Fire Beneath the Tide

The night didn’t ask questions.

It simply fell—soft, starless, thick with magic that tasted like heat and hunger.

The silence inside Cassian’s manor wasn’t empty. It watched. It waited.

Like it knew exactly what was coming.

Cassian carried me into the bedroom without a word. His wings shimmered with faint shadow as he set me down in the center of the massive bed—black silk sheets that whispered against my skin, candlelight flickering like liquid gold across his chest.

Xanden entered behind us, his shirt already half undone, his eyes softer, darker. Where Cassian was heat and possession, Xanden was water and devotion.

And I was caught between them.

They didn’t speak.

Not at first.

Cassian stepped close, tracing his thumb along my jaw. “Last chance to run, little siren.”

I smiled up at him, slow and daring. “You’d chase me.”

He grinned—sharp, hungry—and kissed me like a storm.

His mouth was all fire, all need, devouring and claiming. His hands tangled in my hair as he guided me back onto the pillows, pinning me beneath his body like I was a treasure he’d waited centuries to touch again.

Xanden joined us, his hands reverent, sliding down my legs and up again, lifting the hem of my dress as if he were peeling open something sacred.

Their magic hummed across my skin—Cassian’s infernal heat curling like smoke along my spine, Xanden’s fae touch like moonlight on water, cool and electric and dangerously intoxicating.

“Let us worship you,” Xanden whispered against my thigh.

And they did.

Slowly.

Thoroughly.

Cassian stripped away my dress with deliberate cruelty, every inch of exposed skin a reward to be tasted. His mouth found the hollow of my throat, my breasts, my stomach, each kiss laced with a growl of ownership.

Xanden moved lower, trailing kisses along my hips, his hands parting my legs with the kind of patience that only made me burn hotter.

The first touch of his tongue had me gasping.

Cassian swallowed the sound with another kiss, biting my lower lip with a groan.

“You take everything so sweetly,” he murmured, voice rough against my ear.

I was lost. Drowning.

Held between flame and moonlight, between two gods who knew exactly how to unmake me and put me back together.

Xanden’s fingers joined his mouth, skilled and purposeful, drawing sounds from me I didn’t know I could make.

Cassian pressed himself against me from behind, his hard length grinding slowly against my ass as he whispered words in Infernal—dark, decadent promises that made my spine arch and my thighs tremble.

“Let go, Althea,” Xanden whispered, lifting his eyes to mine, silver and burning with love. “Let us take care of you.”

And when I shattered, it wasn’t quiet.

It was tidal.

Cassian caught me as I arched, his arms locking around me like chains of silk and fire. Xanden rose, his lips slick with me, and kissed me deep, sharing the taste of my pleasure.

I wanted more.

I wanted all of them.

Cassian entered me first—slow, thick, perfect—his voice a snarl of satisfaction as I clenched around him.

Then Xanden was behind me, kissing the back of my neck, whispering love into every gasp.

They didn’t fight for dominance.

They worshiped in tandem.

They claimed in unison.

And when I came again—writhing, breathless, boneless between them—they followed.

Growling.

Groaning.

Mine, Cassian whispered, over and over.

Ours, Xanden breathed, his hands cradling my face.

And for the first time in years, I let myself believe it.

I let myself be theirs.

And I let them be mine.

Cassian’s POV

She lay between us like a fallen star—burning from the inside out.

Her skin glowed softly, her breath still trembling from the first time we’d made her come undone. But it wasn’t enough. Not for her. And gods, not for me.

Althea Lake had called to every dark thing inside me the moment I saw her. But now? Now she was mine. Ours. Claimed, but not yet conquered. Not entirely.

She stirred under my hand, curling against me. Her siren magic whispered like a tide around us—ancient, seductive, wild. And she didn’t even know she was doing it.

“You feel that?” I muttered to Xanden as I brushed her hair back from her flushed face. “She’s still tempting us. Even now.”

Xanden gave a soft chuckle, his fingers gliding over the curve of her waist. “She doesn’t need magic to tempt us. Look at her.”

She opened her eyes, lids heavy. And gods, the look she gave us—languid and dark with need—nearly made me lose it all over again.

“I’m not done,” she whispered.

“Then neither are we,” I said, my voice low and rough.

Xanden’s POV

Cassian was fire. Always fire. Quick to ignite, impossible to contain. But me?

I was ice and moonlight. I moved slowly. Deliberately.

And when Althea turned to me, her body still trembling, her lips parted in that way that made her look sinful and innocent all at once—I melted for her.

She reached for me, and I let her pull me in. Our mouths met softly at first, her sigh against my lips like music only I could hear. My hand slid along her thigh, then upward, brushing the tender spots we’d already explored together. She gasped into me.

Cassian moved behind her, sliding a possessive hand over her hip, down her leg, grounding her between us. His magic curled around mine. Around hers. The bond was burning now—raw and undeniable.

“We’ll give you everything,” I said softly against her mouth. “Together.”

And she moaned like it was the only thing she’d needed to hear.

Cassian’s POV

Xanden kissed her like a poet. I kissed her like a sinner.

And as I pressed my body flush against her back, she arched into both of us, greedy and golden and already soaked in heat.

She reached for me, one hand behind her, eyes locked on Xanden’s, and I caught her wrist with a groan, guiding her fingers to my jaw instead. I wanted her hands everywhere. I wanted her overwhelmed.

Xanden’s touch was worship.

Mine was a promise.

And when we took her together—slow, claiming, synced like a prayer and a curse—there was no line between heaven and hell. Just us.

Our mate.

And the sound of her crying our names in the dark.