NERTHUS
I press a big smooch on her cheek after our breakfast and leave her warm apartment. I hug my coat closer as I walk back to my apartment and make a note to myself to call Luciana. Just as I’m thinking about what I am going to say to her, I pass my usual coffee shop, located just a few steps from my home.
This must be a sign from heaven.
Stepping into the heated cozy cafe, I smile as I see Lizzy about to froth milk for a customer. I wait patiently for my turn, and she welcomes me with a broad smile as she sees me.
“Hey, Amber. How are you doing?” She asks starting to make my coffee.
I step closer to the counter and lean on it. “I’m fine, thanks. Listen, you said you were looking for someone to help you out. Is this still the case?”
“Yes,” she answers, nearly spilling the coffee she is making. “Sure. Are you interested?”
Laughing, I nod. “Yes. I would really love to work here.”
“Amazing! Let me get you some brochures, and if you give me a moment, we can talk about the details over a coffee.”
“Great. Sure, no stress!” I tap the counter, and she finishes brewing our coffees before sitting down with me at a table in the corner.
I always knew that she was a lovely person, but as we talk about the details over a coffee, I notice how funny she is. We laugh a lot, and I act amazed as she tells me about the working hours or the pay.
It’s not that they are particularly good, it’s just that I have to finally admit to myself that I won’t be able to sleep with other men as I did before, and honestly, with a million dollars and my savings, I will be able to hold up my standard of living even with doing two jobs that don’t pay that well.
But give me the peace to recover from this blow.
After finishing the coffee, we schedule my starting day. “Thank you very much, Lizzy. I’m looking forward to my training.”
“And we are happy to have you on board.” We hug, and I leave the cafe with the best feeling ever.
I decide to not call Luciana anymore and accept this change, ready to flip my life around like Jenna will do soon.
But my happy mood doesn’t hold up long as my next jumpscare moment waits around the corner, or better as I enter my apartment.
“My dear child!” I jump as I spot Arawn sitting in my living room with a frown. “What the fuck, Arawn?!”
“Where have you been?” He asks, making me sigh exasperated.
“None of your fucking business.”
He holds up his phone for me to see. “Why did you leave the house without your phone?”
“Again, none of your fucking business! And you need to give me back my key!”
I walk down my hallway, throwing my bag into a corner, and enter the bedroom to get out of my clothes and change into baggy ones. He watches me silently as I do so and get my jewelry off to put it in my small box on the sideboard.
“We need to talk!”
I scoff, shaking my head. “No. You need to leave! Leave my key on the sideboard before you close the door behind your entitled ass.”
“Nerthus!” He growls and follows me to the kitchen where I rummage through my cupboards without any reason.
His patience must have worn off as he steps up to me and wraps his arms around me, pulling me to his front to keep me from moving further. I hear him take a deep breath, as he buries his head in my hair. “Where have you been?”
“I spent the night at Jenna’s,” I whisper finally, his lips close to my ear sending shivers down my spine.
“Why didn’t you take your phone?”
“Didn’t want to be intercepted,” I say, trying to trash in his arms, but there is no avail.
“Hmmm, I understand.” I gulp, as his deep hum vibrates through me.
He presses his lips to my ear, making me shiver pleasantly. “By the way, Owen was looking for you. You seem to be quite comfortable with each other.”
“What?” I ask, my voice breaking.
He chuckles, lifting his hand to grab my chin, fixating my head for him to prevent me from turning my head. “The only one delusional is you. Thinking I would drink your lies and not monitor everything that is mine scrupulously.”
I mewl as he moves his other hand down my body, driving his finger through my wet folds. “And apparently, you don’t seem to mind.”
“Let me go, Arawn.” My chest heaves as he lets me go slowly, freeing me from his grasp.
I watch him take his finger into his mouth, and my pussy throbs longingly as he sucks my juices off it in relish, his gaze still on me.
“Let me hear it again.” He grins, making me take another step backward. “How I make your skin crawl.”
My breath hitches in my throat as my back bumps against the wooden door of my cabinet. “Why? Didn’t you hear it well the first time?”
I keep playing dumb as I know exactly that he can spot the lie that I’m trying to feed him.
So stupid.
“I just loved the sound of it!” He leans into me, leaning his forearm over my head.
Gulping, I recover my eyes falling to his lips and look up, meeting his gaze again. “Your touch feels like pins and needles to me.”
“Does it?” He asks, his sly grin growing.
I nod, losing myself in his eyes. “I hate you so much. Every time I just think of you makes me want to puke.”
“Uh-huh.” His husky whisper travels through my body, making me even wetter.
Not even able to act defiantly, I clench my legs together as I hold onto the edges of the cabinet behind me. “Your hand traveling up my skin must be the worst thing I have ever experienced.”
“Like this?” He asks, pushing up my shirt to put his warm hand onto my bare back.
I gulp, nodding again as he leans closer. “Yes. And I can’t wait for you to stop touching me.”
He hums, stepping closer to me, his hand now traveling up my back, raising goose bumps on the way.
Gasping, I close my eyes and enjoy his touch as he chuckles. “And when we kiss?”
“Nothing. It’s just mechanical. No sparks, no lust, and I’m certainly never yearning for it.” I whisper, reopening my eyes to find him incredibly close. His head is tilted, his lips just mere inches away from mine.
I bite my bottom lip, getting him to smirk broadly. “Our fucking is horrible as well.”
His brows jump up, and he chuckles lowly. “I can imagine.”
“I have to work hard to actually enact all my reactions as I would just lie beneath you unbothered otherwise.”
This actually gets him to laugh out loud, and I curse myself as it gets him to distance himself from me.
“Don’t laugh! I’m being serious.” I say full of indignation, while he wipes a tear from his eye.
“Sure, sorry.”
“You are such an asshole,” I say, crossing my arms in front of my chest.
He puts his hands back into his pockets, eying me up.
I can act outraged perfectly as I’m disappointed that I didn’t get my kiss.
“I am. But you are so bad at lying that it is actually cute.” He mocks me with a grin.
Wrinkling up my nose, I tsk at him. “Sure, dream all you want.”
My breath hitches in my throat as he puts his hands on the edges of the cabinet, caging me in.
His eyes darken, but it looks like it’s his desire to have this effect, making me shudder pleasantly.
“Your touch is fire for me. Every time you put your hands on me, you awaken things in me that I didn’t even know I could have in me.” He looks at me dead seriously, making my heart stop as he continues to speak. “It feels so good that I am convinced that I could try all the drugs in this world without getting even a tenth of the feeling you leave on my skin.”
“Stop it,” I whisper, not able to stop him.
And I’m not quite sure that I want to.
“Thinking about you is even worse. You haunt my thoughts like a poltergeist would do with a house built on a cemetery. I tried everything to get rid of it, but I will be damned if I didn’t sabotage myself from achieving it!”
“Stop it, please.” I mewl again, just inciting him more.
“The money I spent on cancelation fees is insane.” He chuckles, as my eyes widen.
“Cancelation fees?”
“I can’t stand anybody’s touch, Nerthus!” He leans in again, his lips nearly touching mine. “I told you. There aren’t others that I want.”
I breathe in deeply, filling my lungs with his addictive scent. Not knowing how to react to all that he said, I let the only words bubble out of me that I wanted him to hear for a bit. “I didn’t have anything to do with Jensen. I never wanted anything from him, and I never will. I’m just not interested!”
As I’m catching my breath, I feel his grin grow as his growing lips grace mine enticingly. “I know. And I am sorry that I doubted you. I should have listened to you.”
“Did you ask him? Did he tell you?” I ask him, feeling taken aback as he shakes his head.
“So, you believe me… And are you going to ask him about it?”
He shakes his head again before his whisper shivers through me. “I would, but I won’t get any answer as one can hardly speak without his head on his shoulders.”
My eyes widen, and he moves his lips over mine enticingly. “Nobody touches what is mine, Nerthus.”
Before the feeling of shock can ripple through my body, something else explodes in me. Grabbing onto his shirt, I pull him closer, finally getting our lips to meet.
His groan vibrates through me as our lips move against each other, and I throw my arms around him.
“This doesn’t mean I’m coming back to work for you,” I say between kisses, making him laugh. “I still hate you.”
“Sure,” he says, pressing me into the wooden door of the cabinet, lifting my legs to wrap them around his waist.