Chapter 16 #2
“Lev.” She cups my cheeks and smiles at me.
“Promise me that no matter what I ask you to do, you’ll do it.
” She kisses me on my forehead as I nod.
“No matter how hard it is…how painful or how much you’d want to be near me…
if I ask you to do something, please do it.
” She rubs her splayed palm over her stomach.
“This baby is doomed. I cannot save her from him. From them. They always wanted a girl so she’d inherit their throne.
” Mama never explains this part to me, but according to her, the monster took her because he believed she could give him a strong girl.
“I have to protect you. And please, my baby,” She holds my gaze.
“Survive no matter what. Because as long as you breathe, you win, and he loses. Never let him win.”
He continues to hug Mommy, sobbing into her neck while the baby cries, and everything in me wishes to pick her up and give her comfort, so she would know she isn’t alone.
She’s just like me, except he loves her and hates me.
I stop myself, though, and focus on the promises I gave to Mommy, as she taught me that a man always keeps his word. She learned that from her brother, although I don’t believe that.
Her brother is a liar too!
So gathering all my strength in my fist, I race upstairs and hiss when the blinding light, what Mama calls the sun, hurts my eyes while everything white greets me.
My feet step on something soft, but I don’t pay attention to it all as he bellows from the basement, “Come back here, you little bastard! She’s dead because of you!”
I glance around and spot another door, running toward it and getting outside, something billowing all around me and bringing coldness to my heated skin.
Is this the wind?
I see endless trees around me, and my bare feet hurt as they touch soil. Still, I run while thunder booms in the sky, everything darkening at once.
“Come back here!” he yells again, this time closer, and I dart to the right, farther into what Mom must call a forest, and hide in the small opening between the trees. My head grows dizzy from all the colors and scents around me, and my body hurts because I’ve never run in my life.
I freeze when he shouts, “I will find you, and then I’m going to kill you. You ruined my life!”
He comes closer, but crack of thunder echoes, followed by something brightening the sky, and that’s when water starts pouring from the clouds.
I gasp and quickly cover my mouth, watching it all in wonder.
This is rain!
“There is no one and nothing outside for miles, you little fucker,” he mutters, spitting on the ground, and then I hear shooting sounds.
Does he have a gun? He brought it sometimes to Mom to scare her.
“I should have shot you when you were born.” His voice comes closer and closer, and my body trembles.
I have nowhere else to go without him seeing me.
I hear a rumble, and then something growls in the distance. And then there is a howl, causing him to laugh. “Ah, the wolves. They could be fucking useful on this land for once.”
The wolves? Like the ones Odin had, Geri and Freki? Mama told me all about them.
I press my back harder to the tree and allow for the tears to mingle with the rain because Mama’s face flashes in my mind. I wish to hug her so tight right now, but she’s gone.
With the gods, as she once said.
Another howl echoes, and that’s when I see the big creature, my heartbeat speeding up in my chest. Another gasp slips past my lips when the gray animal comes closer to me, his eyes glistening, and he’s so huge.
He flashes me his pointed teeth, and the trembling intensifies. I scrunch my eyes shut when he comes closer until I feel his breath on my cheek, and then there is a hard thud.
I slowly peel my eyes open to see him settling beside me on the ground, shifting even closer until his warm fur surrounds me, and he’s almost wrapped around me, leaving me no space to go anywhere.
He glances at me for the last time and then faces the other way while I just stare at him, seeping his warmth as the night gets cold.
What did Mama say about animals?
“Always be kind to them because that’s what they recognize. Nature will always protect those who need it the most, but you have to have pure intentions. Never be afraid.”
Did Odin send the wolves to me to help me?
I don’t know what are pure intentions either. I tentatively brush his fur, hugging the creature and exhaling when more warmth seeps into me.
Since the huge creature stays immovable, I let myself rest against it and cry my heart out because my mama is dead.
I’m alone in a world that I don’t know and understand.
What will I do now?
If I had known what was coming next, I wouldn’t have cried so much.
For what came next created someone my mother never wished for me to become.
Lavender
For a second I freeze in shock from the question, but the earlier anger quickly replaces it, fueling my blood with fury. “Who says I need your permission?” I twist around in his grip, my back hitting against the cold tile, and the air hitches in my throat at the sight of him.
Stuck in his embrace, I have no choice but to admire him as water cascades down on him, giving him an almost ethereal look.
A villain straight from the fairy tales who came uninvited to take what he thinks is his given right.
His loose blond hair, and his blue eyes blazing with fury and desire so strong it pulls at the strings of my heart and sends tremors all over me, awakening every hair on my body and buzzing with an urgency that knows no bounds.
Because only the carnal cravings reside in it.
I trail my gaze down his naked form, the muscles on his arms straining, and my cheeks burn at the various hickeys and scratches all over his six-pack, the possessive and passionate imprints marring him serving as a warning to whoever would want this man in the future.
A hot flush washes over me, my hands forming fists while I bite on my lower lip because he’s mine and his body is living and breathing proof of that.
“Like what you see, moy cvetochek?” His amused yet harsh tone snaps me out of my ridiculous fantasies that have no place between us because we are nothing.
He was my first, but it doesn’t change the fact that it was just a one-night stand and as such, I have no rights over him.
Why does everything rebel inside me at such a thought then?
Straightening up, I remove the wet hair from my face and lift my chin at him, sarcasm dripping from every word.
“Not really. And what are you doing naked in my shower?” I shove at his chest with my fist, too afraid to properly touch him, for fear of wanting more.
The mind might know better, but the heart and flesh still thrive in all his attention and crave more of it.
Levi ignores my question and rests his forearm above my head while his other hand traces my nipple, the touch burning my already taut skin and confusing my mind.
Slapping it away, I cross my arms, doing my best to hide from his feverish gaze, and repeat my question. “What are you doing here?”
“Teach me.” My brow furrows only for me to gulp when he continues, leaning forward, and this time his splayed palm lands on my collarbone.
“That’s what you told me last night, remember?
” He trails it up until he skates his fingertips over my scars and hickeys.
“Teach me, Levi.” His voice drops to a barely audible whisper as he wraps his hand around my neck, his thumb pressing against my pulse point that must beat wildly, matching the rhythm in my heart.
His wrist flexes and his hold on my throat tightens, not enough to cut off my oxygen supply but enough to know he has total control.
Instead of scaring me, it makes fiery tension sink into me and the temperature seems to rise around us as I inhale more air into my lungs. “But you ran away from me.”
The sensual images from last night flash in my head like the most tempting and wicked kaleidoscope designed to break all my self-imposed resolve. I lay my hand above his, needing to peel it away, but I’m frozen by the… Is that confusion and hurt in his eyes?
It can’t be.
Why would he care about me at all?
“I asked you to teach me last night. Thank you for the lesson and first time. We are done.” The grunting words sound fake even to my own ears, especially with my galloping heart that he can probably hear.
Why is there no book that teaches you what to do during the morning after?
My inexperience creates too many problems for me!
“And I didn’t run away. I figured it was for the best.”
“Did you?”
Odd notes ring in his voice. I decide not to pay attention to them and focus on the fact that we’re both naked in my shower.
“Yes. We avoided the awkward morning after where you’d have to kick me out of your house.
Besides, your butler seems to know your routine to a T with the way he was ready to usher me away with my favorite drink in hand.
” I practically yell the last part in his face, and then groan inwardly because this annoying feeling of jealousy reels its head once again and makes me sound crazy.
Who gets jealous over a one-night stand?
I used to laugh at my brothers being all obsessed and possessive with their women; it seems we share the same insanity, except all this makes me sound desperate.
“So I’m not sure why you sound so offended or came here anyway.” Mortification washes over me. “What if my brothers…”
“I don’t give a shit about your brothers, Lavender. No offense.” I hold back the hysterical laughter, because what? They will kill us both if they find out!
“My bad for assuming that disappointing your sister might have concerned you.”
“My sister has better things to do than police our sex life.”
“We don’t have a sex life!”