28. 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 with my father.
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, but I am ready to live my life.
In my room, there are a set of doors leading out to a balcony.
In the afternoon sun, 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. Did you not notice the way they watched you as we toured the castle? Both of them were alert for any sign that you were displeased.”
“I…don’t know,” I say, my face flushing. “The castle is so beautiful. The princes are…they are both so handsome, in their own ways.”
“I quite agree,” Isabel says, and I know she is 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 is 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.
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.
It’s so clear, during the meal, that he cares deeply for his brother as well.
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.
Once or twice, Prince Casen writes something on a slip of paper 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 are all getting used to each other.
As for me, it does not 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 have spent many hours together in the gardens at my father’s castle. 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.
I can’t stop looking at Casen either. Every etch of his scars compared to the handsome roughness of the either side of his face is a memory.
My heart 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. As if he’s fully accepted sharing me. Truly.
With the creak of the door, we enter the smaller room, a study.
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.
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 a 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.
“May I kiss you?”
He grins 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.
When I break the kiss, I turn my head to look at Prince Jasper. “Do you both have the same dream of sharing me together?”
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 such a sight.
She kisses him without hesitation, without any regard for his scarring, and I’m hard in my trousers 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’m watching my brother get hard and begin to lose his composure, 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.
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 hole 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.
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.
She is much tighter when her cunt is filled with his cock, and I nearly find my release already from the pleasure.
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’ve made up my mind to pull out when Cora stirs, blinking as if she is just waking from a dream.
“Wait,” she says. “Wait.”
“Are you hurt, Princess?” I lean down to kiss her earlobe, and she shivers with pleasure. “Is there something I can get for you?”
“I love you,” she breathes. “Both of you. I wanted to say it before…before you leave me.”
Even Casen laughs at that. Cora looks shocked to hear it, but then she laughs too, and I tell her that we love her for both of us, kissing her as I pull away.
“We are not leaving you for long,” I promise her. “We will do this as many times as you like. For as long as you like. All you need to do is say the word, Princess, and we are yours.”