel how much I need you both?"

  "But that's just sex. You come and you have what you wanted." Tanner shrugged, reaching around Matthias to rub his hands in Ava's silky hair.

  "No, dammit. That's not all I want." Matthias's sudden anger was palpable, and combined with his frustration when Ava let him fall from her mouth, turned the space around them very warm with a firebreather's rage.

  "Then tell us." With Ava kneeling before him, Tanner thought she looked absolutely beautiful. Both subservient yet demanding.

  "I want you both." Matthias growled low, his dragon flying close to the surface. Tanner could see the immediate lust swamping Ava as she stared at their prince, and Tanner felt a need as well. To master the firebreather, to stake his own claim that would not be forgotten.