Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Isla
I stifled a grin when I saw Kraven looking at me over the rim of his bottle, his gaze filled with nothing but curiosity. We sat there, tossing back drink after drink.
My lips tingled.
My face was on fire.
My body was numb.
Neither one of us spoke, though it was starting to feel like we had expressed a lot.
It was the first time in forever that I felt so carefree, throwing my head back and laughing, enjoying the way the booze made me feel, and understanding why people got lost in it so often.
Peering up at the sky, I decided to fall back onto the bed of the truck to get a better view.
Kraven asked, “What are you doing?”
I pointed above at the same time a shooting star flew across it.
I gasped.
“You see that?”
I cheerfully nodded.
“I see them every night,” he admitted with a sense of ease.
I mouthed, “You wish?”
He finished the sentence, saying, “Upon a shooting star.” He smiled, and I did as well.
“I wish every night. How about you?”
I shrugged, mouthing, “Your wish?”
“If I tell you,” he teased, understanding easily. “It won’t come true.”
He was right, and I couldn’t fault him for it.
“You can also wish on the Northern star.” He pointed at it. “Or you can with the Venus and Southern Cross.” He motioned to those, too. “Can you find the Big Dipper?”
I was caught off guard that he even knew these constellations. Once I found the Big Dipper, I gestured to it.
“Alright,” he declared. “How about Princess Andromeda and her husband, Perseus? Find those? Although they are the stars that you can’t tell where one begins and the other ends because they’re holding hands.”
I beamed, enjoying his knowledge.
“You know, Perseus rescued her from being sacrificed to the monster, right?”
I nodded. I was a fellow astrology lover. It was one of my favorite courses in school. Sometimes we’d run into each other on the back entrance of their house, and now it made sense what he was doing out there. I wondered how many times we’d wished on the same shooting star and didn’t even know it.
“And then,” he rasped, hovering above me. “He fucked her senseless, and they had nine kids.”
I sucked in a slight breath as he didn’t move his stance, with his hands holding him up on the sides of my head. He wasn’t close to my mouth, but he was still right on top of me. It was such an intimate proximity.
Did he notice too?
If he did, he didn’t show it. “When she died, Athena, Goddess of War and Wisdom, placed her in the sky as a constellation, near her beloved husband, Perseus. They were soulmates destined to be together forever, and Athena made them stars to make that happen.”
On cue, the song changed to a danceable tune, and I hopped off the tailgate, stumbling a bit, quickly realizing the booze was getting to me.
I needed some space, but Kraven caught me around the waist before I face-planted to the ground.
I was trying to get away from whatever was happening between us, only to end up in his arms as I tried to regain my balance until I stood upright in his embrace.
Not giving it a chance to confuse me further, I pushed off him. The song was one of my favorites, and I didn’t give a shit who was watching. I began to dance, getting lost in this instead. Kraven leaned against the truck, folding his arms over his chest, watching me make a fool out of myself.
The alcohol acted as the liquid courage, and I swayed my body to the beat of the music. I danced alone all the time, putting on my headphones and getting raptured by the melody that took the pain away.
Shutting my eyes like I did when I was alone, I lifted my hair off my neck, continuing to move my hips in a slow, steady rhythm. It was cold, but I was hot.
Burning from the inside out.
I danced as if I were by myself.
As if it were the last dance when it really was the first.
With a gust of wind, I felt a strong hand grab my stomach, tugging me back against his hard chest. Kraven rocked us slowly together in sync with the music's rhythm. This was the first time I’d danced with anyone, and I couldn’t help but think about who it was that I was experiencing this with.
The liquor made it easy to follow his movements.
He was steady.
Tough.
Soothing.
He began humming the tune in my ear, stirring tingles to course up and down my skin.
Little by little, he began to strum his fingers on the sides of my stomach and the front of my legs like he was playing his piano.
I recognized the thrum of his fingers, feeling his warmth against my back, heating my flesh from the cold.
“You smell really fucking good. You know that?” He gripped my chin, tilting my head up, causing me to look at him through my thick, long lashes. His eyes were dilated, and Caribbean blue stared back at me. In seconds, his expression turned heady, and I couldn’t look away from him.
As much as I wanted to.
As much as I should have.
I was locked in his stare.
Lost in his gaze.
Consumed by his touch.
It was madness.
Pure insanity.
Absolute destruction.
But he was still the first to try to stomp out the fire between us, snapping, “Careful, I’m not my brother.”
I sucked in a breath.
Confused.
Hurt.
Angry.
With him.
Julius.
Myself.
It was a wave of emotions.
A commotion of thoughts.
Leaving behind one hell of a landslide.
You see, where silence was comfortable between Julius and me, it was unsettling for Kraven and me. I never felt the need to talk to Julius, but with Kraven, there wasn’t a need…
There was only a desire.
I learned right then that where Julius helped me with my problems, Kraven helped me forget them. Only until he triggered them.
In the snap of a finger, it all came crashing down on our heads when someone yelled, “Look what we have here! If it isn’t dumpster trash, Kraven Knightly!”
I was hit with an awareness that nothing but trouble awaited us.
I jolted, trying to pull away, but Kraven held me firmer, not allowing me to move an inch.
I searched for who had shouted and what was going on, when Kraven unexpectedly and protectively secured me behind him with one hand on my hip as I looked out in front of us.
I had a face-to-face with the guy who was suddenly standing there.
“Walk away, Justin,” Kraven gritted through a clenched jaw, squeezing my hip. “Not now.”
I glanced up toward the side of Kraven’s face and saw his murderous stare aimed right at Justin. From the way they were both glaring at each other, I knew there had to be something brewing between them, and it hadn’t started tonight.
This went back months, maybe years. There was definitely history there, that much was crystal clear.
Justin angled his head to the side, ready for anything. “Walk away?” he mocked in a condescending tone. “Now, where would the fun be in that?”
Kraven’s grip tightened further at my side.
Justin didn’t stand down. “Does she know about your dumpster trash family?” he snidely replied. “Probably not. I mean, it’s not anything I’d go bragging about. Especially if I’m trying to get my dick wet from some fine-ass pussy.”
My stomach was in knots, tossing and turning as my gaze shifted to the side of Kraven’s face again.
His concentrated scowl hadn’t moved from Justin’s devious stance.
Everything about him screamed trouble with a capital T.
Guys like him always ended up having something to prove and someone to bully, but Kraven didn’t strike me as the one to take on.
In a sarcastic chuckle, Justin spewed, “How old were you when your mommy abandoned you? Even she couldn’t stand your face! She left your ass and never looked back!”
Each slur from his mouth felt as if it were a threat, and I could feel Kraven’s pulse quicken. My heart was breaking for him. It was one thing to hear it from Julius or Kraven, but it was a whole other one to hear it from this bastard who had it out for him.
Kraven hadn’t moved, hadn’t made a sound. He just kept staring at Justin with those lethal eyes, and if it wasn’t for the fact that he kept tightening his hold on my side, I’d think Justin’s malicious intent wasn’t getting to him at all.
“By the way,” Justin sneered with a look of hate, “how’s your junkie-ass father these days? Word around the street is that he’s abandoned you, too. You know it’s only a matter of time before CPS is back on your ass and you’re separated from your brother.”
He stepped forward, and Kraven stepped us back.
Justin took one last look at me, turning his full attention back to the furious guy standing in front of me.
In one breath, he sadistically raged, “Maybe I should report you, see how fast you’re an orphan and out of my fucking face!”
One minute was all it took for anarchy to be unleashed.
I just didn’t expect to have a front row seat.