Chapter 176: [Bonus - ] Like Alpha, Like Beta

Chapter 176: [Bonus Chapter] Like Alpha, Like Beta

Aria remained sprawled across the bed for several moments afterward, her body still warm and unbearably sensitive, the lingering tremors making her reluctant to move.

Maverick, on the other hand, lay beside her looking quite pleased with himself, and she might have happily stayed there a little longer if the morning light pouring through the window hadn’t suddenly caught her attention.

Her eyes widened.

"Shit!" Aria pushed herself upright so quickly her head reeled. "It’s morning. You’re supposed to leave."

Maverick didn’t appear nearly as alarmed. He merely climbed off the bed and began gathering his discarded clothes with an irritating amount of leisure, unconcerned by the fact that an entire academy was waking up around them.

Aria, meanwhile, scrambled to make herself presentable. She pulled on her clothes, straightened her top, then hurried toward the mirror and immediately regretted looking.

Her hair was a mess, her cheeks were flushed, and her lips looked thoroughly kissed. Worse, there was something about her face that made it painfully obvious she had spent the morning doing something other than sleeping.

"Great," she muttered, dragging her fingers through her hair. "Absolutely inconspicuous."

Maverick appeared behind her in the mirror, fully dressed now and looking unfairly normal. The amusement in his eyes told her he had heard that.

"Don’t," she warned him.

"I didn’t even say anything."

"You were thinking it."

He smirked. "Didn’t know you were a mind reader now."

"I don’t need your ability, Maverick. Not when I can read that stupid look on your face."

Maverick chuckled and came up behind her, slipping an arm around her waist before she could protest. He pulled her back against him and pressed a kiss to her cheek, then another dangerously close to the corner of her mouth.

Aria immediately turned her face away when he tried for a third.

"Don’t start." She sighed. "We have already established that neither of us knows how to stop once we start touching each other, and I am not spending the rest of the morning trapped in this room because you kissed me again."

"I merely kissed your cheek, little tamer."

"Your mouth was migrating, Professor."

A laugh escaped him, but he reluctantly loosened his arm around her waist. "Fine."

Aria stepped out of his reach before he could change his mind, although the look he gave her made it obvious he would remain attached to her waist all day if he could.

"What time is it?" he asked.

Aria reached for her phone and checked the screen. Her stomach sank.

"Seven thirty. On the dot."

This time Maverick’s amusement disappeared.

"What? We’ve spent that much time already?" Maverick glanced toward the window and grimaced. "Then I’m definitely not leaving that way. Half the academy will be outside by now."

His attention returned to her. "Unless you want tomorrow’s Roost Report announcing that Professor Maverick Nightshade was caught sneaking out of student Aria Aspen’s bedroom at seven thirty in the morning."

The thought alone was enough to make Aria’s blood run cold. She could already see the headline. With the dining hall destroyed, Lord Plumage and Lady Mimic would probably announce that Professor Maverick Nightshade had found somewhere else to enjoy a ravishing breakfast—and Aria Aspen had been on the menu.

Aria stared at the entrance to her room. There really wasn’t another option. Climbing out of her bedroom window would be considerably harder to explain than walking through the door.

"Fine. Front door, then." She blew out a breath. "It’s not like my roommates haven’t already heard you in here."

The words had barely left her mouth before heat rushed into her cheeks.

Oh, God. What exactly had they heard?

Aria suddenly remembered how desperately she’d tried to keep quiet, followed by all the moments she had failed spectacularly. Brittney, Alek, and Trisha had been right outside these walls the entire time.

She covered her face with both hands. "You can go. I’m never leaving this room. I’m staying here until graduation."

Maverick caught her wrists and gently pulled her hands away from her face.

"Come on, Aria."

Aria resisted when he tried to lead her toward the door. "Easy for you to say. They’re not going to interrogate you for the next three hours."

"Then we face them together."

Her attention dropped to where his hand slid into hers, their fingers threading naturally together. Something about the simple gesture settled the worst of her embarrassment.

Moreover, she had told Maverick only moments ago that keeping their mate bond private didn’t mean pretending there was nothing between them whenever someone was watching. Throwing him out alone now would make that promise rather pointless.

Aria nodded with sudden confidence. "Fine. Together."

With a click of the door, they stepped into the living room.

Aria had expected the girls to be awake. What she hadn’t expected was to find all three of them seated there as if they had been waiting for a show to begin.

Worse, they weren’t alone.

Dimitri sat beside Alek with a guilty expression on his face that immediately told Aria she and Maverick weren’t the only ones who had some explaining to do before this disciplinary committee.

"Finally, you’re out." Brittney wore the brightest smile of them all, staring pointedly at Aria and Maverick’s joined hands. "I was beginning to think you two planned on staying in there all day."

Aria’s face burned. "I can explain—"

"You mean the same way Alek and Dimitri explained?" Brittney interrupted with a knowing smirk.

Aria slowly turned toward them. Dimitri raised one hand and gave her a sheepish little wave.

"Morning."

Aria was speechless. Her gaze moved to Alek, but her friend wouldn’t even look at her, too embarrassed to try.

Then, very slowly, she lifted her eyes toward Maverick. Except he looked away.

Nonetheless, the judgment in Aria’s stare followed him.

Like Alpha, like Beta.

While Maverick had been occupying her bedroom, his Beta had been making equally questionable decisions involving one of her roommates.

Trisha, who had remained remarkably unconcerned throughout the entire exchange, took another leisurely sip of her coffee, pinkie extended as she watched them over the rim of her mug.

"Well, this has been educational. Apparently, none of our bedroom doors are particularly secure."