Theo knelt in the water while Luna finished wiping the last streak of blood from his temple. His shoulder still looked torn. His ribs still bruised. Frostbite lingered faintly at the edges of his skin where his power had overextended.
Alo leaned against the rock behind them, arms crossed over his chest, watching the tree line even while clearly listening to every breath Luna took.
Theo exhaled slowly. "It's superficial."
"It is not," Luna said firmly, pressing the cloth more gently to his brow.
He didn't argue Inside her mind, something cleared its throat dramatically.
Sprout.
THAT WAS DELICIOUS.
Luna closed her eyes for half a second. Sprout.
TEN OUT OF TEN.
FORM. IMPACT. CROWD RESPONSE.
ICE PHOENIX MALE DISPLAYED ADEQUATE DOMINANCE.
He almost got his throat ripped out.
BUT HE DIDN'T.
She tried not to smile.
He's hurt.
Sprout hummed.
DEFINE "HURT."
SURFACE DAMAGE: MINIMAL.
INTERNAL STRAIN: MODERATE.
EGO: ENHANCED.
Luna bit back a laugh.
Theo frowned faintly. "Why are you smiling."
"Nothing," she said quickly.
Sprout's tone shifted into something smug.
WOULD YOU LIKE A POTION.
Her fingers paused.
…What kind of potion.
FULL INTERNAL RESTORATION.
CELLULAR REGENERATION.
MUSCLE RECOVERY.
NO VISIBLE CHANGE.
She blinked.
No visible change?
HE WILL APPEAR BATTLE-WORN.
SCARRED.
BROODING.
IMPRESSIVE.
BUT INTERNALLY FUNCTIONAL.
Her lips twitched.
You're unbelievable.
YOU'RE WELCOME.
She hesitated.
Cost?
Sprout went quiet for a long, dramatic second.
Then:
FREE.
Luna's eyes narrowed.
Why.
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE WAS HIGH.
MARKET REACTION: SATISFYING.
YOU WHISPERED "THAT WAS REALLY HOT."
I APPROVE OF YOUR BRAND.
She nearly choked.
Theo leaned closer. "Are you unwell."
"I'm fine," she said quickly, coughing once to cover her laugh.
Sprout materialized the potion in her inventory space, small and clear, faintly glowing silver.
ADMINISTER SUBTLY.
RECOMMEND: MOUTH-TO-MOUTH DELIVERY.
SPRROUT.
KIDDING. MOSTLY.
She exhaled and dipped the cloth back into the water, then leaned closer to Theo as if checking his shoulder.
"Open your mouth," she said softly.
Theo obeyed instantly.
Alo's eyebrow lifted.
She pressed the small vial to Theo's lips, letting the liquid slide in like water.
Theo swallowed without question.
He trusted her that completely.
The effect was immediate but invisible.
The torn muscle beneath his skin knit seamlessly. The internal strain faded like it had never existed. The ache in his ribs dissolved.
But on the surface, the cuts remained. The bruising. The blood.
Theo rolled his shoulder once experimentally.
"It… doesn't hurt."
Alo's gaze sharpened.
Luna just smiled sweetly. "You heal fast."
Theo studied her face carefully.
"You're hiding something."
"Always," she replied lightly.
Sprout vibrated smugly in the back of her mind.
ICE PHOENIX MALE STATUS: OPTIMAL.
YOU'RE WELCOME.
Theo leaned his forehead briefly to hers again, unaware he had just been system-sponsored.
Alo watched the interaction and snorted quietly. "You look worse than you feel."
Theo glanced down at the still-bloody water. "Apparently."
Luna dipped the cloth once more and wiped the last streak from his jaw, fingers lingering.
"You fought beautifully," she said.
Theo's pupils darkened slightly.
Alo leaned forward and brushed his knuckles down her arm. "You reward violence too easily."
She turned and kissed Alo's cheek this time. "You're both very sexy when you're dangerous."
The hot springs steamed.
The duel ring was still murmuring in the distance.
And Theo, who looked like he had just survived a brutal market challenge, felt perfectly whole beneath the blood.
Sprout sighed contentedly.
THIS IS WHY I INVEST IN YOU.
Luna thought back lazily, You're suspiciously generous lately.
Sprout paused.
FUTURE ENTERTAINMENT PROJECTIONS ARE PROMISING.
She decided not to ask what that meant.
Theo rose from the water first, still appearing battle-torn, shoulders squared, scar stark and proud.
Alo followed, wings unfurling briefly to dry before folding again.
Luna stepped between them, red silk slightly damp at the hem, gold accents catching the last of the steam-filtered light.
She took a hand in each of theirs, pulling both Alo and Theo back into the scalding mist. "Not so fast," she whispered, and her voice was soft but final. "I wasn't finished."
Theo's rumble started as a laugh, his wings arching as he followed, but Alo's eyes narrowed with the newborn hunger of victory unspent. They obeyed her gravity, heat now scented with the copper tang of blood and the musk of male.
She waded deeper, letting the silk fall heavy in the water, the gold embroidery floating behind her like a memory of flame. The world outside the basin compressed there was only the steam, the hot mineral bite, the two of them circling her in slow, centrifugal orbits.
Luna turned, feeling Alo's hand on her hip first; his palm so broad it wrapped nearly to her stomach. She reached blindly for Theo and found his fingers already at the small of her back, pressing her forward in a sandwich of heat and muscle and expectation.
"You deserve a reward," she said. She made her voice timid again, even as her hands drifted under the water, seeking and finding. "For winning the duel. Both of you."
She felt Alo's cock, iron-hot and rising, nudged against the inside of her thigh. Theo pressed in from behind, his breath ghosting past her ear, arms caging her between his chest and the edge of the pool.
She started with Alo, Her right hand closed around his cock, heavy and so thick her fingers didn't meet. She stroked him slowly, raising her chin to watch his eyes melt from calculation to need. He grunted, pupils blown wide, fangs peeking from behind a half-smile.
She wanted to see Theo's reaction. She twisted, pressing her back to Alo's chest, extending her left hand behind her until she found Alo's shaft, rigid and smooth, the tip already slick with want. She squeezed once, and his arms tightened around her in retaliation.
"You're both so… big," she muttered, letting the awe tremble in her voice for them. "I don't know how I'll ever-" But she didn't finish, because Alo bent his head and licked a line up the side of her neck, breath shuddering, while Theo buried his nose in her hair and inhaled like he'd never get enough.
They were both trying to dominate the moment, but she could feel it in the stutter of their hands, the way they waited for her cues. They wanted her to choose. To arbitrate. To reward.
She gave it to them.
Letting go of both, she hoisted herself up onto the ledge, water sluicing down her thighs. "Sit," she commanded gently, with a tilt of her chin at the shallow ledge where the spring's stone lip curved. Alo and Theo dropped, one on each side, crowding her in.
She settled herself in Theo's lap, straddling him, the silk bunched at her waist. She could feel his cock hard against her, but she made no move yet. Instead, she reached for Alo, drawing him close. Her hand wrapped him again, slower this time, and she looked up at him through her lashes.
"You both like fighting for me," she murmured. "Now you'll share."
Neither man argued. Alo's attention fixed on her hand; Theo's focus was total, his grip possessive on her hips as he ground himself against her from below. She let the anticipation build, grinding lazily back, feeling Theo grow impossibly harder against her slick entrance until he could barely stand it.
She guided him in, inch by slow inch, pulling him inside with the barest pressure. He hissed, digging blunt claws into her thighs, but she shushed him, tracing a soothing line down his neck.
"Let me reward you," she said again, softer than before. And then she started to ride him, slow and controlled, clenching down with every movement, making sure he knew exactly who was in charge.
Alo watched, transfixed, his own cock leaking under her touch. She kept stroking him, twisting her wrist just the way he liked, and let her gaze drift between their faces: Theo's jaw clenched in concentration, Alo's mouth parted in a silent plea.
The heat, the attention, the absolute surrender she drank it in, letting their need fill her, their bodies a shield against the world and against each other. She clenched tighter, grinding her hips with more force, until Theo's control broke and he bucked up into her, making her gasp and nearly lose her grip on Alo.
Behind her, Theo grabbed her breasts, pinching gently, and Luna whimpered into Alo's mouth.
Not yet, she thought. Not until they both break.
She nearly laughed.
Alo came first, the release shuddering up his spine, his head thrown back and jaw slack. She loved seeing him like that unmade by her, for once. She stroked him through it, milking every spasm until he sagged, breathless.
It was enough to tip Theo over the edge. He growled, deep and low, and clamped down on her hips, pulsing inside her with a force she felt everywhere. Luna held him through it, riding out her own crest, the heat of the water and their bodies and the air indistinguishable.
When it was over, she collapsed between them, chest heaving, hair damp with sweat and steam.
Both men wrapped her in, wings and arms and hands, all competition burned out in the aftermath.
Luna smiled, spent and victorious.
She stroked both their hands, one in each of her own, and let herself bask in the glow.
That was the thing about rewards.
Given right, they only made the hunger stronger.
And her husbands were not the only ones watching