Sauter (Ironside Academy, #3)(38)

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “It’s not enough, I know, but I …”

She spun around, her arms tucked over her chest, her hands cupping around her neck. She was covered enough for him to drag his eyes up, but he still got an eyeful of the swell of cleavage pressed between her arms and the way she was pouting in his direction.

That thin gold chain was barely visible, except the very top and bottom of it.

He genuinely just didn’t have the willpower to leave her side and desperately needed a moment to talk to her and clear the air … but now he just felt like a pervert because that image was going to stick in his brain for a while.

Or maybe he did orchestrate this.

Now he was questioning everything.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” she said, reaching for his shoulder. He quickly looked away, back down to her legs as she stepped forward, her knuckles brushing his chest before feeling up to his shoulder and squeezing.

He licked his lips, narrowing his eyes. “I know. I’m sorry anyway. I’m sorry all this shit lands on you. It isn’t fair.”

“I can handle it.” Her voice was sad, and the warmth her touch tunnelled through his body suddenly cooled again.

“Gabriel said you’re stealing most of the side effects and all the shittiness of prolonging the bond,” he said numbly. “The least we can do is make it easier. You should be using us.”

“It’s awkward!” she suddenly exclaimed, releasing his shoulder, and feeling around for the bottles of product. “I mean it isn’t awkward when we’re touching, but asking for it is awkward. And weird. And I don’t think I can.”

“Did Theo help?”

She went still, dropping the shampoo bottle. She had to crouch down to find it again. “Don’t know what you’re talking about,” she muttered, popping up again.

There was way too much movement going on, but he managed to keep his eyes on the floor, counting the tiny sapphire tiles to stay focussed.

“Isobel.” He chuckled.

She huffed. “Yes, it helped.”

“How much?”

“A lot. I felt warm for days.”

He hummed deep in his throat, frustration eating away at him. He could offer … but he wasn’t fucking stupid. Isobel thought he was gay and that made him the only safe place for her to turn to in Dorm A. Part of him wanted to come clean and tell her that it wasn’t all black and white, that he resented some machination of fate telling him that he was suddenly restricted to one person, one gender … but that it had nothing to do with her.

She was stunning, no matter the situation. He had always thought so.

But he was her only safe place. Her only easy option for the physical contact she desperately needed.

He couldn’t cut her off from that.

He stood and ducked out of the shower, snatching the boxers she had brought in from the counter, and her bra from the floor, stalking back toward her. She squeaked when she felt him behind her, spinning her around. He knelt before her, gripping her thighs.

“Step,” he grunted, holding the boxers against her legs.

She stepped into one of the legs, and then the other. He dragged them up her perfect calves, over her soft thighs, and he closed his eyes as he stood, settling them at her hips.

“You can see,” she accused, narrowing her eyes on his chin.

“Yep.” He slipped one of her arms into the bra, and then the other, tugging it up against her chest. “I didn’t look. Until now.” He swallowed, realising he was staring at her tits. Her nipples were covered, but the lace clung desperately to the pale swell of flesh as she twisted her arms behind her back to secure the garment.

Goddamn.

“What happened?” he asked, touching the knot between her breasts where the lace had been tied hastily together.

“Sato,” she clipped. “Dude is unhinged. Niko licked my chain so then apparently Sato had to lick my chain. You want to give it a go as well?”

His mouth immediately pooled with saliva and his cock twitched desperately. “No. But Theo will. So don’t tell him.” He stepped out of the shower, giving the chain the barest brush of his knuckles before he yanked the door open enough to eye the Alpha sitting on his bed, fiddling with his phone, a tight expression pinching his features.

“Well?” Kilian asked as Theodore’s eyes widened, flicking over his wet chest, and narrowing on his boxers before darting back up to his face. He tried to see past Kilian’s shoulder, his eyes darkening at the lack of light in the room. “The offer won’t stay open forever,” Kilian grumbled.

They glared at each other for a moment, an understanding passing between them. Isobel needed someone to tend to the bond, and Kilian wasn’t going to blur those lines.

Theodore got up and walked to the door of his room, flicking the lock.


Isobel hugged her arms over her chest, wondering what the heck Kilian was doing until he stepped back … and Theodore appeared in the lit doorway. His eyes swept over her huddled in the shower for the briefest moment before he stepped fully into the room, closing the door behind him.

“Um,” she said, as the room was swamped in darkness again. “I didn’t mean … Uh …”

“Doesn’t have to mean anything, Illy.” Theodore’s voice was close, but she had no idea what he was doing.