Lies and Truths

Happy Thursday!

I hope you enjoy!

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"Another group already chose that topic, little bird." Dante's response came a few moments later.

Relief and disappointment flooded into her.

"Oh, okay." She said softly, wary of the dark eyes on her.

They had clearly been angered by her topic choice.

An infinitesimal shiver ran down her spine.

Dante nodded before running a hand through his hair.

Stress evident in the terse expression on his face.

"Well, I suppose we should have our discussion." Theodore stated calmly, his arms crossed against his chest, his muscles tight in the sleeves of his button down.

"Let's go to the sitting room. More comfortable." Alexander said, turning toward the doorway.

Dante's hand pressed firmly on the small of her back as they led her through the massive home and into yet another new room.

Enid took in the ornate fireplace and warm chandeliers with lessening surprise.

It seemed every part of this house was filled with luxury.

Settling onto one of the sumptuous couches, she studied the flickering fire to her side.

A hand threaded gently through her hair, turning her head upward in the process.

Theodore's obsidian eyes reflected the flames, flickering and blazing with heat.

His face stony as he studied her expression before it softened.

Leaning down, he pressed his lips firmly to hers, stealing her breath.

"What we are about to tell you may make you a little upset, but we'd like you to keep in mind that everything we do is in your best interest." His eyes locked on hers.

Her heartrate quickened.

"What do you need to tell me?" Her question breathless from the kiss and concern.

Dante settled on the coffee table before her, his knees brushing her own.

Alexander sat beside her on the couch, his fingers lacing with hers.

"Do you remember the contract you signed, darling?" Theodore stood behind her, his hands expertly working out the knots in her shoulders.

"Mhm." She murmured, the sensation of the massage distracting her.

"There were some things in it that I don't think you noticed." Alexander spoke, lifting her hand to press kisses along her fingertips.

"What?" Enid's brows furrowed in confusion.

"There were some clauses. That you became legally bound to when you signed those papers." Theodore's voice was low.

"What sort of clauses?" Enid asked timidly, moving away from the hands distracting her.

"You're going to live here from now on, love." Dante spoke, his green eyes sharp.

"What? Why?" She leaned backward in surprise.

"It's the safest place for you, angel. As our... partner... you're going to have a target on your back. We're not just professors." Alexander spoke, his hand reaching toward her again.

Enid scrambled up from her spot on the couch.

"What do you mean? Not just professors?" She asked, her heart racing.

"Don't worry about that, Enid. You don't need to worry about anything. Just know that we always do what is best for you. And what is best is for you is to live here. We've already got a room set up for you." Theodore responded, his hands tightening their clutch on the back of the couch.

Enid glanced at each of the men individually with worry.

"What are you?" She repeated, stepping back when Dante stood from his post on the coffee table.

Dante turned back and met the eyes of the other two men.

For a moment the only sound was Enid's slightly panicked breathing.

She couldn't live here; she was their student.

She had a dorm room.

A space of her own.

And now she wasn't even sure who exactly these men were.

The three did the thing where they seemed to communicate silently and Enid carefully inched further back.

Her gut told her that whatever they were, it wasn't good.

And after the night of the bonfire, she had resolved to never ignore her gut feeling again.

She eyed the path to the door and Theodore stepped to the side as though to block it.

He stepped confidently toward her and she fought the urge to back up.

"We are powerful men, little one. We're dangerous. But not to you, never to you. All we want is to protect you." His eyes and voice dark as midnight.

Enid's eyes widened as she studied her psychology professor.

She had known from the moment she saw him that there was something more to him.

That there was something more to all of them.

They practically oozed power.

But for the first time, Enid saw it clearly.

The darkness that surrounded them.

Even her sweet, angelic Alexander.

His elbows on his knees as he studied her intensely.

"P-protect me from what?" She stuttered nervously.

She decided she'd protest the living arrangements later, once she had some answers.

"We've made quite a few enemies over the years. And they'll go after you to try to get to us." Alexander's hands clenched at the thought.

"Because of our... relationship?" Enid's head began to throb, and she rubbed at her temples.

"Yes. Because you are our little." Dante spoke and the two other men swiveled to glare at him.

"What? We might as well just come out with all of it at once." The Italian man threw his hands up in annoyance.

"Your little?" She asked, her eyes studying the tension between the men.

She knew she was small in stature, but to define her by that was a little ridiculous.

And then she thought of some of the readings she had been doing for her essay for Theodore.

Her cyan eyes widened.

"Yes, darling. That's the part of our relationship we were waiting to discuss with you." Theodore said, glaring at Dante.

"Like in... BDSM? Isn't that what it's called?" She asked, biting her lip as she flushed in embarrassment.

Theodore's eyes returned to her and his lips quirked in a small smile.

"Yes. You are our submissive and we are your dominants. We'll go into more detail later. Like I said last week, you were made for us. Ours to cherish. Ours to love. Ours to possess." He took a final step toward her and she had to crane her neck to stare up at him.

Theirs to love. Possess.

Enid's thoughts were tangled and jumbled as she tried to sort out how she felt.

She had read a short section on submissive and dominant counterparts while she was researching sadism.

Most of it talked about safe words and power dynamics.

She tried to recall the specifics of it.

"Here, little one. I know you like to read." Dante sent her a wink as he strolled over to one of the bookshelves and retrieved a hard-back book from the top shelf.

He handed it to her and she ran her finger along the gold indented title on the cover.

"The Art of Submission."

She swallowed, her throat feeling tight.

"I don't know what to say." She admitted, completely overwhelmed.

Between the body heat of these intimidating men and their gazes and the fire behind her, she felt as though she was burning.

"It's okay, love. I'm sorry we dropped all of this on you so suddenly. We were going to ease you into it. But it seems someone got impatient." Theodore tenderly cupped her cheek in one of his large hands.

"Have you done this before? Shared a... little?" Enid asked, her heart clenching at the thought.

Which was preposterous because she didn't even know if this was something she was okay with.

"No, we've never shared anyone. We've all had individual... relations. But nothing serious. We were waiting for the right person. For you." Alexander answered her, appearing at her side.

"And when did you decide that you were going to share?" Her eyes meeting Dante's as she glanced over her shoulder.

His hands settled on her waist.

"Unus pro omnibus, omnes pro uno. We're the three musketeers, little bird. What did you expect?" He smirked.

Her eyebrows furrowed and Alexander noticed her confusion.

He leaned in and pressed a sweet kiss to her cheek as he translated for her.

"All for one and one for all."

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Thank you all so much for getting this story to 20k reads!

I'm so thankful for your support.

Comments fill my heart with joy.

All my love, Sappho x