Page 114 of The Reckoning of Starlight

Serenna paused at the threshold. Fenn’s gaze went straight to the steam-veiled pool. He rolled one shoulder, and the lingering stiffness tugged through the bond alongside the ache in her own muscles.

“Jassyn and Lykor won’t escape Kaedryn anytime soon,” Fenn said, a wicked glow in his eyes. “Shame to waste the water while we wait.”

He kicked off his boots and hauled his tunic over his head, tossing it aside. Scars crossed his ribs, each seam familiar from the paths Serenna’s fingers had traced before. He caught her staring and grinned.

“What?” He loosened the laces of his trousers. “You’ve both seen me unclothed before.”

Serenna huffed a quiet laugh. “That doesn’t make it less distracting.”

“I would be offended if it did.”

Beside her, Vesryn folded his arms, irritation sharpening through the bond while Fenn peeled his trousers down his thighs without breaking eye contact with her. The prince refused to even glance at Fenn, intent instead on the flush climbing Serenna’s cheeks.

Fenn had somehow turned removing his clothes into a declaration of war.

“Must you make a spectacle of undressing?” Vesryn asked.

“Just making sure I have your attention.”

Fenn flashed his fangs and sauntered toward the pool, midnight hair swaying behind him.

He waded into the dark water and loosed an indecent groan, drawing it out until Serenna caught the taunt beneath the pleasure, each shameless note meant for Vesryn.

Her pulse struck her ribs anyway. She knew that sound against her skin, his talons wound through her hair, fangs buried in her throat, his growl shuddering through her chest until her spine arched to chase it.

Vesryn’s palm pressed into her lower back, fingers spread wide.

Eyes closed, Fenn tipped his head against the pool’s lip. A smirk curled his mouth before one glowing eye opened to a slit and found Vesryn.

“You getting in, princeling? Or are you just going to watch?”

Vesryn rolled his eyes and dragged a hand over the shorn side of his head before tearing into the disheveled braid on the other.

“Someone has to make sure you stay where you can touch the bottom,” he said, fingers ripping through the plait with more force than the knots deserved. “Drowning in a hot spring after surviving the Aetherveil would be a humiliating end.”

Fenn’s cackle rang off the stone. “Well,” he said, settling an arm along the edge of the pool, “you’ll have a better view in the water.”

Vesryn said nothing. His fingers curled at his sides, tendons taut along his forearms. Serenna didn’t need the bond to guess who he imagined strangling.

She touched his arm and slid her hand down until she reached his fist. She eased it open and laced their fingers together. The hard line of his mouth softened as his thumb skimmed her knuckles.

“Let’s get in,” she said quietly.

Vesryn exhaled, a weary surrender. He met Fenn’s eyes across the pool. Without looking away, he reached for the clasp at Serenna’s shoulder.

The buckle released with a soft click. A flutter stirred low in her belly as he worked the leather loose beneath Fenn’s watch. The prince’s hands remained steady, though strain pulled through his wrists with every movement. He lifted the armor away and laid it on the stone.

Across the water, Fenn went wraith-still, every trace of amusement giving way to focus as Vesryn drew the side lacing from her tunic one crossing at a time. The fabric parted under the prince’s knuckles, their graze following her ribs to the curve of her waist. He drew the tunic over her head and let it fall, baring her breasts to the mineral steam. Fenn’s eyes flared, his fingers tightening against the stone lip of the pool.

Vesryn’s palms settled at her hips, thumbs slipping under the waistband of her trousers. He sank to one knee before her, letting Fenn fall from his attention as his eyes rose to meet hers. Serenna’s breath caught halfway in as he took off her boots.

He drew her trousers down her thighs, his hands lingering over the skin he uncovered. His fingers flexed against the backs of her knees before easing the fabric past one ankle, then the other.

Once she stood bare before him, Vesryn drew one measured breath and let his hands fall away. He rose, close enough that the hair by her ears stirred when he spoke.

“Go on,” he said quietly.

From the water, Fenn watched Serenna approach, steam eddying around her ankles as she crossed the stone. Behind her, she felt Vesryn’s gaze tracing the length of her back.