The Big, Bad Wolves [Mischievous Fairy Tales 2] (Siren Publishing Menage Amour)

by James, Honor

  “I think that sounds like a very, very good idea.” Rissa nodded and looked out over the lands. “It’s beautiful here, Michael. Can we come back here often, after we have settled the threat against me? If and when we do have children, can we give birth to them here?” She felt safer here than at the palace.

  “We can do whatever you’d like, Princess,” he said softly. “But that is a time yet to come. Let’s worry about the here and now. Come, we need to get back to the house. It’s getting late and you need to get some sleep.”

  “I think that you are right. And yes, it is a time in the future, but I am hopeful that the day will come. I really look forward to that time.” She looked up at him and licked her lips. “And you guys will sleep with me, at least you, right?”

  “We will all sleep with you tonight and any other night you wish. I will always be there even if the others are not able to be.” Taking her hand in his, he drew her through the trees again. Walking slowly, he led her back to the house soon enough and inside. He took the cloak from her and tipped his head. “Go and get ready for bed, little mate.”

  “All right.” That made her happy, that he would be there with her no matter what. She did love Raphael and Gabriel, but they all knew that Michael had always held a special place in her heart, a place that she would never be able to give up, that she wanted for now and all time. She loved him. “All I need to do is get naked. When that happens, I’m ready to climb into bed, babe.”

  “I won’t be long, just want to check the house,” he said. Pressing a kiss to her cheek, he gave her a light nudge. “Go ahead and make sure that Raphael is not on my side of the damned bed. Remind him that if he is, I have no compunction of ensuring he speaks in a higher octave permanently.”

  Rissa had to laugh and, shaking her head, took off for the inside of the home so that she could tell Raph that he wasn’t to poke her wolf or he might just have to hide with his tail between his legs.

  A time later, the house was silent and the bed dipped more, heat at her back. “You asleep yet, Princess?” Michael asked in her ear. His arms slid around her a moment later, his lips brushing to her neck gently.

  “Barely. I was trying to stay awake until you joined me.” Rissa yawned and snuggled back closer to him. Closing her eyes, she breathed him in and leaned in closer so that she could brush her lips to his hand that was around her waist.

  “Then you should be asleep, Rissa.” His words were low, rough, the rumble from his chest a full body vibration for her. “You’ve had too much stress in your life as of late. You’ll also likely be a little sore tomorrow. We won’t be doing anything of any importance tomorrow. Which means you can be lazy and stay in bed as long as you wish.”

  “I think that I like that idea a great deal. I would very much like to be able to simply relax, have a nice, easy walk, and just enjoy my time with you boys. I would very much like to perhaps also go for a swim. Do you think that we can?”

  “I think we can manage it.” He chuckled softly, his breath moving over her skin. “But we should ensure that there are no others there if you plan to go in as we did the last time. I want them to know you, but not that way.”

  “Yes, then you need to make sure that there is no one else around because I happen to really like to swim in the nude. I like it because I happen to really and truly adore feeling you naked along with me in the water, just saying.”

  “Well, you may have to put up with only Raphael and Gabriel tomorrow. Depending on what they told the others, I could end up having to deal with pack issues,” he said quietly.

  “We didn’t tell no one nothing,” Gabriel grumbled from somewhere in the dark. “You just got back and we didn’t feel the need to pile it on you.”

  “Good, then that means that all three of us will be able to go to a pond and we will be able to swim together. I think that will be a very, very good idea, don’t you? I could see all four of us swimming in the nude together.”

  “Yes, we will all go swimming,” Raphael muttered. “Now, could we try and get some sleep maybe? Unlike some folks who got to do things like sleep in inns and take swims, Gabe and I’ve been in the saddle most of our time keeping the brigands off your tails. So please, shh,” he whispered.

  Rissa instantly felt horrible and said, “I’m so sorry, Raph. Will you forgive me for making your life so uncomfortable? It wasn’t my intention. Truly it wasn’t. I wish that things could have gone differently.”

  “S’ all right, Princess,” he said with a yawn. “Either that is Michael’s hand, or yours are much hairier than I recall, Rissa.”

  “It’s my hand,” Michael growled low.

  “Right, no more groping blindly in the dark. I’m going to sleep now before I grab something I really shouldn’t.”

  “You mean again,” Gabriel murmured, a definite smile to his voice.

  Rissa giggled and shook her head. “Good night, my wolves. I love you. Now, no more chatter. More sleep, less talk.” She shifted so that she could turn and face Michael. Wrapping her arms around his middle, she felt herself instantly relax and was soon sound asleep.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Incoming!” Gabriel yelled. An instant later, Raphael’s large form appeared from where he’d jumped off a ledge. The splash when he hit the water in a tight ball nearly put both her and Michael under. Laughter from the ledge partway up the waterfall came from Gabriel as he peered down at them in the pool of water.

  Rissa couldn’t help but laugh. She was held tightly by Michael and protected from the incoming waves from Gabe and Raph jumping from the ledge. Shaking her head, she looked up at Gabriel. “Well come on, get your cute butt down here so that we can all be in the water. It’s not that cold,” she called up to him.

  “Says the woman wrapped around the wolf,” he called back to her. A moment later, he stepped out of view. Mere seconds passed before he hollered and flew through the air.

  Michael’s arm tightened around her waist and he turned a little. Gabriel hit the water in a tight ball as well, the water heading their way. But all it did was buffet against Michael, rocking him into her slightly before he settled back into place.

  Wrapping her legs around Michael, Rissa smiled happily. “I happen to really love being wrapped around my wolves, and I wouldn’t argue being wrapped around you all at one point or another. In fact, I think that I’m going to demand it. I really want to feel all three of you making love with me in the water. It is a foreign sensation and I look forward to testing out just what it is like.”

  “One day soon, Princess,” Raphael told her as he floated by. “We need to ensure that you can take us all in. Which means we need to prepare you out of the water over time. But I’m very sure that we’ll get you there in no time at all.”

  “I know that you will. I look forward to it as well. I look forward to being able to be with all three of you, knowing what it feels like to be loved by you all. That’s going to be utterly marvelous, at least in my opinion it will be.”

  “It will be amazing,” Gabriel said as he bobbed his way toward them. “But you want to know what’s even more amazing?” he asked. When she nodded, he grinned evilly and grabbed Raphael’s ankle. “He’s ticklish,” he revealed, attacking the foot in hand. Raphael shrieked and went under, and then the water war was on.

  Rissa moved quickly from the two that were playing and couldn’t help but laugh. Good lord, they were too damn funny, had her giggling like a loon as she watched them. Shaking her head, she cried out, “Hey, I’m not in on this fight, no splashing me, goobers.”

  Shaking his head, Michael moved them further from them. “Sometimes I question if they ever actually grew up. Then they show me they have until—” He waved a hand. “If I could, I’d throw them into a time-out in separate corners for a few hours of peace and quiet.”

  Shaking her head, Rissa swam closer to Michael and watched Raph and Gabe as they played. “Too funny. I swear those boys are so crazy. It’s okay, though, we will get over it, right? You
okay?”

  Nodding, he tipped his head slightly. “I’m fine. Just a few things on my mind, is all,” he said quietly. Wrapping his arm around her, Michael drew her in close to his body. “Plus, I hadn’t realized I might have to referee those two. I’d sort of hoped they’d grown up and out of this phase of theirs.”

  “Oh I’m sure that when the time comes they will be as adult as you need and want them to be. Right now they are just simply trying to blow off some steam, babe,” she assured him.

  “I suppose.” He nodded. He didn’t look like he fully understood their antics. “As long as they don’t hurt you then I suppose it’s fine.” Yeah, he didn’t understand what Raphael or Gabriel were up to.

  “One thing that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt is that not a single one of the three of you would ever, ever harm me in any way. I think that it would kill you to see me hurt, and I have complete and full belief in this matter, Michael. You especially. You will never harm me. Even if in a full rage in your wolf form, you would never harm me, only protect me.”

  “You’re my mate,” he said, like that was the full answer. She knew it was more, but he kept talking. “They wouldn’t, either, same reason. I’m going to get out and lay in the sun. You staying in with them?” he asked quietly.

  Feeling as if she were being pushed away, she nodded. “Yeah, I guess that I am.” She would have much rather been out in the sun with him, truth be known. But she wasn’t going to beg him to let her stay with him. “Enjoy your time in the sun, the peace that it will offer you.”

  “Rissa,” he sighed, pulling her closer. “If you want to come and lay with me you are very welcome to do so. I’m sorry I’m not my normal self today. I’ve had to deal with so much pack business that my head is just not here right now. I know I should be more focused on you, but I just can’t at the moment, not until I get it all out of my head.”

  “I know that you have a lot to deal with, Michael, and that’s why I’m not pressuring you at all. When you want me, you know where I will be. I’m not going anywhere. I’m just working on giving you space, honey. That’s it. I want and need for you to work through what’s happening in your mind so that you are ready and willing to take me into your life fully.”

  He just looked at her for a long time before he turned and moved to the edge of the pool. Watching him haul his body out, she sighed and turned around. “Is everything okay?” Raphael asked as he popped up in front of her. “With you and Michael, I mean?”

  “I hope so,” Rissa said with a sigh. “I love that man like crazy, I really do. I just don’t know how to react or how to deal. I don’t want to smother him, but I can’t help my desire to be around him as much as I possibly can. I want, I need to be near him, even for something as small as just touching him, being at his side.”

  “So why are you still in the water with us?” he asked, tipping his head. “Go and be near him. He’s not easy to live with, never has been. He had duty thrust on him early and gave Gabe and me a break from our duties for a long time. He didn’t want us having to live the pressures and demands of pack too soon. But that meant he had to shoulder it all, and sooner than any of us wanted.”

  “You’re right.” Rissa grinned and moved away from him and rose from the water. She moved over to Michael, and after drying herself with the towel that they brought out, she spread it into the grass and stretched out at his side. Her hand sliding easily into his, she gave it a squeeze. “I needed to be near you. I hope that you don’t mind?”

  “I never mind, Princess,” he said quietly. “I like having you near me as well. You soothe me and keep me from letting the beast make bad decisions.” Michael rolled over and laid his head on her belly, his arms wrapping around her tightly.

  Her hands moved through his hair gently. She smiled as she petted him and sighed happily. “I do love you, too. Anything and everything that I can do in order to make you happy, you know that I will. Your happiness is mine.”

  He pressed a kiss to her belly before rubbing his cheek to her skin. After that he settled, his body relaxing slowly. “I think that last part is supposed to be my line,” he said, his breath skating over her skin lightly.

  “I know, but it’s good to steal your thunder every now and again,” She told him with a grin. “Besides, your happiness is my happiness, honey. I happen to adore you, everything about you. I love all that you are and all that you will be and you know it.”

  He didn’t reply, but his arms did tighten around her slightly before loosening.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Three days later, they were all sitting around the table in the Alpha’s house. “We’ve had word from the Palace,” Gabriel said, handing the parchment to her. “Things have been relatively quiet, in the Palace itself. They have been receiving missives, though, demands to speak with the current heir to the throne. They’ve bought you a little time by returning letters stating you are dealing with legal matters and familial obligations in the wake of your parents’ loss. But that’s only going to hold out for so long.”

  “They’ve also reported nearly constant incursions on the borders,” Raphael told her. “From what they can figure it’s the brigands, a larger group than we’ve yet seen, testing the guards and soldiers. All incursions have been turned back, so far.”

  “We need to go back,” Michael said, looking to her. “You need to take your place on the throne and give the people a sense of security. Plus, while we can give orders from here, they will get lax in time if we’re not there overseeing everything.”

  “We need to post the banns as well,” Raphael said. “Let all the people know of your wedding and just who it is you’ll be marrying. It will help to settle their minds, as well as alerting those trying for the throne to who they’ll be facing off against.”

  Rissa nodded. As much as she wanted to remain where she was, in the safety of her new home, she knew that simply wasn’t possible. “Post the banns,” she murmured. “We will ensure that they know who I am wedding, and I suppose we must put on a wedding, even though we are all married in our hearts, mustn’t we?” Which meant far too much fanfare and hubbub.

  “We’re mated, Rissa, much deeper and more permanent than any marriage. But for the people, we do need to have you properly wed to the grump,” Gabriel said. Only reason he did say it was he was a table-length from Michael when it came out. But he was grinning at the man the entire time. “The people need to see you married, in a stable relationship, and with a strong King at your side.”

  “I agree.” Rissa sighed and nodded. “At least I will have all three men that I love waiting for me at the altar, right? Even if I am only wedding Michael, you will all be there to stand at his side and wait for me to come down the aisle?”

  “We would never, ever miss it. Even if we were bleeding out of every orifice and had every bone broken, we would find a way to be there. Mainly because we have a bet going on this,” Raphael said with a huge grin.

  “A bet? What do you mean, a bet?” she asked with a frown. “What’s going on that I need to know about?” She looked from one man to the other and then back to Michael. “Michael? What’s going on that I need to know?”

  “I don’t know, Princess, yet. But if they don’t start talking I’ll bet they will be in a lot of pain very, very soon,” he told her on a low growl.

  “Nothing bad,” Gabriel said with a grin. “Well, depending on your point of view, I guess. Raphael seems to think that Michael will make it through the wedding without flinching. That he won’t have a moment of dizziness, won’t sweat gallons, and won’t faint. I, on the other hand, believe there is no way he’s getting through the entire thing without at least one moment where his knees give.”

  Rissa shook her head. “Why in the world would he be worried about marrying me? He loves me like crazy, so I seriously doubt that he would ever do anything that would upset me at all, and you know it as well as I do.”

  “Never said he would worry, Rissa. I said I’m betting it overwhelms hi
s stoic ass and he faints. Dead away on the floor. Raphael thinks the opposite, that nothing could push him that far. So we argued and set a small wager, a couple of coins only, just to make it viable.”

  Rissa laughed and shook her head. “Oh my goodness. He would never do something as small as that. He would never, ever pass out on me. Maybe later he would pass out, but he wouldn’t because he loves me and he wouldn’t want me hurt, even emotionally.”

  Raphael nodded. “That’s what I said. But Gabe thinks that once he sees you in your gown the moment will hit him. That it will all become very real to him and he’ll keel over. I tried telling him that Michael’s made of sterner stuff than that. He’ll be too focused on the vision of you coming down the aisle to be worried about anything else.”

  “Exactly. He will be so focused on me that nothing less than a battering ram will have him falling over. I believe in that with every bit of my heart. I know that he will never, ever fall over. Especially not with something this important. Will you, Michael?”

  “Not in this lifetime,” Michael told her quietly. “It will be your special day, and while I’ve not always been there for you, Princess, I won’t fail you on our wedding day. Despite what Gabriel says. But I think we should assign him additional tasks since he’s obviously had too much time on his hands of late if he came up with this.”

  “Exactly,” she said with a smile. She looked up at him with nothing but happiness in her eyes and sighed happily. “I know that you would never, could never let me down, and that makes me so very, very happy, honey. I happen to love you so very much.”

  Leaning in, he kissed her gently. “I love you as well, Rissa.” Dropping another quick kiss to her lips, he drew back. “We need to alert the palace staff that we are returning. We also need to arrange for the banns to be posted the instant we’re back behind the palace walls. Gabriel, collect the carriage tomorrow and we’ll check it and prepare to head back. Raphael, if you can, send a messenger to the Palace guard and alert them as well. Until we decide what we’re doing, only regular staff on the grounds. Absolutely no outsiders.”