Page 12 of Their Demon

“No sex during training. I promise,” Nicholas finally said.

“No sex during training,” Aiden mumbled, sounding like he’d been inconvenienced.

Keir looked at me.

I put my hands up in defense. “Don’t look at me. I’m the victim.”

“You are no victim, princess. Remember that. You may not ask for it with your words, but you don’t need to.” He set his plate on the counter, eating while standing. “Now, promise me you’ll take this seriously.”

“Yes, sir,” I said with a wink.

Keir’s eyes darkened, but his face remained unreadable.

A scene that was not my own thoughts flashed through my head. I was bent over his knee, his hand slapping my ass. I sucked in a breath at the spicy image he’d let slip past his walls, but as quickly as they appeared, they were gone.

His eyes warned me to drop it, so I did. I wasn’t in the mood to fight him anymore. I was in the mood for something else—something he’d never give me. The twins would, though.

NO.

I pinched my eyebrows together and shot a look at Keir. That asshole was listening to me, in my fucking head.

Stay out of my thoughts, jackass.

Keir snorted.Keep those filthy thoughts quiet then, princess. Trust me, I don’t want to hear every time that pussy is screaming for attention.

My cheeks burned, and I avoided looking at him. How could he talk to me like that and feel nothing?

Aiden cleared his throat, making it known he’d seen the odd exchange between us.

“So do I get her first?” Aiden asked, earning him a look from both of his brothers. “I swear, I didn’t mean it like that. I meant training,” he defended himself.

I laughed, and Nicholas laughed with me. The corner of Keir’s mouth even started to curl, but it came back down rather quickly.

Keir looked at me, his serious, stern mask back in place. “You’ll train with Aiden in the morning after breakfast, then do some training with me. After lunch, you’ll train with Nicholas; before bed, you’ll train with me again.”

I waited for him to tell me he was kidding, but after several moments of silence, I realized he wasn’t.

“So that’s all I get to do all day?” I asked him. “Train?”

He nodded, offering me nothing else.

“And I have to train with you twice?” Why him twice? The prince who hated me the most wanted to force himself to spend even more time with me?

“You need to be able to defend yourself and possibly learn how to disarm, maybe even kill, someone. We have no idea what our father will throw your way. You need to be prepared for anything.” His face softened, just barely. “You do understand you may have to kill someone or something to complete these trials, right?”

I nodded, my appetite suddenly leaving me.

“I’m serious, Lillian. If it comes down to it, you do what it takes to survive.Whateverit takes. Promise me.” He looked so grim, worry etched into the lines of his face.

I nodded again, unable to find the words, certain that if I did speak, my voice would shake, and I didn’t want him to know just how terrified I was of these trials. I’d been playing it off, but I’d been constantly thinking about what awaited me.

“Lay off, Keir,” Nicholas warned him. “She gets it. No need to put a damper on everything. We shouldn’t be making these two weeks total hell when she’ll be put through actual hell at the end of them.” He turned to me. “You won’t be spending every part of every day training, just a few, and we will find fun things to do too, Lilly. I promise. We will train, but then we will fill the rest of your time with positive things.”

His promise softened me up a bit.

“That’s good. Give me some good memories in case I die.” All three princes looked at me like I’d lost my head. “I’m kidding,” I said as I chuckled. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”

The twins let out forced laughs.

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