24. Cora
Cora
The refreshing bath and a change of clothes were everything I needed.
It’s almost as if I am a different person.
Or as if I am on my way to becoming the woman I am meant to be.
For some reason, I have the feeling it is more likely here, in this castle by the sea, that I’m my true self more than it was when I was living in my own kingdom.
My father has always been good to me. My desire to defy him was more about my own wish for freedom than it was about rebellion.
Here, where Jasper and Casen grew up, I don’t feel the memories of childhood weighing on me.
There are no constant reminders of my mother, who I loved so dearly and who I was forever compared to.
I love her and miss her dearly, but I am ready to live my life as a woman she’ll never get to know. But one I think she would have been so proud of.
In my room, there are a set of doors leading out to a balcony.
In the evening, the sea breeze gently caresses my face.
The sun is only just beginning to set. The beautiful shades of orange and pink are a sight to see.
One I’ve never witnessed before. And there are so many more sunsets left to see.
We still have many long days of summer left, and I am certain that the timing must have been determined by fate.
I know there are the same number of hours in the day all year long, but people retreat during the winter, sleeping more and staying away from the cold, so even now the earth is encouraging us to be alert and awake, to spend time together.
After a moment of quiet contemplation to myself, I knock on the door that connects to Isabel’s room once I am settled in my thoughts.
“Come in, Cora,” she calls, sounding cheerful and relaxed.
The handle is an intricately carved iron and even that small touch I love.
Again, I’ve never seen a handle so different from our own.
I go through into her rooms and find her putting on earrings at a white vanity that spans most of one corner.
It’s so perfect for her that I wonder for a few minutes if the princes spent time learning about her, too, so that she might have every comfort during our stay.
“This castle is heaven,” she says, meeting my eyes in the mirror.
“When I return home, I will have to suggest to Philip that we visit.”
“If I stay,” I reply, trying out the idea on my closest friend first, “then you must come and visit often. You cannot be a stranger and leave me to my own devices. I’m not interested in a life that leaves behind my dearest friends.”
“I don’t think your prince—your princes—would allow such a thing.” Isabel stands from the vanity and looks me over. “They clearly can think of nothing but your happiness.”
“They are both so handsome, in their own ways.”
“I quite agree,” Isabel says, and I know she’s telling me the truth. “What do you think, Cora? Are you ready to go down to dinner?”
I put my arm through hers. “I think I’m ready for more than dinner.”
Isabel laughs at my boldness, and it makes my heart light as we go out and down the stairs to find our hosts.
It’s an intimate dinner—just the four of us.
I’d almost expected for more members of the princes’ court to attend, but the castle does not seem busy in that way.
I don’t know how much I would appreciate the relative privacy.
The small table makes it seem as if we four are the only people in the world aside from the cupbearers and cooks.
I’m also glad for Isabel’s company. I can imagine quite clearly how overwhelmed I would feel this first evening with only the eyes of the two princes on me, despite what we shared after I announced my choice.
Even with Isabel at the table, there is heat between the three of us—a current that does not include her, though Prince Jasper keeps up conversation with both of us as naturally as if we were two pairs.
The princes care so deeply for each other, which is clear during the meal.
They’ve been through so much. As I sit at the table with them, I’m overwhelmed with gratitude that I did not come between them.
Prince Jasper includes Prince Casen in the stories he tells about their childhood, and often Prince Casen will make a gesture that seems to remind Prince Jasper of some detail he had forgotten.
Prince Jasper always laughs, seeming to know what his brother is referring to without him speaking a word.
I want that connection as well. It pulls at my heartstrings.
Once or twice, Prince Casen writes something on a slip of parchment and slides it across the table to his brother.
I understand with a glance from Prince Jasper that once Prince Casen is more comfortable, he may address these notes to the table at large, but it is still early. We’re all getting used to each other.
As for me, it doesn’t take long before the sense that I would be overwhelmed when faced with the two of them together leaves.
I stop imagining their focus trained on me as something that must be confronted and begin to think of it as something I will be able to bask in, even when the table is larger and there are more guests.
When we’re finished eating and the last of the wine has been poured, a maiden appears at Isabel’s elbow.
“Ah, yes,” Prince Jasper says. “My mother cultivated the palace gardens for many years, and she left her most trusted people to maintain them. I’d heard you had a fondness for gardens, Isabel, and thought you might enjoy a tour.
Joan is quite knowledgeable about the plants currently at fullest bloom and would be happy to show them to you. ”
“I would,” Isabel agrees instantly, her face alight. We share a look and instantly, my body heats. We both know what the boys are up to.
“We’ve spent many hours together in the gardens at Cora’s father’s castle,” she says as she pushes back from the table. She stands and takes the servant’s offered arm. “I’ve heard many stories of the gardens by the seas, and I am delighted to see them in person. Is it true that—”
Her voice trails off as they leave.
Jasper rises from his seat at the same time Casen does.
Jasper offers me his hand, and the three of us go together into a hall toward another room.
Every second that passes my palms sweat more and more.
The heat between the two of them is nearly unbearable.
My heart races and I can’t stop looking at Casen either.
Every etch of his scars compared to the handsome roughness of the other side of his face is a memory.
My body warms in a way it never has when he gently places his hand on the small of my back. I glance at Jasper when he does and notice the simper on his face. He’s fully embraced sharing me. Both men have.
With the creak of the door, we enter the smaller room, a study. Every nerve ending inside of me buzzes, hoping we can have another sordid moment as we did before we left my castle.
One wall, made entirely of shelves, is filled with books. There’s a large desk, a sitting area, and yet another set of doors leading to the balcony. Prince Jasper nods to his brother, then takes a seat. He gestures toward a loveseat across from him while Casen fetches something from the desk.
He joins me on the loveseat a few moments later and places a portable writing desk between us.
For a minute, he only writes, then passes the slip of paper to me.
I am sorry that I could not answer your questions the night you asked them. If there is anything you wish to know, you may ask, and I will answer.
A smile grows on my lips and I cannot help it. Excitement runs through me. Less of my desire and more of my interest in knowing who these men truly are. I’ve shared secrets with them no one else knows. And I wish to know their secrets as well.
“Are you pleased to have me here?”
Yes, he writes, which does not take long. I never imagined I’d be able to love like this.
His answer makes me blush with the sweetness. I hadn’t counted on him being so romantic given…our scandalous affair.
“I hope…I hope I did not offend you by asking to see your face.”
Prince Casen shrugs. You did not, he writes. It is my face.
“I want to kiss you.”
He smiles a handsome grin. So I get up and stand between his legs. I stroke his hair back from his face and run my fingers down over his scar. Then, finally, I kiss him. I can feel the heat of Prince Jasper’s eyes on me, and that turns me on, desire flooding my body.
It reminds me of the first night in so many ways. A first of sorts that heats my blood. A moment I know I will remember forever.
Jasper
It’s thrilling to watch Cora kiss my brother. Her hands rest on his shoulders and the moment their lips mold against one another, her fingers tighten, digging into him. I love it. Watching her this way. Her long lashes flutter and a blush rises on her cheeks.
She’s stunning, and I will never tire of her beauty nor the sight of her, taken to such places of pleasure by my brother. It surprises me, how infatuated I am by the way she reacts to his touch.
She kisses him without hesitation, without any regard for his scarring, and my cock twitches with need from both the image of her lips on his and the knowledge of what those lips feel like on mine.
For a moment, I don’t interrupt them. I watch my brother begin to lose his composure with a primitive need to take her, and that is not something I imagined he would ever have when he was returned to us after his capture.
Fate is a cruel bitch and yet, she’s provided for me and my brother in a way I could never have imagined. Maybe it was always meant to be this way.
I hold back as he pushes his hands underneath Cora’s skirts, driving them all the way to her waist, and hold back again as he undoes his trousers and frees himself.
She glances at me nervously as he kisses down her neck and I nod my head for her to continue.
Her lips are parted as soft moans of pleasure leave her, and I’m obsessed with the sight.
There’s a flurry of his clothing being ripped off as they feel each other’s body.
I know it’s the first time she’s seeing his chest and chiseled muscles.
She licks her lower lip at the sight of his cock and I love it.
Details like this I’d never see if not for my brother joining us.
The slick sound it makes when she lowers herself down on him pulls a groan from my mouth, and Casen stops fucking her cunt only long enough to look at me over her shoulders.
When I join in at last, I do it slowly. Hands first, exploring her neck and her tits and her nipples under the dress. There’s something about her still being mostly clothed that makes the encounter that much more erotic.
My brother fucks Cora slowly, almost lazily, when I push two of my fingers into her mouth.
She sucks on them with abandon, and I nearly think it would be enough—but when she is taking both of us, we must take more care.
No matter how much I wish to fuck her recklessly, I imagine this will be…
a lot for her to endure. At least the first time.
There’s a bottle of oil hidden in a nearby table, so I retrieve it and slick my fingers with it, then set about opening her asshole as she rides him, shuddering out several small orgasms and a larger one.
She’s tight and I can already imagine how she’ll feel. Like fucking heaven. My nerves get the best of me and I thrust my finger in deeper, loving how she bites down on her lower lip and then holds my brother to keep herself steady.
Both of our names slip from her lips in desperate pants. The warmth between us is all-consuming. Fucking hell, this is going to be decadent. I need to remember every moment. Every detail. It’s our first time truly together and I’m on edge for all that’s to come.
I add another finger, then a third. The right angle takes a bit of maneuvering to find—she must lean over him, and he must lean back, and I must spread her cheeks wide and hold her open in order to notch myself in.
Casen soothes her with his hands as I push in.
A groan from deep in my chest leaves me at the immediate pleasure.
Fucking hell. My toes curl and my body heats.
She’s much tighter when her cunt is filled with his cock, and I nearly find my release already from how good she feels and the way she moans into my brother’s neck as I rock in and out of her ass.
I’m slow for the both of us as she moans with every small movement Casen makes brushing against her clit and bringing her closer to her own release.
To make it last longer for us both, I pause, halfway in her, and lean down to kiss her neck and whisper praise into her ear. After all, she’s our good girl. She’ll be our perfect queen. She clenches on me, shaking with another small peak, and then I fuck her ass in earnest.
Cora becomes wild between us. She cannot control the rhythm with both of us thrusting into her, but eventually she learns to relax into our pace, riding Casen as I ride her.
Casen comes first, as I hoped he would. He holds her down on his cock, his arms wrapped around her, as I make my final thrusts, coming hot and hard into her ass.
The room is filled with the sounds of panting for several minutes afterward. I think we are all in our own minds, then, letting the memory of the pleasure sink in so we will never forget it.
“I love you,” I finally manage and kiss her, sucking on her bottom lip before letting go. Casen grunts an agreement and then kisses her as well, although one hand is placed on her chest over her heart. “He loves you too,” I whisper, ensuring she knows.
“I know,” she murmurs, her eyes still closed, and then she opens them, glancing between the two of us. “And I love both of you.”