Page 30 of Noble Charms

Ellor chuckled. “You know how you've said you were upset we didn't fuck every night?”

Aria couldn't help the gasp. He shot a wide-eyed look at Lind, like she could somehow have not heard, but her thin-lipped smile said it all: she'd heard this already. He turned back to Ellor and said, “That's not something to speak of in mixed company, Ellor. Please.”

“Shush. You needn't be embarrassed. She’s heard it all, love. How you've complained that we don't engage intimately often enough for your tastes.” Aria thought he might combust, but Ellor kept on. “I simply cannot engage in sex that often. I'm tired. I'm busy. But, well—there's another component to it all, you know? Spices. Flavor.”

“Spice?”

“If you've ever eaten a potato with salt, having one without it is—disappointing. But more than that—if you've ever eaten a potato with pepper? And then cayenne pepper? And then cream? Goodness, there’re many combinations. It's almost agonizing to return to eating plain potatoes.”

Aria had the same out-of-body feeling from before. He was staring down at himself, staring owlishly at Ellor, as he said, “Am I a potato?” And then, in a broken voice: “A plain potato?”

Ellor burst into a laugh. “What I mean, Aria, is that Lind has agreed to join us tonight.”

“Join us?”

“We’re going to make love. All three of us.”

Aria took a step away from them both. “Ellor,” he whispered, hushed but firm, “You know that I’m kinsme.”

“I won’t ask you to do anything you wouldn’t want to. Listen to this.” Ellor stepped forward, placed his hands on Aria’s shoulders, and stroked down his arms. Gently. Warm. “You press your cock into me, whilst my cock is inside of her. When we both come, it’ll be together. See?”

Lind added her hand atop Ellor’s, on Aria’s arm, and whispered, “I’ve always thought you stunning, Aria. Please?”

Aria opened his mouth to decline, but Ellor leaned in, and muffled the words with a kiss. And then said, against his mouth, “This is just more of me. Don’t make me hide it from you—this part of myself. You love all of me, don’t you?”

Aria couldn’t breathe. Finally, he nodded yes.

I love him, Aria thought.

No, said his soul. Not him.

The room was dark. Aria was apprehensive about using one of the dorm bedrooms in such a way—all members had the master key—but Lind promised she and Ellor had planned this well.

And despite how Ellor spoke of the arrangement before, Aria wound up on his back, on the bed, with Lind herself pressed to his side. “Could we try a kiss? Just one,” she said.

Not her.

Aria flushed red, but nodded. He’d kissed girls before—even enjoyed it, if not sexually. When he turned his head, her lips found his, and her hand cupped his cheek with a tenderness he was unused to. Her tongue licked the seam of his mouth, and when he opened, she slipped inside in a way that he was used to. The way her tongue stroked the top of his mouth, and the kiss that followed⁠—

She kissed the way Ellor kissed. Because she and Ellor had kissed before. Many times.

All at once, Aria understood. Ellor doesn’t love me back.

Aria shoved her away, and scrambled back on the bed. He fumbled into Ellor’s arms. “You looked great, Aria,” he said, mistaking Aria’s panic. “You did good.”

Aria ripped himself from Ellor’s hold, out of the bed, his chest rising and falling as his understanding made it hard to breathe. Hard to speak. And now, hard to see, because his vision blurred. “You truly think me an idiot.”

“What?” Lind said, sitting up on her knees. “Aria, no.”

“You two are having an affair,” he choked out. “And when you got caught by me just now, you had this plan. How long have you had this plan, should I discover you two?”

Ellor sucked on his teeth before he said, “You’re not thinking straight, my love.”

“Don’t call me that,” Aria said, stomping forward. A tear broke free of his lashes, trailing down his cheek. “How long have you been fucking her, El?”

Ellor and Lind met eyes. She shrugged. Ellor sighed. “It’s not an affair. It cannot be. The nature of your relationship with me⁠—"

“How long?!” Aria screamed, and the floodgates opened. Tears blurred his vision, trailing down his face. His voice cracked as he asked, “Months? Years?”