Jake looked at the lantern light moving against the high ceiling of Raaya Villa and thought about a woman he would never meet, whose name had been carved into the stone of this building, whose maidens had crossed the world to find him, whose blood had mixed with his father’s to produce a mark that looked like a lucky charm and turned out to be something considerably more significant than that.

He thought about thirty-six half-siblings, only one of whom had bothered to introduce himself, and about an uncle who had been keeping a seat warm and waiting.

He thought about Chelsea asleep somewhere in this enormous villa; Gran Rosalinda; and Eskar discovering that the servants’ quarters of Raaya Villa were probably nicer than anything he had lived in before.

He thought about Karut’s pleasant smile.

"Thirty-six," Jake said one final time, softly, to no one in particular.

Then he stood from his seat, thanked the maidens for the welcome, and told Raani he would talk to her in the morning.

*

Jake pushed open the heavy carved door to his private chambers. He had come straight to his chambers after having left the meeting room. His mind had been occupied with what Raani said and the potential enemies he had brought himself.

As he entered the chambers, he sighed and looked around.

The room was enormous, far larger than any bedroom he had ever known. High ceilings arched above him, painted with faint constellations that seemed to shift when the lantern light moved. Heavy silk drapes in deep crimson and gold hung from tall windows that opened onto a private balcony overlooking the moonlit gardens of Raaya Villa.

The air smelled of night jasmine, warm beeswax from the lanterns, and the faint, clean scent of the expensive linens that had been laid out for him.

On the wide, low couch near the balcony doors sat the two women who had raised him.

Chelsea wore a soft ivory robe that had slipped slightly off one shoulder, revealing the smooth line of her collarbone and the upper swell of her breast. Her long dark hair was loose, falling in soft waves around her face. She looked smaller in this grand room, but no less beautiful. Her eyes lifted when he entered, and the tension in her shoulders eased at once.

Beside her, Gran Rosalinda — Rosa now, in this new life — sat with perfect posture, her silver braid resting over one shoulder.

She wore a deep emerald robe that complemented her eyes. Age had softened her body in ways that only made her more striking: fuller breasts, a gentle curve to her belly and strong legs still shaped from years of walking the hills of the midlands.

he looked at him with that familiar, knowing gaze that had always seen straight through him.

They had not spoken properly since leaving Puski Lane. They haven’t had the chance to talk their hearts out about the sudden change in their lives.

Here, in this quiet room high above the villa, the world outside felt distant.

Jake crossed the marble floor and lowered himself onto the couch between them.

The cushions sank beneath his weight. Chelsea immediately leaned into his left side, her head resting against his shoulder. Rosa shifted closer on his right, her hand coming to rest lightly on his thigh.

For a long moment, none of them spoke. The only sounds were the distant chirping of night insects and the soft crackle of a small fire in the hearth across the room.

"It had been a long week," Jake said as he felt the presence of two women beside him comforting and sufficient.

"Yeah, it was," Chelsea said.

"How was the meeting? Did they welcome you with warmth?" Rosa asked.

"I wish I could say that. Half of them still don’t understand why I am here and half of them expect me to do some miracles and that was it, they would just kneel before him and praise me."

They let out a chuckle hearing him talk. It always felt like Jake was complaining like an old man.

The fire in the hearth had burned down to glowing embers by the time Jake finally spoke the words that had been sitting heavy in his chest for days.

It had been on his mind since the moment he entered the room and saw them. Two of them were attractive enough to make a monk abandon his vows. The kind of beauty that stirred every primitive instinct in him.

"I want you both tonight," he said, voice low and rough with exhaustion and something deeper. "Together. Not one after the other. I want to feel both of you at the same time. I want to watch you touch each other while I’m inside you. I need it. After everything — the road, the villa, the council, the weight of thirty-six names I’ll never know — I need to feel like we’re still us. Just the three of us, before this new world swallows me whole."

The room went very still.

Chelsea’s breath caught sharply.

She lifted her head from his shoulder, dark eyes wide, cheeks flushing a deep, telling pink. Her hand, which had been resting over his heart, curled into a small fist against his chest.

"Jake... together?" she whispered.

The word trembled.

"You mean... both of us? At once? I—" Her voice cracked.

She glanced at her mother, then back at him. "I don’t know if I can. She’s my mother. And you’re... you’re everything to me. But the two of you, like that, while I—"

Rosa didn’t flinch.

Instead, she smiled — soft, warm, and full of quiet understanding. She reached across Jake’s lap and took her daughter’s trembling hand, threading their fingers together. Her thumb stroked the back of Chelsea’s knuckles in a slow, soothing rhythm.

"Chelsea," Rosa said gently, her voice like velvet.

"Look at him. Really look. He’s been carrying two worlds on his shoulders since the moment we left Puski Lane. He’s smiled for the Dragon Maidens. He’s bowed to the council. And he hasn’t broken. Not once.

But he’s breaking now, in the quiet. He needs us, both of us, not as separate comforts but as one. Why shouldn’t we give him that? We’ve already crossed every line that mattered. This is just one more way to love him. One more way to keep him whole."

Rosa was more of a bolder woman than Chelsea, and she had given in quickly to Jake. She had been unable to keep her urges in check ever since he had fucked her. And seeing as how he spoke his desire, she felt like she didn’t want to disappoint him.

Chelsea’s gaze flicked between them, conflicted, breathing faster. Her free hand clutched the front of her ivory robe like a lifeline.

Rosa leaned in and kissed her daughter’s temple, then her cheek, then the corner of her mouth — soft, reassuring presses of lips that lingered just long enough to feel intentional.

"Give him what he wants, my love," Rosa whispered against Chelsea’s lips.

"Let me guide you. Let me show you how good it can feel to share him, to share this with me. We’ve already crossed every line that mattered. This is just one more way to love him. One more way to keep him whole."

Chelsea’s eyes fluttered closed.

A small, shaky breath left her.

Then she nodded—once, barely perceptible.

Rosa smiled against her daughter’s mouth and kissed her properly this time, slow and deep, their tongues meeting in a way that made Jake’s cock twitch hard beneath his robe.

The sight of mother and daughter sharing that kiss while both pressed against him sent a dark, possessive thrill through his veins.

He watched them, his hands sliding up their backs, pulling them closer. When they finally parted, a thin string of saliva connected their lips. Both women were breathing harder now, pupils blown wide in the low lantern light.

Jake turned first to Chelsea. He cupped her face in both hands and kissed her — slow, deep, and reassuring. He poured everything into it: the fear he hadn’t let himself show all day, the relief of being home with them, the raw need that had been building since the carriage ride.

Chelsea melted into it after only a heartbeat, her body relaxing against him, her tongue meeting his with growing hunger. His hands moved down to the sash of her robe, tugging it loose with deliberate care.

The silk parted like water, revealing the soft, familiar curves of her body — full breasts with dark nipples already tightening in the cool air, the gentle swell of her belly, and the dark curls between her thighs already glistening with arousal.

Chelsea’s breath hitched as his touch ignited a fire within her, the anticipation of their reunion fueling her desire. In that moment, nothing else mattered but the passion that consumed them both.

Rosa watched with dark, approving eyes. She reached out and helped slide the robe from Chelsea’s shoulders, letting it pool around her waist.