“Okay, time to shake it up a little,” Raife announced.

  The guards began tossing the targets back and forth, spinning them higher into the air before catching them, each with an arrow piercing its center. Raife picked up another bow and began firing at the targets, trying to reach the bullseye before I did. He was so fast, it was almost impossible to see the arrows leaving his bow, but I managed to keep up with him, our arrows hitting the target simultaneously.

  When my quiver was empty, I stopped, noticing Landis standing a ways back, arms crossed over his chest.

  Dallas stepped up to me and threw his arms around me before lifting me off my feet and burying his face in my neck.

  “You’re fucking amazing love,” he growled in my ear. “I’ve gotta get you someplace where I can rip these fucking clothes off you. Now!”

  Raife stepped up close behind me and leaned into us. “We came here to get info from Landis, can we hold out a bit longer for other activities”, he whispered, a smirk on his lips.

  I had a grip on the side of Dallas’ neck with my teeth, my legs wrapped tightly around his middle, his hard length pressing into my needy core. I slowly released my grip on his neck and lowered myself to the ground, moaning as I pressed my belly firmly into Dallas’ impressive arousal.

  Raife whispered into my ear, “soon sweetheart”.

  We three walked toward Landis as Raife spoke. “Thank you Landis, for sending River to Jules. It was a very successful lesson.”

  Landis speared me with a look, his emerald eyes burning. “You were able to see through the eyes of another creature?”

  I lifted my chin a hair, even though I tried to suppress the urge to snap at him.

  “I was, though I prefer to think of Penny as another being, rather than a creature.”

  “You mean the horse, you saw through her eyes,” Landis questioned as though he didn’t believe me.

  I could feel my temper rising and for Raife’s sake I tried to push it down.

  “If you don’t believe me, just ask River. He was there.”

  Landis continued to scowl at me, and I really didn’t understand what he had to be so pissed off about. Was it just because I could achieve things easily? That didn’t make any sense, since it was to his benefit also if we were to be fighting together to win back his kingdom. I took a step closer to him, invading his personal space as I looked up into his remarkable eyes. I had to stop myself from poking his chest with my index finger.

  “What’s your problem? Why do you look like I just shot your best hunting dog every time I’m able to master some new ability?”

  “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he answered, gazing down his haughty nose at me.

  “The fuck you don’t. You’ve been pissed at me since you first showed me the four earth abilities and I showed affinity for all of them. What the fuck do you want me to do, pretend I can’t do anything? Will that help you win back your kingdom?” I took a step back and turned away from him, intending to leave, muttering under my breath, asshole.

  “I can’t stay here,” I said to Raife and Dallas.

  We started to walk away and Landis spoke up.

  “You’re magnificent Jules. You master every ability and you make it look effortless. Things that took me decades to achieve, and you succeed at your first try. You were raised as an ordinary human, yet here you stand, a Queen over a land you’d never set foot in until a few weeks ago. I don’t know how to deal with it, so I’ve done a very poor job of it.”

  He walked closer, standing directly in front of me.

  “Everyone who meets you is in awe of the power you command, me included. How could I ever measure up? How could I possibly be a mate to someone so amazing?”

  I gazed up at him, his emotions clear on his face, his eyes held a vulnerability I’d never seen before.

  “Landis, I’m hardly amazing. I have no fucking idea what I’m doing most of the time, and the only reason that I’m still alive at all is because of my mates. Without Raife and Dallas, I wouldn’t even be standing here right now. Sure, I may be learning how to use this power I have in some pretty cool ways, but that’s thanks to you, and your friend River. You’ve shown me what my Fae side is capable of, and without that I’d still be struggling.”

  He held my gaze as he lifted a hand to my face, his thumb brushing softly across my cheek.

  “Amazing.” He dropped his hand and took a step back.

  “You’re probably all hungry, we should have food ready in about an hour,” he stated before walking off to his guards.

  Chapter forty-seven

  Dallas

  An hour was enough time for what I had planned I thought, as I grabbed Jules’ hand and took off back down the path. Raife was behind Jules as I headed for a secluded area I’d come across while running in my wolf form earlier.

  Jules laughed as I tugged her along, “where are we going?”

  I just growled in response. I needed her naked and my cock deep inside her, now!

  I veered off the trail and held the branches up for Jules and Raife to walk under and they caught sight of the hidden beauty I’d found.

  Soft grass and wildflowers lined the small clearing that was completely encircled by trees, the late afternoon sun casting a golden hue over the space. Jules spun toward me, a smile on her face as she leapt at me, throwing her arms around my neck and wrapping her legs around me.

  I crushed my mouth to hers, wrapping my fingers in her hair while keeping my other arm securely around her ass. A deep rumble rolled through my chest at the feel of my mate in my arms, her heart beating in time with mine.

  Jules pulled back enough to pepper my face with kisses, her hands tugging on my hair and I was in heaven, inhaling her delicious scent as I laved my tongue on the side of her neck.

  Raife stepped up behind her as he lifted the hem of her tunic, nudging her arms so he could slip it off over her head. I dipped my head to suck a rosy peak into my mouth, growling as I swirled my tongue around the hard nub. “Been waiting days to have these tits again,” I growled. Raife chuckled as Jules said, “you had them this morning”.

  “Feels like days,” I murmured against her soft skin.

  Raife unwound her legs from me to pull her pants off and I pushed mine down at the same time, my cock springing free, hard as fucking steel. I slid my hand between her legs, caressing her soft folds. “ So wet for us babe.”

  I groaned and lifted her, impaling her on my aching cock, her wet warmth enveloping me in the best fucking feeling ever.

  Raife moved in behind her, supporting her while reaching around to rest his long fingers against her clit.

  “Don't stop, please don’t stop,” she moaned, her head falling to Raife’s shoulder. I sucked on her tits, nipping and pinching. Raife’s hand moved to her backside and I could feel his fingers circling her tight hole before he pushed his thumb in, making her moan louder. At the same time, his long fingers cupped my balls, caressing and squeezing gently, almost making me come before Jules.

  I rumbled louder, the vibration passing through the three of us. “Fuck that feels good!”

  I grabbed her hip, thrusting into her harder and faster as Raife rubbed her clit until she was trembling, her head thrown back in a soundless scream as her legs shook. I pushed all the way in and held her there, the orgasm pounding through me, making my fucking legs weak!

  Raife took more of her weight as I willed my breathing back to normal, dropping my forehead to Jules’, tremors still shaking me.

  “I love you so fucking much. Both of you.”

  Raife lifted her off me and she slowly lowered her feet to the ground before turning in his arms and reaching for his cock, standing proud against his belly.

  Before she could drop to her knees, Raife laid on the ground and pulled her on top of him, her ass over his face as she stretched forward to reach his cock. I grabbed the base of his cock in my hand, giving it a firm squeeze and a slight twist and holding it for Jules to suck the tip into her mouth.

  Jules gasped as Raife’s tongue lapped at her pussy as she and I worked at his cock. She rolled her tongue around the head before sucking him halfway down as I continued to squeeze and tug on the base. I could tell she was gonna come again, her breathing quickened and her legs stiffened as she groaned around Raife’s cock. He moaned as she sucked harder, pulling him to the back of her throat and I felt his balls tighten as he came in her mouth and she swallowed him down.

  The three of us collapsed in the grass, Jules sandwiched between us, her back to my front as she lay face to face with Raife. He kissed her gently before pulling me in for a soft kiss also. I had never kissed a guy in my life, but with Raife it just was. Everything about the three of us felt right, like it was meant to be, and if it brought us closer, that was even better.

  After a dinner of some more game birds and some green stringy veggies, we cornered Landis in the common room, pulling our chairs around where he was seated.

  “So, what can you tell us, Lan? Did you get any useful information today or are we wasting our time here,” I asked him directly, because I was tired of all his evasiveness.

  He leaned back in his chair, giving me a hard stare that I returned. I wasn’t backing down from him, and he might as well get used to that right now.

  “We have better numbers now, regarding the takeover of the palace, and a much better idea of who we’re dealing with.” He sat back as if that was enough to satisfy me.

  “So, who are we up against, how many fighters have they got, and what is the fucking plan?”

  He moved as if to get up, but Jules jumped to her feet and stood right in front of him, her index finger punching into his chest.

  “You tell us what you know and what you’re planning, or take us back to fucking Earth right now,” she demanded.

  He sighed, relaxing his defensive posture before running his hand through his hair, frustration evident in every move.

  “Clarissa’s family is behind the takeover.”

  “What?” Jules shrieked. “That fucking barbie doll is behind this!”

  “Her family, yes,” Landis answered. “I don’t know what part she plays, but she is certainly involved. By our best estimates, they have around one hundred fighters outside the palace and we have no way of knowing how many are inside, but likely not more than a handful.”

  “So, what is your plan, Landis,” Raife spoke up for the first time.

  “We need to lower their numbers somehow, even up the odds, before we can make an assault on the palace. I’m thinking of a diversion of some sort, outside the walls to draw some out. If we can cut their numbers by half, we’ll have a much better chance once we’re inside.”

  Raife sat tapping his finger against his lips, his eyes focused somewhere in the distance as he concentrated. “What if they thought we were preparing to breach the wall? Send a few at a time to make it appear we were going to attempt going over, then have them retreat into the trees, as if joining a larger group. That may draw them out if they think they’re going after a greater number of guards.”

  “Hmm,” Landis responded. “We could prepare ladders and make it look as if we were hiding them to be ready for when we attack. This could work, we just have to iron out the details.” He looked at Raife with a genuine smile on his face. “This could definitely work, thank you.”

  Jules cleared her throat, looking pointedly at Landis. “We’ll all work out the details, together.”

  He hesitated and I growled, deep in my throat before he nodded his agreement.

  The next day, Raife and I worked with Landis while Jules and River went on a spying mission as they directed birds to fly over the palace.

  By the end of the day we not only had a plan, but we had much more specific numbers of the guards at the palace and their routines as well, allowing us to time our attack more precisely.

  A board creaked and I was instantly awake and in the next second, my arm firmly around Jules, I rolled us to the floor so she ended up partially under the bed as I covered her with my body. A loud thunk was the sound of an arrow slamming into the wall where we’d just been sleeping. Before I could take a breath I felt an arrow slice the back of my bicep and another grazed a searing path across my thigh. I shoved Jules further under the bed covering her completely.

  Raife leapt up from where he’d landed on the floor and raced to the doorway, slamming the door, pinning the arm of the attacker in place. He grabbed the Fae by that now broken arm and spun him around, immobilizing him with both arms behind his back.

  I jumped up to help him, hissing at the pain and quickly grabbed a tie from a loose tunic and wrapped it around the fucker’s hands, pulling tight enough to cut off all his circulation. He wasn’t gonna be alive long enough to be bothered by it anyway. Once we got answers from him, I was going to personally rip his head off!

  I listened closely for any sounds of more fighting, but heard nothing, checking with Raife that we were clear.

  “I’m going to find Landis,” Raife stated as he pulled pants on.

  I nodded as I pushed the fucker onto a chair, tying his legs with another length of cloth.

  “Be careful Raife,” Jules spoke, her voice sounding a bit shaky.

  “Always.”

  Jules turned to me and gasped, quickly reaching for my arm where blood was dripping to the floor. “Dallas! You’re hit, you’re bleeding.” Her voice rose with panic.

  Trey and Ren skidded to a stop just inside the door, quickly taking in the situation.

  “Where’s Jay,” I asked.

  “Dallas, sit down and let me tend to that wound.” Jules motioned to the bed and I sat, just to take the worry from her face.

  “It’s okay love, not much more than a scratch.” I rubbed my palm down her back.

  “He’s outside for a run, and to check the perimeter,” Ren answered me. She moved to Jules, offering her the shirt and pants that had been left on the floor last night.

  “I need you to go and find him. We don’t know if this fucker was working alone, or if this is a coordinated attack, but I’d feel better if Jay wasn’t out there alone.”

  Ren nodded at me as Trey said, “I will be outside also.”

  The door closed behind them and I pulled Jules into my arms. She was trembling slightly and I tipped her chin up to meet my gaze.

  “Hey, it’s okay now, love. We’re all still here, no harm done.”

  “I know, but that was too close.” She pulled my head down, whispering in my ear. “I can’t lose you Dallas…I just can’t.” Her voice broke, her chin trembling, and my fucking heart felt like it was being squeezed so tight I couldn’t take a breath.

  I pulled her tightly to me, breathing in her delicious scent. “I’m hard to kill love, and nothing is going to take me from you. I promise.”

  “Hah,” the fucker in the chair laughed. “You should have gone back to earth when you had the chance, because you’ll never leave Faery alive.”

  I backhanded him across the face so hard the chair tipped over, so I took the opportunity to kick him in the gut while he was on the floor.

  “No one said you could talk, fucker,” I growled.

  I was pulling on a pair of pants when Raife came back with Landis right behind him. He looked at the fucker on the floor, tied to the chair and raised a brow at me.

  I just shrugged. Before I was done with him, the fucker would be getting a lot worse than that.

  Landis looked at the arrow embedded in the wall right above the bed we’d been sleeping in before looking at the Fae tied to the chair.

  “What is the meaning of this Munder,” he glared at the fucker still on the ground.

  “What do you think it means? You’re not fit to be King of the Fae! You bring these creatures here from Earth with a pathetic human that you claim is to be your mate! You’ve lost your kingdom and soon you will lose your life!”

  Landis walked slowly around the fucker, then bent and righted him and the chair. He then stood in front of the chair, his gaze holding the fucker captive, his green eyes glowing with intensity.

  “Did you commit this act of treason alone or were you sent here,” Landis questioned, his voice thick with barely held tension.

  Mun…fucker, whatever his name was, tried to break the hold Landis had on him, but he couldn’t pull away. He gritted his teeth, trying to prevent his answer from escaping, but Landis’ hold on him was too strong.

  “I came myself, the others didn’t think you were worth sending a force, so I took it upon myself to end these vile creatures and you.”

  “How many others knew what you were up to,” Landis asked, his words seething now with a building rage.

  “I told no one. The glory would be mine, when I returned with your heads as my prize,” the fucker grunted the words out at the same time, piss ran down his leg.

  Landis turned and walked to the door before he spoke. “ I will send guards to clean up this mess.”

  Jules moved as though to follow him, but Raife gave a small shake of his head and she stopped.

  “Well, you’ve done it now fucker, you truly pissed him off but good.”

  I really would’ve liked to follow the guards when they came and took him away, just to see what Landis had in store for him.

  “I’m going to check in with Trey, have a look around,” Raife announced before he kissed Jules and headed outside.

  “You want to try and sleep here love, or should I find us a new room,” I asked her, not sure if she’d feel safe in this room again.

  “This room is okay. We’re not safe anywhere, are we?”

  The look on her face gutted me, and I quickly pulled her into my arms, smoothing her hair back from her face.

  “We will be Jules, I promise you, we will be safe.”

  I picked her up and laid her on the bed, lying down and curling my body protectively around her.

  “Sleep now, we have a big day tomorrow,” I whispered, my chest rumbling with my mating notes.

  Sometime later that night when I felt Raife slip into the bed behind Jules, I rose and made my way silently through the house, exiting through the side door and leaving my pants on the porch as I shifted and gave my wolf free rein.