Page 105 of The Villain's Beast

“You’re not alone in it,” Fletcher said gently. “This is…not even between us, but it’s equal.”

I knew what he meant.

The five of us were not involved in all the same ways together, but we were all on the same level, carried the same weight. Bellamy was more a part of Luca’s and my relationship than he was Fletcher and Gideon’s, but Fletcher wasn’t wholly removed from my bed either. Gideon was as close to a man alone as our group seemed to have, but the way he looked at Bellamy had me wondering how long that would last. Bellamy was a soft contrast to Fletcher’s hard lines, a delightful break from Luca’s intensity. He was a balance I don’t think either of us knew we’d needed, and the irony of having Fletcher’s father to thank for that gift wasn’t lost on me.

“Have either of you heard from Vince?” I asked, clearing my head and managing all three mug handles into my grip.

“That’s why we’re down here,” Gideon said, shifting his weight to lean against the counter. “Vince is on his way over right now.”

Chapter 72

Bellamy

In the shower, Luca and I washed each other with our bare hands. Soapy fingers slipping and sliding across valleys of bare skin until my cock was half-hard again and my back was pressed against the wall. Luca kissed my neck, water racing down over both our heads, and I sighed at the perfection of it all.

My father may not have wanted me, but this man did.

Daren did.

Fletcher did.

Gideon…in the ways he was able…did.

“You’re addicting,” Luca murmured against my skin.

Someone—Daren, I assumed—cleared his throat from the doorway. “I said shower, not fuck again.”

Luca turned toward Daren with a sly smile on his face and water drops beaded against his forehead.

“Will you punish me later?”

I turned off the water and reached past Luca for a towel.

“You won’t like the way I punish you,” Daren said, taking a second towel and holding it open for Luca, who stepped readily into his arms.

“Tell me more,” Luca hummed.

“I’ll tie you to a chair and fuck Bellamy until he cries.”

I shivered, and not from the temperature change that came with getting out of the shower.

“We’ll deal with that later, though. We have to get dressed and go downstairs. Vince is on his way over.”

“I liked it better in bed.” Luca grumbled something else under his breath, then put his glasses on, blinking both of us into focus. A tired smile flickered across his face and Daren pulled him in for a kiss.

I left them to it, rummaging around in the bottom drawer of Daren’s dresser until I found a clean pair of underwear and a fresh set of clothes. It was weird to have clothes on again, to not have a cock inside of my ass or my mouth, but real life was waiting and that was going to be the real test.

“Do you think I’ll be able to graduate?” I blurted, leaning against the door and trying not to drool while the two of them got dressed in front of the bed.

Daren looked up at me, mouth twisted into a frown. “Why wouldn’t you?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Probably because I haven’t been to class more than three times since the semester started.”

“Just because Miller and Francis are dead doesn’t mean the Sinclair and North names don’t carry weight. It doesn’t mean the Angelini family couldn’t call in a favor to handle any absences so far this year,” Luca answered.

“Vince did seem rather fond of him,” Daren teased.

My cheeks burned. “Would you stop?”