Max Dread
K ingston’s unexpected presence at the door should’ve pissed me off.
And to be fair, it didn’t thrill me.
The bed was crowded enough with Landon in it.
If Kingston wanted to join, someone would have to fuck off, and it wasn’t going to be me. But our benevolent King’s expression lacked its usual superiority, or any trace of the claim I expected him to throw down over her.
It surprised me.
He’d been doing that a bit too much recently, and now, I had no idea what he’d do about finding us like that. So, the disdain I typically felt in his presence didn’t come.
That pissed me off more than anything.
Until my up-close-and-personal view of my girl’s pussy provided a front row seat to her reaction when she saw Kingston standing there. Because hearing her say she wanted him differed from witnessing it.
I stared transfixed as her walls clenched, a tremor running down her legs. She grew wetter. Her glistening pink folds beckoned me in, and my fingers dug into her thighs to keep from mounting her like a fucking stud horse.
It was taking all the self-control I had not to cross that line.
I could do it.
Be the villain and take her for myself. Remove her as an option for the D’Arthur Queen, if she didn’t win The Quest.
It would keep the people who threatened her satisfied. Ruin any hope for her and Kingston if his lecherous father got his way. Fuck up his plans just like I’d originally intended.
And I had to admit the idea held some lingering appeal.
Except the certainty I’d had over Kingston’s plans, and what I’d believed about his intentions for her, had been called into question during the last challenge.
Plus, she’d never let me hear the end of it.
Or forgive me.
And, unfortunately, I cared about that sort of thing now, too.
So, I stewed silently as she reacted. Took a breath as she whispered his name. And tried to reconcile how I’d gotten myself into bed with my enemies for the heart of one girl who was supposed to be nothing but turned out to be everything.
Kingston stepped forward. His tight grip on the door jarred his movement, and the jolt snapped him out of whatever he’d been about to do.
Probably come in and start giving orders.
As if I’d ever follow them.
Realizing what he’d been about to do, he apologized. Quinn reached toward him, shaking her head like she wanted to tell him it was okay and ask him to join. But before she could do it, he glanced at Landon, excused himself, and left the room.
I tensed as Quinn’s heart sank along with her body back onto the bed. She stared at the door long after he left, none of us speaking until finally she whispered into Landon’s chest.
“We have to do something about all this.”
When his eyes jumped to mine over her head, I sensed what he was trying to tell me.
That little superpower could fuck right off.
Not that it hadn’t been useful in reading her in the past.
Didn’t want it to become a habit, though.
I stroked my hand down Quinn’s spine. “You, uh, want to talk about it, Princess?”
She shook her head.
Landon tipped her chin up so she had to look at him. She huffed, but I had a feeling she didn’t really mind. He seemed to know when she needed a push to open up.
Perceptive bastard.
“He’s dealing with all this alone. This,” she huffed. “Whatever the hell this is. I just—I wish I could help him. I mean, I wish we could help him, but I’d do it alone if I could.”
“I’ll talk to him.” Landon’s eyes shot to me, a hint of distrust lurking there that I didn’t appreciate. As if I’d done anything to him that warranted it. “I’ll tell him more about what I’ve been remembering. Maybe I can also find a way to help.”
“Yeah?”
The hopeful lilt to her voice and chin hit me like a punch to the gut, because when he nodded, she instantly relaxed.
And I wanted to do that.
Reassure her like that.
But what the hell was I supposed to do about whatever mess Kingston had created for himself?
Getting out of the one I’d created for myself was a big enough problem.
Still stroking her back, I warred with myself over staying silent or saying something. She didn’t seem to need me to chime in, as evidenced by her falling asleep within minutes. But I hated that.
She didn’t expect me to do anything to make this better.
That was what it really came down to, didn’t it?
And I couldn’t let that lie.
“What did you mean about your memory or whatever?” I asked Landon.
Engaged in a staring contest with her sleeping face, Landon took the loss there, so he could start one with mine. Assessing me for a minute, he didn’t answer right away. But whatever was going through that head of his must’ve cleared me for access into their secret club.
He eyed me warily as he shared. “I don’t remember anything before my twelfth birthday. Bits and pieces are coming back to me, but nothing I can really make sense of.”
“You get knocked on the head or something?”
He shrugged gently, so he wouldn’t jostle Quinn. “I’m not sure it was an accident.”
But that was all he said.
For a while we just lay there, lost in thought, eyeing each other occasionally. I had no idea what he meant by that statement. I assumed it was bullshit, but I didn’t care enough to ask.
Whatever sympathy he’d hoped to garner, I refused to give it.
Yeah, we’d shared a bed the last few nights, but that didn’t change what Landon was. I didn’t want her out of my sight. And I definitely didn’t want him alone with her.
Not after?—
Landon pulled me from my thoughts. “This thing with Quinn…It doesn’t make us friends.
” His brow dipped as he glanced back at her.
“But I’m not sure how it’s supposed to work if we hate each other.
Or if we’re out to get each other. I…That’ll only hurt her.
” He glanced back at me, no doubt noticing my glare.
“I’m not willing to do that again, Dread.
For any reason. So, even if you still need to hate me, I don’t hate you.
Even if…you see me as your enemy, you’re not mine anymore. ”
I clenched my jaw, amazed by how clever he thought he was. Making a big show of acceptance toward me, as if I’d ever done shit to him to warrant his hatred.
As if I didn’t have a good enough reason to despise him.
Grabbing my sweatpants, I yanked them on and climbed off the bed. Officially over feelings-circle time.
“I trusted you once, Golden Boy. And a different girl who fell for your lies died because you didn’t save her. You think I’m willing to trust you again? Especially when it comes to her ?” I scoffed, refusing to even look at him as I headed for my room. “Not a chance in hell.”
I turned back at the doorway for one last look at Quinn. She was still asleep. Landon’s fist clenched, and he’d turned his head toward the window.
“And if I ever get the chance to show her who you really are? Believe me, White Knight , I’m going to take it.”