The Kingdom's Crown (Inheritance of Hunger #3) - Kathryn Moon Page 0,47

the urge to scream.

"Truth be told, I never gave it much thought. It wasn't discussed," I muttered.

"Who raised you?" Aric bit out, snatching my waist in a firm grip before I could start pacing again.

"Nurses, maids, tutors. My grandmother, when I'd reached an age to be reasoned with."

"Look at me," Aric said, reaching up briefly to snatch my hands from my eyes.

Thao and Cosmo had entered from one end of the room, and Wendell filled them in with a low murmur as Daniel and Owen came in from the other door.

I turned my face up to Aric's, trying to keep my expression steady so he wouldn't have to see the turmoil churning through me. It was a useless effort. Aric could probably feel the magic biting at me, snapping with my temper.

"You know I will obey you," he said. I snorted, and Aric's lips twitched. "Well, within reason. But I swear to you, if you have a child by any one of us, I will act as a father to them. And I will positively turn you over my knee and spank you raw if you do not act as a mother."

My eyes filled immediately, stinging and burning, and Aric growled at the sight, tugging me roughly against his chest. His arms wrapped around my back as sobs clawed their way up my chest and into my throat where I bound them behind clamped jaws. The only sound that escaped was a faint and strangled whine.

"Darling girl," Aric whispered in my ear, pressing firm kisses to the side of my face. "For all their carelessness, you really turned out spectacularly."

I could hold in my screams and sobs, but not my sudden and surprised laughter, so they all rushed out in a tangled mess. My arms whipped around Aric's shoulders as he lifted me into a tight squeeze. The others were moving closer, and the door to the suite squeaked.

"Shit, what's happened?" Cresswell growled with one glance at us upon his arrival.

"I'm not sure, but it doesn't matter. Bryony just needs us," Cosmo answered.

"I won't even know where to begin," I moaned to Aric.

"Well I certainly wouldn't either, but I imagine we'll sort our methods out as it goes. We can't do worse than they did." I made a strange noise, a squawk and a sob, and one of Aric's hands reached up to cup the back of my head. "I could've strangled him, but I object to hurting the elderly."

I choked a little and leaned back, Owen's temple touching my cheek as his head bent to kiss my shoulder. Aric was smirking at me, mad humor in his eyes. Strange as it was to admit, Michael probably wasn't a great deal older than Aric.

"I love you," I said.

Aric smiled and leaned in, pressing a kiss to my nose. "We love you too, princess."

11

Cosmo

“Oh, stars! Daniel!"

I glanced up from my sketch, smiling and flipping the page. Bryony's hands were clutching at Daniel's thick strands, her knees high and bent. Her heels rose off the bed and toes curled in the air as her back arched, breasts tipped sharply and begging the air to be sucked. Daniel wasn't faring much better, hips bucking into nothing as he sucked and licked and feasted on Bryony's sex.

I waited before setting my pencil down on the page again, eyeing the others. Thao and Wendell were kissing and groping one another on a couch by the fire, waiting patiently for their turn with our princess, torturing themselves for fun. Owen was in the bath, washing up from the stables before joining us, and Cresswell stood to the side, eyes too focused on the couple on the bed to really be guarding us.

"How can you stand to be sketching and not touching?" Aric muttered, sitting at my side, his heel jiggling on the floor.

Bryony came again with a bright cry, eyes going wide and hands fisting in the sheets.

"The sounds she makes for him while he does that make me feel as though I should grow a beard," I said, laughing at Aric's almost feral focus on Bryony. "How can you stand to be reading? Sketching is like touching."

Vaguely, but it was a tangible experience in my mind, and I knew what I wanted from Bryony this evening. Sketching passed the time until she was ready for me.

"I'm not reading," Aric bit out, snapping his book shut.

Bryony scrambled out from under Daniel, yanking him up onto the bed and pushing him down onto his back. She straddled