12. King

TWELVE

king

I WAS NOT a man prone to impulse. I took my time with every decision, carefully weighing the consequences for days, months. Sometimes even years. And while I'd kept an eye on the two men trailing behind me as I led them into an adjacent—more private—room, it had been a rather impulsive decision to bring them here tonight. What I'd said about their possessing qualities that would benefit us was true, but the original plan had been to watch them as they graduated and began to make their moves in the real world.

My hand had been forced, though, the moment they showed up where they shouldn't have been, asking for me by name. That told me two things: one, that they'd had me followed, and two, that they were both more cunning and clever than I'd given them credit for.

Impressive, really. Just the sort of thing I admired in someone, though having them looking into things they shouldn't simply wouldn't do.

So it was an impulsive move on my part to send them an invitation. The fact that they'd both risen to the challenge surprised me more than it should. Now that they were here, though, I wanted to know the answer to a question I'd been pondering for a week.

The door to the throne room, as we called it, shut behind us, leaving the three of us alone. The whispered curses that echoed around the cavernous space were to be expected as I led them up toward the seven high-back black throne chairs that sat upon a raised dais.

"Have a seat, if you wish." I gestured toward the smaller, tufted velvet throne benches that faced the dais, and continued up to my seat at the center of the chairs. "You may speak freely in here."

I unfastened the clasp of my cloak and whipped it off. I laid it over the arm of the chair beside mine, then looked up to see that Zac and East remained standing where I'd left them, wearing matching looks of what the hell is happening on their handsome faces.

I could admit that here, that they were both attractive. As their professor, it wasn't an appropriate thought to have.

Which brought me back to what I wanted to know.

"A week ago, the two of you went to an undisclosed location in the city and demanded to be let in. Then you asked for me by name." I took a seat and cocked my head to the side. "Why?"

The instant flush to Zac's cheeks was interesting. It was the second time tonight that he'd blushed, and I couldn't deny how appealing that was. He was hiding something, and as I turned my attention to East, I raised a brow.Now here was a guy who didn't possess such a filter.

"I don't like being denied a good time," he said, a stubborn tilt to his jaw. "And I wanted to know what was inside."

"Because you'd seen me enter?"

"Yes."

"So you followed me?"

East waved his hand dismissively. "I don't have time for that."

"Then you hired someone to follow me."

"Yes."

At least he was honest. "Why?"

"I can speak freely?"

"Yes."

He gave an impish shrug. "Zac wants you to fuck him."

" East! "

It was the first word that had come out of Zac's mouth since we'd entered the room, and the blush marring his cheeks seconds ago turned scarlet.

"What?" East looked completely unbothered by Zac's reaction. "It's true."

"Oh my God," Zac muttered, his eyes dropping to the floor, and while I could understand his embarrassment, this new piece of information was intriguing.

"Zac?" I asked.

He shook his head, continuing to mutter, and I was almost positive he was promising to kill East. I understood the urge. I'd often wanted to strangle the little shit myself.

"Zac? Look at me." He finally raised his head. "Is what he said true?"

Zac's wide-eyed stare told me it was, but for some unknown reason, I wanted to hear it from my studious TA's mouth.

A mouth that up until now, I'd never allowed myself to notice. Much.

"It's…" Zac looked at East. "I hate you."

"Not news. That's how we ended up in this predicament."

That was an interesting comment, but I was too focused on the man in front of me to deviate from my course. I wanted an answer to my question. For some reason, I needed it.

"Zac? I asked you a question."

"I know." Zac's eyes came back to mine, and the intelligence I so admired in him flickered in their depths. "But I didn't promise an answer."

I gave a curt nod and propped my ankle up on my knee, drumming my fingers along my thigh. "That's true, but if you can't be honest, you might as well leave now."

East snorted. "Is that another one of your rules ? It's amazing how they seem to all work to your advantage."

"It works to everyone's advantage. If you ask me something, I will always answer honestly, unless?—"

"You don't want to answer at all?"

" Can't is a more apt term, but yes."

"Okay, well, how about this, then," East said, slyly smiling. "You ever thought about fucking Zac?"

If East thought he could shock me, he was in for bitter disappointment. I slowly turned my head in Zac's direction."Not until tonight."

"Told you," East sang as I continued to stare Zac down, waiting for him to speak. "Didn't I say I just needed to get you in front of him?"

Again, Zac said nothing. But he didn't need to. East was all too happy to spill their naughty little secrets.

"So what was your master plan?" I asked him. "Get Zac in front of me, tell me to fuck him, and you would just, what…watch?"

"Originally, yes. But it's hardly fair Zac gets all the payoff when I'm the one that did all the work. After all, I was the one who found you."

East's bold, assessing once-over was more confident than most of the men I'd been with. Something that was as stimulating as it was irritating.

"Actually, I believe I'm the one who contacted the two of you," I said.

"So is that a yes to the sex, then?"

I didn't respond, choosing instead to return my attention to the silent one in the room. "Is that want you want, Zac? Sex. With me?"

Zac's lips parted, shiny, wet, and now begging for attention, and I didn't need to look below his waist to know his earlier erection would still be prominent. At first I'd been curious what had set him off, but now it all made sense.

The only question that remained was, would he admit it?

"Yes."

He answered without hesitation, and that one word from his obedient mouth had me rethinking this entire night.

Another impulsive decision on my part. I hadn't brought them here for sex. I'd wrongly assumed they'd found out who I was and wanted in on aligning themselves with some of the most powerful men in the world.

But this? Yet again they'd surprised me by wanting nothing more than a hot night.With me .

I propped an elbow on the chair's arm and stroked my chin as I let my gaze wander over the two of them. East was the taller of the two, though not by much, and both of them had lean, athletic bodies. Zac wasn't wearing his glasses tonight, and it put his blue eyes on full display, making it easier to read the little flashes of emotion that passed through them. Unlike East, who didn't seem to show what he felt as much as he said it.

They were a captivating pair, that much was clear.

"You two are together?" I asked, remembering the way I'd caught them slipping out of the same empty room the other morning at Astor.

East answered first. "Uh, no."

"Are you sure?"

"We're not dating. We just…hook up occasionally."

That made more sense. They had always seemed such polar opposites, and on more than one occasion Zac had grumbled under his breath about "that pain in the ass." I knew firsthand how tension could change into something more.

"And you want to ‘hook up' with me?" I said.

"I mean, that was the plan," East mumbled. "But you seem hellbent on talking."

What I wouldn't do to bend that smartass over my knee.

But I couldn't. They were still students at Astor, and it would be wrong to take advantage of this situation in the way they were all but begging me to. The way my cock suddenly wanted to.

Nothing said I couldn't be an inactive participant, though.

I got to my feet, took their chins in each hand, and brushed my thumbs over their pouty lower lips, briefly wondering if I was insane to allow what I was about to.

"New plan." I dropped my hands and shoved them in my pockets so I wouldn't be tempted to do more. "I'll watch."