Captivated

Wicked Missions 6

Captivated Crown Prince Jayce Cobmara has taken a lover—his bodyguard, Damian Scarpela. On a planet that oppresses women and persecutes any alternative lifestyle, the men steadfastly protect their secret relationship. When a woman stumbles across the lovers, they have no choice but to take her captive. Law-enforcement agent Izzie Szabo must fight her attraction to her two handsome captors. Although she assures them that she’ll keep their important secret, they keep her at a desert hideaway that turns to paradise as the three explore their mutual attraction. The fiery-haired Izzie refuses to consider becoming a princess on a planet that treats women like second-class citizens. When an assassination attempt is made on Jayce, Izzie and Damian work together to uncover a plot that will shake the prince’s faith in his homeland. Can the love the three of them share help Jayce find a way to fulfill his royal destiny? Genre: Futuristic, Ménage a Trois/Quatre, Science Fiction Length: 32,291 words

CAPTIVATED Wicked Missions 6

Elizabeth Raines

MENAGE EVERLASTING

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

ABOUT THE E-BOOK YOU HAVE PURCHASED: Your non-refundable purchase of this e-book allows you to only ONE LEGAL copy for your own personal reading on your own personal computer or device. You do not have resell or distribution rights without the prior written permission of both the publisher and the copyright owner of this book. This book cannot be copied in any format, sold, or otherwise transferred from your computer to another through upload to a file sharing peer to peer program, for free or for a fee, or as a prize in any contest. Such action is illegal and in violation of the U.S. Copyright Law. Distribution of this e-book, in whole or in part, online, offline, in print or in any way or any other method currently known or yet to be invented, is forbidden. If you do not want this book anymore, you must delete it from your computer. WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at [email protected]

A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK IMPRINT: Ménage Everlasting

CAPTIVATED Copyright © 2011 by Elizabeth Raines E-book ISBN: 1-61034-718-8 First E-book Publication: August 2011 Cover design by Les Byerley All art and logo copyright © 2011 by Siren Publishing, Inc. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

PUBLISHER Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com

Letter to Readers Dear Readers, If you have purchased this copy of Captivated by Elizabeth Raines from BookStrand.com or its official distributors, thank you. Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book.

Regarding E-book Piracy This book is copyrighted intellectual property. No other individual or group has resale rights, auction rights, membership rights, sharing rights, or any kind of rights to sell or to give away a copy of this book. The author and the publisher work very hard to bring our paying readers high-quality reading entertainment. This is Elizabeth Raines’ livelihood. It’s fair and simple. Please respect Ms. Raines’ right to earn a living from her work. Amanda Hilton, Publisher www.SirenPublishing.com www.BookStrand.com

DEDICATION To Pam—Thanks for always supporting me and for being such a good friend.

CAPTIVATED Wicked Missions 6 ELIZABETH RAINES Copyright © 2011

Chapter 1 Izabella Szabo walked away from the reception, angrier than she’d been in longer than she could remember. “Won’t pin that fucking medal on me because I’m a woman? All those arrogant Bromondi bastards should have their nuts cut off. Nail ’em to a wall…” She couldn’t stop mumbling to herself, wishing all sorts of horrible fates on the men who’d shunned her. Jerking the lacy veil away from her face, Izzie dropped it on the tile floor as she marched down the long foyer of the enormous royal palace, not even caring that she could be arrested for having the audacity to show her face in public. The scarf covering her head—a wenora—hit the floor next. The heavy robe draped over her body dropped last, marking the trail of her retreat in hated garments someone could follow to find her. As if anyone would give that kind of attention to a mere woman… She even stopped her escape and tirade long enough to stomp on the damned blue robe several times before continuing on, bravely dressed in nothing but a tight tank top and jogging shorts. She tugged the sweat-soaked shirt away from her breasts, enjoying the cool night air washing over her skin and making her nipples pucker. Simply knowing if some man encountered her he’d

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see those erect nipples proudly displayed against the thin material made her find her first smile of the evening. As she passed yet another fountain, she thought about taking an impromptu bath in the water just to be sure the shadow of her areolas showed through the white top. Izzie stalked through the palace, winding down hallway after hallway, taking turn after turn, not a single care in her thoughts for anything except venting her anger. Living on Bromond had taken its toll. Bad enough the place seemed to be nothing but sand and heat, but the citizens? Reprehensible! The men ran the society, treating the women like property. Not only were women denied civil rights, but they were forced to cover their faces, hair, and bodies in public. Even though she was an Earthling rather than Bromondi and worked for the Interplanetary Drug Enforcement Agency, she had to abide by the local rules, hiding her features and being as respectful to men in public as her redheaded temper would allow. Why didn’t the women rebel? God, I’ve had enough! Tonight had been the last fucking straw. Being honored at a banquet at the king’s palace was supposed to be the culmination of her and her partner Alayna Wilson’s undercover work to end the reign of drug kingpin Carlos Pontierri and his entire black-marketing and drug-smuggling ring. Pontierri now sat in a Bromondi prison. All of his associates were either in a cell next to him or would soon join him. The king had gathered together the rich and influential people in the capitol city of Caldrion for an enormous celebration where she, Alayna, and four other I.D.E.A. agents were presented with one of Bromond’s highest honors—the king’s medal. Trouble was that the king wouldn’t personally pin the medal on her or Alayna, only on the four male agents. Izzie and her partner were seated with the rest of the women at tables in the back of the room. Their names were called, but they weren’t allowed to go to the

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stage to have the honors given to them by the king. Instead, one of his queens—what did he have? Something like five wives?—simply handed them the blue velvet boxes from across the table and nodded. Izzie had pushed her chair back hard enough it toppled to the floor, making everyone turn and gape at her when the sound and her enraged shriek echoed through the hall. Everything inside her felt ready to burst, and she knew if she hadn’t left that room, she would have exploded, spewing words that would have probably found her thrown in a cell next to Carlos Pontierri for being an “insolent female.” Alayna followed her out of the reception hall, calling for her to wait, but Izzie had been stomping away so quickly, she’d lost her partner somewhere in the cavernous palace. Turning another corner and marching past more marble columns that had to be at least three stories high, she jerked the band holding her hair in a ponytail and let her hair down to brush her shoulders. She was a woman, and she was damn well going to look like one! An ornate door blocked her path, the first door she’d stumbled across in the vast expanse of the palace. Gold gilded the carved wood, the design beautiful and obviously significant in some way. The Bromondi word engraved on the gold plaque mounted to the side of the door said “Forbidden”—a word Izzie had seen often posted in places around the city that only men were allowed to go. Funny, but no one ever spoke Bromondi anymore, preferring to use English. Yet most of the signs were still written in the nearly dead language. She tried the handle to see if it was locked, feeling the need to rebel by perhaps treading where no woman had gone before. Easing the door open, she stepped into a room that was obviously some kind of home. Drawn to the warmth of the place, she wandered around, taking in the native art, such beautiful paintings and sculptures. Silk pillows were scattered around the tile floor. Comfortable chairs spoke of the ease people could take in this place. An extraordinarily large viewscreen was mounted by the chairs. A grand piano sat to one side, covered in gold and silver frames with

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holopictures of smiling faces of men and veiled-covered women. When she recognized the king in several of the pictures, she gasped. Shit, but she’d stumbled across the home of someone royal. Hurrying back to the door, Izzie heard male voices approaching on the other side. “Fuck.” If she was caught in the living areas of the palace, she was up proverbial shit creek. Not even her status as an I.D.E.A. agent would prevent the outrage of the royal family that their sanctity had been breached. Her stealth training kicked in as she quickly found a hiding place and set in to wait out whoever was arriving and hope they’d leave in a hurry. “Are you sure no one’s here?” a rich baritone asked, the sound of the door closing following the words. “Positive,” another deep voice replied. “The reception will be at least another hour, and my father told me he’s going to one of his wives tonight.” “Then come here,” the first voice said. “I’ve dreamed of touching you all day.” “I thought about you too—about fucking that sweet ass,” the second replied. Peeking out just enough to see the faces of the men who’d come into the room, Izzie almost choked. Both were handsome. Muscular. Downright gorgeous. The taller had blond hair that reached his earlobes, and the strands were straight and thick. She nibbled on her bottom lip when he raked his fingers through it, wondering if it was as silky as it looked. His blue eyes were the shade of an afternoon sky. The second man was also blond, not surprising on Bromond, but he wore his hair much shorter, almost a military cut. The taller man spoke. “Well, c’mere then. I need you to kiss me, Damian. Now.” “Gladly, Jayce,” Damian replied. When he took the last few steps toward Jayce, his brown eyes scanned the wall, making Izzie fear she’d be seen from where she hid behind several large ceramic urns.

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Holding her breath, she ducked back out of sight, waiting and praying they were too involved with each other to notice her playing voyeur. She listened, straining to hear more, but their words had died. When the first husky growl echoed through the room, she realized they were kissing. It took all of her self-control not to move so she could watch them again. Her mind tumbled with erotic image after erotic image of the two sensual men kissing, touching, caressing… Heat flooded her pussy, and she squeezed her thighs tighter against the gush of excited juices wetting her panties. Since when had her fantasies taken on same-sex liaisons? When had the thought of two men making love to one another become part of what she craved so much she wanted to jam her hand down her shorts and rub her sensitized clitoris until she reached climax? When had she begun to imagine herself as a part of a triangle that included two men worshipping her as well as each other? Duh. When one of her best friends, a man she’d trained with in the agency, had become a part of a three-way marriage. Every time she thought of Spencer with his husband and wife, Izzie felt a jealousy that bordered on pathetic. The notion of three people being that close, of two men loving one woman, became something she knew would haunt her the rest of her life. “Suck my cock,” Jayce demanded in a sultry tone that made shivers race the length of Izzie’s body. “With pleasure,” Damian replied. “God, you’re so big.” A needy whimper slipped out before she could stop it as she imagined the blond with the buzz cut unzipping Jayce’s pants. An enormous cock would spring forward, rising from a nest of flaxen curls. Clear fluid would drip from the slit as sensuous lips closed around the engorged head and— “Fuck!” Jayce shouted. “That feels so good!” Izzie couldn’t stand not seeing for another second. Peeking out of her hiding place, she greedily took in the vision before her. Jayce’s jeans were puddled around his ankles, and Damian knelt in front of

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him, his lips spread wide as Jayce pumped his cock into his mouth. Her womb flip-flopped in response, and she almost came on the spot. “I need to fuck you,” Damian said as he pulled his mouth away from Jayce’s erection. “Turn around and bend over the chair.” “I thought you’d never ask.” Not even bothering to kick his pants aside, Jayce waddled the few steps to the velvet chair and flopped his chest over the back, wiggling his well-formed ass at Damian. “Fuck me!” Damian’s hand swatted one of the cheeks, hard enough that Jayce yelped in response. As he unbuttoned his pants and dropped them to the floor, he said, “Don’t order me around. I’ll fuck you when I’m ready. I don’t give a shit if you’re the crown prince or not. I’m in charge now.” To punctuate the words, he smacked Jayce’s ass again. This time, Jayce moaned in response. Izzie blinked in disbelief. The name Jayce hadn’t registered until the moment Damian said crown prince. The heir to the Bromondi throne was about to get his ass fucked by another man. The homophobic, misogynistic planet would never survive the scandal. She couldn’t make herself move. Damian had spit onto his fingers and was smearing the lubricant around Jayce’s tight little hole. Her own body responded as if those fingers were pushing into her ass. She wanted nothing more than to force her way into their little interlude and show them both just how wonderful a threesome could be. Not that she had personal experience, but if they could make her feel so ready to come simply from watching, she knew those four hands on her body—and her hands on theirs—would be paradise. With no warning, Damian rammed into Jayce. Her hand flew to her lips to keep from crying out. How could that not have hurt? But instead of trying to get away from Damian, Jayce was pushing back, impaling himself more on Damian’s enormous cock as his own dick spurted fluid that leaked to splatter on the tile floor. As Damian pounded into Jayce’s ass, he reached around and started to roughly stroke Jayce’s erection. Izzie pictured herself

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touching him, imagining getting down on her knees to suck his length into her mouth as Damian fucked him. She whimpered again, unable to stop the physical response that was running roughshod over her body. She’d never had an orgasm without touching herself, but she was so damned close at that moment, her legs could barely support her. “I’m…coming!” Damian shouted as he threw his head back and pushed into Jayce. Jayce’s hand replaced where Damian’s had dropped away, stroking his own cock as Damian shouted his release. A moment later, Jayce groaned and came, his semen blasting the red velvet of the chair and dripping in long, stringy drops to the floor. Izzie couldn’t stop her own climax, and before she could stop herself, she gasped as spasm after spasm rocked her body. When she opened her eyes, she realized the two men were now staring at her. How odd… Three people caught in an incredibly awkward situation, totally frozen to the spot. A nervous laugh bubbled out of her at the same time the men separated and groped for their pants. She didn’t even try to run, instead taking a defensive stance because she knew she was good and caught. That’s what I get for thinking with my cunt… “Who are you?” Jayce demanded as he strode across the floor to stand a little over an arm’s length away. He fisted his hands against his slim hips, taking a wide-legged stance and frowning at her. His glare was hot enough to melt metal. Izzie gave back as good as she got, fixing a scowl on her face and trying to intimidate him. When Damian stomped over to stand at Jayce’s side, she threw the same glower at him. “Look, why don’t you two boys just step aside. I’ll get the hell outta here and leave you to your…fun.” “Who are you?” This time, Jayce bellowed the words. Terrified his angry shouts would bring palace guards running to the aid of the crown prince, Izzie held her hands out and gestured for

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him to calm down. “Easy, there. I’m a guest at the king’s reception. I just got…lost when I went for a walk around the palace to get some fresh air.” Taking a couple of side steps, she eased closer to the gilded door that would offer her freedom. Unfortunately, it was a good ten meters away. Her eyes shifted from the door to the men and back to the door again. “You’ll never make it,” Damian said, as if reading her thoughts. Narrowing her eyes, she drew her lips into a thin line. “Fine. Why don’t we all just say sayonara and—” “Sayonara?” Jayce’s voice only seemed to get louder and louder. “What the fuck is sayonara?” “Will you please stop shouting? You’re gonna bring the guards!” “And they’ll arrest you!” he countered. “How dare you come into my home uninvited! And the shame of it! Showing us your face…your body…” Funny, but his blue eyes didn’t appear angry that she was wearing so little. No, if she trusted her judgment, Jayce was checking her out, dragging his gaze from head to toe and returning to settle on her breasts. Why that made her nipples tighten was beyond her. She had to resist the urge to cover her breasts with her palms. “I was wearing a fucking veil!” “Then why do you stand before us so…bare?” Damian asked. “It’s…it’s…obscene!” “Oh, for God’s sake…” Clenching her hands into fists, she had to swallow the litany of angry profanities she wanted to throw at both the handsome men for being a part of the nightmare women on Bromond lived every single day. Then it dawned on her—Jayce could actually have an impact on some of those ridiculous rules. Perhaps the time had come to educate the obtuse man. She leveled a hard stare at the prince. “How would you like it?” “Like what?” Jayce asked. “Wearing something over your face all damned day. Wearing a heavy robe in this heat. How would you like that? Do you have any

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idea what it’s like to be a woman on this godforsaken planet? Well? Do you?” His brows gathered, and she was beyond pleased he was considering her words. It was a start. “What are we going to do with her, Jayce?” Damian asked. As if they had a choice in the matter. “Do with me? What do you mean, do with me? Look, guys. I appreciate the tour of the palace and the little erotic peep show, but I really need to be going now.” “We can’t let her leave,” Jayce replied as if she hadn’t even spoken. “Want to call the guards?” Damian asked. Izzie panicked. “Oh, hell no. You call the guards on me and I’ll let every single person on Bromond know their crown prince likes to get his ass fucked.” When the color drained from both of their handsome faces, she realized she’d taken the absolute wrong tack. She took a few steps, skirting around them and heading toward the door. “Don’t worry,” she called over her shoulder as she picked up speed. “I was only teasing. I won’t tell anyone about you two and your little…interlude.” Only a couple more steps… Izzie let out a shriek when strong arms wrapped around her waist and dragged her back against a mountain of muscle. “You’re not going anywhere,” Jayce said, loud enough that she turned her head to move her abused ear. “Let me go!” Kicking hard, she tried to hit his shins. She also pounded his arms with her fists, realizing she wasn’t doing much damage when all he did was grunt in response. For some reason, she simply couldn’t bring herself to use her training to truly inflict any real harm on him, and she instinctively knew he wouldn’t hurt her, either. “Get something to tie her up with,” Jayce ordered. “We’ve got to get her out of here before anyone can talk to her.” “Fuck you,” she replied. “You’re not tying me up!” “And get a gag, too.”

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Chapter 2 “What are we going to do with her?” Damian asked. “I don’t know yet! I guess we’ll figure something out.” Jayce’s mind was spinning. They’d tied her up, gagged her, and dumped her in the hovercar to make a hasty retreat. Now, they were speeding across the sands in the most treacherous part of the desert, heading toward Jayce’s vacation home, the only isolated place he could think of where they could keep her stashed away. Damn, but it had been stupid to try to make love with Damian in the palace. They’d been in his private quarters, but even then, he knew the secret he’d guarded for so long needed to be kept. Sure, it was his apartment, but the guards had access. They’d wanted each other so desperately they hadn’t even locked the damned door. At least the person who’d walked in on them and found Damian’s cock in his ass couldn’t go running right to the king to use the information to extort money. He and Damian had grabbed her up before she had the chance. But what in the hell were they going to do with the woman now? Glancing over the seat, Jayce found green eyes boring into him with an intensity that made his stomach knot. The woman was furious. Her cheeks were flushed, and her breath came in huffs and puffs from behind the gag Damian had put on her. The cloth gag had not only stifled her words, it had tied up her long red hair. Yet that hair still looked magnificent as the moonlight shimmered over the shiny tresses. She was glorious in her anger, and his cock began to swell as he realized just how much he was attracted to her.

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Jayce had to shake his head at his own wayward thoughts. The woman was his captive, and the information she now had about his personal life could destroy him. He was the crown prince of Bromond, for fuck’s sake! How could he ever explain to his father or his people that he liked men just as much as he liked women? How could he face anyone and say that his dick got hard for both cock and pussy? How could they ever understand that he loved Damian with all his heart and wanted to spend the rest of his life at his side? “You’re really heading to the compound?” Damian asked. “It’s the only place we can keep her where she can’t escape.” No one was allowed access to the private estate—with the exception of his father, who hadn’t been there for so long that Jayce couldn’t even remember the last time. The elaborate house was in the middle of the desert, the location a well-kept secret. Finding it in such a remote location with the limited technology on Bromond was impossible. He and Damian used it often as a place to spend time together simply for the privacy it offered. “The compound?” Damian’s brown eyes grew wide. “You really mean to keep her there?” “I do. At least until we figure something else out.” “They’d never think she’d be there with us, but won’t someone come looking for her at the palace?” “Doubtful. Just look at her.” He nodded at the redhead. She narrowed her eyes in response. “She was running around in that outfit. If anyone had known she was there, she would’ve been arrested.” “Good point. But…someone has to claim her. She has to belong to some man.” For some odd reason, the idea of any man laying claim to the hellcat he’d abducted felt like a knife to the gut. Sure, she was gorgeous, so full of life she practically glowed. But that shouldn’t be enough to explain his strange attraction. A million questions tumbled through Jayce’s thoughts. Who was she? Where was she from? Why had she been at the palace? He’d

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need time to find the answers so he would know exactly what to do with her. Hell, he didn’t even know her name! As he guided the car across the rolling desert dunes, he turned to the man he loved. “You can take her gag off now. We’re far enough away from civilization, no one would ever hear her if she screams at us. I can’t imagine she would like that gag on for the whole trip.” “Are you sure?” Damian asked with a chuckle. He was staring at their prisoner. “She looks like she’ll have a few things to say to us when I do.” “Take off the gag, Damian!” Jayce hadn’t meant to snap, but the notion of putting the redhead through any more discomfort simply didn’t sit well. Damian turned around to kneel on the seat and reached to the back. Jayce watched in the rearview mirror as the gag was untied and gently pulled away from her mouth. Her eyes flashed with anger, but she worked her jaw for a minute and then ran her tongue over her lips. Damn if that wasn’t the sexiest thing he’d ever seen. What was it about this woman that called to him on such a primitive level? Jayce couldn’t stop himself from glancing at Damian’s crotch, and he found some relief when he saw her action hadn’t gone unnoticed. Damian’s cock was also hard as a rock and pressing against the front of his trousers. An image flashed through his mind of dragging her bound hands over her head and holding her, stroking her body as Damian buried his face between her thighs. Were the curls on her sweet mound the same fiery red as those tumbling over her shoulders? “Look,” Damian began as he still knelt on the seat and faced their prisoner, “we’re really sorry about this, but you didn’t give us a choice. We won’t hurt you. I promise you that.” Having expected her to launch into a profanity-laced tirade, Jayce was amazed at how calm she remained. Yes, her eyes were still filled with anger, and her face was still flushed. Yet she didn’t say a word, almost as if she was trying to get herself in control before she spoke. “We’ll figure out what to do once we get to the compound.

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What’s your name?” “What’s the compound?” Her voice was a sultry as her body. Low and husky, it washed over Jayce in a wave of heat that settled in his cock. It had been a long time since he’d reacted to a woman with such overpowering need. All he’d ever had to do was look at Damian, and he got hard—but that was love, not just lust. When he’d been a teenager and first learning about sex, his father had allowed Jayce to experiment with the women in the king’s private harem. Even back then, when his hormones had run fierce and furious, Jayce had never felt the kind of desire his captive created inside him. He’d let them suck his cock because he needed the release, but afterward, he always walked away, never once fucking a woman. What he wanted from this woman was simply…different. “My private home.” Jayce tried to keep his mind off the erotic images that seemed to want to burn themselves into his brain. He wanted to kiss those pretty pink lips. He wanted those long, slim legs wrapped around his hips as he pounded into her pussy. He wanted to hear that sensuous voice cry out his name in the throes of her orgasm. “You’ll be very comfortable there,” Damian replied. “So are you ever going to tell us your name?” “What’s your name?” she replied. “I’m Damian Scarpela.” “I’m Jayce Cobmara.” He pointedly ignored reminding her that he was the Bromondi crown prince. Perhaps he and Damian had overreacted. Perhaps she wouldn’t understand the importance of what she’d stumbled across. Perhaps she wouldn’t— “You don’t think I know that?” She snorted a laugh. Jayce shrugged. Of course she’d known who he was, and she would use it against him. He decided to get right to the point of the matter. “What do you want to keep your silence?” “After what you’ve done to me, what makes you think anything will make me keep my silence?”

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Didn’t she realize her stubborn questions weren’t helping her cause? Shit, if he couldn’t gain her cooperation, he’d never be able to let her go. His ancestors might have felt no guilt in grabbing up some woman and keeping her as his private property, whether for sex or as a servant or slave, but Jayce hated to even consider that he might never be able to let the redhead go back to wherever she called home. His curiosity was killing him. “You’re not Bromondi.” “Ya think?” she quipped. He had to smile at her sass. “I’m said to be very intelligent, therefore I noticed your beautiful red hair and green eyes and concluded you’re not from my planet. Since redheads are mostly likely from Earth, I’m concluding you’re an Earthling.” Her green eyes shot daggers at him from her mirrored reflection. “Am I supposed to praise your intelligence now?” “Are you going to answer every question with a question?” Damian asked. The tone of his voice was enough for Jayce to know he was rapidly losing his patience with the stubborn woman. All she did was shrug. “Can you please tell us your name at least?” Jayce asked, hoping to avoid having Damien lose his sometimes hot temper. “I’d like to know what to call you.” She thought it over for a long time. “Izzie.” “Izzie? What an odd name. I like it,” Jayce blurted out before realizing he needed to be more guarded. For some reason, this temptress seemed to make all his protective walls crumble. “Izzie,” Damian echoed. “I like it too. A nickname?” When she didn’t reply, Jayce stared at her in the mirror again. Izzie seemed to be fighting some kind of mental battle, as if she wanted to talk to them but couldn’t bring herself to do so. He brought the hovercar to a stop and turned to look at her. “Izzie, I’m sorry we had to do this. Let’s just go to the compound for a while, figure out what we can do to…fix this, and go from there. Okay?” The anger in her features was strong enough it glowed around her

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like an aura. “You mean I’m just supposed to go with you two, have a nice…vacation, and pretend you didn’t kidnap me?” She held up her bound wrists and shook her head. His own anger rose in response, probably because she’d struck a guilty nerve. “You had no right to be in my private quarters!” “I got lost! Do you treat all visitors to the palace this way?” “You could destroy my life!” “Destroy your life? Why in the hell would I want to do that?” She slammed her tied fists down on the back of his seat. “I don’t even know you! God, you people on this stupid planet really need to learn how to treat a woman! Fuckin’ pricks.” “This has nothing to do with you being a woman, and you know it. You’d use what you saw between Damian and me to blackmail me, and I can’t allow it!” Damian kept watching them, his head shifting back and forth between them enough that he had to be getting dizzy. How dare she pretend she didn’t understand what the knowledge she possessed could do to him! Even if she was only a visitor on Bromond, she had to know the way the society functioned and how they frowned on homosexuality as if it was one of the greatest sins a man could commit. “If you told everyone what you saw—” “Why?” Her green eyes had darkened, reminding him of the emeralds adorning his father’s royal scepter, the one he would inherit one day. “Why would I do that? I don’t give a shit if you like to get it up the ass.” Jayce was fast reaching his breaking point, and her crude way of describing what he and Damian shared made him want to scream at her. “Stop acting like you don’t know the power you have over me now.” “Power? What power? You kidnapped me. Seems to me that you hold all the power.” “If I might interrupt,” Damian said, “perhaps we should all calm down, continue on to the compound since we’ve nowhere else to go

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right now, and then we can all talk this out.” He looked to Izzie. “Agreed?” “Will you untie my hands if I give in?” “Yes, I’ll untie your hands. Do you agree?” Her reply was a curt nod. Damian turned to Jayce. “Agreed?” “Fine,” Jayce snapped. “Untie her.” He threw the car back into gear and hit the accelerator hard enough that it threw Damian against the seat. **** Izzie slowly opened her eyes, blinking a few times to try to remember exactly where she was. Her neck hurt from her awkward sleeping position. She straightened up, rubbing the stiff muscles as she stared at the two men in the front seat. Everything came tumbling back, and she had to bite her lip not to start shouting all over again. Damian was right—they’d solve nothing by screaming at each other all the way to wherever it was they were taking her. Since she had two pressing needs, she decided to start with the first. “I need to pee.” “You’re awake,” Damian said. He smiled at her from the front seat, a breathtaking smile of sparkling white teeth in a tempting mouth with full lips. “No shit. You’re a smart one, aren’t you? Probably first in your class. I still need to pee. And I’m really thirsty. We are in a desert. Although it probably wouldn’t bother you if I died of dehydration.” “Stop that!” Jayce clenched his fingers against the wheel hard enough they blanched. “We mean you no harm!” Izzie snorted her derision. “Can you hang on for five more minutes?” he asked, staring at her from the rearview mirror. She shrugged. “Like you’d give me a choice.” “I can pull over now and you can pee in a sand dune.” He pointed

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to the horizon where something approached. “Or you can wait five minutes and we’ll be there.” “I’ll wait.” “Did you have a nice nap?” Damian asked over his shoulder. As if a quick nap where her neck had been at an odd angle was enough for her to get over her anger. Then again, where else did she have to go? I.D.E.A had insisted she take a vacation after her assignment ended and the celebration ceremony was over. She’d been deep undercover for nearly three years, and the agency shrinks kept telling her supervisors she would suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder if she didn’t integrate herself back into real life soon. Whatever the hell real life is… God, it had been so long since she’d been simply Izabella Szabo that she wasn’t even sure who that person was anymore. She’d been in the company of black market smugglers and drug pushers, the underbelly of society here on Bromond and on Rozale, a planet teeming with lowlifes. She felt dirty, as if the stain of the people she’d surrounded herself with had rubbed off even though she had a noble purpose—bringing down one of the biggest organized crime heads in the sector and collapsing his empire. That work was done, and she realized she now had no place to go, no home, no life to return to, and no one who cared she’d been missing in action for so very long. Izzie glanced up to see that Damian was sitting sideways in the shotgun seat, staring at her. He reached over the seat to brush away the tear sliding down cheek she hadn’t even noticed was there. His smile touched something inside her, something vulnerable that she wanted to stomp out on the ground, like a small spark that could eventually lead to a forest fire. Focusing on the approaching settlement, she tried to ignore the way Damian’s touch had affected her—the same way Jayce’s eyes seemed to be able to see all the way inside her soul. These two men unnerved her in a way she found both frightening and arousing.

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Somehow she’d have to convince them to turn her loose quickly so she could get away from their knowing stares and her own desires. “We’re here,” Jayce announced. He slowed the car, bringing it to a stop in front of a large gate. He hopped out, placed his palm against the locking mechanism, and the gate popped open, swinging in. After he got back into the car and drove it through the entrance, the gate shut and locked with a resounding thud that seemed to echo over the tall adobe walls. Izzie stepped out of the car to stretch her legs and look around while the men stood by and watched her. The compound was an oasis in the middle of one of the worst of Bromond’s deserts. The walls surrounding the house and estate had to be at least five meters tall. A large pueblo house sat to the right with a kidney-shaped swimming pool just to its side. She wanted to toss aside her clothes, dive into the inviting water, and cool her body. Between the sun beating down on her skin and the erotic feelings these two men inspired, Izzie felt like she had a fever. “Welcome to my vacation home,” Jayce said. The sweeping gesture of his arm pushed her past the edge of control. She’d reached her fill of being bullied and taunted, and she forgot all about having to pee. Balling her hand into a fist, she brought it back and aimed right for Jayce’s elegant nose, hoping to wipe the smirk right off his face. His palm rose to catch her hand before she could strike. Damn, but he was fast, and his growing smile only made her angrier. Her training kicked in, and she tried again. He replied in kind, and the fight was on in earnest. Blow after blow—his and hers—were tried and deflected. He’d obviously had martial arts training as well, and his frustration seemed to need the same outlet as hers did. Izzie felt the sweat trickling between her breasts and down her back as she tried punches, sweeps, kicks—all easily parried by Jayce just as she easily turned aside each of his attacks.

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Finally landing the first good hit, she caught him in the mouth with the heel of her hand and then followed it with a solid kick to his chest. He stumbled back a few steps and wiped his hand across his abused mouth. She was actually grateful she hadn’t drawn blood, but then he grinned and crooked his finger at her. Izzie growled and attacked again, forgetting how easily anger could make her lose control. Jayce took advantage, finally knocking her on her ass with a brilliantly timed front sweep. Before she could get to her feet, he grabbed her around the waist, threw her over his shoulder like a sack of grain, and marched to the pool. “You need to cool off, my beautiful firecracker.” When she realized he meant to toss her into the pool, she grabbed the waistband of his pants and hung on for dear life. As he tried to throw her in the deep end, they both ended up tumbling into the water. Izzie surfaced first, laughing in her victory of sorts. He might have won the fight, but he didn’t get the last blow. Jayce bobbed up, his smiling face breaking the surface of the water. His laughter joined hers. Damian stood at the edge of the pool, hands on hips as he glared down at them. “You two are acting like children.” The temptation was too much to resist. Izzie surged up, clutched the front of his shirt, and dragged him into the pool. Jayce’s laughter turned into full-blown guffaws. When Damian surfaced, he sputtered and coughed for a moment before his gaze found Izzie. “Revenge?” She smiled. “Best I could manage at the moment.” Jayce set a hand on her shoulder and turned her to face him. With a smile, he cupped her neck and pulled her toward him. “I like a woman with spirit.” “You like a woman with spirit?” She thought about resisting as he dragged her closer, lowering his head until his mouth was nearly touching hers. “Then you’ll love me.” “Somehow, I think I just might…”

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Chapter 3 “Why were you at the palace?” Damian asked. He grabbed the jug of green cactus wine and refilled Izzie’s glass yet again. Not that he wanted her drunk—just relaxed enough to finally open up a little. For his part, the alcohol had eased the biting fear that had gripped him from the moment the redhead had popped into their lives. Now, he could unwind enough to take the time to admire her. The curve of her breasts. The full, sensuous lips. The spray of freckles across her pert nose. After their little impromptu swim and Jayce stealing one quick kiss from her, the three of them seemed to call an easy truce as the men realized she wouldn’t betray them. Jayce showed Izzie to one of the guest bedrooms, giving her access to the spare clothes so she could change. She’d refused to wear any of the robes or wenora, not that either man had been surprised or even cared. Their generation didn’t always follow the old ways, often ignoring some of the more oppressive rules in private. Even Jayce’s three sisters refused to don veils and robes except when their father or strangers were around. Besides, Damian liked looking at their beautiful captive in her gauzy shirt and khaki shorts. The woman was a vision, and not simply because he didn’t get the opportunity to see many women who weren’t bundled up like they lived on some snow-covered planet. No, he was admiring Izzie. Having been in love with Jayce for most of his life, he found it a bit strange that Izzie had captured his interest so completely. Yet she had, and for the first time in his life, he harbored fantasies of making love to two people at the same time. Sure, women had drawn his sexual interest before, but with Izzie, there was a

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different kind of attraction. One to get to know her, to please her in all ways, not just to fuck her—although every time he looked at her beautiful face, his cock got hard. Refilling his own glass, he flopped down on one of the comfortable chaises that sat in the canopied garden. The place was beautiful, mostly because Jayce had spent hours and hours tending the plants. Because of his hard work, it was a spray of color in a barren desert—a true oasis. The canopy offered cool shade, and the breeze sent pleasant wafts of floral smells drifting through the air. He and Damian spent a lot of time out here, loving the total privacy the haven offered and sometimes making love on the cool moss or in the sheltering gazebo. Here, they could simply be two men in love and stay away from prying eyes. “I was there for the medal ceremony,” she finally replied, eyeing him over the rim of her glass. A flash of unbidden jealousy raced through Damian at the thought that she was there with a man—some man who’d earned the king’s admiration. Some man who could lay claim to her. “Why?” he had to ask. “I received one of the king’s medals.” “You?” Jayce asked, his eyes wide. “My father gave you a medal?” Her green eyes narrowed. “Why’s that so hard to believe?” “But…but you’re a woman,” Jayce protested. “Ya think?” Her smoldering gaze could have set the gazebo afire. “Look, I’m also an agent for I.D.E.A., and thanks to my undercover work, we brought down Carlos Pontierri’s crime organization.” “That’s not what I meant.” Jayce raised his glass to her. “I salute all you’ve done to help Bromond. What I meant was that I can’t believe my father would honor a woman with a king’s medal.” Her smile was enigmatic. “Ah, well… Seems that I.D.E.A. refused to only allow the male agents to be honored, especially since the women had done most of the undercover work. They insisted my

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partner and I receive the medals as well, or none of the agents would accept.” “Your partner is also a woman?” Damian wanted to know more about her—so much more. Hell, he wanted to know everything about Izzie. Where did she live? What had made her decide to become an agent for the infamous Interplanetary Drug Enforcement Agency? Was there a man—on Bromond or in some other world—who loved her? Izzie nodded as she took another sip of her cactus wine. “Alayna and I have been partners since we graduated from the United Continents’ law enforcement academy back on Earth. We joined I.D.E.A. together when they recruited female agents. She’ll be mighty pissed that I’m missing. She’s probably harassing every guard in the palace to find out what happened to me. Knowing Alayna, she’ll be knocking at the door to this place soon.” Jayce’s frown was as scorching as the Bromondi sun. “We had to bring you here. We had no choice.” “No choice? But I promised I wouldn’t say anything. You could have trusted me to keep your secret.” “Trust you?” Jayce replied. “We don’t even know you.” With a shrug, she drained the rest of the glass in one long swallow before holding it out to Jayce. “More, please.” Damian grinned, loving that Izzie treated a prince who would one day rule the entire planet as if he was nothing more than any other normal man. The crown prince clearly appreciated it too because he smiled, got to his feet, and carefully refilled her glass. He held up the jug. “More, Damian?” He nodded, holding his glass out as Jayce refilled it. From the moment Damian and Jayce had met, back when they’d been only ten years old, Jayce had treated Damian as an equal. Probably because Damian set the tone for their relationship when he’d given Jayce a black eye that day. When the prince had dared to cheat at traisam, thinking he could hold back cards to win the game,

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Damian let him know cheating wasn’t acceptable. He shouted his opinion at Jayce, who retaliated by trying to start a fight, a fight Damian finished with one punch. From that moment on, they’d been best friends and equals in all things. Damian quickly became the yin to Jayce’s yang. The crown prince was able to keep his temper in most situations, choosing diplomacy over fighting. Damian tended to react before he thought, although when Jayce was finally pushed to the point of anger, that anger could burn as fierce as any inferno. Damian liked to take the lead, calling the shots in anything from what the couple would eat to initiating their sexual encounters, which were often fierce and passionate. Jayce was more of a tender lover, savoring each experience as if wanting it to last forever. Jayce appreciated the arts and nature while Damian preferred a hot, sweaty workout over a walk in the garden. Perhaps opposites truly do attract. Regardless, they’d made their relationship work well, first becoming fast friends and only advancing into becoming lovers when a semi-intoxicated Damian had found the balls to confess his true feelings on Jayce’s twentieth birthday. Their passionate sex that night had been life-changing, the first time either had dared to touch another male, and the couple had been inseparable ever since, although they kept a discreet distance in public. Officially, Damian was Jayce’s personal bodyguard, so few questioned their constant contact. “Damian?” Izzie’s voice intruded into his reverie. “Hmm?” “Are you trained in martial arts too?” He tossed her a smug smile. “Who do you think taught Jayce?” “That’s not true!” Jayce retorted. “We learned together.” “But I always got it first. Then I kicked your ass ’til you got it right.” Hopping to her feet, Izzie drained the rest of the wine and set her glass aside. “I need to be alone for a bit.”

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“Why?” Damian asked, wondering at the abrupt change in her. Izzie’s bubbly and unpredictable personality made him feel like he was caught in the middle of a sand funnel, twisting and turning without being able to keep his feet on the ground. For some reason, he loved that volatility. “I need to think.” She started strolling deeper into the lush gardens without a backward glance, dragging her fingertips over some of the blossoms as she passed them, making him envious of the flowers. He wanted those hands on his body, caressing his skin, wrapping around his cock and— “She’s coming around,” Jayce said. “We can trust her now.” “Ya think?” Damian drawled, trying to sound like Izzie with her typically sassy comeback. Jayce grinned, but since he made no move to stop her, Damian merely arched an eyebrow at him. “Give her a little time,” Jayce said before tipping back his own glass and finishing off the wine. “Time? To do what?” “To come to terms with being here. It will make things…easier.” “Things? What things?” Jayce smiled one of those smiles that told Damian the crown prince had decided something very important. “It’ll make it easier for her accept my proposal of marriage. I intend to make Izzie my queen.” **** The gardens were beautiful—green leaves with splashes of colors. Such a contrast to the rest of Bromond. Izzie had grown used to the barrenness of the desert planet, seldom missing the dissimilarity of her more colorful home world. Not that she’d ever set down roots on Earth to begin with—she’d never been given the chance for any roots to grow. Her parents had lived a nomadic life, probably due to their gypsy

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heritage. Her father’s near-genius abilities at mechanical engineering also made him in demand for new projects from mineral mines to building factories. She’d never lived in a home her family actually owned. They always rented or sublet because they never stayed long enough in any one place to even unpack the things they carted with them from planet to planet. Her three years living undercover on Bromond had been the longest she’d ever stayed in any one place, and her four years working with Alayna had been her longest “relationship.” Twenty-six years old with nothing to show for her life except a king’s medal that the sexist king stubbornly refused to pin on her. Perhaps that’s why this situation bothered her so damned much. Now, she was alone with two men—two very sexy men who were probably every bit as sexist as the king—and all she could think was how comfortable and natural the situation felt. If that wasn’t stupidity, she didn’t know what was. She’d drunk a little too much of the potent wine, but with all the feelings coursing through her, she’d felt the need to drown those strong emotions as best she could. She was a hostage, not a guest, and certainly not a guest the men cared for or were trying to seduce. Yet all Izzie could do was imagine Jayce and Damian in situations that were not only far from appropriate, but probably downright lewd. She wanted to stroke their hard cocks as she watched their bright eyes glaze with passion. She wanted to feel two pairs of soft lips on her skin. She wanted to push her body to its limits by having both men claim her at the same time—an erotic pleasure she’d heard of but never had the guts to try. For fuck’s sake, Jayce was the crown prince of Bromond! He’d kidnapped her to keep her mouth shut about what she’d seen between him and Damian back at the palace. He didn’t want her. Hell, he probably didn’t even like her! He probably didn’t like women at all. Damian had clearly been pissed at her from the first moment, his temper easily revealed in his amber eyes. But she still wanted them,

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desiring both of them with a fierceness that made her ache in a way no one ever had before. Despite what other people gossiped about her and Alayna, both women were heterosexual. Agents joked about them being gay, especially when she and Alayna could so easily toss around some of the male agents. Just because they were tall and strong didn’t mean they weren’t feminine. Did it? None of the male agents acted even remotely interested in either Izzie or Alayna, not even back in their academy days. Instead, the men seemed to enjoy passing rumors that the women were involved with each other, as if those stories helped them feel more secure in their masculinity after they got their asses kicked or had a lower score on any written test. How could anyone believe a woman as beautiful as Alayna wasn’t feminine? God only knew what men thought of Izzie’s red hair, especially since she had the hot temper to match. Lifting the end of one curl, she stared at the fiery strand. It was a pretty red…wasn’t it? She dropped the tress to press her palms against her breasts. They were nice breasts—full and shapely. One hand smoothed down her stomach to reach the juncture of her thighs, brushing over the mound concealed by the sturdy cloth of her shorts. Wouldn’t a man enjoy the fact that she was responsive and passionate? Shit, her panties were wet now simply because she remembered how sexy it was to see Damian fucking Jayce. The thought of the three of them sharing that kind of passion made more fluid rush to her pussy, and she squirmed in need. Damn, she needed another glass of that marvelous wine. Were they kissing now that she’d left them alone? From the moment Izzie had seen Damian and Jayce in the throes of passion, all she could think about was being a part of their lovemaking. Were they trying to snatch a few moments of closeness without her prying eyes? She’d never wanted two men before, but right now she knew Jayce or Damian alone wouldn’t fill the aching void inside her.

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Would they welcome her if she let them know she would join them, or would they turn away in revulsion at a woman? What was wrong with her? They’d kidnapped her, yet she’d already forgiven them, probably because she understood why they’d panicked. Jayce’s father would never understand how one man could love another. The sad fact was that the people of Bromond probably would understand—if not understand, at least forgive. As an undercover agent, her life depended on knowing as much as she could about the people around her, so her eyes and ears were always open. Izzie had heard the discontented whispers of the Bromondi, that they were ready for the women to cast aside their veils and robes so they could be a true part of their society. She’d witnessed the men and women who chose to love one of their own gender gently assaulting tradition by holding hands in public, taking small chips from the heavy stone that held the people of Bromond in oppression. Enough chips, and the stone could be rolled away. Perhaps she should talk to Jayce about what she’d learned. After all, he was the man who could someday shape the planet. Wouldn’t he want to know all she now knew about the Bromondi? She should go to him now and explain it all. Yes, that was exactly what she’d do! Just who do you think you’re fooling, Izabella? Izzie wasn’t seeking the men to tell them they could change the politics on Bromond. She was going to them to try to seduce them. Her insides were a twisted knot that could only be relieved by loving Jayce and Damian, and if she had to be the one to cross that boundary first, then that was exactly what she would do. If they turned her away, she wasn’t sure what she would do, but she had to know if they held even the slightest desire for her. The uncertainty was killing her. Striding back toward the shelter, she skidded to a stop when she saw the chaises were empty. A moment of panic made her heart begin to pound a rough beat. Had they abandoned her? No. They weren’t cruel men, and they wouldn’t leave her out in

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the desert all by herself. Izzie swallowed her fear and decided to find where Damian and Jayce had gone. Picking up her empty glass, she carried it to the table, grabbed the jug, and splashed more green wine into the glass. She drank down the alcohol in quick swallows, set the glass on the table, and headed into the house to find the men. The time had come to clear the air. **** “Kiss me,” Damian said. He grabbed Jayce’s neck and pulled him closer. “Now.” With a smile, Jayce set his lips against Damian’s, loving the responding growl rising from his lover’s chest. Before Damian could take the lead, Jayce slid his tongue into his mouth, stroking and caressing until both men were panting for breath. “I want to suck your cock.” Jayce smoothed his hand over the front of Damian’s pants, letting his fingers trace the outline of the erection beneath. Without waiting for a response, he grabbed the waistband and popped the button. Keeping his gaze fixed on Damian’s dark eyes, Jayce dragged down the zipper, shoved the shorts over his hips, and let the garment drop to the floor. He wrapped his fingers around Damian’s dick and stroked. “On your knees, Your Highness,” Damian said. He put his palms on Jayce’s shoulders and gently guided him down. Instead of responding to the sarcastic command, Jayce licked the bead of pre-cum emerging from the slit of the purple head, the tangy taste racing across his tongue. Damn, he loved sucking Damian’s cock. Reaching between his thighs, Jayce gave the soft sac a squeeze. He smiled as Damian moaned and threaded his fingers through Jayce’s hair, tugging roughly as he flexed his hips to make Jayce take him deeper into his mouth. “You started without me.”

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Jayce moved away from Damian so quickly, he probably looked like a sand crab skittering across the floor. “You know what, Izzie?” Damian said with an enormous grin. “Your timing is impeccable.” She shook her head, setting her beautiful hair swishing across her shoulders. “If my timing was impeccable, I would be the one sucking your cock.” Jayce sat on his ass, blinking a few times as he tried to process her words. He’d thought of nothing but including her when he made love to Damian, but she surely didn’t mean what she’d said. Hell, his lips had been around Damian’s cock…wouldn’t that turn a woman off? Damian, as usual, took the lead. “Well then…if you want to suck my cock…” He wrapped his fingers around his dick and pointed it at Izzie. “What are you waiting for?”

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Chapter 4 So they do like women, too… Figuring she didn’t need to be asked twice, Izzie confidently strode across the tile floor. Grabbing the hem of her shirt, she jerked it over her head, dropping it at Damian’s feet. Placing her palms against the pale, crisp hair of his chest, she smoothed her hands over the hard planes of muscle. She’d imagined touching him from the moment she saw him, and the images of watching him fuck Jayce came back into her mind. Two handsome men joined in a rush for fulfillment. So intoxicating… Her fingers brushed the ripples of his firm abdomen, moving lower before she smiled and skirted around his dick. Damian groaned, bringing a smile to Izzie’s lips. His thighs were firm as granite, and as she knelt in front of him, she breathed in his musky scent. An enormous cock—decorated with veins that she wanted to trace with her fingertips and her tongue—jutted from his body, begging for her attention. Izzie wrapped her fingers around him, loving how smooth the skin felt over the hardened flesh. “You’re so big,” she murmured before she kissed the purple head. A drop of fluid spurted out in response. She licked it away, humming her approval of his salty taste before taking him deeply into her mouth. “Fuck,” Jayce said from where he sat on the floor. “That’s the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.” Sucking hard, Izzie decided if Jayce liked a show, she’d give him a good one. Perhaps knowing how freely she could give her attention to Damian, the crown prince would want to be included rather than just watch. She lifted her hand to cup Damian’s testicles, rubbing her

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fingers over the soft skin and loving how his breaths came faster in response. His fingers laced through her hair as his hips pushed against her. She dragged her teeth gently up his length until all that remained in her mouth was the crown. Swirling her tongue around and around the head, she moved her hand down to squeeze his sac again. More fluid trickled into her mouth. She pulled her mouth away from his erection to lick his scrotum, drawing another groan from Damian. Opening her lips wide, she tried to swallow as much of his cock as she could. “God, Izzie,” Damian said before clenching his fingers in her hair, “I’m gonna come if you keep that up.” She pulled away only long enough to say, “Who’s stopping you?” This time, the growl rose from Jayce. A glance to the side revealed he was on all fours now, crawling slowly toward them. Her only wish was that he was also naked. Damian had closed his eyes, dropping his head back in surrender. The thrust of his hips matched the movement of her mouth on his cock, and from how it seemed to grow against her tongue, she knew he was close to release. Izzie reached around his body to stroke his ass before sliding a finger between the firm cheeks. Without any warning, she ran her fingertip around the tight hole of his anus, wishing she would have had time to lick her finger so she could slide the tip inside him. Even without penetrating his body, she got the desired effect. With a loud shout, he called her name as his semen spurted into her mouth. She sucked, trying to capture every drop of his essence and loving his taste and the feel of the hot liquid on her tongue. When she was sure he was done, she pulled back, giving the crown a reverent kiss and licking away a last gush of cum from the slit. Jayce now knelt beside her, his hands poised as if he wanted to touch her but was hesitant to make the first move. Izzie gave him quarter, taking his hands and pressing them against her naked breasts. The nipples were already hard, and the heat of his palms made them

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tingle. Moisture bathed her cunt, making her moan as he pinched the tender flesh. He bent lower to take a nipple into his mouth, and she closed her eyes, surrendering to the wonderful feelings his velvet tongue and gentle suction sent shooting through her. Jayce could hardly believe what was happening, wanting to ask Damian to pinch him to be sure he wasn’t lost in some erotic dream. As he eased back to look into Izzie’s stunning green eyes, all he wanted to do was bury his cock inside her. Knowing Damian wouldn’t want to be left out, Jayce decided it was time for the three of them to take this little party to the enormous bed. Perhaps he could show Izzie a trick or two about bringing Damian’s body back to life, and he wondered just how willing she was to truly share her body with both of them when Damian’s cock got hard again. Taking her hand, he rose to his feet, pulling Izzie up with him. As she stared at him, he removed her shorts, dragging them down her long legs and dropping them on the floor. Her pink panties joined the garment moments later. The only sign that she felt any embarrassment at her nudity was the color tinting her cheeks and spreading down her neck. Jayce couldn’t stop staring at her body. He’d never seen any woman half as beautiful, including the women in his father’s harem. None of them had inspired him to lose his virginity to a female, preferring to let them perform more impersonal oral sex on him simply to relieve the needs of his body until he and Damian had become lovers. Then he’d left the harem behind without a second glance. Izzie was the first women he’d wanted to make love to, the first who had inspired a burning passion deep inside him the way Damian so easily could. Jayce regretted that she had to hide that beauty behind a veil just as she had to cover her shiny red hair. Her skin was smooth and clear. Firm, full breasts were crowned with rosy nipples that had hardened into tight pebbles and tasted as good as they looked. The curls covering her mound were the same flaming color as the tresses on her

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head. With a smile, he scooped her into his arms, nodded at Damian, and carried her to the bed. Damian yanked back the cover, and Jayce set Izzie on the white silk sheets. While Damian crawled across the mattress to reach the far side, Jayce disrobed, flinging his clothes to the floor in his hurry to feel her skin pressed against his. As he knelt on the mattress, Izzie opened her slender arms wide, and he fell into her embrace. Settling his body over hers, he forced her thighs apart with his knee and let his swollen dick press against the moist heat of her pussy, groaning at how wonderful it felt to know the softness of a woman’s body. The musky smell of her arousal made him growl in need, and it took all his self-control to not thrust into her body, pounding into her sheath until he found the release he craved. But he’d die before he’d put his own needs before hers. In a way, he was losing his virginity again— this would be his first time with a woman. Leaning in, Jayce pressed his lips to Izzie’s. She tasted so sweet, and when her tongue slid into his mouth, he grabbed it gently between his teeth. She retaliated by sliding her cool fingers down his back, leaving a trail of shivers in her wake. Her palms settled against his ass, pressing him harder against her cunt. Jayce tore his mouth away. “God, Izzie. I want you.” “I’m yours, Jayce.” Brushing kisses over her neck, he touched his lips to her collarbone and then moved lower, drawing the tip of a breast into his mouth. Izzie arched her back and drew up her knees. Her fingernails raked across his lower back. He loved how quickly she responded to him, but that wonderful response was making him burn to fuck her. Trying to focus on her pleasure, he kissed the smooth skin of her stomach, circling her navel with his tongue. Izzie buried her fingers in his hair and tugged. “Fuck me, Jayce. Now.” Sliding his hand over the soft hair on her mound, he slipped his fingers between her lips and found a hot, wet welcome. Her fluids

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were sticky and slick, and he drew his fingers back to his tongue to sample the flavor. “You taste like honey,” he said. Izzie’s cheeks flamed, but she didn’t turn away. Her reactions were so real, so raw, that any memories he had of women from the harem were swept away. Their performance had never been heartfelt, but the feelings Izzie revealed in each honest touch or sincere moan hit him with the force of a lightning strike. He couldn’t wait another moment to be inside her. As if reading his mind, Izzie wiggled her hand between them, grabbing his cock and leading it to her sheath. A few pushes later, and Jayce was finally able to thrust inside her body. Nothing could have prepared him for what it felt like to have a pussy cradling his dick. Hot. Tight. Wet. Just like it had been for him the first time he’d made love to Damian, it felt so fucking good that Jayce knew it would be a short ride. He’d practically come simply from being deep inside her sweet heat. Holding himself up on his arms so he could see his cock buried inside her, he grunted in pleasure, burning the image forever into his mind. “Izzie… You feel…wonderful.” “So do you.” Arching her hips up, Izzie took him deeper inside her. “Fuck me, Jayce,” she said again. “I need you to fuck me.” “Let me help,” Damian said. Moving to where Jayce lay joined with Izzie, he reached over to tweak one of her hardened nipples. When she moaned, he covered the puckered tip with his mouth and sucked. His fingers moved down her body until he touched her where Jayce was joined with her. Damian must have found her clitoris, because when he began to rub Izzie, her body tightened around Jayce. He pulled his hips back and thrust deep inside her. Her soft hands settled on his upper thighs, pulling him as if she wanted him closer. A primitive mating rhythm took over, and he thrust inside her again and again, pulling back and driving back inside her pussy until

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she wrapped her slender legs around his hips. Damian was now kissing her as he stroked her breasts, and the attention of both men seemed to send her hurtling over the edge. She moaned loudly against Damian’s mouth and squeezed her thighs hard around Jayce’s body. Her sheath tightened as if milking his cock, and his body responded as he thrust into her once more and poured his semen deep inside her. His shout of surrender echoed off the walls. **** Enjoying the afterglow, Izzie lay in the shelter of four strong arms. Damian’s soft snore sent his warm breath brushing against her left ear, and his heavy thigh weighted down her legs. To her right, Jayce rested on his side, one of his hands covering her breast, the other still in her tangled hair. How they could sleep, she had not a clue. Her thoughts crashed around her like an avalanche of snow. After making love with the two men who had captured her, she knew her life could never be the same. The experience had left her both elated and shattered. Never again would she be able to make love to one man and be satisfied. The moment Damian had joined her and Jayce, the experience had become almost spiritual. In the back of her mind, she’d wondered if the two men could be persuaded to share her body at the same time, that simple notion making her passion flare back to life as heat flooded her pussy. No, one man will never be enough now. God, they’d been careless. Perhaps the men thought she had a birth control implant, although getting one on Bromond was next to impossible. The men controlled reproduction the same strict way they controlled every other aspect of women’s lives. Izzie hadn’t obtained one because she simply didn’t have the time to take a lover when she’d been working undercover with Alayna, and her kidnappers

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hadn’t exactly given her the chance to prepare for making love. What in the fuck would happen if she got pregnant? Although the odds of conceiving after one interlude were small, the implications were staggering. If Jayce’s seed took hold in her womb, she’d be carrying a possible heir to the Bromondi throne. The notion of her child growing up in such a repressive environment turned her stomach. A son would be taught to treat women as property, and a daughter would be treated as a second-class citizen. Neither option was acceptable. And what would happen to me? Would Jayce be forced to marry her to make the child legitimate, or would he let their baby be born a bastard? That taint would force her to leave Bromond forever, but that would mean taking the child away from its father. How could she do that to Jayce? “What are you thinking, love?” His voice buzzed in her right ear. As if she’d tell him. “How wonderful that was.” “We should’ve been more careful.” “Ya think?” Damn, but she needed to rein in her ridiculous sarcasm. “It’s okay, Izzie. If you’re pregnant, it’s okay.” She turned her head to stare into his eyes, shocked at his nonchalance. “You wouldn’t care?” He brushed the back of his knuckles against her cheek. “I’d love to have a baby with you.” “You would?” His smile was easy and honest, but it did little to ease her apprehension. “Of course. I’d like a little girl with hair the color of a sunset, just like her beautiful mother.” Izzie glanced away for a moment, her cheeks flushing hot at his compliment. Then she let her eyes find his again. “But what if we had a boy? He’d be the future king.” “Only if I married you.” “Like that’s happening…”

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Pushing himself up on an elbow, Jayce leaned down to brush a kiss over her lips, one so soft and gentle it made tears sting her eyes. “Oh, it’s happening all right,” he announced, his voice full of confidence. “Excuse me?” “I want to marry you, Izzie.” Izzie scrambled off the bed and started searching for her clothes, needing to put some distance between her desires and reality. He didn’t mean it. He couldn’t mean it. She wasn’t even Bromondi. “What are you doing?” “What’s it look like I’m doing? I’m leaving. Where’d you put my shorts?” Jayce moved to sit on the edge of the mattress as Damian began to stir, opening his eyes and stretching his arms over his head. That’s all she needed—two of them harassing her. Damian would surely add his two unis to the mix, and all Izzie could think was that her life would truly end if she’d conceived a child. What in the fuck had she been thinking in having sex with the crown prince of Bromond, let alone ignoring the thought of birth control? She’d been too lost in the feelings he and Damian had inspired, drowning in a desire she’d never known before. Now, all she could think of was escape—especially from the hope of all Jayce and Damian inspired, the hope of being with them and of making a family. Not on a planet like Bromond! Not in a million years! “I can’t stay here! We need to go back to Caldrion! I need to find my partner and get off this hellhole!” “What are you talking about?” Damian asked as he sat up. “I asked Izzie to be my queen, and it…upset her,” Jayce replied. He knit his brows at her. “Why does it bother you so much, love?” “Don’t call me that!” She picked up her shirt and jerked it over her head, not realizing the arms were tangled. After a few moments of tugging and pulling, she was finally able to don it like a suit of armor and cover her nudity. Since three pairs of khaki shorts lay on the tile

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and she couldn’t remember which pair was hers, she kicked the closest one aside in frustration. Besides, the shirt was long enough to cover anything important. “Izzie!” Jayce’s tone was every bit as authoritarian as it had been back in his private residence in the palace. She clenched her hands into fists and held them at her sides as she stared at him. “What’s wrong?” he asked, softening his voice. “Look, I’m not pregnant. We only fucked once.” “Don’t call it that,” Jayce insisted. “Call it what? Fucking?” She shook her head. “But that’s what we did. Fuck.” “No! We made love. I refuse to turn something so beautiful into something sordid.” Her heart kicked into a higher rhythm at his wonderful words, but to even dare to think one encounter made a relationship was foolhardy. “Can we drop this? Please?” Jayce stared at her, wondering what was tumbling through that busy mind of hers. He barely knew her, yet all he wanted to do was find a way to keep her at his side for the rest of his life—to share that life with her and Damian. But he had to back off for now. She reminded him of an animal that was cornered by hunters, and until he could remove the fear from her, she’d never listen to him. If she was pregnant, that would solve his dilemma. She’d never be allowed to leave Bromond, and he’d marry her to bind her to him. Now that she’d scented danger, she’d never allow him close enough again to ensure she became pregnant while they stayed at the compound. Of course Damian would want to make love with her too, and Jayce was surprised to realize he wanted that as well. He wanted both of them to claim her body as well as her heart. That would be the only way to keep her. Two potential farmers had a better chance of planting a seed in fertile ground at the right time, and whether the child was genetically his or Damian’s simply didn’t matter to Jayce. “I’m gonna get something to eat,” she finally said, not being at all

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subtle in changing the volatile topic. She turned and marched out the room, her footsteps silent in her retreat. Damian crawled over to where Jayce sat. “That was brilliant.” “She doesn’t want to marry me.” Damn, but he hated the pouty tone in his voice. “Good God, Jayce… You told her instead of asked her.” Damian’s palm smacked the back of Jayce’s head. “Dumb ass. A woman like Izzie would wither and die on this planet. She’d never be able to be herself. Now what are we gonna do?” He rubbed the sore spot. “What I’m gonna do is find a way to fix things with Izzie. Because she will be my wife. And the three of us will be together.”

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Chapter 5 “Good morning,” Jayce whispered when he realized Izzie was awake. Funny, but the disagreement after they’d first made love a week ago had been easily brushed aside. Damian had found a medscanner and convinced Izzie she wasn’t able to conceive at that point in her monthly cycle. She’d grabbed on to that information and held it as tightly as a child held a beloved doll. Once she knew she didn’t need birth control, she’d thrown herself wholeheartedly into her affair with the two men, sharing herself with them with a passionate enthusiasm that left Jayce breathless. “Morning,” she replied. Stretching like a lazy cat enjoying a warm ray of sunshine, she arched her back and gave a contented sigh. Her long hair was spread over the silk pillowcase, strands of blonde highlighting the blazing red. Her body reminded him of Earth’s panthers he’d seen—sleek and powerful. He smoothed his palm over her flat stomach, loving how her skin always felt hot—as if it was as fiery as her hair. “Sleep well?” he asked. “Mmm…” she hummed as she nodded. “Very well, thank you. Did you sleep well?” Jayce smiled. “I woke up and still tasted you on my lips.” He glanced down at his stiff dick. “That’s what your delicious taste did to me.” Her eyes stay fixed on his erection, and it jerked in response. “Well then…Since I caused the…problem, I’ll just have to remedy the situation.” With a sexy smile and a devilish twinkle in her emerald

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eyes, she reached out to wrap her fingers around his cock—the same greeting she’d offered him every morning for the entire week they’d been at the compound. A drop of pre-cum leaked from the slit in response to her touch. Since Damian had been his only lover before Izzie, Jayce had never been sure he could respond to another person. Sure, he got a hard-on when he saw a beautiful woman, but he’d wondered if he could ever feel the deep-down yearning he had for Damian for another person. Izzie inspired that same desire. Jayce wanted her with a primitive need that thrummed through every cell in his body, a need that made him fear ever losing her. And yet that desire didn’t diminish what Jayce felt for Damian in any way. How astonishing to possess such strong feelings for more than one person. Although his father claimed to love each of his wives with equal passion, Jayce had always thought his father’s declaration of caring had simply been to keep the jealousy of the five women at bay. Now, he wasn’t so sure. He, Damian, and Izzie made love as a threesome every evening and started the day just as they were now, teasing and tantalizing until they invariably fucked each other and all collapsed in sated exhaustion. The compound had become a true paradise, and the thought that they’d have to return to the palace soon was enough to turn his stomach. People always envied Jayce’s status as crown prince, constantly telling him how lucky he was to have so much wealth and such a bright future. What they didn’t realize was that his life wasn’t one to be envied. He felt like an animal kept in a cage simply for people to stare at. His life wasn’t his own, and being here with the two people he loved had become a stark reminder that no matter what he wanted for his future, he could never again enjoy this kind of freedom, especially when he became king. Sure, there would be stolen moments when they could return here and re-create heaven, but the three of them couldn’t be what Jayce

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wanted them to be—three people in a committed and public relationship. He wanted a marriage, a real marriage, albeit he would claim both a husband and a wife. Loving Damian had been a slow revelation, built over years of friendship that had changed as they’d grown older to an affection deep enough to last a lifetime. But how in the devil had Jayce fallen for Izzie so quickly? Did Damian feel the same about their beautiful captive? Judging from the enthusiastic way they both responded to her, Jayce believed Damian loved Izzie too. Jayce had already asked her to be his queen, but not for love. For appearances. His father had pressured him for years to marry and produce an heir. As the only son, the burden of carrying on the monarchy fell on his shoulders. Sure, his sisters would eventually marry and have children of their own, but according to Bromondi law, those future nephews or nieces would only be able to ascend to the throne if Jayce didn’t produce children—a son being much more important than a daughter. Since he was tired of women he didn’t even know being paraded before him as potential mates, Jayce saw Izzie’s stumbling across his residence as a golden opportunity to commit to a woman he felt desire for, one who would also make a worthy queen. The fact she wasn’t Bromondi didn’t matter. One of his father’s wives was Belusian, and another was of mixed blood, part Rozali and part Jequian. No, his father would be pleased he’d finally decided to marry, regardless of her being an Earthling. Izzie’s children would be intelligent, and he’d enjoy creating them with her. If they were lucky, those offspring would have her tenacity as well. But now Jayce’s heart was involved, and that revelation left him dizzy. “Jayce,” she whispered before she kissed his stomach. Her tongue circled his navel, making him suck in a breath, anticipating what she’d do next. “You’re so handsome.” That talented tongue licked the

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swollen head of his cock, scattering Jayce’s thoughts like sand in the wind. “Don’t start without me,” Damian said as he sat up. “Wouldn’t dream of it,” Izzie murmured before she took Jayce into her mouth and sucked. As Damian crawled over to kneel beside them, Jayce reached over to stroke his erection. Catching his partner’s handsome brown eyes with his own, Jayce announced his desire. “I want us both to be inside Izzie.” She moaned as she sucked harder on his cock, and he knew just how much she liked it when they fucked her at the same time. Kissing her way up his body, she straddled his hips and forced his shoulders back against the cool sheets. She settled herself over his groin, rubbing her hot, wet pussy against his dick. “Talk dirty to me, baby.” “We’re going to fuck you, love,” he replied with a smile. “I’m going to stick my cock in that sweet cunt, and Damian’s going to fuck your ass.” Izzie threw her head back and smiled, letting her hair spread over her shoulders like a blanket of fire. “Keep that up, and I’m gonna come before you even get inside me.” Jayce held his hard cock up and rubbed against her tight hole. “Well then…” He thrust into her with one big push, burying himself to the hilt inside her wet heat. “Let’s see if we can make you scream again.” Damian had grabbed the bottle of lube and was smoothing the thick liquid over his erection. Jayce smiled at him. He smiled back, tossed the bottle aside, and moved behind Izzie. “Are you ready?” he asked. Izzie loved how the men could be tender with her while still getting rough enough to please her when she needed them to. Right now, she wanted them hard and fast. “Fuck me, Damian,” she said as she leaned down to capture Jayce’s lips for a blistering kiss. Damian’s warm hands settled on her ass, gently separating her

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cheeks. He swiped a finger between them to find her most intimate spot, gently pressing a moistened fingertip inside her. Her internal muscles tightened in response, making her squeeze Jayce’s huge cock and drawing a growl from him. She knew it was killing him to remain still while Damian joined them. Every time they made love, Jayce seemed to lose all control once he was balls-deep in her pussy, usually setting a fast and furious rhythm that sent her spiraling to join him in release. A long finger sank deep inside her, making Izzie moan in desire. Instead of adding a second digit, Damian jerked his hand away and pushed the head of his cock against her anus. With a few gentle pushes, he was inside her, giving her the feeling of fullness that she so desperately craved. Two enormous cocks hit every sweet spot as the men moved in sync, thrusting and then withdrawing until she felt everything inside her draw into a tight knot. Jayce came first, the feeling of his semen bathing her womb in heat making the knot inside Izzie snap like a tight spring uncoiling. Bliss raced through her as her body spasmed and bucked, the movements making Damian speed his thrusts until he gripped her hips and shouted her name. Heat warmed her insides, sending a wave of aftershocks through Izzie that earned the men the orgasmic scream they’d sought. The sound of her pleasure bounced off the walls, and she opened her eyes to see Jayce’s smug smile. Taking no offense, she leaned in and kissed him. He and Damian were such wonderful lovers they’d earned the right to be arrogant. Joined as one with the two men she loved, Izzie wasn’t prepared for the words that fell out of Jayce’s mouth when his blue eyes locked on hers. “I love you, Izzie.” He glanced past her. “And you, Damian. I love you, too.” “Get off me. Both of you. Get off me.” Her words were nothing but a whisper that belied the panic racing through her. As the men complied, she tried to crawl off the bed. Jayce stopped her by grabbing her upper arm. When she struggled and tried to jerk

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her arm away, he tackled her to the sheets, blanketing her body with his. Looming over her, he frowned. “What’s wrong?” “I don’t want you to love me!” She didn’t bother mentioning how much she’d come to realize she loved him or how much she loved Damian. Izzie had always been a realist, never pinning any hopes on things that could never be. Knowing Jayce felt so much for her made her both incredibly happy and utterly terrified. Jayce grabbed her chin and held her still. “I told you before that I wanted to marry you. Remember? Back when we first made love, I told you.” As if she could forget. “Why? You didn’t love me then. Why would you ask me to marry you?” “Because I’ll need a queen. I need an heir. I’ve never met a woman I desired as I do you. Even from the beginning, I wanted you. So I figured I could make you my queen. We were…compatible, and that seemed enough a week ago.” “But it’s not enough now?” she asked. “I love you, Izzie. I want to marry you. You, Damian, and I can share our lives together. In public, you’ll be my queen—my only wife. You’ll bear my children in due time, and the three of us can be happy.” A tear slipped down her cheek, and she angrily swiped it away. “You can’t marry me, Jayce.” “I can do whatever I wish! I’m the crown prince!” “Don’t you see?” She reached up to stroke his cheek. “That’s why you can’t marry me.” “That makes no sense,” Damian said. He knelt next to them and wiped another of her tears away with the back of his hand. “I’m not Bromondi,” she replied. “Neither are two of my father’s wives,” Jayce stated. “My people will accept you.” “I can’t be queen, Jayce!” “Don’t you want me, Izzie? Couldn’t you someday learn to love

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me as I do you?” “I do love you! And I love Damian!” Yet she didn’t smile at the wonderful declaration. Another tear spilled over her lashes. “Then it’s all settled. We can announce the engagement—” Izzie shook her head and shouted loud enough to make his ears ring. “I can’t live here the rest of my life!” Why did everything she said always seem so confusing? When Izzie pushed her palms against his chest, Jayce rolled away to let her up. Upset as she was, he’d never get a straight answer out of her. He looked to Damian who shook his head, appearing every bit as frustrated as Jayce felt. Standing next the bed, gloriously naked, Izzie set her fisted hands against her hips. “You think I want to wear a veil over my face the rest of my life?” “That’s just in public,” Jayce said with a shake of his head. “When we’re alone—” “I love you both,” she blurted out again. When he grinned, she held up her hand. “But—I can’t live like that. I can’t wear a veil and a robe and pretend I’m not as important as any man. I can’t be your fucking property. Not yours. Not Damian’s.” “I wouldn’t think that,” Damian insisted, his glare every bit as hot as Izzie’s. “But that’s exactly what I’d be if I became the queen. Just another piece of property.” While Jayce wanted to deny it just to soothe her temper and coax her into agreeing, he simply couldn’t—because she was right. His mother and his father’s other wives had very little freedom beyond what the king allowed. In fact, should Izzie become the queen, her behavior would be constantly scrutinized since she’d be a role model for Bromondi women. She could never be caught without her veil or the men on his world would crucify her. He suddenly felt selfish. Izzie was a woman who should be shown off. She should be draped in silk and jewels while people admired her

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beauty. Her intelligence should be applauded rather than hidden. In a place like Bromond, she’d wither and die like a plant with no water. “I’m sorry, love. I’m so sorry.” “Sorry?” She tilted her head like a curious child. “I was being selfish. I can’t ask you to stay here. A woman like you couldn’t survive here, not with the laws that hurt so many women.” Damian put a hand on Jayce’s shoulder. “Do you know the good thing about laws, my love?” Jayce quirked his brow. “They can be changed.” **** Izzie wrapped the towel around her body, tucking the end between her breasts. Staring at her reflection in the middle of the mirror, a likeness framed in the foggy edges left behind by the steam from her shower, she fluffed her wet hair. She was always amazed at how curly it would get when wet, so she reached for a brush, hoping to straighten the tresses back out as they dried. As she brushed her hair, she turned to stare out the mammoth window. Her first thought was that the glass was far too large for a bathroom, but then she remembered how isolated the compound was from civilization. Should someone choose to be a voyeur, he would have to have a hovercar specially designed to withstand rugged desert travel and be able to scale the tall walls or fake his way through a palm scan to get close enough to see her. The window gave a nice view of the garden, a place she’d come to enjoy. Most afternoons when the heat rose to nearly unbearable levels, she and her guys would take a swim to cool off. Then they’d stretch out on the chaises, sipping fruit juice or wine, enjoying the shade, and talking about her work or their lives in the palace. The men trusted her now, just as she trusted them. Unfortunately,

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as their relationship strengthened, their time together drew closer to ending. The thought of leaving the compound behind—of leaving Damian and Jayce behind—hurt more than it should have after spending only a week together. Yet Izzie felt tears gathering in her eyes whenever she considered what would happen when they returned to Caldrion. Jayce would go back to his royal duties. Damian would guard the crown prince, able to spend time at Jayce’s side. And what would she do? Go back to I.D.E.A.? Insert herself in another place and become a “new” person in an undercover assignment? Leave the two men whom she’d come to care for so deeply behind? Or would she be brave enough to become queen of Bromond? Before she could face those disturbing questions, Izzie saw a rustling in one of the bigger bushes. Jayce was probably working on trimming some of the dying blooms again. Izzie raised her knuckles to knock on the glass and get his attention, figuring she could drop the towel to flash him the body he seemed to greedily appreciate. Her hand stopped short, and she gasped when a man dressed in tan camouflage crept out of the bush. His face was hidden by a mask, and he held a pulse pistol in one hand, a large knife in the other. Izzie was out of the bathroom and flying down the stairs before the first shout made its way out of her mouth. “Jayce! Damian! Stay in the house!” Fuck, I want my pistol! **** Damian stuck his head out of the library as he hit the button to mark his place in the electronic book he’d been reading. All he saw was a blur of alabaster skin and red hair flying down the hall and out the side door. “Izzie? What did you say?” She never answered as the door slammed shut behind her. About to drop his electronic reader and follow, he saw the towel lying on the beige tile.

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Jayce looked up from his own reader. “What did she want?” “I’m not sure, but she just ran out of the house. Naked.” Their gazes locked, and a heartbeat later, both men tossed aside their readers and left the library. “Where did she go?” Jayce asked as he followed Damian toward the side door. “Toward the garden. At least that’s what I think she was doing…” “She was really naked?” Damian nodded as he jerked the door open and stepped outside. While he hoped this might be Izzie’s rather bizarre way to lure them to skinny dip or make love in the garden again, he also realized his senses were on alert, the same way they kicked in whenever something threatening was near. But how could anything possibly breach the security of the compound? “Did she want us to follow?” Jayce asked. “I don’t know. Something’s…wrong.” “Wrong? What could be wrong?” Jayce rubbed his hand over his chin as if considering Damian’s concern. “I mean, she’s…adventurous, but shouldn’t she at least stop and crook her finger at us if running around naked was an invitation?” Damian’s heart started racing and his instincts—instincts honed by years of guarding the crown prince—screamed at him. Although he wasn’t sure why or how, he suddenly knew Jayce was in danger. He needed to secure him and then go to find Izzie. “Get back in the house and lock the door.” When Jayce hesitated, Damian shouted, “Now!” “But—” “I mean it! Get back inside! I’m going to find out what’s going on.” With a stubborn shake of his head, Jayce stayed put. “I’m following you.” Damian put his hands on Jayce’s shoulders, resisting the urge to shake some sense into him. “I’m your bodyguard, and you’re going to

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listen to me. Go inside, get in the panic room, and lock the door. Don’t open it for anyone except me or Izzie.” “If Izzie’s in danger—” “Don’t argue with me! I’ll take care of our woman! Remember who you are, Your Highness.” Jayce thought it over long enough to make Damian’s temper rise even more before he finally nodded and headed back inside, the chiming sound of the lock echoing behind him. Damian pressed himself against a wall, straining to listen for anything that might indicate the threat. Izzie had obviously sensed danger as well, and now he needed to know where the risk was and what he could do to protect both of the people he loved. Loved? What a fucking odd time to figure out just how deeply his feelings for Izzie ran! Shit, but now that the thought had free rein in his mind, he could barely recall his training. He’d only known the woman for a week, yet everything about her was branded on his heart. Only the thought of losing her could possibly have made him admit how much she’d come to mean to him. The sound of soft footsteps just around the corner made Damian focus on his job—protecting Bromond’s crown prince. Ready to face the threat, he was preparing to whip around to confront the intruder when he heard Izzie grunt, followed by a low, angry growl. Damian reacted, heading to help Izzie, but quickly discovering that she didn’t need him. Gloriously nude, she rained punches and kicks down on a muscular man dressed in camouflage. A pulse pistol lay on the ground a few meters away, and judging from the way the man clutched his wrist against his chest, Izzie had dealt him a bonebreaking blow to disarm him. The fact that a woman warrior with flaming hair and a body beyond compare was pounding him into submission had to be humiliating. Although she seemed to have the man in retreat, Damian figured he better step in, especially since the man held a knife his good hand.

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When he saw the flash of the knife, Damian blocked the weapon with a kick that surely broke the man’s other arm. Letting out a howl of pain, the intruder dropped to his knees. Damian rushed to him, but not before the man crunched something between his teeth. As he lifted the intruder by the collar of his shirt, he already knew what the man had done when he saw the white foam on his lips and trickling from the corners of his slack mouth. “He’s dead, isn’t he?” Izzie asked as she came to stand at Damian’s side. He nodded. “Poison capsule. Whoever sent him didn’t want us to have a chance to find out who he worked for if he got caught.” The implications were terrifying—someone had tried to assassinate the crown prince of Bromond. “Why would someone want Jayce dead?”

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Chapter 6 “I’ll need to talk to the captain of the guard,” Izzie said. She reached over to take Jayce’s hand and give it a reassuring squeeze as she glanced over the seat to smile at Damian. Heading back to the palace was going to change everything, and she wanted a few more moments of connection before she could let the men she loved go. Sure, she was staying with them until the identity of the assassin they’d buried in a desert sand dune was discovered and the threat to Jayce was neutralized, but they could no longer be a threesome of people deeply in love. Izzie would simply be a security consultant to Damian, and she’d be staying in her own quarters at the palace, albeit close enough to keep a wary eye on the crown prince. She’d promised herself she wouldn’t cry. This was going to be difficult enough for all of them. If she let them know just how much losing them was killing her, their possessive natures would make them try to hold on even tighter. No, once she was sure Jayce was free from whatever plots were swirling around him, she would go back to her life and find a new undercover assignment. I.D.E.A. could set her on the trail of yet another crook. Throwing herself into a new persona in a new world with a new enemy to fight would kill the crushing void left when Jayce and Damian were gone. At least that was the lie she told herself to be able to draw a breath and put one foot in front of another. “I need to let Alayna know I’m okay,” she said to Damian. “We’ll get you set up in Jayce’s apartment,” he replied. “Then you can contact your partner and meet with the captain of the guards.”

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“I’m not staying in Jayce’s rooms.” Much as she’d love still sleeping every night wrapped in four strong arms and hearing a lullaby of their soft snores, she was an unmarried woman. Sharing Jayce’s suite would never be allowed. Damian was Jayce’s bodyguard, so no one batted at eye at their cohabitation. But a woman in the crown prince’s residence? No way… “Why the hell not?” Jayce turned to gape at her for a moment before focusing on the road again. The city of Caldrion loomed in the horizon, growing larger and larger in her vision, reminding Izzie of a storm rolling in. “I can’t stay with you two. People will talk.” “Izzie…” Jayce growled. “I’ve told you and told you…You belong with us now.” She shook her head. “Once you’re back in the palace, you’ll think differently.” “I love you!” “Don’t shout at me!” Damian’s hand settled on her shoulder. “Izzie…please. I know what you’re trying to do.” “Well then…enlighten me.” “You’re trying to protect Jayce from his father’s anger.” “Ya think? The king wouldn’t even pin a fucking medal on me—a medal I earned, I’ll remind you. I doubt he’d welcome an unmarried woman sharing Jayce’s suite.” Izzie heaved a weary sigh. This argument had been going on since they finished the burial, taking a DNA sample and then committing the body of the unknown criminal to be claimed by the desert. “I can’t live with you. I’m a single woman, and you’re the crown prince of Bromond. You’re not supposed to even be alone with a woman without a proper chaperone.” “I know who the hell I am!” Jayce hit a fist against the steering wheel. “Someone tried to kill me. You think I give a shit about propriety now? You’re an I.D.E.A. agent—a decorated I.D.E.A.

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agent—and you’re now working with my bodyguard to keep me safe. That means you need to be with me all the time, and that means you’ll live in my apartment. End of discussion.” He certainly sounded like royalty now. Izzie’s mouth twitched into a grin that quickly dropped to a frown when the city gates loomed large in front of the hovercar. “We’ll see what happens after you talk to your father.” “Fuck!” Damian was scrolling through his communicator. “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Staring at him over the seat, Izzie tried to ease his agitation. “I’m a detective, so mind you, that makes me more perceptive than the average person… But I’d say you’re a little upset about something.” His fierce frown told her he didn’t appreciate her sarcasm. “Jayce, you’ve gotta take us to the city circle. Now.” “City circle?” he asked, staring in the rearview mirror. “Why?” “It’s Kamala’s birthday. Her hadiadas is in ten minutes.” Jayce’s eyes flew wide. “Seriously?” “Seriously.” “Fuck!” The car accelerated, zipping along the Caldrion streets at a speed sure to cause a wreck. Izzie hung on to the door as Jayce took a hard left. Since Jayce appeared too occupied trying to keep from killing them all in a horrendous car wreck, she asked Damian, “What’s a hadiadas?” “The ceremony of the veil. Kamala’s turning thirteen today. According to Bromondi custom, she’s no longer a little girl who can bare her face and must now don a wenora and veil. Since she’s a princess, the king always performs the hadiadas in public to set a good example for other young women.” “It’s a big family affair. At least it was for all my other sisters,” Jayce added as the car slowed near the crowd gathering around the tall monument at the very center of Caldrion. “My father will be furious that I forgot.” “Won’t he already be upset you’ve been gone for a week?” she

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asked. “I had a guard tell him Damian and I were going to the compound. I only wish someone would’ve reminded me about Kamala’s hadiadas.” He let the car drop to the ground, threw open the door, and pointed at the platform where the rest of the royal family stood. “Izzie, cover yourself and meet me up there.” “Wait!” Izzie grabbed his arm, dragging him to a halt. “Don’t tell anyone about the intruder.” “Why not? They need to be on alert as well and—” “Just listen to me.” She leveled a hard stare at Jayce and then shifted to Damian. “Very few people knew you were at the compound. We need to figure out who exactly had that knowledge because it will narrow down our suspects.” “You couldn’t possibly believe my family had anything—” “I won’t rule anyone out. Damian will agree.” Izzie was pleased to see him nod in support. “Fine,” Jayce said. “I won’t tell anyone about it. For now.” **** Jayce hurried to the dais with Damian hot on his heels. He glanced over his shoulder, watching Izzie drag the pink wenora over her head. His heart was heavy, knowing how much she despised the robe and veil, even if the ones she’d brought from the compound were pretty and feminine. He hated asking her to wear them, but now wasn’t the time to start “rocking the boat,” as Izzie had called it. Sure, they’d talked about the changes he might one day be able to enact, but those changes wouldn’t be for years—not until his father either died or chose to abdicate and retire, as his grandfather had done. He passed his mother and sisters to reach his father, who was standing with Jayce’s mother. Charisa held the black garments her daughter would wear to mark her transition to womanhood. The color

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seemed appropriate. Although it was meant to mark the mourning of her childhood, to Jayce, it was a somber sign of how much of her freedom would die that day. So unfair! “Where have you been?” King Steraph III demanded as he grabbed Jayce’s upper arm, jerking him aside. Dressed from head to foot in royal gold, he looked every bit the part of the stern, seasoned ruler. “I told you, I went to the compound.” Jayce didn’t pull away despite how cruelly his father’s fingers dug into his arm. “You didn’t tell me,” Steraph replied, squeezing a little tighter. “A guard did. You are my son. You owe me more courtesy than that.” Although Steraph was right, Jayce couldn’t explain why he and Damian had to make such a hurried escape from the palace. He’d been in such a panic about what Izzie had witnessed he’d wanted to get her the hell away from everyone. His father already suspected something strong existed between the two men, judging from the comments about Damian that seemed to grow snider with each passing month. Had Izzie turned out to be an enemy, she could have destroyed his life. “I’m sorry, Father. Damian and I—” A growl rose from Steraph’s throat. “Damian. I asked you to dismiss him. There are better bodyguards. Send him away.” “None would protect me the way Damian does. He’d give his life for me.” “No doubt.” Steraph’s eyes moved to where Damian and Izzie waited several meters away, clearly giving Jayce time alone with his father. Izzie was now covered head to foot with a pink floral print. Only her beautiful eyes could be seen. “Who is that woman?” The king nodded at Izzie. Since his father wasn’t waiting to have this family discussion in private, Jayce tried to hold off on introductions. “I’ll explain later when we get back to the palace.” “If you wanted to wait, then you shouldn’t have brought her to

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Kamala’s ceremony. I was sure you wouldn’t even make it. Your own sister, and you treat her this way!” Having grown accustomed to the angry tone his father often used, Jayce thought nothing of the scolding, especially since Steraph was right. He should have remembered his sister’s big day. He loved Kamala because of her sweet nature, and she was also his only fullblooded sister. “I was…distracted. I’m sorry, Father. After the hadiadas, I’ll introduce you.” “Now,” Steraph demanded. He beckoned to Damian and Izzie with an insistent wave of his hand. Her eyes widened, and she glanced to Damian, which made Steraph growl again. “She’s an Earthling,” Jayce blurted out as an excuse. He sure didn’t want Izzie getting off on the wrong foot simply because she didn’t understand that a Bromondi man—especially a king—was supposed to be obeyed immediately and without question. Damian took a hold of her elbow and hurried her over to reach Steraph. Damian bowed, as did Izzie, perhaps not realizing that women were supposed to affect a more formal curtsy when in the king’s presence. Jayce couldn’t help but smile. Not my Izzie. She knew. After working here as long as she had, she knew. She even had the audacity to meet Steraph’s gaze head-on. Steraph and Izzie stared at each other for a few interminable moments before the king smiled. “Your name is?” “Izabella Szabo, Your Majesty.” “Who do you belong to?” A typical Bromondi question, as common as asking a man what he did for a living. Jayce waited to see just how she’d reply, wanting to know if the courage he’d seen inside her would hold up in the face of Steraph’s intense glare. “I belong to no man. I am my own keeper.” Jayce smiled, pleased to see Damian doing so as well. “You speak freely,” Steraph said. “Probably because you’re an

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Earthling. No respectable Bromondi man would want a woman who cannot submit to his will. You’ll never fit in here.” The insult made her eyes fling daggers, yet she held her tongue. Damian’s face flushed an angry red, and he clenched his fists at his side. Since Jayce felt the same need to protect her as Damian, he shared the fury. As if a woman like Izzie needs our help… Steraph dismissed her by curtly turning his back, his way of marking her as beneath him. That action, deliberate and abrupt as it was, pushed Jayce over the edge. While he’d endured his father’s contempt and disappointment for years, he felt as if he needed to shield the woman he loved, whether she wanted his assistance or not. The time had come to let Steraph know that somewhere inside the son he viewed as less than worthy resided a man strong enough to one day be a formidable king—a king who would make his own mark on Bromond. Striding over to stand at Izzie’s side, Jayce reached up to cup her covered cheek in his palm. His gaze searched hers, hoping she understood what he wanted. Her eyes sparkled, making him grin, just as he knew she smiled beneath the hated veil. “Go ahead, Jayce,” she whispered. “Show him what you can do when you’re king.” Then she gave him the nod he was waiting for. “Father!” he shouted. “Wait!” The king whirled back to face them, his mouth agape, nostrils flaring as he huffed a few breaths. “You dare to order me?” “I’m asking you,” Jayce added, “to give me another moment of your time.” Inside, he pumped his fist in triumph, glad to have come across with the kind of arrogance necessary to deal with Steraph. “What do you want?” “There’s one more thing I’d like to tell you about Izzie.” “Izzie?” The confusion on the king’s face revealed that he’d already dismissed any thought of her from his mind. Not surprising. The man had never given any woman—including any of his wives—a second thought.

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Jayce set his hand on Izzie’s shoulder. “This is Izzie. You just met her. Remember?” His father folded his arms over his chest. “What about her?” “She’s going to be my wife!” His voice was loud enough for everyone in the gathering to hear. As Jayce looked around to be sure all of the people in the crowd watched, he lifted his hand and yanked the veil from her face. A collective gasp rose from the crowd, the loudest coming from Steraph. With his stare locked on his father, Jayce jerked the wenora from Izzie’s hair. She’d tied it up into a ponytail, so he pulled the leather tie away, letting her glorious red mane spill down around her shoulders, drawing another gasp from the crowd. The murmurs quickly began, rising to a din. Steraph strode over, set his hands on his hips, and glared at Jayce. “What in the hell do you think you’re doing?” “I’m introducing my future bride to my people.” The first sound of applause took him by surprise. One pair of hands clapped, joined soon by another and another until the crowd erupted in a cheer. Izzie had been right—the people of Bromond were ready to discard the antiquated rules. He smiled and bowed to the citizens, pleased that they were so willing to accept his gesture. To her credit, Izzie stood stalwart at his side. He was so proud of her that he almost tempted further scandal by brushing a kiss over her lips. But the Bromondi citizens had been given enough enlightening surprises for one day. The royal wedding would be a better venue to publically show his affection. Her eyes narrowed, imperceptible to anyone who didn’t know her as well as he did. She was angry he’d made the announcement public when she’d yet to agree to the marriage. He had to admit—if only to himself—that one of the biggest reasons he’d decided to tell his father and his people now was that she wouldn’t refuse him with an audience watching. Izzie loved him. He was sure of it, just as he was sure she loved Damian. She’d marry him now, simply to save him the

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public humiliation of decrying his claim. Judging from the emerald fire flashing in her eyes, she would, however, make him pay in private for pulling the trick. Jayce couldn’t worry about that now, knowing he could kiss the anger right out of her. At that moment, the rage coming from the king burned hot enough, he knew he was about to get burned. **** Damian watched the drama unfolding around him with such fascination he couldn’t even force himself to budge. Damn, but he was proud of Jayce. He’d known for years just how strong the crown prince was deep down inside. It was one of the things that had attracted him so intensely. The potential had always been there, but whatever fire he knew drove Jayce was constantly tempered—if not nearly extinguished—by the blustering superiority of Steraph. To see Jayce stand up to the king for the first time in his life and to see the acceptance and support of the Bromondi people were sights Damian would remember and cherish for the rest of his life. And Izzie…their beautiful Izzie. His love for her was as absolute as his love for Jayce. When this was over, Jayce was probably going to get his ass kicked but good—not physically, but the king was sure to let his displeasure be known as forcefully as he could, short of striking the crown prince. Although that wasn’t beyond thought as well… To announce to essentially the entire populace that he was marrying was bold enough. To not only allow Izzie to reveal her face and hair but to be the one bringing about that unveiling elevated Jayce to a level of daring worthy of the king he would one day become. The applause of the crowd would be the last disgrace the king would bear from his son. “You will leave now,” Steraph announced. “We’ll meet back at the palace to…discuss this matter.” He fixed another glare on Izzie. “Cover yourself, woman!” he shouted as the applause began to die

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and shocked faces focused on the enraged king. Izzie looked to Jayce. He gave her back a curt nod, but said, “For now.” Damian stooped to pick up her discarded clothing. With tender care and a sympathetic smile, he helped her put things back into place. Then he took her back to the hovercar, and Jayce fell in step beside them.

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Chapter 7 “Let me introduce you to my family.” Jayce took Izzie’s hand and dragged her to the gaggle of women waiting in the gathering room of his father’s suite. He’d removed her veil and wenora again the moment they’d stepped inside the palace grounds. Thankfully, the women in his family had all set aside their layers as well, so he wouldn’t botch the introductions. Since his stepmothers and half sisters all had blue eyes, seeing them covered as if they should be ashamed of themselves made it difficult to keep them straight, especially since he spent very little time with them. The royal family was anything but a “family.” The first person he stopped next to was the one he wanted her to meet the most. His mother gave him a wide smile and a heartfelt embrace. As he eased back, he took Izzie’s hand in his. “This is Charisa, my mother.” He turned to his mother. “This is Izabella Szabo…Izzie to us. She’s going to be my wife.” Izzie squeezed his hand tight enough to cut off circulation. She was still angry, but she didn’t contradict him. A good sign. “I’m pleased to meet you,” Izzie said with a quick nod to his mother. Jayce looked over at the birthday girl. “This beautiful young thing is Kamala. She’s my youngest sister, and we’re full-blooded siblings—the only two of father’s children who are.” He leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Happy birthday, Kami.” “Thank you, Jayce.” She considered Izzie for a few moments before she smiled. “You have the prettiest hair.” Then she grinned at Jayce. “I can see why you didn’t want it covered.”

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“Jayce,” Charisa scolded, “the wenora is a tradition. Your father’s very angry.” “The wenora is a tradition that needed to be ended a long, long time ago,” Jayce replied. “Obviously the people feel the same.” “So it would seem,” Charisa replied. “But you did notice no woman in the crowd followed your lead, didn’t you? Perhaps given a little time to think about it…you might see them act more bravely one day soon.” She was right, and he held out hope that one step would invariably lead to another, that by letting Izzie walk freely with her face and hair unashamedly exposed, other women would follow suit. One day, when he was king, he’d make Bromond a wonderful place. One day… But not today. “I’m sorry about your hadiadas getting canceled, Kami,” Jayce said. “I didn’t want to wear a stupid veil anyway,” his sister replied with her typical sass. “Now I can wait a little while longer until we can reschedule the ceremony. I’m glad we didn’t finish it today.” Steraph strode into the room, and all talk immediately died. The women in his family curtsied while Jayce, Damian, and Izzie bowed. He stomped over to stand in front of Izzie and snorted in contempt. “Earthling, you need to learn about my kingdom. A bow isn’t proper for a woman. You should curtsy.” “I’m sorry, Your Majesty. I don’t mean to offend. I just feel kinda awkward when I curtsy.” She chuckled. “I’d probably fall on my face if I tried. I mean no disrespect.” “Oh, I know what you mean, woman!” he snapped. “You mean to show you are a man’s equal!” “I am a man’s equal,” she replied, not a note of challenge in her voice. She sounded like she was simply stating a fact that everyone should understand. “You thought enough of my abilities to award me a king’s medal.”

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“I what?” He whirled to face Jayce. “Explain.” “Izzie is an Interplanetary Drug Enforcement agent.” He was glad to see his father’s eyes widen in surprise. “She was the leader of the undercover force that brought down Carlos Pontierri and his smuggling ring.” Steraph rubbed his hand over his chin as he turned back to stare at Izzie. Although her cheeks flushed, she gave no indication that she was intimidated by the king. He finally grunted and turned to Charisa. “Come, wife. We must make plans for Kamala’s hadiadas to be held again since it was so rudely interrupted.” While he strode out of the gathering area, Charisa smiled at Izzie and then turned to hurry after her husband. Izzie stopped holding her breath, if only to heave a sigh of relief. Steraph scared the shit out of her, but not for the reasons he probably thought. The power he possessed could keep her from protecting Jayce. The thought of the king banishing her from the palace was enough to fill her stomach with a mass of nervous butterflies. Damian would do his best to guard Jayce, but she had more experience in law enforcement, having worked bringing down the worst of the worst. All Damian had ever known was watching after Jayce in protected areas of Bromond. He would mean well, but Izzie could do a better job. Jayce lightly gripped her elbow to lead her over to a blonde who had to be about Jayce’s age. “This is my older sister, Vilanna,” he said. “Older?” Izzie asked. He’d told her little of his sisters except that he had three of them. Kamala looked enough like him, she would have known they were siblings. Same blonde hair, same blue eyes— both Bromond staples. But even the shape of her face and the angle of her nose were the same. Vilanna might be blonde and have light eyes, but her face was harder…more intense. “By a few months,” he added. “Almost a year,” Vilanna corrected.

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“Not that it matters.” A middle-aged woman whose blonde hair bore wide streaks of gray fanning from each temple, offered that opinion. Her blue eyes were lit with intelligence, and laugh lines crinkled in the corners. “I’m Fraudi. Vilanna’s mother.” “My father’s first wife,” Jayce added. “I hope you’re well, stepmother.” She gave Jayce a cool smile and smoothed her hand over her intricately styled hair. “I’m quite well. Kamala must be devastated at what happened at the ceremony.” Izzie glanced over to see Kamala laughing with Damian. “She seems okay to me. Plus, she can wait a while longer before donning the veil and wenora. That’s reason enough to be happy.” “What would you understand about our traditions?” Fraudi sneered, her eyes growing hard. “Jayce should be careful. Breaking beloved traditions comes at a cost.” Jayce gave a dismissive wave of his hand. “Beloved? Hardly. The people seemed fine with it. The laws on women covering themselves up are antiquated. When I become king—” “If you become king.” Fraudi stared at her daughter as she said the words. “When I’m king, my first change will be to repeal all laws requiring wenora, veils, and robes.” Izzie’s radar was working overtime, but she needed to talk privately with Damian to get more information. This woman had motive to want Jayce gone. Her daughter would be next in line for the throne since Jayce had no brothers. What did Damian know about Fraudi and her ambitions for Vilanna? “We shall see,” Fraudi said. “Change can come in many ways for many reasons. Come, daughter.” With that, Fraudi turned, walking away from the gathering area with Vilanna at her side. One of the guards who’d been standing just to the side fell in step behind them, just as two guards had followed Steraph out of the room. “How many bodyguards are there in the palace?” she turned to ask

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Damian. He took the last few steps to join them. “The king has four personal bodyguards, two who are constantly following him and two who guard his apartments. All the children have one. I’m Jayce’s.” “I want to meet them all, including the captain.” “You just missed him. Vilanna’s guard is the captain. His name’s Hock. A good guard. He was a schoolmate of Vilanna and Jayce’s from the time they were children. He and Vilanna have always been…close.” That came a shock, considering how protective most Bromondi men were about their daughters. She’d assumed the princesses were kept fairly cloistered. “Does the king spend much time with his kids?” Damian shook his head. “The children keep to themselves and well out of his way, especially with the size of the palace. The guards keep him informed of their activities and who they see, but they keep a few secrets. Just look at Jayce and the compound.” He glanced around, probably to be sure they weren’t being overheard. “If Steraph knew about…us…” “I know. I know.” Jayce distracted her by taking her hand, raising it to his lips, and kissing the back of her knuckles. “I’m ready to go to my apartment. I imagine Damian is as well. I’ve thought about you all day. Your soft skin. Your beautiful breasts. Your sweet, wet—” Izzie’s cheeks flushed hot as she put her hand over his mouth. He pulled it away and then pressed his lips to her palm. “Join us?” “The king won’t like it.” Staying close to Jayce was what mattered most to her right now, but he’d caused enough uproar today. If he allowed her to stay with him in his private quarters, he’d surely get all sorts of hell from Steraph. When she finally got him alone, she could give him the hell she wanted to for his high-handed announcement of their engagement. Oh, yes…she’d make sure he knew exactly how angry she was to have him reveal his plans without her consent.

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“From that look in your eyes, I might just want to reconsider that invitation. How does it feel to officially be my fiancée?” He winked at her. “Oh, you can bet we’ll talk about that later.” “Then let me show you my home.” “Already saw it. Remember?” She loved his smile. “Not the bedroom, you haven’t.” **** Jayce grabbed her just as soon as Damian locked the door, tugging her hard against his chest and claiming her mouth for a kiss that was almost brutal as he thrust his tongue between her parted lips and squeezed her breast. Izzie let herself drown in the intensity that his touch and kiss inspired. Damian quickly joined them, molding his front to the planes of her back. He brushed her hair aside and gently nibbled on the tender flesh of her neck. Her body caught fire, heat shooting from her core to fan out to every limb. Moisture rushed from her pussy, and she whimpered in need when Damian’s hand slipped between her and Jayce to reach the apex of her thighs. Even through the material of her shorts, she could feel him rubbing deeper and deeper, seeking her sensitive clitoris. All Izzie wanted was to get them both naked. Jayce pulled his lips away to say, “Bedroom. Now.” Before Izzie could even reply, Damian’s hands snaked around her waist, and he lifted her until her feet dangled above the tile floor. She tried to look around to see what Jayce’s home was like, but Damian moved too quickly for her to take in too awfully much. Behind large ornate double doors was the master bedroom. The bed itself was enormous. Set up high on a dais, it was made of dark wood and had four tall posts carved into intricate designs that reminded her of totem poles she’d seen back on Earth. The faces of the animals seemed to keep watch over the room. A bulky black

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comforter covered the mattress. Jayce buried his fingers in the folds, jerking the comforter aside, and then he gasped. “What the hell?” Izzie turned to see the enormous snake writhing over the beige silk sheets. It curled into a ball, raised its head, and bared a set of enormous fangs at Jayce who had frozen on the spot, clearly afraid of provoking an attack. “Fuck,” she whispered, fighting the urge to shout. Damian dropped her back on her feet, grabbed for his pistol, quickly aimed, and fired. The green pulse hit the snake’s head, splattering disgusting fragments of green tissue and red-brown blood on the sheets. Damian holstered his weapon and hurried to Jayce. “You’re okay?” An angry scowl on his face, Jayce nodded. “From now on,” Izzie said, “you don’t touch anything without someone touching it first.” “Surely, you’re jesting,” Jayce said as he knit his brows. On this, she wouldn’t bend. “Not at all. And I want permission to carry my pulse pistol. You don’t touch anything before I do or before Damian does, and you don’t eat or drink anything unless a servant does first. Does the king have a food taster?” “Of course,” Jayce replied. “But—” “Then he’ll taste your food as well.” “Why?” Since there was no delicate way to break it to him and keep him safe, Izzie used her usual bluntness. “Because someone in this palace wants you dead.” **** “How could you not have had someone search his apartment when you knew he was coming back today?” Izzie was having a hard time holding her temper as she faced the man she held responsible for

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Jayce’s near miss at becoming snake food. Hock seemed unaffected, his stony expression pushing her anger a little further toward explosion. “Damian works outside of my command. I assumed he’d handle the prince’s security. As usual.” “Damian’s his bodyguard, but the palace should be your domain. You’re the head of the guards, right?” He nodded, setting his mouth into an angry line. “Then you are responsible for keeping the palace secure!” She’d clenched her hands into fists to keep from grabbing the man’s shirt and shaking some sense into him. The first crack in his calm demeanor came as his voice grew louder. “The prince has made it known that he wishes his privacy in all things, especially his home. His…association with Damian makes them shun my protection.” “I don’t give a shit if he wants it or not—you’re going to watch out for the crown prince! Now…I want a guard on the door to his personal quarters at all times. He wants to go somewhere, a guard brings the car, drives him anywhere he wants to go, and follows him the entire time he’s gone, whether I’m there or not.” “But…Jayce…I mean, his highness will object!” “Didn’t you hear me? I don’t give a shit!” “But…you’re a…a…woman!” Hock shouted. “Ya think?” She took a deep breath to try to find some calm. “Whether I’m a woman or not is irrelevant.” “You have no right to order me about,” Hock insisted, “let alone order the crown pr—” “Silence!” Steraph’s shout echoed through the great hall. He marched over to Izzie and Hock, his bodyguards scurrying behind him to keep up with his long strides. Stopping in front of Hock, who bowed at the same time Izzie did, Steraph set his hands against his hips. “What happened in my son’s quarters?” “A snake was found,” Hock replied. “A snake?”

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“Yes, sir,” Izzie interjected. “A sand rippler a good two meters long. Quite poisonous and poised to strike in the middle of his bed.” The king quirked an eyebrow. “You were in the bedroom when this happened?” Steraph’s voice held a note of accusation as his eyes bored through her. Although her cheeks grew warm, she refused to let his intimidation tactics bother her. Keeping Jayce and Damian safe was all she could think about. “Yes, sir.” Steraph folded his arms over his broad chest. Until she watched him using the same wide-legged stance and intense frown Jayce liked to use when he was angry, she hadn’t realized just how alike the father and son looked. Even though he was Jayce’s father, the king was still a handsome man—strong and lean with a striking face. “You share my son’s bed before marriage?” Yep. He fucking asked me that. Aloud. “Um…that’s between Jayce and me.” And Damian. “He’s my heir. Nothing he does should be kept from me.” “He’s an adult, and so am I. We are our own keepers, sir.” Steraph narrowed his eyes as he took a step closer. Although she was tall, he was taller—even taller than Jayce—and he tried to use that height for intimidation. Izzie had to fight hard to keep from smiling as she glared right back at him. When the corners of his mouth began to twitch, she knew she’d gotten to him. He stepped back, turned to Hock, and said, “It will not happen again. While this…woman might be his personal bodyguard, you are my captain of the guard. You will protect the crown prince!” Izzie held her tongue despite the desire to scream that Hock was just telling her how he wouldn’t protect Jayce. If he wouldn’t fucking watch Jayce, she sure as hell would. “It won’t happen again,” Hock replied. “See that it doesn’t, or you will be the one held accountable.” On that pronouncement, Steraph left just as quickly as he’d arrived, making her feel as if she’d been caught up in a whirlwind. And she

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realized something important when she’d come so close to losing Jayce. No matter how much she hated this place, she’d never be able to leave Bromond. She needed Jayce, she needed Damian, and she would spend the rest of her life loving them both. But she had to keep them alive to do that. “Now,” Izzie said when Hock returned his attention to her, “we make some solid plans on protecting my future husband.”

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Chapter 8 While the servants cleaned up the mess, Hock and Damian helped Izzie search the rest of Jayce’s suite. Since Jayce refused to sit casually aside, she made him stay close to her as she looked through the rooms, checking the closets, opening every bureau, and poking through anything that could conceal a danger—urns, vases, even the elaborate sculptures Jayce collected. He kept touching her, making her breath catch as his fingers brushed through her hair, over her breast, or across her ass. His caresses made it hard to concentrate on her job, so she finally started smacking his hand every time he touched her. It wasn’t much of a deterrent. After the search was over, Hock left with a bow to Jayce. Izzie locked the door herself, checking every other possible way into the suite and securing all the windows. The place was locked up tight, but she still felt nervous. Her gut was twisted into knots at the thought of something happening to either of the men she loved. How odd. In all her years protecting people—both behind the scenes and at their sides—she’d never worried as much as she did about Jayce, Damian as well since he was putting himself between danger and Jayce every bit as much as she was. Her own safety barely registered on her radar, but Jayce and Damian had to stay out of harm’s way. They just had to. Back in Jayce’s bedroom again, she looked around one more time to be sure it was secure. Damian distracted her from the overwhelming worries by grabbing a wrist and tugging her into his embrace. He evidently wanted her every bit as much as she wanted

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him, a hunger growing from not only her love but her fear. His lips covered hers while her fingers fumbled to pull his shirt from the waistband of his pants. In the corner of her eye, she saw Jayce working on taking off his clothes and smiled against Damian’s lips. Since he was trying to undress her as she tried to strip him, all they managed to do was get in each other’s way. Izzie stepped back and jerked her shirt over her head while Damian started working to remove his own clothes. In a matter of moments, the cumbersome garments were piled on the floor and her two lovers stood naked before her, their hard cocks jutting from their bodies and begging for her touch. She dropped to her knees and leaned in to take Damian’s erection into her mouth while her fingers gripped Jayce and stroked his length. Loving how their approving growls made her pussy tighten with desire, she switched, licking Jayce from root to crown while her hand encased Damian and pumped the hardened flesh until his hips moved in rhythm. Jayce brought an end to her play by putting his hands under her arms and pulling her to her feet. He scooped her into his arms and set her on the bed. Izzie stretched out on her back when he pushed her shoulders to the mattress. As Damian joined them, crawling toward her from the other side of the mattress, Jayce took one of her nipples into his mouth and sucked. She arched away from the coolness of the sheets and moaned her approval as tingles raced through her body. As he knelt next to her, Damian smoothed his hand over her stomach and down to her pussy. His fingers tangled in the hair before slipping between her folds to stroke her until she went wild. Then he found her clit, and with an arrogant grin, he rubbed the responsive nub until Izzie’s breath came in gulps. She needed to feel them deep inside her. Grabbing Damian’s arm, she said, “Lie down. Let me ride you.” He shook his head then looked to Jayce. “On your back, Your Highness.” As always, Jayce obeyed, sprawling on his back as he tugged on

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Izzie’s arm to get her to follow. She straddled his hips, but sat back on his thighs instead of taking him into her body. “Wait.” Damian had settled behind her on his knees, the back of his thighs pressing against her back, the crisp hair rubbing her sensitive skin. “Wait? Why?” Some sanity had returned when Damian had denied her, and she thought she knew why he’d wanted Jayce on the bottom. They also had to clear the air over Jayce’s little announcement. Izzie patted the comforter next to her. “Come here, Damian. We all need to talk.” Grabbing her hips, Jayce tried to pull her closer. “Later, Izzie. We’ll talk after. I want you now.” While she wanted to feel that magnificent cock—both of their enormous dicks—deep inside her, she couldn’t give in to the passion yet. Her mind was too full of questions that demanded some answers. Yes, she loved them both, but there were things that needed to be said. “I want you too, but not yet, baby.” She patted the comforter again. “Please, Damian. We all need to talk.” The sigh Damian breathed was strong enough to brush over her back like a hot desert breeze, but he obeyed. When he crawled over and knelt next to where she rested on Jayce’s thighs, his erection bobbed. Seeing two thick cocks rising from their bodies as if they were seeking her, a drop of clear pre-cum beading on each, was enough to make her train of thought derail. She licked her lips. “Izzie…What did you want to talk about?” Damian asked. The huskiness in his voice made her inner muscles tighten to send moisture to her cunt. “Um… Yeah…talk. Right.” Then it all came flooding back. She glared down at Jayce. “Funny, but I don’t remember agreeing to marry you.” He held his erection and gave it a gentle shake, making the thick bead of fluid trace a path down the purple head. “Can’t we talk about this after we make love to you?” She resisted as he tugged her forward. “No, we can’t. You just

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want me to be too worn out to fight you.” His cheeks grew red. “Izzie…” “I would have appreciated you giving me time to accept your proposal before announcing that we were engaged.” Running her finger down his chest, she traced it around one masculine nipple, loving how it hardened to a tight peak. “You would’ve accepted.” Damian’s voice was firm as he took her hand. “Of course, but—” “Then you’ll marry me?” Jayce’s fingers were now digging into her hips. A smile spread over her lips. “Yes. And I’ll marry Damian, too.” Damian kissed the back of her knuckles. “But we can’t marry, sweetheart. It’s enough to know in my heart that you want me though.” “Yes,” she replied, “we can. There are a lot of places that allow multiple marriages. We can always go to Remiza. Or Rozale.” “I couldn’t be married somewhere else,” Jayce said. “I’m a Bromondi prince.” Izzie frowned. “I won’t choose one of you over the other. I won’t.” When both men started to protest, she pressed on. “Which brings me to my next point.” Her gaze caught Damian’s as she asked the question that had been troubling her most. “Why don’t you want to make love to me?” He blinked a few times as if he didn’t understand her question. “You’ve never been inside me.” “I have,” he insisted. She shook her head. “Not…in my…pussy.” Why her face flushed warm, she hadn’t a clue. After all the kinky things she’d done with these men, the ways they’d shared her body and theirs, there shouldn’t be anything they couldn’t say to one another. “Oh, sweetheart.” Damian kissed her hand again. “I’d love to be inside your warmth. I just…can’t.”

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“Can’t? Why not?” “In case you get pregnant.” She’d all but forgotten the possibility of pregnancy, probably because she’d been more concerned with their safety. The last couple of days at the compound, she hadn’t even bothered with the medscan to see if she was ovulating. In the back of her mind, she knew it wasn’t simply worry that caused the neglect. She wanted to have a baby with these men, a sign of their love for one another and a way to open up a new path in her life, one she couldn’t walk away from to stay with I.D.E.A. By ignoring contraception, she’d actually been making a choice. “I’ve been selfish.” Jayce reached out to take her other hand. “Selfish? You? You don’t even know the meaning of the word.” With a shake of her head, she tried to pull her hands back. Neither man would release her. “I wanted to get pregnant, but I never asked you if you wanted to be fathers. That was selfish.” Both men laughed, making her glare at them. “What’s so funny?” “You honestly believe a man doesn’t think about being a father if he sleeps with a woman without protection?” Jayce asked. “Trust me, especially where I’m concerned, it’s the first thing I thought of. Well, second, after thinking how sweet it would be to be inside you.” He squeezed her hand. “I want you to have our baby, love.” “Why?” “For the same reason I made the announcement of our engagement. Because I knew it would make you stay with me. If I told the crowd we were to be married, I knew you wouldn’t embarrass me by contradicting me, and if you got pregnant, you’d belong to me. I don’t want to lose you, Izzie. Ever. I love you.” Tears were stinging the backs of her eyes, but she swallowed hard and turned to Damian. “You don’t want to have a baby with me?” Damian dropped her hand to reach out and cup her cheek. “Oh, sweetheart…I love you. Of course I do! But if you get pregnant, it has to be Jayce’s baby. If anyone questioned that, I wanted no one to find

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out that your baby might not be genetically his.” His logic was not only easy to understand, but it revealed just how deeply Damian loved Jayce. “You didn’t want him threatened by someone claiming the baby was yours and not an heir to the throne.” He nodded. “It’s not that I don’t want you. It was never that.” His smile melted something inside her. “I’ll be in that pussy of yours one day, I promise you.” Jayce turned his head to look at Damian. “It doesn’t matter to me whether you sire the child or I do. We would both be the fathers.” “I know it doesn’t matter to you,” Damian replied. “And I love you for that. But it would matter to your people. Those who wanted to hurt you could use the child and his paternity to try to blackmail you or bring you down. I can’t allow that, and the safest way is to be sure I don’t create a child with Izzie.” “I would protect you both, and I would protect our child!” Jayce insisted. “But who would protect you?” Damian shot back before he heaved a sigh. “For now, let’s just be careful not to give anyone anything to use against you. Who knows what the future will bring?” His brown eyes locked with hers. “I’d love to have a child with you. Someday.” If she hadn’t already decided to love them both, this conversation would have won her heart. She threaded her arms around Damian’s neck and pulled him closer, pressing her breasts against his firm chest. Kissing him, she caressed his tongue with hers, loving how he wrapped his arms around her waist. As if not to be excluded, Jayce got busy with his hands, wiggling them between her and Damian and covering a breast with one while sliding the other between their bodies to stroke her core. His fingers found her clitoris, making her suck in a breath and moan against Damian’s lips. With a growl, Damian hauled her off Jayce’s body and pressed her back against the mattress. Leaning down, he latched onto one of her nipples and sucked it hard into his mouth, sending

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sensations racing through her body. As he pushed her knees apart, Izzie opened herself to him, writhing as he kissed his way down her body, pressing his lips to her stomach, to the curls on her mound, and then drilling her cunt with his tongue. She cried out, lacing her fingers through his blond hair to hold him right where he was. Jayce joined them, palming one of her breasts while laving the other until she was squirming. Damian pushed her thighs farther apart with his shoulders, burying his lips against her pussy as he gently separated the lips with his fingers. His tongue drove into her again and again while he rubbed her clitoris with increasing speed. Izzie climbed higher and higher until she was sure she was floating above the bed. As her muscles tensed, she drew her knees up and arched, letting the orgasm wash through her and panting, unable to even muster the breath to call out in pleasure. As she came back into herself, she let Jayce drag her on top of him. He held his erection against her core, rubbing the head in her moisture, and she gasped when he pressed deep inside her. Squeezing his cock as snugly as she could, she watched while Damian retrieved a bottle of lube from a drawer in one of the nightstands. Jayce drew her attention back to him by pinching both her nipples, rolling them between his fingers until they were tight pebbles. She retaliated by wiggling her hips, making him groan as she pressed down to take as much of him inside her as she could. His hand shot up to cup her neck and drag her down into a kiss that swept through her body like an electric shock. A warm hand settled on her ass right before a moist finger slipped into the crease between her cheeks. Damian quickly found her tight hole and swirled his fingertip around and around, smearing the oil before he pushed a finger past the ring of muscle. Izzie whimpered into Jayce’s mouth as a second of Damian’s fingers moved inside her, stroking and stretching her for his invasion, finding a sweet spot that made everything inside her tighten. He

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withdrew his fingers and pressed the swollen head of his moistened cock against her entrance. Grasping her hips, he eased his erection inside her, sliding a little deeper with each thrust until his balls slapped against her ass. Words weren’t necessary as the three moved in a cadence Izzie set, letting the men know when she wanted them to move faster or slow down to prolong the sweet torture. Damian’s fingers were squeezing her tight enough that he’d surely leave bruises, so he was close to release. Jayce was driving into her pussy harder and harder, which meant he was nearing his peak as well. Izzie stopped fighting her own climax, wanting the three of them to come together. Heat flooded her body as both men simultaneously poured their semen into her, sending her own body into the throes of an orgasm strong enough that her ears rang and lights flashed behind her closed eyes. The return of her sanity took long enough that when she finally opened her eyes again, Izzie was flat on her back between the two men she loved. “I was afraid you’d fainted,” Jayce said. He brushed his lips over her cheek as he snuggled closer to her body. “Did you mean it, baby?” “Hmm?” She was so sated and so damned content, she didn’t want to think too hard. “That you’ll marry me.” If she hadn’t just enjoyed the best orgasm of her life, she’d scold him for making her deal with reality when all she wanted to do was keep floating outside herself. “Yeah…I’ll marry you.” Damian threw an arm over her stomach. “You know I’d marry you too, sweetheart. If I could.” “Oh, you will. I’ll find a way.” On that promise, Izzie closed her eyes again, letting sleep drift over her like a warm blanket.

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Chapter 9 Izzie scanned the crowd, wishing the faces were all revealed to her instead of hiding behind an archaic tradition. In her years of working in law enforcement, she’d learned to read facial expressions so well that she could spot a person’s intentions in something as simple as the way they pursed their lips. Yet all she saw in the sea of people were veils hiding half of the faces she needed to read. Why didn’t men ever realize just how dangerous women could be? Couldn’t they see that letting them conceal their features wasn’t keeping women in line, but it might be allowing them to hide evil intentions? The royal family had again gathered at Caldrion’s city circle for Kamala’s second go-round at her hadiadas. Since she was standing next to Jayce and the rest of his family, Izzie honored the rules by wearing a wenora and a veil, but she wanted the damned things gone. They blocked her vision and made her so unbearably warm, she felt nauseous. Her own fault for eating such a big breakfast and then working her stomach into a churning mass as she worried about Jayce and how vulnerable he’d be in front of such a large crowd and about how Damian might be the one to be wounded protecting Jayce from attack. She’d thought long and hard about leaving the despised garments behind, but she’d acquiesced, especially because she’d be violating Bromondi law if she appeared barefaced in public. How would it look to have the crown prince’s fiancée so publicly thumb her nose at tradition? Jayce needed her support right now, and she needed to focus on finding threats, not arguing with people over what she was or

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wasn’t wearing. Izzie knew better than to try to talk Jayce out of coming to the hadiadas. He’d felt awful about forgetting Kamala’s big day the first time. Even though she wanted nothing more than to keep him and Damian under lock and key, she knew better than to even suggest it. Her guys weren’t the kind to stay out of the mix, even if it meant they put themselves in the line of fire. The crowd pressed forward as the king strode to the middle of the stage. He held up the black wenora and veil he would be putting on his daughter. The women were as silent as stones. The only voices ringing in the air were masculine cheers, and they rapidly dwindled into an eerie quiet when the women didn’t join in. Izzie let her gaze wander from woman to woman, taking in narrowed eyes that seemed angry at what was happening. She smiled under her own hated veil. The women had spoken louder with their silence than they ever could with their voices raised. As Steraph handed the veil to Charisa, Kamala stared at her—the mother and daughter sharing a tender smile. The king draped the wenora over Kamala’s blonde hair, tugging the ends under the chin and fastening the button to hold it in place. Charisa handed him the lacy veil. He fastened it to the wenora on the left temple and gently covered the young woman’s beautiful face, leaving only blue eyes for anyone to see. A loud, angry shout rose from the women in the crowd, and moving in sync, every one of them yanked their veils and wenoras off and dropped them on the ground. Then they began to chant, “No more! No more! No more!” The noise rose until it became an undeniable edict. Izzie almost cheered but feared how that reaction could hurt Jayce. She did, however, jerk off her own coverings, including her stifling robe, and dropped them in front of her. It took all her selfcontrol not to dance a little jig on top of them. She grinned in satisfaction at Damian, who nodded in return.

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As she turned to tell Jayce this would be the last time she ever wore a robe, wenora, and veil in public, she caught a man drawing a pulse pistol from inside his vest. Everything suddenly seemed to slow down for Izzie as if she was watching a sluggish holoflick. She pulled her own pistol from the holster, but not before the man took aim at Jayce. A green shot burst from the barrel, heading right at Jayce’s chest. Izzie turned to throw herself in front of him but was knocked out of the way by a larger and heavier Hock. The shot hit the right side of the guard’s chest, and he was thrown back against Jayce and Damian, who’d also been trying to get in front of Jayce. The three men ended up in a tangle of bodies on the platform while the rest of the royal family dropped to the ground. The king had covered Charisa with his own body, clearly more concerned about his wife than himself. All four of his guards piled on top of them. The other guards either threw themselves on top of the rest of the royals or hurried to the crowd to try to get to the attempted assassin. Izzie took aim, intending on hitting his leg, but the man dropped as if trying to shield himself or perhaps blend in with the rest of the crowd that now mostly cowered on the dusty ground. Her shot hit him square in the chest. He had to be dead before he hit the ground. “Fuck!” Damn, but she’d wanted to take him alive! Whirling to hurry to Jayce, she was once again knocked out of the way, this time by his sister Vilanna. The woman shoved Izzie aside and fell to her knees beside Hock. “Hock, my love!” Vilanna jerked her head coverings away. Tears were streaming down her face. Damian had pulled himself loose of the pile. He grabbed Vilanna’s sky-blue wenora, balled it up, and pressed it against the wound on Hock’s upper chest. Blood was quickly saturating his white uniform, spreading a ghastly dark red stain down his torso. Vilanna helped Jayce ease Hock over so his head rested on her lap. “You can’t die! I can’t lose you! Please don’t leave me!” Hock’s face was deathly pale, but he lifted a shaky hand to touch

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hers as it rested against his cheek. “I couldn’t ever leave you, my love.” He coughed, a bit of frothy blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. Vilanna wiped it away with the hem of her robe and leaned down to kiss him. So the guard and the princess were in love… Not a surprise considering how much time they’d obviously spent together over the years. Until Hock had thrown himself in front of Jayce, Izzie had placed him number one on her suspect list, figuring he wanted to secure the throne for Vilanna. Now, Izzie was back to square one, and her only lead lay dead in the street. Fuck. She turned to one of the guards, figuring since their captain was out of commission, someone needed to take charge. “Call for an ambulance. We need to get Hock some help.” The man obeyed her without a single flinch. Jayce came to stand beside her. “Are you okay?” “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?” She looked around at the crowd, her thoughts tumbling and turning with everything she could remember about the three assassination attempts on her fiancé. People were slowly getting to their feet, gaping at the morbid scene of Hock lying bleeding while Vilanna wept. The only thing that seemed to stick in Izzie’s mind was that Jayce was still a damned obvious target. Stepping in front of him, she tried to use her body as a shield. “We need to get you back to the palace. You’re still in danger.” “I won’t hide.” “You will if I tell you to.” Izzie nodded at Hock. “You won’t make his sacrifice mean nothing by getting yourself killed. He saved your life.” “And for that he will be rewarded,” Jayce replied. “But I will not cower in fear, even to please you, love.” An ambulance slowly weaved down the narrow street, moving through the crowd as the people seemed reluctant to give it enough room to pass. When it stopped and settled on the ground, two men hopped from the back, pulling along a hover gurney loaded with

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equipment. Damian released his spot to the paramedics, but Vilanna wouldn’t move. She shook her head and cried harder when Damian tried to gently remove her. “I won’t leave him!” “We’ll follow them to the hospital,” Jayce assured her as he tried to help Damian move his sister. “It wasn’t supposed to be Hock!” Her red-rimmed blue eyes locked on Jayce. A shiver ran the length of Izzie’s body. “What do you mean it wasn’t supposed to be Hock?” Vilanna simply shook her head, letting Damian drag her to her feet. Quickly stripping out of her blood-stained robe, she dropped it over the side of the platform. Damian wrapped an arm around her shoulders as Steraph came to stand at their side. “We should all go to the palace now,” Steraph said in an authoritarian tone. Vilanna glared at him. “I go with Hock.” “You will not!” “I will!” She stomped her foot against the wooden planks. “And you can’t stop me!” Father and daughter stared at each other for a few long moments before Steraph motioned to one of his guards. “You’ll accompany her to the hospital and see her safely back to the palace.” Then he looked to Izzie. “You’ll go as well.” “As will we,” Jayce said inclining his head to Damian. Steraph gave them a curt nod. Jayce trailed Vilanna as she followed the guard away from the dais. Izzie and Jayce fell in step behind them. **** Izzie sat on a lumpy chair in the hospital waiting room, watching Vilanna and Jayce pace up the length of the big room and back

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enough times they made her dizzy. The geometric wallpaper—a mixture of nauseating shades of green, yellow, and brown—didn’t help much. Neither did the overwhelming disinfectant smell. Her stomach roiled, and she prayed they’d get good news about Hock soon so they could get the hell out of there. She’d turned the events of the day—and the events at the compound and the palace—over and over in her mind, trying hard to figure out who could possibly want Jayce dead. A theory quickly formed, but she’d need to find a little more information before she made an accusation against someone in the royal family. First, they’d be sure Hock was okay, and then she would start sticking her nose where many people would probably believe it didn’t belong. She needed to talk to Hock first to fill in the last of the blanks and eliminate any doubts she had remaining, but in her heart, Izzie knew who’d tried to have Jayce murdered. The suspect’s own words had condemned her. It wasn’t supposed to be Hock! Vilanna wanted Jayce dead. If Izzie didn’t have all the information she needed, no one would ever believe her. The hardest piece of the puzzle to fit was the motive. Vilanna was oldest. Did she believe she should be next in line to the throne? Was it jealousy—simple sibling rivalry? Izzie suddenly didn’t care whether it was a breach in protocol or not. She also didn’t care if she was about to accuse a Bromondi princess of attempted murder without any real proof. What she needed at that moment was Vilanna to admit the truth, and one thing Izzie was good at was getting people to tell her the truth. Trying to catch Vilanna with her guard down, Izzie jumped up and strode over to step in her path. “Why’d you do it? Why’d you send him there?” Vilanna’s eyes widened as she took a step back. “I…I…have no idea what…what you’re talking about.” “Bullshit. How did you get that guy inside? How’d you slip him

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past the security system?” Her hands clenched into tight fists. “I…I told you. I don’t know what you’re talking about! Jayce…you’re my brother! How can you let her accuse me of sending someone to your private retreat?” “I never said where,” Izzie countered. “You’re the one who sent the assassin to Jayce’s compound. Why?” Before she could answer, a doctor in burgundy scrubs threw open the door and came into the waiting room. “Your Highness,” he said, stopping in front of Jayce and bowing. His whole body trembled. “How is Hock?” Vilanna asked as she started to wring her hands. “I’m very sorry, but he’s gone. He’d lost a lot of blood, and we weren’t able to fix the damage to his heart or his lung.” On that, the clearly nervous doctor bowed to Jayce again, turned, and strode out of the waiting room. “No! Not Hock!” Vilanna started crying again, putting her hands to her face and taking big gulping sobs. Jayce tried to pull her into his arms, but she struggled, punching at him with her fists until he took a step back. “This is all your fault!” she screamed, loud enough that half the hospital had to have heard. “My fault?” Jayce asked. “You think I wanted someone to take a shot at me? You think I wanted Hock to die? He was my friend!” “You were supposed to die! You! Not my Hock! I love him!” She threaded her fingers through her long hair and tugged at it until Izzie was amazed it didn’t start coming out in long, blonde strands. “You sent the assassins, didn’t you, Vilanna?” Izzie asked. “You’re the one who tried to have Jayce killed. You had someone put the poisonous snake in his bed too.” She whirled to face Izzie. Her face was an angry red. “Yes! I did it! I did it all! I wanted him dead!” “Why? He’s your brother!” “For Hock! For the man I love!” Jayce grabbed her upper arms and gave her a shake hard enough to make her head bob. “What are you saying?”

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“I hate you!” She struggled to get away. “I’ve always hated you!” “That makes no sense,” he replied. “We’ve always been close.” “It was pretend! All pretend! I hate you! You had everything!” “What are you talking about?” Jayce demanded. “Father loves only you! His precious son! The crown prince! But his daughters? He treats us no better than the servants! If you were dead, he’d love us!” When Jayce shook his sister again, Damian stepped in to separate them. Izzie pressed the hysterical woman harder, needing to understand why Vilanna would do something so vile. “How could you try to kill your own brother?” With wild eyes, Vilanna clutched at Damian’s shirt, talking to him as if he’d asked the question. “If Jayce was dead, I would be queen. Hock was going to marry me, and he would be our next king. Don’t you see? Jayce had to die so Hock could be king.” She dropped to her knees, still sobbing as she ranted. “But Hock is dead. I want to die too!” She looked at Damian. “Kill me! Please kill me!” Jayce stepped to the door and stuck his head out. “I need a doctor in here!” **** Back at the palace, Damian stood at Izzie’s side while she faced an enraged Steraph. Vilanna had been sedated and secured at the hospital until the king could be informed of her confession and Hock’s death. Izzie showed not an ounce of fear. In fact, her expression could only be described as smug, and her spine was straight as an arrow. Damn, but she did him and Jayce proud. She’d solved the mystery before anyone else, but all the king seemed to care about was that his daughter had been accused of the horrible crimes against Jayce. “You have no proof!” Bits of spittle flew from his mouth as he

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shouted in Izzie’s face. The only sign of her anger was the flush on her cheeks. “I have her own words as proof.” “But there are no witnesses to this confession!” “I witnessed it, Father,” Jayce said, stepping up to Izzie’s other side. “As did Damian. Vilanna also knew something only the person trying to kill me would know, that someone had tried to murder me at the compound.” The anger coming from Steraph shifted to Jayce. “Someone tried to murder you? Why wasn’t I informed?” “It was my choice, Your Majesty. I didn’t want anyone to know,” Izzie replied. Damian had to admire her for speaking up, even if she was violating custom by talking to the king as if she was his equal. “I had to keep everyone out of the loop until I figured out who wanted to hurt Jayce. I was protecting him.” “I’m his father! I’m the king! You may not keep information from me! Ever! Who do you think you are, woman?” “I’m Jayce’s fiancée, and I’m an I.D.E.A. agent,” she calmly replied. “His safety is more important than anything else in the universe to me, including placating your ego.” Steraph’s face flamed, and Damian feared he’d strike Izzie. “Calm down, Steraph.” Charisa laid a gentle hand on his arm. “You’ll give yourself a heart attack.” She smiled at Izzie. “This woman loves your son, and she saved his life. You owe her your gratitude, not your anger. I, for one, will thank God every day that He sent her into Jayce’s life.” Steraph threw an incredulous frown at his wife. “But…but… She’s a woman!” “It’s okay,” Izzie offered. “I don’t want his thanks.” “You have mine,” Jayce said. He leaned in to kiss her cheek. He glanced to the king. “As a way to show our gratitude to Izzie, I would ask a favor of you, Father.” “A favor? What kind of favor?” Steraph asked.

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“I want the laws forcing women to wear robes, wenoras, and veils abolished.” The king folded his arms over his broad chest and scowled. “It’s a tradition. Everyone loves the practice.” “Not the women in the crowd today,” Izzie retorted, drawing another glare from Steraph. Kamala entered the fray. “Will you abolish that stupid law, Father? Please?” His eyes widened. “You didn’t enjoy your hadiadas? Doesn’t every young woman look forward to it?” She shook her head. “Both of them were disasters, and I hate the idea of wearing a veil for the rest of my life. Don’t you think I’m pretty, Father?” “Of course!” “Shouldn’t I be proud to let people see my face?” His cheeks flushed a deeper red. “But…but…” “Steraph, my love,” Charisa said. “The time has come. You saw what happened today at the city circle. The women of Bromond have spoken. Your daughter has spoken. Your future daughter-in-law has spoken. Be a man and admit defeat with grace.” He turned his gaze to Izzie. “On one condition—a condition I expect you to meet.” “What condition, sir?” Izzie asked. “You will wear a veil to the wedding.” “Of course.” “Then the wedding will be tomorrow!”

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Chapter 10 “I still don’t understand the hurry,” Charisa said. She smoothed her hands down Izzie’s sleeve. “It’s what the king wanted,” Izzie replied with a shrug. “Probably wants to show me he can order me around.” She managed a wan smile. Nerves already frayed at the frenzy that commenced the moment Steraph announced that she and Jayce would be married in one day, she had to resist the urge to step away from Charisa and find a few moments of peace. She didn’t know why he’d demanded the marriage so damned fast, but she’d quickly learned that when facing her future father-in-law, it was wise to choose her battles carefully. This time she’d graciously accept defeat. Once the wedding was announced, the servants had taken over all the preparations. The actual ceremony would be brief, but there would be a lavish banquet for the upper crust of Bromondi society. The last number Izzie had heard floating around was two thousand people. At least the women would be free to dress as they chose since a royal edict went out that morning that the wenora, robe, and veil laws were abolished. The media coverage showed women dancing in the streets of several Bromond cities, stomping on the hated garments, throwing them into impromptu bonfires, and praising the king’s name. She hadn’t seen Jayce or Damian since Steraph’s decision. They’d both been whisked away to get ready for the royal wedding, and Izzie was dying to talk to them, to know if they were having the same bipolar response to what was about to happen—the same combination of joy and despair that held her hostage.

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Her heart hurt. A stupid notion considering she was just about to marry one of the men she loved with all of her soul. That was the problem—she was only marrying Jayce and not Damian as well. When the time came and she stood before the clergyman, would she be able to say the vows binding her to Jayce knowing that only half of her heart was his? Somehow that seemed blasphemous. Two men made her complete, so why was she only allowed to pledge her life to one of them? “It’s not fair,” Izzie muttered as she picked up the tulle veil. A glance in the enormous mirror told her Charisa had heard her words. Blue eyes stared back, reflecting an understanding Izzie hadn’t expected to see. “You love them both, don’t you, my dear? Just as they love each other…” It came as no surprise Charisa knew about Damian and Jayce. Mothers tended to have instincts about their sons that often defied explanation. Since Izzie had never been anything but bluntly honest her whole life, she saw no reason to change tacks now, especially when her emotions were so close to the surface. Charisa would surely see through any lie. “I do.” “Yet you’re content to marry my Jayce?” “I am…” She heaved a sigh. “…and I’m not.” Charisa nodded. “That’s why you think it’s unfair. What would you do if you had your wish?” “I’d marry both of them.” Izzie stared down at the dress, the one Charisa had worn when she married Steraph. She’d brought it to Izzie last night, telling her she’d be proud to see her future daughter-in-law wear it when she married her son. Since Izzie’s parents were so far away, there was no way to even let them know she was getting married. Not that they’d be able to take time away from their jobs to come all the way to Bromond anyway. Perhaps she, Jayce, and Damian could one day travel to Earth for a visit. “Why can the men on this planet have more than one wife, but women can only have one

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husband?” “For the same reason we were forced to wear wenoras for so long,” Charisa replied. “Because men rule.” Her blue eyes sparkled as a knowing smile lit her face. “But all it took was one voice, and many others joined in.” She pointed to the viewscreen on the bureau that was tuned to a Caldrion news channel. The footage showed women gathered outside the palace for the wedding. “Look at all those beautiful faces and how happy the women are because of my Jayce and what he did at Kamala’s first hadiadas. He’ll be a wise king. Perhaps you should have a little faith that he’ll make things right for you and Damian the way he made things right for the women of Bromond.” On that cryptic statement, Charisa kissed Izzie’s cheek and left. Her thoughts tumbling like dice in a gambling den, Izzie tried to find a way to make things right. No matter how much Damian said he didn’t mind her marrying only Jayce, she knew it hurt him to be viewed as just a bodyguard instead of taking his place at Jayce’s side as she would be doing today. “It’s not right.” A knock on the door drew her attention. “Come in.” Alayna strode into the room, shutting the door behind her. For the first time since Izzie had known her, she’d let someone fuss with her short brown hair. It was curled and sprayed into an intricate coiffure that set off her heart-shaped face. She stopped and stared at Izzie. “Damn, girl. You clean up nice.” Because her slender yet curvy partner was decked in a teal silk dress that hugged her body, Alayna was the one who should have been receiving the compliment. “The bride’s best friend is prettier than the bride.” Izzie turned to look in the mirror again, still a bit in awe of the ivory creation she now wore. Every time she moved, light shimmered across the tiny pearls sewn over the long skirt. “This is the wedding dress Jayce’s mother wore when she married the king.” “You look beautiful, Izzie.”

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Giving Alayna’s reflection a weak smile, Izzie tried to look happy. “What’s wrong?” Like she could ever get anything past her partner. Whirling, she faced Alayna. “I know we talked yesterday, so you know what’s going on—I mean, with Jayce, Damian, and me.” “You mean that you love both those guys?” Izzie nodded. “But you’re only marrying Jayce.” “We have no choice.” Alayna snorted a laugh. “What?” “The Izzie I know and love would never say something that stupid. There are always other choices, and you damn well know it. What you need to ask yourself is what you’re willing to sacrifice to get a different choice.” “What do you mean?” “What are you willing to sacrifice to marry both of them?” “It’s not that simple, Alayna. It’s Jayce’s choice, not mine.” With a shake of her head, Alayna leveled a hard stare. “Bullshit. You’re master of your own destiny, Izzie. Did you ever think Jayce might be waiting for you to let him know what you want? Maybe by being quiet, you’ve made him believe you want this just the way it is.” Music began, echoing through the corridor from the sanctuary. “That’s my cue.” Turning on her heel, Alayna opened the door before turning back. “Think about this before you go out there and take one man as your husband when you really want two—what message are you sending the men you love if you marry one in public and hide the other like you’re ashamed of him?” On that chilly pronouncement, Alayna closed the door. Between her own nerves, Charisa’s visit, and Alayna’s grim look into her future life, Izzie wanted to scream in frustration. Not surprisingly, her stomach rebelled. She grabbed the closest urn and

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gagged a few times, fearing what little she’d eaten was going to come back up. With all the fuss and bother of the last few days, she couldn’t seem to tame her digestive system. Nausea followed her like a shadow. The realization hit her like a slap in the face, and she ran to find a medscanner, needing to answer an important question before the ceremony began. **** Damian tucked Izzie’s hand in the crook of his elbow and gave her fingers a tender caress. “Are you ready?” “I think so.” She leaned over to kiss his cheek. He’d never looked so handsome. The tan suit complemented his blond hair and dark eyes. He’d cut his hair a little shorter and slicked it back, looking every bit the handsome rogue. A sigh of appreciation slipped from her lips. “You’re a princess.” He smiled as his gaze settled on the silverand-emerald tiara Kamala had brought for her to wear with her veil. Izzie refused to have the ivory tulle cover her face—her own little statement to Steraph. Instead, it flowed from the tiara down her back with the hem ending just below her hair, which she’d left down because she knew how much Jayce and Damian loved seeing it around her shoulders. “You’re beautiful.” Heat rushed to her cheeks. “Thank you. I only wish…” Biting back the words, she fought the tears stinging her eyes. She was supposed to be happy, damn it! This was her wedding day! Instead, butterflies fluttered in her stomach, and her throat closed up, almost choking off her air. This wasn’t right. Damian shouldn’t be walking her up the aisle— he should be standing next to Jayce, waiting for her to come to them to take them both as her husbands. “Someday,” he whispered in her ear as if reading her thoughts.

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“Someday, we’ll all be married. For now, become Jayce’s wife. I know I have your heart, and you know you have mine. As does Jayce. The three of us can be anything we want to be in private.” His words didn’t comfort her as he’d obviously intended. Instead, they inspired her. Izzie straightened her spine, gripped her bouquet, and said, “Let’s do this.” The high-pitched sounds of Bromondi music filled the air as Damian escorted her the length of the aisle. Jayce waited at the gold altar, dressed head-to-toe in navy blue, a red sash running from his left shoulder to right hip. A gold medallion in the shape of a star that symbolized the royal family was pinned over his heart. His smile beamed down at her, making Izzie feel as if she was basking in sunlight. Now that she’d made up her mind, she allowed her happiness to overflow. Damian led her up the six stairs, and when they reached Jayce, the men she loved flanked her sides. The black-robed clergyman stepped up, opened his worn book, and opened his mouth. Izzie beat him to the punch. “I’ve changed my mind.” A collective gasp rose from the small crowd, the loudest from the minister. “You’ve what?” he asked, his voice rising to a squeaky pitch. “I’ve changed my mind.” She tossed him a sweet smile and turned to face Jayce. “I can’t marry you.” His smile had vanished, replaced with a scowl so fierce, a shiver ran through her. But she refused to back down. This was too important an issue. “I’ll marry both you and Damian or I won’t marry anyone.” “Izzie…” Damian set a hand on her shoulder. “Please don’t do this for me.” “Oh, but I’m not. I’m doing it for me. I’m doing it for Jayce. For all of us.” She couldn’t contain a smile. “For all four of us,” she said softly for only her men to hear.

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Jayce caught on first, the grin spreading across his face gleaming like sunshine again. He took her hand, brushed a kiss across the knuckles, and then turned to the crowd. “Today, I’ll marry the two people I love dearly. Today, I’ll marry Izzie Szabo and Damian Scarpela, or I will abdicate my throne and live somewhere where the three of us can share our lives.” Damian still looked confused—and more than a bit stunned—so Izzie had mercy on him. Moving close enough to whisper in his ear, she said, “I’m pregnant.” His eyes flew wide. “Really?” “Really.” The crowd was now buzzing, probably discussing Jayce’s announcement. She wished she could hear what they were saying. A glance to Steraph told her that the king was flabbergasted. His face had flushed, and he was sputtering at Charisa, who stood at his side. She was stroking his arm, but her smile was almost as wide as her son’s. Jayce knew he’d shocked everyone, especially his father. He turned to face Steraph, and father and son locked in a moment that had been a long time coming. For all of Jayce’s life, his father had demanded that he act like a future king, that he take a stand on the important issues affecting their people. Today, Jayce was taking Steraph’s advice. Nothing in his life would ever be as important as Damian and Izzie. Now that he knew she carried his child, he wasn’t about to let their lives together start out on a colossal lie. If he couldn’t be who he was and still be king, he didn’t want to be king at all. There were plenty of places in the universe where he, Damian, and Izzie could make a family and be accepted. Although his heart would be wounded to leave his beloved homeland, he would do what was best for the people he loved. “You would do this? You would walk away from your heritage?” Steraph’s questions came in such a mild tone that Jayce couldn’t

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believe it. Where was the anger? Where was the indignation? “I would,” he replied with a decisive nod. Steraph turned to Charisa. She stood on tiptoe to whisper something in his ear. He shook his head. She whispered a few more things. He stared at her for a moment, then gave her a curt nod. The king strode up the steps to stand by Jayce. Turning to face the crowd, he held out his hands. “What would you have me do? You’re my people. I am your servant. Would you allow this…thing…this marriage of three people? You’d allow two men to love one woman…and…each other?” Murmurs rose, but no voices rang out. “I listened to the women when they wished to end the tradition of the veil,” he continued. “Now, I ask you…what would you have me do?” “Let them marry!” one woman finally called. “Yes! Let them marry!” a man shouted. Soon the noise rose to a din with shouts and cries of support. Jayce grinned as he turned to face Izzie. Tears were tracing wet paths down her cheeks. Then he glanced over to Damian. A smile lit his face, and his brown eyes practically glowed. “Will you both marry me?” **** Damian pressed his hand against the lock, waiting for it to read his palm print and pop open the gate so Jayce could drive through. Going back to the compound for their honeymoon had been Izzie’s idea. She told them she wanted to see the gardens and have a place where they were away from everyone, including the intrusive media. The hovercar set down just inside the gates, and Damian helped Izzie out. Her feet had barely hit the ground when he scooped her into his arms, ready to end the torture of denying himself the pleasure he knew her body could give him. “I’m going to make love to you,” he

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said as he pressed his lips to hers. Something primitive inside him had rushed to the front when she’d so bravely declared that she’d take both him and Jayce as husbands, letting the whole world know that she valued him every bit as much as she did Jayce. Sure, he’d said it didn’t matter, that she could marry Jayce and still be with him in private. He’d actually meant it too, up until the moment he’d linked Izzie’s arm through his and realized he’d be literally giving her away when they reached the end of that aisle. Although he loved Jayce and Izzie with all his heart, Damian knew his pride would have received a mortal blow, a blow that would have forced him to leave behind the two people who owned his heart and soul. Winding through the halls to reach the master bedroom, he kicked the door open as Jayce followed them into the room. Now that Izzie was pregnant with Jayce’s child, there was no barrier to Damian making love to her the way he’d fantasized so many times. “I’m going to stick my cock in that sweet pussy, sweetheart.” “Damn right,” she replied. All three of them tore at their clothes, the garments quickly falling to the ground. When Izzie took his hand and led him to the bed, Damian thought his heart would burst. She wanted him, not that he didn’t know he held her love, and she’d never made him feel as if she didn’t wish to make love to him. Her eagerness pleased him more than she could know. Just to tease her, he shook his head. “Damian?” Her gaze caught his, and he saw the confusion in her green eyes. “Jayce,” Damian ordered. “On your back, Your Highness.” “But… I thought…” Izzie knit her pretty red eyebrows. “I thought you said—” “Oh, I’m gonna fuck you,” Damian said. “But I’m going to take you from behind while you suck Jayce’s cock.” Her smile hit him like fire straight to his cock. “Shit, I love it when you talk dirty.”

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Jayce hopped on the bed, flopped on his back, and grinned like a child who’d just been given a new toy. He crooked his finger at Izzie. With a melodious laugh, she crawled onto the mattress, stalking Jayce like a cat seeking its prey. She started kissing his feet, working her way up his body, making Damian’s erection jerk at the erotic sight. When she reached Jayce’s groin, she held his dick like a piece of delicate crystal before licking him from his balls, up the rigid shaft, to the crown. A groan slipped out of Jayce as Damian joined his lovers—his spouses—on their marriage bed. Izzie rose on her knees, bracing herself with one hand, and wiggling that tight little ass at him. All he wanted to do was sink deep inside her again and again until they both came, but this was the first time he’d make love to his beautiful, redheaded wife. It had to be special. He slipped a finger between her folds, growling when he felt how hot and wet she was. “God, Izzie. You’re so ready.” He sank a finger deep inside her, savoring how her muscles clenched around him. Adding a second finger, he drove in and out of her until she was pushing back against him. “Are you going to tease me or are you going to fuck me?” She cast a quick smile over her shoulder, her emerald eyes full of sparkle. A glance to the mirror let Damian watch Izzie giving Jayce a blow job worthy of a future queen. She took most of his cock deep into her mouth, her cheeks pulling in with the suction she used. Jayce’s eyes were closed, and he had the most contented look on his face. Damian couldn’t wait any longer. He pulled back his fingers, licked them to learn her taste, and then settled the head of his cock against her. Just as he eased inside her tight channel, she pushed back, impaling herself until her soft ass pressed against his groin. He’d died and gone to heaven. Her ass had been sublime. Her pussy was perfect. Izzie waited for Damian to move, to start that wonderful rhythm she knew would take them both to paradise. She had every intention

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of making sure Jayce joined them in that bliss. Yet, he still hesitated. “Damian?” “I love you, Izzie.” “I love you too, baby. Now fuck me.” And he did, gripping her hips as he pulled back and then thrust inside her. She let go of all her thoughts, simply allowing herself to become a creature of sensations—the musky scent of Jayce’s cock, the tangy taste of him, and the feel of Damian’s thick dick surging inside her. Far too soon, she felt her muscles tightening, trying to hold on to Damian, to squeeze his essence right out of him. At the same time, Jayce’s cock grew even larger in her mouth as his fingers tangled in her hair. He was close too. Izzie sucked hard at the same time her orgasm began to fan from her pussy to envelope her whole being. Jayce groaned as his hot semen spurted into her mouth. Damian’s cadence sped, and he called her name as he came. **** Izzie didn’t remember falling asleep. She woke to the feel of two hands resting over her womb. “Sorry.” “About what?” Damian asked. He lay on his side, propped up on an elbow with his other hand sitting next to Jayce’s on her bare stomach. “I fell asleep.” “The little mother needs her rest,” Jayce said. “Especially when we wear her out by making love to her.” His hand stroked her skin. “Are you sure, Izzie? I mean…we haven’t been together very long… Are you sure you’re pregnant?” “I checked with a medscanner right before the wedding. We’re definitely having a baby.” She tried to read Jayce’s expression. “Are you happy about it?” He smiled at her before leaning down to press his lips to her

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stomach. “Of course, I am.” “What about you, baby?” she asked as she turned her head to look at Damian. “Are you happy too?” “Absolutely. We’re going to have a wonderful family together.” “I won’t let our children be spoiled, not like some royals,” she announced. “Are you saying I’m spoiled, love?” Jayce asked. She shook her head. “I meant like on other planets. Our kids are going to be well grounded.” “You’ll be a great mother.” Damian kissed her cheek. “Thank you.” She breathed a contented sigh. “Did you ever think things would end up this…wonderful?” Both men laughed. “What?” “When you caught Damian and me making love, I thought my life was over. If someone would have told me I’d fall in love with the firecracker who had the nerve to break into my home, I would have told him he was insane.” “And do you love me, Jayce?” “Yes, my princess. I love you. I love Damian.” He settled his hand over her womb again. “And I love this child the three of us will share.” Damian smiled at her. “I love you both too. With two fathers, our baby will not only be well grounded, he’ll be well supervised.” He circled her navel with his fingertip. “Are you happy about the baby, Izzie?” She nodded and smiled. While she might have started out their captive, she’d somehow captivated them with her love. What they might never realize is that she was still their captive and would be for the rest of her life. No prisoner had ever been happier to receive a life sentence.

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THE END WWW.ELIZABETHRAINES.COM

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Elizabeth Raines makes her home in Indiana. A fan of all genres of fiction, she enjoys blending her love of science fiction with romance in the books she writes exclusively for Siren Publishing. Her favorite movies are Pride and Prejudice and Love, Actually, and she spends far too much time watching shows like The Tudors and Mad Men. Elizabeth has been happily married for almost thirty years and tries to express that kind of enduring love in all her stories, hoping to help all her heroes and heroines have their own happily ever afters.

Also by Elizabeth Raines Ménage Everlasting: Wicked Missions 1: Locked In Ménage Everlasting: Wicked Missions 2: Marooned Ménage Everlasting: Wicked Missions 3: Bounty Ménage Everlasting: Wicked Missions 4: Sold Ménage Everlasting: Wicked Missions 5: Wanted

Also by The Sextet The Sextet Anthology, Volume 1: Sharing The Sextet Anthology, Volume 2: Dirty Dancing

Available at BOOKSTRAND.COM

Siren Publishing, Inc. www.SirenPublishing.com