She was between them. Lucanis's hand traced the curve of her jaw, his thumb brushing over her lips as Viago pressed a kiss to the nape of her neck. Starling lay, eyes hazy, body pliant and warm, her breath catching each time one of them touched her in just the right way. There was something about this, having her like this, kept between them, possessed by both of them, that made the blood in Lucanis's veins thrum.
He was inside her, and so was Viago, closer than they'd ever been, their rhythm perfectly matched. Not rough this time, not frantic or overwhelming. This was a claiming in slow motion.
Her fingers gripped at the sheets, then at him, trying to pull him closer, trying to force something more, but he slowed deliberately, a wicked curl to his lips.
"No," Lucanis murmured against her mouth. "Not yet."
They drew her to the edge again and again, only to pull her back, feeling her tremble beneath them with frustration, with need. Viago's hand curved around her hip, steadying her as Lucanis moved inside her with maddening precision. He could feel her pulse flutter beneath her skin, feel the way she was holding on, just barely. That's how he wanted her. Undone, but not unmade.
She gasped, arching against them. Her voice was breathless, fraying.
"Please."
Lucanis tilted his head, watching her face carefully. He loved that word in her mouth. He might have made her beg again, if not for the way her eyes caught his - raw, glimmering, vulnerable.
He pressed his forehead to hers.
"Almost," he whispered. "You stay here, you give us this, and we'll give you everything."
--
Viago had always liked control. Precision, timing, the long play.
But there were moments, like now, pressed against her back, her breathless little 'please' still echoing in his ears, where his composure threatened to slip.
She was trembling between them, strung so tight they could feel it in the way her body sought them out with every breath, every shift. Lucanis was murmuring to her, low and coaxing, the way he only ever spoke to her.
Viago's hand slid around her hip, slow and certain, his fingers teasing over nerves still flushed with heat and hunger. Just a breath of contact, just enough to make her gasp and tense.
But he didn't give her what she wanted. Not yet.
"You want this?" He murmured near her ear, voice velvet-dark. "Then promise you'll stay."
There was a beat - one soft, shuddering breath - before, "I promise."
He didn't know if she meant it. And he didn't care, not in that moment.
His touch returned to that sensitive little spot, and she shattered with a cry that Lucanis caught with his mouth, pulling her into a kiss that was all heat and hunger and possessive fire. Viago felt her come apart between them, and that was all it took. The sound of her, the feel of her, the trust in that promise - it undid him.
They stayed pressed to her, in her, around her, her body tucked between theirs like something rare and precious. Her leg draped over Lucanis's hip, and Viago's arm slung over her waist, palm resting flat just beneath her ribs.
She was still trembling. Still catching her breath. Good. He pressed a kiss to her shoulder, slow and fond.
They'd pulled her apart tonight. And now, they'd keep her close, tied not with silk, but with the kind of closeness that would sink into her bones if she let it.
--
Starling could feel it, something different in the air. Not just sweat and heat and the tangled scent of them, but something quieter. Deeper. Something that lingered in her skin and bones and breath.
They hadn't just taken her apart this time; they'd done it slowly, reverently. Like it meant something. Like she did.
Starling lay between them, her pulse still fluttering in places she didn't want to think too hard about. There was a kind of fullness to her, echoes of what they'd done, of how they'd held her there at the edge and whispered promises, and then finally, finally, let her fall.
She could still feel them. The imprint of Lucanis's mouth on hers, the shape of Viago's breath against her neck, the slow rhythm they'd moved to, together.
Intimacy. That was what this was. Not just sex. Not just pleasure. Something more dangerous.
Viago shifted behind her, and she felt the slow, inevitable slide as he slipped free of her body. She inhaled sharply, surprised at the strange pang of absence it left behind.
Then warmth returned as he drew the blanket over them, settling back in behind her, his hand curling around her waist like it belonged there.
Without thinking, without letting herself second-guess it, Starling reached. Her hand found his, and she slid her fingers between his.
He stilled. Just for a moment. Then his fingers closed around hers, steady and sure. No teasing, no performance. Just… presence.
She didn't look at him. She didn't say a word. She didn't know if it meant anything, or if she'd regret it later. But she kept her fingers laced with his.
Lucanis stirred on her other side, the warmth of him pressing in, his breath soft against her collarbone. Trapped between them. Kept between them. Held between them.
Starling swallowed. She would stay. She'd promised. Just until morning.
--
She woke to warmth. Not the sluggish kind of warmth from sunlight and tangled sheets - but the kind that came from being held. Still pressed tightly between them. One broad chest against her back, another chest to her front. A leg draped over hers. Arms slung heavy around her middle.
She blinked against the morning light leaking through the curtains. Her shoulders weren't sore this time - small mercies - and there was a comfort in the closeness that made her reluctant to move. She thought about it, though. Leaving.
She always thought about it. But she'd promised she'd stay until morning. So she had. And now morning was here.
The light wasn't high yet. She had time. If she left now. She still had to get home, clean up, change, grab her gear, and head to the Hall.
She shifted carefully, but the weight of them didn't give. If anything, it got heavier.
"Oi," she muttered, squirming a little. "Move. I have to go."
Viago's arm just cinched tighter around her waist, pulling her back against the hard line of his body. She could feel him, pressed against her backside, looking for a way in. The lazy drag of want, his voice still warm and heavy from sleep.
"It's still early," he murmured.
"So?" She replied, but it lacked heat. "I still have to get home first. Clean up."
Lucanis's voice, low and dry at her neck. "You wouldn't if you just got cleaned up here."
She rolled her eyes, but he was already nuzzling in close, thumb brushing against her skin beneath the sheet, just a whisper of contact, enough to steal her breath. Prick.
"I still have to go home to get changed. Get my things-"
"You wouldn't," Lucanis said again, thumb ghosting over her nipple now, making her shiver, "if you just kept things here."
Her breath hitched. It was always like that, her body on a hair trigger where they were concerned. The smallest touch and she was already there, already sliding. It wasn't fair.
"But I don't," she said. "So I have to go." Or tried to say. Her voice cracked on the word 'go' as Viago's hand found her breast, his fingers not nearly as patient as Lucanis's thumb. She bit back a gasp, trying to summon the resolve she'd had a moment ago. Trying to remember why she needed to leave.
"I have to-"
"You don't want to," Lucanis murmured against her neck.
And she hated that he was right.
--
He felt it in the way her body stilled. Not with decision, but with resignation. The kind that wasn't reluctant so much as surrendered.
Good.
Lucanis reached down and slid his hand over her thigh, fingers curling around the soft line of it as he drew her leg back over his waist. Her skin was warm, her muscles still loose with sleep and indulgence. She didn't resist. Of course she didn't. Her protest came late and thin.
"I still have to-"
He didn't even answer her. He just rolled her with him, shifting until he was on his back and she was on top of him, straddling him, her hair falling in molten gold waves across his chest and shoulders. Her thighs bracketed his hips, and he could feel the slick heat of her, already there, ready, wanting, even if her mouth hadn't caught up to her body yet.
She sank onto him without hesitation, breath catching, and Lucanis made a low sound in his throat. That softness, that heat - her body opening around him like it knew exactly what belonged inside it.
And he did belong.
She muttered something about having to go again, and he chuckled, deep and low, his hands sliding to her hips. It was absurd, really, this girl who kept pretending she wasn't theirs, even as she held onto them like an anchor.
Her lips brushed his, soft and unhurried, then deepened. Her hair spilled like silk as she kissed him, mouth open and sweet. She gasped into it as her hips shifted forward, taking him in deeper. And behind her, Lucanis saw the familiar gleam in Viago's eyes. Amused and aroused. Predatory almost.
Viago leaned over her, his mouth brushing her shoulder, then the curve of her neck. His gaze flicked toward Lucanis, hot and conspiratorial. Look at her, it said. Look how much she wants this.
Lucanis was looking. He didn't stop. Not even for a second.
They moved like one creature, languid and slow, their rhythm unhurried. This wasn't rough or punishing. There was no edge to take off. Just a deep, slow ache drawn out as long as they could stand it.
Starling's eyes fluttered shut, her breath soft and catching, and Lucanis ran his hands along the arch of her back, the curve of her waist. She was still here. Still wrapped around them. Still letting herself be held and touched and wanted.
She might tell herself she was going to leave. But right now, her body was saying something else entirely. And Lucanis, well, he had time to make her believe the truth. Time, and her promise to stay. That was all they needed. And in moments like this, it felt like they already had both.
She bit her lip - hard - like she was trying to choke back the sounds building in her throat. Like if she didn't let them out, she could pretend she wasn't that close, pretend she still had control.
She didn't.
Lucanis leaned up and kissed her, catching that lip between his own, not rough, not bruising. Just enough pressure to steal it from her. To tell her she didn't have to hold herself together. Not here. Not with them.
Behind her, Viago groaned - a sound pulled from deep, a breaking point - and Lucanis felt it before he even saw it: the sharp jerk of Starling's body as Viago came, his breath going ragged against her shoulder. And that, that was all it took.
Lucanis felt her body seize around him, a pulsing heat that dragged him straight down with her, his hands tightening at her hips as the world narrowed to the sensation of her - soft, slick, and his. The groan that left him was quieter than Viago's but no less guttural. He held her there, all the way through it, until she collapsed forward on his chest, breath catching against his collarbone.
She didn't move. Just breathed, slow and unsteady.
Viago flopped down beside them with a long, satisfied exhale, brushing sweat-damp hair from his brow. He looked over at Lucanis, still half-drunk on pleasure, and gave him a smug little smirk before turning his attention back to Starling, his hand finding her knee, then sliding up to rest on her thigh in a lazy, possessive sprawl.
Lucanis kept one hand at her back, the other tracing idle shapes across her ribs. They didn't speak.
But she was here. And all in all, not a bad morning.