by Rina Kent
I almost blackout, but I’m brought back to the moment as Levi’s back turns rigid. His Viking hair sticks to his temple with sweat and all his muscles become taut. He comes with a groan, squeezing me into him.
And then, his mouth is back to devouring mine.
Best. Birthday. Ever.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Levi
You should know by now that I don’t play fair.
* * *
The bed is empty.
It smells of lilac and sex, but there’s no sign of Astrid.
I curse as I jump to my feet, blindingly shoving my legs into the trousers lying on the floor.
It’s six in the morning and we’re in the middle of nowhere. She can’t reach civilisation unless she has a ride.
Judging from the rain beating down outside, she couldn’t have gone far.
After last night, I thought she was too sore to move.
But apparently, I thought fucking wrong.
I shouldn’t have unbound her. Better yet, I should’ve tied her to me when I gathered her in my arms.
I never slept with a girl after sex.
I never slept with anyone. Full stop.
Since I lost Dad, I’ve had insomnia. That’s why I started drinking — aside from pissing Uncle off. When I’m hammered, I manage a few hours of sleep. But I had to take it down a notch when I focused on football.
Most nights, I’d stare at the ceiling or wear myself out in the gym.
Last night was different. Last night, I had a petite thing sleeping in my arms like a baby.
I might have spent the entire night watching her. Sue me.
Every line of her face and curve of her body is engraved in my memories. As I watched her, lots of dark thoughts barged through my mind, but most of all, it was unstoppable waves of possessiveness.
She only belongs to me now and no one will be able to take her away.
Ever.
I might not know how the fuck Astrid fits in the big picture, but I know that she’s mine. I know that I’ll feed off everything she offers like the parasite she paints me as.
I don’t bother with a shirt as I snag my car keys and fly down the stairs.
It’s fucking pouring outside. The rain falls so hard that the distance becomes foggy and the vision blurry.
Right in front of the house, Astrid stands in the middle of the rain.
Eyes closed, her head is tipped back allowing the rain to soak her face. Both her arms are wide open on either side of her like she’s an angel about to fly.
I freeze, watching her do exactly what I showed her last time I brought her here.
Her dress sticks to her skin and rivulets form a path from her wet hair to her neck.
I drop the car keys on the porch and stride towards her. The rain beats down on me, soaking me in a second.
She doesn’t feel me when I’m right behind her, watching the hickeys I left all over her neck and nape. The angry red marks against her pale skin elicit a primal reaction in me.
I licked her so she’s mine.
My arms wrap around her waist from behind and I bury my head in her wet neck.
She inhales a stuttering breath as her hand comes around my connected hands whether to push me away or keep me there, I don’t know.
“What are you doing out here?” I ask near her ear, drawing a shudder from her.
“I was leaving.”
My jaw clenches. “Why?”
“Because…” She trails off but doesn’t look at me. “It was a mistake, wasn’t it?”
“Says who?” I growl at her ear.
“Says me.” She tips her head back to stare at me. “I don’t know what the hell you want from me and it’s driving me crazy.”
“Good.” I nibble on the lobe of her ear, tasting her and the rain. “You drive me fucking crazy, too.”
She turns around in my hold, placing both palms on my chest. “Do you ever intend on stopping?”
“Never, princess.” I pause. “You said you were leaving, why didn’t you?”
“It was raining.”
“That’s all?”
“You know, it was pouring the day I lost my mum. Since then, I’ve hated rainy days. Until...” She glances at me with a strange vulnerability. “You showed me how to enjoy it again. Thank you.”
No. Thank you, Dad.
I run my fingers through her wet hair, pushing the wet strands off her face. “So you owe me one, huh?”
She hits my chest. “You just needed to turn the situation in your favour, didn’t you?”
“What did you expect?”
“Fine, what do I owe you?”
“Your sketchpad.”
“No,” she says defensively, her cheeks flushing even under the rain.
I laugh. Asking for her sketchpad is only a formality. I already went through it a few times when she was struggling to finish her laps in the park.
Hell, when I don’t sleep, I spend the entire night watching the sketch I stole at her house and imagining her concentrated expression.
“Pick something else,” she tells me.
“But I want the sketchpad.”
“Pick something else or you’re not getting anything.”
“Let’s start by dancing in the rain.”
“Start?” She chuckles. “What happens afterwards?”
“See, that’s your problem, princess. You need to learn how to stop thinking about afterwards.” I pull her into me by the waist, my morning wood pressing into the bottom of her stomach. “Live the moment.”
A soft gasp tears past her lips and she stares up at me with wide, lust-filled eyes. “You’ll ruin me.”
I lick her upper lip over her cupid bow. “I promise you’ll love every second of it.”
Her breath hitches. “What if I don’t?”
“You’ll never forget the experience, anyway.”
“Can’t you be nice?”
“I am fucking nice.” I suck her lower lip into my mouth.
She pulls away, smiling. “You can lie and tell me you’ll try and take it easy on me.”
I laugh and for the first time in years, the sound is genuine. “I’ll never take it easy on you. If anything, I’ll be more persistent.”
“More?” She all but yells. “There’s freaking more?”
“You’ve seen nothing yet.” I carry her in my arm and place my forehead against hers as the rain beats down on us. “You can take this as a good princess or fight it. It’s up to you.”
I whirl her around, and she squeals, her arms snaking around my neck in a steel hold like a child with someone they trust. And then she’s laughing and giggling so hard, I can’t help smiling back.
“Can’t you at least tell me what we’re doing afterwards?” She shouts between giggles.
“Do you really want to know?”
My lips find her neck and I suck on an unmarked spot in her collarbone until her breathing crackles.
“Once we’re done dancing in the rain, I will…”
“You will what?” The need in her tone makes me hard.
“I’ll fuck you in the shower, princess.”
Her pupils dilate and she swallows audibly as her body leans into mine.
A part of her might still fight me, but soon enough, she’ll learn that there’ll be no escaping my hold.
Uncle was right. I destroy everything.
But this is the first time I want to keep something instead of shattering it to pieces.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Astrid
It’s the queen who sacrifices herself for the king.
* * *
I’m panting as Levi and I throw on some clothes after stepping out of the shower.
And by some clothes, I mean he puts on black boxer briefs and I wear his team’s jersey.
That was… wow. Mind blowing is an understatement to describe what just happened in the bathroom.
I feel so used and pleased.
Give it to Levi to make
me feel completely different emotions at the same time.
“Number ten never looked so damn good.” He drags his darkened eyes from my breasts to where the T-shirt reaches mid-thigh.
I pull my hair up. “Is that so?”
For the love of Vikings. Am I flirting with him right now?
“You know how it’d look better?”
“How?”
“On the floor.”
He reaches for me, but I duck out of his grasp, giggling.
I run down the hall, my bare feet slapping against the wooden flooring.
Thundering footsteps come from behind me. Fear and excitement erupt in my stomach, and I run faster, harder. Just like the prey Levi wants.
Two arms surround me from behind. I squeal as my feet leave the ground and he turns me around.
His hot, husky words tickle my ear. “You can run, but you can’t hide. I’ll always catch you, princess.”
“I know,” I pant, my heartbeat almost leaping out.
“Then why did you run?”
Because maybe I like the feeling of being chased. Maybe I like walking on the thin line between sanity and insanity with him.
I love the way my heart pounds as if I’m about to have a heart attack.
He brings me to the edge and I love the view.
“It’s a secret,” I laugh and continue running downstairs.
He catches me by the kitchen, making me squeal.
The only reason he releases me is because we need to eat.
He pulls back a stool, “Sit.”
I take my seat looking around the red and black decorated kitchen. It’s open bar style with a closet-like fridge and marble counters.
Then my eyes trail to the most beautiful thing in the kitchen.
His chest is too sculpted, I can easily count each one of his six abs. His muscles flex with every move — like he can crush anything in his path. He can even crush me if he chooses to.
The black boxer briefs outline his strong football thighs, barely leaving anything to the imagination.
Then there’s that V-line.
Now, I understand why all the girls are obsessed with that male perfection. It’s not about the V, it’s about the place it leads to.
A certain organ that’s been inside me minutes ago. Hard and thick and —
“Like what you see, princess?”
My eyes snap to his amused ones. “I wasn’t looking.”
The arsehole’s smirk widens. “Something on your face says otherwise.”
I turn around, wiping my mouth. Please tell me I wasn’t drooling.
“You’re blushing, princess. Nothing can erase that.”
Oh.
I whirl back around, feeling my cheeks hotter than earlier. “Hurry so we can go to school.”
He disappears behind the counter and throws over his shoulder. “No.”
“What?”
He faces me from the other side, leaning over on both his hands until his gorgeous face is in mine. “Tell me when you last broke a rule?”
He smiles and when it reaches his eyes, I can’t help smiling back. “You’re too uptight, princess. What did I say about living in the moment?”
“I did, didn’t I?” My cheeks heat, remembering how much I screamed in the shower when he disappeared between my legs.
“Sure did.” He taps my nose. “You’re fucking adorable when you blush.”
I swat his hand away. “I don’t need to break rules to live in the moment.”
“When was the last time you skipped?”
“Yesterday, remember?”
“That doesn’t count. You didn’t have a choice. Today, you do.”
“And if I do skip, what’s the plan?”
He shakes his head with disapproval. “Plans defy the whole point of skipping. We’ll just wing it.”
“Wing it?”
“Since it’s rainy, we’ll stay inside and do indoor things.”
“Things like what?”
“Like fucking your brains out, princess.”
My cheeks turn into a fire pit and a tingle draws up my spine at the promise.
Jeez. I’ve only discovered this part of myself last night and I already can’t get enough. Have I turned into a nympho or something?
“That is if you aren’t too sore?” he asks with a raised eyebrow.
“I’m not.” I am. But I won’t let that ruin my fun.
Ha. I’m starting to think like Levi.
A night with the devil and I’m already thinking like him.
“How do you like your eggs?” he disappears underneath the counter as the sound of pans and clanking fills the space.
“You know how to cook?” I ask.
“I learnt a trick or two from spending time here.”
“You don’t live with Aiden and your uncle?”
“I do, but I don’t call that house my home.” He reappears with a pan and utensils and heads to the stove.
“I also don’t feel like Dad’s house is my home sometimes.”
He tilts his head. “Sometimes?”
“I don’t know how to explain it, but at times, it does feel like home.” When only Dad is there. When I don’t see Victoria and Nicole’s faces or hear their taunts. When I help Sarah out in the kitchen like I used to do with Mum.
When Dad comes to wish me goodnight.
I hop down my stool and join Levi behind the counter.
One. The view from here is more gorgeous.
Two. I want to help.
“Just sit down,” he pushes me back but I nudge him.
“This is my way of living the moment. Let me.”
It’s an epic failure.
I end up with flour all over my face and arms because Levi’s definition of living the moment is playing around and feeling me up.
At first, I tried to fight it, but there’s no fighting Levi. His intensity runs too deep, it’s like being sucked whole with no way out.
It’s frightening sometimes.
It’s thrilling most of the time.
I’m always buzzing out of my skin, waiting for the next thing he’ll come up with.
He’s a high that I’m not sure I want to come down from.
I know Levi is dangerous. I’ve seen it in that black gaze and his closed off features. I felt it in the way he takes whatever he wishes without looking back. I’ve heard it in his sinister voice and unapologetic words.
All of that was supposed to push me away. Instead, I keep gravitating towards him like a moth to a fire.
He’ll burn me.
He’ll destroy me.
But I’ll keep coming back for more anyway.
After breakfast, we play chess. He has this huge glass board in the middle of the lounge area and we sit across from each other.
He narrows one eye before we start, “I warn you. I crush my enemies.”
“Humph,” I tuck my knees underneath me and puff my chest. “Show me what you got, King.”
As if I lit a fire, his eyes gleam with a challenge. His posture turns uptight, and his entire stance sharpens for the battle.
After fifteen minutes of trying to outsmart him, I lose.
He takes down all my defences and then kills my queen in the most brutal way.
I sulk, staring at his main pieces that remain intact.
He chuckles when I continue sulking. “You’re doing it all wrong.”
“How?”
“You’re protecting your king when you should be protecting something far more important.”
“The queen?”
“Could be.” He tilts his head to the side. “But if you really want to win, then you need all your battalion.”
“How about sacrificing for the greater good?”
“A true warlord sacrifices soldiers, not generals.”
I mimic the tilting of his head. “How did you come to love chess so much?”
He’s silent for a moment. “It runs in the family, I guess.”
“Your uncle p
lays?”
“He does, but he didn’t teach me, my father did. It was one of the few things he taught me.”
I straighten, feeling the tension behind his words. “So you weren’t close?”
“We were when he wasn’t having his manic episodes, which wasn’t very often.” He stares at me as he’s surprised he just divulged that.
My lips part.
What Aiden said makes sense now. Levi doesn’t have mental problems, but he lived in the shadow of a father who did. Maybe that part of his father rubbed off on him, too.
Before I can say anything, Levi smiles in a challenging way. “Do you want to go again? I promise not to crush you this time.”
“Bring it.”
We go at it for hours. It’s the most time I’ve spent in one place – aside from the art studio – without going out of my mind. In fact, I have fun.
Even though Levi wins every time.
I try to distract him by pushing the jersey up my thighs or pulling it down or licking my lips. Even though his eyes darken with lust, he wins the game, pushes the board away, and scoops me in his arms.
“Were you seducing me just now, princess?”
I look away trying to hide the goosebumps covering my skin. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You were playing dirty.”
“I… wasn’t.”
“Do you know what happens to bad girls who play dirty?” His lips find the lobe of my ear and he sucks before biting down.
I moan, my head falling against his neck. It’s crazy how something so little can turn me into a wanton mess.
Levi isn’t someone I should be involved with, but my body doesn’t understand that.
All I can feel is the thrill and the desire for more.
I want more.
I want everything.
And that’s disturbingly similar to how Levi thinks.
Maybe I’ve become the devil king myself.
He lowers me to the sofa and yanks down his boxer briefs. I pull the T-shirt over my head and toss it behind me so we’re skin to skin. Heartbeat to heartbeat.
My nails dig into his chest, drawing long red marks. Like he left his own marks all over my neck, collarbone, and breasts.
