Page 72 of Entranced By the Basilisks

“I have an idea,” Ari says. “We won’t do any breeding. I promise. We’ll just feed the demand a little and see if it subsides for now. How does that sound?”

Feed the demand. “You don’t think it’ll make it worse?”

“I don’t think it will make it worse. I think this is an instinct to bond. You’ve woken up the desire, but there are ways to satisfy it without actually bonding.”

“You’re being too mysterious,” I snap.

“I know.” Ari smiles in apology. His palms press against my cheeks. “I want to give you time to figure out what you want, Emilia, but this might make you attached to us. You could try showering Jasper’s and my scent from your skin and see if that helps instead.”

“Do you think showering would really work?” I ask.

He nods. “I’m pretty sure it would work. The instinct isn’t meant to trap you in a situation, just to hurry it along. It takes more than intimacies to bond. There’s a ceremony and everything. A Chosen being able to choose their partners is a big part of our culture.”

So this is like how I was drawn to both of them on meeting… just turned up to eleven? There’s some sense in that. Now that I’m focusing on the sensations of my body, I can categorize the arousal as not being overwhelming, just consistent.

The cool of his rings tickles my skin and his peppery scent has my mouth watering even as my core feels heavy and empty. I don’t want to shower this sensation away. I want to grab hold of both of these men and never let go, and I want to blameinstinctfor it because that’s a wild concept, but I don’t think I can.

“How attached?” I ask, wanting all the details up front.

“Not bonded, but to equate it to human terms, we’d officially be ‘dating.’ Do they still call it going steady?”

I huff a laugh. “I’m… okay with that.”

Ari blinks in surprise, so I repeat myself, being more specific. “I know it’s fast, but I want to be attached to you both, mff—”

He cuts me off with a kiss.

It’s not teasing like he’s been taunting me with during training. It’s all-encompassing and just as vicious and hot as the one he’d given Jasper. I groan at the taste of him and the nip of his teeth.

“Are you going to do what I say?” he asks into my mouth. His voice is rumbly and carries a power that makes my body throb. “You’ll like it.”

Am I going to let Ari direct this? Of course I am. The energy he gives off is clearly dominant and he’s been teasing me with it for days. Sex for me up until now has been more of a give-and-take, no one really in charge other than chasing the desire of bodies coming together. But the idea of Ari’s dominance tantalizes me.

“Yes,” I moan. He leans back and I cry out when he scoops me up in his arms and strides into the elevator that Jasper has summoned. The reflective wall of the elevator shows a very different image than the first day I’d ridden it with Jasper.

Jasper is trying not to look at the two of us, his hands in his pockets as he rocks on his heels. Because he’s jealous or because it’s too tempting? Ari’s large hands cradle my body against him, his skin rough against the black fabric of my dress.

“How do you propose feeding the demand?” I ask, curious and antsy at the same time.

The elevator dings and Ari strides into the penthouse with a chuckle.

“You’ll see. My room,” he says.

I stiffen in his arms and his steps slow. “The couch will also do if that’s too fast.”

“It’s a little fast,” I say, like my heart isn’t thundering in my chest. “But your room would probably be more comfortable.”

Ari gives me a brilliant smile that’s almost too bright to look at. Jasper is right behind us, mouth wet from me and golden eyes still burning with hunger.

I’m surprised and unsurprised by Ari’s room. It’s luxurious with dark colors and as many patterns as mine, but instead of a bed is a large space of pillows.

“It’s better for my shifted form,” Ari says as if guessing my question.

He places me on the pillows and kneels in front of me. The position is so unexpected my mouth dries.

He grins as if he knows how he looks, kneeling for me, before grabbing my heeled shoe and placing it gently on his chest. I watch his dexterous fingers undo the buckle and sigh when he removes the shoe. His thumb digs into the arch of my foot and an echo from the pleasure Jasper inflicted with his tongue earlier flutters through me.

“You asked how we’re going to feed the demand,” Ari says and repeats the process with the other shoe.

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