Chapter 36
Chapter Thirty-Six
BASTION
It was getting harder to hide.
Not her body. Not the way she looked in satin.
No—what was really getting harder to hide was the need .
The way it curled under my ribs like fire, burning every time I heard the whispers.
The rumors were everywhere now.
That she slept in our bed.
That the Crow twins shared her.
That we were fucking her every night and she’d started walking different in the mornings.
They were wrong. But fuck , I wanted them to be right.
I wanted the whole academy to know . I wanted them to look at her and see ours . Not the legacy daughter they thought they could flirt with. Not the pawn they thought her family could marry off.
Ours.
It was eating me alive , having to pretend otherwise.
And the worst part? She wasn’t even ours yet .
Not really.
We hadn’t claimed her. Not fully. Not in the way I needed. And she hadn’t told anyone—not a single soul—that she was crawling into our bed each night, wearing the satin we couldn’t touch, pressed between us, like we hadn’t already made up our minds.
Luca was asleep beside her. Or pretending to be. One arm draped loosely over her waist. His breathing was even, but I saw the tension in his jaw. He felt it too.
The lie. The secrecy. The slow rot of pretending the rumors were just rumors when we both wanted them to be facts.
And her?
She was nearly asleep like she trusted us with every piece of her. Like it wasn’t tearing her apart, too.
I leaned in close, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Next time someone asks,” I murmured, “you don’t shrug it off.”
Her breath caught.
“You say yes.”
No movement, but she was listening.
I slid my hand beneath the sheet, finding the curve of her waist, pulling her closer until her back pressed to my chest.
“You tell them you’re not on the fucking market.”
Another pause.
“You tell them you’re already being shared.”
A kiss to her shoulder.
“You tell them you sleep in one bed.”
Lower.
“Our bed.”
Slower.
“Because you’re ours.”
I paused—then said it.
“And if anyone asks if you fuck two brothers?”
My voice darkened.
“You say yes. ”
Her whole body tensed. I felt it. Every inch of her.
Then she turned.
Her eyes found mine in the dark—wide, glassy, stunned.
I didn’t move. Didn’t blink.
“You heard me,” I said softly. “You say yes, baby. Say it proud.”
Then she kissed me.
No hesitation. No fear. Just herself , finally giving us what we’d been aching for.
Her lips were warm and urgent. Her hands trembled as she cupped my face.
Luca stirred beside her. When she pulled back from me and turned to him, he didn’t hesitate either. His kiss was just as desperate.
Then she laid back between us, where she belonged.
The whistles screamed, and pads slammed like thunder across the field. This was the only place I could burn the edge off. Where I didn’t have to think—just move, hit, breathe. Until someone fucked it up .
I was walking back to the sideline, water bottle in hand, when one of the guys—Aaron fucking Markus—strode up beside me, smirking like he had a secret he couldn’t wait to spill.
“Really, man?” he said, bumping his shoulder into mine.
I didn’t look at him. “What.”
“ Really Emilia Adams?” he repeated, voice louder now, like he wanted the whole damn team to hear. “People said the Crows had game, but fuck , Bastion…”
I stopped walking.
He laughed under his breath. “That perfect little princess— Adams royalty, dynasty daughter—and she actually said it out loud. Said she wasn’t taking one dick but two .”
The air snapped in my chest.
“What did you just say?” I asked slowly, carefully. My voice already tightening.
Aaron held his hands up, still grinning like this was some goddamn locker room joke. “Relax. I’m just saying—what I heard in the dinning hall. She was asked if she was, y’know, seeing either of you. The guy was joking, I think. Trying to get a rise out of her.”
I said nothing.
Aaron leaned in slightly. “But she didn’t laugh. Didn’t even blink. Just looked him dead in the eye and said she was with you and your twin brother .”
My jaw ticked.
“I mean—fuck, that’s wild, man. She chose that. Said it like she meant it. Hell, I’m just trying to figure out how that even works .” He chuckled and added, “Do you flip a coin or?—?”
I dropped the water bottle.
Didn’t say a word. Didn’t swing either. Just stared through him until he finally backed off.
“Shit, alright. Damn. No offense, man,” Aaron muttered, stepping away.
But I wasn’t listening anymore.
Because my heart was hammering in my chest.
Not from rage.
Not entirely.
But from the thing under it. That low, twisted pull I hadn’t ever felt. That fucking hope .
She said it.
She said it out loud .
No shame. No secrets. She claimed us . Publicly. At school .
I couldn’t breathe .
I didn’t stop for a shower.
Didn’t stop for my gear.
Didn’t stop when Coach yelled after me.
I just walked.
Straight off the field, across the quad. The rage had cooled into something hotter, lower, more dangerous. Mine. She said it out loud.
And now I needed her to see what that did to me.
The moment I stepped into the dining hall, the buzz changed.
They always knew when a Crow entered.
We moved different.
Spoke different.
Owned every room we walked into.
But this was different.
Because I was walking toward her .
She was mid-laugh when she saw me. Sitting at that long table like a fucking dynasty heirloom—perfect posture, pink lips, hair tucked behind one ear.
Surrounded by other girls who looked like magazine spreads and married power.
She was shining, confident, smug like she hadn’t just turned this place on its head with one sentence.
She was ours.
And she said it out loud.
I didn’t slow down. Didn’t blink. Just stalked through the white-gloved servers and crystal glasses, knocking someone’s napkin off their lap as I passed.
Her smile faded when she saw my eyes.
The air changed.
I came right up beside her chair, the kind carved from mahogany with gold filigree—fit for royalty, because that’s what this fucked-up school thought it was breeding. I didn’t care. My hand wrapped around the back of her neck, pulling her to me in one fluid, unshakeable motion.
Gasps.
Chairs scraped.
“Good. Fucking. Girl.”
I said it low, my mouth right at her ear.
She went still. Entire table watching. Forks paused midair. I heard someone whisper my name. Then I kissed her.
Hard.
Deep.
Mine.
None of the politeness, none of the restraint we’d been pretending with. Her lips parted, and I didn’t give her time to think. Just took. Claimed. Branded her in front of every last heir, heiress, enemy, and legacy in this goddamn building.
She leaned into it—and I saw her hands tighten on the edge of the table like she needed something to hold onto.
When I finally pulled back, her eyes were wide. Dazed.
Still mine.
Her voice came out quiet. Breathless.
“What… what was that for?”
I dragged my thumb across her bottom lip.
“For saying you fuck two brothers,” I said low. “For saying you’re ours .”
She touched her lips like they burned, and maybe they did. Maybe she liked the way it burned.
“You heard about that?” Her voice was small. She blinked, once, twice, and I could feel the realization settle behind her eyes. The crackle of nerves. Of heat.
I tilted my head, slow and deliberate, my fingers never leaving her jaw.
“Baby… you said it in the hall. Right in front of a dynasty heir. ”
She swallowed hard.
“And you think I wouldn’t hear about that?”
The table was silent. You could hear the flicker of candlelight, the clink of someone putting a glass down too carefully.
I leaned down again, close enough she had to look at me.
Possessive. Calm. Dangerous.
“Now… if someone asks again,” I said, “what do you say?”
Her throat moved like she was trying to swallow the moment. Like she was trying to act unaffected with every heir and heiress watching. But those big eyes of hers gave her away. She couldn’t hide the way she looked at me. Not anymore.
“I’m with both of you.”
I smiled then. The kind that made people nervous.
The kind that said she was marked.
But it still wasn’t enough.
I leaned in, slow, my hand curling around the back of her neck, fingers warm, steady. Anchoring her.
My voice dropped, just for her. “Say it.”
Her brows pinched. “Say what?”
“Who fucks you.”
Her breath caught. Eyes wide. The kind of wide that made me want to ruin her mouth.
“Say it, Emilia,” I murmured again. “Say it like you mean it.”
She blinked once.
“Bastion and Luca Crow fuck me.”
Loud. Clear. Shaking—but proud.
The dining hall stilled. Heads turned.
“Do you fuck two brothers, baby?” I asked, voice loud and dangerous. “ Twin brothers?”
She didn’t speak. Just nodded—slow, unapologetic, proud .
And I’d never been prouder .
“Good fucking girl,” I pulled her forward into my mouth again. This kiss wasn’t violent. It was reverent. Open. Deep.
Her fingers tightening in my shirt like she needed something to hold on to.
When I pulled back, I kissed the corner of her mouth again, then her jaw.
I wanted every fucker in this room to hear us. If they had a problem with it, they better know the consequences of trying to judge her.
“Who do you belong to, who wordships you baby?” I murmured, my voice brushing her skin.
My hand slid just slightly down her spine, slow and possessive.
“Who protects you?”
The room was that silent, I was sure someone walking past the dining hall, would have heard me.
I leaned closer, my lips grazing her ear now.
“Bastion and Luca Crow,” she whispered.
“ Louder. ”
She grinned. “ Bastion and Luca Crow. ”
That’s right. Ours.
Luca was right. Loving her was terrifying. Even now, as I had her in my grips, I knew, keeping her wouldn’t be easy.
And then I leaned in one last time, voice rough at her ear.
“Don’t be late back tonight.”
I felt her shiver.
“You’ve got two men who really want to show you how fucking proud we are of you.”