The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga) Read online

  “So how did it happen, you lucky bitch?”

  “I don't really know but I guess after spending sometime together something just clicked.” Ok, this bit was a lie but it sounded more believable than the outrageous truth. That I was born for him, even I couldn’t get my head around that stumper.

  “So have you jumped his bones yet? Because I'm telling you now it would not take me seconds to rip those...”

  “Ok, ok, I got it.” We both laughed.

  “We’re taking things slow.” Another lie. I was just glad I wasn't having to lie in person....not yet anyway.

  “To hell with slow! You will tell me though...right, I mean when you do the dirty deed?” She sounded almost possessed.

  “No, probably not, but I will tell you this, kissing him is like nothing I have ever felt before.” I had to give her something.

  “Then sex will be even better! I read an article about guys that are good kissers are almost always good in the sack!” Amen to that! I could definitely agree with that assessment.

  “Poor Jack, he was really smitten.” This had me cringing with guilt.

  “I really wanna talk to him, he has a right to hear it from me first, so hint hint...don't go telling him!”

  “Not a soul, not until you give the word.” This was the most serious I had ever heard her so I believed that she would keep her word. I smiled at the idea. This will be the hardest thing for RJ, so it made me respect her even more for it. RJ lives for gossip and when faced with the town’s biggest scoop, she usually would have thought that it was her responsibility to tell the world. So I understood how hard this was for her. If there was ever a need for a gothic news anchor then they would have found gold in RJ.

  “So, is he still your boss?” The questions went on like this for forty minutes. Everything from what he smells like to what he eats for breakfast. The breakfast answer I had to make up because I just didn't know. All I had seen Draven eat was an apple. So of course I said fruit.

  “It figures, with a bod like that I would have guessed he was a health freak.”

  By the time she got off the phone it was dark outside and my stomach was growling at me after talking about food. I was going to order pizza but then remembered Ragnar out there and didn't think it fair to scare some poor pizza delivery guy half to death. That would most certainly get the town's folk tongues a wagging. I opened the fridge but that didn't inspire much so I grabbed a frozen pizza from the freezer and turned the oven on high. I got the cheese out of the fridge and grated some more for extra topping. It was really tight in the cheese department! I put it on a tray and closed the door before ringing Jack's number.

  “Keira! Are you alright? I have been leaving you messages!” He sounded upset that I hadn't called. Oh dear.

  “Hi, yeah I'm sorry I can explain, but I really don't want to do it over the phone”

  “I will be right there.”

  “NO!... I mean... no that won't be a good idea, what if we met up?” I said stumbling out the words before thinking about my very possessive boyfriend that very nearly hated Jack.

  “When and where and I will be there?” Ok this wasn't making it any easier with him being so noble and nice!

  “How about that diner, the one with the crummy food that looked like road kill?” He laughed and I relaxed at the sound.

  “Why, you got a death wish?” I shuddered at how well that statement mirrored the last few days.

  “I will eat before I get there, can't die from warm coke can you?” We both giggled like kids, chatted a bit more and arranged for tomorrow afternoon as he had some free periods. Of course his lectures hadn't been affected by the fire, so he was still going to class. That reminded me that I needed to find out when my lessons were starting up again.

  “Ok, I will see you tomorrow then.”

  “Yeah I look forward to it Kazzy,” Jack said before hanging up. I smiled at the thought that now no one could be angry at me but the voice behind me told me that evidently I could be oh so wrong.

  “And just who will you being seeing tomorrow? Because I am pretty confident you weren't on the phone to me and that didn't sound like a female that is so looking forward to meeting you!” Draven's deep voice filled the kitchen and it wasn't a happy voice at that. I turned to look, bracing myself for his cold stare and yep, there it was.

  “Draven, I can explain,” I said weakly but he just gave me a stern frown and folded his arms across his wide chest that was breathing heavy from trying to contain his anger.

  “I sure hope so because I have only been gone a few hours and already you have another date lined up!” Ok so he was pissed but this was ridiculous!

  “Don't shout!” I shouted.

  “Draven I was talking to Jack because he is my friend and he has been worried about me.” If I thought back to how this sounded I would have gone with something else, because this nearly sent him over the edge.

  “Keira this is not an advisable route to pursue.” He warned me and my own anger grew roots.

  “And what does that mean?” I said now following suit and folding my arms.

  “You are an intelligent girl, figure it out!” He was acting like a very articulate child.

  “Are you implying I am not allowed to be friends with Jack?”

  “Implying No, telling you, Yes!” I shook my head in disappointment.

  “This is utterly outrageous, how can you be so...so...”

  “What?”

  “So bloody childish!” This coming from the person that was close to stomping her foot in frustration. He didn't say anything to this but just looked astonished at the accusation. It actually made me wonder if he had ever heard this being said to him before...I almost giggled at the thought. What must it be like? All five foot and three inches of me, telling all six foot four inches of pure muscle, off like a spoilt child.

  “Look this is stupid and pointless! I am meeting Jack tomorrow” At this he was about to interrupt and erupt but I held my hand out to stop him.

  “To tell him that I just want to be friends and that I am now dating YOU!” At this he softened slightly but not enough to get my blood down to its normal temperature.

  “He deserves to know the truth and I ain't the type of girl to lead men on or let them go on thinking there is something more when there isn't. If you don't like it then I'm sorry but tough shit! This is who I am and I am not going to change what I believe in just because I am in love with you!” By the end of this little speech I was breathing heavy and Draven looked like he rather wanted to make mad passionate love to me or knock my block off! I doubted anyone in his life had ever spoken like this to him and I couldn't help but be afraid and excited at the same time. Like jumping from a plane and being terrified of heights.

  He looked like he wanted to say something but instead he was in front of me before I took my next breath. His lips crushed against mine and the heat of the argument ended in my mouth. He pushed me back on to the kitchen table and was pressing his Sergeant, oops I mean Commander, up against me.

  “You drive me insane, you know that!” He hissed over my mouth and before I had time to protest his tongue parted my mouth open for another passion fuelled kiss. His entire being commanded the kiss to his erotic beat. My lips tried to keep up but it was as if he couldn’t get deep enough, couldn’t taste enough and in return I failed to breathe. He angled my head with one large hand at the base of my neck and his other hand travelled a private journey down the base of my spine. I could almost feel my toes curling, wizard of Oz style. Man this Demon knew how to kiss, I say Demon ‘cause there was nothing angelic about what this man was doing to my most intimate parts.

  After the nicest make up kiss in history I finally got back my breath. He pulled me up off the table and smelled the air where the scent of burning pizza filled the room.

  “Oh sodding hell, the pizza!” I got up and opened the oven door to a cloud of smoke. The smoke alarm went off and I grabbed a tea towel to wave in front of it. This must have
looked odd to Draven because he reached up and grabbed the alarm, crushing it in a single motion, until it made a pathetic dying sound before being replaced by silence. He made the window open, without even going near it and he pushed the smoke out towards it in gathered cloud. I stood staring like he was my own personal magician. I looked down at the plastic crumbs in his hand and his eyes followed.

  “Too much?” He said sheepishly before making the pieces fuse back together and even the battery acid that had escaped onto his hands followed back into the casing. I couldn't tear my eyes off the sight. It was like watching the destruction of it in reverse. Once it was back together he placed it back on the wall and fitted it into place. I looked at the tea towel in my hand thinking it could now retire. I laughed out loud at the thought of what Libby would have done if she had seen Draven doing this the next time she burnt something, which in her case was a daily occurrence.

  “What's funny?” He asked light heartedly.

  “Just wondering if I will ever get used to seeing it?”

  “Seeing what exactly?”

  “The impossible.” He grunted out a little laugh at my answer. I pulled out the black disc that once resembled something you could eat and broke it up to fit it in the bin.

  “Well there goes my dinner, looks like cheese on toast.”

  “That was pizza right?”

  “Hard to believe, I know.” He looked so much happier now we had made up, smiling down at me.

  “Then why don't you order one to be delivered?” He said passing me the phone and the take out menu that was stuck to the fridge by a Union Jack magnet.

  “Ok, but only if you help me eat it, so far all I have seen you eat is an apple. If I didn't know you were an Angel/ Demon then I would think you have an eating disorder.” He roared with laughter at my little joke and I loved that I could make him laugh.

  He let me pick the pizza and when it came, he wouldn't let me pay or get up to get it. I wondered what the delivery person thought when Draven answered the door. Well at least Ragnar wasn't here to frisk him!

  “You didn't have to pay for it.” I said as he brought it in the living room.

  “Keira please don't say you have a problem with me buying you dinner, especially one that cost so little. It was, after all, my fault the first one burned.” He said taking the blame, which brought me no satisfaction.

  “Ok, but the next one is one me.” I took the box and put it on the coffee table, ready to be devoured as I was starving.

  “If you say so.” He said in a mocking tone to add to his mocking smile.

  “Do you ever get hungry?” I asked as I grabbed a piece and dangling the stringy cheese in my mouth before biting off the end. He watched me as if it was the first time he had seen me eat.

  “Yes, but mainly for other things. I find watching you fascinating.” I blushed like always.

  “Why because I'm a pig when it comes to food?” I said smiling because I just didn't care, I loved my food.

  “NO, not at all, I find you fascinating because I never knew watching someone eat could turn me on.” Oh... that I didn't expect.

  “Don't be daft, how could you?” I said going the colour of the pepperoni on my slice.

  “Quite simple... it makes me want to taste you.” He said so matter of fact I was taken aback. Then he leaned over and grabbed a slice, so watching him eat it, I could actually see where he was coming from. This had never happened to me before, finding a guy sexy while biting into a pizza slice was a weird thing to get turned on about....but it still happened. I was even more surprised when he ended up eating most of the pizza because after three slices I was full. I put the box in the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge.

  I forgot to ask Draven if he wanted a drink, so I popped my head round to ask when I noticed he was looking at a picture of me and Libby when I was seventeen. It was one we had taken at Alton Towers, a theme park we went to for my birthday. I had shorter hair that looked way out of control and a little red vest with a short denim shirt. I looked so different to how I dress now and no doubt Draven was thinking the same thing. Well, it was summer and a very hot one at that. I got burnt on the shoulders that day and that night, when out with my friends, I was dancing like Michael Flatley, Lord of the river dance!

  “I hate that picture.” I said as I tried to take it from his hands but he just lifted it out of my reach, which wasn't hard. I was so short next to him that I knew there was no point even trying.

  “Why? You look happy, was it a special day?”

  “It was my birthday, I was seventeen.” I said feeling my skin blush at the way I was dressed.

  “I didn't think England had such good summers.” So he did notice.

  “We had a heat wave that year, plus I used to dress quite differently than I do now.” I wasn't sure which Keira he preferred, the carefree young blond that liked to show off her slim figure or the shy scared girl that stood next to him now, wearing black jogging bottoms and a grey long sleeved top with thumb holes.

  “I like that you saved yourself for me, I do not think I would be happy for so many eyes to see your flawless skin in places that are for my eyes only. I like the way you dress now and that I am the only one that gets to unwrap you whenever I choose.” He winked at me before placing the picture back.

  “But I do have one question, why do you have metal teeth?” I laughed so hard tears formed.

  “What, you do?” I couldn't keep my face straight, he must have thought this looked more like a torture device. Then I stopped laughing as soon as I remembered what Sammael looked like when I had seen him in his Demon form. His lips had been sealed shut by thick metal pieces that looked like crude stitches. This had been his punishment and done to him by the Draven brothers.

  “It was my brace, I had crooked teeth when my wisdom teeth started to come through.”

  “It looks barbaric, did it not hurt you?” Bless him for thinking about my pain.

  “It just ached mostly, but sometimes the metal would go into my gums. That I didn't like so much. But it was worth it.” I said smiling showing him the result.

  “I think I would have preferred you to have crooked teeth than go through pain.” He said sincerely. I kissed him on the cheek for saying something so sweet.

  “Ok, back to our date. Argument - check… make up kiss - check…pizza - check… now moving swiftly on.” He was smirking thinking I was talking about sex.

  “Draven! You’ve really never had a date before have you. You don't fool around until the movie is on and the lights are off.”

  “Ok!” He clicked his fingers being cocky and the lights went out and the TV came on, amazingly on a movie channel. I giggled like I was back to being seventeen. I plopped down on the couch next to him with my back against his chest and picked up the remote. His arms went round me and I snuggled closer to him, loving every minute of the best date of my life.

  “So what will it be action, romance or horror?”

  “Don't like comedies?” When he spoke, he blew air down my neck and my mind filled with his scent making it harder to find words to his question, especially when his large hand was moving up and down my neck.

  “Yeah sure I do, but I like being the one that makes you laugh...plus there is the whole snorting issue.”

  “Ah yes, I remember that adorable little noise you make.” His hands then slid down to my weak spots and I started giggling. But I stopped him before I was in fits.

  “Behave!” I warned.

  “Never!... So what is customary for a first date?”

  “Well it depends what the goal is. Horror usually gives the guy the chance to show how brave he is and protect the girl when she jumps at the scary bits but I think you have already proved yourself with that one, more than enough!”

  “Protecting you is my job Keira.” He leaned round to see my smile.

  “Or there is action, this gives the girl chance to show she is cool with watching violence, which impresses the guy but i
n this case I have seen enough action in the last few days to last me till the end of the year!”

  “I must agree with you there,” he said with a controlled bitterness.

  “So then there is romance that gets you in the mood, but considering you get horny just watching me eat then I don't think it's needed.” He moved my hair from my neck and licked my skin, proving my last statement. I was momentarily hushed to silence and my teeth found comfort in my bottom lip.

  “Ok, then I will choose...mmm.” I tried to sound unfazed but it wasn’t convincing as I moaned when his licking turned into sucking. I let the remote slide out of my hands but before it could crash to the floor his hand left my neck and caught it, before passing it back to me.

  “You were saying?” He said over my skin and I could feel his lips turn up into a confident smile. I swallowed down the breath caught in my throat and tried to continue.

  “That’s not fair when you have such control over my functions like that!” I shook my head and closed my eyes as I tried to focus on finding a movie.

  “And you don’t believe you have the same control over me? Why do you think I find it so hard keeping my hands off you?” He whispered this last part and I lowered my face to conceal a smile he could feel there.

  “Ok, back to the movie…umm ah here’s one….Blade!” I thought I had chosen well until I heard the tut behind me.

  “More Vampires, Keira please tell me you don't have a thing for these vile creatures? I will never understand human obsession with the scum of the underworld!” I turned to face him and in the glow of the flickering TV, he looked serious.

  “I like Blade because he fights them. Ok, so he is one but he still wants them destroyed. So what is your beef with them?”

  “Beef?” It was obvious he hadn’t heard this expression.

  “You know, like why don't you like them or is hate a better word?”

  “I don't want to discuss it.” He said stubbornly but I frowned at him.

  “Come on, just tell me...I think all things considered, I can take it.” Of course I was soon proven wrong with the next words to leave Draven's lips.