Relever (Ironside Academy, #4)

by Jane Washington

It made Cian want to pull out the Beta’s intestines and use them to spell out Look at her and die in the dirt.

“You’re a dick,” Isobel huffed. “I’m the dick who carries you to bed every night.” “You’re all right, as far as dicks go.” “High praise.” “You’re welcome.”

Theodore: What were you doing when it changed colour? Oscar: Not me. Niko: What kind of joke is that? Oscar: The kind that’s a statement, not a joke. Kilian: Isobel? Oscar: She’s in the shower. Elijah: And you are…? Oscar: Not a fucking idiot. You told me to rub her temples and use a soothing voice and to not make any sort of suspicious scenes. Elijah: And you…?

Oscar: I rubbed, but I missed the temples. I used a voice, but it wasn’t soothing. I didn’t make any suspicious scenes. Oscar: Gold star for me.

Moses: Regular saint, over here. Niko: This is fucking awkward. Cian: How is she? Oscar: Dizzy, a bit confused. Her reflexes are slow and she’s lost a lot of weight. But $10,000 worth of beauty products say she’ll ...

juice and diamond shavings her father could spare. Theodore: What? Cian: Rich girl shit. Kilian: Who’s going in there next? Mikel (admin): Kilian, you go in. You and her in bed together probably won’t cause a riot. Elijah: Probably. Mikel (admin): Cian, bring her some food and coffee at 4. Cian: Will do. Kalen (admin): Everyone be ready for a group meeting at 4:30 in my office. ...

“Goddamn,” he groaned, inhaling deeply. “Have you always smelled this good?” “Have you always spoken your intrusive thoughts out loud?” Theodore demanded. “Pretty much, yeah,” Moses drawled, squeezing Isobel.

Elijah wasn’t about to admit it, but he stared at her like every flutter of her long, dark brown lashes was the most fascinating thing he had ever seen—which was a dangerous thing for her, but she didn’t seem to realise it. Gabriel looked at her like she was one of his precious notebooks and he was barely controlling the urge to stack her onto his desk where she belonged, erecting a ten-foot wall around her so that nobody else could contaminate her.

Because the urge to ask her if she was also off limits was too strong.

“We need to address the obvious,” Elijah sighed out. “What if Isobel wants to develop sexual relationships with several of us at the same time?” Okay, maybe it wasn’t so insane. “To appease the bond?” she asked, just to be clear. Elijah cut her a flat look. “No.” “No?” She froze, the word almost getting stuck in her throat. “Because you want to be fucked, Isobel.” Those words delivered in Elijah’s calm, almost cutting tone, were doing strange and confusing things to her insides. “That’s why you would fuck someone.”

“No.” Moses sighed, some of the fight draining out of him. “Elijah did. He noticed her before any of us. He’s just smart enough not to mention it. And Oscar saved her first. And I kissed her first. And Kilian was her gay best friend first. You made her come first but Cian’s cock was in her mouth first. And Niko has taught her to stand up for herself, to fight back, and to carve out a safe space for herself between all of us before any of us could even think about the need for it. You really want me to go on? Because I can. You never had her, you never owned her. You never will.”

“You’re mine,” he growled, his grip around her neck tightening. “Nobody hurts what’s mine, not even you.”