Rucking Obsessed (Knights of St. Killian #1)

Prologue

BASH

Ireland is fucking beautiful.

But that’s not why I’m here, and I absolutely don’t have the time or even the desire to sightsee.

The whole place smells like rain and old stone, and I love it.

Ivy crawling up the sides of buildings that have probably been standing longer than anything in Castlebrook where I’m from.

The campus of St. Killian rises out of the fog like something out of a gothic novel, and I’ve got a tingling feeling from my toes to my ears.

I’m one step closer to where I’m meant to be.

People come here for the prestige.

For the history.

For the romance of it all.

I came here for one reason…the only reason.

Livingston Rhodes. My songbird.

It's been ten years since the first and only time I’ve been in the same place with her.

That’s exactly how long I’ve been looking for her.

An entire decade of thinking about her, wondering if she was okay, and knowing that she would be better if we were together.

My obsession with Livy changed over the years, intensified, and now it’s full-blown.

Nothing will stop me. I saved her life the night her parents were killed, and she’s been burned into my mind ever since.

We were only ten when we met, but I knew she was special.

I knew, maybe not in the way I know now at twenty, that we belonged to each other.

Despite the fact that I have a twin brother, Livingston Rhodes, is without a doubt my other half.

My soulmate. She is the one I belong to, even if she doesn’t remember me.

I have spent all of my teenage and adult years digging through records, teaching myself how to hack every system that I thought might have even the faintest bit of information on my girl.

I’ve never given up, and the more I learn about her, the more deeply connected I feel to her.

I wasn’t supposed to be at that lodge that night, but my father had brought me on a whim to attend one of his shady business meetings.

It was fate. I was meant to hear my songbird humming and wander off to find where the beautiful melody was coming from.

She needed me then, and I know she needs me now.

For the longest time, I thought maybe I was chasing rumors.

At one point everything regarding my girl was wiped from the mainstream internet, and I wondered if I had dreamed her up.

That’s when I bartered with Caiden Grey.

If it exists, he can find it. He gave me a lead and a set of skills I’ve mastered over the last few years.

It’s been slow, agonizing, but I’m finally here in the same place she’s hiding out.

My father is a piece of shit, and while I considered it for a while, I know he didn’t have Livy’s parents killed. I would have killed him myself if he had. If I knew he put her in any sort of danger, I would have ended his life without a second thought.

Whoever killed her parents is still out there, which means my girl is still in danger. Her father was a low-level criminal, which makes things more difficult than if he were a high-level member of the Black Crown Society or even an important player in the Castlebrook mafia underworld.

My jaw tightens as I make my way across the campus. I think about how this all came to be. Caiden was the one who tipped me off. World champion bull rider. Castlebrook Falls legend. A man with connections that stretch so far across the globe it’s honestly terrifying.

When Caiden calls, you answer. But I’ve taken care of some shit for him when he was in a bind, and he looks out for me because of it.

He called me and said someone had been asking about Livingston Rhodes through an anonymous inquiry that even his best hackers can’t trace. But because of the inquiry, he was able to figure out why they had a sudden interest. Livingston’s name was public again, and so was her location.

I didn’t ask any questions.

I packed a bag.

Three hours later, I was on a plane to Ireland.

Caiden handled the rest. A spot at St. Killian. Paperwork that would take normal people months to arrange.

I owe him big time, and that’s fine.

Because I would burn the entire fucking world down if it meant finding Livy.

And tonight, I finally did.

The research library at St. Killian University looks like a cathedral. Vaulted ceilings decorated with crystal chandeliers. There are massive stained-glass windows spilling pale moonlight across rows of long oak tables.

It’s quiet.

Almost empty this evening, and that’s just what I was hoping for.

I’ve done enough sneaking around over the years to slip in and remain unseen.

I haven’t seen her yet, but I’ve been getting updates from one of Caiden’s little minions who hacked the cameras on campus.

She’s on her way here, and I’m irrationally jealous that someone else is watching her right now.

I’ll have to cut off his access once I get settled in and can hack into the surveillance system myself.

I lean against the back of a towering bookshelf, the hood of my black sweatshirt pulled up over my head, trying to keep my breathing steady.

Then she walks in and I swear to God everything in my body stops working.

Holy shit. I knew she would be beautiful, but I didn’t expect her to be so stunning that it feels like my chest is cracking open with need.

My hand shoots to my chest before I even realize I’m doing it because my heart is beating so hard it fucking hurts.

She has no idea how many days, how many hours I’ve spent working toward this moment, but she will.

Not right away, because I can see by the way her eyes dart around, taking in her surroundings, she’s guarded.

I don’t know what she’s been through, but I know I’m going to fucking murder anyone who has hurt her while we’ve been apart.

For a second, I honestly think I might pass out because I’m holding my breath. Ten years of searching. Ten years of chasing a ghost across cities and countries and empty leads that always turned cold. I told myself a thousand times that if I ever found her again, I’d be ready.

I’m not ready for this. She needs me to protect her, and all I want to do is rush over to her and fall to my knees and beg for even a moment of her time.

And that’s why I have to stay at a safe distance.

I’m going to scare her off before I even get the chance to tell her how much our one interaction meant to me.

She has shaped my entire life. Everything I’ve done in this world has been for her.

She’s taller now, but easily a foot shorter than me. Her hair that was shoulder length now cascades down her back is light blonde rolling waves.

But I’d know her anywhere, she still has those sea-green eyes that make me feel like I’ve known her before in other lives.

I was obsessed with her then too, in every single one of them.

I spent every moment focused on her. It’s not something I can explain, and I don’t really want to.

I know it’s true. I feel it in my bones, in my soul, in my heart.

She pauses by one of the large tables, and I instantly see something that makes my chest clench. It’s the way her eyes sweep the room before she takes another step, looking behind her, turning fully to check out the room for any sign of danger.

She’s learned to be alert, careful, and always watching for a threat.

My stomach twists like there’s a knife lodged there. The world taught her that, and I can tell this doesn’t just stem from the traumatic night her parents were murdered in front of us while we hid under a table.

My girl has learned how to survive because her life has not been easy.

Her green eyes move slowly across the library, scanning corners and empty tables before she finally walks farther inside. Even the way she moves is careful, deliberate, like she’s always expecting someone to come out and grab her.

It makes something feral inside me rise to the surface.

No one should have ever made her live like that.

She sets her bag down at one of the long tables and pulls out a notebook.

And I can’t stop staring because I’m completely fucking transfixed.

The moonlight pouring through the stained glass windows makes her glow where she sits, the colors catching in her hair and on the curve of her cheek like she’s something holy.

Something untouchable.

To everyone else, she is because Livingston Rhodes belongs to me, and I plan on proving that to her every single day.

My gaze drifts slowly over her. I’d be pissed if anyone else was taking her in this way. My eyes eat up every curve of her body.

The sudden urge to kiss the long line of her throat when she tilts her head down to write overtakes me, and I feel my whole body jerk. I have never craved physical touch from anyone else, but right now? I’d cum in my pants instantly if she so much as looked directly into my eyes right now.

The way her lashes brush softly against her cheeks has my fists clenching at my sides. The delicate curve of her breasts beneath the St. Killian uniform sweater should be studied.

But only by me, because I’ll fucking stomp on anyone’s skull if I catch them looking at how well she fills out her sweater.

Now I’m mad just thinking about it.