17. Sloane #2
Garrett gives him a small nod. “Clear. Simple. Everyone can follow it.”
The approval settles Theo a little. I see it in the way his grip on Callie’s hand loosens, the way his shoulders stop trying to climb.
Idris holds up one finger. “One tap can mean green, if that still feels right.”
Theo nods.
Idris holds up two fingers. “Two for yellow.”
Theo’s gaze drops to his own hand. He lifts it, then taps the cushion twice.
The entire room stops.
Not freezes. Stops.
I pull my hand back from Callie’s knee, even though I had only just set it there. Callie goes still beside him, her body soft but unmoving. Idris nods once, accepting the signal like Theo has handed him something precious.
“Good,” Idris says. “That was yellow. We pause.”
Theo looks startled.
I keep my hands to myself. “See? Works.”
His lips part. No sound comes out, but his eyes move around the room. Me, Callie, Idris, Garrett. All of us waiting. None of us annoyed.
Idris holds up three fingers. “Three for red. Practice it once.”
Theo hesitates.
Then he taps the cushion three times.
I sit back immediately. Callie releases his hand. Idris moves off the coffee table and takes one full step back. Garrett shifts away from the edge of the sectional, putting more space between his body and Theo’s line of sight.
Theo’s scent spikes, but it isn't panic. It is recognition.
Red works.
“Good,” Idris says again. “When you tell us to stop, we stop.”
Theo’s eyes shine.
Callie looks like she's trying very hard not to cry.
I want to kiss every inch of both of them for completely different reasons, and I do none of it because red is still in the room until Theo tells us otherwise. I stay back, hands folded between my knees like some kind of reformed menace.
After a few breaths, Theo reaches for Callie again.
She doesn't grab him. She lets him find her fingers.
He taps once against her palm.
Callie inhales carefully. “Green?”
Theo nods.
Idris looks at me. “Slow.”
“I heard the color lesson, professor.”
His brows lift.
I shut my mouth before the look turns into a lecture.
Theo’s mouth curves, faint and sweet. It gives me enough courage to ask, “Do you want me to kiss you, sweetheart?”
Theo’s eyes drop to my mouth.
One tap against Callie’s palm.
Green.
I move slowly, even though my whole body wants to close the distance in one breath. I touch his cheek first, giving him the weight of my hand before the weight of my mouth. He leans into the contact, eyes fluttering, and that small surrender hits me harder than it should.
“Still green?” I ask.
One tap.
I kiss him.
Careful at first. Barely more than pressure.
His lips are warm and still for the first second, then he makes a little sound and tilts toward me.
Callie’s hand moves into his hair, and he softens between us, held by her fingers and my mouth, his scent blooming so fast I have to grip the edge of the cushion to keep from taking more.
Idris’s voice comes from beside us. “Breathe, Sloane.”
I do. Badly.
Theo notices. His hand comes up, hesitant, and touches my chest. His fingers spread over my shirt, right where my heart is hammering like I ran ten miles. He pulls back from the kiss and stares at his own hand.
“Rut-edge,” Idris says, not hiding it from him. “Sloane is in control, but his body is responding to you and Callie.”
Theo looks at me.
I nod because lying to him would be useless and cruel. “You smell good. Callie smells good. My body is being an asshole about it, but I’m here.”
“Language,” Garrett says mildly.
Callie makes a wet little laugh.
Theo taps once on my chest.
Green.
I close my eyes for half a second. “You are going to kill me.”
“Sloane,” Idris warns.
“I’m staying slow.” I open my eyes and make sure Theo can see me mean it. “You’re in charge of how much.”
Theo studies me, then turns his face toward Callie. His forehead bumps her shoulder, and she bends over him without thinking, pressing her cheek to his hair. He breathes her in with a shudder that makes every Alpha in the room go quiet.
Theo tucks closer to Callie until his forehead rests against her shoulder. Her cheek settles over his hair, and his hand remains close enough to mine that his knuckles brush my thigh every time he breathes.
My chest hurts with how badly I want to keep it.
I touch Theo’s wrist. “Still with me?”
He turns back, eyes darker now, mouth swollen from my kiss. He nods, then taps once.
Green.
The next kiss is deeper. Still careful, but not as fragile.
He answers me this time, fingers curling in my shirt while Callie’s hand stays in his hair.
I keep one hand on his cheek and the other flat on the cushion where he can see it, because if I touch his waist right now, I might forget how new he is for one dangerous second.
He's the one who moves closer.
His knee presses against mine. His hand slides from my chest to my shoulder. The sound he makes into my mouth is soft and wanting, and my body surges so hard my scent fills the room.
Theo jerks back.
I release him instantly.
His breathing comes too fast. His eyes are wide, not terrified, but flooded. He looks at Callie, then Idris, then the cards, then me. His fingers fumble in the air before he taps the cushion twice.
Yellow.
“Good,” Idris says at once. “We pause.”
I put both hands on my own knees and lean back until my spine hits the couch. It costs me. My body doesn't understand why we have stopped when Theo’s taste is still in my mouth and Callie’s scent is curled around both of us, but my body can go complain to the moon. Theo gave yellow.
Yellow means pause.
Callie strokes his hair once, then stops. “Do you want space, Star?”
Theo shakes his head.
“Do you want quiet?” Idris asks.
Theo nods.
The room changes around that one answer. Garrett picks up the remote and lowers the volume on the rain sounds Callie put on after dinner. Idris moves the plant book off Theo’s lap. I keep my mouth shut, which should earn me an award.
Theo leans sideways until his head rests against Callie’s shoulder. His hand stays near mine, close enough that his knuckles brush my thigh, but he doesn't reach again.
I let him have the almost-touch.