Kings of Blood and Money (Underworld Kings)

Flashes of Noah’s naked form filter into my thoughts. His impressive flaccid cock jumping when he caught me looking. The urge to pick up one of his pillows and smell it has my hand reaching forward like a creep desperate for a fix. Just as my fingers brush the fabric, I sense movement on the stairs. Whirling around, I take a couple steps away from his bed, my stomach plummeting. As if my pervy brain summoned him, he glowers at me in the doorway, still shirtless.

Bastard.

“What the fuck are you doing?” He growls from the gut. It’s so intimidating, it rumbles his chest and sends a wave of goosebumps up my arms.

“Why do you always show up right when I’m doing something you don’t like?” I fume, exasperated. Life is always working against me, and I’m sick of it.

“Why are you always doing shit I don’t like, Freya?” The way he says my name so firm makes me shiver.

He moves into the room, looking around as if I did something. “Did you take something?”

I’m not a damn thief. “Like what? Your playboy?” I roll my eyes.

“I’m three seconds away from dragging you out of here by your hair. Lose the sarcasm and explain yourself. Did you let something else in because you opened that fucking door again?”

“No.” I hold Midnight up, his floppy body hanging like a limp dick. “He got out. I found him on your bed.”

Taking another step toward me, the walls shrink around us. My heart hammers. The menacing darks of his eyes swallow nearly every hint of blue. “Don’t make excuses to get your skinny ass in my room.”

What a liberty.

I don’t have a skinny ass, do I? I fight the urge to check and recoil when he says, “If I find that cat in here, I’ll drown it in the fucking pool.”

My mouth pops open in horror, shock widening my eyes. Sucking in a staggered breath, I blink away tears. I let his anger, his audacity, to ignite my veins, my throat bobbing as I say, “You’re a piece of shit. You can call me names and threaten me all you want, but don’t ever threaten my cat,” I seethe.

Leaning toward me, he cocks his head. “What are you going to do? Run to Remi and tell on me?”

The smirk on his face is cold, mocking, but his eyes hold a hint of daring. He’s testing me.

“No.” I shake my head, clutching Midnight to my chest. “I don’t need to run to anyone. I’ve never had anyone, Noah. Just me. All those days and nights up in my room, I read, educated myself. It won’t take much to slip something into your food and make it look like an accident.” I risk leaning toward him as I add, “Did you enjoy your snack by the pool?” I’m bluffing, but it’s all I have.

A shadow passes over his face, chilling the air around us. Fuck, it was the wrong thing to threaten him with.

Midnight falls from my grip when Noah lunges forward, wrapping his hand around my neck. He throws me backward onto his bed, the mattress dipping as his powerful body crawls over mine.

I bat my hands against his arm to try to free myself. I can’t breathe, his grip is too tight. My eyes strain, water filling them. “Stop it,” I wheeze past my lips.

Ignoring my plea, he grabs my flaying arms, pinning one, then the other, under his knees. His ass hovers above my chest, the bones of his knees pushing against the soft tissue of my upper arms. It hurts like a bitch.

“Don’t threaten me, little girl,” he snarls. “I could crush your windpipe without even trying,” he tightens his grip for emphasis, “watch you struggle and fail to draw breath.” Licking his lips, his cock grows hard in his shorts. The bastard is getting off on torturing me. “It only takes a couple minutes for you to wither, fade from this life and pass into the next.” Leaning farther into my face, he inhales, soaking up my fear and feeding from it. “I’d watch that light go out and not lose a moment of sleep over it.”

“Noah,” I manage to squeak out, feeling my lips going cold. Tears stream from my eyes, tracking a path down the side of my cheeks into my hair, blurring his face. Something shifts in his demeanor, as if he wakes from a nightmare. He retreats fast, like he caught fire and needs to be put out.

Gasping to fill my lungs, my chest heaves, burning. My insides are on fire. Coughing, I rub my throat, trying to ease the pain there.

Crawling across his bed, I attempt to get to my feet, but my legs are like rubber. I collapse to the floor, still struggling to get air.