Page 116 of The Queen

The others stilled, brows coming together in concentration. Lex finally spoke. “You smell like spiced honey, but there is a hint of caramel and burnt sugar that’s never been there before.”

Ghost licked my belly button and let out a laugh. “That’s gotta be the baby.”

“Are you happy, little one?”

I blinked back the sting in my eyes when Grey asked me that. Was I? I hadn’t given myself time to think about it, but I already knew the answer. “I’m happy.” My heart felt huge, and I struggled to fill my lungs. “We’re safe now. I have everything I’ve ever wanted. More than I dreamed possible. I’m so very, very happy.”

“Good,” Shadow murmured as he pushed his thickness past my slick entrance, stretching me just right.

I sucked in a shuddering breath and arched my back against him, but he caught my hip in his grip. “Relax, omega. Let me make you feel good.”

Grey’s lips met mine, his tongue sinking in to coax me into a sultry dance. My hand dropped to his belly and snuck beneath his shorts to cradle his length. A slick wet mouth closed over my throbbing nub, sucking gently, and my other hand fell to Ghost’s spiky hair. Big hands cradled my breast, catching the sensitive peak between calloused knuckles with the perfect amount of pressure.

I felt contentment radiating through the bond. A chorus of purrs vibrated to life and mine joined in. Their soft strokes and warm skin lulled me to sleep. I couldn’t imagine anything better.

I was full to the brim, heart and body, and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

Epilogue

Saphyra

Awarm breeze that smelled like rain whipped through the tower windows, sending our newly installed white curtains billowing. Between the ripples of translucent fabric, glimpses of our castle and the village beyond shone bright under shimmering rainbow light.

Pale, peachy stone stretched out below my perch. The walls and turrets had been rebuilt as if nothing had ever knocked them down, and the arched gateways were repaired like new again. The place where I’d been born was starting to feel like home. The bad memories faded and fresh ones replaced them every day.

From my vantage, I could see the sheen of sweat glinting off Lex and Grey’s backs as they worked on the stable roof in the bailey together. Jared took pity on them and offered to help while Robin and baby Esme played near the newly replanted oak tree we’d transported here from the Pit.

Albion looked on from the bed of flowers shed planted in the courtyard. The reliable alpha had hung up her gun and picked up pruning shears as soon as the last of the traitors had been shipped beyond the defense shield. I couldn’t remember a time when the gardens looked better. The kitchen overflowed with tomatoes and okra, of all things. I never liked the slimy vegetable, but there was always more than enough to go around now. Surplus was carted across the river to the village that had sprung up out of the ruins of the fallen city.

Clouds danced on the horizon, promising a summer storm. I tapped the touch panel on the wall and sheets of glass slid down to cover the arched openings, keeping out the draft. The mechanism was nearly silent, but I still glanced at my nest, where it was arranged snuggly in the corner.

In the center of the fluffy blankets, Shadow napped with our twins held protectively on his tattooed chest.

Onyx, with her jet black tuft of hair and golden eyes that matched her brothers, seemed to watch me from across the room. Her fingers were tucked into Jasper’s curled fist while he slept.

My whole life, I’d been told that omegas had a hard time conceiving, and that twins were an impossibility. But there they were, rare and precious, both testing with a high likelihood of maturing into omegas themselves.

My hand fell to my rounded belly. So far, we’d been lucky. It probably helped to have four ravenous Star-blessed mates that couldn’t keep their hands to themselves. Or maybe it was just this place.

Violet waddled in, looking about ready to burst. She was less than a week from her due date and she wouldn’t slow down for anything, despite Maddox kidnapping her at every opportunity. “Axion requested your presence, ma’am. He said there was a holocom from Pharanax.” Her voice was low, but her eyes were bright.

I held back a squeal and hurried over to my nest. I pressed a kiss to the top of Jasper’s downy brown hair and then to Onyx’s obsidian curls. Shadow deserved a little longer to sleep. Sometimes I thought he loved them more than me, which was really saying something. When I went to stand, I noticed his lids were open a fraction and his midnight eyes pierced into me.

“I didn’t mean to wake you,” I whispered.

His smile was lazy and very sexy. It made me want to kiss it off his face, but… “There’s a holocom from Pharanax.” I leaned in to give him a kiss, but he caught my lower lip between his teeth and dragged the sharp points over the full curve of plump flesh, leaving me flushed and flustered.

“Better hurry, then.” He did his best not to wake the twins, and his words were so quiet, I almost couldn’t hear them.

But I understood him just the same. I spun on my toes, my airy gown floating around my bare feet and rushed down the stairs, hurrying past a grinning Violet and into Ghost’s office.

I tried to play it off, but he could feel my excitement through the bond. I wasn’t fooling anyone. “I was told there was a call for me?”

He grabbed my wrist and tugged me onto his lap. “If I knew you’d come this fast, I’d try that more often.” He nuzzled the silver and blue mate mark his bite had resolved into, sending tingles shivering over my skin.

The holocom blinked on, and staring back at me was my purple-haired best friend, Lyrah, the new queen of Pharanax.

“Just because you send me extravagant gifts doesn’t mean I’m not still mad at you for dragging my head of security away,” I teased, wanting nothing more than to reach out and hug her, but she wasn’t really there. The holocom she’d gifted us displayed a 3d holographic representation of the people on the call.

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