Page 51 of What Fury Brings (Wrath and Fury #1)

Olerra dressed in her finest armor and tunic.

Glenaerys would have worn some fancy dress, but Olerra was a warrior first, and she would remind all the nobility of it.

Her victory over Atalius happened only a few weeks ago, but her battle garb would be a perfect reminder of how she’d thwarted her cousin and their greatest enemy in a single night.

Ydra did her hair in battle braids. The strands were combed to impressive volume atop her head. Then every piece of hair was plaited down her back. The plaits were braided into one long thick braid that rested over one shoulder. She wondered if she resembled her mother at all.

All week the Amarrans had been celebrating. The five hundredth anniversary of the Goddess’s Gift deserved no less. Olerra had spent the week with Sanos, enjoying the foods and drink and dancing. They were both free to be themselves around each other for the first time, and it was glorious.

Her wounds were healing nicely. Only the one in her side still troubled her some when she bent the wrong way. Otherwise, she was up and back to normal, with restrictions on her training with the troops.

Today, the nobility would vote on the next successor, and tomorrow, Olerra would be wedded. She was most looking forward to tonight, however.

She’d gotten approval from the healer to explore nightly activities, as long as she was careful and stopped should anything cause pain.

She would tell Sanos after the vote, which would happen in the throne room.

Olerra’s personal guard escorted her there now.

Her prince was at her side, dressed in a fine shirt and pants.

The deal was that he could wear Brutish clothing as long as his left bicep was always bare. Sanos was more than happy to oblige.

“Are you nervous?” he asked her.

“An Amarran general is never nervous,” she said.

At the look he gave her, she admitted, “A little.”

He reached over and took her hand. “No matter what happens, it will be all right. The vote is really only a formality at this point, isn’t it?”

“Not necessarily.”

“They’d really still allow your cousin to rule?”

“No, but they could vote on a distant relative of mine.”

“Now you’re just being ridiculous.”

She cracked the knuckles of her free hand. “Spoken like someone who already has his throne secured. How would you feel if everyone took a vote and decided Canus got to rule?”

“Relieved, most likely.”

She rolled her eyes. It wasn’t that her man lacked ambition. More like he’d never had to fight for his role. It was simply given to him. It was a wonder he hadn’t turned into some spoiled brat as a result.

The doors to the throne room opened wide, and Olerra and her entourage stepped through. Sanos kissed her hand before releasing her so she could walk to the dais. She winked at him before she went.

Her aunts sat on twin thrones. Surrounding them were the remaining council members: Enadra, Cyssia, and Usstra. Then there was Menina, a wealthy viscountess who had taken Shaelwyn’s place.

Olerra strode up the steps before kneeling before the women surrounding her, submitting herself to their decision.

The room was fuller than usual. Nobility from all over Amarra had traveled to join in the celebrations for the Goddess’s Gift. They were there to cast their votes, which they would have done before Olerra was admitted into the room. The decision was already made. She only had to wait to hear it.

The queen stood. “Olerra Corasene, we have taken our vote. We were all very impressed with your victory over the king of Brutus and the way you exposed your cousin’s treasonous schemes.” Lemya nodded to Usstra.

“However,” Usstra said, “you are Giftless, a fact that you hid from all of us. For that, we considered several of your third cousins for the role of crown princess.”

Olerra caught her gasp before it was audible. Her body went cold as she realized she was about to be embarrassed publicly. Some cousin was about to be invited to join her on the dais.

After everything, it still wasn’t enough.

Sanos’s face rose behind her closed eyes.

And she felt peace.

All would be well. Olerra didn’t have to hide who she was anymore. She would marry the man she loved soon, and no matter what, she would rule Brutus at his side and make things better for the women living there. It was enough.

Enadra took up her part of the speech. “We posed every eligible woman to the nobility for a majority vote.”

“It was nearly unanimous,” Menina said.

Cyssia smiled. “We bestow the title of crown princess to you.”

“Rise, Olerra,” the queen said.

It was emotional whiplash. Olerra raised her head and blinked up at her aunt. Somehow she found the strength to make the muscles in her legs work. Behind her, the room was applauding.

Lemya held a hand out to her, and Olerra took it. The queen turned her to face the room. “Witness your next queen, Crown Princess Olerra Corasene!”

The cheering grew louder. Olerra felt her eyes watering, and she could do nothing to stop it. She laughed as tears fell down her face. Toria and Lemya embraced her. Then all the nobility in the room swarmed her.

It was hours of chatting and appeasing nobles. Everyone in the room seemed to want to talk to his betrothed, now that she was officially heir.

He was so proud of her. Proud of what they’d accomplished together.

When Olerra finally broke away from the crowd, she took his hand. “Let’s go, please.”

They couldn’t make a clean getaway. A few more people stopped them, but when they finally reached the hallway, Olerra sighed.

“Let’s get some food in you,” Sanos suggested. When they reached her rooms, he sent a eunuch off for refreshments.

After the ale and bread arrived, the two of them sat on a comfy sofa by the window. Olerra took a long drink.

“I’m crown princess,” she said.

“Yes,” he agreed.

“You’re the king of Brutus.”

“Yes.”

“We’re getting married tomorrow.”

“Yes.”

She turned to him, her eyes finally focusing. “I thought saying it out loud might help to make it all feel more real.”

“And does it?”

“A little. Not enough.”

“What do you need?”

Olerra smiled, plucking the drink from his hand and putting it on the table next to her own. She took his hand and dragged him toward the bed.

“You,” she said. “I need you. Right now.”

Sanos felt his blood heat. He was hard in an instant, but he tried to make his brain work. “Your injuries.”

“The healer said I could if I was careful.”

He narrowed his eyes. “Are you being truthful?”

“Would I lie to you?”

“For sex?”

She laughed. “I promise.”

And then she was kissing him.

All his noble intentions went out the window as he decided to believe her.

Gods, but he loved this woman so much. It had been torture to wait for her to heal.

To not touch her when she’d done so much for him.

Killing his father. Offering him a kingdom.

Making him her seul. The extent of his feelings was overwhelming.

And now she was kissing him. He tried to keep his lips gentle, but Olerra was ravaging his mouth with hers. She stood on her toes, got a fist in his hair, and worked her lips over his. She kissed like she wanted to claim him as her own. As if he could ever be anyone else’s.

He was scared to touch her, so he went slow, letting his fingers go to the back of her neck, securing her lips to his. His left hand went to the indent of her waist so he could press their hips together.

She made a little noise in her throat that he was going to try to never forget.

Suddenly impatient, Sanos pressed his tongue against her lips, needing to be inside.

She opened. Their tongues danced, and he was swept away with how right this was. To kiss a woman who kissed him because she wanted him. Not because he paid her. She’d initiated this kiss, and the thought of that somehow made him harder.

Olerra drew his tongue into her mouth and sucked on it. It was a move so reminiscent of sex that he felt himself shaking with need. He did his best to ignore his own urges, letting her decide the pace. She was injured. He needed to be care—

She shoved him backward onto the bed. He scooted toward the middle, keeping his eyes on hers. He watched as she removed her armor, one piece at a time. Then she crawled up over him.

Shit.

He tugged off his shirt and kicked off his sandals. She helped him with his pants. Though she was still fully clothed in her tunic, he was entirely naked, and she took him in hand.

He grunted, tilting back his head against the mattress.

“Eyes on me,” she instructed.

“Yes, Olerra,” he said.

“Good boy.” She bent down and licked him from shaft to tip.

“Fucking hell. If you do that again, I swear I won’t last.”

She harrumphed. “I thought you Brutes were supposed to be virile. Doesn’t that mean you recover quickly?”

His eyes heated. “Yes, we recover quickly, but not so quickly as to—”

She sucked the head between her lips.

“Dammit, Olerra.”

He could feel her smile around him, and he nearly came from that sensation and knowledge. The smugness emanating off her. His woman was sexy as hell.

She took him all the way to the back of her throat, without so much as gagging, and he wondered what manner of apparatus she’d practiced on to be able to do this effortlessly. Was it another phallus from her kit? Gods, she’d be the death of him.

She toyed with him, just like when she fucked him with her fingers. She’d take up a rhythm, then pause to suckle the head or explore the underside of his shaft. He was going mad with need, which he suspected was exactly where she wanted him.

It was so good, but there was something he wanted even more. He needed her mouth free so he could hear the one thing that had been missing from their time together.

“Please, Olerra,” he begged. “Come up here.”

She drew her mouth off him entirely, and he whimpered at its absence.

She crawled up him until she straddled him. Then, slowly, she sat, taking him inside her.

He watched her face carefully, looking for any sign of pain, whether from him or her wounds. He could see nothing but ecstasy.

“Just a moment,” she said. He could feel her internal walls contracting around him, getting used to the feel of him. It was the most perfect fit. He couldn’t remember it feeling better.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“I’m perfect,” she said.

“Then why—”

“Because I’m so close to coming, and I don’t want this to be over before it really even starts, so let me breathe a moment.”

That shut him up.

He looked down, registering that the first two fingers of her right hand were wet. She’d been touching herself while sucking on him. No wonder she was ready to come. How could she multitask so splendidly?

He reached out a hand to move her braid over her shoulder, then rose to kiss her neck.

“That’s not helping,” she said.

“What shall I do, then? Talk of mundane things?”

She laughed. “No. I don’t think that will help.”

He nuzzled her. “If you come early, I will only make you come twice. Now, please, for the love of all five gods, move, woman.”

The look she gave him was a mixture of irritation and arousal, two things that always seemed to go hand in hand with them. He kissed the expression from her lips.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” she said. “In the bedroom, I’m in charge.”

He arched a brow. “But you’re in charge outside of the bedroom. Shouldn’t I be permitted to be in charge here?”

She smiled slowly. “How about we take turns?”

“Agreed. Now fucking move your hips.”

She did.

So slowly it was agonizing. He put his hands on her waist, careful of the gauze still covering the wound made by his father. He tried to make her move faster, but she resisted, laughing.

“If you weren’t injured,” he threatened, “I’d have you on your back before you could blink. Then we’d see who’s laughing.”

“Poor prince,” she said. “Maybe you could think of something to do to entice me to go faster.”

At first, he thought she wanted him to bargain here in the bedroom, but then he understood. He licked his thumb before placing it over her clit.

“Good boy,” she said, and then she really moved.

Sanos tried to take it all in at once. The shaking of the bed. Her panting breaths. The sweat on her skin mixing with his. The feel of her sex against his finger. Being wrapped in her tight, wet folds. It was too much. It wasn’t enough. It was everything he never knew he needed.

He leaned forward and nipped at her breasts, and that only made her go faster. He was more breathing against her than anything else. Holding on. Trying to last until—

“Sanos!”

That was what he wanted. To hear his name on her lips. Gods, he’d wanted it more than he’d wanted his next breath.

It was all he needed to join her.