The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) (53 page)

“I’m sorry, you’re right
,
I shouldn’t question your methods or stick my views into your business. I should just go. You can have Ragnar take me back
.
” I started to walk towards the door and away from him, mainly so that he couldn’t see the tears that rolled down my already salty cheeks. I felt one hand being pulled back behind me softly and with a small tug he turned me round to face him. I couldn’t look at him and as a result my tears
fell from my tired eyes, landing at his feet. His hand came to my chin and lifted it up so that I couldn’t continue to be a coward and face him. I met soft eyes as the last shreds of temper melted away at seeing me cry.

“Oh Keira
!
” He whispered as both his hands came to my face to wipe all my tears away.

“I never wanted to put y
ou through this. I never wanted
what I am, to affect you this way. You spoke of a normal life and now I realise that this is something I can never give you. It pains me to see that I am the cause of this!” He lifted his tear soaked hands to his face and looked down at them.
He looked disgusted as he turned away from
me and I was near to crying until
I couldn’t breathe in fear of what was to come. Was this the end? After all I had endured, after all we had been through…it couldn’t be. I wouldn’t allow it!

“What are…are you saying?” I spoke between sobs but even at the sound he didn’t look at me.

“I will have Ragnar take you home
.
” Was all he said and
as a result
I
was close to crumbling
to the floor.

“NO, no, no! You can’t do this to me. I was stupid and I wasn’t thinking! I see that now but please…you can’t… you just can’t!” I let my body fall to my knees and my devastated head followed. I cried even more when I felt his hand on my bowed head and I realised he was knelt on
one
knee in front of me.

“What Keira, tell me
,
what don’
t you want me to do?” His desperate voice asked with as much pain as my tears were made of.

“Leave me…
I don’t want you to leave me!” And
there we had it...I had finally broke. A
fter a night from hell I lost it.
I had zero control left and Draven knew it as I started to cry it all out. He scooped me up into his arms and I buried my head into his chest letting my tears invade his soft skin over hard muscle. I grip
p
ed my hands tightly around his neck and never wanted to let go. I didn’t know where he was taking me but my tears wouldn’t run dry at the possibility that it was going to be somewhere without him. Then he spoke and relit my heart.

“Never! I will never leave you, do you hear me. Not until the day you no longer want me.
Not until the day you stamp on my heart and set it on fire. Not until I hear you say that your love for me has been replaced with hate!
” He pulled me to him tighter to prove this
before releasing me on the bed but he didn’t leave me. I felt his body get as close as he could to my own before making the covers devour our bodies in a blanket of secure warmth.

“Rest
now, we can resolve this in the light of day
.
” I didn’t say another word as I rested my emotion
al
body
and
intertwined
it
with the man I loved and as if by hearing my thoughts the last thing I heard before crying myself to sleep, were the same thoughts from him….

“I love you
.
”

Chapter 23

Calm After t
he Storm.

I wasn’t sure if I had just had the worst night of witnessing nightmares in real life or
whether it was
just
in my dreams. My thoughts felt like they were covered in a deep morning fog and the heavi
er the clouds
,
the more I seemed to be lost in the darkness of my mind.

I could feel something comforting on my back. It was a circling motion but when I turn
ed
round I could see nothing there. I started
searching for
any
thing, listening, needing
something that I couldn’t place
. I was walking through a misty white blanket of space. Then I heard it! My name was being spoken…no
,
not spoken but called.

I began to walk without seeing. I was calling out with no voice. I smiled when I recognised the voice and th
anks to my reaction the voice got
deeper, stronger and I knew
he
was
nearby
. Draven was searching for me also and the thought made me b
reak
out into a run. My legs pushed harder
but
after
only minutes his voice started
to fade
and
I pushed my body even farther
. It was almost as if I was chasing him
and although I was shouting out
,
there
was no
voice that followed
the feeling
.

Finally I stopped and stood breathless and breaking. His name escaped from my li
ps and for the first time I heard it
being said. I hung my head down in disappointment. Then my heart flipped over as I felt a hand behind me on my shoulder and Draven
’
s voice whispered in my ear
,

“Wake up Keira
!
” It was smooth like drizzled cream over strawberries and this thought had me licking my rough lips. The feel of my tongue going over cracked skin made the fog start to clear and when I could see again, I knew exactly where I was. I was lying in Draven
’
s bed sprawled out like a star fish. He was lucky his bed was enormous and could probably fit a base
ball team in it or he would be teet
ering on the edge.

I shifted around and moaned as I usually do in the morning. My l
imbs felt like jelly but my shoulder
felt great. I now knew the reason
I could feel a motion on my skin
in my sleepy state. Draven was making circles with
his fingertips over where I was
hurt last night. It didn’t take me long to realise I was naked and my hair was lo
o
se and pushed to one side. Before looking at him I raised my head and looked over the edge of the bed. I saw my clothes lying there in a heap where Draven had obviously discarded them. I felt him laugh next to me before speaking.

“You didn’t need them
.
” His voi
ce wa
s back to the usual ‘self confident’
Draven I was used to and when I loo
ked round to face him,
I saw
not only
what
his voice told me
,
but
that it was now calm waters again. He w
as propped up on one elbow star
ing at me. He looked like he had been awake for hours but he also looked bloody gorgeous! He could
have been
straight out of bed and done a photo shoot for
the
sexiest man of the year! This had me turning red as a boiled beetroot and fearing what my own appearance looked like. His hand went to my cheek and his lips followed but then
after a frown he
kissed my forehead lightly.

“I love it when you
blush. However these lips need work…Keira
,
what did you do to them last night
?
” His fingers went to the problem in question and he ran his thumb over them.

“I guess
…
” I had to clear my throat before continuing, as thanks to the crying mess I was last night
, well it had
left me sounding like I
had swallowed not only a frog
,
but
a
toad, lily pad… and hell, any other pond life to go with it
!

“I guess I gave them a rough time
.
” He laughed and it sounded like a symphony to my ears.

“More like a massacre! Let me fi
x
them
.
” But before he could touch them again I
had moved away making him growl
. I remembered what it
felt like last night and I thought
after that
,
I would prefer to heal the normal
way. He read my mind of course.

“It won’t hurt, not this time
.
” When I didn’t come back to him, he
held one of his hands out like he was offering a peace agreement.

“Trust me…please
.
” After asking me like that
,
I think I would have followed him of
f
a cliff…oh no wai
t we had already done that once.
I was going to have to start thinking up new analogies, ones we couldn’t possibl
y do together, ones like ‘
I would have
gone naked parachuting with him’
because let’s face it why would he need a parachute, he
did have
wings!

I moved back into him and when he pushed me gently on my back I closed my eyes. I felt him lean over me and when he placed his hand over my mouth I couldn’t stop them from trembling.

“Trust me
.
” He said again. Then when warmth started coming from his skin they stopped trembling and instead
,
I was filled with a tingling that made them want to be kissed. It felt like
he was generating little lightning bolts
from his fingertips, creating a storm on my lips
and
soon
he could feel them smile under his
hand
. It only took seconds and as usual
,
when he was finished he
asked
,

“Better?”

I still kept my eyes closed for the moment as I replayed the horrible night’s events back through my tired mind. I felt like Alice that had just fallen down the rabbit hole and
had just
woken up to find herself under the tree. What did she think, what did she do? Did she just get up and go home to carry on with her daily routine or did she have to go to therapy for the rest of her life? See these are things they don’t tell you in fairy tales…the aftermath!

Draven could obviously tell that I needed some time here, so he let me carry on with my mental whirlwind without saying a word. However this didn’t mean that he didn’t do anything and the feel of his touch on the side of my face was somewhat distracting. I wanted to put everything that had happened last night behind me so badly
,
that it felt tight in my chest with every breath I took. But I couldn’t! I knew I could never just pretend
it hadn’t
happen
ed
or even worse …that it didn’t even matter. I needed explanations.
I needed reasons, whys and how
s. But my fear
was
…would Draven understand this need?

“Yes
,
he would
!
” Draven
’
s voice broke up my thoughts and
now
created new ones. He could hear my th
oughts because through the
turmoil in my
mind
,
he had gain
ed
access while my guard had been down. I opened my eyes to find him back in h
is original position,
propped up on one elbow and staring intensely at me.

“I know you need answers Keira. I was fully expecting to find you with a fragile mind and a worried heart this morning and I am fully prepared to explain everything you want to know
.
L
ast night I regret not taking the advice of not a servant but an old friend. Ragnar was right. He could see
, where I had been
blind. He knew how fragile you were and was looking out for you
r
best interests. I
,
on the other hand
,
just wanted answers and someone to blame…for this I am greatly sorry. I realised in the end
,
but I fear it was too late. Will you ever forgive me?”