Royally Exposed Read online

  Royally Exposed

  Her Royal Harem, Book Two

  Catherine Banks

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Afterword

  Also by Catherine Banks

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2018 Catherine Banks All rights reserved.

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  Chapter 1

  The four males I inadvertently fell for, were all still asleep when I opened the door to my apartment. We had been up until four o’clock in the morning trying to beat the new raid in Ghost 2’s second expansion. My body decided it was ready to get up, and for the first time, the guys didn’t wake when I climbed out of the giant bed Deryn had had custom made for us. It was large enough to fit eight people, side by side, which gave us plenty of room since there were only five of us. The mattress was plush and heavenly, as though lying on clouds.

  I set the coffee carafe on my kitchen counter and arranged the four boxes of donuts, one dozen in each, lids opened. Before the smells could reach the guys, I grabbed my two favorite donuts, put them on a plate, and took the cup of hot chocolate I had purchased to the couch and set them all on the coffee table.

  “Coffee,” Deryn grumbled, half asleep, as he stumbled into the living room.

  “Good morning,” I greeted him and smiled as I enjoyed the view. All of them slept in pajama bottoms and nothing else, their chests and abdomens, rippling with muscle, naked for my viewing pleasure.

  He bent down and kissed my cheek as he passed by, mumbling what sounded like good morning.

  “You left alone again,” Rhys growled at me half-heartedly.

  They had been getting better about letting me out on my own now that I could tap into their powers, if needed, and protect myself. However, their protectiveness as my guards, and lovers, still made it difficult for them to be okay with me going out alone.

  “I wanted to surprise you with donuts,” I told him and sipped on my hot chocolate.

  He kissed my cheek and slid his hand along the back of my neck. “It’s a good surprise,” he said. Rhys hated mornings more than any of us, but said getting to wake up with me was making him start to like them more. I knew that was a lie, but I enjoyed the flattery.

  “Donuts!” Foxfire yelled and raced into the kitchen, grabbing a box, and running over to sit beside me. “Thanks, Jolie,” he whispered and kissed my cheek with a wide smile. Fox loved mornings. Well, Fox loved almost everything. He was almost always in a good mood and his attitude was infectious.

  “You’re welcome,” I replied and leaned into his shoulder with mine.

  “Did you use a shield?” Nico asked, rubbing his eyes and then stretching to give me a nice view of the muscles over his hips that formed a V and led down to a very fun area.

  “No,” I admitted.

  Four sets of eyes turned to look at me.

  “I couldn’t figure out how to do it with my hands full,” I explained quickly. “But I had scales on the back of my head and over my heart, so if I had been shot at they couldn’t have killed me.”

  It had been months since the last time someone had tried to kill me. You would think stopping a war would endear you to those who had been fighting, but some people had been pretty upset about it. Most of them had been thankful. Hell, they’d made me a princess of the dragons, mages, wolves, and elves and given me a necklace with power stored inside from the kings and princes of each race. I still couldn’t believe it.

  I touched the necklace and felt the energy thrumming within, a constant reminder of the power I could now use.

  “That’s good,” Deryn praised me. “I wouldn’t have thought to use scales on the back of my head.”

  “That’s because you don’t have scales,” Rhys said with a grumble. “I’m glad you’ve figured out how to use the scales beneath your hair.”

  “It wasn’t easy,” I mumbled. The first few times I had tried to do it, I had covered my entire head with scales and freaked out because I thought I was going to be bald afterward.

  “How long can you keep the scales on?” Nico asked around a bite of sugar coated donut.

  I waited until I’d finished eating my chocolate bar before answering. “I can hold the scales in a small area, like over my heart, for an hour. If I put it in several small areas, I can hold it for half an hour. I can cover my entire body for fifteen minutes at most.”

  “The more you use it, the easier it becomes,” Rhys said. He gulped down a mug of coffee and added, “It will become second nature and you won’t even have to think about it.”

  That sounded like a great thing to have the ability to do. Instead of focusing and putting scales in the spot you wanted, you could just automatically have it there. I had seen Rhys use scales when fighting hand to hand with Deryn, and Rhys said it just happened automatically for him.

  “What are our plans today?” Deryn asked.

  “I’m going to the dragons’ den today,” I told them, waiting for Rhys to blow up…again.

  “What?” Rhys asked quietly.

  Uh oh. Quiet was bad.

  “King Emrys invited me over. He promised me safe passage and that I would be allowed to return whenever I wanted to.”

  “They aren’t faeries,” Fox whispered.

  “When were you going to tell me?” Rhys asked, his voice a deep rumble from the kitchen where he was standing, his grip on the mug he was holding so tight, that I could see cracks forming already.

  “Now,” I said with a smile.

  “I told you why I didn’t want you-”

  “I’ve been ordered to come by my king,” I said and stood up, shoving the rest of my donut in my mouth.

  “I can talk-”

  “If I disobey him now, that’s setting a bad precedence with your clan. I can’t disobey him. I’m going. So, you need to decide whether you’re coming with me, or not.”

  Without giving him a chance to respond, I hurried to my bedroom to change clothes. Emrys had warned me to wear something comfortable and to bring a jacket. That should have made me nervous, but I knew Rhys would go with me and wouldn’t let anything happen to me. They’d told me before that even though their fathers were their alphas, they could withstand their orders, because they were so high in the hierarchy.

  Once I was satisfied with my appearance, I went out to the living room where Rhys sat alone. The others had snuck out without me hearing the front door open or close. Rhys sat on my couch, his arms draped across the back, giving me time to take in his new appearance. He had put on j
eans and a t-shirt that said, “Unicorns do exist and they’re tasty.”

  Instead of talking, I walked straight to him and sat in his lap, straddling him with my face level with his. “You’re mad at me for leaving this morning,” I guessed.

  One of his warm arms snaked around my lower back, and pulled me forward so that our chests were touching.

  “I don’t like waking up to find you aren’t in bed with me. I don’t like knowing that someone could have hurt you while I was sleeping. I also don’t like the way you keep hiding things from me.” I opened my mouth to say something, but he squeezed me and then sighed. “However, I know you need to obey my father. I don’t think anyone will hurt you while I’m by your side, but I can’t help but worry. You’re my light, Jolie. I can’t lose you.”

  I kissed him deeply and thoroughly, his erection almost immediate beneath me.

  “We don’t have time,” he growled and nipped his way down my throat.

  “He isn’t supposed to be here until one o’clock,” I told him and ground against him.

  “He said he was ten minutes away,” he said and nodded at his phone.

  “Then we better hurry,” I said, wrapped my hands around his neck, ground my hips into his, and licked his neck. Rhys’s hot button was licking his neck. One lick and he was ready to go.

  Rhys carried me to the bed, stripping his clothes off as he walked. The amount of strength he possessed, to carry me with one arm, while stripping with the other, was a big turn on.

  “Later, I’m going to make love to you until your legs quiver so much that they can’t hold you up,” he murmured in my ear and then thrust into me.

  My back arched up and I screamed his name. He stretched and filled me perfectly, his strokes perfectly positioned to hit the spot deep inside of me that built my ecstasy. His strokes built the pressure until I screamed my orgasm and tightened around him with my inner muscles.

  He growled and covered my nipple with his mouth, flicking his tongue across it with each pump of his hips.

  “Yes!” I gasped and matched his hip movements with my own.

  “You’re beautiful,” he told me as he loomed above me, up on his arms.

  “You’re perfect,” I gasped as another orgasm hit.

  “Your ass is perfect,” he growled and flipped me over, grabbing my hips and jerking them upright so that the top of my body was down on the bed and my lower body was up on my knees.

  He entered me slowly, grunting in pleasure as he did. He reached down to rub my clit with one hand while he gripped my hips with the other. His fingers moved quickly back and forth and it wasn’t long before I was gripped by not one, but two orgasms.

  “Yes!” Rhys yelled, slamming his hips into mine harder and faster.

  His phone rang and he growled, but ignored it, leaning forward to grasp one of my breasts while he finished.

  We cleaned up and got dressed, making it down to the car just as the driver was getting out.

  “Sorry for making you wait,” Rhys apologized, opened the door, and ushered me inside.

  “No problem, Prince Rhys,” the driver replied stiffly and got back into the driver’s seat.

  “I should have eaten more than donuts,” I grumbled and rubbed my hungry stomach.

  “We’ll eat when we get there,” he promised and slid his hand along my stomach.

  “Anything I should be warned about before we do get there?” I asked him. His hand was now rubbing my arm, up and down, slowly. It was relaxing me and turning me on at the same time.

  “Stay by my side the entire time,” he said. “The females are just as aggressive and possessive as the males, sometimes more so. Don’t turn your back on a dragon, it’s rude and tells them that you think they’re not a threat. Don’t ask to ride any of them. Don’t approach any of them without them approaching you first.”

  “Geez,” I chuckled. “This is a super serious clan.”

  He nodded. “We can be.”

  “Eye contact?” I asked.

  “Meet all of their stares. You’re a princess, so we want to make sure they don’t view you as weak.”

  “Okay.”

  The gates to the dragon’s den were ridiculously high, stretching up so far that if I were standing in front of them, I would have to lean my head all the way back to see where it stopped. They slid open as we approached and the driver took us down the black asphalt driveway. At first, there was nothing to see. Trees and bushes, but no houses of any kind. A half mile later, we finally approached a mansion with two massive dragon statues on each side of the driveway, one wing of each stretched over to create an archway for us to drive beneath.

  “Wow,” I whispered as I admired the statues.

  “Compliment Dad on those,” he told me. “He loves bragging about the statues.”

  We stopped at the mansion where Emrys stood, waiting for us. I hurried out and walked up to give him a hug. “Sorry we’re late.”

  “Did he have a fit?” he guessed as he hugged me back.

  “A bit,” I admitted and pulled back as Rhys approached.

  “Son,” Emrys greeted Rhys.

  “Father,” Rhys replied.

  “You look well,” Emrys commented.

  “You’re not getting out of this with compliments,” Rhys told him and folded his arms across his chest. “I’m pissed.”

  Emrys chuckled. “Of course you are.”

  “Will we be eating?” Rhys asked him. “We’re rather famished.”

  “I have snacks ready,” Emrys said with a nod. “Come on, let’s get this tour started.” He held out his bent elbow and I slid my arm through his. “Did you know that Rhys used to hate wearing clothes. As a child, his mother and nannies used to chase him around the steps here, trying to get him back into clothes.”

  “He still hates clothes,” I said with a chuckle.

  Emrys howled with laughter. “I suppose some things don’t change.”

  “I’m dressed now, aren’t I?” Rhys mumbled.

  I joined in with Emrys’s laughter at that comment, but stopped when I saw the beautiful woman standing just outside the door to the mansion. She had the same dark brown hair as Rhys and the same eye shape. She was tall, willowy, and beautiful. Most of all, she’s was intimidating. Something about her screamed at me to run the other way.

  Emrys patted my hand, released me, and went to the woman to kiss her cheek. Some of her ferocity diminished at his touch, but not much.

  “Jolie, please meet my mate and Rhys’s mother, Adelaide. Adelaide please meet Jolie, Queen of Rhys’s and Princess of the Four Clans.”

  That was a lot easier to say than to name each clan. I’d have to remember that.

  “So, you’re the human who thinks she’s good enough for my son?” she asked, a snarl on his lips.

  “Mother!” Rhys growled.

  “No,” I answered immediately. “I don’t think I’m good enough. That’s one of the reasons that I haven’t taken him as a mate.”

  Her composure broke and she frowned in uncertainty. “What?”

  “Jolie,” Rhys whispered and moved closer to me.

  “I’m human. I’m pretty, yes, but I’m not gorgeous. I have no abilities, aside from the ones I inherited from my guards. I have a decent paying job with some job security, but not enough for retirement. My savings is reasonable and I increase the amount every month, something I plan to continue until I retire. I’ll die before Rhys, unless he does something stupid trying to protect me, which I will do everything within my power to prevent. I also have three others who want me to be their mate. I’m not an ideal mate for Rhys. Not by a long shot. However, I love Rhys. I love him more than my own life. I’ve given him opportunities to leave, to free himself from me, but he loves me too. I’m not worthy of him or the others. I’m not and I know it, but I can’t give them up, because I’m selfish.”

  Rhys turned me and tilted my chin up, tears in the corners of his eyes. “You are more than worthy of me and are the most selfless person
I know.”

  “She’s right,” Adelaide said.

  “Addie,” Emrys chastised.

  “Well, she is. It’s good that you know this. Know this and understand how lucky you are to have Rhys not only give you attention, but warm your bed,” she said and then went inside the mansion.

  “Forgive her,” Rhys whispered and kissed my cheek. “She’s overprotective of me. Always has been.”

  “That’s because you’re her favorite,” a baritone voice said to my right.

  I turned and stared at Rhys’s brother. I knew without a doubt that was who he was. They looked similar, but the symmetry of his face was slightly different than Rhys. He was also taller and larger, something I couldn’t believe without seeing for myself. His jeans looked painted on and his tank top was stretched to its limit.

  “I didn’t know you had siblings,” I growled softly at Rhys.

  “There are seven of us,” his brother said with a smile and then bowed. “Greetings, Princess Jolie.”

  “I’d reciprocate the gesture, but I’m afraid I don’t know your name. Since someone never said he had siblings,” I grumbled. Why had he kept this from me?

  “Jolie, meet my younger brother, Andras. Andras, please meet my queen and the Princess of the Four Clans, Jolie,” Rhys introduced us.

  I held out my hand to shake Andras’s, but he pulled me forward with it and hugged me. “Handshakes are for acquaintances. You’re family now, Jolie.”

  Rhys growled low and took a step forward, but Emrys punched his shoulder and reprimanded him. “She’s perfectly safe with your siblings.”

  “He’s not worried about me hurting her, Father. He’s worried I’ll steal her like I did his last girlfriend,” Andras said and took a step away from me. “Don’t worry, I know better than to try anything with this one. You’ve made it clear that you love her.”