Page 70 of A Reign of Embers

“Let our empress have a look at you,” I demand, and he sheds his shirt and then his pants with a rough laugh.

As Aurelia closes her hand around Lorenzo’s straining cock, Raul lines himself up behind her. He does ease in slowly, but her channel clenches around me at the increase in pressure. A headier pulse of bliss radiates through my body.

“Fuck,” Raul mutters. “You always take me so well. We’re going to make you feel fantastic. Just stay right here with us.”

He keeps one hand on her waist and slips the other lower to rub her clit right above where she and I are joined. Aurelia’s moan and the quiver that runs through her body give proof to his skills.

I don’t know how much longer I’m going to last. I press up into her, angling for the sweet spot I know will provoke the most pleasure, straining against my release.

Lorenzo bestows kisses across Aurelia’s face and shoulder, his chest hitching. Raul gradually speeds up his thrusts from behind her.

And Marc… Marc has hung back by the side of the bed, watching all of us with his face flushed and his posture tensed again.

I manage to speak if not at my steadiest. “Get over here, ex-emperor. Tend to your wife.”

He stirs into motion. Climbing onto the bed, he finds a space next to us where he can trail his fingers across her breast again. Lorenzo matches his gesture on the other side, stoking the flames of Aurelia’s pleasure all through her body.

Aurelia lets out another moan and shudders. Her orgasm ripples into me in the most ecstatic of floods. I can barelytake a breath before I’m erupting alongside her, a brilliant haze sweeping over my vision, every nerve tingling.

Lorenzo comes with a spurt across her arm and my chest that I can’t feel too bothered about. Raul nips her shoulder and comes with a groan that reverberates through the room.

Aurelia slumps partway over me, panting, and claims one more kiss. Then she eases farther upright to offer one to Marc as well.

Watching him embrace her even when she’s entangled with the three of us, a warmth I never expected to feel expands through my chest.

We might have to leave her, but she won’t be alone. I can trust that there’ll be one man watching over her for whatever she might need until we return.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Aurelia

Within a few minutes of my maids entering my chambers, I can tell something’s gone wrong.

Since she was assigned to me, Jinalle has gradually warmed up from her initial shyness with quiet smiles and occasional questions and compliments. Today, she’s completely clammed up, not a word escaping her mouth other than her initial hasty greeting.

Eusette fills the gap with her usual chatter—except itisn’tlike usual. There’s a frantic quality to her torrent of prattle, jumping from one subject to another with barely a breath in between.

I manage to hold my tongue until they’ve finished pinning my hair in its upswept style. As Jinalle scurries over with a bracelet to match my gown, I fix my gaze on both of them. “All right. What’s happened?”

I didn’t think my tone wasthatfirm, but Jinalle gives a little squeak. Eusette shoots her colleague a chiding glance and aims a too-wide grin at me. “What do you mean, Your Imperial Highness? Everything seems as it should be in here.”

The phrasing of her remark suggests the answer she’s avoiding.

I tip my head toward the door. “And how does it seem out there?”

Jinalle starts to twist her hands together in front of her and catches herself when she realizes she’s twisting the bracelet too. Her voice comes out in a low rush. “I’m sure they’ll have it all cleaned up soon. You needn’t worry about it.Betternot to worry about it.”

I swallow a sigh. “I think I should decide that for myself. Worry about what, exactly?”

The women exchange a wary glance.

When I look at Marc in his post by the door, he shakes his head. “I didn’t hear any commotion… but if there was a quieter conversation with the guards outside, it wouldn’t have passed through the door. Should I?—?”

He reaches for the knob.

“No, let me.” I take the bracelet from Jinalle, fasten it around my wrist myself, and stride over to where he’s standing. He eases aside so I can open the door.

Despite my apprehension, my skin tingles at his closeness. Memories stir of his hands moving over my body alongside my princes’—my new husbands’—a few nights ago.

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