Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Aurelia
I ’m taking a brief respite on my balcony after breakfast when a knock brings me to my door. One of the guards posted outside pokes his head in to speak to me. “Prince Lorenzo, Lady Cristal, and Lady Jazmina would speak with you.”
I recognize those names vaguely from among the cousins Lorenzo mentioned. When I peer out, I find my lover flanked by two women I don’t believe I’ve spoken to before, one dark and statuesque and the other pale and petite. The tall one’s cocky grin seems oddly forward when I don’t even recognize her.
But I trust Lorenzo’s judgment. He bobs his head to me with a welcoming if reserved smile of his own and a twist of his fingers that says, Come .
The blond woman speaks, her posture more awkward than her companions’. “We were hoping you would join us for a boating jaunt, Your Imperial Highness. There’s a lot of Rione’s marvels you haven’t gotten to see, and it appears your husband has other business he’s attending to this morning.”
Lorenzo must have arranged with his family to divert Marclinus again. Even if this is only a friendly excursion, I’d better take what chances I can to make more allies among the Rionian royals.
“I’d be happy to accept that invitation.” I glance at the two guards on either side of my doorway. “I assume you’ll accompany me?”
The one who summoned me to the hall draws himself a little straighter. “Of course, Your Imperial Highness.”
As usual, they trail several paces behind us through the halls and out to the carriage that’s already waiting. My guards keep a close watch over me, but they do try their best not to overly intrude.
As the carriage rattles down the cobblestone streets to the harbor, Lorenzo’s smile turns slyer. He signals to me below the level of the window. Stay quiet. Watch.
I take that in, and then the appearance of the two women next to us flickers.
For just an instant, I glimpse Raul’s brash face behind the image of Lady Cristal and Bastien’s, more pensive, behind Lady Jazmina. My heart skips a beat.
“I’m so glad you could arrange this outing,” I say in a carefully measured tone, aware of the guards positioned on the carriage’s outer seats.
“It should be very enjoyable,” the illusion of Lady Cristal says, with just the slightest hint of Raul’s wry tone.
I don’t want Lorenzo to have to strain his gift any more than he already is, so I force myself not to push for more conversation on the way to the harbor. My heart keeps thumping at its giddy pace in anticipation of an even more delightful excursion than I could have imagined.
It’s been far too many days since I got to relax in the company of the men I love.
Lorenzo leads the way to an elegant sailboat, its canvas sail as white as its hull. Cushioned lounge seats have been set up by the bow, with a couple of benches farther back where my guards settle in.
The prince of Rione may be royalty, but I already saw during Marclinus’s challenge that the royal family practices the skills their country is most known for. No sailors join us. Lorenzo deftly maneuvers the boat away from the docks and angles the sail to catch the wind.
He’s told me he started learning to guide a boat not long after he started walking. Clearly his time away from home hasn’t diminished his confidence in that area.
I sink onto one of the sprawling chairs between the two “ladies.” Once we’re steadily cruising perhaps half a mile out from the coastline, Lorenzo sinks into the last of the seats, at Bastien’s other side.
The prince of Cotea speaks with his illusion-altered voice. “You’ve had a busy time of it since you arrived at our country, Your Imperial Highness. I hope you’ll take a moment to take in the scenery and relax. We are a hospitable people.”
I smooth the amusement from my voice. “I can see that.”
And there’s nothing I’d like to do more than let my body sag into these cushions. It appears my princes don’t intend to try to turn this voyage into a strategy session, which seems wise.
They’re looking after me the ways they still can, even this far from familiar territory.
For the better part of an hour, I lean back, soaking up the sun and the spectacular views from the deck. It’s possible I doze a little, lulled by the mix of summer warmth and refreshing sea breeze.
Then Lady Cristal glances over at Lady Jazmina across me. “We should see to that luncheon the servants were supposed to pack. I think there are still some preparations before it’s fit for an empress.”
They get up and head toward the low protrusion of the cabin in the middle of the deck. As they disappear down the stairs into the room below, Lorenzo must be able to release the illusion he’s cast over them.
He relaxes into his own seat even more, taking a couple of minutes to recover. Then his illusionary voice, soft but resonant as always, slides into my head.
“You go on below with them. I’ll make sure your guards think you’re still here.”
I restrain my head from ticking toward him with surprise and move my hand where our observers won’t see my signs: Are you sure?
“We can’t pull this off without me focusing on my gift. This was always the plan. I’ll be happy just knowing they’re taking care of you the way you deserve.”
A faint flush crosses my cheeks at the thought of what that “taking care of” will likely entail. I curve my fingers through one more sign. I love you.
Lorenzo doesn’t look directly at me, but his lips curve into a brighter smile. He returns the hand signal. I love you. Now go.
I ease off the seat tentatively, my mind not quite accepting that the guards won’t notice. But as I walk toward the cabin stairs, one continues gazing over the water while the other’s watchful stare scans the deck, passing over my real form as if I’m invisible.
I suppose to her eyes, I am. An illusion of my lounging body remains on my seat—that’s all she can see.
The small door at the bottom of the steps opens as I reach it. Bastien, looking only like himself now, beckons me inside.
I duck through into a small but tidy room, the ceiling so low Raul could bang his head on the hanging lantern. A bench that must also serve as a bed is built into one wall, a table and seating at the other, a cabinet at the back. A tart woody scent permeates the air.
Then Raul tugs me into an embrace, and all my senses are flooded with him .
“How have you been?” he asks, his voice gruff with emotion. “With Marclinus dragging you all over and rocks falling at your head—if I find out someone sent that boulder tumbling toward you on purpose?—”
His words cut off with a strangled growl. I can’t imagine how much it pained him watching me come so close to harm and having to put on a disaffected front yet again.
I grip him in return, leaning into his massive frame and reveling in how solid he feels despite the rocking of the boat in the waves. “I’m all right. We already knew getting through the tour was going to be hard. My guards will be even more vigilant now…”
Bastien slips his hand around my waist from behind. “Which doesn’t work in our favor in some ways.” He kisses the side of my neck. “I know we can’t risk staying down here for very long… but Marclinus can’t keep us completely apart. We’ll always find a way to be here for you.”
The determination in his voice lights a heady glow in my chest. I turn in Raul’s arms and touch Bastien’s jaw to draw him into a proper kiss.
As our mouths meld together with heated passion, Raul strokes his fingers down my sides. His voice drops low with promise. “You belong with us, and we belong to you. No matter what that prick does.”
The glow expands, melting away an ache I’d barely noticed anymore, it’d become so constant.
I can keep going; I can handle whatever this journey throws at me. Because I’m not alone.
I turn between the two men again, pushing up on my toes to kiss Raul and then grasping the fronts of their shirts. “I love you.”
Raul makes a rough sound and skims his fingers along the base of my upswept hair. “We can’t mess you up, but we can still see that you’re properly loved in return.”
A gleam lights in his pale blue eyes. He catches Bastien’s gaze. “Let’s show her just how well we can hold her up.”
An avid grin crosses Bastien’s face in answer. His domineering tone comes out. “Get on with it then. Let’s see you put those shadow powers to good use.”
Raul reaches into the darkness between us, and all at once my feet are rising from the ground. He’s firming the shadows beneath and around my feet, shaping them into a surface that lifts me until we’re at eye level.
He’s raised Bastien a little as well so the shorter man isn’t left behind. Mischief flickers in his gaze. “I figured you could use a boost too.”
Bastien rolls his eyes. “Of course you did. But she’s hardly ready yet.”
With those words, a gust of wind billows my skirts and caresses me from calf to thigh. As the current strokes over my sex with a flare of pleasure, a gasp spills from my lips. Then the breeze yanks my drawers right down.
Bastien strokes my bare hip and nips my earlobe. “You can take two of us again, can’t you, Star?”
A thrill quivers right down the middle of me to the place where I’m aching most, but only in the best of ways. “I’d take three if I could.”
“We’ll have that again, oh ambitious one.” Raul claims another kiss before fishing for something in his pocket. “I think Bastien had better take second position, since we don’t have time to stretch you to accommodate me.”
As Raul passes the other man a vial, Bastien turns me to completely face his foster brother. He delves his fingers between my legs and hums approvingly. “You’d better take her quick. She’s already weeping for it.”
“We certainly can’t leave our empress wanting.”
Raul grazes his teeth along my jaw and loosens his trousers. Bastien works over my clit until I’m whimpering. Every stroke of his fingers sets off new flares of pleasure.
He hikes my skirt even higher with his other hand and a tantalizing gust of wind—and Raul lifts me right off my feet.
The massive man braces me against him, his breath searing the side of my face as he positions my legs around his hips. His equally massive cock juts against my sex.
As he rubs the head of that rigid length against my folds, I have to clamp my lips against a needy cry. At my shiver of bliss, Raul gives a soft groan. “Where do I belong right now, Shepherdess?”
My answer comes out shaky with desire. “Inside me.”
With an approving grunt, he slides into me, fitting us together as if we’re one being. The muscles in his shoulders flex beneath my clutching hands, but his grip doesn’t so much as wobble.
I’m not a tiny woman, but I feel light as a feather in his embrace.
The blissful stretch of his cock radiates through my body. I tip my head toward his neck, and he rocks into me with the movement of the boat. Even more pleasure rushes through my veins.
But as possessive as he can be, Raul isn’t a selfish lover. He steadies me again, pushing so deep inside I gasp, and waits for Bastien to join us.
Fingers slick with oil from Raul’s vial trace my back entrance. As Bastien dips one finger and another right inside me, I muffle a moan against Raul’s shoulder.
With a rustle of his pants, Bastien frees his own cock. “We’ll never let you down,” he murmurs as he lines up behind me. “As long as we’re with you, we’ll always be raising you up to the heights you’re owed.”
I can’t think of any heights more satisfying than the spike of delight as he eases into me. I’m encompassed by the two men, filled so utterly it takes my breath away. Every nerve tingles with the thrill of it.
And they’re hardly finished with me yet.
With both pairs of hands grasping my hips and thighs, they slide in and out of me. It doesn’t take long for them to match their rhythms and pick up their pace.
Raul drives into my sex, hitting the most potent spot inside, while Bastien thrusts against a giddying place that makes me quiver with delight. I can’t speak anymore, can only manage an incoherent mewling that both men answer with groans.
Bastien’s breath starts to rasp with a hint of strain, but he doesn’t loosen his grip on me or slacken his pace. I set one hand over his, squeezing it while I clutch the back of Raul’s neck even tighter.
The surge of pleasure swells hotter, headier, until I’m barely aware of the room around us, of anything except our fractured breaths. My fingers dig into Raul’s skin, and he plunges into me even harder.
That’s all it takes. I break apart with a cry I can’t quite stifle. My body shudders between the two men. With a strangled sound, Raul’s hips jerk toward his own release.
Bastien loops one arm right around me and spills himself in turn.
He burrows his face in my hair as his ragged breaths even out. Raul lowers me to the ground, and I turn so I can tug both men against me on either side.
“Thank you. I don’t think I realized how much I needed that.”
Raul’s cocky grin comes back. “There’s no one I’d rather serve than you.” He pauses. “Have you still been able to put off the imperial prick? With the way he hovers over you these days…”
My own smile goes a bit stiff. “I have my means. But I’ve been encouraging the hovering. I think the best way through our current problem is if we can have one ‘prick’ tackle the other… And that requires suitable motivation.”
Both princes take in my expression. The somber cast to Bastien’s eyes tells me he understands exactly what I mean.
“Whatever you have to do,” he says. His fingers skim down my arm to my gold wedding band. “We always knew… He is your husband. If you need to fully consummate that relationship to see through our plans, or simply to stay safe, we’d never fault you.”
He shoots a pointed glance at Raul, who makes a disgruntled sound. “I’m not going to blame our Shepherdess for working her wiles however she figures is necessary.” The prince of Lavira caresses the side of my face. “I just hope you can wile yourself out of that particular act for your own sake.”
A lump rises in my throat. I’d imagine the thought of Marclinus touching me the way they just did makes Raul want to batter his fists into a wall to the point of bleeding—as he has many times before—but I believe him that his first concern is my own well-being.
“No matter what I have to do with my body, my heart and soul are yours,” I say quietly.
“And that’s what really matters. You know you’ve got ours.”
Raul steals one last, lingering kiss before kneeling down to pull my drawers back into place. Bastien smooths out a few rumpled pieces of my hair, his touch and his gaze so tender a sharper ache comes back.
This is only a stolen moment. It’ll be too long before we can have another like it.
But isn’t it incredible that I have these men at all?
The ache deepens at the thought of the third man we’ve left outside. “I’d better get back to Lorenzo so he can rest his gift.”
Bastien nods. “We can stay down here a little longer ‘preparing’ so he can have a proper break. We’ll eat on the way back.”
I return to my chair on the deck and watch the tension fade from Lorenzo’s face as he settles more deeply into his. He lounges there with me for a few minutes longer before getting up to set the boat swinging around.
I barely taste the luncheon the men brought, my whole body is so filled with the afterglow of pleasure and the thrum of affection. But the niggling regret that my third lover has been left out stays with me all the way back to the dock.
The knowledge of the passion I got to experience with the other princes heats every glance Lorenzo aims my way. Every passing minute I have to hold myself back from reaching out to him, a matching need smolders hotter inside me.
Right before we depart the carriage outside the palace, I signal to Lorenzo. Follow me to my room out of sight?
His brow knits, but he nods.
I say my farewells to the prince and his “cousins” outside the imperial residence’s front doors. Lorenzo conjures an illusion of his form walking away with the others while trailing behind me and the guards into the palace.
At my chambers, I hesitate for a few moments with the door open as if thinking I’ve forgotten something. When Lorenzo has slipped in past me with a brush of his sleeve across my arm, I shake my head in feigned bemusement and shut the door between me and my guards.
The moment the lock has clicked into place, I yank Lorenzo’s mouth to mine.
He kisses me back with an urgent ardor. We stumble through the bedroom, me practically dragging him to the bathroom where there’s less chance of any sound we make being overheard.
Between scorching kisses, I wrench at Lorenzo’s trousers. He exhales roughly and yanks at the ties of my dress. Stripping the gown and my drawers off together, he nudges me against the tiled wall. Then he’s plunging into me, the heat of his body a dizzying contrast to the cool marble at my back.
I tremble in his arms and arch toward him, wanting to take him as deep as he can possibly go. Wanting to confirm that I belong to him and he to me every bit as much as Raul and Bastien do.
Our mouths crash together again. His palm swivels over my breast through my chemise, sparking pleasure through my chest. Our bodies buck together at a frenzied pace. I’m soaring higher, higher?—
I moan and shake with the final burst of ecstasy. Lorenzo buries his face in the crook of my neck and carries me even higher with the last few pumps of his hips.
We stay there, locked together and pressed against the bathroom wall, the sweat that’s formed on my skin sticking me to the tiles as our breaths heave.
Lorenzo lifts his head to offer a much gentler kiss. Then he peers into my eyes, his dark gaze penetrating my soul. “You’ve had a hard time since you came here. I wish I could have made your first trip to Rione happy in more ways than this.”
I hug him closer. “I’m sure it’s even harder for you, being home but still so restrained.”
Something shifts in Lorenzo’s eyes. His jaw works.
He tips his head forward to nuzzle my cheek. “This place isn’t home anymore. Home is with Raul and Bastien—and you. Wherever you are, that’s home to me.”
I choke up, pressing our faces together. “Then we’ll carry it with us, no matter where else this journey takes us.”