Stormy Nights (Storms of Blackwood Book 2) Read online

  When I popped my lips off them, I stood up and stripped out of my gown. "I want you to fuck me. Right now."

  "Think you can handle us both?" Rob asked, spinning me around and shoving his erection into my butt cheek.

  I shook my head, overwhelmed with lust. "I don’t know, but I sure as fuck want to try."

  "Good," Ash groaned, dropping to the floor on his back and pulling me down on top of him. His dick was already slick from my mouth, so he had no trouble easing into me. Then he pulled me down to his chest, exposing my ass.

  "We’re going to do this slow, Jewels," Rob promised. "Roll your hips and see how this feels."

  I did, and as Asher filled one part of me, Rob started to fill the other.

  "Relax, babe," Rob coaxed me as he slid in a bit deeper. "Don’t squeeze."

  Taking a deep breath, I tried my best to remain calm and malleable. It didn’t take long for that calm to morph into intense pleasure though, as they both started moving inside of me.

  "Oh, gods," I moaned, panting like a bitch in heat. The sensations were so powerful, they were almost too much to handle.

  "Slow breaths, Sweets," Ash whispered, staring deep into my eyes as he fucked me. "No hyperventilating and passing out on us."

  I wanted to chuckle, but my body wouldn’t allow it. It was strung too tight, filled to the brim by two of the hottest guys I’d ever seen. Two guys I fucking loved unconditionally.

  I moaned again, feeling my body tense, knowing I was about to explode from the pressure and the pleasure. My magic heightened every sensual stroke, every silken touch, every thrust and every plunge and...

  Then I was coming, crying out as my muscles pulsed from both places, heightening the force of my orgasm that much more. At the carnal sound of my release, both guys growled and groaned as they too let go and came undone.

  The heat of my magic finally died down, and all three of us collapsed into the pillows, panting like crazy.

  "Do you feel better now, Sexy Lexi?" Dan asked with a wicked grin as he tucked his spent dick back into his pants. Cal and Ben did the same. Apparently, they hadn’t let our little show go to waste.

  "Quite," I muttered, practically purring in contentment.

  "Good," Cal grumbled, "because that better be the last damn time Ash touches you before he completes his deal."

  My mouth hung open as I finally realized our error.

  Rob sat up in the pillows and glared across my naked body at Ash. "You little fucker. I can’t believe you cheated like that."

  "It’s not like I meant to!" he shouted back defensively. "She just like..." He shook his head dazedly.

  "Hit you with an undeniable tidal wave of lust and attraction?" Dan filled in.

  Ash pointed at him. "Exactly what he said. How the fuck did that even happen?"

  "It’s the price of her magic," Ben informed him with a smirk. "If she uses her fire, she ends up insatiably horny. The magic spreads out and effects at least one other person, sometimes more. It’s a bit random with its victims, though."

  I snorted. "Victims? As if any of you are in any way, shape, or form unwilling."

  "Willing or not," Rob cut in, "this doesn’t happen again, and it doesn’t mean you’re in either, Shifter Prince. You still have to jump in order to prove yourself."

  "No worries, dickhead," Ash spat with a glare. "I’ll jump, and I’ll flip your dumbass off the whole way down."

  "I’d like to see that happen," Rob growled with a sharp smile.

  "Okay! Now that we’ve got that cleared up..." Ben interjected with an exaggerated roll of his chocolatey brown eyes, "let’s get the fuck out of here before another gang decides to descend and we all get caught up in an orgy. We can’t plan a meeting with the king if we’re fighting and fucking all morning."

  He tossed me my dress before opening a rucksack and passing out swords. Most of the guys already had knives that they kept on their person at all times, but I had no doubt these longer, more lethal weapons would come in handy.

  "I should have done this last night," the Sand Prince muttered as he shook his head in disappointment. He saved me for last, tossing me a small sheathed blade attached to a strap. "Hook that around one of your thighs. You can hide the dagger under your dress—just in case things get... ugly on our way to, or even once we arrive at, the palace."

  I wriggled back into my gown and attached the blade to my thigh. If Ben was expecting enough resistance to merit me wielding a blade, then we were heading into dangerous territory indeed.

  I took a deep breath and squared my shoulders. "I want a sword too."

  Ben glanced at Cal, who glanced at Rob, who glanced at Dan, and so on until they all exchanged the same stupid look.

  I rolled my eyes and sighed dramatically, holding out my hand, palm facing up. "I am not a damsel in distress, assholes. You’re sure as fuck not giving me a tiny little knife just because I’m a woman. I want a damned sword too."

  "I had a feeling you’d say that," Ben muttered, reaching back into the bag and withdrawing a final long sword.

  Like the blade before it, this one also had a sheathe attached to a strap, but this belt was wide enough to fit a pair of hips rather than a single leg. I cinched it tightly around my waist and nodded, a shit-eating grin smeared across my face.

  "Happy now?" Rob asked. His tone sounded half amused, half annoyed.

  "I am," I bit back smugly.

  He shook his head and pushed through the empty inn doorway. "Such a spoiled princess."

  "Such an arrogant dick."

  "An arrogant dick you like to fuck," he retorted.

  The other guys chuckled at our banter as we all filed out of the room, finally on our way to the Eristani palace, at last.

  Chapter 6

  The sooner we left Ravibad, the better.

  We had another jaunt through the desert, but only for a few hours this time, before we came upon the capital city of Erishwar. The closer we got to our destination, the more beautiful things became, and not just because I was totally fucking done with traveling. I mean, it was ten times more beautiful than the rest of the kingdom. It was almost as if the beauty had been transplanted there. There was no way it could have been natural.

  The people were gorgeous and dressed stunningly in shimmering gowns and suits; the buildings were pristine, structural marvels made of the finest white sandstone. The streets were also made of sandstone, and they hadn’t a single crack or stain on them. The environment was lush, and the flora was in bloom—boasting warm shades of pink, scarlet, orange, and gold—thriving as if it somehow received water every day, though I had no idea where it would’ve come from considering we were in a desert. It was seriously just... amazing.

  I figured Blackwood—with their plethora of jewels—would at least have something similar to this, but no. This place was like nothing I’d ever seen.

  In the center of it all stood the palace, surrounded by a ring of water wide enough to hold docks and boats, and beyond that, another ring of buildings that branched out and formed the rest of the city.

  I couldn’t stop gaping. Everywhere I looked I saw something even more amazing or beautiful than before.

  Dan leaned over and slipped his hand around my waist. "I can give you something to fill that mouth if you want."

  I pinched his side, and he chuckled, pulling me even closer.

  Cal and Ben were in the lead, strolling through the fancy streets as if they were right at home.

  "Don’t let the beauty fool you," Ben warned. "It’s deceiving. These people may be richer and prettier than the others, but they are just as lethal. I wouldn’t trust 95 percent of them before dusk."

  Great. Just freaking great. I was bound to say or do something stupid, offensive, or just plain annoying, and we were all going to die. Or, on the off chance that we really were immortal, we would at least get into a fight with Eristan, starting yet another war. Maybe they should have just come without me.

  By the time we reached the water’s
edge, we suddenly found ourselves surrounded by a hoard of winged guards. Their chest plates were black, and the metal was brushed so they didn’t reflect the sun and blind someone, and there were slits at the back that allowed their ebony wings to protrude safely. That was the extent of their armor, though. They didn’t appear to be wearing any clothing beneath the chest plates—unless they wore black muscle shirts or something—and all they wore on their legs were baggy black harem pants.

  Either these guys didn’t do battle very often, or they were so skilled they didn’t need much protection. I was scared it might’ve been the latter.

  Holding our hands up, we let Ben speak on our behalf.

  "We come in peace," the Sand Prince assured them calmly. "We simply wish to have an audience with the King of Eristan."

  The lead guard’s dark chin jutted out. "No one simply walks up to the palace and receives an audience with our royals. Who do you think you are?"

  "The Blackwood Princes and Princess," Ben said confidently.

  The guards looked us over, but we were rough and untidy due to the nonstop traveling we’d done the past couple of weeks. I was sure we looked like nothing of the sort.

  "I do not believe you," the guard growled, jabbing a spear in our general direction. "Leave the city now or pay the price."

  Ben sighed. "What is the price? Jewels? We have jewels."

  The guard spit on the ground at our feet. "Blackwood jewels—"

  "Mean nothing here, yeah, we heard," Rob said sarcastically, waving his hand in the air.

  Ben’s body tensed, as if he were trying damn hard to ignore his brother’s blatant disrespect. "Since when have relations gotten so bad? I thought we were allies?"

  "We were allies when the Storm King wasn’t overtaxing our trade routes to the east," he said mockingly. "He has worn out his welcome in these lands, and so have his jewels."

  Ben cocked his head and raised his brows. "Fair enough. But still, I must insist upon seeing the king. It’s urgent. Please tell them we’re here and that we apologize for not having a formal meeting planned, but we just ran out of time."

  "Save it," the guard snapped, raising his spear in preparation for launching it at us. "The price is death, not jewels. Leave now or meet your demise."

  Dan sucked in a deep breath and lifted his hands, the water from the ring beside us rose into the air like a giant tentacled limb.

  The guards watched in wide-eyed terror and disbelief as the massive wave undulated in the air. "What the gods?"

  Ash used their moment of distraction to morph into a jaguar once more, stalking protectively between them and me.

  Ben smirked as he looked from his brothers over to the guards. "You want to play this game? We’ll play. This is your last warning, though. Take us to see the king."

  The guard’s mouth snapped shut, and he once again jabbed the spear in our direction. "We protect our royals to the death."

  "We’re not here to harm anyone."

  "Attack!" he shouted, waving his men forward.

  As they charged at us, Dan let the wave crash down. Some of them were quick enough to fly out of the way, others were hammered flat into the ground. I wasn’t sure if I could have survived a hit like that and stood back up, but the Eristani guards were apparently quite tough. Less than half of them stayed down, while the rest rose up and rushed at us.

  Panicked, I decided to call on my magic.

  "Fi—" I shouted, but Cal came up behind me and grabbed my mouth, cutting off the word.

  "Please don’t do that." His voice was calm but pleading. "It’ll be so much easier to fight these guys without stopping to have sex in the middle."

  I pried his fingers from my lips and glared. "Fine."

  Reaching down, I tried to unsheathe the sword from my waist, but he halted me again.

  "Don’t do that either."

  I snarled at him and pulled my arm away. "So, what do you want me to do? Just watch, like some princess stuck in a tall tower? I can do shit for myself, Calvin."

  "Don’t think of it like that, Peach," he said as he caught a spear midair with his sky powers and sent it hurtling back at the Eristani guards. "It’s merely a precaution. Save your power and your blades as a last resort. It’s not because you’re incapable of helping; we just shouldn’t go there if we don’t have to."

  Like an indignant child, I plopped onto the ground, spread out my skirts, and crossed my arms and legs. Cal shot me one last apologetic smile before returning to the fight.

  "Whatever," I muttered to myself. "I’ll sit here and stay out of the way. No problem. It doesn’t bother me in the slightest that I’m essentially just a shiny little trophy sitting on their mantle. A trinket they won in the ‘get fucked’ tournament."

  I hated feeling so bratty, but sometimes these powers of mine made shit incredibly difficult. I grabbed a pebble and threw it into the water, huffing. I suppose I could at least count the guards.

  One, two, three, four, five, and six on the ground after the wave. Seven with a spear in his chest. Eight hanging from a statue of a horse. Nine with jaguar teeth in his throat. Plus, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, and fourteen still standing—or flying—and battling it out.

  I threw another rock into the water, sighing as the ripples slowly spread further and further outward. But in the water’s reflection, I saw a boat coming at us—not an armored ship on the verge of attack but a fancy cruiser carrying what looked to be a royal entourage.

  I glanced up and saw them sailing closer with my own eyes. At the helm was a shirtless man with black harem pants and washboard abs, a golden crown sitting crooked on his head. Directly behind him was a woman dressed in similar attire: black baggy pants and a bikini top with sashes attached to her elbows, wrists, knees, and ankles. Beyond her, an entire crowd of "jewel diggers," as Rob would call them, stood biting at the bit, waiting anxiously to get acknowledged by one of the royals.

  "Enough!" the man shouted from the boat—the one who I presumed to be the King of Eristan. He lifted his arms high in the air. "What is this nonsense about?"

  Everyone paused midpunch, except Ash, who intentionally launched onto an upturned spear. I stood and dusted off my gown, subtly moving in front of him so he could shift back unseen.

  "King Solomon," Ben said, bowing deeply. "It has been too long."

  "Prince Benson?" he asked curiously. His black wings spread out wide, and he glided from the boat onto dry land.

  Their entrance was a little excessive. I mean, what was the point in the fancy boat if they could all fly?

  King Solomon strolled closer, looking suspicious. "Why in the gods are you here? And without a formal declaration or invitation."

  Ben sighed, still a bit breathless from fighting. "I told them to tell you, but they wouldn’t listen; they insisted on getting their asses kicked first. We have urgent business to discuss."

  King Solomon looked around, assessing the number of guards he’d just lost, then shook his head. "You owe me big-time now, Storm Prince. That’s a bad position to be in, considering I’m already angry at your rudeness for showing up unannounced."

  "Our deepest and sincerest apologies, Your Majesty," Ben repeated once more.

  Solomon pursed his lips and waved a hand over his head. "Come on. We’ll chat inside over a smoke and a drink."

  I glanced at the princes, wondering where Ash had disappeared to, when a cute little brown bird perched on my shoulder. It cocked its head, showcasing a tiny red dot on its throat, and chirped pleasantly.

  "Well, if it isn’t my little Speedy bird," I said, smiling as I boarded the king’s vessel after the others.

  It only took a few minutes to cross the ringed lake and moor on the other side, and that’s when it hit me: the boat must have been for us. I kind of felt like an idiot.

  Inside the palace, there were all sorts of interesting things—statues of wild animals and oversized plants cut from marble, gold, and crystal. But also, real-life animals strolling through the halls—white
tigers, leopards, lemurs, sloths, and birds—and real-life plants and vegetation weaving themselves into the very essence of the sandstone walls.

  I glanced at Speedy on my shoulder and shook my head. "This place is pretty incredible, huh?"

  He chirped flatly, and I had a feeling he was unimpressed with the excessive grandiose.

  The king took his throne, sitting with his legs spread wide, hand on a scepter that must’ve been sitting there waiting for him. "What urgent business are we talking about, little prince?"

  I quirked a brow. Little prince? If it weren’t for the few strands of silver in the king’s black hair, I would have guessed he and Ben were close to the same age.

  A handful of scantily dressed servants sauntered in, delivering trays of drinks and tins of rolled-up weeds for smoking. They sort of reminded me of djinn, creatures I’d sometimes read about in fantasy romance novels, and I half-assed wondered if they were attached to a lamp somewhere.

  "I want to discuss the old Treaty O’ Ley," Ben said as he took a rolled-up tube of weed and lit it on a flaming bowl of liquid that one of the servant girls was bringing around.

  "Out of the question," the king said easily, blowing smoke into the air. "Those lands are sacred to us. The last time we made that arrangement, we didn’t know what it would mean. In that amount of time, almost all of our chimeras have become extinct."

  "Chimeras?" I accidentally blurted out as I carefully picked up one of the rolls of weed. As in, the same creature that the Storm King wanted us to acquire an egg from?

  The king turned to me. "Yes, rude girl. Chimeras. Eristan’s sacred animal and idol."

  "Can I see one?" I asked, because I guess if I was already being called rude, I may as well actually earn the title.

  I lit the end of my roll on the flaming bowl and tried my damnedest to keep from coughing. I’d never done this before, but obviously I didn’t want to look like a total fucking dumbass, so I exhaled quickly and took a few deep gulps of oxygen before trying again.

  He sighed and rubbed a hand across his face. "What part of nearly extinct do you not understand?"

  I shrugged, taking in a slightly deeper breath of the weed this time. I could practically feel the smoke swirling around in my lungs. Oddly enough, it was almost relaxing.