Where Lucien had been all fire and aggression, Adrian was gentle sweetness and care. His lips moved against hers slowly and deliberately, coaxing rather than demanding, as if asking permission with every touch.
His hand slid from her check to the back of her neck, his fingers tangling in her hair, while his other hand rested at her waist.
Lilian melted into his kiss, her hands fisting in his shirt to pull him closer. She could feel the restraint he was keeping over himself, the way he was holding himself back even as he kissed her like she was the most precious thing he had ever held.
"Adrian..." she whispered when they finally parted for air that neither of them actually needed.
"We should stop," Adrian said, though he was already leaning back in for another kiss. "This isn't appropriate. You're supposed to be training."
"Think of it as part of my lesson," Lilian said, smiling faintly, and he laughed softly against her lips.
"Dangerous reasoning," Adrian murmured, but he kissed her again anyway, this time with a little less restraint and a lot more heat.
They were so absorbed in each other that neither of them noticed the training room door opening until Dante's dry voice sliced through the haze of desire.
"I see we've moved on to a different kind of training."
Lilian and Adrian jumped apart as if shocked. Dante stood in the doorway with his arms crossed, his expression hovering between amusement and resignation.
"This isn't what it looks like," Lilian blurted out, but her voice was a little shaky, betraying her intent to give Dante a reason.
"Well, I can see myself Adrian was kissing you," Dante said flatly, clearly unimpressed. "Which is exactly what happened. Unless my eyesight has suddenly failed."
"Dante, we were just~" Adrian tried to explain.
"I know what you were just doing," Dante cut him off. "The same thing Lucien was just doing twenty minutes ago when I walked past the showers and found him taking the coldest shower in history while swearing like a lunatic."
He walked further into the room, his dark eyes moving between the two of them. "This is getting out of hand. All of us are dancing around each other, half steps forward and back. We need to set some boundaries before someone does something we're all going to regret."
"I don't regret kissing her," Adrian said firmly.
"Neither do I," Lucien's voice came from the hallway, and a moment later he appeared with damp hair from the shower. "So let's stop pretending distance is working."
Dante's jaw tightening. "This isn't about maintaining distance. This is about Lilian having a space to make decisions without being suffocated by three vampires who can't keep their hands off her."
"I'm standing right here," Lilian snapped sharply. "Stop deciding about me like I'm not in the room."
All three princes looked at her, their faces instantly shifting into guilt and concern.
"You're right," Dante said. "I apologize. Tell us what you want, Lilian? Forget what we want or what the bond pushes you. What do you want right now?"
Lilian looked at the three of them, at Dante holding himself together by sheer will, at Adrian who was still flushed from their kiss, and Lucien radiating frustrated desire from across the room.
The truth was, she wanted all of them and she was sure they knew it too.
But she also knew that if she rushed into the physical side of the bond before she was emotionally ready would be a mistake.
"I want..." she said slowly, picking her words carefully. "I want all of you to stop treating me like I'm made of glass. Stop apologizing for wanting me, and stop pulling away every time things get intense."
She took a deep breath, pushing past the nerves. "But I also need time to process what I learned. Time to understand what it means to be a divine hybrid. I need to figure out how to be with three people when I've never even been in a serious relationship with one."
"That's fair," Adrian said immediately.
"Yeah, totally fair," Lucien agreed.
Dante nodded slowly. "And what does time look like to you? Days? Weeks? Longer?"
"I don't know," Lilian admitted. "But I'll tell you when I'm truly ready, not just because of hormones or the bond. I want to make the choice myself."
"We can work with that," Dante said. "But in the meantime, we need some ground rules. Because if we keep ending up in situations like what just happened, someone is going to lose control."
"What kind of ground rules?" Lilian asked, feeling a bit wary.
"No more private training sessions. At least two of us have to be present at all times. Always," Dante stated.
"That seems a bit much," Adrian protested.
"You were literally just kissing her," Dante pointed out dryly.
"What about sleeping arrangements?" Lucien asked. "She can't be alone while the rogue scouts are still out there. She can't sleep alone."
"We keep taking turns," Dante decided. "But we stay on top of the covers. No cuddling, no touching at all. We just stay in the room."
Lucien groaned. "That's going to be torture."
"I'd rather be tortured than rushing her before she's ready," Dante said firmly.
Warmth spread through Lilian's chest at the care evident in his words. They were all suffering from the incomplete bonds, from the attraction and desire that pulled at them constantly, yet they were willing to endure it for her sake.
"Thank you for being patient with me," she said softly.
"We'd wait centuries if that's what you needed," Adrian said, smiling gently to her.
"Hopefully not centuries," Lucien added with a weak grin. "Because I might be the first vampire to die of sexual frustration."
"You can't die from that," Dante said, deadpanned.
"Then I'll be the first," Lucien shot back.
Lilian laughed, her tension finally breaking. A moment later, all three of them were laughing too.