Fallen Princess

by Alexa B. James

  When the time came, I’d chosen my Queen’s Council carefully, choosing a few of the less corrupt members to stay on for their political expertise but adding an equal number of humans, a couple other supernaturals, and Lord Balam, who had enough political knowledge to make him an obvious choice. He still served as a curandero for King Jaguar, who was a close friend to him, as well.

  My other mates had chosen their roles, some of them as advisors and some not. Sir Kenosi’s money and connections had helped bridge the gap between our nation and others, especially the Tiger Empire, but he’d chosen to play a small part in the political life of the country, opting instead to continue to build his media empire. Prince Kwame’s title and reputation helped open doors to negotiations with the Lion Kingdom and their allies, and he’d been by my side as the closest thing to an official husband and king as our nation had right now. Tadeu had returned to the stables during the day, running our entire equine operation, although at night, he returned to the palace to take his place in our bed next to me and my other mates.

  Jetsun was a political scholar who was somewhere between an advisor and law expert when I needed it, and if he didn’t know something, he was quick to find the answer somewhere. He’d also joined a team of scientists who were helping the Ocelot Nation catch up with others in medical and scientific communities around the world. Shadow had been the mate who surprised me most, opting to join the royal guard and train under Gabor to be a member of the new, reduced security for the Ocelot Nation, saying he wanted to always be able to protect me.

  Still, despite all their help, at times I’d find myself wishing Camila was by my side to remind me not to lay all my cards on the table, as I was apt to do, but to act in a more calculating way to negotiate the best deal for our country. Or I’d make a decision I was particularly proud of and find myself wanting my father to nod his approval and tell me I’d done well. I didn’t know if it would ever go away completely, but I had the love of six my mates and my beloved guard, and that was so much more than I had a right to ask for.

  “I want in,” Shadow growled from beside us, bringing me back to the present. I was on all fours, my arms extended to hold the railing, my mouth pumping up and down Kwame’s shaft while he lay on his back, his head between my legs, licking my clit and the rim of my pussy that was stretched around Sir Kenosi’s cock as my cheetah lover drove into me with his maddeningly perfect rhythm.

  “I’m not done,” Sir Kenosi snapped at Shadow. “I want to hear her whimpering for mercy because she can’t beg with a cock in her mouth.” He lifted the crop, whipping my other cheek, and my pussy clenched around his thick shaft. He groaned and gave a sharp thrust, holding my hip and grinding into me instead of pulling back. Kwame’s tongue wiggled over my clit before circling the front of Sir Kenosi’s hilt, soothing my stretched, bruised flesh with the cool pleasure of his tongue.

  Fucking seven shifters would have been a lot even for another shifter, and I wasn’t a shifter. I didn’t have their supernatural strength or nearly unbreakable body. I was always bruised and well used after a night with more than one of them. Most nights, we kept it to two or three of us at once, with Gabor or Shadow standing guard. Even so, dislocated limbs, even fractures, and punctures from their teeth and claws were not uncommon.

  Luckily, we didn’t have to return the cheetah amulet, since Sir Kenosi had stayed with me. Lord Balam and Jetsun were both more than generous about lending me their feline counterparts until I healed… Especially as it meant they could fuck me again sooner. It wasn’t just a loan, though. Having one of their feline spirits inside me was like them gifting their souls to me, being completely and utterly vulnerable with me. It was a gift I didn’t take lightly, a moment I treasured with gratitude and reverence each time they did it.

  I appreciated their trust more than I could express, even when it didn’t work—like when Lord Balam lay his jaguar cloak over me in my hospital bed, trying to get his jaguar to enter my body because I was in too precarious a position for him to mate with me and put his jaguar into me that way; or when Shadow had tried after a particularly brutal loss of control when he’d maimed me so badly that Gabor had almost killed him in response. In the end, Shadow couldn’t let go of the panther side of himself that had been so predominant for so long that he relied on it more than my other mates.

  Shadow said he’d try again, but he hadn’t been ready yet. Gabor wasn’t a True Mate, and I didn’t know if he’d be willing to let go of that much control even if he had been. Tadeu, Kwame, and Sir Kenosi had been hesitant, since they were all undead in some way, and we were still looking into what would happen to them if they were separated from their feline side or to me if they put an undead spirit into me. I hoped we found the answer soon, that they would all get to experience it at least once. It was the most soul-shatteringly intimate thing I’d ever done, and I was afraid it would make me closer to Lord Balam and Jetsun than the others.

  That was always a concern, as life with seven mates was a balancing act. It wasn’t as simple as spending one night with each man or giving them equal attention each day. It was about knowing which ones needed more attention at any given time and which one wouldn’t be offended or jealous if I skipped time together because someone else was in need. It was about recognizing behaviors that called for attention even when they were too stubborn or hurt or proud to ask for it. In addition to always having to find creative ways to make Tadeu feel valued and needed, Gabor was especially challenging. Still, I was determined to make him feel every bit as much a part of our family as the others.

  Tonight, we were celebrating an alliance between the Ocelot Nation and the Panther Nation, the last clan to accept that I was not following in my father’s footsteps. The Ocelot Nation was finally back the good graces of every feline nation in the ICFN, though the agreements were mostly small, just tests to see how I’d do. I knew that though things might be settled for now, we had a long way to go to repair our country from within and our relationships with the rest of the Feline Nations around the world.

  But the most work of all would take place right here inside the palace walls—this complex, intricate, infinitely complicated relationship between one woman and her seven loves. That wasn’t something that could be as easily solved as a question of inheritance. In fact, it would never be solved, would never be done.

  We’d spend the rest of our lives working at it every day. I knew that. There was no other way to make it work. And it would be work. Some days, I was truly exhausted by it and wondered if I’d gone crazy to embark on this journey with them. But no matter how challenging a situation, I never regretted or questioned whether it was worth it. Love was always complicated, but ours was eight times more complicated than a typical marriage. But we had each other, and that was exactly what fate had intended, and exactly what I would choose if it had been up to me.

  We would challenge each other, but we would love each other, too—fiercely and passionately, to the best of our abilities on any given day. It might not always be the same for each of my mates each day or year, but we were all part of the same family, a family built on love. Of course I loved all of them equally, but differently, too.

  Shadow recognized my dark side, and I knew his. He loved me with a brooding intensity that was fierce but a bit feral, like he’d been when I met him, and he balanced his desire to protect me with his respect for my wishes better than many of my older lovers.

  Gabor was noble and honorable, and he made me want to be a better person. No one on earth made me feel safer or more loved. He would die to protect me, no matter the cost, and his hidden wild side made me come alive in new ways each time we were together.

  Jetsun was brilliant and inquisitive, and I wanted to unearth the layers of him I hadn’t even seen yet. He made me want to learn, to be smarter, strive harder, and think deeper. His silent passion encouraged my boldness between the sheets.

  Sir Kenosi was sarcastic and wisecracking, a macho alpha male who didn’t easily admit
his feelings and needed me to understand that he’d rather show love than say it aloud. He also needed to be loved and appreciated for reasons other than his money or looks. He flourished when I didn’t go easy on him but demanded as much from him as he did of me, refusing to let him have his way, the way he had in the Cheetah Nation. I only submitted to him at night, and for that, he made sure to show his gratitude thoroughly.

  Lord Balam kept me grounded with his quiet wisdom and earthy, solid presence, his unwavering love and patience to understand me. He was passionate but not one to be taken by whims, and his steadfastness kept me sane on days when I thought nothing else would. His love was fierce but straightforward. As long as I gave him what he needed, he gave me all I could ever want.

  Prince Kwame, my lion lover, had loved me since the day we met. He never hesitated to show me how much he treasured me and was lavish with his words of appreciation and praise, never shying away from showing his emotions and letting me know exactly where I stood. There was a comfort between us because of it, an ease when we were together that made me infinitely grateful after some of the tougher relationship dramas with the others.

  And Tadeu… Tadeu had softened some, but he was still rough and brutal. In a way, he always had been, and his violent death had scarred him permanently. He kept me grounded, though, reminding me where I came from and that I was still the girl who had run in the streets with him as a child. Our lovemaking would never be without pain, but at least he had begun to treat me with love as well as violence, and he made sure I was satisfied every time.

  I needed every one of them, just as they needed me to love them unconditionally and to let them love me back just as unconditionally. They needed me to receive and accept their unique brands of love, to recognize them for what they were, to understand them and not judge them, to accept their love as freely as I gave mine to them. And when I failed, to try again, and again, for the rest of my life, just as they had vowed to do.

  I was up for the challenge.

  Add tending seven men’s egos to ruling a country on a daily basis, though, and it was no wonder I was all too willing to cede all control at night, to let them dominate me to their hearts’ contentment. It was a relief to let go and let someone else take charge, trusting that they would give me the pleasure or pain I needed any given night, just as I tried to give them what they needed.

  “You’ll hear her whimper,” Shadow said, his raspy voice dark, almost threatening. “I want in her cunt at the same time as one of you.”

  I gulped around Kwame’s cock, the salty tang of his precum filling my throat as he arched up, pushing into my gag reflex. Taking two of my mates at once was something I’d only ever done when I’d been in heat, but I knew it wasn’t impossible. I took Tadeu regularly, and he was bigger—just as thick, probably, and so long it still made me scream every time he forced his impossible cock to the hilt inside me. At least now I usually came, pleasure and pain intermingling until I nearly fainted.

  Lord Balam had been subtly trying to coax me into borrowing his jaguar again for long enough to make me go into heat. I wasn’t sure I wanted to return to that fevered state, or how I could contain my magic during a week of that. I’d been working with Lilith almost daily, but I still had a lot to learn. When I visited my mother in the Spirit World, she assured me that I didn’t have to know it all at once, that I’d never stop learning. Magic wasn’t finite, after all.

  There was another reason to practice taking one of my mates’ feline spirits for a while. After we’d gotten a letter from Chief Alina saying her daughter Anya had made it to the third trimester in a healthy pregnancy, Balam had consulted the oracle to see if I’d ever be able to do the same.

  According to his oracle, keeping one of my mates’ cats for nine months was the only way they could breed me. Because I was human and they weren’t, I couldn’t get pregnant by them. But if I was a shifter during mating and gestation, I could carry their babies. We’d had many discussions about who would give up their shifting for nine months, about what the baby might look like, how many we should have, and when we might be ready to take such a step. I knew I’d love a baby as completely as my mother had loved hers, but I was also nervous at the thought of having a girl and maybe passing on this dangerous, powerful magic to her.

  For right now, I was happy to enjoy the all-nighters filled with so many orgasms we all lost count and fell together in a naked, exhausted, sweaty, sticky pile at the end. I wasn’t sure we needed the uncontrollable lust the heat had put in us. All eight of us were pretty insatiable as it was.

  “I’m going to fuck this big juicy ass tonight,” Kenosi said, still pumping into me from behind as he spread my cheeks and thumbed my knotted entrance. “I want to feel you suck the cum out of my cock with this tight little hole.”

  “Let us in,” Lord Balam growled at Sir Kenosi, taking my hand and stroking it over his swollen shaft to let me feel how much he needed relief.

  Kenosi pulled out, and Kwame gripped my thighs, lifting his head to slide his long, lion tongue into me, lapping at my juices and eating my pussy for a minute while the others rearranged themselves.

  “Dude, your head’s in the way,” Kenosi said, giving Kwame’s forehead a playful slap. “I don’t mind you licking my balls while I’m fucking Itzel, but your big-ass forehead’s a hard place to rest my boys.” He cupped his full balls in one hand, stroking his sleek, brown cock with the other.

  Kwame gave my pussy a last suck, his gaze on Sir Kenosi as he pumped his pink tongue into my hole a few extra times, just to show the cheetah he wasn’t calling all the shots. Then he drew away, and Sir Kenosi lifted my hips, holding my ass in the air while Kwame rolled out from under me.

  “Who’s taking the bottom?” Lord Balam asked.

  I twisted around, looking over my mates, all of them piled on the bed watching the show unfold, knowing they’d get their turn—probably several turns—before the night was through. My eyes flitted to the door, where Gabor stood guard inside my chambers. He never left his post, never joined the others. He said he liked to watch, but lately, it had felt like something closer to martyrdom. I knew he was turned on, that he needed relief, but he always stayed aloof until we could be alone, even if it took a few days.

  “Gabor,” I said.

  “I’m on duty,” he said, though his eyes strayed to my ass, which Sir Kenosi was still holding in the air.

  “There are guards outside the door,” I pointed out. Most queens wouldn’t have a guard inside their bedchambers. He was only here because he liked to watch, or maybe because he still didn’t completely trust Tadeu or Shadow not to hurt me.

  I could practically feel his eyes penetrating my slick pussy as I spread my knees and arched my back, smiling over my shoulder at him with my most seductive look. “Please?” I asked, batting my lashes at him.

  He swallowed hard. “If you wish, my queen.”

  “I do,” I said, relief swelling in my chest as he crossed the room. I knew it would help him feel more like part of things if he joined the others. Kenosi lowered my hips to the bed, and I climbed onto Gabor, relishing the chance to undress him and admire his beauty the way I did every time we were together. I knelt over him, naked while he was fully dressed. I didn’t feel self-conscious now, though. He’d seen me seen me in positions that anyone else would have seen as the height of degradation, and he still loved and respected me with a reverence that was almost worshipful.

  He’d worshipped at the altar of my cunt after watching a dozen strangers eat me out in front of a packed arena, watched my father cum on my face while his fellow guards showered my body in cum. He watched my mates fuck me every which way nearly every day, watched me beg for them to cum in my ass or spray cum in my face. He’d even watched me cum, screaming and sobbing at the same time, while Tadeu held me pinned and forced me to take every brutal inch of him.

  Now I pulled open his uniform jacket, peeling it slowly off his shoulders and leaning in, pressing my lips to his in a soft k
iss. He let his hands fall gently to my waist, but he didn’t touch me the way he usually did—firm command mingled with deep reverence. I tugged his undershirt free of his pants, then pulled it up over his head when he raised his arms to allow me to undress him. I ran my nails down his chest, feeling his golden skin prickle over the solid muscle of his pecs and the ridges of his abs. My mouth watered when I reached the top of his uniform slacks and saw the hefty ridge of his erection waiting for me.

  I traced the top of his pants with a fingernail, delighting in the shiver that went through his body. His eyes dropped closed, and he drew a deep, slow breath through his nose, his fingers tightening a fraction on my waist. I bit back a grin and slowly undid the button his pants, easing the zipper down before reaching inside. His eyes opened, the familiar flecks of gold appearing as they always did when he became aroused. I smiled at him, biting my lip and wrapping my fingers around his shaft.

  I stroked him slowly for a long minute. No one else moved, though they usually jumped in eagerly. Warmth filled my heart when I realized they were holding back to let Gabor get comfortable as I eased him into the whole group sex dynamic. I felt their eyes on me, though, and my core heated, tingling with excitement at the prospect of them watching, wanting, not touching. I arched my back as I straddled Gabor, spreading my knees a little wider and pushing my ass out, teasing them a little.

  I leaned in, rubbing my nose lightly back and forth against Gabor’s, still smiling with pleasure at the sensation of his body against mine after waiting for so many years. “Are you okay with this?” I asked. “They can all watch you fuck me for a change, if you don’t want them to join.”

  I knew they’d make me pay for that later, but the thought only excited me more. I could feel my walls slickening with heat at the thought of making them all wait, making them watch and not touch for once, the way Gabor always did. I knew they were curious about Gabor, since our relationship was something a little different than with my mates. But not participating would be torture for them, and they’d punish me just the way I wanted when they finally got at me.