NERTHUS
The moment I wake up, I feel depleted and energized at the same time. The way he rocked my body to sleep was simply amazing. As I stretch on the bed, feeling the soreness and satisfaction, a small smiles appears on my face.
Rolling to the side, I see him standing next to the bed. His naked body makes me want to ogle him endlessly, but his frown ruins the picture.
Well, not really.
He is sexy even when he is gloomy.
What worries me is that he is frowning at the screen of my phone.
“What are you doing with my phone?”
“Who is K?” he growls.
“You have to stop answering my questions with one of yours.” I sigh annoyed.
My heart skips a beat as he looks up, clenching his jaw.
“Who the fuck is K?”
“I don’t know what you are talking about!”
Shaking his head, he lowers his gaze back to the screen.
“What a pity that I missed my opportunity to be alone with you! I was really looking forward to it. Your boyfriend has just the worst timing. K.”
He lifts my phone as if he wanted to show me the message. “So, who the fuck is K?”
I freeze for a moment before I get up on my side, covering myself with a blanket.
“I- I don’t know.”
“Is this K calling me your boyfriend?”
“I said, I don’t know!” My voice get slightly high-pitched as I know exactly who it is.
“Why do you keep lying to me?”
Opening and closing my mouth like a fish out of water, I try to catch one of the thoughts that run across my mind to utter at least something. But apparently, I’m not fast enough, as he throws my phone on the bed with a scoff.
“Guess you knew who you were about to pepper-spray then.”
I get up quickly as he starts walking into the garage. “I heard strange noises and was scared! I didn’t expect anyone!”
He snorts disparagingly, opening the door to the dryer. “But you know who K is.”
“No!” I say loudly, stepping in front of him, closing the door of the machine behind me.
He rolls his eyes as he takes a step back, straightening back up. “Get out of my way.”
“No.” I retort a tad more quietly, my anxiety reflecting in my breathing.
“Nerthus!”
“I said no.” I shake my head as soon as he looks back at me. “Only if you apologize for accusing me of lying.”
He leans forward and positions his hands on the dryer slowly, caging me in. I feel his warm breath on my skin and force myself to not break eye contact. Even if his husky voice has my skin sizzling.
“You have to stop telling me what to do, woman!”
“Make me!” I say, bluffing confidence.
His chuckle feels more intimidating than it should be. “Remember what we talked about last time I brought you to hell?” He tilts his head, smirking. “Do you really want to test me, beautiful?”
I gulp, shaking my head slowly.
“Who is K?”
I wet my lips, blinking away my tears. “I guess he is a client… someone obsessed with me…”
He seems to accept my partial lie, even though I’m convinced that he can spot my bluff immediately.
“The marks?”
I nod, gulping down the lump forming in my throat.
“He attacked me a few weeks ago. A neighbor of mine saved me. His wife wanted to call an ambulance, but I declined.”
“His name.”
“Huh?”
“Give me his name.”
I shake my head once again, biting my tongue.
“I- I can’t give you his name!”
“Why?” His annoyed tone burns into my bones as he keeps me captive between his arms.
“He- I-” I exhale a deep breath, emptying my lungs fully. “Derek is in the hospital. And… And there was this guy…”
“What guy?”
“The guy that attacked me… With the knife.” My shaking voice has me feeling like going out of my mind while he stays irritably calm.
“What about him?”
“He was attacked in prison.” I lower my voice to a whisper, as if I was telling him a secret. As if there would be anything he wouldn’t already know.
“He died, Arawn.”
“And?”
“He died just shortly after I told you about him!”
He shrugs, as if this wasn’t some psychotic mess at all. “So what? Coincidences happen all the time.”
My breath picks up, making me press myself against the dryer. “Then… It was just a stupid coincidence?”
He stares at me for a second, before his sly smirk reappears on his face. With a slow shake of his head, he makes my heart stop.
“Why?” I ask him, my chest squeezing. “Just why did you do such a thing?”
“I didn’t do anything.”
“You know what I mean.” I sigh.
“I don’t like people messing with my property.” His low growl hitting right into my core.
“I’m not your property! I wasn’t then and I’m not now. I work for you and that is it.” I whisper, making his smirk grow.
“That we are actually fighting over this naked makes me want to bend you over the washing machine, activate the spin cycle and prove you wrong.”
The mewl falling from my lips couldn’t be stopped even if I wanted to. And this embarrasses me to no end as his smug expression practically lights up at it.
“Why can you say that much in these moments and refuse to talk properly to me in other circumstances?”
He shrugs, his frown taking over once again. “Because we are fucking. You aren’t a wife that I need to entertain during teatime, are you?”
This is actually hilarious, but I bite the inside of my mouth to keep me from smiling. Shaking my head, I cross my arms over my chest.
“Why are you so engrossed with those marriage concepts?”
But like the charmer that he is, he ignores my question once again and lowers his gaze on my arms with a grunt.
“Don’t!”
With a sigh, I let my arms slump down to my sides and roll my eyes.
“You are such a caveman. That’s why I don’t get you. How can you be so obsessed with me? Just take another woman when I’m busy with another…” His face darkening has my words stuck in my throat.
“I don’t share.”
“I’m a fucking escort. You have some nerves!”
“Doesn’t matter.” He states matter-of-factly and I gulp.
“You knew what I was as you booked me. You should have known that there were others.”
“Yeah. And how many are there now?”
“You are such an idiot.”
He chuckles while I squint my eyes at him. “This is not funny! You scared everyone away. I worked so hard for my established clientele.”
I pout as he looks at me smirking. “I didn’t scare away no one. My men talked with them.”
“Ha!” My hand darts up, pointing its finger in his face. “Liar. Gigi told me you went to his bar in person to tell him that I was booked exclusively.” I make air quotes as I mimic his deep voice.
“He had a heart next to his name.” His expression seems to light up, making my heart do a backflip.
Stupid thing.
“I was curious what made him special.”