Relever (Ironside Academy, #4)

by Jane Washington

Oscar laughed, the sound husky, as though he didn’t do it often enough. And he really didn’t, because he was beautiful when he laughed, those dark curls tickling his neck as he tilted his head back, his sharp incisors flashing.

but those scissors also could have fit into the seam of her playsuit … A growl built up in his chest and inside her mind. I’m still here, Carter, he chastised through the bond.

“She’s fine. Isobel, stop it.” She stilled at the command in his tone, wondering what she had done wrong. She had been brushing her nose against his throat, hadn’t she? Had she licked him? She couldn’t remember. “You’re so mean.” She pouted against his skin. “I know,” he soothed, brushing his hands up and down her spine gently.

“Just a little rattled.” Gabriel stared at her mouth like he wanted to kiss her as well, his brow furrowed. “It’s not comfortable to have fifty strangers staring at your mate half-naked and obviously turned on.” He gave her a tight grin and stepped back, his hands flexing.

She needed this man to stop squeezing her heart so tightly; it was already bleeding so much for him.

“Is … did I do something wrong?” she asked nervously. Kalen shifted his posture, crossing one ankle over his knee, his arms stretching out across the back of the couch, one of his brows quirking at her. He seemed … amused? Mikel looked at him, and his brow arched higher, answering some sort of unspoken question that passed between them.

You’re attracted to us, and we’re attracted to you and the bond demands we claim you thoroughly whenever you look at us like you want to be claimed because you’re our fucking mate.”

“So one day, one of us or both of us are going to break, and you are going to be taken so thoroughly, you won’t even remember a time your insides weren’t coated in our claim. This is a warning, Isobel. Nod for me.” She jerked her chin down in a shaky nod.

“Unwilling is saying red. Everything else is willing, even if you’re screaming and crying. Just to specify.” She chewed on her lip, nerves flipping over in her stomach. “I understand.” “Good. That’ll make this next part a little easier. Go stand in front of Kalen.”

Kalen tipped forward, his gold eyes locked onto her, his hands creeping behind her knees. “Did you think you would get away with teasing me, princess?”

“Ask him if you can take his cock out—he might tell you what it is.” She gaped at Kalen, since he was all she could see, but he only stared back at her, impassive and immovable as a statue. “Can I …” She swallowed, her flesh burning with colour. “Can I please take out your cock, Sir?” “You might as well,” Kalen drawled, still with his arms stretched out along the back of the couch.

“Are you being a fucking tease, Carter?” Mikel asked. “No,” she yelped, shooting him a dark look over her shoulder. His laugh was full of menace, his eyes growing shaded with desire. “Brace yourself.”

“Can you guess what my secret is?” he rumbled, squeezing her hand as they reached the end of his length. His skin throbbed beneath her fingers, velvety smooth and scorching hot. “Can you guess what I like?” “If it’s refusing to let innocent Sigmas come, then I don’t want to know,” she grumbled, adding quickly, “Sir.” Mikel chuckled. “Too late.” His hand whipped to either side, landing two stinging blows.

Kalen’s hand lifted from hers as he cupped her face, bringing it up to his. “If you kiss me sweetly enough, I’ll tell Mikki to go easy with your punishment.”

As soon as she made contact, Mikel’s touch slid between her legs, trailing through her honey before sinking two fingers deep into her channel. She gasped, and Kalen gripped the back of her neck, forcing his tongue past her open lips.

Her eyes fell to the monster still weeping in Kalen’s lap, her head beginning to shake. That was not going to fit in her mouth.

He bumped her lips, and she stared at him like he was insane, because she was going to break her jaw.

Mikel eased up on her abused flesh, his fingers pushing into her soaked depths again. She heard him swear roughly behind her, his stormy cedar scent washing along her back, heavy and urgent.

“It wasn’t about us,” Kalen rumbled, his fingers trailing across her hairline. She wasn’t sure if she had accidentally said something out loud, or if he was still inside her head. She turned her face on Mikel’s shoulder instinctually, leaning into the soft touch of Kalen’s hand as he cupped her cheek. “It’s always about you, Isobel.”

“Not always,” Mikel soothed, his tone soft, his hands massaging her shoulders. “Just when the mood strikes. We can be normal, you know.” She giggled,

Do you think you can walk, Illy? Mikel needs to go and get ready, and I should get you back to the dorm.” “Just a minute more,” she sighed, letting her body go limp against Mikel’s. “Just one,” Kalen warned, but she was too busy smiling, because he had called her Illy and because Mikel had tightened his hold of her like he wasn’t going to let her go anyway.

She stared at him a little too long, her brain turning over until Cian began to laugh. It was a low, husky sound, full of expectation and genuine amusement. “Why do I have a feeling we’re all about to be very, very naked, doll?” “No idea.” She sniffed, wondering if he had slipped past her barrier to read her mind.

“I think you should move,” Kilian whispered, pulling back from her mouth. “Rub the pretty little pussy we’ve all been thinking about all over the dick you’ve been thinking about.” “I don’t just think about Theo, you know.” She pouted.

“Do you want to know how often I lie in bed at night wondering what you’d feel like wrapped around me?” Kilian whispered against her lips. “How wet you’d be if I dipped inside you? How many times I could make you come before I made you take mine?” His words had begun soft but had ended on a groan.

“You only get to fuck me,” she said, temper rising in her voice. “Glad we settled that,”

Her sigh was contented. “You can live inside me if you like.” Someone slapped her right on the breast. “We’re still here, doll.”

“If only Kalen could see you now,” Kilian teased her, pale eyes almost swallowed by his pupils. “What a little princess.” She stuck out her tongue at him and he fell forward, capturing it between his lips and sucking it into his mouth, and then he was fucking her in earnest,

Elijah: I see you chose chaos, tonight. Isobel: Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up. Elijah: My room is beside yours. I’ve been awake for a while.

“This is from Kiljoy,” he said, before lifting his hips and digging into his pocket. “And this is from me.” He dropped a carrot into her lap. She rolled her eyes. “Very funny.”

“Nope.” He was already shaking his head. “No way.” He waved his fork at Theodore, Cian, and Kilian. “That’s three against one. My face is too pretty to be broken.” “Nobody is going to break your face,” Kilian said, rolling his eyes. He frowned, glancing at Isobel. “Right?” She bit back her laugh,

She understood why they always shoved Theodore into the spotlight, why they always pulled back at the last moment and let him win everything, why they treated him like he was special. He was their secret weapon. Their golden ticket.

“Fuck yes, Illy-stone!” Theodore scooped her up, spinning her around. “You’re going to be our secret weapon!” She stared at him as he set her down and then jumped onto Moses, his excitement contagious as he shook his brother. Was he insane? The way he didn’t even realise he was easily the best singer any of them had ever heard absolutely floored her.

When she tied up her hair, they commented that her new tattoos must represent one heart for every psychopath who had come forward in the media claiming to be her mate, making her laugh out loud.

The idea of becoming intimate with Elijah truly terrified her, for some reason. She just had a feeling that he would break her. Worse than Kalen, worse than Mikel. Elijah would shatter her into a million pieces and then grind those shards into the ground with the heel of his boot. While he laughed. “Just a kiss, sweet girl,” he whispered over her mouth. “I won’t be breaking you tonight.”

“because when I fuck you, it’ll be because you’re crawling on your knees and begging to be dismantled, head to toe.” He pressed his thigh up tighter to her core, nipping her lips. “Ruined.”

@HartHQ: Niko really just said ‘ha, tricked you’ and pulled out a whole-ass persona out of his tennis bag.