Page 164 of Merciless Is My Crown

69

ANARIA

The forest made me feel small.

Insignificant, with trees towering overhead and branches wide enough to block out the sun.

Some of this morning’s stress slid off me like water from a leaf. I liked how I became too small to matter in this hidden glen, too insignificant to carry the weight of all those people’s hopes and dreams.

“I found this place yesterday, but Zor and Raz wanted to scout it out to make sure it was safe.” Tavion had the same look on his face he’d had for hours. A panicked kind of concern, his eyes never leaving me, searching for any sign of breakage.

“I’m fine,” I told him again. “There was just a moment when everything crashed down on me. But that’s over now.”

Tavion didn’t believe me for a second, but he let the lie go. Let me go, wandering around the private glade, perfect to every last detail as if the forest had crafted this place just for us, complete with a warm, bubbling spring, moss covering everything in soft, green waves, and bright blue butterflies basking in the dappled sunlight.

I was still in my dress—Martine’s creation—my hair loose, and I kicked off my slippers, working my toes down into the spongy moss, magic tickling my soles.

Tavion’s hands curled over my shoulders and began to rub, thumbs digging into sore, tired muscles. “It occurred to us that you have not truly rested in a very long time. That we have neglected our princess and have not properly seen to her needs.”

“It’s not a problem…” The rest was lost in a sigh when Raz dropped to his knees before me, dark hair gleaming as he wrapped long, clever fingers around my ankle, lifted my foot, set it on his knee, and began massaging.

It was easy to get lost. To fall into the haze of sensation. To let their hands peel away the fear and insecurity and panic and replace them with pleasure. To make me feel treasured and loved.

I barely felt them lay me down, only knowing that I blinked and was staring up at leaves outlined against a blue sky. Only knowing how soft the moss was beneath me and how warm Raz’s lips were pressed against the inside of my ankle. Another sigh, this one edged with a moan, slipped out when Tavion pressed his hand over my flat belly, his lips skating down the side of my throat until his tongue dipped into the hollow of my collarbone.

By the time Raz’s lips reached the inside of my knee, I was breathless.

When he rucked my dress up around my hips and stopped, fingers digging into my thighs, I couldn’t help my smile, because I knew what he’d just realized.

“Martine made the dress special for today, but since Tavion burned all the clothing in my old room, I’m afraid I have no knickers. Sorry.”

My husband’s green eyes danced as he pulled the dress higher, baring me for Raz. “I did us all a favor, don’t you think?” Raz’s dark eyes turned liquid, his face hardening into planes of desire, the air as warm on my belly as Tavion’s palm had been just a minute ago.

“Do you want to taste her?” Tavion’s voice was a rough rasp. “Gods, she smells so fucking sweet, if you don’t, I will.” He licked his lips, one finger tracing the outline of my nipple through the dress. “Are you wet for us, princess?”

I writhed, the moss tickling my bare arse. “Yes.”

A shadow fell over me, blocking out the sun. Zor stared down hungrily, and everything inside me went a little tauter. The flash of awkwardness passed when he fell to his knees, face rapturous, mouth slightly open.

“Raz is going to make you feel so good, Anaria.” Tavion traced a circle around my other nipple and my body surged up to meet his touch. “You’re going to coat his tongue with your juices.” He tugged the end of my laces, the bow unknotting.

“Do you want me or Zor in your mouth while he’s pleasuring you?” His fingers worked between the ribbons until my dress fell open, the play of warm sun and cold shadow playing across my bare breasts.

“Both,” I told him without hesitation. “Where is Tristan? He should…” I swallowed, not sure what I was asking. What I was allowed to ask for. It was up to Tristan, after all, if he wanted to be part of this.

“We told him to meet us here, princess.”

Raz dragged his shirt over his head and toed off his boots before he settled back between my thighs. “But today is about you. Our beautiful, gorgeous queen. We are here to serve you, to make you feel so good you forget everything except how much we love you.”

“How much we worship you,” Zor murmured, hands braced on his thighs as he knelt beside me, eyes roving over me with needy intent, teeth biting his bottom lip as if it took everything he had to hold himself back from unleashing himself on me.

“Kiss me,” I told him, watching the pulse pound at the base of his throat, his fingers tightening where they gripped his strong thighs. “Kiss me, Zor. Let me taste you.” He was always so quiet in his love, so deliberate, careful, even, as if he planned every move out ahead of time.

“Don’t think.” I smiled up at him. “Just kiss me.”

Some of that careful deliberation fell away when he bent over me, sweeping his hand behind my head, my fingers twining behind his neck and threading through his silky hair. He kissed me like he was waging war, like my lips were a battlefield he would lay to waste.

A deadly, powerful male filled with pent-up, smoldering yearning.

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