by Amo Jones
Val is hooking her arm in mine as we make our way toward the house when Kyrin glares at us as we pass. “Fucking waste.”
I pause for two seconds. I could turn around and press him on whatever it is that he’s talking about, or I could ignore it for now and be there for my friend who is obviously dealing with raging woman issues.
“Don’t let their cryptonyms get to you. Look at what it did to Perse.” Val gestures toward the living room “Let’s get fucked up.”
I need to be there for my friend. To be here for her. If it was up to me, I wouldn’t be here. I would have happily stayed home and soaked in a bath with candles and wine.
I can hear music thumping loudly, spilling into the extravagant foyer of the mansion, directly through the floor-to-ceiling doors in the back lounge.
“We leave any time you want, okay?” I say to her, searching her eyes.
“Yes, Little Dragon. Now, come on!” Her hand grasps mine as she tugs me toward where the music is coming from. I shake my head and laugh off her relentlessness. Passing by a long rectangle table, I swipe up two shots each and hand one to her. “For some courage before we head outside.”
She takes two off me and we both pound them back with a hiss after each one.
“Tequila!” My face scrunches.
“Oh, that was definitely Perse!” Val scolds, swiping her mouth. “Her and her nasty taste in alcohol.”
Sliding the empty glasses back onto the table, we head outside through the open doors, where the music is playing. The electric sound of Five Finger Death Punch roars through the dark night as people dance and talk. On the patio there’s another large rectangle table where a whole group are sitting, chatting. I don’t want to look long because I know that Killian is amongst them. Out of the corner of my eye I watch as their heads turn to me and Val, just as we see Perse, Rose, and King standing near the bonfire out on the grass. They’re talking with a few men wearing suits, men I recognize slightly. The Four Fathers and others.
Strong arms wrap around my torso, lifting me off the ground as Kenan’s lips press to the back of my neck. “You look like a whole fuckin’ snack, Saskia.”
I laugh, my head tilting back. Wriggling out of his grip, I turn around to face him when he puts me back down to my feet. “Are you drunk already?” I cock my head.
Kenan leans in so close. Close enough that his lips touch mine. “Maybe.” I shove him backward playfully. Kenan always tests his limits with me and although he’s cute, that’s just it. He’s… cute. Killian would eat him for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then still have room for a six-course meal with some dessert.
Kyrin comes up beside Kenan. “Care for a walk?”
My smile falls slightly. I barely speak to Kyrin, and if I haven’t said it enough, he’s terrifying.
“Sure,” I answer, side-stepping away from my clingy best friend. I turn to face Kenan. “Keep an eye on Val while I’m gone.”
“Well we ain’t gonna eat her, Little Drago,” Keaton growls from the table. My eyes come to his and I watch as a smirk devilishly slips over his lips, his eyes hooded in mischief. He was just shitty with me outside, and now he has completely shifted tunes.
Ky starts dragging me down the stairs and toward the bonfire. He grabs a couple of drinks on our way. We move to the side, behind the fire but far enough away for people to not hear us talk.
He hands me my drink and I take a sip. Whiskey. Figures.
Kyrin studies the fire before turning to face me. “You know, when we all first saw you, we had a hard dick for you.”
I swipe my mouth from the alcohol, slowly lowering my glass to my lap. I squeeze it tightly. “Ah…”
Ky laughs, turning over his shoulder. I follow his line of sight—heading straight to some commotion happening on the patio. He rolls his eyes and brings them back to me. “We know more than you know we know.”
I shake my head. “I’m confused.”
Kyrin’s focus stays on me. “See that’s the thing, I don’t think you are.”
“I don’t know what to say to you or how to defend myself when I don’t know what I’m defending myself from.”
His eyes darken. “You need to stop whatever is going on with you and Killian.”
“I can assure you that it has.” I take another sip, willing the alcohol to kick in faster and numb the aching pounding that’s echoing in my belly.
Ky doesn’t answer, so I turn to face him. “You really believe that shit?”
“What do you want me to say, Kyrin?”
His eyes remain on mine. “I don’t give a fuck about all of this shit, but Killian is a whole different man right now and we all know that the juice is not worth the squeeze.”
I throw back my whole damn drink. “Ky, I get it.”
Kyrin’s face doesn’t move. Not even a flinch. He shuffles closer to me, his hands coming to each side of my legs. He shoves them open and grips me behind my thighs, pulling me forward until I’m straddling him on his lap.
“Mmmm,” he growls, eyeing me up and down. I watch his pretty jaw hit all of the right angles as he cranks his head. His hands move down my back and fall onto my ass.
“Ky…” I warn, tilting my head.
“What?” He groans, slightly tilting his hips to press his cock into me. “Isn’t this what you want? Me drippin’ all over you like every other male? You want me to spill all our secrets to you?” His hand grasps my chin, pulling my attention onto him again when I try to move away. “You and Killian are the exact fucking same, and that’s the problem. But what he’s going through right now, Saskia, it’s tormenting him from the inside out. You’re not fucking worth it.”
I lick my lips. “I don’t—”
Someone grabs me from my shoulder, pulling me off Kyrin’s lap. Everything happens so fast. There’s someone screaming, the starry sky, embers from the fire floating above me. I reach up to touch one, my head dizzy when Kenan’s face comes above mine.
“Up, Drago.”
I groan, slowly standing to my feet. “What the—” Everything comes into focus and the first thing I notice is Killian standing in front of me. No, not in front of me, he’s guarding me, as if I’m a caged animal that only he can pet.
“The fuck, Kill!” Ky kicks up from the ground, swiping his mouth. “Really?” Kyrin laughs as blood trickles down his chin. He shoves Killian out of the way. “We’ll talk about this later, motherfucker. Sort your shit out.” Ky reaches for his glass and starts moving back to the patio.
“Killian…” I whisper, reaching for his arm, only as soon as I touch him, he rears away from me, dropping to the chair where Kyrin was, throwing his hoodie over his head.
“Don’t.”
I turn around to face everyone and try to decipher their cryptonyms. Kenan and Perse stand there with King, watching us both carefully. I shake my head. “Give us a minute.”
“Oh my god!” Callan stumbles down the stairs and makes her way to us.
Perse steps forward, a snarl on her mouth, but I reach out and stop her, shaking my head.
Spinning around, I walk straight up to Callan until we’re chest-to-chest. “Back the fuck up.”
Callan glares at me in shock, before laughing like a psychopath. “Or what? Pretty girl. What are you going to do?”
I search her eyes, a dark smirk on my mouth. “You take one more step near him, Callan, and I will fucking drop you.”
She moves forward, but then her eyes come back to mine. She exhales. “Whatever, Saskia. Keep forcing him to hang around you, and I’ll still be here when he needs to fuck his demons away.” She turns to walk back toward the patio.
“Oh.” I start following her, rage thundering through my blood. Perse chases me, her hand coming to my chest. She searches my face. I see the pain in them. Pain and sorrow.
“As much as I know you want to hit her.” Her eyes flick over my shoulder. “There’s someone else who needs you right now, Sass.”
My heart thunders in my chest. I don’t kn
ow what came over me just then. It was as though every single instinct inside of me came roaring to the surface and I wanted to kill Callan if she so much as breathed near Killian.
“It hurts,” I admit, wincing.
“What hurts, honey?”
My throat contracts around the giant boulder that is lodged deep inside. “Seeing him.”
Perse exhales. “Go to him, Saskia. He needs you.” She rolls her eyes. “He’s just stubborn as all hell.”
I turn around to find King kneeling down beside Killian, whose face is as hard as stone. It’s like staring right at an ancient Greek statue, every single feature carved to perfection. The fire burns orange hues over his tanned skin, only casting off shadows where his cheekbones dip and his eyelashes blink over.
I make my way back to Killian, just as “Trippin’” by Khalid starts playing. King slowly steps back and disappears with Kenan and Perse, leaving us alone. Far enough away from anyone else. My stomach clenches with nerves.
“Kill…” I whisper, but he doesn’t look at me. I kneel between his legs, resting my hands on his thighs. “Talk to me.”
Slowly, his face turns to me. Nothing. Not a smirk. Not an inkling of any emotion. It’s as though someone has removed his soul and replaced it with someone else entirely. I begin to feel like an idiot so I slowly stand, only his hand comes to mine.
I freeze. The air begins to thicken as I bring my eyes to his.
“Want me to sit?” I gesture to his lap.
His attention stays on me, and the atmosphere intensifies as every minute passes. His jaw tenses before he yanks me down onto his lap. I swing my legs over his and he curls his arm in, pulling me in closer. Reaching down, he picks up a bottle of whiskey and brings it to his lips.
I need to somehow separate him and that bottle.
“Why?” he whispers, so low I almost miss it.
“Why what?” I ask gently. I turn into him more to give him my whole attention. I can almost feel people watching us in the background and I didn’t even think to realize that his parents are probably here too, watching this shitshow.
His eyes bore into mine. Blue swarming like hot flames. He hisses, tilting his head back to look at the sky.
His Adam’s apple bobs, and it’s not until his face comes back to mine that I realize he’s chuckling. “Of course.” He shakes his head to himself before bringing his thumb up to my lip. “Do villains have hearts, baby?”
I’m instantly confused by his question. I know that he’s drunk, and I know that I should be mad at him for a whole lot of things right now, but I can’t.
“I don’t know,” I challenge him. “Do they?”
He pauses, swallows, and then his eyes drop to my mouth. I dampen my lip just as he moves closer and closer. His lips slide over mine and I sigh, electricity possessing every part of me. He doesn’t kiss me. Merely leaving his lips slightly pressed against mine. “You’re mine, Little Dragon, even when you don’t want to be, and especially when I don’t want you to be.”
I gulp, bringing my fingers up behind his neck and running them down the back of it. “You seem different.”
He kisses me. My lips open and his tongue slips inside. He doesn’t force it, or rush it, or kiss me manically. He merely takes his time, massaging my tongue with his. He runs the tip of his tongue over the curve of my lip. “Exactly how I’d eat your pussy right now.”
My thighs clench together as the words leave him. He sucks my bottom lip into his mouth, licking and flicking it, his piercing hitting my teeth every few seconds.
I push myself into him so he has to kiss me harder.
I need him harder.
He doesn’t slow his speed, his arm unhooking from around my legs. I swing them around and straddle his lap, unzipping his hoodie to feel closer to him. I press my palm to his chest, the warmth and cut lines instantly bringing me peace. Raking my fingers up the side of his neck, my hands dive into his hair as I pull back, resting my forehead on his. My heart is roaring in my chest at speeds that I can’t control, threatening to spin out and burn the whole world down in its wreck. Our breathing is heavy, my panting desperate.
“Say it.” His eyes search mine. “Say that you’ll always be mine.”
“While you go off with Callan? No.”
“Fuck Callan!” Killian growls. “Haven’t had my dick in her since you’ve been on it.”
My eyes narrow.
He smirks. “Is my Little Dragon a little fucking jealous?” He raises a perfect eyebrow, and I finally see a crack of the Killian I know.
“Jealous? Pretty sure I didn’t hit someone…”
“No.” Kill comes forward, his hands coming to my ass as he pulls me into his crotch. “But I fuckin’ did, and Saskia, I’d kill any motherfucker who touched you.”
I pause, searching his eyes.
He leans back, but his eyes remain on mine. A slow smirk comes to his mouth. “And by the way, pretty sure you almost did hit her…”
I bring my hand to his chin, squeezing his cheek and forcing his eyes to mine. “I don’t like her, Killian. You want to get mad? Fine. Get mad. I don’t expect anything out of whatever the fuck we are because I’m not on the market for a boyfriend and I’m pretty sure you’re not on the market for a girlfriend, but you go near that bitch again and she’s not the only one who is going to get hit.” I release his cheeks when I realize I probably look like a stage ten psycho.
His eyes weaken as he licks his bottom lip. “You’re sexy as fuck when you’re jealous.”
“I’m not joking.”
His smirk disappears, his arm snaking around my back to force me closer to him. He feels weird. His words are coming in, but there’s something… “Baby, I don’t want Callan. You’re right, I’m not on the market for a girlfriend and shit, I might never be. It’s never been something I wanted or planned for, so I won’t make any promises. But I’ll stay away from Callan. You have my word on that. I gotta ask…” He grins, his eyes dropping to my lips. “Why didn’t you ever rub it in my face? Aside from you and the party, you never slept with anyone else in revenge. Or kissed anyone. Any time I saw any of the boys drippin’ over you, you either didn’t give enough of a fuck to notice or was slightly repulsed.”
I shrug. “I’ve never been that girl.”
His focus stays on mine. “What girl?”
“The girl to play games, Kill. I’m not that person. Though, I almost did that night in the RV.”
Killian’s face pales. “Yeah, ‘bout that.”
“What?” I roll my eyes, running my fingers through my hair to push the loose strands away. “You had a big orgy with all the girls? I heard.”
Killian’s eyebrows pull in. “I understand why you would think that I did, but I didn’t.” I look away from him, but his finger catches my chin, tilting my face back to his. “Babe, I didn’t.” He doesn’t flinch. I know that these boys are well skilled to be deceitful, but I do trust his words right now, even if I don’t exactly trust him as a person.
“I believe you.”
His face softens. “Good. That was Maya and Val having a fucking feast.”
“Jesus,” I whisper, shaking my head.
My head starts to pound so I lay down on his shoulder just as King strolls over and takes a seat on the chair next to us. There’s awkward silence for a bit before he says something.
“You’ll need to sort shit out with Ky tonight before you go home. We don’t let that shit bleed into the next day.”
“Yeah, yeah, fuck, I know.” I stay there for over thirty minutes, listening to people chat back and forth with him all while resting against his warm chest.
I didn’t want to move.
“Son…” Her voice was like velvet, threatening to choke me. There was something…
I slowly turn around in Killian’s grip, but he squeezes my leg in warning. I ignore him, naturally, bringing my attention to his mother who stands in front of us.
Her eyes zero in on me. “Well, haven’t you grown
up. I have to admit, I’m not at all surprised.”
“Mother…” Killian snaps from behind me.
Wish I could say that I remembered her, but I don’t.
She has long black hair that almost looks blue, slanted eyes that remind me of evil, and a killer smirk that looks all too familiar to her son’s. She’s beautiful, if you’re into the demonic vibe. She’s wearing a thin lace maxi dress with a slit dragging all the way up to her hip, and her big breasts are spilling out of the top. She has a tight body and has no problem making sure everyone knows it.
His mom narrows her eyes at Killian before coming back to mine. “Hmm, interesting.”
“Nice to meet you,” I answer, because I’m fucking polite. Unlike her. I can already see we’re going to hate each other.
She runs her eyes up and down my body. “Oh trust me, sweetheart, it’s not.”
“Mom!” Killian snaps again, before squeezing me again. He brings his lips to the back of my ear. His mother watches, enthralled. She’s shocked, but she’s also fascinated by her son’s obvious affection. “Baby, go hang with the girls for a bit. I’ll be there soon.”
Slowly, I slide off his lap, keeping my eyes on his mother. She smirks at me again, and I get the feeling that what she’s doing right now would be enough to make others run and hide in fear. I bet she’s used to it too. She seems like the type.
She hadn’t met me, that’s why. I square my shoulders slightly and search her face. She falters a little. I continue until I’m looking right back into her eyes. “Don’t stress. He’s not bringing me home. He just likes getting me naked.” I smirk at her before walking off and finding the girls. I didn’t want to stay to hear what her response was. I didn’t even want to know. As soon as I was out of earshot, I let out a breath of air and made my way back up to the patio, pulling out the seat beside Rose. Perse was on the other side of her, with Kenan next to her, and then Val, Maya, and a couple of the Angels.
Perse points to them both. “That’s Eve and Merica.” I nod at them both politely, grabbing one of the water bottles on the table.
