Steel Princess (Royal Elite #2) by Rina Kent

“How is he an alien?” I ask no one in particular, but I glance at Cole. For some reason, I want his read on Aiden.

“I thought you’d never ask!” Ronan jumps up on the coffee table. “For one, he was the last to lose his virginity amongst us. I was the first. Not to brag or anything. But he’s the second oldest, come on.”

“Who’s the oldest?” Kim scoots away from Xander and closer to the edge.

“That’d be me,” Cole says. “Then King, Knight, and Astor.”

“Buuut.” Ronan points a thumb at himself. “I lost my virginity first. Again, not bragging or anything, but they were all behind. I thought Aiden and Cole were gay until I saw their kinky shit.”

“Shut it, Astor.” Cole reprimands.

My interest peeks. “No, tell us. Why would you think they were gay?”

“First of all, they never had sex in front of us. Never tried to hook up with girls. They were sexually dead, I’m telling you. But their dicks looked good enough in the showers. Not as much as mine, but still.”

“You spied on them?” I ask, incredulous.

“Mais bien sûr. I needed to look out for my mates. I even told King to fuck a guy or two and see how it goes. I was cool as long as he has sex.”

I smile to myself. That must be why he sent him gay porn.

“Then I walked in on him in a threesome and changed my mind.”

My eyes bulge. “A threesome.”

“And not any threesome. It was a kinky as fuck threesome. The girl was tied, blindfolded and gagged.”

Wow.

Aiden never mentioned that. Not that I asked.

That green monster rears his head, but I try to ask in my most innocent tone. “And who was she?”

“Dunno. The room was blue and dark. She had this grey hair shit. I only saw the part where King was tying her. Ask Captain, he was the third party of the threesome.”

My attention snaps to Cole, not sure how to feel.

He stands beside me, his expression neutral.

Cole had a threesome with Aiden and another girl.

It eats at me not to know who she is.

“Shut up, Astor,” Cole says with more resignation than anger.

“What? I’m still hurt I didn’t participate.”

“You were high,” Xander points out.

“As if captain and King let anyone in their kinky shit.” He thrusts a finger in Xander’s direction. “You weren’t high, why didn’t you participate?”

“I wasn’t interested.”

“So you knew and didn’t tell me? Why am I always left out?”

Xander throws a pillow at him. “You’re left out because you’re horrible with secrets.”

“No, I’m not!” Ronan throws it back and they go on another round of bickering.

Kim sips her juice and watches them with a smile.

I’m about to join her when Cole leans in to whisper, “Can we talk?”

The request takes me by surprise, but I nod. “Sure.”

He motions to a door to the right. I follow him to the back entrance. Xander and Ronan’s chatter withers away as Cole slides the back door closed behind us.

The chilly air blows my hair back. I wrap my sweater around me as I step onto the wooden patio. Three chairs surround a built-in table. The rain beats in the distance, making the vision blurry.

Tall pine trees are the only things in sight. Hmm. So the back door leads to a forest.

Cole sits at one of the chairs. I drop opposite him, rubbing my arm.

“Sorry.” Cole removes his jacket and offers it to me. “It’s cold out here.”

I accept his jacket with a smile and wrap it around my shoulders. It smells of cinnamon and expensive body wash.

It’s warm.

Just like Cole.

Although, I must admit I never thought he’d be into the ‘kinky shit’ Ronan talked about.

The silent ones are indeed the wildest.

If it wouldn’t make me appear pathetic, I’d ask him who’s the mystery girl who attracted both his and Aiden’s attention.

Wait. Maybe they were multiple mystery girls?

Did they make it a habit to have threesomes?

“What did you want to talk about?” I ask instead.

“I’ll cut straight to the chase.”

“Okay.”

“Aiden, Xander, and I were kidnapped when we were children.”

I gasp, my fingers strangle each other in my lap. “K-kidnapped?”

He retrieves a pack of cigarettes from his trousers and lights one. Nicotine fills the air as he blows a cloud of smoke.

I never saw Cole smoke.

This is a first.

“We were seven going on eight at the time.” He takes a drag of his smoke. “We don’t usually go home in the same car from our primary school, but that day, Xan and I caught a ride with Aiden. The driver was on their side. He took us to a deserted place where they ambushed us. There was a black van, three men wearing masks, and the rest is history.”

“W-what do you mean the rest is history?”

He grips the cigarette with his thumb and forefinger as he meets my gaze. “We were taken to a storage house blindfolded. Then we were separated for what seemed like hours or days, I’m not sure. The next thing I know, I was thrown in a deserted place. I assumed my parents paid the ransom or something. Xander was also thrown in a similar deserted place.”