Chapter 24

Lillian

"Okay, I think I finally got it," I said, trying to sound hopeful, but I was tired of doing this. Three hours straight of guessing the fucking weights of the ‘borrowed' treasure from the palace, courtesy of their mother, according to Ida, who'd brought them to the flat the day after the council meeting.

"Alright, baby. Let's see." Nicholas helped me pour the bag of gold and jewels onto the scale to check the weight. "648 ounces." His face fell, followed by my heart, but he noticed me watching and quickly forced a smile to his face. "You're close, so close, and you're getting closer every time. We still have a couple days, okay? You can get it. I believe in you."

We'd been training differently since the council meeting. Self-defense took a backseat, and it was moved to only once a day in case it was needed for future trials—which Keir said was likely, knowing his father. Instead, I spent the extra time with Nicholas, working on guessing the weight of the treasure. The plan was to get in and out as fast as possible with the correct weight of treasure.

When their father announced my first trial, I thought I was going to faint. I don't know what I expected for a trial, but this? Sneaking into a cave protected by a huge Hell Dragon, a giant fucking dragon who breathed hellfire, which was much hotter than regular fire? Somehow measuring out 666 ounces of treasure without any way of actually knowing if I had the correct amount? Then, sneaking back out of the cave carrying basically a small child on my back and having my measuring skills put to the test?

Daunting was an understatement, and I tried to avoid thinking of what would happen to me if I didn't get everything exactly right.

The princes had tried everything to cheer me up, including Keir surprising me with Mavis coming over like he'd offered. It worked… for the twenty minutes I was distracted by her arrival. She was a good sport about the fact I couldn't focus on anything else, though she tried her best to distract me with every combination of gossip, movies, games, and food.

When I did finally break down and cry, she just hugged me, knowing I didn't need to be told everything was going to be okay.

Though the twins were in their own rooms, they heard my sobs and came running to the rescue.

I jumped when the door swung open.

Nicholas stood there with wide, worried eyes, Aiden behind him wearing a similar expression.

"Are you okay, little one?" Aiden asked once they stepped into the room to see me bawling in Mavis's embrace.

I nodded. "I'm fine." I sniffled and wiped my nose with the back of my hand. I tried wiping the tears away with my hands, but they were snatched up with a gentle grasp. Nicholas knelt and searched my face, and I sniffled again. "I promise. I'm okay."

He moved my hands to hold them with one of his hands, giving them a squeeze. "It's okay to not be okay, baby," he whispered sweetly, brushing my hair behind my ear. I shivered at his tender touch.

I nearly moaned, but my eyes drifted to Mavis, who was watching us with wide eyes, her hand over her mouth, but I could tell she was smiling. I blushed and shook my head, trying to escape the foggy desire these twins always managed to drag me into.

"Okay. I'll let you know if I need you." I folded my hands in my lap. "You can—uh—go now," I said, gesturing my eyes to my friend I had sitting on my bed, hoping they would leave without causing me any more embarrassment.

Thankfully, they left without another word, each giving me a peck on the cheek before closing the door.

I turned to face Mavis, her hand no longer covering her huge, cheeky smile that split her face.

"Don't…" I rolled my eyes at her, but her giggling warned me she had no intention of leaving this alone.

"Girl!" she squealed as she shook me with an unrelenting grip on my arm. "I am so fucking jealous of you!"

"You shouldn't be," I laughed. "They're a lot, especially now with all the shit going on."

She threw herself back on the pile of pillows with a loud sigh. "What I wouldn't give to have even one guy obsessed with me like that, running to my room in the middle of the night because he heard me cry." She let out a frustrated noise. "And you have two of them!"

"Mavis!" I palmed my forehead.

"What? You have no idea how lucky you are, Lil. I'm starved for male attention. I just need a big dicked, muscle-y man who can't get enough of me." She thought for a moment. "Tattoos and maybe a piercing or two wouldn't hurt either," she tacked on.

We broke into a fit of laughter as I threw my decorative pillow at her face.

By the time we stopped laughing, even that distraction wasn't enough to keep a smile on my face. I felt a lump form in my throat, my mind unable to force thoughts of the trials away for another second.

"Oh, Lil," Mavis said as she sat up and scooted closer to me. "I'm here, babe." She pulled me into another hug and held me while I sobbed, only leaving once to get me a glass of water.

I cried in her arms until the exhaustion dragged me against my will into sleep's dark hold.

"Hey…" Nicholas held the sides of my face, lifting me up to look at him. I hadn't realized I'd looked down, huge tears ready to fall. "Don't give up." He placed a sweet, chaste kiss on my lips before putting all the treasure back in the chest. "Try again, baby. For me?"

I nodded and wiped away the moisture that had pooled in my eyes then started placing handfuls of gold and jewels into the backpack, stopping ever so often to check the weight by holding it in the air and bouncing it around by the straps. The guys stressed that there was no time limit, so I took my time each round of practice.

Forty minutes and several bouts of self-doubt later, I handed him the backpack. He took it and placed it on the scale. As the numbers went up, I rubbed my arms repeatedly, trying to calm myself down.

The number stopped at 652, and my breathing became so shallow, it felt like I wasn't breathing at all. My ears started to ring, my vision blurring. I blinked repeatedly, trying to regain control of my body, but I couldn't.

Fuck, this isn't good .

My knees suddenly lost their ability to hold me upright, and I tried to grasp anything to keep myself from falling. Nicholas's arms closed around my waist as I fell back against him. He lowered us to the ground, never letting me go.

He whispered things in my ear as he stroked my hair, but I couldn't make out his words. The shrill in my head was far too loud for me to focus on anything. My skin felt hot and cold at the same time. I laid my head back against him, unable to keep my eyes open any longer.

A cold rag was placed across my forehead, and a cool breeze came out of nowhere, cooling my skin until I shuddered with a cold chill.

I blinked my eyes open to find Aiden kneeling in front of us, fanning me, concern painting his face, his eyes frantically looking me over, like he expected to find a physical injury he could fix with a Band-Aid. It wasn't that simple, though.

His concern faded slightly when he noticed me looking at him. "She's awake," he spoke over my shoulder to his twin, who was still stroking my hair.

I closed my eyes and leaned back into Nicholas, savoring the zaps of pleasure that ran down my spine as he played with my hair. It felt so good, I nearly moaned.

"She's definitely okay," Aiden said, shooting me a wink when I opened my eyes.

I bit my lip and squirmed between them. Apparently, I had moaned.

Nicholas rubbed his nose behind my ear, eliciting more shudders from my body. "I'm sorry for pushing you, baby," he murmured, guilt lacing his voice.

I sat up, both sets of arms coming up to catch me in case I fell again. I repositioned myself to face Nicholas, my thighs resting over his as my ankles crossed behind him. I grabbed his face and waited for him to look me in the eye before saying, "That wasn't your fault." He offered me a brief nod. "I'm just stressed. We've spent all week doing this, and I have so much pent-up energy and anxiety and nowhere for it to go." I blew out a dramatic breath. "I get up, eat breakfast, then lift weights. I practice the weighing. I eat lunch. I run with you. I train with Keir. I eat dinner, then I go to bed—exhausted. I'm not saying I don't need all the training, but I wish I had something to distract me, something to take all the dark thoughts from my mind for longer than five minutes at a time." I stopped and forced the tears away.

The twins were silent for once, and I closed my eyes for a moment before opening them back up. I looked over my shoulder at Aiden, his face slack and his eyes vacant. Nicholas mirrored him. They looked helpless, but they had no idea they were exactly what I needed right now.

"I wan—I need you to distract me," I demanded more than requested.

Aiden scooted closer to me. "How?" I leaned back onto him, and Nicholas watched as I grabbed his twin's hand and brought it under my shirt to my breast.

"Please," I gasped out as Aiden rolled my hard nipple in his fingers.

Nicholas grabbed my waist and moved me against him so I could grind on his cock, which was already hard for me. "Anything for you, baby." I continued to move against him as he slipped a hand under my shirt to my other breast, tugging on my nipple.

I arched my back into their hands. Aiden swept the hair away from my neck with his free hand and peppered my skin with kisses that quickly turned into nibbles and licks. I slid my right hand down my exposed abdomen, but before I could dip them below my shorts, Nicholas took my place, diving in for my swollen clit.

Moans spilled from my lips, my hips still grinding against Nicholas's hardness. Pressure built in the pit of my stomach.

Aiden moved his lips to the shell of my ear, giving it a light bite before growling, "You're so fucking perfect, little one. Look at you. Putty in our damn hands. Begging for our touch like a good fucking whore."

I swallowed, my first orgasm already right around the corner.

My shirt had ridden up to expose my chest, my stiff nipples still being pinched and tugged.

"Do you want to come, Lilly?" Nicholas asked me, but I was busy panting, unable to speak. "Only good girls who tell us what they need get to come, baby."

"I want to come," I half-shouted, unable to control my voice under the haziness of desire clouding my mind.

Aiden's hand wrapped around my throat, pressing just enough to make me light-headed. "I didn't hear her ask. Did you, Nicholas?"

The fingers massaging my clit slowed to a painful pace, and I huffed. "Plea—"

"Are you fucking kidding me?"