NERTHUS
Loosening the the colorful ribbons around the small box, I gasp as I unpack a brand-new phone. “I couldn’t recover yours.”
Activating the screen, I find a selfie of Danny with Arawn on the lock screen and happy tears well up in my eyes.
“As he woke up, the first thing he did was ask for you,” Arawn mumbles as I’m still staring at the screen. “He wanted to take a picture right away, so you could have one of us while you were on your trip with your friend.”
“Is that what you have told him?” I ask, my heart hurting too much to reciprocate his gaze. “That I’m on a fun trip?”
“Sure, everything else would have broken his heart.”
“I’m so sorry,” I whisper, looking up at him. “Please forgive me.”
He studies my face, his eyes not holding as much anger as he would be entitled to feel. “It’s not me you should ask for forgiveness because of this.”
“Still,” I say, lowering my gaze. “I shouldn’t have made you so much trouble.”
“We will talk about this afterwards,” he snarls, taking a bite of his food. “When we are alone.”
I nod, keeping my gaze on my fork as he leans in, whispering into my ear, “And you are on your knees.”
“You are impossible,” I bite my bottom lip, not being able to keep myself from laughing. “Are you even a little bit mad at me or are you just playing with me?”
He shrugs, grinning, “Goldman delivered a low blow, and he hit both of us hard. That’s why we will stay here, and think of a way to get our power back.”
“Our power…” I repeat in a whisper, making his grin broadening.
“He thinks he has won, but it will be over before he can fully enjoy the sweet taste of it. He thinks a human trafficking ring bought you, and he isn’t informed about who they work with, so by this time he must be thinking that you are already lying somewhere, gutted out like a Christmas turkey.” I scrunch up my nose as he chuckles. “Now, I will transform my weakness into my ace.”
He takes a sip from his cup as I’m looking at him with widened eyes. “I’ll have one of my men bring your things here. You can tell him what you need and he will have it fetched for you.”
My jaw practically hits the floor while I risk choking on my crunchy bacon. “Fetch my things?”
He stares at me unimpressed as he utters a simple “Yeah. I bought you.”
Ah, yeah.
That.
Sure.
The issue is surely not a fucking ocean between my apartment and here.
His frown morphs into an amused expression and he grins slyly at me as he leans in to talk to me in a hushed voice. “You know, if it was for me, you could gladly keep walking around naked all the time. But I guess we would distract the working staff a bit too much, wouldn’t we?”
I blush and shake my head with a smile. “Yes, I guess.”
Taking a sip from my coffee, I watch him scoop a bite of food into his mouth. “Maybe… Can you fetch Danny as well?”
“Only if you ask nicely.” He leans back still wearing his gorgeous grin and my heart skips a beat.
Actually, I don’t really mind staying here for a bit.
***
“Do you want to tell me about your cousin and your uncle?”
I look at him surprised as he takes a sip of his amber-colored liquid.
“How does family become your pimp?”
We are currently sitting in some kind of reading room, and I was just getting into the book I took out of the shelves, as Arawn came into the room.
I was quite taken by surprise as he had told me that he had to take care of some business about thirty minutes ago.
Following him with my eyes, I greedily take in his smoking-hot appearance.
He changed into dark pants and a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves to show off his strong forearms.
God. Take me now!
“Have you already taken care of everything? Or did you just miss me?”
He just hums in response as he pours himself a drink.
I try to cover up how giddy I am as he slumps into the couch next to me and leisurely takes my legs into his lap.
His personal question takes me by surprise and I bury my gaze back into my book. “Not really, no.”
“Why not?” he asks with a growl.
I just ignore him but apparently, he doesn’t take it as well as I hoped he would. He grabs my book to lift it out of my hands.
“Why not?” He repeats with an annoyed tone.
“It’s just nothing I want to talk about. It’s painful for me and awkward for anyone else to listen to it. I have seen a lot of pity looks, and getting one from you was enough for my poor little heart already. So, no thank you!”
I move to stand up but he is fast to grab my legs to hold me in my place. “When did I ever look at you pitifully?”
Sighing deeply, I bow forward to snatch his hand off my leg. “As I told you about my mother. I hate that look. It’s just my past. But everyone seems to take it badly and in the end, everybody leaves because they don’t know how to handle it. It’s easier to be around someone that had a happy childhood, you know.”
“I wouldn’t know. I don’t know many of that kind.” He studies me with a frown before he looks up to the ceiling with a pensive expression. “Maybe my half-sisters, but they are just a huge pain in the ass. In my world, nobody gets out unscarred. It’s the price to pay for entry into our fabulous world.”
I chuckle and my heart blooms as he smiles at me. “Not only talkative but also philosophical today, how gracious.”
A laugh rumbles out of him and he squeezes my leg gently. “Sorry, I’ve still got to get used to someone who wants me to actually speak to me out of personal interest other than just business.”
“No need to apologize, but I hope you get used to it fast because I absolutely love to hear your voice.” I grin at him, trying to snatch my book out of his hands but he just moves it out of my reach effortlessly. “Come on, Arawn. Now you are being mean. Can I please have my book back?”
With a swift movement, he shifts, having me pinned beneath him on the couch. Before I can even catch my breath after my silly squeal, he is already kissing me. “No can do, beautiful! You owe me a good bunch of time after your little run-away adventure.”
I squint my eyes at him, hoping to hide my skin sizzling at his vicinity. “You wish!”
He flashes me a big grin as he moves, still hovering above me. “Now, do you want to tell me about your pimp?”
“He- He is not my pimp.”
“Whatever, Nerthus.” I shake my head, still looking back and forth between his eyes. “No! He stopped being that as I started working as an escort. I even compensated him for his loss.”
His expression darkens. “Compensated him?”
I nod, gulping. “Yeah. I paid him for my freedom. But he was pissed about me getting so… well… popular at my new agency, so he started threatening me.”
“Is that the reason for all your false names and cover-up identities?” he asks, and I can literally feel the anger growing in his chest.
I nod again, feeling incredibly stupid. “Yes, I thought it would keep him away for a while, but he found me faster than I expected.”
“Goldman,” he states dryly, making me distort my face.
“Yes.”
Leaning in to me, he nibbles at my neck, moving up to my jawline. “Why did you lie to me?”
“Francis said that they had people at the hospital who could harm Danny,” I look at him with a sad expression as he frowns at me. “I didn’t want to risk his life, and I surely didn’t want to be a means to hurt you.”
He scoffs as he gets up and berefts me of all his warmth. “That was an incredibly stupid move, Nerthus. Losing you would have been the one thing to bring me down. And Danny was never in danger. I made sure of it.”
He has his back turned to me as he speaks and I prop myself on my elbows and pout. “My brain just stopped functioning. I know exactly that it was the stupidest thing I could ever do. But by the time I realized it, it was already too late.”
Humming, he passes his hand over his face. “You have to promise me that you won’t pull something like this ever again.”
I nod, making him look at me with a frown. “Your words, Nerthus.”
“I promise, my King.”
He grunts, failing to hide his grin as he gets up and starts walking out of the room and I yell after him. “Where are you going?”
“Making sure he doesn’t find you another time.”
Oh, okay…
Wait, what?