Blood Crown

The morning after we released Prince Caspian from my dungeons, I soaked in a bath. No blood this morning, just bubbles. I’d kept my glamor down, feeling more relaxed and at peace around my mates now that they’d seen the real me. Malachi had kissed me awake a while ago to tell me that he had meetings to attend to, especially now that they had additional information on the resistance. Ambrose and Jacobi had insisted on going with him.

I wanted a moment to myself.

Well… I wasn’t really alone. There were two servants in the room with me and three guards stationed outside my bathroom door. My mates weren’t taking any risks where my safety was concerned. It was oddly touching.

I needed time to decompress. I had been tortured — mentally and physically — for centuries while I was Lord Pyper’s ward. Being physically beaten didn’t bother me nearly as much as the emotional component — the faces of those children, that human slave, all of them. Gods, we hadn’t seen any other occupied rooms before leaving, which meant that we hadn’t killed all the vampires involved. They took those innocent humans. I shuddered at the thought of what was being done to them — if they were even still alive.

I felt as though I failed them. I hadn’t been able to get them out of those assholes’ hands. I had barely been able to stand by the time my mates found me. Running my hands down my face, I knew that I was being unfair to myself, but I couldn’t help it. I made a promise years ago. Realistically, I knew that I couldn’t change everything for every human overnight, but that didn’t stop me from yearning to do the right thing.

My mates would — no doubt — be angry at me for my train of thought.

My eyes drifted to the small dragon mark on my bicep that was usually hidden by my war bands. I’d been exceptionally lucky to have a mate before my rebellion, and I never considered that I might find another mate, let alone three. Visa had been beautiful, and I’d loved her far too much. When she’d been killed at the start of the rebellion by several incubus lords, I’d nearly lost my mind with grief. But I had to stay focused. For her. For Shaytan.

I scrubbed my face before I sank beneath the water. When it happened, I’d been meeting with Malachi to discuss our military strategy. I’d thought it had been safe to leave her at home.

I burst from the surface of the water and leaned back against the tub. I knew better than to focus on the past. I couldn’t change Visa’s fate, but I could appreciate the mates I had now.

And what mates they were. Malachi, the rock, steadfast and loyal to a fault. Ambrose, a volatile mix of deep love and violence. Jacobi, my sweet angel and secret sexual deviant. I loved them all. I wouldn’t let the resistance take away what I’d found, what I’d fought for. Not after I’d already lost so much.

The door flew open and all three of my mates sauntered into the room. Ambrose still refused to don a shirt, which had me smiling like an idiot every time I caught sight of his chest. Malachi had taken to wearing shirts without sleeves so he too could show off his mark. Jacobi always rolled his sleeves up and typically sat with his wrist up so his mark was fully visible.

I had decided to start wearing backless dresses so I could show off Malachi’s mark on my shoulder. Jacobi’s was hard to miss. And I now wanted to wear my hair pulled away from my neck, so Ambrose’s mark was also visible. I wore their marks with pride, just as they did mine.

I studied all three of them for a moment before speaking, “You know, you can’t just fuck me in front of every male that expresses a sexual interest in me.” They all scoffed. “I’m a succubus. Even without putting my pheromones into the air or using my powers, men and women are going to want to fuck me.”

“Then we’re just going to have to clearly demonstrate that you belong to us.” Ambrose sounded as though it were that simple. The other two nodded eagerly in agreement.

I rolled my eyes at them. “I’m serious.”

“As are we.” Jacobi looked and sounded quite serious. “You’re ours.”

“Of course I am,” I soothed. “And you’re all mine. But—”

“Save it, Sher,” Mal chuckled. “You’re not going to talk us out of this.”

I glared at them. “You’re all lucky I like having sex with you or else I’d tell you it’s off the table until you reconsider.”

That had all of them grinning like the smug bastards they were. I rolled my eyes again before standing to get out of the tub. All three of them went unnaturally still, their gazes completely focused on the trails of water that ran down my body. I felt stalked in the best possible way.

I stepped out of the tub and bent down to grab the towel on the floor. I wrapped it around myself as they continued to stare at me. I shot them a smug grin of my own. “Not right now. We have a lot to go over. And we need to meet with Caspian again.”

Ambrose growled. Jacobi and Malachi folded their large arms across their chests. “Just send him home, little queen.”

I tilted my head as I studied him. “I’m sure the same could have been said about you, princess. We all still need to sit down and discuss the original reasons you’re all here. Not to mention how each kingdom plans to deal with the resistance. I’m slightly worried that we haven’t seen the delegates from Qamar or Sahira yet.”

Ambrose scoffed.

“Love, I feel that Sahira will have you waiting for a while yet.” My gaze flicked to Jacobi. “King Judah is… temperamental. I’ve only met him once in the centuries we’ve been kings. He doesn’t often leave his palace. He may not actually come.”

“And the Qamar king is an old shitface who probably doesn’t know what day it is,” Ambrose grumbled. “I don’t think you need to worry about those two just yet, little queen.”

I nodded. I would trust them on this since I didn’t know the other rulers personally. “Very well. That still leaves our treaties, Caspian, and the resistance.”

“Given that we’re mates, our kingdoms and societies should merge together.” My heart stuttered at Jacobi’s comment. We’d rule both kingdoms jointly. My eyes flew to Ambrose, would that mean that we would also rule over Masas?

My heart rate sped up at the thought. Would the other kings see our mating as a threat? Were we painting an even larger target on our backs? It was one thing to have trade agreements and alliances in place. It was something else entirely to join three kingdoms together under mated rulers.

To my knowledge, something like this had never happened in our history. Royals mated with other royals, but never heirs or current rulers.

Sensing my rising panic, Jacobi moved over to wrap his arms around me, rubbing my back in a soothing manner. Ambrose and Mal soon followed, all three of them touching me in some way.

“Don’t worry, my love. We won’t rush joining the kingdoms. Our priority will be to settle temporary treaties until we can deal with the resistance. Then we can deal with any issues that arise as they come.” My king kept his tone low and soothing.

“Despite the fact that my father is older than dirt, I doubt I’ll be king any time soon. We have plenty of time to figure out how all of this is going to work, Ashera. We’ll run things as usual.” At my sharp look, Ambrose amended. “With the exception of slavery, of course.”

“Are you really going to go back to Masas to free your slaves?” He looked offended that I even bothered to ask.

“Of course I am, little queen. I gave you my word. I knew I would need to do this if we mated. You’re worth more to me than any of the nobles who want to hold onto slave labor.” He lightly bumped his nose against mine and I giggled.

“I love you,” I blurted. “All of you.”

They once again went unnaturally still.

“We don’t have time to fuck her until she can’t walk,” Mal groaned.

“Which is bullshit,” Ambrose grumbled.

“Indeed,” Jacobi agreed.

They all pulled back, looking conflicted. “I need to get dressed. Mal, will you go fetch Caspian? We can sit in the library.”

He pulled me flush against him before claiming my mouth in a soul-searing kiss. I felt his love through our bond, tasted it in his kiss. Before I could get too caught up, he pulled away. “I’m going to have you later.” He looked at the other two. “We each get alone time with her. Starting today.” They didn’t bother to argue and neither did I.

* * *

Ambrose

I love you, all of you. Ashera’s words rang in my head before winding around my heart and burrowing into my soul. My little queen, my mate, loved me. I wasn’t a fool. I was well aware I was a very difficult man to love, especially after the start we’d had.

I knew my more primal instincts, my urge to violently protect her, my need to own and claim her, and my almost feral need to always be buried in her would get me into trouble.

She loves me.

Jacobi and I escorted Ashera to her library. I was surprised yesterday when she dropped her glamor, revealing her wings and horns. Why had she even bothered to conceal them? They made her all the more stunning. She was dressed in an emerald green dress of a similar design to the one she’d worn when we met, the blood-red war bands proudly displayed on her arm. Her hair was coiled high on her head, and she was displaying all our mating marks.

Pride and lust warred for dominance within me. At first, I’d been pissed that my mark wasn’t larger or in a more visible spot on her body. But she’d taken great pains to ensure that all our marks were clearly visible. I sure as fuck wouldn’t bother to cover mine.

I watched as her hips swayed enticingly as she moved to her desk. Images of bending her over that desk, having her ride me in the chair, all of us fucking her before the fire filled my mind. I adjusted myself before sitting on a plush chair that faced her desk. She leaned her hip against the edge of it, looking down at the papers that were scattered there. Jacobi took up position by the fire, leaning on the mantle.

“Should I be worried that Caspian is potentially involved in all of this?” she asked quietly.

Even though we had talked about this earlier, doubt nagged me. I wanted to tell her no, but after seeing so many familiar faces in that dank room…I couldn’t be sure of anything right now. The fact that there were nobles present, men and women I’d grown up with, that were close to my father, meant that something was going on in Masas I wasn’t aware of. It pricked my pride to admit.

“We can ask him when he gets here,” Jacobi offered. “Though I doubt he had anything to do with your abduction. He was telling the truth about that.”

I ran a hand through my hair. I’d wait until Malachi was back before telling them everything I knew about Ashera’s captors. We needed to make a game plan.

“Can you bring Malakian soldiers here to help beef up security?” I asked, my gaze falling on the angel king.

When did I stop thinking of him strictly as the feathered fuck?

“If Ashera is okay with that.” We glanced over at her.

She sighed and started to twist the war bands on her arm. “Why don’t we wait until Mal is here with Caspian before we make any decisions.”

Like he’d been summoned from Hell, Caspian opened the door and waltzed in ahead of Malachi. The latter closed the door behind him. Caspian took the seat by my side, and Malachi took up position right next to our little queen.

Caspian studied me intently before shifting his gaze to Jacobi. “I realize that Ashera mating with the King of Birds means that Shaytan has an automatic alliance with Malak. But where does Masas sit?”

“We’re here to discuss that,” I said, drawing his attention to me again. “We’ve got a lot to fill you in on.”

And so we did. I added the details about the nobles at the end of our tale, everyone in the room growing tense. My father wasn’t stable enough to have given orders to the nobles, which meant that one of them was calling the shots and making it seem like I’d sanctioned everything. I needed to find out who and quickly.

“I think it’s safe to say,” Caspian commented, his gaze now riveted to Ashera, “that there will most likely be a faction in every kingdom aside from Malak. Although, once they hear that their pure and holy king has fallen to sins of the flesh, that might change.”

Jacobi growled low in his throat. “I can handle my people. A mate bond is even more sacred than chastity.”

It was true. A mate bond was the one thing all kingdoms and their peoples held most sacred above anything else. Once we got our heads out of our asses long enough to admit we had a mate. I raked my gaze over Ashera’s body, basking in the feel of our bond. She was worth everything.

“The first order of business is to secure trade agreements between our kingdoms in the short term,” Ashera said, every inch a queen. How I’d doubted it, doubted her, was a mystery to me now. “Then we need to form a plan to weed out the head of the resistance. I agree with Caspian — there are most likely factions in each kingdom.”

Caspian raised a brow. “I can agree to hold off negotiations regarding slaves until the issue of the resistance has been dealt with. They are the most pressing threat. But we will return to it.” Caspian, ever the fae prick.

I tried to hide my smirk. I’d been that arrogant prick only a few short days ago. Ashera was going to wipe the floor with him.

“We can continue with a temporary trade agreement,” Ashera agreed. “But if you insist on Shaytan reinstating slavery, the agreement will end after we have taken care of the resistance. This is not negotiable.”

Caspian growled and glared at her but gave her a stiff nod. He knew it wasn’t worth the fight right now. Not with more pressing matters at hand.

“Beltane is tomorrow.” Ashera’s statement had us all confused. “We can use me as bait.”

My roar mirrored that of Jacobi, Malachi, and surprisingly Caspian.

“Absolutely not, Sher.”

“Malachi—”

“Bat Fuck’s name is Malachi?” All of us turned to Caspian in surprise.

“Bat…Fuck?” Malachi’s hand went to his sword. I leaned forward eagerly awaiting Caspian’s beheading.

Ashera killed that dream with a hand on Malachi’s arm. “I’m sure he meant nothing by it, Mal.”

“Back to using you as bait.” Thank fuck Jacobi was the adult in the room. “There’s no way that will happen, Ashera.”

“Perhaps we can glamor someone to look like you,” I offered.

“No.” Her tone was firm. “I will not risk someone else for this. I’m what they want. Beltane is the perfect time to try for me again. Surely, they know that the vampire group that took me failed to kill me. They’ll want to strike again.”

“But so soon after Ambrose’s vengeance wouldn’t make sense.” Malachi had a valid point. “They’ll know that we’re watching you closely. If they don’t know that you’re mates with Jacobi and Ambrose by now, they will by Beltane.”

“We need to tempt them out,” she argued. I wanted to strangle her. Or fuck her. Both. I wanted to do both at the same time.

“They’ll know it’s a trap.” She was insane.

“That may be, but if they’re desperate enough, they’ll want to take the bait.” I hated that she was right.

None of us said anything. We didn’t want to go through with this, but if we could make it work… No. I refused to even entertain the thought.

“It’s not enough time to prepare,” Malachi finally said.

Ashera contemplated this while Jacobi and I remained silent.

Caspian exploded.

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” He burst from his seat and started pacing. “You want to put her openly in the reach of the group that’s already tortured her publicly? What sort of mates are you?” That had all of us, including Ashera, growling. “No. There’s no fucking way.”

“I think we’ve found ourselves a new princess.” Jacobi deadpanned.

“Hush,” Ashera scolded him, clearly trying to fight a grin. “Caspian…”

“No, dick slayer. Just. No.”

I blinked. “Did you just call her… dick slayer?”

“Don’t fucking question me right now, blood sucker.” I’d never seen Caspian like this. What the fuck was going on? I glanced over at Jacobi. He was studying Caspian intently, no doubt reading the irritating fae. I was curious about what he was picking up. He looked torn between amused and enraged. I’d have to corner the feathered fuck later and have him tell me what the hell was going on.

“Caspian.” Ashera’s tone left no room for interruption. “I’m sorry you don’t agree, but frankly, you don’t get a say.”

That was my queen. Putting the bitch fae in his place. Fuck, I needed to get inside her sweet pussy. I had to adjust myself again.

Caspian stormed out of the room.

“Well, that went well.” Malachi slid his hands into his pockets. “Jacobi, let’s go talk to him. Ambrose, watch our queen.”

I nodded, and they left the room.

“Are the other two going to be as annoying as you and Caspian?” I frowned. I wasn’t nearly as bad as Caspian.

“Watch your mouth, little queen.” I stood and moved until we were inches apart. “I’m your mate. The whiny little bitch isn’t.”

“You’re both far too over the top and dramatic.”

I lashed my hand out and wrapped it around the back of her neck, dragging her fully against me. I crushed my mouth against hers as I ground my erection against her hip. Ashera’s breath hitched as our tongues fought and teeth nipped. I pulled back a bit, both of us panting, to search her eyes.

“Little queen.” My growl was huskier than I’d like.

She cupped my face with her hands as she studied me. “Ambrose…” I didn’t let her continue as I dragged her to the floor in front of the fire.

I pulled away the wisp of a dress and tore at my own clothes. “I can’t go slow, little queen.”

“Don’t need slow. Don’t want slow,” she panted.

And then I was on her. I wrapped one of my arms under her back so my hand was clutching her shoulder, anchoring her to me. The other hand tilted her head so our eyes met and held as I slid slowly into her. Once I was fully seated inside her, I leaned down to nip at her lips. She was the most decadent dessert, the sweetest wine. I always wanted to have the taste of her on my tongue.

I slid out, dragging my cock along her slick folds. Despite my earlier statement, I didn’t want to rush this. I wanted to feel every inch of her against me.

“Feed, little queen.” My thrusts remained slow, but they grew in force, and each time I bottomed out our skin slapped together.

She moaned, and I felt the sweet pull of her power around me. “You need to feed too.”

My fangs dropped as my gaze homed in on her neck. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to restrain myself if I fed off her. But fuck if I wasn’t willing to try. My teeth pierced the soft skin of her neck, and her blood rushed into my mouth. The burst of flavor, the flare of power, had me picking up my pace and slamming into her with abandon.

She was everywhere. She was everything.

Mate.

Her soft cries soon gained volume as she neared her release. She wrapped her legs around my waist, crying out my name and her love for me.

I lapped at the wound on her neck, sealing it. I was so damn close, but I needed her to come with me. So I angled my hips just enough that I was rubbing her clit with each thrust into her now dripping pussy. She fluttered and clenched around me, her nails digging into my back as her head flew back.

“Right there, Ambrose. Please.”

“Let go, little queen.” I pressed a kiss to her lips before I murmured, “I love you.”

She screamed out my name as she pulsed around me, and I didn’t bother to fight my own release as it flooded me. I’d come to realize that she owned me just as much as I owned her, body and soul.