She knew the perfect hiding spot in the palace. There were several rooms that nobody ever went into, and she'd taken to exploring them whenever she could. She figured she'd read enough of those blasted books to fool Jackal into thinking she'd spent the entire time in the library.

As she passed one of the other vampires in the hall, he winked at her as if knowing what she was up to. She flashed Cary a grin since neither of them were where they were suppose to be. Her Father wasn't the only that kept a short leash on his fledgling. She continued on her way, feeling rather guilty but lighter in step. Climbing the stairs quickly, she made it half way up before a voice froze her in her tracks.

"No, Brandon, you go ahead and get things ready in the workroom. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Fuck. Should she continue up the stairs or not? She could hear Cornelius coming down the stairs as she tried to figure out what the hell she should do. Scowling, she decided to brazen it out and started running the rest of the way up the stairs.

When Cornelius came into view, she gave him a quick smile as she said, "Hey, Cornelius," then tried to brush past him.

"Lisa. Hold on a minute." He paused in mid-step, turning to face her.

"Uh, yeah. What do you need?" Hoping against hope that the magician wouldn't notice her nervousness, Lisa looked him straight in the eye.

"I want you in the workroom later this evening. Let Jackal know for me. He wants to start your magic studies." Cornelius looked totally distracted by something else of great important, for which Lisa was grateful.

More lessons? Sighing inwardly, she just nodded to him before she dashed up the rest of the steps and made her escape. Once at the top landing, she darted into the corridor and down to the one of the rooms.

She knew she had a lot to learn, but damn, would Jackal never let up with the lessons? Most times he seemed far more intent on teaching her than paying any other kind of attention to her. No wonder she took to disappearing whenever she could with a book that would more than happily occupy her time.

Ever since Jackal had turned her, he didn't seem to have much time for anything other than making her read old, dry books. It frustrated the hell out of her. Inside the room, she shut the door and headed toward the niche in the farthest wall. A bench of sorts lined the inner wall, and she sat on the soft cushion, propping herself against the side wall. Nobody would bother her here. Content, she opened the book and put it in her lap.

Even if somebody came in, they wouldn't be able to see her where she was. Immersing herself in the torrid words of the book she'd brought, Lisa lost herself in the story.

When the door to the door opened some time later, Lisa froze. Even though she knew she couldn't be seen, she quickly shielded her presence from detection, hoping the intruders on her peace would just go away.

"I don't believe anybody will think to look for me here."

That voice. She knew that voice. Oh, shit. It was the Prince! Not daring to move, Lisa remained plastered against the back wall. She could hear the rustling of movement, and the temptation nudged at her to look around the barrier of the niche and see what was going on.

A moment later, there was a deep chuckle and a thump. Then the unmistakable sound of a man moaning. "Fuck me, Mael. Need you."

Oh, God. This wasn't happening. Prince Black in the room was bad enough, but Master Carmichael, too? Lisa bit her bottom lip hard, stifling the groan that threatened to escape. She could call the shadows. She'd learned enough to do it, but to use them would alert her Father that something was going on.

"Patience, my angel, and you shall have your wish."

Carefully, Lisa leaned forward to see their position in the room. With any luck, she could gain access to the second door if the other two were on the other side of the decorative divider partially splitting the room. No, they were right there, not too far away from her. She saw Prince Black popping the buttons of Cian's shirt, baring the fair skin.

Cian groaned, hips pushing forward. "Mael..."

Lisa couldn't look away. The sight of the prince's hands moving over Cian's skin mesmerized her, despite the warnings in her head. She swallowed hard but silently.

Mael slipped Cian's shirt off and leaned down, lips fastening to Cian's right nipple. His hand yanked at the fastening of Cian's pants, unzipping them and pushing them down. A few seconds later, Lisa could see everything. Her eyes widened as the prince's fingers wrapped around Cian's cock, stroking the hard length slowly. Cian moaned, head falling back, hips rocking into Mael's touch.

"Don't stop," Cian whispered. "Mael..."

Okay, she'd fantasized about seeing something like this. Both men were incredibly hot and…holy shit! Something about the two men and their rapt involvement with each other was incredibly sensual. Barely aware of her own movement, Lisa inched slightly forward. She knew she shouldn't watch, but how in the hell could she help it?

Her eyes fastened on the slow motion of Mael's hand as it worked over Cian's cock. When she drew the tiniest breath, she caught the scent of arousal in the room. Unable to deny its effect on her, Lisa did her damnedest not to squirm or move.

Mael dropped to his knees in front of Cian, and his mouth replaced his hand.

"Mael!" Cian's hands went to the prince's head, fingers threading through the black hair as Cian thrust forward. "Yes. Fuck, yes." With slow, deep strokes, he fucked Mael's mouth, moans growing louder as his movements began to quicken. "Mael." There was a touch of warning in Cian's voice, his fingers visibly tightening. "Mael, please. Need you inside me. Need to come, need to feel you..."

Releasing him, Mael smirked at Cian. "In a hurry, Cian? Or would you prefer our audience to have a longer show?"

The minute Lisa heard his words, she quickly ducked back into her hiding space. Oh, fuck. Fuck, fuck. She was in serious trouble and knew it. If she'd had a heart, it would have been racing as she pressed tightly back against the wall, setting the book down beside her.

Cian's chuckle was throaty and a bit breathless. "So I wasn't imagining it," he said quietly. "By all means, prince...let's give her a show."

Clearing her throat, Lisa put up a brave front she didn't feel, slid off the seat, and stepped into the main room. "I should probably go. Umm…yeah."

She did her best to ignore the naked angel as she sidestepped toward the door. Immediately, she found her way blocked by the thick shadows coalescing near her.

Mael's soft voice made her turn slowly around. "But I think we'd rather you stay, Lisa. You seem to be quite interested."

Cian didn't offer any sort of help, angel or no. In fact, he seemed amused. "By all means..." He waved toward a chair.

Whether she wanted them to or not, her legs took her to the chair and Lisa found herself sitting, body practically shaking. As Mael began to unbutton his shirt, Lisa's gaze drifted between the two men. Whether or not she got into trouble over this, she had to be the luckiest soul around.

One of Mael's brows quirked as she met his gaze, and the soft, velvety feel of a slender shadow entwined to her ankle, then lengthened, sliding upward over her calf. Lisa gasped, eyes widening. Another encircled her other ankle, and yet two more curled to her wrists; all of them binding her to the chair.

Cian chuckled and turned the prince's face back to him. He licked Mael's lips, finger tracing down the prince's chest and stopping lower, popping the button of Mael's pants. Once his shirt was off, Mael let Cian take care of his pants. Running the tips of his nails lightly over Cian's chest, his other hand slipped behind Cian's head and pulled him close. Both of them were aware of their audience of one, watching them avidly.

Lisa chewed on her lower lip and squirmed a bit. The sight before her was mesmerizing, and the shadow slowly inching its way up her thigh wasn't helping matters. She felt too acutely aware of its velvet progress against her skin.

Cian pressed against Mael, reaching between them to circle both of their cocks with his fingers, stroking slowly. "Need you," he murmured.

A soft growl answered Cian and Mael's nails dug slightly into the smooth skin. His other hand lowered to massage against Cian's ass. A moment later, he pulled away and spun Cian around to face the wall.

Between watching them and the shadow creeping ever closer to the edge of her skirt, Lisa could do nothing more than shift restlessly in her seat. She really wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Aroused by the entire situation, she had to bite at her lower lip to prevent any sound from escaping her.

Palms flat on the wall, Cian looked back over his shoulder, eyes dark. "Take me, prince." His smile was far from angelic. "Prove that I am yours."

Reaching into a patch of shadow near his hand, Mael withdrew a small bottle and opened it. After pouring some of the liquid onto his palm, he put the bottle back in the shadows. His gaze drifted downward to Cian's eagerly awaiting ass as he slicked his own cock. Neither seemed to pay the least bit of attention to Lisa, but she couldn't look away from them.

The entire tableau was too hotly erotic for her not to be effected by it, and the teasing slide of a shadow tendril against her inner thigh wasn't helping her at all. She had a front row seat to the prince claiming his angel, and she wasn't sure she'd have given it up for anything in the world.

"Mael!" Cian threw his head back, shouting as the prince thrust deep inside him. Cian's fingers dragged against the wall and he pushed back, gasping. "Yes. Please, Mael."

Dear fucking God.

Lisa couldn't believe it—couldn't believe what she was seeing. The shadow stroked her, the touch so light that it threatened to drive her mad. Without thought, her thighs parted. Unable to touch herself, she tried to scoot down enough to feel more pressure as the shadow probed between her lips, then slid tantalizingly over her clit. Groaning, her hips rocked with the pleasure before she felt a sudden thickness enter her and expand almost painfully.

Oblivious to anything else, Mael gripped Cian's hips, forcing Cian back against the driving penetration that buried Mael's cock in his ass. Gutteral growls rumbled from the prince.

"Mael. Fuck…close…" Cian was panting, shaking, moaning with every hard thrust. "Don't stop. Mael…"

The heat in the room was unbearable. Lisa started shaking, unable to stop the gasp as the shadow filled her. She felt as if she was riding an unending rush, not quite peaking, and making her crave even more. Cian's cries, Mael's growls—they filled her, surrounded her. Watching the rhythmic tension of the muscles of Mael's ass as he fucked Cian, Lisa couldn't focus on anything but the feeling inside her and what was in front of her.

For several long moments Mael kept Cian and her near that elusive release but not letting them fall over. Mael's hand slipped around Cian, grasping his cock and pumping quickly over it. It was as if the prince were fucking both of them at the same time. A heady, erotic sensation of sight and sound heightened the aching need possessing Lisa.

"Mael!" Cian's hips jerked and he bucked, pushing into Mael's fist as he came. A sharp growl emerged from Mael as he followed behind him. His body tensed, straining against Cian's backside.

Writhing in her seat, Lisa's fingers clawed into the arms of the chair as she pulled in breath after breath of the scented air. Her body was so close to what it needed, and helpless to it, she rocked her hips. The excruciatingly slow movement inside her wasn't enough, she needed more.

When Cian straightened from the wall, Mael nuzzled to the side of his throat, then looked over at her. "I think someone else has become desperate."

"Please," she gasped, hips jerking as the shadow began stroking in and out.

Cian chuckled and closed his eyes. "You are cruel, my prince. Deliciously cruel."

"I seem to recall it is what some love most about me." A sly smile creased the prince's lips as he watched Lisa.

A moment later her soft pleas were rewarded by the exquisite quickening slide of the fullness inside her. Her body tensed briefly before she completely lost it. Without any care or embarrassment at her position, her body trembled as the waves of orgasm crashed over her. Even the knowledge that they were watching added to the intensity showering her, strengthening the overwhelming rush.

"I do so enjoy seeing my subjects well taken care of," Mael murmured in Cian's ear.

"That, my prince, is something you excel at."