by C. Lymari
“Give me that,” I said before I ripped it out of her hands. “Finish setting up.”
She started to walk away but then stopped herself and bent. It pissed me off because she just kept pushing her body to resist the pain she was in.
“I thought it was a turn-on watching you get our beds ready.”
“Get away from me before I stop giving a shit about your well-being and I fuck you senseless.”
“Promises, promises.”
I growled and continued to set up the bed while she got the rest of the tarps that went inside the tent and our blankets.
Daphne was inside fixing the other tarp that went on the inside when I crawled in and put the beds side by side. Making sure everything necessary was inside, I zipped us in.
Daphne removed her jacket, and so did I, only staying in our fleece bottoms and sleeves.
“We should rest. The game starts at dusk.”
“How long will it go on?”
“Anywhere from one day to three. Depends on how fast they move.”
Wasn’t that just fucking great? I grabbed some of the protein bars I had brought, and we drank some water. Checking my clock, we had about three hours before dusk.
“How’s the ribs?”
She lay back and took a deep breath. “They’re fine. I’m mostly just sore.”
Before she put the blanket over herself, I grabbed one of her feet and started to massage it, doing the same all over her leg and then the other one until she was panting.
“Are you okay, Petal?”
“My pussy is going to freeze from how wet I am,” she groaned.
I hated her.
“You’re really asking for it, love,” I warned her as I lay down next to her.
Sleep came easy for Daphne. I knew today had taken a toll on her, and it made me angry once more at how stubborn she was, but I was also proud. And it got me thinking about what she said last night and about everything she had told me since we’d met.
How fucked-up was it that she didn’t want to show one ounce of weakness, because that would mean that she got left behind, be useless, that she no longer had a purpose to those who were so-called family. I turned to look at her, watching the slow rise of her chest. Her nose was a little pink from the cold, and I wanted to reach out to touch her, but I knew if I did that, she would wake.
She looked young, and right now, she seemed somewhat fragile but not breakable, something like a grenade or a bomb. Fragile in the way that if she dropped, she would decimate a city when she fell.
Daphne was the strongest woman I knew. Not many men could handle a woman who knew her own mind. They got intimidated by the resilience and confidence. They couldn’t handle the fact that they didn’t need them, but if for some fucking miracle they stuck around, it meant they wanted you there.
I smiled to myself and pulled out the brooch I had been carrying around since Colombia. Another one of the artifacts she had been looking for.
Slowly I laid it on her pillow, and then I went outside because dusk had fallen, and the hunt had begun.
It was past midnight when I heard her coming out of the tent cursing. I ignored her as I tracked movements on the scope.
“Why didn’t—” She shut up when I raised my finger, motioning for her to be quiet.
“If we lose, it will be your fault because I had the shot lined up.”
“We’re going to lose,” she said matter-of-fact.
That made me stand from where I was laid on the ground. Daphne looked better, still beaten but not as tired. She held the brooch in her fingers, and I shrugged.
She sidestepped me and went to the sniper, lying down, her legs open at either side of me.
“Lord, give me patience because if I let go, I’ma break her from the fucking I’m going to give her.”
The fucking little bitch snorted, and then she fired. Our vest lit up, marking another hit for the black team.
Fuck this shit. She still owed me for my eye; I could finish bruising a rib or two.
Since she was flat on the ground and her head only lifted to look through the scope, it was easy for me to lay my body on top of hers, resting my weight on my forearms.
“Is this what you wanted, Petal?” I asked as I thrust my cock toward her arse. “To feel how fucking crazy you make me?”
My hand went to her arse, and I gripped it before letting my hand curve down in between her legs to cup her pussy.
“You get another shot and I’ll make you come so fucking hard, everyone will know our location.”
When she moaned softly, my already hard dick seemed to grow two more inches.
“We’re still losing. My people will make sure Bas gets the win for Damian.”
I kissed the side of her head. Everything was an opportunity, even this game, because for Damian it wasn’t, and she was using this to move Bas closer to him than to her.
“You wanna know about the brooch, don’t you? But you’re too proud to ask.” I kept rubbing my hand from her arse to her pussy. Suddenly the cold, the fucking night, and the wildlife didn’t matter.
All that mattered was me and her, because now, with her like this, finally on the same wavelength, the betrayals that stood between us didn’t matter.
Daphne let out a soft moan as she adjusted the scope so she could find another target.
“After London, I did my research, not only about you and the Sekt but everything to do with what you were hunting. I made sure that no matter where you went, how far you ran, how many times you cheated and you lied, in the end, you would have ended up coming to me.”
I spanked her pussy hard enough that she could feel it with her clothes.
“Yes,” she moaned as she put the gun aside.
I chuckled. “Are you mine, Petal?”
The temperature was cold, but I had withstood colder. My body was in pain, but I had survived torture. None of that terrified me like Gideon’s question.
Are you mine?
As someone who had always been defined by where I came from and what I wanted, questions like this scared me because the thought of belonging to someone when I’d never even belonged to myself didn’t seem just.
Even I knew there was a difference in belonging to Gideon than there was between Yoro and Ivan. They wanted to use me, bend me to their will, and Gideon just let me be me and joined me for the ride even at the cost of his life.
There was a difference in the want the way he said “mine.” It wasn’t to possess, but for me to submit my desire to his.
“You’re thinking awfully hard there, Petal,” he growled.
I wiggled so he moved up, and I turned around to look at him.
“I’ve always despised that word. Why did I have to belong to someone else, why couldn’t I just belong to myself?” Gideon’s eyes flashed with understanding, but I ignored it for now. “I never wanted to belong to anyone because I had never had free will, but if belonging to you means that I get to keep feeling like I do now, then I don’t mind it, not a little, not at all.”
He brought up one of his hands to my cheek, and he touched the wound.
“How do I make you feel?” he asked in a hoarse voice.
“Like even if I fall, if I fail, you’ll be there helping me get up so I can try again. No judgment, no questions, not because you owe me one, or some sense of loyalty. You’ll be there just because…”
He smiled, pleased with himself.
“Because you’re mine, Petal.” He spoke against my lips. “That’s why.”
I wrapped my arms around his neck and gave in to that kiss. Poison was sweet, and I hoped this one didn’t end up killing me.
“Come on, let’s get in that fucking tent.” He pulled back and helped me up.
As soon as I got in the tent, I started to remove my jacket, while Gideon zipped us inside. I removed my boots and just stayed inside my fleece underclothes.
“You should know everything,” I said as I got under the covers.
Gideon was re
moving his outside clothes as well when he answered. “Yeah, finally going to tell me your name?”
“Everything,” I whispered. “And if you decide to leave, I wouldn’t hold it against you.”
My words seemed to anger him. He was on me in seconds, gently pushing me back so I lay on the bed with him on top of me.
“Get it in your fucking little head, there’s nothing you could say or do to scare me off. You tried killing and stranding me, but that shit didn’t work. Some fucking confession won’t do shit either,” he spat. His cold hand made me jump when he put it under my shirt and on my belly.
“I went to see Franco,” I said.
His hand went lower, his fingertips massaging my mound.
“I know. I’m betting you got what you wanted,” he said as his middle finger slowly disappeared between my folds.
“He’s going to help me,” I said breathlessly as he slipped another finger inside.
“Yeah? And what did he want in return?” he bit out as he inserted three fingers inside me. They burned, but I liked it. The way they spread fire over my body. He brought them in and out, and my legs spread to allow him more room.
“What did you give him, Petal? Because your body, this pussy, it’s all mine now.” He fucked me harder with his fingers, and I let out a tortured moan.
“A spy…” I managed to say. “He wants someone inside.” That seemed to calm him a bit. His movements became more gentler, slower, the intensity causing me to break out in shivers.
“So fucking wet for me, Petal,” he said, pleased and in awe. He pulled his fingers back and started to play with my clit.
I started moaning and whimpering, and he began to breathe slowly, not stopping his ministrations. He was getting off on it as much as I was.
“Gideon,” I moaned, and he brought his mouth down to kiss me. His lips were possessive, his fingers asserting dominance over me. I screamed my release into his mouth, and he took it all.
When I was done, he pulled back, biting my lip hard enough that I whimpered with pain, but I loved how possessive he was when it came to my pleasure.
“Fuckkk,” he said as he licked his fingers.
“Want me to return the favor?” I grinned.
He pulled down his joggers, his dick long and thick. “It’s the bloody right thing to do, love.”
“I don’t have to if I don’t want to.” I glared at him. He had a way of bringing down my orgasmic high.
He straddled my shoulders and put his hand on my jaw. “Petal, just for that, I’m going to make you choke on it.”
He didn’t force me to do anything I didn’t want to do. And something in my heart soared when I realized he had been holding back because my face was injured. This man, he was so many things to everyone. A chameleon, always blending in, adapting to the emotions of others, and somehow, he had it in him to be soft for me.
When he came, I swallowed every last drop. He lay next to me, both of us content.
“I fucking hate you two,” a voice said from outside the tent.
Gideon crawled to open the tent, and I sat up. Bastian came in, his nose pink and his cheeks red.
“How long have you been outside?” I asked.
He answered in a horrible British accent. “Your pussy is all mine now.”
“Why didn’t you just announce your presence?” I asked again.
He scoffed. “I’m not a cockblocker.”
Gideon patted his back. “Did we give you a stiffy?”
“Fuck that. It’s fucking freezing. I don’t want my dick to fall off. Unless you guys want a threesome, then I’m in.”
Gideon was telling him to fuck off when I said, “Sure.”
He turned to glare at me.
“I’m going to fuck you in front of him all night and not let you come once.”
“It was a joke,” I said.
“Fuck, do it,” Bas groaned, his voice heavy with lust.
Both Gideon and I scowled.
“Why are you here? I thought you were mad at me.”
He sat down on the edge of my bed.
“That doesn’t matter right now. Damian is gone.”
Gideon and I looked at each other.
“What do you mean?”
“We all spread out, and I was tailing him and Francesca, but I kept too much a distance that I saw her but not him.”
Yeah, Damian had something up his sleeve, and I admitted I might have been too blind these past few days to see the bigger picture.
“We’ll be okay,” Gideon said as he reached for my hand. “You’re not alone anymore.”
Bastian sighed loudly. When we turned to look at him, he was wiping a fake tear from his eye. “So beautiful.”
“I’m going to cut your dick off and make you eat it,” I spat at him.
“Fuck, D, why do you always have to take things too extreme.” He winced, patting his dick. “Don’t piss her off—she’ll go Lorena Bobbitt on you.”
Gideon grinned. “Nah, mate, she likes it too much to do that to me.”
“If you two would like to fuck, I can get out of here,” I added dryly.
“Anyways, I think I know what’s going on.”
Both Gideon and I looked at Bas expectantly, but being the drama queen that he was, he prolonged his answer.
“Paco wants to duel Damian.”
I snorted. “He’s an idiot. If he does that, he’ll die. Does he think Damian got this job by being the brightest? He might stay behind and lead, but he’s deadly as fuck.”
“This is where it gets interesting. I’m pretty sure Francesca has been getting into his head and egging him on.”
That meant Damian was behind this and he wanted it to happen, but what would he gain with his death?
“I don’t have a good feeling about this. There’s too much I don’t know.”
“I have to go. I rode all night. I’m going to make sure I’m where I’m supposed to be when the rest catch up to me. See you tomorrow. He stood and paused before he unzipped the tent. We thought it was best to head back as soon as possible, so we decided it was in our best interest for you guys to lose quickly.”
He was right. There was uncertainty in the air. Bas patted Gideon’s cheek, and then the asshole grinned at me before he kissed me.
“Fuck.” Bas held on to his neck, massaging where Gideon had hit him.
“Kiss her again and I’ll kill you.”
Bas flicked Gideon off and started to crawl out, but he turned to Gideon once more and grinned. “Is his dick pierced?”
I groaned and Gideon kicked him out. Once he was out, Gideon zipped the tent again and turned to me with a somber look.
Here we go again.
“What?” I said, not liking the dread that started to take over me.
“Were you aware that Yorovich had a crown jewel?”
I shook my head. I wasn’t, but I bet that my father knew, and that’s why he offered me off on a silver platter. My throat constricted, and I swallowed the vileness. Now Damian had that object when I could have had it all along.
“Petal.” Gideon’s voice was right by my ear. Then I felt his arms wrap around me. “I think you should also know that the Italian girl did not make it.”
I clutched him tighter as the guilt consumed me.
People often wonder what it’s like to take a life. How you can do it so carelessly. The first kill you never forget it; it stains your soul, and you feel that blackness sweep into your being. Then every other kill after that just spreads the blackness in your heart.
War meant sacrifice, but the hardest deaths were always the ones of the innocent people who didn’t ask to be a part of it.
“I killed her,” I whispered as I let him hold me.
“No, baby, you saved her. Her fate was written the moment her father decided to take the throne of the underworld.”
I held on to him tighter. “Everything is changing fast.”
He rubbed circles on my back, then kissed my forehead. “You got
me.” Gideon pulled my hair back, forcing me to look him in the eyes. “You always got me. You get that?” His eyes blazed with passion, trying to burn that fact into me.
“I’m starting to.”
“Thank fuck.”
The rest of the night and the next day was met with impending doom. When the white team won, we all headed back, wondering what awaited us at the castle.
The drive to the castle went by fast, everyone dying to get back to the heat, warm food, and a nice bed.
Daphne held on to me, resting her head on my back, and it was the little, soft things she did that were so unlike her that undid me.
I wasn’t like most men. The fact that she had shared her body with countless nameless faces didn’t matter. We all did it to fill a void, to feel that warmth that came with being human. The kills took a toll, and more often than not, it left you feeling cold.
In this world, sharing your body was easy. It was something you did to get by, just another way to exploit people, but to bare your soul—those were the things that slowly sunk themselves into your skin like broken glass, leaving tiny little cuts that alone didn’t bother you, but when they all added up, those motherfuckers burned.
Right now, I was burning, but feeling something was better than not feeling anything at all.
When we got to the castle, people had gathered around in a half circle. I parked the snowmobile, and Daphne and I immediately got off. We took off our helmets and put them on top of the vehicle.
“What’s going on?” Daphne looked up at me. It was the first time I noticed how tiny she was.
“Want me to give you a piggyback ride? You’ll see better?” I mocked as I put my hand on her lower back.
“Want me to hit you in the balls so hard you fall on your face so I can use you as a stepping stool?” she sassed back.
I was about to say something else when the yelling had us both snapping our heads to the front.
The people who were blocking our paths moved to the side, allowing us to go through.
Paco was front and center, his face red, and he was screaming at Damian. Damian stood there looking at him with a bored expression. Daphne turned to look at me, and then she turned to look at Bastian, who was across the field.
