He licked his lips like he was tasting her deception, and his grip on her chin tightened, his eyes darkening further, his Alpha ring beginning to swell.
“Get it out of her now, or I do it my way,” Moses snapped, his acidic and sweet scent growing sour. “This class is going to fill up in a matter of minutes.”
The door to the classroom opened as if on cue, and a small group of students entered, chattering animatedly about what had happened in the dining hall. The storage cupboard had slats in it, just big enough to let in a small amount of light, and angled to show them a hint of the classroom beyond.
Isobel tried to pull her chin out of Cian’s grip, but he only shook his head, making a quiet sound of reprimand before his hand fell to her neck, pushing her tightly to the shelves. She darted a look to the slats, but there was no way they could see inside the dark closet without angling the slats in the other direction. Her eyes snapped to Moses, finding only annoyance.
“Why are you so stubborn?” he asked, mouthing the words more than anything.
“Why are you?” she returned, but Cian tightened his grip, and she immediately returned her attention to him.
He had switched the smooth crystal to his other hand to grab her, but now he reached up to set it back onto the shelf.
“What happened?” he asked softly.
His grip had been incrementally tightening, so subtly that she didn’t even realise when she stopped breathing. She reached up to grab his wrist, and the second her fingers hit his skin, he loosened his hold, his expression unchanging, chillingly blank.
“You’re freaking me out,” she grumbled, as the students began loudly replaying a recording of the dining hall incident on someone’s phone.
“Please.” Moses rolled his eyes, shrugging back his shoulders until he found a comfortable spot to lean against the shelves, tucking one of his feet behind the other and crossing his muscled arms. “Nobody’s nose is as good as mine. You’re not freaked out.”
“Then what am I?” she flung out in a distressed whisper.
“Turned on, honey.” Cian breathed the words against her ear, his grip tightening again. “Tell us what happened with Elijah.”
She wanted to snap back at him, but her knees had gone weak, and he had pushed one of his thighs between hers like he knew he would need to hold her up, his spare hand dropping to her hip.
“Be a good girl and I’ll give you what Elijah couldn’t,” he purred into her ear.
She felt her eyes fluttering shut, but then immediately pulled them open, wide with embarrassment as she stared over Cian’s shoulder at Moses.
“H-Have you guys spoken to Kalen?” she asked, her voice trembling.
Moses watched her carefully, his dark eyes impassive as they captured every tick and twitch in her expression. “No …” His gaze brushed down her body, taking in the way Cian was pressing her into the shelves. “But we don’t need to. It’s written all over you. You’re built for praise.”
“And I’m remarkably good at finding people’s weak spots,” Cian added, a smirk in his voice. “So how hard should I try, Carter? How much should I push you?” His tongue flicked out against the edge of her jaw. “This hard?” He gripped her hair suddenly, pulling her head back and licking along her jaw until he got to her chin, which he nipped at sharply. “Or harder?”
Her mind went completely blank. “Yes.”
Cian groaned, pulling back slightly. She was staring at his lips, wondering if they tasted like salt water, and if kissing him would feel like drowning. He turned his head, narrowing his eyes on Moses. “Someone needs to keep her quiet while I’m persuading her to talk.”
Moses arched a dark, winged brow, his expression challenging despite the quiet tone of his words. “I’m not laying a finger on her.” His attention drifted to Isobel. “No offense, Carter.”
“None taken,” she muttered, Moses’ even tone helping to clear the hazy fog Cian had managed to scatter her thoughts with.
The classroom was starting to fill up, louder than usual as they rode the wave of drama from earlier. Moses pushed off the shelves, but instead of stalking out of the closet, he only reached over Cian, gripping her shoulder and pulling her forward, her front smacking into Cian’s hard chest. Cian caught her hips, pulling her off the stack of books she had been standing on and turning their bodies until she could feel Moses at her back, the three of them stacked sideways into the cupboard. She finally had a full view of the door, and she swallowed nervously at the light slanting in across the floor, missing Cian’s shoe by an inch.
Moses nudged her stack of books back beneath her dangling feet and Cian set her down again.
“Now let me be very clear,” Cian whispered, ducking back to her ear. “This isn’t a punishment. It’s a lesson. You’re going to be one of us soon, and you need to understand who you’re dealing with. Consider this my initiation task. If you beg out, you lose.”
“Pity you won’t be able to use your mouth,” Moses mumbled, his body pressing up against her back, his hand suddenly wrapping around the lower half of her face, his grip tight enough to alarm her.
“Do you know how to tap out, doll?” Cian’s hand settled on her neck again, his fingers flexing in a loose grip.
Her eyes widened, her nostrils flaring with desperate breath. Last time, he had eased his grip as soon as she touched his hand. Hesitantly, she reached up and tapped Cian’s wrist, and his hand immediately eased away, caressing along her collarbone. As soon as he moved, so did Moses, dropping his grip to her shoulder and steadying her as she gulped in a harrowed breath.
Her body was starting to shake, but she couldn’t figure out the emotions tripping through her. She was so wet, she knew she would have been saturating the closet in her scent, but her stomach was flipping nervously. She had a feeling she had upset Cian, but he had made a point of saying that she wasn’t being punished, and Moses? He wasn’t a person she would ever think to put her trust in. Not to mention she still didn’t know what was happening, but she recognised the way Cian’s Alpha ring was swelling and the intent look in his eyes. It was the way Theodore had looked after he kissed her. It was the way Oscar had looked before he kissed her.
Cian wanted to kiss her.
“That’s exactly right,” Cian purred softly, nuzzling her cheek. “Don’t forget your gesture. You might need it.” He hooked his fingers in her tights as Moses wrapped his hand around her mouth again. With a rough tug, her tights were torn down her legs, a surprised shriek dashed against Moses’ calloused skin as he lifted her enough for Cian to rip off her shoes and yank her tights over her feet, flinging them to the shelf behind him.
She jerked, gripping Moses’ wrist, and both Alphas paused.
“Is that your gesture, Carter?” Moses asked huskily, his voice deep and low.
She shook her head.
“Show me you remember it,” Cian demanded quietly.
She reached shaking fingers up to the back of Moses’ hand, tapping it, and he dropped it just as Cian leaned forward.
“Such a good girl,” Cian praised, his lips barely brushing against hers, not really a kiss but more of an acknowledgement. “That’s the last time I remind you, do you understand?”