Chapter 5 The Web of Desire

ARIA's POV

I stared at the four brothers surrounding my bed, my mind racing. This wasn't what I'd agreed to. I'd made a deal with Reed-just Reed. Not all of them.

How long were they listening?

Heat flooded my face as I realized they'd probably heard everything. My desperation to learn about sex. My plan to seduce Zane. All of it.

"What are you trying to do?" I demanded, pushing Reed's hands off me and scrambling to sit up. "I made a deal with one person, not four!"

The humiliation crashed over me in waves. Bad enough that Reed had caught me with my toys, but now his brothers knew too. They probably thought I was some kind of desperate freak-just like Bianca said.

"The deal is off," I said firmly, crossing my arms over my chest. "You're all just trying to mess with me. I won't fall for it."

Reed's expression darkened. "Off? You think you can just walk away?"

"Watch me." I moved to get off the bed, but Jasper blocked my path.

"And then what?" Cole asked, his voice taking on a possessive edge that made my skin prickle. "You'll find someone else to teach you? Some other guy to put his hands on you?"

The thought hadn't even crossed my mind, but the way they all tensed at the suggestion sent a strange thrill through me.

"That's none of your business," I shot back, lifting my chin defiantly.

But inside, my heart pounded wildly. The air in the room felt thick, charged with something dangerous and intoxicating. All four of them watched me with an intensity that made my thighs clench together.

Reed's face softened slightly, and he exchanged glances with his brothers. When he looked back at me, something had shifted in his expression.

"You're right," he said quietly. "We haven't exactly been welcoming to you."

"That's putting it mildly," I muttered, remembering every cruel word they'd thrown at me.

"But we're the best option you have," Jasper added, sitting on the edge of my bed. "We know exactly what girls like. What makes them fall apart with pleasure."

My breath caught at his words, spoken so casually but loaded with promise.

"Why would I believe you?" I asked, even as my body betrayed me with its response to their presence. "You've done nothing but humiliate me since I got here. And today at lunch, when Zane rejected me-Reed, you were there. You saw everything."

Guilt flickered across Reed's face. "I know."

"So how can I trust that you're not just planning some elaborate way to embarrass me further?" The words came out shakier than I intended.

Cole moved closer, and I caught the scent of his cologne-dark and masculine. "Because we want something from you too."

I blinked in surprise. "What could you possibly want from me?"

"Tutoring," Reed said simply. "We're all failing different classes. Our father's threatening to pull us from the hockey team if our grades don't improve."

"You want me to tutor you?" I couldn't hide my disbelief. "You're joking."

"Do we look like we're joking?" Jasper's voice was serious. "You're top of your class in almost everything. We need your help."

It was too convenient. Too perfect. My mind screamed that this was some kind of trap.

They hate me. They called me pathetic, disgusting, a gold digger. Why would they suddenly want my help?

But then again, what choice did I have? I needed to learn how to seduce Zane, how to make him want me so badly it hurt. And despite everything, my body responded to these four like nothing I'd ever experienced.

"I don't know," I said slowly, watching their faces. "This all seems very suspicious."

"Think about it," Reed urged, his hand reaching out to brush a strand of hair from my face. The touch sent electricity through me. "We teach you everything you need to know. You help us pass our classes. Everyone benefits."

The logical part of my brain knew this was dangerous. These were the same guys who'd mocked me, who'd made it clear I wasn't welcome. But the way they looked at me now-like I was something precious and desired-made my resolve waver.

Maybe I can use this to my advantage. Play along and see what they're really planning.

"Fine," I heard myself say. "But if this is some kind of game to humiliate me further, I'll make sure your father knows exactly why you're failing."

A slow smile spread across Cole's face. "Deal."

They left my room one by one, each giving me a look that promised things I didn't fully understand yet. When the door finally closed, I collapsed back on my bed, my whole body trembling.

What have I just agreed to?

But beneath the fear and uncertainty, determination burned bright. I grabbed my notebook from my nightstand and opened to a fresh page.

Operation: Ruin Zane Parker. I wrote at the top, the pen digging into the paper.

Step one: Learn everything. How to kiss. How to touch. How to make him beg.

Step two: Get him alone.

Step three: Seduce him. Use every lesson.

Step four: Make him scream my name.

Step five: Walk away. Let Bianca watch.

I started writing furiously, pouring out every thought, every plan. I would learn everything the Steel brothers could teach me. I would transform myself into someone irresistible. And then I would make Zane Parker want me so desperately that rejection would destroy him the way his words had destroyed me.

And Bianca? She would watch her precious boyfriend fall apart over the "pathetic Omega" she'd threatened. The thought brought a dark satisfaction.

By the time I finished, I had pages of notes-strategies, timelines, goals. My sex drive problem would finally serve a purpose. I'd use this constant arousal, this need that never seemed to fade, to bring Zane to his knees.

Then I'd walk away, leaving him as empty and humiliated as I'd felt in that cafeteria.

My throat was dry from all the scheming. I needed water, needed to clear my head. The house was quiet as I crept downstairs, hoping to avoid everyone.

The kitchen was dark except for the light over the stove. I grabbed a glass and filled it from the filtered water dispenser, the cool liquid soothing my parched throat.

"Couldn't sleep?"

I jumped, nearly dropping the glass. Kai stood in the doorway, his hair messy like he'd just woken up. Unlike his brothers, he wore only low-hanging sweatpants, his chest bare and covered in lean muscle.

"Just getting water," I mumbled, trying to move past him.

But he stepped into my path, and before I could react, his hands were on my waist, spinning me around and pinning me against the wall.

"Kai, what-"

"Are you really that desperate for Zane Parker?" His voice was rough, demanding. His body pressed against mine, and I could feel every hard plane of muscle. "Is he really worth all this trouble?"

My heart hammered against my ribs. This close, I could see the way his eyes darkened with desire, could feel the heat radiating from his skin.

"Let me go," I whispered, but it came out weak, unconvincing.

"I could give you a better deal," Kai murmured, his lips brushing my ear. "Forget my brothers. Forget Zane. I could show you things that would make you forget your own name."

His hips shifted against mine, and my eyes widened in shock. Through the thin fabric of his sweatpants, I could feel him-hard and thick, pressing against my stomach.

Oh God. He's aroused too.

I'd thought I was the only one feeling this insane attraction, this overwhelming need. But the evidence of his desire was unmistakable, growing harder with each passing second.

"You feel that?" he growled. "That's what you do to me. What you do to all of us. So stop chasing after some asshole who doesn't deserve you and open your eyes to what's right in front of you."

His hand slid down my side, fingers digging into my hip possessively. My body responded instantly, heat pooling between my legs, my breathing becoming shallow and quick.

But panic cut through the arousal. This was too much, too fast, too intense.

I shoved him hard, catching him off guard. He stumbled back, and I bolted past him, running up the stairs as fast as my shaking legs would carry me.

Behind me, I heard him call my name, but I didn't stop until I was back in my room with the door locked.

I pressed my back against it, sliding down to the floor as my whole body trembled.

What is happening to me? To them?

Four brothers. Four impossibly attractive Alphas who claimed to hate me but looked at me like they wanted to devour me whole.

And Zane Parker, the object of my revenge, who didn't even know I existed beyond that humiliating moment in the cafeteria.

I was in way over my head, drowning in desire and confusion and a desperate need I couldn't control or understand.

But there was no turning back now.