Page 115 of The Reckoning of Starlight

Warm water closed over her feet and climbed with every step, past her knees and over her hips, until it circled her waist. She waded to Fenn and sank beside him, close enough that their shoulders touched.

When leather rustled, Serenna glanced back at the prince.

Vesryn took his time undressing, casting aside his tunic before loosening his trousers. He stepped free of them and straightened under Fenn’s scrutiny, shoulders squared, a muscle ticking in his jaw.

When the prince angled toward the pool, Fenn smirked and patted the water beside himself.

Vesryn waded past the offered place. Water lapped low around his hips before he settled on Serenna’s other side. Beneath the dark surface, his hand closed around her knee, his thumb resting against her thigh.

Fenn chuckled, leaning past Serenna to look at the prince. “That went better than expected. But you’re being unusually quiet.”

Vesryn’s expression remained flat. “I’m conserving energy.”

“For what?”

“Tolerating you.”

Fenn put a claw to his chest in mock offense. “Cruel. You take a male to reclaim his piercings, and he starts imagining a future.”

He hooked an arm around Serenna’s waist and drew her across his lap until her back met his chest, his thighs bracketing hers. The length of him pressed against the base of her spine, already hard.

“Let me fix your hair before your princeling decides we’ve soaked long enough.”

His claws combed through the tangled strands, teasing apart what flight had twisted together.

Vesryn watched his talons disappear into her hair. Through the bond, Serenna sensed him attune to each hitch in her breathing, each shiver Fenn’s touch coaxed across her scalp.

A stubborn snarl tugged at her roots, and Serenna winced.

“Sorry,” Fenn murmured. “The wind did a number on you.”

Vesryn’s gaze lowered to the strained curve of her back, still aching from fighting the sky. “The knots in her shoulders need it more.”

Fenn’s talons stilled in her hair, then skimmed lower. His palms spread over the muscles bunched at the base of her neck.

Serenna’s breath stalled when his thumb sank into the first knot. Pressure mounted until pain lanced through her shoulder. Then the muscle loosened, a wave of relief spreading down her spine.

His thumbs worked deeper into the remaining tension, drawing a moan from her.

Before the sound faded, Vesryn came close enough that his shoulder nearly brushed Fenn’s. He laid a hand on Serenna’s thigh, his fingers edging toward the inner curve before stopping.

Serenna met his eyes. “Touch me,” she whispered.

Vesryn’s pupils narrowed to draconic slits. His grip tightened once before his hand slid higher.

Fenn’s thumbs paused against her shoulders. He lowered his mouth to her earlobe, fangs grazing gently. “I thought you’d never ask him.”

Vesryn’s fingers twitched at the crease of her thigh, then slipped just far enough beyond it to steal Serenna’s breath.

Fenn growled against her ear. His hips rolled into her, the hard length of him sliding along the curve of her spine.

Vesryn’s mouth tightened as he looked past Serenna to Fenn. “Problem?”

Fenn huffed a laugh, his palms kneading her shoulders while his hips kept their slow rhythm. “Surely you can sense it’s the opposite of a problem. Don’t keep us waiting.”

“I’m doing this for her.” The words came low, nearly bitten off, but Vesryn’s hand never ceased.

His fingers traced the edge of her entrance, skimming close enough to make her hips lift after them. He paused there until Serenna opened her knees wider. Satisfaction darkened his gaze before he pressed the heel of his palm over the sensitive swell. Serenna ground into his hand, chasing the friction through the water.