“Emeralds are powerful?” I asked.
Briar nodded. “They’re heart chakra stones believed to be tokens of eternal love and purity. When one is given from the heart, much like you did for Maddox, the spiritual energy ofthe gem can sense the giver’s intent and reacts, amplifying the magical properties of that love and bestowing a blessing on the wearer. Even without my magic, the emerald was shielding our captain. Because of you.”
A burning prickled behind my eyes. “My love made it stronger?”
“Yes. When he marches out for missions, the ring will make sure he comes home to us.”
“Oh no,” Rowan said with a sigh. “He’s crying again. Good job, Specs.”
“I’m not crying.” My vision blurred as more tears sprang to my eyes.
Briar came over and slipped his arms around me. “Are they happy tears?”
I nodded and rested my head against his shoulder.
“Such a sappy muffin.” Maddox closed in on my other side and dropped a kiss to my neck. “But I wouldn’t want you any other way.”
Rowan sat at the table and drew both legs up into his chair, looking out the window. Lake sat across from him. Both drank from their mugs in silence, watching the snow fall. They were bonding in their own special way. Two introverts with sky-high walls that hid the beautiful souls within.
The atmosphere in the kitchen was so light.
Now’s a good time to tell them about my parents.
The café was closed, and Briar and Maddox had been given the day to spend with me, so they didn’t have to rush off to the castle. But the words wouldn’t form. They caught in my throat and sank to my gut where they twisted and knotted together.
Waiting was only delaying the inevitable. Lupin had urged me to tell them the truth as soon as possible, but I feared their reaction. Once they knew my dad had been a prince, nothing would be the same.
What if they didn’t look at me the same afterward?
Maddox tugged me closer and pressed his mouth to my ear. “Deep in thought again?”
I reveled in his touch. Took comfort from it. And as Briar’s lips found my temple, I accepted the comfort from him too, wishing this one day would last forever. A day where I was just silly, rambling Evan and not a long-lost member of the royal family.
“I’m okay,” I said, chest tight with the secret I carried. “Just happy to be home.”
***
Briar kissed up my neck as I rode him that night. Delicious tingles spread along my body, amplified by another set of lips pressing to my nape. A second cock then eased into me, filling me so completely I could burst.
Warmth emitted from Briar’s palms as he used magic to erase the sting. Their hands explored my body. Their lips grazed every inch of my skin.
My physician and my knight. They’d barely been able to keep their hands off me in the week I’d been home. Not that I minded.
“Oh fuck.” Pleasure built higher as they fucked me hard, alternating their thrusts to create an intoxicating push-and-go against my sweet spot. I dug my fingers in Briar’s hair and tipped my head back, meeting Maddox for a hot and messy kiss.
I was close already. What pushed me over the edge? Maddox took hold of my cock, stroking me from root to tip.
My orgasm crashed into me, and I shouted a string of unintelligible words, body convulsing. Maddox reclaimed my lips, drinking down my moans. His calloused fingers skated down my sides and over my belly.
“Gods.” Briar faltered as his release rocked into him. His cock pulsed inside of me, a sensation I’d never tire of. I loved making him come. Loved being the one to send him soaring.
Maddox gripped my waist and snapped his hips forward. “Our male feels good, doesn’t he, physician?”
“Yes.” Briar’s mouth opened in a silent cry as the last of his orgasm surged through him.
“Your turn, Captain,” I said, reaching back to grab Maddox’s head. He kissed my cheek. The action was so damn soft it took me off guard. A tender moment that conveyed his true feelings; that this was more than sex to him. That I was someone he loved with his whole heart.
Maddox dropped his face to my shoulder and released a low groan, cock throbbing. I rolled my hips backward, milking him until his body calmed. He slowly withdrew from me, pecking kisses along my nape as he did.
