Page 57 of The Queen's Line

Cosmo had wrestled my dress off my shoulders and down below my breasts, and he was also straddling Owen's thighs, sitting behind me with his hands on my breasts and his mouth on my throat. Owen groaned as I clutched his length, his thumb urgent on my swollen clit.

I wasn't even coming and the room was blooming, massive red flowers with bright yellow stamens coming to life, old stems and herbs and trees growing lush with life again as the Hunger swam through my veins, thrilled to be sated, to be fed.

"Please," I breathed, and then shouted as Cosmo pinched the tips of my breasts and Owen bucked roughly in his own finish.

I came with a long series of shudders, and the colors of fresh flowers went wild around the room, iron groaning above us as the greenhouse repaired itself, stained glass shining tinted light to the floor, iron wrapping into swirling patterns with a great exclamation of relief. One that I echoed with a whimper as I fell forward onto Owen's heaving chest.

* * *

I trembled,skin sweaty and covered in goosebumps since Owen had thrown the windows of my bedroom open. Cosmo kissed the inside of my thigh, gently pulling his fingers free, an embarrassing flood of fluids trailing after his touch. Owen turned his head against my breast, nibbling lightly on my nipple and laughing as I swatted him away.

"No-no more. I…can't," I said weakly. That was the thing though—Icould. The Hunger was there, even after the day of indulging the urge it remained, mingling with the aftershocks and exhaustion, nipping along my sensitive skin and everywhere that Cosmo and Owen touched me.

"Sore?" Cosmo rasped, pushing himself up on wobbling arms and rolling slowly away from me. Cool air filled his place, and it was every bit as sensual a touch as his, slightly humid from an approaching rainstorm.

We'd indulged the Hunger for three days, but it was as if feeding it only made it that much stronger, every morning it would wake twice as voracious. Today the three of us had barely rested,Ihad barely taken a breath, since I'd woken with Owen hard against my ass. An entire day of hiding away from anyone else, moving through the castle and experimenting with the Hunger. With each other, really.

Cosmo leaned down on the bed, close to my side without touching, and reached out to brush sweaty strands of hair away from my forehead.

I shook my head and furrowed my brow. "No. Awareness, yes, but not sore. I can't think of ever hearing my mother or any of the queen's line complain of soreness," I said. Cosmo and Owen had taken their turns with me until their cocks tired after a brief dinner, and then they had sated the Hunger with their fingers and mouths until the air around us was hot and heavy with magic.

"Mm, perhaps it's part of the gift of your family," Cosmo said.

"The Hunger has passed now?" Owen asked, settling in at my back, although he had none of Cosmo's qualms for touching me.

I bit my lip, and Cosmo's lips twitched as he watched me. "I… No, it hasn't. Having the two of you close doesn't really…calm it."

"We don't have to stop," Owen rumbled, kissing my shoulder and draping a heavy arm around my waist to reach up and palm my breast, making my breath catch.

"I…I'm not sure…" My eyes fell shut as Owen mouthed along my throat. My skin was tender from all the attention I'd already received, but there was a burn and itch for more beneath that.

"I'm not sure Bryony's lust and the Hunger's exactly overlap," Cosmo said gently, making Owen pause, his rough cheek tickling against the lobe of my ear.

"Oh! Is that…?" Owen started to pull away, and my hand slapped over his arm, moving his hand down to my ribs but keeping him close as I rolled and pushed myself up against the pillows so I could see them both.

"I don't know," I admitted, my eyes trailing over their languid forms around me on the bed. Perhaps seeing them wasn't the wisest idea. Owen and Cosmo were exquisite, similar and contrasting all at once. They both hadspectacularasses, ones I thrilled in clutching as they thrust into me over and over while I—

I bit my lip as my core clenched on nothing at the memory.

Cosmo laughed, startling me out of my reverie as he reached a hand up and covered my eyes with his palm. "Clear your head, Bryony. Owen, get her a robe and find us something to cover up in. I think we ought to speak a little more before we continue to indulge."

I sighed and let my eyes fall shut again as Owen slid away and the cool air from the open windows reached me, clearing away some of the fog of sex and sweat with the fresh night's empty fragrance. Silk followed, kissing over my shoulders, and Cosmo's hands joined mine in dressing me. The bed rustled around me as I took deep, clean breaths until my men went still and Owen's fingers brushed my knee.

It wasn't really better to open my eyes again. Cosmo and Owen were still bare chested, and my fingers itched to comb through the dark hair on their broad chests, to warm my lips on their skin and find traces of our flavors mingling there. I turned my head to the window instead, admiring the faint moonlight gilding the leaves of the trees outside the palace, instead of the candlelight playing on skin I still longed to taste and touch again.

"I am…afraid I will become like the rest of the women in the queen's line. Indulging in the power and neglecting my duties to the kingdom," I said after a pause of quiet, finding it easier to speak to the night rather than the men across from me. "I still don't know everything I can and can't do with this power, it seems to act on its own instruction."

"You know you can direct it," Cosmo reminded me gently. "How much focus did it take you to repair the chandelier?"

"A little, not a great deal. But did I repair it or make an entirely new one?" I asked, glancing at him with a frown. "Just because I can send magic in a direction, doesn't make me reliable if I don't know what will happen as a result. All evening with you both, I've made no effort to control it aside from being careful not to force either of you."

"Well, the curtains and bedding are mended and the drafts are likely gone too," Owen said, and I could see his easy shrug out of the corner of my eyes. "And I think you should practice your control over us. If we're comfortable with it, it would be better for you to know exactly how it works."

"Bryony," Cosmo said softly, leaning forward and reaching for my chin, turning my face to his. Dark eyes snagged against mine. "You have a good heart. A better heart than most monarchs. Your enjoyment of sex won't change that. You have already proven thatyoucontrol your Hunger to a degree. It's only been three days, and nothing bad has happened as a result."

As if it felt the need to prove him wrong, Hunger surged. Or perhaps it was only affection. Either way, it launched me forward, Cosmo catching me easily around the waist as I pressed my mouth to his, my hands holding him in place for my tasting. He had me on his lips, tart and musky, and I sucked on the flavor, more interested in remembering how it had gotten there than the actual taste.

Then I slowed the kiss, holding the Hunger back as I eased away to smile up at him. "Thank you."