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Chapter Fifty

Aurelia

A s Lorenzo and I emerge into my bedroom, Raul lets out a guffaw. “That was a short diversion. What?—?”

His gaze catches on the glistening white fruits cradled in my arms, and he cuts off his words with a low whistle of awe.

“I wanted to share the bounty.” I walk over to hand one of the pumellos to Raul and another to Bastien.

Marc pushes off the door and stalks over to join us. His face is unreadable, but his tone sounds more wry than critical. “Pillaging my pumellos, are you?”

I arch an eyebrow at him. “I believe they’re my pumellos now. I did bring one for you.”

“Well, I suppose now that it’s already picked…”

He accepts the pale fruit and turns it in his hand as if examining the tender skin for flaws.

Raul and Bastien have already bitten into theirs .

“Fuck,” Raul mumbles around his mouthful.

Bastien closes his eyes with a worshipful expression that makes my offering worthwhile all on its own.

Lorenzo ambles up beside me, taking another bite of the fruit we’ve been sharing and holding it out to me for a turn. As I sink my teeth into the soft flesh, the incredible tart sweetness is amplified by my memories of the first pumello we ate together, more than a year ago.

Back then, I thought I was only seeking allies to help me survive until I could be married. I assumed my life would revolve around Marclinus and nudging the empire toward a better path in what subtle ways I could manage.

I never imagined I’d find myself with not one but four husbands, all of whom I’ve given my heart to fully. That I’d end up ruling the empire rather than dabbling from the sidelines.

That I’d be leading the charge against a horde of traitors in order to save not just my position but all our lives.

The last thought brings a bitter tang into my mouth that offsets the sweetness. I swallow hard and turn back to Lorenzo.

He strokes my cheek before taking the fruit from me. There’s so much affection in his deep brown eyes that it buoys me out of the gloom.

Tonight, we’re not yet at war. Tonight, we can celebrate what we have rather than mourning what we might lose.

Marc finally bites into his own pumello. He stares down at the faintly pinkish flesh as he chews, his eyes widening slightly. With his next bite, he savors it even more slowly.

His gaze lifts to meet mine. “You know… I don’t think I’ve ever actually eaten one before. We’ve had the tree my whole life—I assumed I must have—but Linus did tend to claim the special feasts. I can’t recall ever tasting this flavor. ”

The startled delight in his tone brings a smile to my lips. “I’m glad you had the opportunity now.”

A short laugh tumbles out of him. “You do have a habit of yanking me into new territory. You’re the real treasure in this room.”

He sets the pumello aside and traces his fingers up my jaw to draw me into a kiss. My pulse hiccups with the brush of his lips against mine, the matching sweetness mingling.

We’ve kissed in front of my other lovers before, but only when Bastien commanded the former emperor. My princes have never had to watch our intimacy unprompted—not since the days when Linus would force his attentions on me in front of the court.

Marc must catch my hesitation. His posture tenses, and he moves to draw back.

I catch the front of his jacket before he can and press my mouth to his hard, pouring all the devotion that’s grown between us into the act.

He might have been the last of my husbands to find his way into my heart even though he was the first to claim the role, but I don’t want him to feel that I place him lower than them in some hierarchy of love. I wouldn’t be here without him any more than I’d be here without them.

I can no longer imagine my life without all of them by my side.

Whatever worries I might have had about the princes’ reactions vanish the moment we break from the kiss. Lorenzo is beaming as if he couldn’t have pictured a better progression to our evening, and a sly glint has lit in Bastien’s eyes. Raul’s mouth has formed a familiar smirk.

The gleam of gold on their hands reminds me that there’s one other way I should confirm my devotion before we leave tomorrow. I slip away from them to my vanity and reach into the back of one drawer .

When I turn back to Marc, I’m clutching the fourth gold ring he had fashioned. “I believe this is yours. You’ve gone too long without it.”

The smolder that lights in the former emperor’s eyes sets my body aflame in turn. He holds out his hand and lets me fit the slim gold band around his forefinger.

The words I’ve never spoken directly to him spill from my tongue so easily now. “I swear before all the gods to love and honor you from now until my last breath leaves me.”

A strangled sound escapes Marc, and then he’s kissing me again, so hard my head spins.

My princes give us our moment, but Raul has never been the patient sort.

As Marc teases his fingers along my jaw and tilts my face for another kiss, the prince of Lavira steps forward to slide his arm around my waist. “Well, if we’re getting started on the full festivities…

We’d better all satisfy our wife to the best of our abilities, hadn’t we? ”

When I glance toward him, he grazes his thumb across my lips, provoking a tingle of heat. His gaze flicks across his foster brothers. “No slacking tonight, any of you.”

While Bastien snorts at the warning, Raul claims my mouth. A heady tingle spreads through the rest of my body. It condenses in my sex with a throb of need.

“So damned beautiful,” Bastien murmurs, kissing the side of my neck from behind. He teases his fingers over my hair to free the upswept strands from their pins. A magic-conjured breeze ripples beneath my dress to lick at my skin.

I turn to capture his lips next. The prince of Cotea kisses me as if he could bring me to life with just the passion of his embrace.

Then he takes charge of our whole company in the way Bastien does best. “We don’t want to keep our empress from her sleep too long. Let’s get her out of this dress and thoroughly satisfied without any further delay. ”

As Raul gets to work on the lacings, I tug at Bastien’s shirt. “I shouldn’t be the only one getting stripped down.”

He grins. “No, your eyes should be satisfied too, shouldn’t they, Star?”

He motions to the others and hauls his own shirt over his head, rumpling his auburn hair into an even more endearing state. Marc gives another halting laugh before pulling off his guard jacket and the shirt beneath.

Lorenzo sheds both shirt and trousers without remark and takes over the loosening of my gown when Raul pauses to toss aside his tunic. Marc glances around at the other men, and a shadow crosses his face.

“I’m sorry,” he says, abrupt but quiet.

He’s looking at the dull pink shape of the imperial crest branded on Bastien’s chest just below his godlen mark. The brand all three of the princes bear, that Marclinus ordered me to sear into their skin.

We all go still, the fraught memory sweeping over us all.

“Was it your idea?” I have to ask, the words snagging before I can propel them from my throat.

Marc shakes his head. “Linus proposed it—and pushed for us to go through with it, when he was caught up in his jealousies… which I suppose were both valid and utterly unfair. But I agreed. I oversaw the branding. He wanted me to be the one observing your reactions.”

His gaze shifts to me. “You never let how much you cared show even then. Even when I made you…”

He can’t seem to go on.

I take his hand in mine, twining our fingers. “I cared so much it gave me strength. Better a brand than seeing the men I love executed because I failed to hide that love.”

Maybe that’s what Sabrelle understands the least about me.

Love has never been part of her domain. But every act of violence I’ve committed, every torment I’ve endured to gain the power I have, it’s been for love—for my country, for the people who’ve suffered, for my friends and family and the men I can now call my husbands.

Raul folds his arms over his chest in an arrogant pose. “Give us a little credit too. We’re the ones who got burned.”

Marc’s expression stutters. “Of course. I meant the apology mainly to you. I?—”

Raul claps him on the shoulder with a chuckle. “You’re going to have to put up with a lot more hassling if you’re sticking around, my no-longer-imperial foster brother. This one isn’t that hard to forgive. It’s her crest now. None of us mind being marked with that.”

Bastien cocks his head, the glint in his eyes brightening. “Perhaps Marc needs one of his own. I’m sure he wouldn’t want to be left out.”

Marc’s jaw works. “It would be reasonable compensation.”

Lorenzo waves the discussion aside with a roll of his eyes. “We’re long past it now. And the two of you already scarred him in a much more obvious way. Let’s not get so caught up in the past that we neglect our woman right now.”

He trails his lips along my jaw and tugs my dress down at the same time, and all the other men’s gazes snap back to me.

Raul’s voice drops to a seductive purr. “I’m sorry, Shepherdess. We shouldn’t have gotten diverted from the real goal.”

He drags the gown past my waist so the silk puddles around my feet. Then he pulls my drawers after the dress and nudges up my chemise so he can bring his mouth to the place I need it most.

With the first swipe of Raul’s tongue over my sex, I gasp. Marc lets out a growl as if unwilling to be outdone and drinks in my next whimpers with an emphatic kiss.

He draws back just far enough for Bastien and Lorenzo to strip off my chemise. As my first husband dives back in, his foster brothers turn their attentions to my breasts. Bastien laps his hot tongue over one nipple while Lorenzo teases the other between his nimble musician’s fingers.

I stroke my hands down Marc’s chest and over Lorenzo’s shoulders, rake my fingers through Bastien’s hair and grip Raul’s dark strands until they pull free from his short ponytail.