Page 51 of Crowned In Sin

“So wet,” he says softly, and Cora arches on his fingers. While he touches her, I dip my hand into her collar and find the soft swells of her breasts. Her nipples rise to my touch.

And then, as I feel bolder, I move my hand under her underdress with my brother’s.

I find his fingers slicked with her pleasure, and as he pumps them inside her, I find her clit and begin to rub. Her soft cries of pleasure and the way her head lulls back is everything to me. I love the sight of her in the candlelight. I love how together, we can show her the true pleasure she deserves.

Cora orgasms on both of our fingers, moaning against my lips.

We cannot spend all night in this sitting room. We must give her more. Jasper lies on his back on the rug, undoing his pants, and I position Cora over him. I move behind her, nudging his legs out of the way, and help her to ride him. I slick up my cock with spit as well, my pants open, and rut against her ass until I come, Cora orgasming for the second time and Jasper lost in his pleasure.

“I need more of this,” Cora whimpers. “But we must⁠—”

I kiss the side of her neck.

“We must finish our courtship,” Jasper says. “We must announce our engagement.”

Chapter 23

Cora

As a celebration of our successful courtship—and as a way to escape the hubbub of our unconventional announcement—the princes take me away to the castle where they grew up. Isabel accompanies us.

I‘d not thought I would be awed by the sight of a castle, having grown up in one myself, but the princes’ castle shines on a cliff overlooking the sea. It looks like something out of a fairy tale, with shining blue water spreading out forever behind it and green fields rolling down to the road. It is tall and white with many spires and colorful flags waving from the top of each one.

The carriage takes us up the hill to the main gates, which are thrown open. Soldiers in gleaming armor line both sides of the road. I’m stunned by the beauty here. By the sense of home.

As the squires carry in our things, the princes lead us on a tour of the castle. It has many wings.

“The east wing is where our rooms are, and where your rooms will be as well,” Jasper says. He shows us two rooms next to each other with a connecting door. They’re suites, in fact, and we will be able to sit out on the balconies as the sun rises in the morning, taking it in. “I thought you would prefer the blue room, Isabel, and I had thought of the green room for you.”

“My mother loved this color green,” I say, filled with more appreciation and warmth for both princes. Maybe it’s a sign. It seems they took their time in learning things about me—not just that I wanted to be married off to a husband who’s quite good in bed and “adventurous” as Isabel called it, but things about my life outside of them as well. “I would very much like to stay here.”

Prince Jasper smiles, nodding to himself. “We will have your things brought up, of course. Would you like to see the rest of the castle?”

We don’t tour every room, as it is simply too large to do in one afternoon, but Prince Jasper leads us through a wing containing many priceless paintings.

“Some of these were painted by my mother,” Prince Jasper says, gesturing toward a painting of two boys running in a field. “That is a painting of Casen and me when we were boys.”

“She is an excellent artist,” I say, a genuine compliment. “It almost seems as if you could start running off at any moment.”

It reminds me of how I thought of paintings during the ball, and being painted into one, trapped there in the frame. In this painting, Jasper and Casen do not seem to be trapped at all. And so lifelike that I do not think I would mind living in such a painting. It seems that if I were to step inside it, the whole thing would come to life around me and be as real as any life I could live.

We linger by the paintings. Isabel asks more questions about a few of the pieces, and then we go out to a wide balcony that overlooks the sea. Some of the areas are shaded, with seating underneath, and others are set up to play outdoor games.

“This is my favorite part of the palace,” Prince Jasper announces. “If I cannot be on the sea or riding across the grounds, then I prefer to spend time here. The sound of the sea calms my thoughts. The seating areas have also been designed to muffle the sound of the waves, so that people can converse without having to shout.” The breeze smells of fresh salty water.

“It’s so lovely in summer.” I tell them genuinely, not just for niceties. We’re not close to the sea at my father’s castle. We cannot even hear it, and suddenly I realize that this is a place I would love to spend more time in. There is something quite soothing about the presence of the ocean, although I’m sure I would feel quite differently on a stormy day. Still, there is an excitement to it, as if you could climb into a boat and go anywhere on earth.

I suppose that is true, too. With them, we could do anything. Go anywhere. This life is so unwritten and with them, I feel safe and secure.

But for the moment, while my father rules, I believe I will love being here, with the princes in the castle by the sea.

“How did your family come to rule here?” I ask Prince Jasper. We’ve been discussing the talents of his family for most of the tour, and it only makes me more curious.

“Generations ago, there was nothing but a lighthouse.” He points to what is clearly an old lighthouse down the coast. “My ancestors frequently had to station men here to alert them of invading armies, and once they had grown powerful enough, combining several smaller lands into our kingdom, they decided to build a castle here so that anyone approaching by sea would know that the land was defended. That kingdom faded but the castle and lighthouse remained. As did the respect the people had for my family who provided for them when no one else could. And so the land became ours.”

“And your family has lived here ever since?”

“We have,” he answers. “It is only in recent years that mother found it…distressing to live here. The manor she and my father have taken residence in now is farther inland and quieter. We get used to the sound of the sea, living here, but after the war, she needed less of it.”