?
Sophie stood in front of the closed door, hand raised, ready to knock. She hesitated. She held her breath for long seconds, then let it out slowly. She had to do it. Things couldn’t go on like this. It was early morning, and she was tired and stressed. Once she took care of this problem with Alexi and Kain, she could finally rest, because the night before she had tossed and turned in her sheets, and even woke Lamia a couple of times. She only needed a bit of courage, and everything would be over in a matter of minutes. There was no way they would say “no” to her solution, right? She sighed heavily. Deep down, she hoped they would say “no”, but she chased the thought away. She held her head high, squeezed her tiny hand into a tight fist, and knocked three times. After what felt like forever, the door finally cracked open, and Alexi’s handsome face greeted her. His dark eyebrows rose in curiosity, and Sophie lost the ability to speak. She cleared her throat.
“Hi. I… I’m sorry, I know it’s really early. I needed to talk to you. And Kain.”
Alexi opened the door wider, an invitation for her to get in.
“No, it’s not necessary.” She did steal a peek over his shoulder, hoping to catch a glimpse of the blond.
“He’s in the shower. What’s wrong, Sophie? You look so tired.” He reached for her hand. “Come on, you can’t just stand there.”
Sophie wanted to pull back, but she couldn’t find the strength. His touch sent shivers up her arm. She followed him into the room and let him close the door behind them. She scanned the two beds quickly, noticing how they were both a mess. “Stupid brain, stop doing this to me,” she thought.
“Are you feeling okay?” Alexi asked. His eyes showed real concern.
“Oh, yes, I’m fine. I just needed to tell you and Kain something, that’s all.” She heard the water stop in the bathroom. Alexi’s own dark hair was wet, tiny droplets dripping on his shou
lders, a sign he had just showered before his roommate. Sophie couldn’t help but admire the perfect chest and abs barely visible through his loose T-shirt. She bit the inside of her cheek. No, there was no turning back. The bathroom door opened and a very wet, very sexy Kain stepped into the room, a towel wrapped around his middle. Sophie tried not to stare.
“Well, well… what do we have here? Good morning, sweetheart! To what do we owe this early visit?” He gave her a bright smile, then went to rummage through the closet for a clean towel to dry his hair with.
“I’ll try not to take too much of your time,” started Sophie. She was playing with the two claim rings on her left hand. “I think this was a bad idea.”
“What was a bad idea?” asked Alexi.
Kain finally pulled a towel out and started drying his long, blond hair.
Sophie took the rings off her finger and placed them on the nearest bed. “Me being your apprentice. I don’t know what I was thinking when I chose both of you. You are too experienced and too important for the Academy to waste your time mentoring me. I’m not up for this. I’m sorry. I just… I can’t meet your expectations.”
There was silence for a couple of moments. Kain had stopped rubbing his hair, and beads of water started making their way down his back and chest, over his demon sigil. Alexi sighed heavily, then closed the space between him and Sophie and took her chin between his fingers. When he lifted her head, she avoided his eyes.
“What are you saying? How did you even come to this conclusion?” he said soothingly. “Of course you’re up for this. You’re a cambion, Sophie. And how did you get this silly idea about you having to meet our expectations? There are no expectations. It is our job to guide you, and we want to do it. We chose you and you chose us. Don’t you think it happened for a reason?”
“Look, I… I think this is my fault,” said Kain. He stepped closer to Sophie and tucked her hair behind her ear in a clumsy attempt to establish some kind of physical contact between them. Apologizing to someone felt so awkward to him. “I pushed things too far on our first session. I should have been more patient and allowed you to work at your own pace.”
“No, it’s not that.” Sophie took a step back, trying to put some distance between her and the two hot men whose bodies and auras were already overwhelming her senses and screwing her thought process. “You two work so well together.”
“No, we don’t,” huffed Alexi.
“Of course you do. I’ve seen you two yesterday in the Red Chamber. You’re amazing together, and I can’t even dream of fitting in… in this thing you have going on. I’m not right for you.”
Alexi was taken aback, and for a second he didn’t know what to say. Kain raised an eyebrow in confusion, then a small smile tugged at his lips.
“Is that it?” asked the blond. “So, what you’re saying is you felt ignored.”
“No. No, no, no.” Sophie’s wide eyes went from Kain to Alexi, and back to Kain’s mischievous smirk. “All I’m saying is that this is clearly not working, and we should just admit it and move on. I’m sure the Pantheon will understand and find me another mentor. They probably don’t want you two stuck with an apprentice anyway, when there are so many cases out there waiting to be solved.”
“Sophie, Sophie…” Kain stepped closer to her and leaned in to whisper in her ear. “You’ve made up this entire story when you could have just joined us yesterday. Or, don’t you know how to swim?” He licked the shell of her ear and bit down on her lobe.
Sophie shuddered, and her palms began to sweat. She squeezed them into fists to stop them from grabbing Kain’s wet, silky hair. “You wouldn’t have wanted me there,” she managed to say in a weak voice. “I would have ruined everything just like I did on our first session.”
“You wouldn’t have ruined anything, and you know it.” Alexi took the claim rings she had placed on the bed and weighed them in his hand. “So many insecurities… Why? Why is it so hard to believe that we truly want you?”
Sophie was sure she had an answer to that, but it completely vanished from her mind when Kain tugged at her blouse and bra strap to reveal her shoulder. He started kissing it and nipping at the tender skin, and all she could do was struggle to control her breathing and erratic heartbeat.
Alexi took hold of her left hand and slipped the rings back into their place. “Maybe it is time for us to show you exactly how much we want to be your mentors.” He lifted her hand to his lips and gently sucked her fingers into his hot mouth.
Sophie moaned, her pussy clenching with need, and her nipples hardening under Kain’s firm hands. There was no way she could back down now. She didn’t want to anymore.