Weddings Bells Times Four (2 page)

Edward didn’t know who was more stunned, himself or the man he was about to sentence to death. “Morgan!” Edward called, as he threw his assistant to the floor as Morgan he entered.

“Take him downstairs and lock him up. He’ll be the appetizer for tomorrow’s council meet,” Edward said, as he pushed past one of his personal assistants.

“But he’s Governor Broward’s son!” Morgan had lifted Avril up by the throat. “You sure you really want to do this?”

Stopping in his tracks, Edward growled. “I am sick and tired of being questioned! Does anyone else want to question my rulings?” He turned full circle, daring anyone to say a word before his gaze landed on Morgan.

It seemed as if the castle itself held still, waiting. “I’ll only say this once. Beth is my wife. My woman. If any of you can’t accept that, leave now. As for the Governor…” He turned to see the man in question, stepping into the hall.

The Governor looked at his son, and then at Edward. At once the man fell to his knees and bowed his head to the floor. “Please take me instead. Whatever he has done, I will accept his punishment.”

“Even your death,” Edward said, and gasps erupted all around them. He was furious. In over 200 years no one has dared defy him and all of a sudden two of his closest friends had questioned his judgment.

The Governor looked up. His gaze went from him to something behind him. “My King?”

“Beth, come here.” Edward held out his hand and she placed hers in to it. He squeezed her hand. “This man has offered to take the place of his son, Avril. He’d receive his punishment for ruining your special day, so I’m letting you decided their fate.”

She stiffened and glared at him. “What is his punishment?”

“Death,” Edward stared at her. A touch of her magic rose and pushed out into the room. Gasps were all he heard as her power brushed over everyone, shocking them. She’d kept her talent hidden ever since that night so long ago.

She was furious. Beth had decided to come back and deal with the issue at hand with Edward, and what does he do but put the lives of two men in her hands. Beth closed her eyes and counted to ten before opening them again.

“Neither of them will die for something that is so small. If there was physical harm, I could see that punishment, but for this infraction I will not have their deaths held over my head. I do believe you need a new personal assistant though.” Beth challenged him in front of his subjects, but refused to back down.

Slowly, Beth reeled her power back in and closed the door inside. She knew better than to use her powers with others around.

“He needs to be punished, my pet. This can’t be forgotten,” Edward nodded at the man on the floor. “Get up, Governor.”

“Why not let him work with me? He can teach me what’s what around here. I know that most of your inner circle sees me as a liability. Maybe this will help? I have Dred and Rock who can keep an eye on him.” Beth didn’t know why she’d suggested such a thing. The man had hated her ever since she’d mated with Edward.

Avril stared at her in shock. “You would want me to help you?”

“You’ve lived here all your life and understand all this court stuff. Who better to help me? I’m not saying I’m not furious over what you did, but it’s not worth anyone’s life. Maybe instead of the hall, we could have the wedding on the beach? We could do poinsettias all over the place with red candles and holly.” She looked quizzically at her husband.

“It’s not the house, but it’s also not the stuffy hall. Maybe a compromise? We could have a candle lit ceremony?”

“There is an old ritual that was done long ago…” Avril frowned and glanced at Edward.

With a sigh, Edward yanked her into his arms and stared down at her. “You, my lady, are amazing. Avril? I hear one word about you doing anything to hurt my woman and there will be no warning.” She knew he had looked up at Avril over her head, as the man actually gasped behind her.

“It is done. Morgan, make sure Avril’s things are deposited in the room next to my wife’s office. Governor, if you want your son to live a longer life, I suggest you have a long talk with him tonight, because you have my wife to thank for his continuing to breath. And Avril, make sure the ceremony is on the beach. I won’t stand for any other interference in our plans.”

Without warning, Edward scooped her up into his arms, and this time headed towards his personal office. “Dred and Rock, follow me please. We have some issues to discuss.” He stared down at her, his fingers rubbing her soft hair. He stared into her green eyes and she knew he could see the hint of anger in them.

“Don’t do that to me again. You are King, not me. I can’t handle those kinds of discussions, Edward.” she slapped her hand on his chest and pushed back, getting a better look at him. “Are you listening? I mean it, Edward. You were born for this ruling stuff, but I can’t handle the life and death stuff.”

“It might have been too soon, but Beth, you are my queen and this infraction was done to you. You had to deal with it and you did a fine job.” Edward held her tight in his arms. He knew that one of his wife's fantasies was for her man to carry her. Not that he minded. There was something so primitive about it. Since then he’d take every chance to pick her up and carry here everywhere.

“Put me down, please.” She always became a little embarrassed as people stared at them; Beth buried her face into his chest.

“Hush,” he whispered and kissed the side of her cheek as his office door opened of its own accord. Edward stepped inside and lowered her to his desk. “Don’t move, my Little Witch, and not a word,” he placed his finger on her lips before he turned to face Rock and Dred.

“Shut the door behind you.”

He leaned against the desk next to her. The scent of his cologne drifted to her and Beth sighed. The one thing Beth loved about Edward was his choice of cologne,
Straight To Heaven by Kilian
, a woody, spicy, rum scent that always seemed to wrap around her and make her feel safe. She scooted a little closer to him.

***

With his arms crossed over his chest, Edward took a quick sideway glance at Beth when she bumped into his shoulder. She leaned down and took a deep breath. If she could purr, Edward believed she would have by the look of contentment on her face.

Oh, he knew she loved his scent, especially when he dabbed on that certain cologne he’d found in Key West on their trip last year. He reached down and squeezed her knee, before he turned his attention back to the two men who’d become good friends to her.

That wasn’t the problem, but the emotions that the brothers were throwing off when they were around his woman were a little disturbing. Where Edward had jet black hair and blue eyes, both brothers were blond with green eyes. Their bodies were built like that of body builders and they were almost as tall as he was. The first time he’d seen them, Edward had been drawn to them, but never acted on that attraction, but now he was thinking that the Fates might just have thrown them into his path.

His woman was trying very hard to distract herself from the issue at hand. He’d seen the way her face had lit up when she noticed that he had hung her painting hung on his wall. Her first month here, Beth had hibernated in their room afraid of the people around them. Not used to being around so many people, she had hid out. But his Little Witch wasn’t one to sitting still so she’d ordered the materials she needed and started to paint again.

Cracking his neck, Edward stared from Dred to Rock. “Now, are you going to tell me why you’re so possessive of my wife?” Edward stated and heard Beth’s little gasp, but he ignored it. He’d known she was attracted to the brothers from the start, but his woman was also very loyal trying to hide her arousal from him when they were around.

Each brother glanced to her, then to Edward. It was Dred who spoke. “She’s our mate.”

Beth sucked in her breath and stared at the two wolf brothers. For a few moments no one said a word. Edward had had a feeling it was something like that. “And?” He questioned knowing there was more.

“You are as well.” Rock said, his gaze traveled down Edward's body and back up again. He tried to hold his gaze, but after a few seconds Rock dropped his eyes, showing the King the submission he needed.

“Are you sure?” Edward asked knowing Beth’s attention was now on him. He directed the question to Dred and held his gaze.

“We’re sure,” Rock said, while Dred nodded, but refused to drop his eyes. Yes, there would be a show down here.

Beth gasped. “What the hell?” Buttons from her shirt dropped to the floor rolling in front of him. He smiled and nodded to Dred. Anytime a wolf met their mate, they could do little bits of magic and one of those things was removing a mate’s clothing.

“We are at a stalemate for now.” He wrapped his arm around Beth, but not before pulling the shirt off of her. She tried to hold onto it, but he wasn’t about to let her cover herself

“What are you doing? Stop it?” She tried to cover her breasts with her hands.

“They just proved their claim. Drop your hands, Beth. You know I don’t like when you hide what is mine, well ours.” Edward walked around the desk and pushed the intercom button. “Sara, have Avril come to my office.”

He sat down in his chair. “Come here, my pet.” He patted his leg. One thing about his kind and shifters, nudity was not a problem, well except for their Little Witch. Since she hadn’t been around people most of her life, he was still trying to get her used to being nude in front of others.

The look of doubt and confusion played across her face, as Beth jumped off the desk and crawled into his waiting arms. He turned her around, so her back was leaning against his chest. She tried to push his hand away when he cupped her sizeable breast in his hand.

“Hold still now,” he ordered and she stopped fidgeting.

“I know this is confusing, but if I’m not mistaken there was a second part to the old scroll. Not many could read it, or even understand it, but Avril is one of those rare people who thrive on that kind of thing. You, my dear, are going to have to get used to our touch when others are around. You know our kind need the contact, that we are a sexually orientated species. This shyness is going to have to stop. Now hold still.” He nipped the side of her neck, as there was a knock on the door.

Stepping aside, Rock and Dred allowed Avril into the office, shutting the door behind him. Arvil looked down at Edward’s hand holding Beth’s breast before his gaze flew to his King’s. “My liege?” he questioned.

“It seems you are needed and that my queen was wise in sparing you. I need you to search the scrolls. If I’m not mistaken, there was a second part to the ancient predictions, and Avril…” His gaze held Arvil’s.

“Nothing that is said in this room will be repeated till we are ready to disclose it. Or I’ll sit back and watch as Rock and Dred personally tear you apart, while they feed on you,” Edward said, squeezing Beth’s nipple.

She tried to push his hand away, but he slapped the side of her thigh. “Hold still,” Edward ordered which only drew all three men’s attention to her and what he was doing.

“Do you remember the part I’m talking about?” Edward drew Avril’s attention back to himself.

Nodding, Avril frowned and then cranked his head to the side, before he turned to the Nester brothers. “Oh!”

When he faced him again, Avril was smiling from ear to ear. “This is great! I’ll have to revisit the reading, but from what I can remember… Your joining was the first sign of the healing between the species. The second, a joining of two Alpha shifters…” He frowned. “I have to read it for sure, but they will not only be her husbands, but your mates.”

Edward nodded. “It is so. Go find the scrolls and I want that answer by tonight. Avril, remember no one, not even your father, is to know about this. If this is true then we might have a bigger problem at hand.” Edward kissed the side of her neck.

“Avril, you can go. Rock please lock the door behind him.” He lifted her up so that she was standing in front of him.

He latched onto her skirt and ripped it off her body as soon as he heard the bolt slide into place. Edward would never get tired of looking at her body. Their female was curved and full in all the right places. The three of them would need a female with meat on her bones. A skinny one would not be able to handle all their loving.

Looking over her shoulder, Beth glanced quickly at Rock and Dred, but Edward’s slight tap to her thigh drew her attention when she jumped.

“Eyes on me and only me, but they have every right to see you.” He unsnapped his pants and pulled out his cock, stroking it. “Hands behind your head, Beth, and spread those legs. Let’s see if you are wet.” He looked around her body to Dred and Rock.

“Please inspect her yourselves. There is no need to wait. As you can see, I’ve had her shaved.” He pushed his chair back and stood. He dropped his hand to her mound and ran his fingers through her pussy lips as Dred and Rock moved in behind her.

Both men took a deep breath, before running their fingers over her skin.

“She’s very wet, aren’t you, pet?” Edward asked, placing his wet fingers in her mouth. “Clean my fingers, pet.”

Little growls came from both men as she sucked his fingers into her mouth. Dred, cupped her mound from behind. “Her scent is sweet, like honey.”

“My Liege!” Bang, bang, bang. Someone yelled and pounded on the door. She jumped and tried to move, but Dred still held his hand on her mound and snarled.

“Spread them, I need a taste.” Dred dropped to his knees and buried his face between her legs. She whimpered as he ate at her. Not to be outdone, Rock dropped behind her. Their hands were everywhere, while they kissed and tasted her.

Edward was surprised that no jealousy arose watching them with Beth. He only had the need to join them, but first he had to take care of whoever was at the door.

Once more, there was a rap on the door and they stopped all movement. Slowly, the brothers rose and kissed Beth on the lips, before standing beside their King.

She placed her hand on his chest trying to compose herself. Her face was flushed and she needed to come, but now was not the time. “I think I need to lie down. You have a busy schedule. We can deal with this later.” Beth looked down at the floor. “Plus, I need time.”