Lord King (The King)

My eyes shifted between the two tall men with dark hair, hypnotic eyes, and a masculine beauty only read about in fairy tales. One was refined, tailored and perfect, down to his eyelashes. The other was crude, rude, and scarred just about everywhere on his body. Both had powers. Both had agendas. Both were deadly and wanted me to obey.

Too bad for them. “Move,” I said, losing my patience. “I need to shower.”

“You’re not leaving this house alone,” said King.

“Then figure out which of you is going in the car, but neither is coming inside.” I pushed past them, knowing they wouldn’t actually hurt me. Not yet. But what would happen after Ariadna arrived?

I closed the bathroom door behind me.

“I heard that!” King barked. “It is an insult.”

Is it, King? I snapped back. Because I’m pretty sure you’ve told me, a few dozen times, that you’d kill me in a heartbeat if it served you.

King didn’t respond.

Yeah. Thought so. I undressed while King and Ansin started waving their red flags again, promising each other death and destruction.

I’d been stupid to think they could call a truce. This wasn’t going to work. But if it came down to choosing sides, which one would it be?

Stop. Don’t go there, I told myself as I ran the hot water. I would give anything right now for my mom to be here. I was pregnant and had no one to tell me what I should be feeling or if what I felt was normal. Doom. Fear. Happiness.

I shampooed my hair and rinsed. I conditioned and went to work on exfoliating with my shower glove, the coarseness triggering thoughts of my dream with Ansin.

His hands had been rough like this. So good. He knew exactly where to stroke, when to do it, and how hard. Not even I could duplicate his touch on my own, which made no sense. It had all been me in that dream, right? But the memories of his tongue, body, cock, everything, pushing in time to elevate my pleasure, had been better than any real experiences. At the very least, they rivaled my night with King.

“You look just as good as I imagined,” said a deep voice.

“Ansin! What are you doing?” I pressed one arm across my breasts and held the other over my vagina.

“Just checking out my property,” he said in a cold, serious voice.

“Can you please leave?”

“Thought you’d like to know King caved. I’ll stay here. He’ll fuck off.”

What the hell? Sounded a little too easy. “What did you offer him?”

“That’s between him and me.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You agreed to kill him, didn’t you?” Ansin said he’d name a price for releasing King from this world when the time came.

Ansin shrugged.

Sonofabitch. “Why did you do that?” As far as I was concerned, I’d need King as long as I lived. Not out of desperation, but because I’d spent the last few days thinking hard. “Ansin, if we successfully derail the Seers’ plan for Ariadna, there’s no reason to think they’ll stop there. Not when they live forever in Seer-land. They’ll try again to get their way. And they’ll come after me.”

He laughed dismissively. “You think I don’t know that?”

“So you have a plan?”

“Yes, I’ll stay here. When your dad is home, I’ll sleep outside.”

In other words, Ansin wasn’t going to tell me. “Awesome. Bye-bye.”

He closed the shower curtain, but I didn’t hear the bathroom door open or shut.

“Ansin?”

The curtain pulled back again, only this time he stepped in.

Naked.

My breath stuck in my lungs. I’d never seen a man like him—huge, muscular, and so torn up. His pecs were two chiseled mounds, but his stomach was a washboard with scars. Every inch of his body looked like it had been forged in battle, steel shaped with battle-axes and war hammers.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“Showering.” He pushed past me, hogging the showerhead. I watched the water cascade down the ripples of his marred, deeply tanned back muscles. Again, I wanted to ask what had happened to him but was afraid to. Any answer he gave wouldn’t be pretty.

Ansin turned his body and looked down at me, a lustful glimmer in his black and gold eyes.

The muscles between my legs tensed, recalling the release he’d given me in that dream. But this was real life.

And so is my body’s reaction. Heat pooled in my core, and my skin erupted in goosebumps.

He stepped forward, his gaze locking on my mouth. I felt his desire to kiss me. I saw the image in his mind—him slamming me against the cool tile wall, fucking me hard. And me enjoying it.

My body trembled. My nipples pearled. I knew if I looked down at his cock, it would be hard and thick, and I might actually let him do what he was imagining.

No. I can’t. “Enjoy the shower.” I stepped out and grabbed my towel from the rack.