Chapter 26

Lillian

I jumped up, pulling away from the twins, already burning with a head-to-toe blush.

What was with him and the ‘sexy time' barge-ins lately?

Maybe if you didn't have ‘sexy time' when you're supposed to be training, I wouldn't be forced to barge in. Keir's eyes were dark as they trailed from my face to my exposed breasts. That's where they lingered, and I pushed out a breath as his tongue swept across his bottom lip before he bit down on it.

Oh, fuck . I tried to whisper-think to myself, but the way his Adam's apple bobbed with a thick swallow told me he'd heard my voice in his head too.

The heat of the blush mixed with the heat of lechery. This was the longest he'd ever indulged in such an act. He was usually able to tear his eyes away by now. The dark prince himself was struggling to turn away from me.

Pull your shirt down, princess, for both our sakes.

I blinked at him, pursing my lips. Maybe if you say please.

Please, Lillian. Keir looked as though he might actually have a heart attack, and his breathing was alarmingly unsteady.

He was lucky I was hungry, my stomach close to rumbling. I slowly brought my hand up to the hem of my shirt, making a show of giving him exactly what he asked for, and pulled it down until I was decent again.

Once I was covered, he turned and walked out the door.

I was startled when he shouted, "Everyone to the kitchen. NOW!"

The twins laughed the entire time as we followed Keir. Aiden smarted off about Keir being jealous because he wasn't getting any.

The jokes make me wonder, though: was he really not ‘getting any'? All three men were drop-dead fucking god-like on the attractiveness scale, and I'd been here for quite some time. The twins were getting their fill from me, but what about Keir? No way had he been celibate for this long. A man like that didn't go without.

A pain in my chest appeared as I thought about Keir being with another woman. My stomach flipped, and not in a good way. I blew out a huge breath, hoping to shake the sick feeling from my body.

"Two. Fucking. Days," Keir said when we filed into the kitchen. "Two days to get her ready."

No one spoke as he got things out for lunch, piecing together some sandwiches Ida had left us, clearly agitated.

Speaking of which: why the fuck was he even home? Ever since he'd given up the extra training time with him, he'd stopped taking time off work, not returning until it was time for our training in the evening.

"You three need some fucking therapy." Keir handed each of us a plate of food before gesturing for us to sit at the table.

"You're one to talk," Aiden remarked.

Keir glared at him. "How is she going to have the energy and focus to complete the fucking trials if you two are constantly using her?"

I snorted, and the angry eyes fell to me. My arms crossed over my chest. "They weren't using me, Keir. I asked them to distract me. It was my idea. There is a thing called a woman asking for sex, you know."

He paused, his lips twisting as he considered my words. "You will sleep in my room tonight."

My jaw dropped, and my brain threatened a full-on shut-down. Did he just say I was going to sleep in his room? What the fuck?

"And tomorrow night."

"Keir, come on…" Nicholas started. "It was a bit of fun because things were getting tense and stressful, and like she said, she asked for it. It's not like we were forcing her to do anything."

"Then I will teach her some alternative coping skills that aren't sex," Keir countered. "I've made my decision. No more fucking sex. She sleeps with me, in my bed, so I can make sure she is actually sleeping before she has to take on a fucking Hell Dragon . Or did you two forget about that part?"

The twins mumbled inaudible answers, knowing there was no arguing with their older brother.

"Wait a damn second here," I interjected. "I'm sleeping in my room." I shot a pointed look at the man who had the audacity to tell me I would be sleeping in his bed with him despite having my own comfy bed with loving, generous men in it. "You can't just tell me where I am going to sleep."

He scoffed, astounded I would even entertain the idea of not listening to his orders. "I can, and I did. You'll thank me later, but my decision is final. I don't care if I have to tie you to the fucking bedposts; you will be next to me tonight."

Nicholas choked on the water he'd been drinking, coughing and gasping for breath as Aiden smacked his back and roared with laughter.

Images of being tied to Keir's bed as he stood before me, eyes devouring every inch of me, flashed through my mind. My cheeks warmed at the thought.

"I didn't fucking mean it that way. Hail Satan, you three are ridiculous." He sighed and shook his head like we'd disappointed him, then looked back up at me with an unreadable expression. "Please consider it," he pleaded with me. "I only have your best interests in mind. I swear it."

Nicholas's coughs finally subsided, and the twins grew quiet. Everyone was waiting for my reaction.

I pressed my lips together, feigning deep thought. I let the moment drag on, hoping to make him sweat it out a bit. "Fine." He sagged with relief. "But under no circumstances, no matter how much you beg me, will I cuddle with you." I bit into my sandwich to keep myself from smiling.

After the joke settled in, the twins laughed again, and Keir cracked a tiny, itty-bitty smile.

"I love you, baby," Nicholas said before kissing my cheek hard. "Our life would be so boring without you in it."

"And less beautiful," Aiden tacked on with a wink.

Keir was surprisingly pleasant the rest of the day. He ate lunch with us, ran on the treadmills with Nicholas and me as he told us about his father putting him on leave, and even gave me more praise than usual during our training. I was feeling much more relaxed than usual throughout the night.

When I got tired, I walked to my bedroom, the twins taking the hint and crawling off the couch to follow me down the hall.

We small-talked through our routine of brushing our teeth, washing our faces, and dressing for bed like we did every night. When I got to the bed, Aiden was already laying on his side. Nicholas stood by the bed, plugging our phones in. He turned and motioned for me to crawl into my spot in the middle.

I gave him a quick peck on the cheek as I placed my knee on the bed, preparing to hoist myself onto it.

The door swung open. "Good. You're dressed for bed."

I looked down at my skimpy pajama shorts and tank top then back up at Keir. He moved out of the doorway and stuck his arm out, inviting me to accompany him. I huffed, but I had agreed to this earlier; it just… slipped my mind.

Aiden sat up in bed. "What are we supposed to do then?"

Keir looked as though he couldn't care less. "Sleep in your own rooms? Snuggle each other for warmth? I don't fucking care." His shoulders came up, and he put his hand on my back as he ushered me out the door, his fingers brushing the small sliver of exposed skin above my shorts. My skin tingled as goosebumps spread.

"Why're you smiling like that?" he asked once the door clicked closed, and we walked toward his room.

"I just didn't know the dark, broody brother had humor in him," I replied, softly bumping his arm with my shoulder.

"I can be funny." He sounded offended, which only made me laugh.

"Sure you can," I teased. "I believe you."

"You little brat," he remarked half-heartedly, poking my side as he opened the door to his bedroom.

"Whoa," I breathed out.

His room was black everything: walls, bedsheets, floor, everything. I wanted to look at his room and learn more about him, but my eyes were drawn to the windows. They lined the outside wall, overlooking the city.

My body moved on its own, carrying me to the door in the middle of the windows. It led to a balcony with a glass railing, a sleek metal bar lining the top.

I opened the door, and the cold breeze smacked me in the face, blowing my hair back. Awestruck was the only word I could find to describe how I felt as I looked out over the lights and buildings. I never realized just how high up we were. Looking over the balcony gave me an instant headache; the ground was so far away.

I didn't even notice Keir had followed me out until he cleared his throat. He was leaning on the railing, but he wasn't taking in the view like I was. He was staring at me like I was the view, a strange look in his eyes.

I looked back out before I thought too hard about it and misread the situation, as I had done so many times before. "It's beautiful," I said to break the silence. "Makes me miss the luxury of windows."

My room didn't have them, and from what I knew, no other room had a balcony like Keir's.

"Yeah, about that…" He trailed off, and I turned to face him, waiting for him to continue. "The room was originally intended for our mother. We tried to convince her to live with us, away from our father. The room was designed so she was protected and safe inside the walls, with no windows for him to silently sneak through in the middle of the night."

"It's your mom's room?"

" Was her room." he paused, tearing his gaze from me to look down. "We waited a long time for her to come to her senses, but—well, she never did." He paused again. "I visited Hell while we had you at the cabin. I came here and told Ida about you, about needing a place to stay…"

"And you chose her room?" I asked, curious as fuck about why he decided to give his mother's room to the human who seemed to pester the shit out of him.

He nodded. "It was time for a change. It sat empty, dusty, for way too long." He looked back up at me. "I'm actually glad it's yours. You brought life to that room." I started to say something, but he kept talking. "Purple looks better than green anyway," he chaffed with a smirk.

"Thank you."

"For what?" He looked perplexed.

"For giving me a home."

His lips parted, and he seemed to freeze momentarily before returning to his room. "It's probably time to get you to bed, princess."

I tried not to let his response bother me, but I couldn't help but wonder what he wasn't telling me. Clearly, he'd wanted to say something more than that, but he held himself back.

I accompanied him back to the room and chose to lie on the right side of the bed. I took note of the fact there was only one pillow, and I pushed it to the other side for him. When he spotted me in the bed, he raised his eyebrows.

"Did I take your spot?" I sat up, ready to move if I needed to.

"It's just odd to see someone in my bed," he responded, waving his hand for me to lay back down.

I couldn't help the giddy feeling that crept up at the fact Keir wasn't used to seeing someone else in his bed. Maybe my assumptions about him being with other women were wrong.

Unless he fucks them somewhere else. Maybe he doesn't want to bring them here.

My ability to overthink pissed me off sometimes.

Keir settled in on the other side of the bed, lying on the edge to keep as much space between us as possible. "Here." He pushed the pillow at me. "Take it," he insisted when I shook my head. "Or I will just throw it on the floor, and no one will use it."

I rolled my eyes and tucked the pillow under me, thankful once my head hit the soft surface. His bed smelled just like him: earthy with a shot of whiskey.

He hit a few buttons on his phone, and the lights turned off, darkness washing over us.

"You're welcome," I heard from his side of the bed.

He couldn't see me, so I let the biggest smile ever spread on my face at his late response to what I'd said earlier. He'd been slowly proving that he did, in fact, have a beating heart beneath that hardened exterior.

I liked it.

A lot.