Sauter (Ironside Academy, #3)(22)

One of his team had decided to bring the comments to his attention, and now Isobel had more clothes than she knew what to do with.

He didn’t care that the T-shirts were Kilian’s, or that she spent most of her day exercising. He had told her to get changed between every single class so that she was never anything less than absolutely presentable.

The slip dress skimmed her body gracefully, the fabric silky smooth, gliding against her thighs as she slipped her feet into sandals. The neckline was subtle, the spaghetti straps accentuating her pale collarbones. She quickly moisturised and brushed her hair, twisting it into a ponytail when it flared out, a little too wild after all her activity for the day.

She picked two ribbons carefully off one of the more extravagant dresses she would likely never wear and hurried outside, almost running straight into a harassed-looking Theodore.

“Good. You’re here,” he said. “Already checked everywhere else.” He cast a quick, uncomfortable look at the door. “Can we please leave, like now? I’ve been accidentally groped twice.”

It had been weeks, and it was still hard to look at Theodore without thinking about his hand pushing into her panties. Most nights when she flopped onto her makeshift bed, that intense look in his eyes as he eased her toward orgasm was the first thing she saw. The way his arm had shuddered with restraint as she came on his fingers. The way he had bitten his lip so hard it had drawn all of her focus. The way his eyes had burned hotter than they ever had before was seared onto the backs of her eyelids.

“Ah.” She cleared her throat. “Hello.”

“Hello back at you, cutie.” He grabbed her hand and began dragging her away from the dorm. He clearly wasn’t as affected as her. “What are the ribbons for?”

“I’m going to pick some flowers for Niko and Kilian.”

“What for?”

“For their birthday.”

“I don’t get it.”

She was jogging to keep up with his long strides, but she didn’t care at all because the warmth from his hand was tunnelling through her body, easing away her exhaustion and calming the feeling of her stomach turning over and over like a carnival ride—the same uncomfortable feeling she had been dealing with for weeks.

“To give them as presents?” she tried again.

“Oh.” He cast her a tight smile. “Of course. How … you.”

“I can’t tell if you’re insulting me or not,” she grumbled.

“I would never insult you …”

She dug her heels in, forcing him to slow down before she continued walking, analysing him with her eyes narrowed. “Why did that sound like there was a but?”

“Well … I don’t have the highest opinion of your innermost survival mechanisms,” he admitted gently. She flinched, thinking he was talking about Eve, but he quickly added, “Because of Oscar.”

“Sato?” She frowned up at him, but he avoided her eyes, both of them silent as they walked around the lake.

She broke away from him when they got to Jasmine Field, and quickly gathered up two floppy bouquets of flowers before they approached Alpha Hill. It wasn’t until she was halfway up the steps that it finally hit her.

“The kiss,” she whispered, almost tripping over the next step.

Theodore caught her and then quickly released her. “Mhmm.”

“The chain made me do it,” she muttered the words lowly even though the cameras were too far away to catch any words spoken on the stairs.

He glanced immediately to her chest, which wasn’t surprising. Niko had likely told them everything in a group message as soon as he walked away from her.

Well … almost everything.

She doubted he said anything about licking her. They seemed to share a lot with each other … except their more intimate moments with her. Theodore must have only just recently found out about the kiss with Sato, or she was sure he would have brought it up earlier.

“Does it hurt?” he asked, glancing away.

“Not anymore.” She shrugged. “It healed straight away. Now it just feels … comfortable, I guess. I visited Sophia—the Guardian’s daughter. She thinks it’s a gift from one of the gods. Something about ‘if it’s a mystery, then it’s probably from the god of mystery.’”

“That would check out.” Theodore smirked. “I’m glad Niko was there.”

“Where have you been?” She winced the second the words were out of her mouth, but she didn’t try to take them back. She understood that she had broken his trust, but he broke hers first and she only ignored him for a short amount of time. Not that he had ignored her, exactly. But he had definitely stepped back.

“Kalen’s orders,” he uttered quietly. “A Tether in pain, healing from a soul infraction … you shouldn’t be able to tear that person away from their mate with a towline and a tank. Since I didn’t leave your side at the hospital, he wanted to make it seem like it would be easy for us to be away from each other. I didn’t want to tell you because you struggle to ask for help as it is, so adding a reason you shouldn’t contact me seemed like a bad idea. I wanted to still be here for you if you needed me.”

“Oh.” She halted again, wanting to prolong their conversation.

She turned back like she was pausing to survey the view from halfway up Alpha Hill. The breeze drifted through her hair, the desert flowers vivid in the afternoon light, the academy appearing calm, though she could hear music playing over outdoor speakers in the direction of Dorm A. He paused with her, his fingers dancing lightly up her forearm before sliding back down to her wrist. He seemed to want to take her hand, to fit his fingers through hers, but he didn’t.