Chapter 45

Lillian

The twins were waiting at the doors when the elevator opened.

"Where have you guys been?"

"We thought something happened."

"You looked like you just rolled in dirt."

"Why are your clothes ripped?"

"How did you cut your hand?"

"What happened to you guys?"

They pulled me from Keir's arms and took me to the couch. Aiden kneeled beside me as Nicholas left to grab water and towels.

Aiden brushed some stray hairs from my face. "Fuck, you're so cold." He grabbed the blanket from the back of the couch and tucked it around me. "Are you okay, little one?"

I looked at Keir sitting on the other couch, attention glued to me with a sparkle in his eyes and a satisfied smile on his face. It must've been contagious, because my lips spread with a smile of their own.

I nodded at Aiden, eyes still on Keir. "I'm more than okay." I giggled, feeling light as a feather, floating way above cloud nine. I turned back to Aiden to see him smiling too. "What?"

He chuckled and shook his head. "I just love seeing you happy."

"We both do," Nicholas added when he returned from the kitchen. "For both of you," he directed at Keir as he rounded the couch with two glasses of water and a couple wet rags.

He gave each of us a glass, and we chugged them like we'd been parched for weeks. Nicholas handed Keir a rag then focused on me with the other. He wiped my face first, and I closed my eyes, loving the way the warmth felt on my chilled skin.

"She could've gotten sick," he told his older brother as he worked his way down my neck and chest.

My face was growing sore from the huge smile I was still sporting. "I'm okay, though." I placed my hand over his, just happening to land over my heart, and looked into his blue eyes. "I needed this. He needed this." I spoke the last sentence quietly between us, and he nodded.

"He could have done this in a warm bed, though," Nicholas tacked on.

"This coming from the guy who fucked her on the forest floor next to the demon she'd just killed?" Keir declared from his spot on the couch.

I shrugged and gave Nicholas a look that said Keir was right. Aiden busted out laughing.

"Damn. I'm the only one who hasn't fucked her in the dirt." He held his hand over his heart like he was wounded. "I am beginning to feel left out, little one." He leaned over and stole a kiss from me. "I think you and I need to take a trip outside soon. Alone ."

Nicholas and Keir were both chuckling, and the energy in the room felt… right, like this was how it was supposed to be all along. I looked at each man's face, my men, and my heart skipped a beat.

"I fucking love you," I blurted out, making them all turn to face me. "I love you, all of you," I said, hoping to sound softer, sweeter, as I admitted my love for them together for the first time.

The room was quiet as they stared at me. None of them looked shocked. Instead, I was greeted with adoring, love-stricken faces.

"I love you too, baby," Nicholas said, squeezing my knee.

"Same, little one," Aiden chimed in. "I love you so much."

I looked at Keir, the only one who hadn't spoken. He looked like a love-sick puppy; I was honestly surprised hearts didn't appear in his eyes. It was an odd occurrence, but I could get used to him looking at me like I was his reason for living.

He stood up, and I sat straight. Aiden and Nicholas moved out of the way as Keir got down on his knees in front of me, a sight I was beginning to favor. I watched him with curiosity, wondering what this man was up to.

My hands were scooped up into his, and he held them tightly. "I love you , Lillian," he said loud and proud, staring right into my eyes with an intensity that made my chest tighten. "I will always love you."

He lifted one of his hands to my chest, rubbing his finger along my collarbone, and I couldn't hold back the tiny moan that left me. His hand moved behind my neck, where he threaded his fingers into my hair, using it as an anchor to pull my face to his. Our mouths collided in an explosion that could've leveled Hell.

"He always has to one-up us," Aiden muttered to his twin. He grunted as Nicholas elbowed him in the side. "What? It's true."

"I can't help that I'm her favorite," Keir joked without looking at him, leaving me panting like I'd just run a marathon.

Aiden and Nicholas started to say something back, but I held up my hand. "We are not playing that game." I smacked Keir's shoulder. "I will never have a favorite. I love each of you the same, and I always will. I'll never choose just one, so shut that down right now." I tried to shoot them all a stern glare, but I couldn't help cracking a smile.

We were all laughing together soon after, talking about the council meeting earlier in the afternoon. Keir's big reveal had distracted us all from coming up with a plan to prepare me for the next trial.

"So all I have to do is dive for a seahorse egg?" I asked the guys. "I didn't know seahorses even had nests with eggs. I thought the dad carried the bab—"

"Our father is a dick, and he said it that way on purpose." Keir stood and grabbed a book from the shelf next to the bar, flipping through the pages until he found what he'd been looking for. " This is what he was talking about."

He put the open book in my lap.

It was a horse. No, that was definitely not a horse. It had the head of a horse—well, kind of—and the front legs of one, but that's where it stopped. Its skin was a beautiful mixture of sea-green and blue. At the end of its legs where hooves would have been were fins. In place of its mane was a long, spiky fin. Then, there was its tail—no hindlegs, just a tail. It was scaly, a darker shade of sea-green. Its tail curled up, but at the end of the tail were flaps like a mermaid's. It was the wildest thing I'd ever seen.

"That's a hippocampus," Keir explained. "Hell has ruined them just like every other thing it imprisons. They were once known to be docile creatures, but not anymore, especially when you fuck with their nest. They're super protective of their eggs, particularly the males. Plus, the eggs are extremely fragile and may not survive the swim up. And to get to the nest, you'll have to dive nearly a hundred feet. We have to find a way to get you down there without drowning." Keir kicked the side of the couch, jolting me. "He fucking set you up for failure."

I stood and walked to him, stopping in front of him. "Do you believe in me?" I asked him.

Without any hesitation, he said, "Of course I do."

His confidence in me brought a smile to my face. "Then we will figure it out, just like we did for the first trial."

He nodded slowly.

"I'll take you swimming tomorrow, baby," Nicholas said from the couch.

I walked over to them, planting myself on Aiden's lap and putting my legs on Nicholas's. He held onto me and massaged my calves, which honestly felt magical.

"I can do this," I announced to everyone in the room. "As long as you three are behind me."

***

Turns out, I wasn't a strong swimmer.

Nicholas and I went swimming twice a day since finding out about the second trial, but it seemed kind of hopeless.

"I'm sorry," I sputtered as he helped me out of the lap pool. I couldn't hold my breath for much more than a minute, which made my lungs feel like they were on fire.

"It's okay, Lilly." He wrapped my towel around me. "That was better. Seventy-eight seconds."

He was so positive. No matter how hard I struggled or how down I got, he tried to get me to see the bright side. I was just beginning to think this situation had no bright side, though.

"Ida is looking for some way to help, like how she helped with the first trial."

I nodded, and my heart sent out a million wishes that Ida would find something to help me. I had to, for me, for the princes, for Hell. This was about so much more than Satan bullying a human girl. This was about proving a point and eradicating the evil that had overtaken Hell.

"I'm starving," I said as my stomach grumbled, making Nicholas chuckle. "Can we just go home?"

"Of course. You need your rest, and Keir expects you in his room at seven, just like last night." He rolled his eyes at his brother's obsessiveness.

"Oh, shush," I laughed. "He's trying to help the best way he can."

"You realize we know you two had sex last night, right?" Nicholas poked me with his elbow as we headed to the locker room to change. "‘She needs sleep' my ass. He is such a hypocrite now."

I laughed, but he was right. The night Keir and I were out late, I stayed in my room with the twins. The next night, Mavis came over, and the twins were kicked out of my room. Last night, I slept with Keir, per his ‘two nights before the trial' rule, and I would be tonight as well.

The rule was put in place because Keir supposedly wanted to make sure the twins weren't wearing me out, but last night, he'd given me a run for my money. No doubt the entire building heard the moans that man forced from my body.

He said he was making up for lost time.

Nicholas opened the door of the private locker room and closed it behind us as we walked through.

"Can you blame him?" I asked, dropping my towel and slowly removing my purple bikini.

Nicholas didn't respond as he watched me strip. His eyes glided down my curves, taking in every single inch of my glistening body.

"Baby…" he purred. "I am not above taking you right here."

"I'm kind of counting on it," I said, pulling my bottom lip between my teeth. I tilted my head and gave him my best attempt at a sexy ‘what are you waiting for' look.

"You know who asks for it in a public place, Lilly?" I raised my eyebrows, prompting him to answer. "A needy little whore."

His degrading words made my skin tingle and my pussy pulse. I loved when he talked to me like that. There was a stark difference between my sweet prince and the man standing in front of me, looking like he was about to throw me against the wall hard enough to knock the wind from my lungs.

I splayed my hands on my hips and ran them up my sides until I reached my breasts, pushing them together. I moved my fingers over my nipples and pinched them with a moan.

That's as far as I got in my teasing before he stormed over to me, pushing me until my back hit the cold concrete wall. His hand wrapped around my throat, cutting off my oxygen just enough to make me gasp.

"If anyone is going to pinch those pretty pink nipples, it's going to be me ," he growled.

He slid the back of his finger down my neck until he reached my breast, stopping at my nipple. I arched my back, pleading with him to take what was his. He caught my eyes with a dark look before he twisted my nipple.

"Fuck!" I cried.

It hurt. It hurt so good. My legs were shaking already, and all he'd done was inflict pain. He was still tugging on my nipple, and my pussy was jealous of the attention.

"Such a good little whore, baby," he murmured to me. He licked my lips with a single stroke of his tongue, and I tried to kiss him, but he pulled away. I made a noise of desperation, needing more than what he was giving me. "Ah, ah. Be patient. I'll give you exactly what you need when I decide you're ready for it."

He released my nipple and moved his hand down slowly until he was hovering just above my screaming pussy. I moved my hips, hoping to spur him to touch me, but he pressed against my lower belly, pushing my back flat against the wall.

"If you want to come, you'll be a good girl and stay still," he warned.

I nodded, unable to speak since I was still gasping for tiny breaths as he held my throat in his hand.

He smirked, moving his free hand down until his fingers brushed my sensitive clit. He teased me with the lightest of strokes, but each one made my body jolt.

"Stay still, baby," he reminded me.

It was fucking hard, too fucking hard. He was barely touching me, and it was sending my body into a crazy fit. I tried to stay as still as I could, but the expertly placed gentle touches were overstimulating.

"Pl—please…" I gasped.

"Please what," he taunted.

"M—more."

I should have been terrified at the wicked smile that crossed his face, but it made me whimper with need instead. I didn't care what perverted things were crossing his mind right now; I wanted him to do it all to me.

"Beg for it," he commanded as he loosened his grip around my throat.

Gladly .

"Please give me more. I need more. Please make me co—"

I was cut off when the grip around my throat tightened so much that I couldn't breathe at all. My lungs burned, pleading for air.

At the same time, he pressed his fingers against me harder than before, stroking my clit and setting my body ablaze. My knees instantly buckled, and I pressed my hands against the wall to steady myself, relying only on Nicholas's unrelenting grip on my throat to remain standing.

Nicholas's eyes bore holes in me as he watched my body succumb to his will, throwing me into a quick, powerful orgasm. I closed my eyes, stars dancing behind my eyelids. I couldn't moan; I couldn't move. I was sure I was going to pass out.

He let me go just before I felt my body on the verge of passing out, and my lungs hurt as I sucked in so much air, it made me light-headed. Nicholas grabbed me by the shoulders and helped me to the floor, putting the towel under my ass before I sat down.

I squealed as the door swung open.