by Sofia Daniel
By the time the taxi pulled into the police station opposite Heysham Park, the sun had set, making me wonder where the day had gone. The police station was a vast, victorian building extended around the front with floor-to-ceiling glass windows, making it easy for me to spot Leopold sitting in a corner with his head in his hands.
I rushed into the building, my heart in my throat. Someone placed a hand on my shoulder, and I whirled around to meet Sebastian’s green eyes.
“Where were you?” I asked.
He ran a hand through his dark hair. “Sorry. One of the cleaners told me about a storeroom that’s as big as the Room of Requirement. She said it would make a good hiding place.”
“Didn’t you notice us calling you?”
He shook his head. “There’s no signal in the basement. How is your sister?”
My shoulders sagged. “Awake. She kicked me out of her hospital room to give a statement to the police. Any news?”
Hatred flashed in Sebastian’s eyes. It happened so quickly, I thought I might have imagined it. His expression smoothed out, then he placed an arm around my waist and guided me to the bench where Leopold sat.
Lowering myself in the space next to Leopold, I asked, “Have you contacted his parents yet?”
Sebastian and Leopold exchanged glances but didn’t reply.
“What?” I turned to Sebastian, who lowered his gaze, a muscle flexing in his jaw. “Why haven’t you told them?”
Leopold’s face twisted into a grimace. “Last year, Corrine accused all three of us of raping her,” he said it so quietly, I had to strain to listen. “Kash’s father flew down with an entourage of uncles, cousins, and fuck-knows who else. They were ready to burn him alive.”
“What?” I whispered. “Even though he was innocent?”
Sebastian shook his head. “The Kashaayah clan don’t mess around. They blamed him for taking Corrine’s virginity and said he might as well have raped her because he didn’t offer her marriage.”
“Kash was traumatized by the entire ordeal.” Leopold ran his hand down his face. “Shit, those Kashaayah men scared the hell out of me, and I didn’t even touch her.”
I gave them a slow nod. “And that’s why you’re not getting in touch.”
“His father laid out what would happen if he got into that level of trouble again,” said Sebastian.
My brows rose, a sign for one of them to elaborate.
Sebastian raised his broad shoulders. “Neither of us knows Hindi, and Kash didn’t care to translate.”
Leopold shook his head. “From the way he walked around like a zombie for the next few weeks, I’m guessing it was the equivalent of getting his balls cut off.”
“We’ll deal with it ourselves.” Sebastian threaded his fingers through mine and pressed a kiss on my temple.
A door next to the reception desk opened, revealing a harried-looking Mrs. Benazir. Dark circles ringed her eyes, and they looked bloodshot from crying.
All three of us shot out of our seats. “What’s happened?” I asked. “Are they going to release him?”
Her face twisted into a what-are-you-doing-out-of-school-look, then her features slumped, as did her posture. “They’re holding Mr. Kashaayah for another day.”
“Why?”
“The evidence against him is overwhelming, he has no alibi, and the doctors are still trying to work out the extent of Miss Evergreen’s injuries.” She pressed her trembling lips together and walked past us. After opening the glass door, she turned her head a fraction in our direction. “Go back to the Academy.”
“Come on,” said Sebastian. “I know where we can go.”
Chapter 2
Leopold handed Sebastian the keys to his jeep, and he drove us toward the town center, over the River Eden, and past the cricket club. I sat back in the leather seats and furrowed my brow. Memories of sitting in the front of the Audi with Prakash reformed in my mind as Sebastian pulled into the courtyard of a stone-fronted, Georgian mansion.
This was the private members club where we had sat and talked and drank. Where I’d first gotten close to Prakash and learned how deeply he had regretted his involvement with Corrine.
I followed the kings out of the jeep and over the courtyard, where the gravel crunched underfoot. My nerves were too frayed to appreciate the building’s grand entrance, brass door fittings, or the elegant butler in an old-fashioned, black tailcoat.
As Sebastian exchanged a few words with the man, Leopold leaned into my side. “Are you alright, Wills?”
My brows drew together. “If Mrs. Benazir is acting as his guardian, how far would she fight for his release?”
“Good question,” he muttered.
“She’s too concerned with money and grade averages to care about one student. Do you think she’ll expel Kash to get rid of the problem?”
“She’d better not,” he growled.
The butler stepped aside and let us into a black-and-white tiled hallway with a huge, marble fireplace. My gaze darted to the left, where I remembered Prakash and I had gone at the end of the first term, but the butler led us to the right, where an elegant, marble staircase curved up to the floor above.
“I’ll put you in the Duke’s room, which has a king-sized bed.” The butler led us up the stairs while continuing a hushed conversation with Sebastian.
I gulped and held onto the brass rail as I ascended. What kind of establishment let two boys take a girl to a room for the night and didn’t ask questions? An exclusive one, I supposed.
As we reached the top of the staircase, Leopold whispered, “Do you remember this place?”
“Only little bits,” I whispered back. “The butler, and a room with chandeliers and velvet seats.”
We continued along a marble-floored corridor that reminded me a little of Hessington Hall. The moon shone through a window, casting its silvery light on the butler’s gray hair. The man opened a door, releasing the warm, rich scent of leather. A millisecond later, the room lights brightened from dim to soft.
Stepping aside, he swept his arm through the open doorway. “The bar is fully stocked, Mr. Garraway. Please inform me if there is anything else you require.”
Leopold placed his hand on the small of my back and guided me into the room. As I stepped inside and took in the decor consisting of elegant, walnut and brown, leather furniture, I heard Sebastian say, “Actually, there is.”
The door clicked shut behind us, leaving Sebastian in the hallway with the butler. I turned around and strained to listen, but couldn’t hear a word. An upscale place like this probably had soundproofed rooms.
“What’s Sebastian doing?” I asked.
“Not sure.” Leopold wrapped his arms around my shoulders, enveloping me in his large, hard body. Inhaling his summer and sea-breeze scent, I leaned into his embrace and clung onto him as though he was the only thing keeping me from falling into a pit of despair.
“I’m worried,” I whispered. “What on earth did Mrs. Benazir mean when she said the evidence against him is overwhelming?”
Leopold placed a finger on my lips. “Speculating without information is futile, and we’ll never get to sleep. Between the three of us, we’ll work something out.”
I rested my forehead on his shoulder and sighed. “You’re right. I just wish we weren’t being shut out.”
“Same here. We’ll do what we did last year to help Kash.” He rubbed the small of my back.
I drew away and was about to ask what he meant when Sebastian opened the door and stepped into the room. Leopold wrapped an arm around my middle and asked, “What were you two talking about?”
“A contingency plan.” Sebastian crossed the room, sat on the leather ottoman at the foot of the bed, and toed off his shoes.
I tilted my head to the side and waited for him to elaborate.
Leopold folded his arms across his chest. “You think Kash did it?”
“It doesn’t matter what we believe.” Sebastian shouldered off his blazer. “
Someone in the school is messing with Willow and Ashley, and now they’ve turned their attention to Kash.”
“Do you think Miss Claymore’s working behind the scenes?” I asked.
“Who knows with that woman.” Sebastian pulled off his tie.
“I had a feeling she wouldn’t leave quietly,” Leopold muttered.
I massaged my temples. “So, she’s trying to hurt you through Prakash.”
With his arm still around my waist, Leopold guided me to the side of the bed. Placing both hands on my shoulders, he lowered me onto the mattress. “Sebastian has to be the ultimate target.”
“What are we going to do?” I chewed my bottom lip.
Leopold knelt at my feet and pulled off my loafers. “Nothing. Even if we hand over Sebastian with a dozen condoms and two tubes of lube, I still can’t see her wanting to clear Kash’s name.”
“Why?” I twisted around to the ottoman, where Sebastian was unbuttoning his shirt.
He blew out a long breath. “That would mean confessing to beating a seventeen-year-old girl half to death and planting her in the bedroom of an innocent student.”
“What does she want, then?” I asked.
“Revenge.” Sebastian shouldered off his shirt, revealing his muscular back. He stood, walked to the minibar at the end of the room, and pulled out a bottle of golden-brown liquid. After pouring a large quantity into a cut-crystal tumbler, he brought it to his lips and drank it in one swallow.
Leopold massaged my calves, his fingers kneading and melting the tension in my muscles. Resting my palms on the mattress, I leaned back, stretched out my feet, and pointed my toes.
“It’s late.” Sebastian crossed the room with two tumblers and handed me a glass of what smelled like single malt whiskey. He gave Leopold the other. “Let’s go to bed and see if we can think up a plan in the morning.”
I placed the glass to my lips and poured the burning liquid down my throat. Warmth radiated through my insides, along with a tingling relaxation. My lips parted to let out a lungful of air. At a time like this, I needed anything I could get to deal with today’s events.
Sebastian took off his pants and stood before me in his boxer briefs. My gaze swept down his broad, muscular shoulders, over his prominent pecs, and down the tight contours of his six-pack. He had regained so much muscle mass since restarting his training, and the sight of him made my insides thrum with arousal.
His long, thick erection strained uncomfortably from the cotton, needing to be released.
“You’re overdressed,” he said.
My heart skipped a few beats. I turned to find Leopold had also taken off his clothes and now stood in his underwear. He was already fully aroused, with an angry, red cock-head protruding out of the waistband of his boxers.
My tongue darted out to lick my lips. “I wouldn’t like to be the odd one out.”
I slipped off my tie and undid the top button of my shirt. By the time I glanced up, both boys had turned to me with fire in their eyes. Heat blossomed across my cheeks, and arousal bloomed between my legs. This time, the boys would expect more from me than just a bed bath.
Leopold was the first to approach. Out of the three kings, he was the one with the fewest secrets. He knelt on the mattress at my left side and slipped his hand into my blazer. “Are you in the mood for a distraction?”
“Yes.” I tilted my head up and pulled him down for a kiss.
His lips were firm and demanding, as though he was working through all the pent-up frustration from today. This morning, we had been so happy together and had celebrated foiling Ashley’s machinations with my first blow job.
Now, with Prakash in prison, Ashley badly assaulted and not wanting to reveal to me the identity of her attacker, we needed every distraction we could get.
After shouldering off my blazer, he pulled off my tie and worked on the buttons of my shirt. He trailed soft, wet kisses on my exposed flesh, making me curl my toes.
I turned to Sebastian, who stood at my right, still in his boxer briefs. “Are you just going to watch?”
He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Kash has been locked up because of me—”
“You don’t know that.” I stood and grabbed his forearm. “Even if the attacker wanted to hurt you, that doesn’t make it your fault.”
He sat and shook his head. “Maybe if I had handled things—”
“Seb,” Leopold snapped, his aquamarine eyes flashing. “If you don’t stop moping, you can sit in the corner and watch me have Wills all for myself.”
Sebastian snorted. “As if.”
I pulled my unbuttoned shirt off my shoulders and reached for the bulge in Sebastian’s boxer briefs. He drew in a sharp breath between his teeth and grabbed my wrist.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“I want to take care of you first,” he murmured.
“Sounds like a splendid plan.” Leopold pulled me off the bed, wrapped his hands around my back, and unbuttoned my skirt. When it pooled around my ankles, and I stood in my bra and panties, he unhooked my bra and pulled the straps off my shoulders.
His eyes lingered on my breasts. “Every revelation of these girls is a wonder.”
My lips curled into a smile. At least he wasn’t calling them Daphne and Velma.
Sebastian wrapped his arms around me from behind and rubbed slow circles on my belly. His erection pressed against my ass. “I could lose myself in you.”
I would have asked what he meant, but Sebastian cupped my jaw and turned my head to the side. His lips descended onto mine in the softest of kisses, half-apology, half-appreciation, and all reverence.
“Thank you for sticking with us through everything that’s happened,” he murmured into the kiss. “I know things have been difficult—”
“Sssh.” I placed a finger on his lips. “Whoever is trying to sabotage our happiness is deluded. They’re never going to win.”
Leopold stepped in front of me and gathered my exposed breasts between his hands. Both thumbs stroked across my nipples, making heat coil between my thighs. A whimper reverberated in the back of my throat, and I leaned back into Sebastian’s broad, muscular chest.
A hot mouth engulfed my nipple, making my knees buckle. Sebastian held me up, and Leopold’s fingers rolled my right nipple, while his skillful tongue flicked and swirled around my left.
Sebastian’s erection ground into my ass, making the muscles of my core clench with need. Each brush of that large hand over the swell of my belly made heat and moisture gather in my folds.
My head spun, and my whimpers turned to full-blown, throaty moans. If they continued like this, arousing me to distraction, to the point where I could barely stand, let alone utter my own name, I would melt into a puddle of goo.
“P-please,” I said between panting breaths. “I need…”
“What do you need?” Sebastian whispered into my ear.
“Do you have condoms?”
Leopold’s mouth around my nipple stilled, and his other hand left my breast.
Sebastian drew back, taking away his warmth. “I want your first time to be a happier occasion.”
Heat burned in my cheeks. I’d never asked a man for sex, and even though his reasons for turning me down were valid, it still felt awkward.
“He’s right.” Leopold straightened and placed both hands on my shoulders, his fingers kneading my tense muscles. “But I can give you the next best thing.”
He settled me onto the bed, and Sebastian climbed on my other side. He cupped the side of my face with his large hands. “When we finally make love, it’s going to take place because we both want it. Not as a distraction from a shitty situation.”
Leopold scooted up to my side and nibbled at my throat. His cotton-clad erection pressed against my hip. I bit down hard on my lip and moaned.
Sebastian’s kisses turned from soft to demanding. I parted my thighs and pulled him between my spread legs. Even if he wasn’t going to take my virginity tonight, he might as well
rub against it.
A deep moan reverberated against his chest, and his erection settled atop my sex, making my nipples tighten. I wrapped one arm around his neck, and with the other, I reached for the waistband of Leopold’s boxers.
He shuffled out of his underwear, and his hot, thick erection sprang into my hand. The same beautiful, hard dick I had worshipped with my mouth before Prakash had made that scared, urgent call.
And now he was sitting alone in a dank police cell, pining for freedom.
I shook off those thoughts and bucked my hips. Sebastian growled into our kiss and bucked back. The friction against my throbbing clit drew away all maudlin thoughts, and soon, I lost myself to the kings’ kisses.
“You’re so fucking sexy,” Leopold snarled, his hips pumping against my fist and making his hot, pulsing length slide along my palm and curled fingers. “Squeeze me hard, make me shatter in your hand.”
I arched my neck, and his nibbling turned to wet, open-mouthed kisses. The head of his penis rubbed against my thigh with each thrust, but I could barely concentrate with Sebastian’s rhythmic thrusting against my aching core, against my needy clit, driving me further and further toward a precipice.
“Oh!” I lost the ability to form words. To think. To feel anything else but Sebastian’s strong, hard body, Leopold’s mouth on my neck, his hot thick length between my fingers, and the wet tip poking into my hip.
Digging my nails into Sebastian’s muscular shoulder, I rolled my hips in time with his thrusts. Pleasure surged between us in a wave so intense, I cried out.
“Fuck, Willow,” he groaned into my lips. “You don’t know what you do to me.”
If it was anything like the effect he had on my body, that had to be the biggest compliment since the time he had climaxed just by looking at my body.
One of Leopold’s hands snaked between our joined bodies, and he gripped my nipple between his fingers. The pain-pleasure sensation spread across my body like forks of lightning and pushed me over that edge.
The first spasm was so hard, it bordered on pain. My core muscles relaxed, releasing waves of pleasure that continued spreading long after the second spasm hit. I released my grip on his shoulder, and my arm flopped to the side.
