by Rina Kent
“Oh, umm…” I’m flabbergasted, not only by the load of information in one sentence, but also by the apathetic tone he said the words.
Just when I’m debating how to respond to such a bomb, he continues, “the only thing I learnt from that woman is that you can become rich if you’re knocked up by the right man.” He winks. “Not that I can use her tactics.”
His complete disregard of something so important is crazy. No. It’s terrifying. It only proves how much a deviant Levi King actually is.
But again, if his mother who should be bound by nature to love him abandoned him, why should he have any compassion for the rest of the world?
“What about your father?” My voice is small as if a higher range would make him run away.
“What about him?”
Did he abandon you, too? Are you completely incurable?
Before I can voice the questions, the car swivels to the right and I brace myself, almost hitting the roof of the car.
It’s then I notice we’re headed in a completely opposite direction from home. The road’s lights disappear and the way becomes narrower and darker like in a real-life horror film.
“Where are we going?” I murmur, trying not to sound as spooked as I feel.
He says nothing.
My back muscles snap upright as my eyes bulge, bouncing between him and the pitch-black road.
“This isn’t funny, Levi.”
“It isn’t supposed to be.”
My breathing stutters as distorted images from that night with Mum claw at my walls like hungry predators.
“Don’t… Don’t…”
“You’re a good little princess, aren’t you, Astrid?” His tone switches to a chilling, apathetic range.
I grip the door handle with shaking fingers as the road keeps darkening and no cars come into view.
“Levi, stop.”
“You should learn by now that I don’t do what I’m told.”
My heart pounds against my ribcage so hard, it nearly falls to my feet.
He keeps going and going and going.
I can’t believe I fell for his trick. He distracted me with the story about his mother just to have me drop my guard so he can destroy me in the worst way possible just like he always wanted.
My frantic gaze flickers between the black surrounding us, the pounding of the rain, and how he pushes the accelerator until we’re almost flying off the road.
I want to fight him. I want to be crazy and force the wheel out of his hand, but I’m frozen.
The night of my mum’s accident plays in the back of my head like an old, grainy film.
My eyes blur with unshed tears, recalling the exact moment the car flipped and I had to watch her lifeless form lying in a pool of blood.
The car comes to a screeching halt and I jump up, a sob tearing from my throat.
“Not a bad ride, huh, princess?”
My head snaps his way at the same time as my hand. I slap Levi so hard, my palm stings, and then I’m running in the darkness.
Rain soaks me immediately. My hair sticks to my cheeks, and water forms rivulets down my face and neck. My shoes sink in the mud, holding me down.
Strong hands surround my waist from behind and pull me off the ground until I’m suspended mid-air.
I thrash against his hold, fighting my tears. I’m thankful that the rain won’t make them too visible. “Leave me the hell alone! I told you I’m done playing your stupid games!”
His lips find my ear and he nibbles on the flesh before speaking in a low, shiver-inducing tone. “And I told you, I’m not, princess.”
The bubble of anger, rage, and betrayal roll into one and claw to spill free, but what’s the point if I can’t even fight him?
What’s the point if he keeps wrecking my peace like a vengeful hurricane?
“Why?” I scream at the top of my lungs, still clawing and kicking at him. “I was living just fine in my invisibility bubble, why did you have to make me visible?”
“I made you visible, huh?”
“You did! You screwed up everything.”
“You were never supposed to be invisible, princess,” he whispers the words in that rough voice of his.
My skin heats. Even the rain can’t erase the burn.
“Why did you bring me here? Are you planning to erase me?” I blurt. “I swear I’ll turn into one of those vengeful ghosts and haunt you for eternity.”
He chuckles, sending shivers along the shell of my ear. “You’ll haunt me, huh?”
“Duh. For eternity, mate. You can count on it.”
“I can count on it,” he repeats with amusement.
“If you hear doors squeaking and sounds in the hallways, that’d be me. If you see smoke in the mirror, that’d be me, too. Oh, and if you trip and fall in the game? Yup, totally me.”
He laughs, the sound echoing around us like a hymn. “That’s kind of like clinging, you know.”
“I’m game as long as it makes your life miserable.”
“Who says it will?” he murmurs the words straight against my earlobe. His breaths tickle the skin, but his lips never do.
The freaking tease.
I clear my throat. “So where are we? The cemetery? I’m warning you, my stepmother calls me a cat with nine lives. She does it behind my back of course because she has her snobbish image to keep and all that jazz. Don’t tell her I know. So anyway, it might take a bit of effort to finish me off.”
“Are you always a drama queen when nervous?”
“Nope. Only when I’m kidnapped to the middle of nowhere. You know, by a devil minion and all that.”
Still holding me, he spins us around so I’m facing a cottage-like house on the unkempt ground. The car’s lights highlight the antique, cosy architecture with the rain pounding down on it.
“Okay. I’ve got to admit it’s a nice hideout for a serial killer.”
“This is our Meet Up,” he says with amusement. “Usually, the team would be here if it weren’t game night.”
“Right. No serial killer activities, I guess.” I peek at him. “Why did you bring me here?”
“You asked about my father and I brought you to the best place to feel it.”
“Feel what?”
He drops me to my feet, and I slowly turn around.
In the middle of nowhere, under the pouring rain, Levi opens his arms wide and tilts his head back. Water soaks his gorgeous face, the hard tendons of his collarbone, and his Viking hair.
His white shirt becomes complete see-through, sticking to his muscles like a second skin.
And he’s smiling.
It’s not one of his cruel fake smiles. This one is genuine like he’s… happy?
The view grips me by the gut. My heart pumps so loud, it’s a miracle he’s not hearing it.
This posture. This same posture.
I’ve seen it somewhere.
But where?
“The rain,” Levi whispers, still closing his eyes. “My father taught me to feel the rain.”
Chapter Nineteen
Levi
You make me lose control and you’ll pay the price for it.
* * *
Watching Astrid in my space, my compound, stirs a strange part of me.
I lean back against the counter with a glass of vodka in hand as she sits on the sofa right opposite me.
Drying her hair with a towel, she watches our surroundings like a curious kitten.
Aiden and I have kept the place simple with just a few sofas, two poker tables, and a bar. In short: all the fun Jonathan won’t allow us at home.
While Astrid drinks in her environment, my gaze keeps flickering to the way her wet white shirt turned transparent. Her half-naked milky, full tits push against the fabric. They’d fit fucking perfectly in my palms while I —
“You own this?” she asks.
“Technically, Aiden does. In reality, I do.”
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“A
lot doesn’t.” I'm still ogling her tits and their gentle bounce every time she moves her hand up and down.
“Like you and your cousin? You guys are weird.”
“How so?” I ask absentmindedly.
Astrid finally follows my field of vision and crosses an arm over her chest as a blush creeps up her neck. “Pervert.”
Fuck me.
I never thought I would ever enjoy seeing a girl blushing, but Astrid is the exception to all rules.
She’s her own rule.
I smirk at the way she glares at me, but even her anger is cute when it’s mixed with embarrassment.
The princess can fight whatever we have all she wants, but I already set my sights on her. She can run, but I’ll catch her every time.
Hell, I’ll enjoy every minute of the chase, too.
There will be no escaping the king’s grasps in his kingdom.
The moment I saw that sorry fuck touch her, I saw black. The kind of black that Jonathan has been doing everything in his might to erase from my life.
But then, the most fascinating thing happened.
Astrid stood up to Jerry and put him in his place with such eloquence and strength that it turned me speechless. The pitch-black mood dissipated without me having to put any effort to stop it.
I don’t think she noticed it, but at that moment, she looked exactly like her father when he’s putting down his political enemies in the House of Lords.
What? I might have googled her and watched a few videos of her dad on YouTube.
“Why do you think Aiden and I are weird?” I ask, needing to keep her talking.
The way her lips roll around the words reminds me of how I claimed her mouth and how much I want to repeat it over and fucking over again.
Before I claim other parts of her.
Soon.
So soon.
“I don't know, I just feel it.” She buttons her jacket concealing my view of her tits. “You’re obviously the devil in disguise.”
“Why in disguise?”
“Because you appear perfect and gorgeous on the outside.”
“Perfect and gorgeous, huh?”
“That wasn’t a compliment. It only means that you’re not on the inside.”
“Still, you think I’m perfect and gorgeous, yeah?”
The slight blush creeping up her cheeks is all the answer I need.
“Whatever. You only look that way because you inherited some Vikings’ genes — which is super unfair by the way. I should’ve been the one who inherited some.”
“Why?”
“Mate! Have you seen them? They’re super badass.”
“You’re doing just fine without the Viking looks, princess.”
“Yeah, right.” She rolls her eyes. “Anyway, back to you and your cousin. You’re the devil and Aiden seems suspiciously too normal.”
I laugh, my head tipping back. “If you think I'm the devil, you should search for a higher position for Aiden.”
She mulls my words over in that busy head of hers. “Does it run in the family? Being abnormal, I mean.”
My jaw clenches, but I mask my reaction and smile. “Sure thing. If it makes you sleep better at night to know we’re all defected, then go right ahead.”
“You don't have to be a dick about it.” She stands, throwing the towel to the side. “I'm trying to figure out why Dad hates you guys so much when he thinks all those negative emotions are beneath him.”
“Maybe Lord Clifford isn’t such a saint after all.”
She lifts her chin. “Or maybe your family wronged him. I witnessed first hand how cruel a King can be.”
Jonathan is the type who destroys anyone who crosses him. It’s weird that he’s choosing to remain tight lipped about his grudge against Lord Clifford.
“Take me home.”
I abandon my half-full glass of vodka and approach her in steady steps. “Repeat that without the order part.”
“So only you are allowed to dish out orders?”
“Basically.” I stop when I’m toe-to-toe with her and she has to stare up at me. “Now, rephrase. Here's a hint. Use ‘please’.”
“Go screw yourself, please.”
I grin. “Wrong choice.”
My arm wraps around her waist and I dip my head down to hers, needing to taste her lips again.
To feast on them.
To eat her up until there’s nothing left of her.
Astrid’s sparkly green eyes widen. She jerks a hand up covering her mouth and my lips find her fingers.
Instead of pulling away, I kiss the back of her hand, biting and nibbling on her skin like I would’ve done her lips. I tongue her forefinger and middle finger, thrusting between them and sucking the flesh into my mouth.
A long shudder goes through her. I’m rock fucking hard. My dick strains against my trousers wanting to feel her bare.
I’m consuming her fingers with my mouth and she’s consuming me with that expressive, lust-filled gaze.
Her hand trembles as if she wants to remove it, but something is stopping her.
Maybe it’s the same thing that’s stopping me from bending her over and burying myself inside her so deep, neither of us would know where I end and she begins.
In one night, I had a bruised nose and shoulder because of her. I had my first all-consuming kiss with her. I enjoyed the rain after a long time also because of her.
I can’t begin to imagine what my life would be like if I spend more time with her.
No idea what’s this fucking obsession with Astrid is all about, but I know one thing.
I’m seeing it to the very end.
Chapter Twenty
Astrid
When it rains, it fucking pours.
* * *
My eyes are barely open as I trudge down the stairs. Pain snaps from the back to the front of my head and my nose is partially blocked.
Yup. Totally caught something from being soaked in last night’s rain.
Aside from sheer confusion.
The more time I spend with Levi, the better I think I know him. At the same time, it’s like I still know next to nothing about him.
For the life of me, I can’t figure out why he does everything he does.
Don’t they say that on the chessboard, the king’s moves can’t be predicted?
Or did I make that up?
What worries me the most about Levi isn’t his acts. It’s my reaction to him. Yesterday, I was on the verge of completely surrendering to his sinful touch and lips. Damn those firm, kissable lips.
For the love of Vikings, why can’t I snap out of it and stop thinking about that kiss?
He’s the devil, remember?
“I saw her! She came home in King’s car.”
“Now, hush, Nicole,” Victoria hisses. “Don’t say that name aloud in this house.”
My feet falter around the corner of the dining room, contemplating what to do.
They’re talking about me so I shouldn’t feel bad about eavesdropping.
“I can’t take this anymore, she’s not supposed to be here. You said she’ll be gone.”
“She will.” Victoria sounds calm. “This is her last year in the house before she leaves for good.”
How did she figure out my plan?
Not that I care. This is all for everyone’s benefit. I don’t fit in with Victoria and Nicole’s posh, perfect life.
Even Nicole’s dead father was some sort of a knight. She and her mother are a picture-perfect family cut for Dad’s needs.
If he has to choose, it won’t be me.
I ignore the pang that comes with that thought and start to push inside when Victoria’s voice stops me. “Her type belongs in the rubbish just like her whore mother.”
Blood pumps in my veins and heat smothers my neck, creeping to my face.
I barge inside with my fists clenched to my sides and throw my backpack on the chair.
Victoria and Nicole sit across from each other with their
plates in front of them.
“Take it back,” I say with a calmness I don’t feel.
Nicole’s malicious eyes shoot daggers in my direction as she stabs something in her plate.
Victoria’s perfect eyebrows scrunch in mock surprise. “Take what back, dear?”
“You called my mother a whore and you’ll take it back.”
“You must’ve misheard, dear,” Victoria continues smiling as she sips her tea with no care in the world.
The thing about Victoria is her ability to avoid confrontation and slip her way out of any dire situation. It’s probably why she’s the perfect wife for a man like my father.
But I’m not the press. She’s not getting away with calling my mother a whore.
“I don’t know much about my parents’ history, but I know that my mum came first,” I mimic her cool, infuriating smile. “Maybe we should research who’s the homewrecking whore in all this story.”
Victoria’s face scrunches, but she remains seated. Nicole jumps up, pointing a fork at me. “Did you just call my mother a homewrecking whore?”
“Oh,” I smirk, making sure to meet Victoria’s gaze. “You must’ve misheard, dear.”
Nicole makes her way towards me
“Sit down, Nicole,” Victoria scolds.
“You little bitch,” Nicole snarls in my face, “You and your slut of a mother were and will always be nothing to Uncle Henry. You’re just used tissue that can be thrown any second.”
I raise my fist and punch Nicole in the face.
It’s a knee-jerk reaction. Something that comes in the ruse of the moment.
Hearing her talk about my mother that way brings a rolling wave of rage.
No one, absolutely no one, badmouths my mother and gets away with it.
Nicole and Victoria shriek at the same time as the younger girl falls against the table clutching her face.
Nicole straightens with her eyes shimmering. She fists her hands, and I hold my ground.
Bring it. I’m ready for a fight to the death with her right now.
