Ch57: Harem Heat~Teyana’s POV~I felt it before I was aware of it. Warm breath traced my ear, a soft kiss brushing the curve of it. My body went rigid at first, but then, another sensation followed. Fingers slid against my arm, making me shiver.Why couldn’t I see whose hand was making me feel these things? I was about to speak when I felt his lips on mine and the air in my lungs caught.I pulled back just enough to see his face and shuddered—Jeremy.His half-lidded eyes burned into me, raw with want and need. I felt it.“Jer?” My voice broke, needing to be sure.His lips pressed to my ear again as he whispered, “Yes, baby. Come here.” His tone… I bit my lip hard. He looked so good. He sounded impossible.Before he could kiss me again, another hand gripped my jaw and tilted my face up. Zayne. I gasped.“I’ve wanted this for so long, pretty,” Zayne murmured, his finger trailing up my exposed thigh. “I’ve yearned to touch you without barriers.”Heat coiled in my belly. I was clad only
~Jeremy’s POV~My bike zoomed to a stop in front of the largest company in Los Alamos city. Before I could kill off my engine, Zayne’s own also screeched to a halt from the opposite side, our bikes facing each other. Helmet on our heads.We had briefly met yesterday and agreed to meet by this time here today. None of us was a minute early or late.I killed off my engine, then he killed his. He took off his helmet and ran his gloved hand through his hair to put it in place.I took off mine, my hair falling to the sides of my face.Our eyes met. All I could see was the brutal, torturous imagination in my head of Zayne taking Teyana in the presence of the lords. I would rather kill him first.We climbed off our bikes almost at the same time and, without acknowledging one another, we walked into the company named *SMILE*, owned by a top lord—Dante. To the world, he was a politician and a philanthropist.To us, he was one of the most dangerous lords to ever exist.In the United States, he
~Jeremy’s POV~I bit down a deep groan. It took every ounce of my strength to pull away from her. My body was fucking magnetic to hers. If it wasn’t my mother behind the door, I wouldn’t have stepped away. Maybe I was glad about the timing of her arrival.I wouldn’t have been able to stop myself from taking her right there against the wall.“Go and open the door, or…do I have to hide?” She asked, panicking. My eyes didn’t leave her. Couldn’t. But I forced them away from her eventually.I pulled my inner shirt downward to cover my hard-on—closing my eyes, then blew some air to calm my nerves. That would do. When I opened my eyes, Teyana’s cheeks were flushed red. She must have realized what I was doing.“Don’t hide,” was all I said before going to open the door. I had expected only my mother. What I had not prepared for was the man standing just behind her. My doctor.The moment my eyes landed on him, I felt the muscles in my jaw tighten. My expression must have turned to steel beca
I tried to blink away the water forming in my eyes, but it blurred my vision anyway.“You’re lying…”My voice trembled, but he didn’t deny it. He only stared, his silence heavier than whatever words he might say to prove his point.“Why? Why does that have to…happen?” I asked, my voice tired.His voice was thick as he responded, “Because they have to confirm that the union isn’t fake. It’s a tradition. Their tradition.” I swallowed heavily. Did he and Bianca too…No, I wouldn’t ask. I didn’t want to know.My mind went back to the earlier discussion with my mother. When she was going to talk about how a female was initiated but couldn’t finish it.Was this what she couldn’t say?My skin crawled, my stomach turned. I wanted to run but my legs wouldn’t move. I wanted to scream but the sound died in my throat. Jeremy dragged a hand over his face, looking like he hated himself for every word he’d just said. “You think I challenged Zayne for my ego? No. I did it because I’d rather bleed ou
The road blurred as I drove with one destination in mind—Jeremy’s. I’d lied to my mother to borrow her car, saying I was heading to Carol’s.” Everything my mother had said was stuck in my head like a glue that could never leave. “It’s either Zayne or another Lord” Zayne had told me the same thing. If I didn’t obey the rules, my life would turn out like hers. She thought she could keep me safe and let me date whoever I wanted, but she came to realize that the world she was born into was bigger than her. It was their rules, her obedience. If I defied like she did, I would face the same consequence, and she would fail in their world. “Jeremy is going to test if Zayne is really worthy of you. He’s challenging him to a bike duel.” Nonsense. This one was my exact purpose for being on the road now. It wasn’t about me. He should stop making it about me. The car engine roared when I pressed harder on the accelerator. My chest burned with every thought of Jeremy’s arrogance, the s
That piqued my attention like a thunder just struck my chest. “What are you talking about, Mum?” I asked, my voice unsteady.“Teyana, I’m so sorry. I kept a lot of things from you, but it was to keep you safe…from this world.”I shook my head, still trying to understand. “What do you mean you are a lord’s daughter?” My palms were already damp with sweat. She couldn’t be serious.“I’m going to tell you everything you need to know. I won’t keep anything, but promise not to interrupt me until I’m done. Do you?”I forced my head to nod. Then she started,“My father was wealthy. You didn’t know this because he died before you were born. He belonged to a fraternity where only the top one percent of wealthy people across nations belong to. They called themselves ‘I Signori’. In English, they are called ‘The lords’.”I swallowed, her narration sounding like a fictitious story, but I listened—with all of me.“They were founded long ago by an Italian man named Alessandro Moretti. He wasn’t just