NERTHUS
He literally left me sitting on pins and needles. I tried to distract myself by reading, talking with some of the staff, baking with Concetta, and speaking with Danny on the phone.
But I got so emotional because of that phone call and so, by the time he gets back home, I’m pissed.
I’m not used to waiting for anybody that just walked out on me. Maybe a few years ago I would have spent the day crying on the floor but I guess the last years spoiled me.
As he walks in on me trying to concentrate on a book in yet another library, I get even angry at myself as I’m practically drooling at him wearing a black suit and a matching shirt.
God, get a grip.
“Nerthus.”
I push down the urge to have my eyes jump to his as he calls my name, but I just keep my head low and buried in the book before me.
“You have so many rooms here. What do you do with all this space?” I ask with an unbothered tone, turning a page.
“I want to build a harem,” he responds coldly.
As my eyes snap up to his at that, he is already grinning mischievously at me.
I squint my eyes at him obviously pulling my leg. “Will I be your first wife then? Or have you already hidden one somewhere? The first wives always get the nicest gifts.”
Lowering my gaze back down, I try to cover up my jealousy but he makes it straight out impossible. “I already have four, but they are out. Giving us some time to accommodate.”
I find him still grinning as I look up, still holding onto my poker face painfully. “But don’t worry, you all get nice gifts.”
Apparently, my face falls because he barks out a laugh, even throwing his head into his neck.
“That’s not funny! You should inform me of such things.” I pout as I add in a whisper, “And not joke about it.”
He steps forward, bending down, and takes my legs, positioning them on his lap as he sits down on the footstool. “Would you be okay with me having others beside you?”
I shake my head and his smile grows. “In this case, I’m divorcing all of them.”
Shaking my head, I hide my blushing cheek by burying my eyes back into the book.
“Tell me about your cousin. How did it all start? How did he get you in this business?” he asks with a sigh, making me feel uncomfortable.
I reposition myself in the armchair as if I could break out this situation by leaning back. “Why? I don’t want to talk about it.”
“I need to know, Nerthus. If you talk about yours, I’ll tell you about mine and the first getting a pitiful look from the other, wins!”
Sighing, I close the book in my lap.
I really want to hear his…
“Wins what?” I ask, my heart flipping in pleasurable anticipation.
He squeezes my leg, grinning slyly. “Whatever the other wishes. No rules, no limitations.”
“Isn’t that too much?” I tilt my head with a sarcastic expression.
“Afraid you could lose?” He challenges me, and I can’t keep a serious expression anymore.
I lower my head and shake it with my tongue clenched between my teeth. “What if I asked for your life?”
He chuckles and pulls me closer, his husky whisper vibrating through my skin. “I would gift you my last breath without even blinking once. You can have all of it.”
My heart stops as I look back up at him, breathing in his mouth-watering cologne.
I really want to hear his.
I reposition myself again, wetting my lips with my tongue. “Okay, deal.”
“You better prepare your poker face,” I say loudly, wanting to be funny before I clear my throat awkwardly.
Straightening himself back up, his expression gets serious and I take a deep breath before I empty all of my heart to him.
Something I never did with anyone.
“My mother died when I was 12 and I was first taken in by my grandparents. My mother never got married and they were adamant about the fact that they didn’t know who my father was. They hadn’t had any relationship with their daughter for years and they surely weren’t happy to have me in their house. After the tantrum, I pulled at my mother’s burial, you know, the one I already told you about, my grandfather officially disclosed to me that they had no interest in looking for the bastard my mother put in the world. He told me that they had wanted her to abort in the first place and were desperate as she didn’t listen. Well… That made me angry as fuck because if you want someone to abort you know that someone is pregnant. So, I did my math and was quite positive that they knew who my father was.” I clear my throat, and it pains me to have to look at Arawn’s stoic face to check his reaction, instead of being able to hide somewhere dark.
“I started to mess around and started to have some big trouble, which made me even more of a bother for them. I broke into houses in the neighborhood, broke into cars and pulled some pranks with gnomes in the many perfect gardens around us.”
He chuckles as he squeezes my calf. “Really?”
“Yeah.” I have to laugh too, happy about the little distraction.
“The man living in the house in front of us had an entire army of gnomes in his garden and driveway. I heard another neighbor complaining about them to my grandfather. So, one night I snuck into the the garden of the one with the gnomes and put them all in the garden of the one who said he found them creepy. I had them all looking to the man’s house.” I chuckle at the memory, gesturing happily. “His screams as he found them in the morning were the best.”
Arawn cracks up at it and I love it.
As our laughter calms down, I took another deep breath before going on. “I was everything to my mother and she had always treated me like her little princess. We used to even dress up and drink tea like the noble. We were really poor, but she did everything to provide us with everything we needed. We even did a little vacation at the sea once.”
“That’s nice.”
“Yeah.” Seeing that he still hasn’t looked at me pitifully, I lower my head shortly. “So, I was quite spoiled and having everybody being mean around me just had me going out of my head. One day, not even a year later, my uncle and my cousin showed up. It felt like the strangest family reunion as my grandparents didn’t seem happy to finally see them. I had never heard my grandparents talking about them before, so I was quite surprised. My grandfather took the chance, made me pack my things and told me that I would now live with them, in another state. From Ohio, I moved to Iowa and well, my grandfather said that they were fed up with me and that my uncle would beat some reason back into me. Thing the nice long-lost uncle literally did. The first weeks I moved there, my aunt had to make up silly excuses to explain why I didn’t appear in school, but I was so bruised that I even struggled to stand up straight.”
Okay, no.
This is rage.
Not pity.
“Are you sure you want me to continue? Because it doesn’t get any prettier.”
He just nods, his jaw clenched. “Yes.”
I sigh, avoiding his gaze for a second, “I started to calm down eventually, fearing that he would kill me eventually. My cousin is about five years older than me, and he started, as soon as my bruises disappeared, to laugh at how I got domesticated. He forced me to do little things that got more and more… well, you know, became of a sexual nature. I kept silent because he threatened to tell my uncle, who would have apparently killed me for it. And I really don’t know why I wanted to live so much…”
I clear my throat again, his eyes burning into mine.
Still no pity.