The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (83 page)

“That was the most incredibly erotic thing I have ever witnessed, you are so beautiful
…Thank you
.
” I could feel my cheeks burning and I had lost the feeling in my bottom lip from being bitten to hell.

“Keira
,
look at me
!
” He reached across and pulled my arm away from my blushed red face.

“I’m so embarrassed! I can’t believe I did that in front of you
.
”

“Well
,
I like to think that I helped
.
”

“Helped… You were the cause! That was so sneaky
!”
He was having way to
o much fun with my disgraceful
display of pleasure and couldn’t keep from grinning.

“What can I say, I’m a man that knows what he wants and a man that always gets his way!”

“Always?” I asked
,
as I knew that wasn’t true and wanted to pull him up on it.

“Ok
, so
most of the time
.
” I gave him a look of disbelief and he
continued
,

“I got you, didn’t I
?
”

“Yes and if I recall that didn’t exactly go smoothly
.
” I teased making him raise an eyebrow my way.

“The journey is half the fun
,
my dear
,
but the destination is worth the wait. More than anything I wanted to make you mine as soon as I first saw you in the clearing
that day
,
but I knew I had to move slowly or I would have frightened you off and yours was one mind I didn’t
want to control into loving me
.
” He looked like he was repl
a
ying the memory
back to himself and his eyes were brimming with sentiment
.

“I hate to
remind you, but when we me
t in the club
,
you looked horrified that I was
even
in the VIP and you didn’t try to hide your disapproval at Sophia’s idea of me working up there
.
” He looked away for a moment so I couldn’t make out his expression. I didn’t know what that was about but it concerned me…was he regretful?

“My actions back then were, I thought, in your best interest…after all
,
I didn’
t think the
best place
for the girl that was destined for me to love, was in a room full of my kind and I
was right
.
” He looked hurt but it
seemed to be aimed at himself and I couldn’t understand why? I knew I should have let the conversation go but I needed to know, I needed to reassure him that his feelings of self-loathing were unjust.

“But you weren’t right…without the VIP… I…
we
…we wouldn’t have got
together
.
” Finally at this he smiled
,
but it was one of a different kind
,
not one out of humour.

“Every night you were working I would watch you, I would sometimes catch your eyes searching me out
,
but I never gave in. I was battling with myself on what was right for you but in the end it was my lack of protecting you that changed things
.
” His voice was so full of emotion that I
wanted to comfort him, kiss him, tell him how I loved him throughout his coldness to me
. He was telling me things that
,
at the time
,
I longed to hear
but was kept in the dark in the cruellest way.

“You mean Layla don’t you?” At the sound of her name his eyes turned hard and flashed with an anger so deep it scared me.

“There you were
,
so close to me and still
,
I couldn’t prevent it, when I think she could have taken you from me forever
, well
then I knew I couldn’t bear to have you living in harm’s way, not because of me.”

“That’s when you decided to lie
?
” No matter how I tried
,
there was no getting away from the bitterness in my voice. When Draven had told me about his false engagement to Celina, one of his council members
,
I had wanted to die. I felt as though he had ripped
my heart from me and he kept ho
ld of it until I found out the truth. He only nodded to this question so I carried on.

“Then I was right, our relationship would have never happened if I hadn’t worked there
.
”

“Keira, do you really think I was going to let you get away from me that easily? I was biding my time. I was still trying to figure out who you really were and until then, I knew I wasn’t going to risk your life because I was too inpatient to make you mine. I have w
aited for you for too many life
times to comprehend so I was not going to make any mistakes…well… that was the plan but as we both know
,
it didn’t really work out that way
.
”

“No? That surprises me, which part would you have changed, not our first kiss I hope
?
” I said trying to bring his mind back to sweeter memories.
Thankfully my efforts were rewarded with a warm smile.

“Actually
,
it was one of the moments I did regret
.
” I looked hurt
,
so he quickly elaborated
,

“Not the kiss, that was sensational and something I had yearned for every time I saw you. But I never planned our first kiss would be on a roof top
, in the middle of a storm,
with you fearing me and I forcing you to listen to me despite your fear. What a fool I was, to expect after what you were seeing in me to stop and understand reasons that were unbelievable to you. It just proves how little I knew about the minds
of
humans
,
but you did surprise me
.
”

“In what way?”

“You came back to me. The next morning you woke believing that night was real?” His question was answered with one look.

“I was never so
astounded
as I was that day. You
, standing there with all your mighty wrath,
demanding to speak to me lik
e the
little
tough
beauty
you are
and when you recalled the night
in detail
,
I was stunned that you weren’
t afraid of me, if anything you were there challenging me, if I could t
hink it possible, I believe I fel
l in love with you all over again. 
You were never supposed to remember that night and that’s when I knew I no longer had any influence
over
your mind.
I had to
resort to
using
other means of keeping you from me until I was sure I could keep you out of danger.”

“It was painful
.
” I whispered sham
e
fully

“Oh believe me
,
it was more painful to watch and to know I was the cause
,
just made it double the agony. I had never felt so many newly discovered feeling
s
in such a short space of time. First to find that you
harboured feeling
s
about me that mirrored my own and then to fear that those feelings would die due to my
own
actions…You know not what I suffered
.
”
I wanted to argue this, knowing what my own feeling
s
had been but I couldn’t, not with seeing the hurt of the past still shadowed on his face.

“In the end I came t
o realise that the only way to ensure your safety wa
s to have you by my side, which worked to both
advantage
s
,
and it also gave me the opportunity to make you mine
…
intimately
.
” At this word he
seemed to
let nicer memories seep through and his hurt
expression
was replaced with
one of
fulfilment.

“Well
,
it all worked out for the best, we
’
re together now and that’s all that matters…However we do still have one problem to get through
.
”

“Keira
,
I will not let anyone harm you…never again. Lucius will not get near you
!
” He gripped the steer
ing
wheel with anger and I heard the leather cry out under his hands.

“That’s not who I’m talking about
,
” I said and he raised an eyebrow as way of asking me who.

“We still have my cousin to deal with!” At th
is he let out a roaring laugh
,
creating the past
tension to evaporate back to where it belonged…the past.

We drove on for a while longer until I finally recognised where we
wer
e heading to. But then we started to pass
through the city
towards it
s outskirts, giving me a nervous edge to everything my eyes took in
. We passed
business es
tates and a sports complex but w
hen it seemed that
we were continuing fa
r
ther still
,
I finally
had to ask
.

“Draven, where are we going?” He didn’t answer me but thought a reassuring smile would service my curiosity. I gave up and continued to look out of my window but I could feel Draven’s gaze on me as I did so.

We continued
to head even further away from civilisation and when we turned onto what looked like a service road
,
I was left even more confused. Draven slowed down as a heavy guarded barrier was coming up. The
barrier was only the start as it was positioned in front of some heavy iron gates that looked electric.
I jumped at the sound of Draven’s side window going down and an armed guard came over
to inspect us. I don’t know why
,
but my palms started to feel clammy. I had no idea what we were doing here
,
but more than that, I didn’t have any idea what those gates were guarding.

“Let’s see your ID
!
” The man in the uniform said in a less than polite voice. Draven’s hands tightened on the wheel and a serious growl was rippling up his throat. The
guard put his hand on his side
arm and backed up a step as if ready to
engage in a hostile
.

“Draven
.
” I said his name as a warning to calm down
,
but he shot me a deadly look of composed anger. His eyes burned purple and when his hand went to open the door
, I
thought I would witness murder. Thankfully my silent plea was answered in the form of another guard. He came running out of the
office,
calling the
other
guards name.

“Tony! Tony
, don’t man! Mr Draven
sir,
I’m so… so… sorry, he’s new and doesn’t know who you are
.
”
I couldn’t see the me
n’s faces as I was too low to the ground but I didn’t need to see him to recognise the panic in his voice. Draven didn’t take kindly to being told what to do and I could tell it took al
l his energy to cool his temper and remain in the car.

“Very well, this time I will let the matter pass
,
BUT I expect his manners to improve or he will soo
n find himself on the unemployment
list, do I make myself clear?
”

“Yes Sir. Mr Draven Sir
.
” He nodded and wa
lked back to the booth with Tony
following like a naughty teenager. I could hear him asking who Draven was and with a tired tone he simply replied
,

“He’s your
boss
and owner of this place!” The guy cursed but I didn’t quite catch all of it as Draven
fired up the engine and rev
ved the beast until it roared with perfect
mix of
engineering and raw power. The barrier went up and the gates opened allowing us access to God only knows what.