They tried for sleep, but it wouldn't come.
Enid was painfully aware of Thorien as he lay on the chaise near the window, his arm resting behind his head as the moonlight danced on his body from the large window, shimmering on the sliver of skin visible under the unbottened shirt on his chest.
She swallowed thickly from where she lay in the single large bed, alone.
She should have been sleeping, she knew. Exhaustion had claimed her after the ritual, and she should be trying to recover now, to get her strength for whatever happened tomorrow.
But...it was hard.
Her eyes roamed the figure of the prince, the strong figure in the strangely vulnerable position. She knew it was wrong. Knew that if he knew...
Her eyes slowly passed the length of his body, from his bare feet, the tautness of his stomach that she could see even under the shirt as it fluttered around his muscles, the slowly rising chest...his bulging arms...
...his hazel eyes as they stared intensely at her...
She drew in a quick breath, caught, as she hurriedly averted her gaze to the other side of the room.
Her heart beat erratically in her chest, as a warmth that she was not quiet familiar with spread under her skin. Even in the cool breeze, sweat started lining her brow.
'Oh! Oh, you idiot! What were you doing?!'
She was so engrossed in her thoughts that it took a while for her brain to catch up to the new sight in front of her.
It was no less tempting than the other.
Kaelith sat in front of the fireplace, his legs spread out in front of him and a single knee raised to support his hand as he stared at the dwindling fire. The firelight danced across his skin, bathing him in a beautiful golden glow.
His disheveled hair fell across his forehead, the midnight colour contrasting heavily with the yellow and red of the small flames. He stared softly into the sparks, his face serene and open, bereft of the sterness, the mask she had been seeing all day.
She watched as he stroked the burning embers with the firepoker, and would lean back into his position. His blue eyes focued on the fire.
This strange homely scene should have been enough to calm her down, but strangely enough, the heat she felt in herself grew.
If she had been more aware of herself, she would have realised that the back of her neck pulsed strangely, as her heart settled into a staccato.
She would have realised that the hands she was resting on the sheet had somehow fisted in them.
She would have realised that her breaths were coming shallower and shallower, and louder and louder, until the two men she had been watching were watching her in turn.
Her thoughts were coming slower and slower though, muddled and far away, as she focused on Kaelith as he too focused back on her, his face in the air, scenting.
And that is when she let out a soft high sound. She mewled.
His eyes snapped open, an electric shade of blue with a golden ring in front, as he stared ferally at Enid.
"Mate." He growled.
Enid whined in response.
In a second he was by her bedside, hovering over her from the side of the bed. His features were somehow more sharper, angular, as his face neared hers, his eyes boring into hers as her breathing increased.
"Alpha..."
He groaned, the sound long and raw in his throat as his hand came up to her face, holding her chin and then rising, slowly past her ear, and into her hair as he gripped her hair...
...and slanted his mouth over hers.
She moaned in his mouth, her own hand coming up to tangle in his hair as her body arched, the sheet slipping off her body and revealing the shirt she wore underneath.
She felt as his other hand moved to her leg, travelling from her shin to her calves, and slowly settling just under her knee.
Her legs moved restlessly at the contact, the heat she felt in her core urging her to go faster, faster...
...when her eyes snapped open at another growl reverberating through the room.
She moved her face, snatching her lips away from her alpha to look at the side where the other man stood, still bathed in the moonlight.
His chest was heaving, and his hazel eyes had a gold ring in them. His shirt revealed a delicious stretch of skin as he stared at his brother kissing down the neck of his mate.
"Mine." He roared as he prowled to the couple on the bed, his steps deliberate and strong. His face was lowered as he maintained the gaze of the woman he was about to claim.
Upon reaching the bed, he did not hesitate in climbing it and setting on the other side of the woman. He slowly lowered his face down until his eyes was in level with hers, not bothering with the other man kissing her neck.
His hands barely touched her skin, hovering just a breath away as he groaned just above her lips.
"Mate...."
He was slower, more patient than the other man currently devouring her neck and now her shoulders with his kisses and occasional nips.
Thorien moved his fingers over the shirt of his mate, touching just enough for her to feel it through the thin material, as she arched needlessly for he only drew his hands away.
He smirked breathlessly into her lips, drawing himself away as she tried to reach up, to kiss him.
His pointer finger traced her neck until they disappeared behind her nape, as he finally, finally lowered himself down. Sniffing her neck, he declared, "Mate." and dragged his lips to her own, devouring her.
Enid's skin danced with the added sensation. She moaned shamelessly at the mutiple touches of the two men.
Kaelith was deliciously rough, and unashamed to touch her, to make her skin sing...while Thorien was deep and devouring with his kisses, his absenses, the way he pushed and pulled.
Enid's breaths were coming in pants in between Thorien and alternatively Kaelith's kisses. But she found she didn't much care even if she couldn't breathe.
She moved when they moved, touched them as she was touched.
The three of them lay there, linked, on the bed, as the mark glowed faintly in the dark room. Uncaring of the world outside, or even their own thoughts beyond the demanding thirst of their bodies.
And then-
BANG. BANG. BANG.