11. Zac

ELEVEN

zac

I STOPPED brEATHING.

The second King's face filled my vision, my ears began to ring as shock overwhelmed me.

His was a face I'd looked at so many times, studying his features when he wasn't looking. Skin the color of smooth, rich mahogany, close-cropped black curls, and a jaw line that could cut glass, even with the perfectly styled hair that lined it.

And those eyes. They were a dark, mysterious brown, carrying secrets I'd never imagined would lead me into…a basement? No, that wasn't the right description for this place, and the stillness of East beside me told me just how surprised he was at the turn of events.

"I heard you were looking for me," King said, and my gaze snapped back up to his.

My cheeks immediately warmed, partly from embarrassment but mostly because I'd never seen him look at me with such intensity before. King was an intimidating guy as it was, always commanding attention when he walked in a room, but this? Now?It was a miracle my knees weren't buckling.

"Yes," East said, finding his voice before I could think to answer. "We were?—"

"Stop talking."

To my amazement, East immediately shut his mouth.That might've been the first and only time that had happened. Ever.

King looked between us. "Down here, you don't speak to me until I tell you to. Understood?"

It was insane the way his rich timbre shot straight to my cock, but I didn't dare move other than to nod my agreement.

East, on the other hand, tensed, his lips parting like he wanted to respond to that, but then he also gave a clipped nod.

"Understandably, you have questions," King said. "Remember that anything you see or hear should never be discussed outside of these walls and that you signed a strict NDA to prevent you from doing so."

Oh God.

With those words, gone was any anxiety over something unwanted happening here tonight. In its place came an anticipation that coiled low in my belly before making its way to my cock.

"We've brought you here because each of you possesses qualities that would be beneficial to our cause. In time, you'll learn more about who we are and what your place among us could be, but for now all you need to know is that we're men with a common goal. The pursuit of power, money, and influence."

My gaze dropped to the clasp at King's neck, the same ornate symbol that had been on the wax seal, only in gold. So this was a sort of secret society, then? And he was, what, the leader?

What the hell was happening right now? I felt like my entire world had been turned upside down in a handful of seconds. The only thing that was even slightly normal was East, and that was scaring the shit out of me.

"With your graduations on the horizon, we decided now would be the perfect recruitment period for the two of you. A trial, you might say, before you can be initiated as members."

Recruitment? Trials? Jesus, who knew what that might include? And considering we were standing in a locked cavern, I didn't imagine it was a presentation at a board meeting with the higher-ups.

Oh no, the higher-ups were all standing behind King, shrouded in cloaks and mystery, their faces still hidden from view as East and I stood all but paralyzed in place. The only things they were missing were daggers.

Unless they were hiding them.

"Questions?" King said. "I know you must have many, but right now you get one each."

He expected us to speak? I wasn't even sure I remembered how to.

"So this isn't a sex club?"

I whipped my head in East's direction, hardly believing my own ears, as someone other than the three of us muffled what sounded like a chuckle.

King's shoulders stiffened, that impressive robe flowing down around his broad shoulders like a waterfall as he moved directly in front of East.

"No, James. This is not a sex club. It's a place that requires you to think before you open your mouth, and you respect that you are not above the rules set in place. Is that something you think you're capable of?"

I could tell by King's tone he was highly doubtful, and with good reason. He knew East and had reprimanded him more times than I could count. So what in the hell made him think East was about to change now?

"James?"

That rumbly, cock-stroking tone might do it.

"I guess." East tried to peer around King's shoulders, but it was no use. The guy was built like a brick wall. "If I don't you'll just kick me out, right? I won't go missing or anything?"

King's jaw twitched once, twice, and then he took a step toward East, and I sucked in a breath.

" This is not a game. It is not some joke or one of your silly schoolboy pranks. In here, you will show respect or you will be shown the door. So I'm going to ask you again: are you capable of following the rules?"

My eyes darted between East and King, and I saw the way East's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, the air in the room growing thick with tension as the two squared off. But not even East could deny the power King exuded in that moment, and quickly backed down.

"Yes. I can follow the rules."

King's eyes narrowed. "We'll see. Stand there and don't talk again until you are told to. It's Zac's turn."

Though there was nothing sexual in what King said, my dick stood up as though it were ready to shake his hand.

Please don't look below my waist. Please don't look below my waist.

King moved in front of me, and while my first instinct was to lower my gaze, I didn't want his to follow. So instead, I stared him directly in the eye.

That was a mistake, a monumental fucking mistake, because his intense gaze had my cock throbbing even harder.

"Zac." King's voice was completely different as my name rolled off his tongue, the gravelly cadence like the purr of a contented animal.

Oh God, now I was thinking of him like some sort of beast I wanted to pet. Get a grip, Zac.

"Now, I know you can follow rules, specifically ones I set for you."

That clinched it. Everything he said sounded sexual. My brain had short-circuited somewhere around the moment he took his mask and hood off and revealed himself as a hell of a lot more than my professor.

"So we don't need to go over that. But tell me, do you have a question you'd like to ask?"

A question… A question…

"Why me?"

King's lips crooked up at the side, and my heart almost stopped. "Why not you?"

I studied him for a moment, and the only sound in the room was the blood ringing in my ears as I dared to say, "That's not an answer…sir."

"No, it is not." He glanced down my body, and there was no way to hide what I knew he would see, so I didn't even try. "But I never promised you an answer. I just said you could ask a question."

When those dark eyes traveled back up to lock with mine, I could've sworn I saw a flicker of… interest there. But then it was gone.

King moved back to his original position between East and me, the six figures behind him as silent and still as statues.

"Do I have your attention now, gentlemen?"

We nodded, not daring to speak until we were told to, and the fact that East remained silent spoke volumes as to how much he wanted whatever it was King was offering.

"So, should we continue this conversation, or would you like to leave?"

"I'd like to continue," East said.

I didn't even know what I was agreeing to, but I was in. "So would I."

"Good," King said, then turned on his heel. "Now, walk with me."