The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (84 page)

“Ok
...
w
hat the Hell was that all about?
” I was close to furious at how quickly Draven had flashed to killer in mere seconds. He wouldn’t look at me
,
which didn’t help.

“Foolish mortals
!
” At this
,
I nearly choked on my own tongue. I
had never heard him refer
to humans as mortals before and
,
for some reason
,
the way he said it just made it sound de
grading, insulting and pathetic!

“Excuse me
,
but you do remember that I’m one of those
mere
mortals
don’t you?
”
At this he finally looked at me. His face was a mixture of
regret and disbelief.

“Yes
,
but you’re not foolish
.
” I crossed my arms and huffed.

“Who’s the greater fool, the man that rises to the foolish behaviour of others or the man that acts foolish when faced with difficult situa
tions?
” My little speech had hit home and he smiled with a beam of respect in his dark eyes.

“You are right… my reactions were just as foolish. You are a wise woman my girl
.
”

“Don’t you mean ‘My mortal’,
” I asked giving in to his smiles and joining him.

“Umm…I guess
, for the time being
anyway
.
”
I let my jaw drop as we continued along the road towards a row of vast warehouses.

What did he mean by
that
and more importantly…

What
the
hell
did he have planned for me?

Chapter 37

Draven’s D
istrict.

I was about to ask and he knew it, that’s why he spoke first.

“
We
’
re here
.
” I knew from the sound of his voice that he wasn’t going to tell me
what he meant by me only being ‘mortal’
for now. So my only reaction consisted of a huff and crossing my arms across my chest
once again
, which cause
d
Draven to find amusement and a soft laugh escaped from him.

We were approaching one of the large
st warehouses on the east
side and apart from a few people driving heavy plant vehicles
it was pretty much deserted. There were huge yellow cranes and a lot of building
equipment around but no work
was going on.

The pl
ace would have just seemed quite
regular if there had been busy bodies going on about their daily routines but with it being so isolated it gave it an eeriness that cause
d my skin to prick with g
oosebumps. I think Draven could sense my doubt
be
cause he leaned across to me and gave my shoulder a light squeeze.
It was only then that I realised he had stopped the car opposite a small access door
to one of the warehouse
s
situated further back than the rest
and it looked nestled away in between two of the larger buildings.

“Why are we here?” I asked without looking at him.

“I have some business to attend to here
,
but we shouldn’t be
too
long
.
” At this he opened his door and
I
was about to get out before I asked
,

“Do you want me to stay in the car?” He answered me by exiting the car faster than my eyes could see and I jumped when my side door was opened. A hand reached in for me
to take and I smiled at his old
fashion
ed
manners.

“Of course not
, why would I want that?” He cocked his questioning look to the side as I joined him. He closed my door behind me without touching it and I wondered if I would ever get used to witnessing his powers?

“Do you have a lot of business in construction?” I asked
,
trying to change the subject and
I didn’t know whether the wide
spread grin was down to my efforts or the question I had asked.

“A few
,
yes
,
but d
on’t let its outer appearance fool you, it’s not what it seems
.
”

“It never is with you
,
” I commented as I walked towards the door
,
but he stopped me and pulled me back to him. He let go of my arm and folded his huge arms across his vast chest. My heart skipped a beat at the sight.

“Care to elab
orate?”

“Well
,
Afterlife doesn’t look like a nightclub from
the outside, more like a centuries
old mansion.”

“So you were only referr
ing to my buildings
,
not me personally
?
”
I shifted the weight from one foot to another and stared at my boots.

“Keira…”
He dragged out my name like I was a naughty child.

“Well come on
!
W
hen we first met you weren’t exactly nice to me!” At that he softened and unfolded his arms.

“And yet you still saw the good in me, I’m a lucky man indeed
.
” At that I blushed and I hear
d
him groan. I looked up to see his eyes glowing purple and a look of intense desire transform his features. He grabbed me and held me against him letting me feel his need for myself…a need that was growing
very
hard. I gulped as it pressed into me and he ran his chin over the top of my head.

“Do you know what you do to me when you blush like that?”

“I think I have an idea
,
” I said not being able to keep the teasing out of my voice. His hands found
my back and with one hand resting
on the small curve before my cheeks
,
the other started to trace my spine with his fingertips. I had to close my eyes as even more heat invaded my skin. He leaned his head towards my neck and
started to brush the skin there
lightly with his lips. That combined with what his fingers were doing was pushing me quietly over the edge.

“It makes me want to…”I felt him bit
e
his own lip before continuing, as though he was trying to control himself or fight an urge.

“To?” I asked in a whisper
,
as though to prompt him further.

“To bite you!” I thought he would sink his teeth into me
,
but instead he licked and sucked my neck making my legs turn to jam.

“I think I should conduct my business another time
.
” He started to pull me back towards the car
,
but
I pulled back and broke from his hold laughing.

“No you can’t do that, I’m not letting you come all this way to then just leave because of me
.
” He gave me a bad boy grin and dipped his head to see me better.

“Are you telling me what to do Keira?” He was teasing me and I took a step back as he looked ready to pounce. Every step I took back he took two more towards me.

“Cause you have seen how I react to being told what to do
!” He was clearly
loving every minute of this because his eyes were
turn
ing a brighter
shade of purple ringed with a
distinct
darker
violet edge.

“I think you will live, you’re a big boy
.
” He looked down and replied.

“And getting bigger so it seems
,
” he raised his head and ga
ve me a wink making me feel
all gooey like a teenager again. We both laughed and he reached me with one last step and kissed my forehead.

“Umm
,
I think I could get used to being bossed around
.
” I looked up at him with raised brows. I knew that was never going happen, Draven was not a man to be spoken down to
,
that was for sure.

“Well,
...
as long as it’s by you that is
.
”
He added.
I giggled and reached up on my tiptoes to kiss him, thankfully he met me half way otherwise I don’t think I would have quite made it. I most
definitely
looked even shorter around Draven with him being over a foot taller than me.

After
some intense kissing, he finally let me go and sighed at I know not what.

“Fine
,
I’m convinced but later you
’
r
e
all mine and then you can boss me about to your heart’s content…I’m quite looking forward to being under your command.” I rolled my eyes but couldn’t hide my
smirk at the idea.
 

“Come on
,
” I said but he grabbed my gloved wrist to keep me from leaving his side.

“Wait
!
” He pulled me back so I was facing him and he
rested
both his hands on my shoulders.

“I need you to do something for me
.” He ran
his fingers up my neck and round to the hood on my jacket. I was about to ask him what he was doing but then he raised the large black hood over my head and pulled it down to cover half of my face. I think he caught the hurt look in my eyes before he covered them.

“Why, are you ashamed of me or something?” I knew as soon as I had said it that I shouldn’t have but I couldn’t help it. At that he w
h
ip
p
ed it back down and anger flashed in his eyes.

“Why would you say that?
Why
would even think it
?”

“Then why?” I was trying to mask my guilt with anger
,
which I knew was foolish.

“Look
,
I would gladly want to relish in how proud I am to have you by my side and show what a rare beauty you are, but it would be far too dangerous. Through those doors hold those that are not
as
loyal to me as
the people you know in Afterlife.”

“Then why even bring me here?” I couldn’t un
derstand
,
if it was so dangerous
,
why he didn’t
he
want me
to
wait in t
he car or bring me to this building
in the first place.

“I wasn’t ever intending on it but when I arrived at your house I…I had a change of heart
.
” He didn’t want to be telling me this
and I knew why.

“So when you turned up, it was to tell me you were going to be late…wasn’t it?” He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand in frustration.

“Yes
,
but when you ran into my arms and asked me to take you away
,
I wouldn’t have left you for all the world
.
” I bit my lip and swallowed my attitude.

“I’m sorry
,
” I said as I reached out to his hand. He looked up at me with shock on his face.

“Why?”

“Because I didn’t realise and because I shouldn’t have thought you were ashamed of me
.
” At this he just nodded.

“Please
.
” He motioned to put my hood back up and I let him
,
knowing now the reasons. He was protecting me and didn’t want anyone knowing my identity. As always
he was trying to keep me safe and I was being stubborn.

“You know
,
I didn’t think it possible
.
”