A sharp jab to my side had me hissing. I looked over to the source to find Zev looking down at me from the corner of his narrowed eyes.

"How do you do, Lady June?" I asked with a strained smile.

I was about to add a curtsy too, but Ezra stopped that by wrapping an arm around me and pulling me into his side. It was the first thing my mind could think of doing while combing through every film I've watched that's had a ballgown for etiquette rules. This world seemed like the kind that would stake you for using the wrong fork with the right one.

"How do you do?" Jaxon's shot towards me under his breath. While Ezra and Zev flanked me and Cassius was across the room making sure Lester had everything prepared for the guests, Jaxon stood behind me. It was doing wonders for my paranoia to not be able to see him.

"Really, that's all you got princess? These are going to be a long few days." He stepped forward and leaned down to speak into my ear. "Good thing I have a little slave to keep me entertained. That little display of defiance earlier still has my dragon clawing to get to you."

I jumped when he blew into my ear.

He laughed darkly as he stepped back.

"Lady Riar, it's so lovely to finally put a face to the woman everyone has been wondering about!" Lady June said with a bright smile. She wore a royal blue dress that reached mid-calf with matching strapped heels. Her hair was a chestnut brown and her eyes brown with blue peeking through. They were beautiful. She was beautiful.

I shifted self consciously, pulling at my dress. Standing in front of her and her perfection just emphasized my flaws.

No wonder the guys picked me to marry and threaten. No one would believe the words of the ugly girl, not when they're claiming that men who could have anyone they wanted were holding me captive. Everyone- and they have made that clear before- wanted them, so why wouldn't someone like me?

Ezra chuckled. "We wanted her all to ourselves before we had to share her with you ladies."

I almost jumped when I felt Zev's fingers on my jaw. He moved my head to face him before running his thumb over my cheek.

I did jump when I felt his lips lightly press to mine in a quick peck.

Ezra's arm around my waist tightened.

"You won't neglect us too much now, will you, doll?" He asked as he pulled away.

Lady June laughed while I stood frozen and wide-eyed looking at Zev as his contemplating cold eyes bore into mine. "Don't make any promises. I plan to monopolize your time, Lady Riar. I simply cannot pass up on any opportunity to hear all about how you tamed these five. Women have been trying for years just to fail." She shook her head and looked at me pityingly. "You, my dear, are going to have many disgruntled and slighted women on your hands. Your husbands were very highly sought after. Especially the other one that's not here," she said as she looked around the foyer.

Zev answered her unasked question. "Please accept my apologies for Axel's absence. He's making sure last-minute arrangements are made for everyone's arrival."

"Ah, yes, we should be the ones apologizing for arriving early," said one of the men at Lady June's side.

"Yes, I do apologize for that. We had to travel by vehicle. Sadly, a few of our winged steeds were poisoned a few days ago. And where are my manners? These are my husbands, Rowan, Daniel, and Micheal." Lady June said as she introduced the three men standing by her. Rowan was the blond-haired man who spoke. Daniel and Micheal both had mint blue hair. They also had similar blue eyes. Their features were too distinct to be identical twins and Micheal had a few more fine lines around his eyes than Daniel, but they appeared to be related somehow.

"It's nice to meet you," I said, smiling at them.

Lady June engaged me in conversation while her husbands engaged mine.

Ha. Look at me. I was starting to play along mentally with this charade. And they doubted I would be able to do it.

I felt like I was walking on eggshells with each word that left my mouth. The questions were simple, just not for me. General knowledge in this world was a challenge for me.

I wasn't the only one worried about my ability to have a normal, unsuspecting conversation with Lady June. I could feel the eyes of the others watching me.

"Lady June," Cassius said as he approached, Lester, trailing just behind him.

I almost sighed in relief at his appearance. If a normal conversation about weather and hobbies made me such a panicking mess, I could only imagine what I'd be like when I had to put on my wife mask.

"Lester has prepared your rooms and has gotten everything you've requested arranged. If you'd like, he could show you to them and allow you a moment to get settled before the others arrive and we all gather for lunch."

"That would be wonderful, Lord Cassius," June said, grabbing Rowan by the arm.

The four of them left with Lester and headed for the second floor where the guests would be staying. The moment they disappeared at the top of the stairs, my shoulders sagged in relief.

"What the fuck was that?" I turned at the sound of the strained voice.

Jaxon stood with his arms crossed and feet wide. His eyes were narrowed in Zev's direction.

I looked up into Zev's face, too. I was also curious about, as Jaxon put it, what the fuck that was.

Zev huffed a mocking laugh through his nose as he pulled out a spice cigarette and put it between his lips. "We're married. I'm just playing my part."

He turned as he lit his cigarette and walked off without waiting for Jaxon's response.

Zev's words made me realize a big part that I had managed to miss before. I knew I had to act like their wife, and while focusing on that fact, I managed to miss the other side of the coin.

They had to act like my husbands.

* * *

I hid out with Ezra in his workshop as the door continued to chime over the next two hours as guests arrived. I hadn't realized that so many people would be arriving. And according to Ezra, they didn't even make up a fraction of the total number of people that would be attending the party.

He was great at calming my nerves.

"Hey, you'll be fine. Come here, I have something to show you that will probably take your mind off things," he said. He grabbed a tablet from the side table near his armchair and returned to the table we were sitting at.

I took it when he held it out for me and gasped at what I saw. It was the picture that I had ripped. Ezra had scanned them, puzzled them together, and had started filling in the rip line seamlessly.

"I thought I'd help you have one less thing to worry about. I wanted to wait until I finished it before showing you, but I thought it would be a great distraction to work on it to take your mind off everything else."

"Ez..."

I didn't know what to say. No one had done anything for me before. Not like this. Not to make my life easier. He went above and beyond what I asked of him because he wanted to.

He definitely deserved that reward, and he was going to get it.

Setting the tablet on the table, I grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down so I could reach his lips. My lips were harsh and fast on his gently and soft ones. I was rushing. I had to do what I planned to before I could talk myself out of it.

Pulling away, I grabbed his shirt in my hands and used it to make his back up against the table. Once he was in place, I reached on my toes to place a kiss on his collar bone before dropping to my knees and reaching for his belt buckle.

I had just pulled the belt strap out of the pin when his hands halted mine. My eyes shot up to meet his heated green eyes.

"What are you doing?" His voice sounded deeper.

I licked my lips. "Thanking you."

The heat in his eyes flared. His hands tightened on mine slightly before his eyes hardened and he pulled me to his feet.

"No."

My brows furrowed in confusion and a deepening pain formed in my chest.

Didn't he want me? I thought he did.

He must have seen the devastation on my face. His eyes and face softened and he pulled me into his arms and pressed his lips to my forehead.

"Not like this," he said, his lips moving against my skin. "I don't want you to do anything because you feel you owe me." He pulled back to look me in the eyes. I could see deepening concern form in his eyes along with something I couldn't recognize. "I want it to happen because you want it to." He cupped my neck on with side with his hands and rubbed his thumbs across my cheeks. "Not to thank me."

I nervously chewed on my lip and looked at his chest, avoiding eye contact. It should have made my heart flutter that he was so caring and considerable, but it didn't. Even with his words, the sting of rejection remained.

I wasn't normal.

It was moments like these that made it so crystal clear.

He had ruined me.

Because I wanted Ezra to take it. Although I loved his caring and gentle self, it wasn't the kind of love and care I was accustomed to and knew. I wanted Ezra to want me. To own me. To possess me completely. I wanted to be his.

Because if someone truly wanted me, they would do what they had to have me, right?

I was a sick, twisted, freak.

His fingers gently traced over my eyebrow. I didn't realize I was furrowing them as my thoughts raced until he smoothed the crease between them with his thumb.

"Nea," he started as he grabbed my hand and rubbed circles on the back with his thumb. It was barely noticeable, but something seemed... off with the way his voice sounded. "I just realized I don't know much about you."

I stiffened.

His thumb stopped. He grabbed my hand and led me towards the armchair, grabbing the tablet from the table on the way. Taking a seat, he pulled me onto his lap and situated me so we could both see the screen.

"There's only a little bit left," he said grabbing a pen off the side table. "Let's work on it together."

It was clearly an effort to undo what he had just done. It would be stupid to think he didn't notice my reaction. Who else suggests working on restoring one image with one stylus at the same time? But I didn't point it out. No, I rested my head on Ezra's shoulder as he began making small and precise lines to fill in small lost parts of the ripped edges before filling them with the matching colours. It was calming to watch. I could feel the tension that had built between us melt away with the minutes.

"How are you so good at this?" I asked after he had filled in a rip the size of a rice grain or two. I wouldn't have been able to tell that it had been damaged before if I didn't already know.

"When I first started studying plants I needed to memorize which was which. Most of them were easily distinguishable, but it was difficult to tell the differences between some nearly identical plants. I found out that if I drew the plants out, I remembered the smaller defining features better so I started drawing them. A lot," he laughed. The rumble shook my body. "My older sister thought some of them were so good that she had me draw and paint bigger versions on parchment and tried to sell them at the market. Turns out some people liked them and wanted to buy them so I started making more so our family could have another source of income. We could use all the money we could get at the time."

I looked up at him. A darkness had shadowed his eyes at the mention of his family's past struggles. "I would pay you if could," I said, trying to lighten the mode.

It worked.

He smiled down at me. "I don't think you could afford me, Blossom," he said, kissing my head. Laughter was noticeable in his voice.

I feigned devastation. Two could play this game.

Grabbing the tablet from his hands and I jumped from his lap.

"Nea! What are you doing?"

I clutched it to my chest and shook my head. "No, I can't let you waste your time on something so useless. Someone at your level shouldn't even be wasting your time on me," I said, acting humbled and horrified.

Despite it being an act, I could help but notice how true my words rang. He really shouldn't have been wasting his time on me. I truly was beneath him. His reaction to the situation earlier just proved it.

Yet...

I was feeling selfish. Greedy.

I wanted him.

I would be happy if the others stopped wasting their time with me, but if Ezra did...

"Really, Nea? Are we going to play it this way?" He asked. I could see amusement lighting his eyes up.

"Play what?" I asked innocently. "I'm just facing some hard truths." And I was, but I wasn't going to let Ezra know the specifics. I didn't want to give him an accidental epiphany or something.

"Ok," he calmly stated with a shrug.

Then I found myself upside down.

I clung to the fabric of Ezra's shirt as his shoulder dug into my stomach. He carried me a few steps on his shoulder while I kept my grip white-knuckled with fear. I didn't want to fall. I knew he was tall, but it was different experiencing his height while thrown over his shoulder.

Before the threat of vomiting, this morning's breakfast become a real possibility, I heard the sound of heavy thuds on the floor before he flipped me over. My back landed on the hard, cleared surface of his table.

"What are you doing?" I asked breathlessly in panic as I tried to pull my dress down. All the sudden movement had caused it to ride up.

His hand halted my attempt. "Creating a masterpiece." That was the only answer he gave me before his body covered mine and he attacked my lips.

All thought beyond that of his skin on mine left my mind as my fingers curled into his hair.

His lips moved from mine down to my neck. He sucked, kissed, and licked every inch of skin as his hand travelled up my bare leg and under the hem of my dress. I couldn't thank Cindy and Nicole enough for forcing me to face extreme discomfort while removing every hair from every inch of my body aside from my head at the moment. A sharp bite had me hissing at the stinging pain he soothed with his kiss.

"Sorry, Blossom, don't want my work to fade away too fast."

My breathing had grown heavier along with my confused thoughts. He was setting my body aflame. "I- I thought you didn't want this?" I asked, probably shooting myself in the foot.

He chuckled. His breath brushed over my skin, causing me to shiver and goosebumps to break out.

He brought his lips back to mine as his fingertips trailed along the edge of my underwear. "Don't go putting words in my mouth, Nea," he said. "I never said I don't want this." He pulled back and looked at me. "If I'm honest, it frightens me how badly I want it, how badly I want you."

The mood shifted. It went from being playful and lust-filled, to serious and heated if Ezra's eyes were an indication.

He caressed my cheek. "At first, I thought maybe it was because you were different, strange. That I was just interested because I was intrigued and, if I'm being completely honest, at first I was excited to be able to study you since you're the definition of a mystery to us."

My eyes narrowed slightly.

His lips quirked up. "After a while, I thought maybe it was because I recognize that you weren't a threat. Any doubts that you had a hidden agenda had faded that day you almost killed yourself by falling headfirst into a cauldron."

"You know that was your fault. Who leaves a book the size of a stool on the ground?"

"Who doesn't see a book the size of a stool on the ground and avoid it?"

He kissed the scowl on my lips.

"I had started imagining a future with you."

I stopped breathing at his words.

"I started imagining what life would be like with someone like you as a wife- not the piss poor act we're putting on. At first, I was just picturing it with no specific woman in mind, but slowly...the faceless woman gained a face. Yours. I realized I was imagining building a life with you."

My heart thudded in my chest violently. I was positive Ezra could feel it.

He placed his hands on either side of my head and held himself up. "Nea," his voice was serious, but I could detect a hint of vulnerability. "I'm not asking for an answer or for you to make any decisions yet, but just know... I'm not just playing a part like Zev was earlier. Every touch, every kiss I give you? They're real. Not an act. I want you Nea, more than I should."

I swallowed. The back of my throat and eyes burned while my vision blurred from tears I refused to release.

He gently kissed my lips again. "Can I show you how much I want his, Blossom?"

I nodded. I couldn't speak, my throat was too tight.

He kissed me reverently. Taking his time to explore every inch of my mouth. Soon his lips trailed down my neck and chest before continuing further down my body. He lifted himself off me and stood between my legs that hung off the edge of the table that I lay on. His strong hands travelled up my legs, pushing the dress higher.

"Are you, okay with this?" He asked.

I nodded growing excited as his fingers inched higher. Soon that excitement turned into frustration. His fingers trailed over my skin, skimming the edges of my underwear, but never touched me where I needed him to.

Finally, his fingers brushed the fabric covering my crotch and I jerked at the sensitive reaction my body had. He ran his fingers over the fabric covering my slit before pressing the pads of two fingers in circular motions at the clit.

He draped his body over mine again, his lips brushing against mine. "And this?" He asked, teasing the bare skin just above my underwear.

"Yes," I breathed out.

His fingers reached into my underwear slowly.

His fingers continued their torture. He trailed them up through my slit before finally showing my clit the attention it was begging for. The slow, rhythmic circles had my lower abdomen tightening familiarly. His finger reached down further. He rubbed them over my wet opening a few times before positioning them at the entrance.

"And this?"

I nearly growled in true Jaxon fashion. "Yes, stop asking me and just do it!"

His fingers stiffened.

He moved his lips to my ear. "Are you sure about that, Nea?"

I wanted to hit him. "Ye-"

"Think before you answer, Blossom. I won't ask again."

His words seemed to hold an underlying meaning, but I didn't care. My body burned with the need for him.

"Yes."

And like that, a switch was flipped.

He straightened and removed his hand. Before I could fully process the change, he pulled me up and flipped me before pushing me back down on the table. This time I was lying on my stomach as my toes struggled to reach for the ground. Grabbing the sides of my underwear he pulled them down and clean off. A moment later, I shivered as the cool air met the bare flesh of my ass and the wetness that coated my lower lips.

I felt the weight of Ezra's body slightly when he leaned over me. "No, take backs," he said into my ear.

His words were followed by a sharp pain on my bare ass cheek as his palm clapped against it.

I gasped at the pain, but it quickly turned into a moan when he shoved two fingers into me and started pumping them without pause. There was a slight burn from the intrusion at first, but my sick, twisted mind liked that.