Caged Kitten (All the Queen's Men #2) - Rhea Watson Page 0,168
meaning when Elijah was inside me, and when he finally stilled, head bowed in almost reverence and his mark prickling like fire, I was done for. Light-headed. Weak. Boneless. Pleasure addled and in no place to stand on my own two feet.
As soon as he finally eased out of me, my body slick with sweat and my thighs painted up by my guys, Rafe scooped me into his arms and perched on the edge of his usual chair. He held me in the afterglow, cuddled me, as his toxin sealed my open wounds. Elijah kissed my temple, stroked my cheek, gently cupped my chin. Fintan fetched something soft and silky and soothing to drape over me as one of them—I was too far gone to be sure of which, my head in the clouds and my body floating into oblivion—carried me up to the enormous bath one floor above.
I came back to them sometime later, surrounded by rose-scented suds and dunked in pleasantly toasty water. Someone had washed my hair, my red mane soaked and tamed, and while I slumped back against Elijah, Rafe floated in front of me massaging my feet.
Then there was Fintan shooing off the servants, a feast of grapes and cheese and more fae wine set out at the rim of this mammoth tub. Inhaling deeply, body totally relaxed except for the pleasant dull ache between my thighs, I pushed off Elijah’s chest, then reached back to grab a cube of cheese that tasted an awful lot like brie and a handful of grapes. Needing some space, I settled on the marble bench that ran the perimeter of the pool—alone and content and beyond satisfied.
Golden orbs drifted throughout the room, like candlelight only everlasting and much brighter. One touch and you could change the color; I tapped one that floated by and it bled from gold to light green, identical to the juicy grapes in my hand.
“Wine, anyone?” Fintan held up a recently uncorked bottle, shaking it a little. I crinkled my nose with a grimace.
“Gods no,” I insisted. “I’m drunk enough on you three.”
“Stop trying to see if you can make me vomit again,” Elijah growled, his arm stretched along the pool’s porcelain edge, fingers toying distractedly with my hair. “I know your schemes, fae.”
Fintan rolled his eyes and filled a lone champagne flute with a snort. “Fucking lightweights.”
Unable to help myself, I watched, utterly enraptured with the spill of strawberry-pink liquid that sparkled in the orb-light. An explosion of fruity sweetness filled the air around us, but just to be safe, I stuck to my grapes and cheese. Munching away, I settled into the usual post-frolicking chatter in silence, slowly swishing my feet back and forth beneath the bathwater’s bubbly surface. The boys, meanwhile, discussed what tomorrow had in store for us: a trip to a royal vineyard.
Another day spent in a drunken haze, likely to end the same as tonight.
Perfect.
Just the holiday I needed after Xargi, but that was all this was—a holiday. A honeymoon period all new relationships fell into, reality and hard work and maintenance waiting on the cusp of a bubble that could pop at any second.
And it was better to be prepared for that pop than for it sneak up on you.
“So,” I started, grapes and cheese demolished, my hands free to pat at the rose-scented white bubbles, “what’s next?”
“The vineyard,” Rafe drawled, smirking at me when my eyes narrowed. “You really need to work on your listening skills, love.”
I flicked a bit of sudsy water at him. “No, I mean after all that… After all this, what’s next?”
“The world, darling,” Fintan said without missing a beat. He then let out a long, luxurious sigh as he sunk down to his shoulders, arms outstretched, head tipped back, and eyes closed. “The world.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught Elijah shaking his head, my mate operating on a similar wavelength and not always all that impressed with Fintan’s devil-may-care attitude.
“And more realistically?” I asked, glancing between the three. Rafe’s teasing smirk fell away, replaced with a more serious expression, followed by a shrug when our eyes met.
“I think it’ll be time to go home soon,” Elijah remarked after a few pensive moments. But, where, exactly, was home now? After all this time out of Seattle, away from Café Crowley, my apartment, did I even have a home to return to?
Almost as if he had read my mind, Rafe cleared his throat and muttered, “And where do we four call home?”
I drew a soft breath, about to float the option of traveling between the US, Britain, and the Midnight Court for a little while, just to see what we could make of our unique relationship, when Fintan let out another languid sigh and stretched.
“In each other, of course. We find home in each other,” the fae prince announced. When the silence stretched on, he cracked one eye open, then the other, and sat up straighter when I let out a snort-cackle.
“Fintan, I love you, but gross,” I teased.
“Boo,” Rafe added.
“Stop trying to make me vomit, I said,” Elijah barked playfully, all three of us splashing him—and with more than just a flick of water too. A whole tidal wave washed over the fae, who eventually ducked for cover below the surface and swam a ways away, a vampire hot on his heels, the pair cutting through the bathwater with the speed of a great white on the hunt.
Cheesy as it was, he was right. Home was no longer a place with these three, but a feeling. As Elijah and I laughed, each choosing one to cheer on when Fintan and Rafe tussled in the middle of the huge bath, shoving each other and trying to force the other underwater, I knew for a fact that we could be happy anywhere—in this realm or another.
As long as we had each other, we were home.
None of us would ever be lonely again.
And after a lifetime of death and disappointment, loss and loneliness—that sounded pretty fucking phenomenal to me.
The End
Bonus Content
Want to know what happens after THE END?
Looking for a super fluffy scene ten years in the future with Katja and her harem?
I got you covered.
(aka click above for your exclusive scene)
Acknowledgments
Thank you to Amanda, my editorial GODDESS, who is always ready to read my latest first draft word vomit. You make my fears smaller, and that means a lot. Shout out to Sandra, my fantastic proofreader at One Love Editing. You may specialize in contemporary, but I’ll bring you over to the dark side yet.
Much love to my friends, my family, and my sun and stars for always supporting my author dream.
Most of all, thank you, dear reader, for taking this journey with me. When I released my debut reverse harem novel, I had no idea what an amazing, supportive, open community I was diving into, but reverse harem readers are some of the nicest, most wonderful readers out there. I’m so grateful to be in this community, and I can’t wait to share the many, many, many reverse harem romances percolating around the ol’ brain with you for years to come!!
In the meantime, don’t forget to leave a little review, either on Amazon, Goodreads, or your social media. As an indie author, I rely on reader squees to help spread the word about my work, and I appreciate every word you write!
See you in November 2020 for the first book in my academy reverse harem trilogy, Root Rot Academy, which will have a liiiiive release on Amazon and Kindle Unlimited! We all love academy stories, but I personally love to write the sordid romances between professors. And a headmaster. And a surly fae librarian. Wheeeee!!
To make sure you don’t miss out, don’t forget to either join my mailing list by downloading the Caged Kitten bonus content, or by joining my Facebook reader group. I’m really active there, and we have a blast!
See you next time!
xoxoxo
Rhea
About the Author
Rhea Watson is a Canadian reverse harem author who loves a good paranormal romance. She writes layered alpha heroes with rough exteriors who melt for their strong, independent soulmates.
In her spare time, Rhea babies her herb garden, bows to her cat's every whim, and flies through Netflix shows like it's her day job.