by Kent, Rina
“You’re soaking me.” His voice is raspy. “Fuck. Do you feel yourself on me, princess?”
I nod.
He flicks his thumb against my nipple, making them harden before he pinches. Hard.
“Do you want me to make you come?”
I moan around his fingers in response. He removes his thigh from between my legs, leaving me empty and aching and so freaking hungry.
“What—”
Words die in my throat when he runs his hard, thick cock up and down my entrance.
Holy shit.
That’s even better than his thigh.
My breathing comes out stuttered and short.
“Tell me you’re mine.”
When he doesn’t remove his fingers, I speak around them. “I’m… yours.”
“I don’t care what fucking happens. You’re not leaving anymore.” He slams into me before I can form any type of response.
I close my eyes at the onslaught of emotions and I feel tears forming behind my lids.
This feeling, this belonging.
I thought I imagined it the other time, but it’s real. Something primal goes through me whenever we’re joined like this.
He’s mine, too.
His harsh breathing. His relentless strokes. His head-turning scent.
All of him.
He belongs to me.
Thrusting into me long and hard, Levi removes his fingers from my mouth to stroke a strand of hair behind my ear.
He wipes a stray tear from under my eye. “I told you no protection next time. I want to feel you bare.”
I smile despite myself. “It’s not about that. I’m on the shot.”
“Thank fuck.”
“And here I thought you were trying to impregnate me last time.”
“Oh, it will happen someday, but you’re not ready for that yet.” He sucks on the lobe of my ear and nibbles down my throat.
I’m too lost in his body against mine to form any opinions about what he just said.
He picks up his pace and I push back into him as his thrusts turn harder and faster and out of control.
With each pound, he hits that sweet spot that drives nuts.
“Oh, God, Levi… more...”
“Mine?”
“Oh please…”
“Tell me you’re mine, princess. Tell me you won’t let anyone else touch you the way I do. Tell me you won’t change or leave me.”
My heart thumps loud at his strained tone and the way he watches me as if my answer will be either his damnation or his salvation.
I open my mouth to say something, but he stuffs a harsh finger into my mouth.
“Don’t lie. If you make a promise, fucking keep it.”
“I’m yours, Levi,” I whisper, meeting his gaze.
And I mean it.
I have been his longer than I’d like to admit.
“Promise,” he growls.
“I promise.”
His thrusts turn animalistic and so do my movements.
His back muscles become rigid and he curses, calling my name.
This orgasm hits me harder than any of the others. Maybe it’s because it’s been so long. Maybe because I missed the freaking hell out of him.
Or maybe, just maybe, it’s because of all these jumbled feelings in my chest.
I’m completely screwed.
45
Levi
If you’re a mistake, I’ll still make it every fucking time.
* * *
I push through the chaos in Ronan’s house, carrying a bucket of water.
All the team members left yesterday after I put the party to a stop.
The three I needed to fuck up hid, but there’s no running from me.
Xander, Cole and the little shit Ronan are sprawled over the sofas in the lounge area. Their limbs are thrown over each other in awkward positions.
Aiden sent me a video of Astrid hugging Ronan’s shoulders while they drank at the same time. Xander, Cole, and the other team members cheering them on.
I never drove as fast as I did last night.
I had meant to pull her down, beat the guys to a pulp, then go back to punching the bag.
But the moment she fell into my arms, I couldn’t leave.
I tried, but the thing about Astrid? She got under my fucking skin and it’s becoming impossible to pluck her out.
Then this morning happened.
I told myself it’s only one last time. One last taste. One last touch. One last fucking kiss.
But that’s impossible, too.
There’s no fucking way I’ll ever get enough of her.
Fuck the King and the Clifford names.
Fuck the animosity.
Fuck everything.
There’ll be a change of plans and Jonathan will have to accept it.
I stand in front of the three suckers who dared to defy me and pour the bucket of water over them.
Ronan gasps first, eyes widening. “It’s not me. The devil Xan made me do it.”
“Screw off.” Xan sits up, wiping water from his face. “You’re dead, Ro.”
“What the fuck?” Cole cracks his eyes open and blinks. “Captain?”
“Outside. Now.”
“Et la merde.” Ronan stumbles to his feet. “I promise I didn’t fuck her… I think?”
Xander hits the back of his nape. “You’re making it worse, arsehole.”
“Not only you made her drink, but you also took liberties in fucking touching her,” I meet their sleepy faces.
Cole raises a forefinger. He’s barely standing, and there are red nails marks all over his neck. Someone had a night.
“Correction,” he says. “We didn’t make her. She wanted to do this.”
“Is that so?” I fold my arms.
Xan swats him. “Shut it.” He laughs, meeting my gaze. “Won’t happen again, Captain. Striker’s honour.”
“I know it won’t because every time you think about pulling such a stunt, you’ll think about the early swim you’re about to take.”
“But it’s fucking freezing outside,” Ronan wines.
I raise an eyebrow. “Exactly.”
“Captain.” Xander shows me his charming smile. “You can’t sacrifice me. I’m your ace striker.”
“That would be me.” Aiden’s bored voice drifts through. He leans against the counter, sipping from a black mug.
“Traitor,” Cole mutters.
Aiden lifts a shoulder. “I warned you. This is the ‘I told you so,’ moment.”
I knew I could count on Aiden’s itch for that girl. Now, he won’t dare to cross a line with me, because he knows full well that my threats aren’t empty ones.
“Outside. Ten laps each.” I point in the direction of the pool. It’s raining. Perfect.
“I hope you gathered enough money from the bets to admit us into a fucking hospital afterwards.” Cole nudges Xander.
“All bad ideas start with X.” Ronan slaps him on the shoulder. “Connard.”
“Oh, fuck off. You two wanted to see Captain’s reaction.”
“Glad to answer your wish,” I smirk. “There will be extra practice later, too.”
A collective groan fills the space as they start stripping.
“Can we at least have breakfast first?” Xan asks with a cautious tone.
I shake my head.
He grunts. “Worth the try.”
“What’s going on?” The voice coming from the entrance stops me in my tracks.
All eyes turn towards her. She’s wearing her shorts and one of my T-shirt that I leave at Ronan’s place.
A wave of possessiveness hits me at seeing her wearing my colours and my number. From now on, I want her to wear only that.
Her hair is still damp from the shower and falls on either side of her face. The bright green of her eyes fix on each of the guys and they stop stripping.
It’s Ronan who runs toward her first with his hands on his belt. “Astrid, my drinking buddy
queen. Tell the tyrant captain to stop torturing us.”
“You’re doing an extra lap, Ronan.” I tell him.
“Torture?” Astrid asks, appearing lost.
Ronan and Xander fill her in and soon, the three arseholes surround her, pleading with her to save them.
“I wanted to do it, it was fun,” she tells me, chuckling. “Aren’t you being a little too hard on them?”
“He is!” Ronan high-fives her.
“Hey, fuckers. Hands off.” I step between them and Astrid. “Ten laps in the pool or something else. Your choice.”
They know the alternative will be a lot fucking worse.
They all run towards the pool, removing their clothes on the way. Astrid breaks down in laughter when Ronan and Cole push Xander into the water, shouting, “The Devil first!”
When she continues staring at them, smiling as they bitch about the cold. I regret not making them go in with their clothes on.
I don’t like that she watches them half-naked. I step into her line of vision, blocking them.
Aiden smirks from my peripheral vision, shaking his head.
I flip him off behind Astrid’s back and take her by the arm.
“Do you want breakfast?” I ask.
“I’ll make some if you get them out.”
I narrow my eyes. “No.”
She clutches my arm and tiptoes, brushing her lips along my cheek. “Please?”
Well, fuck. I can’t say no when she puts it that way.
I face Aiden. “Tell them they can come out.”
“After one more lap,” Aiden continues drinking his coffee leisurely, seeming to enjoy the show a bit too much.
I join Astrid behind the counter while she retrieves eggs and packs of bacon from the fridge.
My hands brush along her hips from behind and she sucks in a breath. There’s nothing I want to do more than to kidnap her upstairs and fuck her until she can’t walk anymore.
But she said she needs to know everything. I’m not ready for that. I’m not ready to put an end to this peace.
The three wankers come out after they shower and change into dry clothes. Astrid already has breakfast ready for them. Aiden and I helped. Correction. I made the little shit Aiden help.
It’s surreal when we all sit down for breakfast. I’m at the head of the table. Astrid is on my right and Aiden is at my left.
“Your parents are never here?” Astrid asks Ronan.
“They work a lot for the European Union and shit.” He finishes chewing on his bacon. “C’est merveilleux, my queen.”
“Stop calling her that,” I warn.
He rolls his eyes at the same time as Astrid.
“Are they okay with all the parties you throw?” She helps Xander to another serving of eggs.
Fortunately, she made extra because we eat like pigs in the morning.
“They have to be here to care.” Ronan scowls at me. “But I’m totally telling them what you did when I get bloody Ebola, Captain.”
Xan stops mid-chewing. “Isn’t that shit deadly?”
“Ebola isn’t from the cold,” Cole corrects them, but Ronan and Xander aren’t hearing him. They continue their overdramatic bitching, painting imaginary scenarios about dying of Ebola.
Astrid laughs and jests with them and although I hate seeing her laugh with anyone but me, I can’t help being mesmerised by her spontaneous energy.
She knows I won’t be her prince charming, but she still wants me anyway.
If anything, she wants me because I’m not.
I kick Ronan or Xander whenever they attempt to talk to her and grab her thigh under the table.
My hand snakes up her thigh under the shorts. She sucks in a breath, trying so hard to focus on the coffee.
When she meets my gaze with those huge fucking eyes, my breath catches somewhere out of reach.
Will she still look at me that way when she learns the truth?
46
Astrid
No matter how much you hide it, the darkest truths will always come out.
* * *
After breakfast with the guys, Levi shooed them away.
When that didn’t work, he kidnapped me to the room upstairs and showed me that I should be only looking at him, not his teammates.
I might get close to them just so he’ll show me all over again.
This part of Levi will always get me in a twist.
I try to move from my position splayed out on top of him. I must be heavy. He wraps his strong hands at the small of my back, forbidding me from moving.
He rolls us over so we’re lying facing each other. I want to let him sleep since I doubt he got any last night, but his lips find mine and I’m a goner.
We kiss for what seems like hours. We devour each other in a slow passionate pace like we’re re-learning one another again. We don’t even pull back for air, we just breathe each other in.
I love kissing him. Not only do I feel his taste in my mouth, but I also feel him all over me and inside me.
Levi and I were made for kissing. We should never stop kissing.
It should be a blasphemy that we weren’t kissing since that party.
After what seems like an eternity, he pulls back, but he threads his fingers in my hair, playing with the falling strands.
I love all the little ways he touches me like he can’t get enough of me.
My own fingers get lost in his Viking hair.
“What do you want to do today?” he asks.
“Why?”
“I’m being nice here, princess.” He slides his hand from my hair to wrap it around my throat, squeezing the slightest bit.
I grip his arm, not sure if I want to stop or encourage him. Judging from the shaking of my thighs, it’s the last.
It’s crazy how much his intensity wakes something entirely feral in me.
It’s like a high that’s spreading through my bloodstream.
“Is this your version of playing nice?” I bite my lower lip.
“Oh, I’m playing fucking nice.” He brushes his lips over my nose. “If it were up to me, you’d be naked all day in my bed.”
The familiar need surges through me. Maybe I want that, too. Maybe I don’t want to leave his arms until I get enough.
But then again, will I ever get enough of him?
Besides, he’s offering me a way to get to know him better and Levi doesn’t offer chances.
“I can ask for anything?” I poke.
He narrows his eyes. “Ask and I’ll decide.”
“No. You have to agree to anything first.”
“Try again, princess. I don’t agree to something without knowing the consequences. That’s a terrible negotiating method and a sure way to lose before even starting.”
“Make an exception for me.”
“Are you going to ask for other people? Because that’s a resounding fucking no.”
“Aw, man. There goes my chance to have an orgy with Xander, Ronan, and Cole.”
His eyes darken as he grips my hip tighter until it’s almost painful. “You want to have an orgy with those three fuckers?”
When I remain silent, his demeanour stiffens. The anger radiating off him seeps under my skin even though it’s not directed at me. I think.
“What did they do to you last night?”
“Nothing.”
He continues glaring at me.
“I’m kidding, Levi. Jeez.”
“You’re kidding, huh?”
“Totally. As if I would ever want anyone other than you.”
That draws a mischievous smile from him. “Good save.”
I’m really starting to learn the devil’s ways.
“So what do you want to do?” he asks. “One last chance. Otherwise, we go with my naked all-day plan.”
I’m tempted to follow his plan and to hell with it, but something I always wanted to do with him prickles my mind.
“I want a normal date. Maybe a film and the amusement park
?”
“That’s it?”
I nod, lowering my head. “I didn’t really date before and I want to experience that.”
“Wait. Go back. Didn’t really? As in you sort of dated?”
“I had some awkward dates in middle school when I was with Mum.”
“Any sorry fucks I should know about?”
“No, you freak,” I laugh. “Are you always this possessive?”
“Only with you, princess.”
I can’t help the heat creeping up my neck and into my cheeks. He has this maddening way of making me blush over the smallest words.
“Don’t even try to compare me to your previous dates.” A shot of possessiveness and jealousy grips me.
“I don’t date.”
“Oh.”
“You’ll be my first.”
I can’t help the stupid grin spreading on my face. “Is that a yes?”
“Not so fast.” He lowers his head until his lips hover a breath from mine. “What do I get in return?”
“What do you want?”
“You in my bed after the date.”
“Does that mean I’m paying for the date with sex?”
He lifts a shoulder, amusement glinting in his eyes. “If you want to look at it that way.”
“That sounds awfully like you’re my sugar daddy.”
“I’ll be your anything as long as you’re mine.”
“What if I change my mind?”
He nibbles on the corner of my lip, drawing a shudder from deep within me. “Too bad. The deal with the devil is a one-way ticket.”
When I told Levi I wanted to go on a normal date, I certainly didn’t mean for him to terrify me in the amusement park.
I’m sweating and breathing harshly by the time we come down from the rollercoaster ride.
Levi laughs, wrapping his bigger hand around mine.
“That’s not funny!” I nudge him.
“For someone who won a drinking game against our ace drinker, you’re rubbish with thrill rides.”
“Whatever.”
“You should’ve seen your face.” His voice drips with amusement.
I throw him a glare, scowling.
He clutches my cheeks and pulls them so his face is mere inches away from mine. “You’re so fucking adorable when you’re angry.”
