Hostile Game (Cranham Kings #1)

Chapter 1

NOVA

Run. Don’t stop.

My lungs were burning, but my feet were sure, carrying me farther away from the crashing footsteps of my pursuers. Darting between the trees, dead leaves crunching underfoot, I kept to the shadows as much as I could. It was dark, but not dark enough, and there was a chance I could be seen.

My goal was to keep out of sight until I could circle back to the manor. If people recognised me, they’d stay away, because they knew I was promised to him. They knew who my father was. I was untouchable.

But my goal tonight was to go unrecognised. To run. To hide. To emerge unscathed and victorious.

Out here, no one owned me. Out here, I wasn’t a pawn in my family’s games. I was just me. Nova Thorpe, the incognito version.

Skidding to a halt beneath the cover of a thick clump of fir trees, I curled over and slammed my hands down on my thighs, gasping in lungfuls of pine-scented air. When I could breathe properly again, I straightened up, listening.

The only sound was my own breaths, loud in the silence. Covering my mouth, I stilled. A distant scream came from somewhere behind me, but a hushed silence blanketed my surroundings.

I’d been so confident earlier, but now? Now I was wondering if I’d made a mistake. Tugging my hoodie strings to make sure my hood was tight against my head, with none of my blonde hair showing, I pressed the switch on my mask that would change the lights from the blue that marked me as prey to red.

The colour of a hunter. The colour of blood.

I slunk into the shadows, a red glow softly illuminating the trunk in front of me, the light too dim to penetrate the darkness behind.

It was so still. Too still.

Snap.

The distinct sound of a twig breaking underfoot, followed by the faint glow of a torch.

My fight-or-flight instinct kicked in, and my feet moved before my brain even had a chance to catch up. I shaded my own torch with my hand so I didn’t give away my position as I raced for the part of the woods where the trees grew more closely together, ancient, gnarled, and wild.

This time, my pursuer was on my heels.

Putting on another burst of speed, I threw myself forwards, faster than I’d ever run before. Brambles caught on my hoodie, but I tore free, my heart pounding as I pumped my legs, running headlong.

But I wasn’t fast enough. I was suddenly surrounded by heat and a delicious spicy scent as an arm shot out, pulling me back into a tall, hard body.

Fuck.

“Hello, princess,” a voice murmured in my ear, and I shivered despite myself. Of all the people who had to catch me, why did it have to be the boy who hated me, and I hated in return?

I inhaled deeply, then exhaled, trying to slow my racing heart.

“What do you want?” I hissed. I didn’t even bother to struggle—when it came to physical strength, I was no match for Jayesh Attwood.

But I had other tricks I could use. You didn’t grow up in the Thorpe Syndicate with a family like mine without learning a thing or two about getting out of a sticky situation.

For now, though, I needed to bide my time.

The torch strapped to his wrist sent light dancing across my body as his thumb stroked over my stomach, and I hated the way it raised goosebumps over my skin. “To catch my prey,” he said in a low rasp, his lips skimming the shell of my ear.

I gritted my teeth. My brother really needed to choose his asshole best friends more carefully. Daniel was an immature dick, although, thankfully, he was mostly polite to me, and as for Jay…

When we were younger, he was just another of my brother’s annoying friends. By the time we were in year ten at school, though, it had become clear. Jay hated me, and I didn’t even know why. There was literally nothing I’d done to deserve his ire. Nothing I was aware of, at least.

To add insult to injury, he was the most gorgeous boy I’d ever seen, even when he was sneering at me or treating me to a cutting remark out of earshot of my brother.

Raven hair with a slight curl that swept across his forehead like he was a fucking runway model, intense, deep brown eyes fringed with long black lashes, an expressive mouth that was either curved into a grin—with his friends—or a smirk-slash-sneer—with me.

And that was just his face. Then there was his hot-as-fuck body, moving with athletic grace whether he was on the ice or prowling around the school halls, all smooth brown skin and lean, sculpted muscles…

I tried not to think about other parts of him, but I’d heard the rumours about the size of his package.

Although I had no interest whatsoever in finding out if the rumours were true, if the size of his dick corresponded with his dickishness, then yes, it was huge.

Maybe it was karma—good looks to balance out his ugly personality. Or maybe the world was an unfair place.

“I’m not your prey. I’m not anyone’s prey,” I ground out. “And you’d better hope my fiancé isn’t somewhere out here in the woods.”

He stiffened, his hold on me tightening.

“He’s not your fiancé.”

“Yet.” It wasn’t as if I wanted to bring up my arranged future engagement, but Jay needed a reminder. Despite our mutual loathing, he was my twin brother’s best friend, and if he ended up with a knife to the neck, my brother wouldn’t be happy.

“He’s not here. I saw him with Cara back at the manor. They seemed very cosy.”

“Good for them.” If Jay thought he could get a rise out of me, he was mistaken.

This was an arranged betrothal for political reasons.

My own father had married the daughter of the head of the now defunct Lewis Firm in order to strengthen both his position and gain access to resources the Thorpe Syndicate never had before.

Soon, it would be my turn, whether I liked it or not.

I would never have chosen this life for myself, but in our world, you toed the line, or you’d face the consequences.

And the consequences of refusing the arranged marriage? They didn’t even bear thinking about. This deal was too important to everyone involved.

Of course, it wouldn’t do for my future fiancé to be seen in public with other women when our arrangement was so public, but the things that went on in private were a different story.

The patriarchy was alive and kicking in the little corner of the underworld I inhabited, and while people turned a blind eye to the men fucking around with other women, their wives and significant others were expected to remain faithful.

If rumours were true, my future fiancé regularly enjoyed the company of beautiful women, and I had no desire to join their ranks.

The best I could hope for was a platonic marriage.

Sex couldn’t be that good, could it? I’d never slept with anyone before, never even kissed anyone before, and I wasn’t particularly interested.

The only person I’d ever been attracted to was cruel and unfeeling, and I wasn’t masochistic enough to entertain those thoughts.

Except…there were those nights when I was alone in my room, unable to sleep, and I wondered… about him.

I always hated myself for it the next day.

“Don’t you care?” Jay’s voice was low in my ear, his muscles flexing as his arm tightened around me. “Don’t you care that your future fiancé is—”

“It’s an arranged marriage. I. Don’t. Care,” I said flatly, cutting him off.

He growled out a frustrated sound. “Why are you going along with this?”

“What?” Yanking myself out of his hold, I spun around, staring up at him.

Our faces were hidden behind our masks, but I caught a glimpse of his eyes, darker than usual as he looked down at me.

“You think I actually have a choice? You know my family. You know how important this deal is to the syndicate. You know how many years my father’s been working on it. ”

Jay exhaled sharply. “It’s not like you to roll over and give up. I thought you were stronger than that.”

Fuck you, Jayesh Attwood. “It’s not weakness. What do you think would happen if I suddenly decided I didn’t want to go through with the arrangement? You’d be buying flowers for my funeral.”

He stepped closer, his chest brushing against mine. “Your family wouldn’t do that to you. Your dad has never laid a hand on you.” His voice dropped. “Has he?”

His low, deadly tone made goosebumps erupt over my skin. I swallowed.

“No, but you know what my father’s like.

If I scorned the family, he’d take it out on someone innocent.

Maybe even on my brother. At the very best, I’d be banished, and I’d never be allowed to see Ryker again, and I know that wouldn’t be punishment enough in my father’s eyes.

I don’t even know what the Volkovs would do if I disrespected them like that. ”

“King would help you.”

“Ryker. King’s a juvenile nickname that feeds into the delusions of grandeur our father has for him. And why do you care about my life, anyway?”

He straightened up and took a step away from me. “I don’t.” His voice was hard.

I sucked in a shuddering breath. “Good. Now, go away. Find a desperate girl who can overlook your personality defects.”

He laughed darkly. “I think you’re forgetting why we’re out here. I’m the hunter, and you’re the prey. Why take part if you don’t want to be caught? You’re not even supposed to be out here.”

“I took Liana’s place, not that it’s any of your business. And look at my mask. It’s red. That marks me as a hunter.”

“You think you can fool me.” His voice lowered. “I saw your mask when you entered the woods. It was blue.”

“I made a modification.”

“What you made was a fucking mistake. You shouldn’t be out here.”

“I can handle myself. It’s not your problem.”

One second, we were facing each other; the next, he was behind me, holding me securely with his hand wrapped around my throat.

His fingers tightened in warning, sending a delicious shiver through me.

It was difficult to ignore my body’s reaction to being so close to a gorgeous man who was fulfilling one of my secret fantasies, but the fact that the man behind me was Jay made it easier.

Letting my body go limp and compliant against him, I waited for the few seconds it took for his grip to loosen, and then I twisted myself down and around with a sharp motion, breaking his hold.

Holding down the button on my torch to activate the mechanism that would cause the knife to slide free, I brought the serrated blade up in a quick swing, pointing it at his chest. We were both breathing hard, and my hand trembled, but I kept the knife steady.

“I said, I can handle myself.”

A dark chuckle fell from his throat. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“Don’t presume to know what I would or wouldn’t dare.” Stepping closer, I pushed the blade into the thick fabric of his hoodie. He stood unnaturally still, his chest not even moving with his breaths.

“Nova.”

I shuddered at his low drawl, and my moment of temporary weakness was all he needed to slide out of my reach, a glint of metal appearing in his palm.

“I can play with knives too.”

Fuck. Throwing my body to the side when he lunged at me, I ran again, no longer sure of my direction, branches whipping me as I pushed myself until my lungs were burning and I was gasping for breath.

I ran until I couldn’t run anymore. But he was still there, coming after me until I admitted defeat, tears in my eyes as I tripped on an exposed root, my arms windmilling as I fell backwards with nothing to break my fall.

Then Jay was there, right in front of me, lunging forwards to pull me upright.

I was still reeling when he tugged down my hood and peeled off my mask, throwing it to the ground.

The moonlight illuminated his hooded, masked figure as he reached out, curling his fingers around my ponytail.

He yanked, using it to spin me so he could press himself up against my back.

My chest rose and fell sharply as I panted for breath, my heart pounding from the adrenaline. What was happening?

“Caught you.” His knife slid up my stomach, the tip of the blade stopping just below my breasts. My own torch-slash-knife was lost somewhere in the woods, dropped during our headlong chase when my sleeve caught on a tangle of brambles.

“Wh-what do you want?” I gasped out. “A medal?”

“So fucking mouthy, princess.” He released his grip on my hair, and then he dipped his head, his breath hot on my skin. When had he removed his mask? My breath stuttered as his lips skimmed over the shell of my ear. “Let’s put that mouth to better use.”

The knife slid higher, and then he twisted it, the flat of the blade across my throat.

“Don’t move,” he warned. I swallowed against the knife, the metal warming as it pressed into my skin.

“What do you want?” I whispered.

“Things I can’t have.” His body shifted, and I suddenly became aware that the knife wasn’t the only thing pressing against me.

He was hard.

Fuck.

My mouth went dry.

“Jay…”

“Stop talking.” He curled his arm around my waist, pulling me back into him. He shifted again, his erection insistent against my back. There was an ache between my thighs, and I despised it.

“B-but you hate me.”

He dipped his head, his lips brushing over the side of my throat. “I really, really do. So fucking much.”

“Then why—” I could feel my cheeks warming. Why are you hard? I couldn’t say that out loud. Not to him.

“Fuck, Nova,” he rasped. I’d never heard him say my name that way before.

“Jay.”

The knife was suddenly gone, and then he was spinning me back to him, and his mouth was on mine.

He kissed me with an intensity that stole my breath, his arms wrapping around my waist to hold me in place.

My knees were weak, my nerves alight with sensation as his mouth moved over mine.

I clung to the broad shoulders of the man who hated me, my entire body shaking as I allowed him to take and take and take.

I tentatively kissed him back, my tongue sliding against his, mimicking his movements as his hot mouth moved over mine. An involuntary whimper escaped from my throat.

The noise seemed to break the spell. He suddenly released me with a muttered curse, pressing something into my hand before he disappeared into the darkness.

I fell back against the rough bark of the trunk behind me, gripping his wrist torch in my palm. My shaking fingers touched my lips as a tear fell from my lashes.

It was my first kiss, and it was stolen by a boy who hated me.