The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (114 page)

Jack didn’t respond and I was more than thankful for that. RJ made me smile as she rolled her eyes at my cousin’s statement and started talking about something my cousin couldn’t contribute too, the dreamy drummer from the band Acid Criminals. RJ continued on about how they were coming back to town and were playing at Afterlife once again but I just found myself nodding and “Oooing” and “Ahhing” at the right times.

This was all my fragile mind would al
low. There wasn’t much room for
anything else besides the screaming inside my head that half wanted me lash out at Hilary with a stiletto heel in hand or repeatedly keep slapping myself on the side of the head! I didn’t know who to blame the most...I mean, I know who I wanted to blame but I couldn’t. It had been my responsibility to tell Draven sooner than later and with only a week until I was supposed to leave I knew that I was cutting it fine. I guess deep down I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I didn’t want to leave Draven but I was torn between what I wanted and what I should want. I should
want
to go back home and be a family for Christmas. I should
want
a little space from all the craziness my life had been enduring since I met Draven. All these thing I
should
want, but I didn’t.

All I wanted for Christmas was Draven.

My Draven.

Chapter 50

New Mistakes, Old Moves.

To everyone in the theatre I had seemed like the hardest, non flinching girl in existence. I had sat through two hours of evil robots ripping the limbs of humans and mutilation so great that it sent a few people running from the movie with their hands held firmly over their mouths. Of course when you live a life seeing some of the most gruesome beings that walk the earth along the same path, it is very difficult to get skirmish at movie blood and special effects. The real thing is so very different. The smell, the sound and of course the
sight your eyes take in is ever
lasting and unforgettable.

However these were none of the reasons that I hadn’t reacted to the scenes on screen. No, the reasons all started with the letter D. The sound of disappointment in his voice was such a regular occurrence in my case, it made me wonder if I could do anything right in his world. Well
,
I was soon to find out because coming out of the cinema
,
the first sight I saw was a shiny, sleek looking black Ferrari.

I was no car freak but even I could tell that there was
a hell of a lot of zero
s parked on the side walk, and so could everyone else for that matter! Everyone coming out of the theatre was now struck down and staring at the black car like a space ship had just landed! I went bright red...Ferrari red.

“Oh... My... God!” Hilary said very slowly.

“You lucky bitch!” RJ said elegantly and Jack...

Well Jack just whistled.

I watched on in horror as people started taking out their phones and snapping pictures. Some even rang their
friends to tell them about the car
they were see
ing. Words like “Ferrari Enzo”,
“Over two hundred miles an hour” and “Carbon fibre” filled the air. There was one guy surrounded with a group of friends all listening to him reel off stats and figures, like he was Ferrari obsessed but the one figure that everyone started whistling at was the price tag, “
A cool million dollars easy”
h
e said while fishing around his bag for what was to be a digital camera.

As much as I love seeing Draven
,
this was one moment when I just wanted to walk away. The windows were tinted as black as the body was but that soon wasn’t going to be enough to conceal the car’s owner. The driver’s side door open upwards giving the car the appearance of having wings...which was very befitting to Draven’s character. He unfolded his body in a surprisingly graceful way considering his size. The little crowd gasped and
it
now gave something for the girls to gawk at in awe.

He straightened his frame to reveal grey
denim covered legs, a
tight black T-shirt underneath the world
’
s sexiest jacket. It was maroon colored leather that fitted him like liquid skin. It molded to his perfect structure in the style of a biker.

Round the neck was a thin collar that curved down with the zip that was off to one side and the whole jacket was framed with a tan colored piping. The sight of his arms made me gulp down the feelings that his body was causing to my own. The leather strained over his biceps and just before the crease in his elbow was a thick line of piped
maroon
leather that went the other way round his arm like a band. The material went low down his arms and flared out at his wrists thanks to the zips that were loose at his forearms. Oh my God
,
he looked sexy! I was close to hyperventilating, that is, along with ever
y
other female that was also having improper thoughts about my boyfriend.

Most striking of all was the face. Set in a honey colored stone of flawless skin was the deepest, darkest eyes anyone had ever witnessed. A strong jaw flexed when our eyes met and I knew he was angry. Draven did broody better than anyone I knew and now was no exception. I knew this was coming and that was evident while I sat un-nerved by the two hours of body mutilation without flinching. Killer Robots from space had nothing on Draven’s wrath!

Draven only took a few steps before he reached us
, with
h
is long muscular legs a few strides was all it took. As habit, one look from the owner of the prestigious nightclub Afterlife, the crowd di
spe
rsed and avoided his unhappy gaze. I wished I could have joined them. Meanwhile
,
Hilary
had pushed in front of RJ so that
she was next in line for when his look returned.

“D
ominic, what a surprise, Kizzy C
at didn’t say you were meeting us
.” The nick
name I loathed made its way past her lips having an effect on me like barb
ed
wire across a blackboard. I even winced, which Draven didn’t miss. He never did.

“I am here to pick up
Keira,
We have a date...don’t we?” After emphasizing my correct name, he made it very clear this was an order not a request
,
that I was to agree too. I first had to clear my throat before answering.

“Umm, Ye...yes, I guess we do
.” I couldn’t help speaking un
sur
e
ly and this softened Draven’s features slightly.

“Oh, well I guess you want to get as many dates in before she leaves you
!
” Hilary’s acid tongue whipped out and I wanted to growl but Draven beat me too it. Everyone looked shocked and Jack took a cautious step closer to me. Draven didn’t like this one little bit.

I decided to try and
defuse the situation before a
real life reconstruction of the movie we just saw was to happen. I took a step closer to Draven and looked up at him with big sloppy eyes that hopefully resembled a puppy. I just hoped he liked puppies.

“Hilary
,
you know I haven’t yet decided anything about Christmas, I told you that earlier
.
” Although I was speaking to my cousin this was really aimed at Draven. I didn’t really give t
w
o hoots about what my cousin thought
,
but hell if she was going to use me to get closer to my man then I would do the same.

“And remember you saying that it would be nice if my parents were to finally meet
my
boyfriend and how Christmas would be the ideal opportunity
?” I said smoothly which was amazing considering
what a bad liar I was. Of course Draven would know this was lies but the others didn’t.

“Hey RJ, we gotta get going if we’re going to meet the rest of the gang but hey Kaz we will probably catch you later, at the club
.
” Jack commented while edging his sister away who hadn’t yet spoken a word. She was still staring at Draven like a starving wolf would to a giant T-bone.

“That’s cool, I will see you later
,
but is it alright to give Hilary a lift home?” I said.

“It’s ok, why doesn’t Dominic give me a ride and you go with Jack
?
” Hilary said shamelessly flicking her hair back and I wasn’t the only one that looked utterly shocked. I turned to Jack and saw his fa
ce had numerous more lines
,
which
looked out of place on Jack’s “happy go lucky” feature
s. He was looking at Hilary as though
he was seeing her for the first time and he didn’t like what he saw there. I couldn’t help but feel for him, I mean there was a small part of me that wanted
to scream out “I told you so” b
ut I was not the type that would have ever followed through with that impulse. It just made me hate her even more! She could hurt me all she wanted, I was close to being immune
,
but not Jack. Not my friend.

I was fuming but in the end it was Draven that cut her down into pieces and finally put her in her place. He leaned into her and lowered his head slightly to get to her ear. I was next to him so I heard every sharp edge to his words.

“It is only Keira that I want and I will take her now. I suggest you leave, while you still have the kindness of others that are prepared to put up with you. I doubt your degrading act will hold much longer
!
” She had been holding her breath in the hopes of some
thing else a close proximity could
mean but she was oh so wrong. I couldn’t help but try and hide the biggest grin I had ever felt.

For the first time since we were young children, Hilary looked like she wanted to cry and for the first time I couldn’t find any sympathy for the emotion. She deserved far worse and I think way down, on some deeply buried level, she knew it too. She huffed once and turned away to follow Jack and his sister to his truck. I couldn’t help but notice an action that looked like she was wiping a tear from her face, which stopped me smiling.

“Keira, get in the car please
!
” Draven’s cool tone was direct and precise. It made me shudder. I turned round to realize he was no longer next to me but by the car door waiting. I was torn between giving in or making a run for it.

“I wouldn’t even try....if you please
.
” He finished by nodding to the low bucket seat.

“Fine!” I surrendered and stormed over to
the curb. I felt like I was ben
ding over to such a degree that I was about to sit on the floor. It was the lowest car I had ever been in and no doubt the most expensive. I think if Draven ever sold his car collection he could have bought Brazil with the funds received.

I jumped at the sound of the door slamming home and thought he had closed it with a little too much force for such an expensive car. I watched as he walked slowing around to the driver’s si
de which reminded me of home as it was on the UK side. He slid in
to the seat that was positio
ned further back than my own
, allowing for his impressive leg span. He didn’t just start up the beast and let us go roaring off like I thought he would. He just sat there and lowered his head like he was trying to find the best way of dealing with this.

“Draven I...”

“Do you want to leave me?” He blurted out like he could no longer contain it. Almost like the idea
of that question was burning a
hole in his
chest and he had to, no more like
... needed too, stop the pain it caused. It was the first time I had ever seen Draven seem desperate.

“NO! I don’t want to leave you
!
” I said forcefully. His head whipped round to look at me and once he read my truthful eyes his shoulders relaxed. It was only then that I took notice of the rest of his body. His hands had fisted around the steering wheel and the leather around his arms groaned under the strain. These all eased as he studied my face.

“Right...right
.
” He said twice to himself before starting the car that started to vibrate around me in anticipation.

“Then you will
not
leave
!
” He said like it was final and the conversation was now over, which it so wasn’t.

“Draven you can’t just say that, I...”

“And why not? You do not want to leave me and therefore you are not going anywhere
.
” He said in a fairly controlled manner.