When my orgasm hit, it was with such force that I cried out, my inner walls clamping down on Draco’s cock. He groaned, hisrhythm faltering as my pleasure triggered his own release. He came with a shuddering gasp, filling me as his fingers dug into my hips.
We collapsed on the observatory floor, my knees giving out, feeling heavier than ever, all three of us breathing hard. Aiden pulled me to his side, while Draco curled against my back, his arm draping over my waist.
I was breathing hard, the aftershocks slowly dissipating. We hadn’t come up here to fuck, but I was suddenly glad Draco had private access to this place.
“We should probably head back soon,” Draco murmured after several minutes of comfortable silence. “Percy and Eris will be wondering where we are.”
“Let them wonder,” Aiden said lazily, his fingers tracing patterns on my skin. “I’m not ready to share her yet.”
I laughed softly. “I think that ship has sailed, considering they probably felt everything through the bond.”
“True,” Draco conceded, pressing a kiss to my shoulder. “But there’s something to be said for the real thing versus the echo.”
NINETEEN
Jupiter
I wokeup early the next morning feeling surprisingly energized. After a quick text to Lydia, we decided to meet for a morning run with Tye tagging along. I needed some time with my friends—my pre-Nightfall Shield friends—to clear my head and process everything that had happened, especially before Percy’s parents got here.
“You’re looking suspiciously good for someone who nearly died last week,” Lydia commented when I met them at the east trail entrance. She was already stretching, her dark curls pulled back in a tight ponytail.
I shrugged, trying to suppress the smile that threatened to give me away. “Good recovery, I guess.”
Tye’s eyes narrowed as he studied my face. “Uh-huh. That’s definitely your ‘I got laid’ face.”
“Shut up,” I muttered, feeling heat rise to my cheeks. “Let’s just run.”
The trail wound through the forest surrounding Dominion, dappled sunlight breaking through the canopy overhead. We fell into an easy run, our footfalls synchronizing as we pusheddeeper into the woods. The exercise felt amazing after being cooped up with healers hovering over me for days.
“So,” Lydia said after about twenty minutes, “are you going to tell us what’s going on with you and the Nightfall Shield? You’ve been living with them for what, two weeks now?”
I picked up my pace slightly, forcing them to work harder to keep up. “Nothing to tell.”
Tye snorted. “Yeah, right. Those guys look at you like you’re the last piece of chocolate cake at a birthday party.”
“Gross,” I said, but I couldn’t help laughing.
We ran another mile before reaching the small swimming hole nestled in a clearing. It was one of Dominion’s hidden gems, a natural basin fed by an underground spring that kept it clear and surprisingly warm year-round. The wards extended just past it, making it safe but feeling wonderfully secluded.
“Thank god,” Lydia gasped, already kicking off her shoes. “I’m dying of heat.”
We’d all worn swimsuits under our running clothes with exactly this plan in mind. I stripped down to my black bikini, while Lydia revealed a bright blue one-piece and Tye shed his shirt.
The water felt incredible as I dove in, the coolness shocking against my overheated skin. I surfaced with a gasp, pushing my wet hair back from my face.
“So,” Lydia said, treading water next to me, “are you going to spill now that we’re away from prying eyes and ears?”
I sighed, floating onto my back and staring up at the patches of blue sky visible through the trees. “What do you want to know, creep?”
“Everything,” she said immediately. “Are you officially their axis now? Is the bond permanent? Have you...” she wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.
I hesitated, then decided to just rip off the band-aid. “I’ve slept with three of them.”
Lydia’s eyes went so wide I thought they might pop out of her head. “THREE? Out of FOUR? In TWO WEEKS?”
“It just happened okay?”
“Things like that don’t ‘just happen,’ Jupiter!” She splashed water at me. “Which three? Wait, let me guess—Aiden for sure. And Draco. And... Eris?”
