Page 48 of Every Eligible Man

Cinder turns to her lady-in-waiting, who is clutching her wine cask with the expression of a woman who has truly seen too much.

"Mira. Send word to the castle. Cancel the search." A wicked grin spreads across her face. "I've found my future husbands."

"Husbands?" the Baron squeaks. "Plural? You can't marry three men."

“I can do whatever I want." Cinder is already walking toward us, hips swaying. "And what I want is all three of these men. In my bed. Every night. For the rest of my life."

"The kingdom won't accept…"

"The kingdom can choke. I've spent four days looking at inadequate penises. I've earned this."

She stops in front of Ash, looks up at him, way up, because he's tall, and grabs the front of his shirt. "You. You ran away from me."

"The magic was wearing off."

"You left. Before I was finished with you."

"We had about thirty seconds before the carriage turned back into a manure wagon."

"I don't care." She yanks him down by the shirt until their faces are inches apart. "You owe me. All three of you. You owe me hours."

"My lady," I say smoothly, stepping closer until my chest nearly brushes her back, "we would be happy to repay that debt. In full. With interest."

Wreck appears at her side, ferrets somehow back on his shoulders, grinning like the chaos goblin he is. "I've had four days of rest. My refractory period is gonna be insane. We could go for like... twelve rounds."

"Fifteen," Ash corrects.

"Twenty," I counter.

"Is this a competition?" Wreck demands.

"Everything is a competition," Ash says.

Cinder starts laughing, wild, slightly unhinged laughter that echoes through the barn and makes the Grimwald family take several steps back.

"I'm taking them," she announces to no one in particular. "Right now. In the carriage. Back to the castle. Where I am going to ruin them for running away from me."

"What about the farm?" Baron Grimwald tries.

"Not my problem. You have two useless sons. Put them to work."

She grabs Ash's hand with her left, mine with her right, and looks at Wreck. "You. Bring the ferrets. We're leaving."

"What about Bastard?" I ask.

Bastard honks imperiously.

"The goose comes too."

"And the rats?" Ash adds.

From his pockets come three tiny, hopeful squeaks.

"Fine. The rats. The ferrets. The goose. The entire menagerie." Cinder starts dragging us toward the barn doors. "Everyone get in the carriage. We have a wedding to plan and approximately forty-seven orgasms to make up for."

"Forty-seven seems specific," Wreck observes.

"I've been counting. Every night. Every disappointment. Every time I thought about what you three did to me and couldn't recreate it alone. Forty. Seven."