He rolls us over so we’re lying facing each other. I want to let him sleep since I doubt he got any last night, but his lips find mine and I’m a goner.
We kiss for what seems like hours. We devour each other in a slow passionate pace like we’re re-learning one another again. We don’t even pull back for air, we just breathe each other in.
I love kissing him. Not only do I feel his taste in my mouth, but I also feel him all over me and inside me.
Levi and I were made for kissing. We should never stop kissing.
It should be a blasphemy that we weren’t kissing since that party.
After what seems like an eternity, he pulls back, but he threads his fingers in my hair, playing with the falling strands.
I love all the little ways he touches me like he can’t get enough of me.
My own fingers get lost in his Viking hair.
“What do you want to do today?” he asks.
“Why?”
“I’m being nice here, princess.” He slides his hand from my hair to wrap it around my throat, squeezing the slightest bit.
I grip his arm, not sure if I want to stop or encourage him. Judging from the shaking of my thighs, it’s the last.
It’s crazy how much his intensity wakes something entirely feral in me.
It’s like a high that’s spreading through my bloodstream.
“Is this your version of playing nice?” I bite my lower lip.
“Oh, I’m playing fucking nice.” He brushes his lips over my nose. “If it were up to me, you’d be naked all day in my bed.”
The familiar need surges through me. Maybe I want that, too. Maybe I don’t want to leave his arms until I get enough.
But then again, will I ever get enough of him?
Besides, he’s offering me a way to get to know him better and Levi doesn’t offer chances.
“I can ask for anything?” I poke.
He narrows his eyes. “Ask and I’ll decide.”
“No. You have to agree to anything first.”
“Try again, princess. I don’t agree to something without knowing the consequences. That’s a terrible negotiating method and a sure way to lose before even starting.”
“Make an exception for me.”
“Are you going to ask for other people? Because that’s a resounding fucking no.”
“Aw, man. There goes my chance to have an orgy with Xander, Ronan, and Cole.”
His eyes darken as he grips my hip tighter until it’s almost painful. “You want to have an orgy with those three fuckers?”
When I remain silent, his demeanour stiffens. The anger radiating off him seeps under my skin even though it’s not directed at me. I think.
“What did they do to you last night?”
“Nothing.”
He continues glaring at me.
“I’m kidding, Levi. Jeez.”
“You’re kidding, huh?”
“Totally. As if I would ever want anyone other than you.”
That draws a mischievous smile from him. “Good save.”
I’m really starting to learn the devil’s ways.
“So what do you want to do?” he asks. “One last chance. Otherwise, we go with my naked all-day plan.”
I’m tempted to follow his plan and to hell with it, but something I always wanted to do with him prickles my mind.
“I want a normal date. Maybe a film and the amusement park?”
“That’s it?”
I nod, lowering my head. “I didn’t really date before and I want to experience that.”
“Wait. Go back. Didn’t really? As in you sort of dated?”
“I had some awkward dates in middle school when I was with Mum.”
“Any sorry fucks I should know about?”
“No, you freak,” I laugh. “Are you always this possessive?”
“Only with you, princess.”
I can’t help the heat creeping up my neck and into my cheeks. He has this maddening way of making me blush over the smallest words.
“Don’t even try to compare me to your previous dates.” A shot of possessiveness and jealousy grips me.
“I don’t date.”
“Oh.”
“You’ll be my first.”
I can’t help the stupid grin spreading on my face. “Is that a yes?”
“Not so fast.” He lowers his head until his lips hover a breath from mine. “What do I get in return?”
“What do you want?”
“You in my bed after the date.”
“Does that mean I’m paying for the date with sex?”
He lifts a shoulder, amusement glinting in his eyes. “If you want to look at it that way.”
“That sounds awfully like you’re my sugar daddy.”
“I’ll be your anything as long as you’re mine.”
“What if I change my mind?”
He nibbles on the corner of my lip, drawing a shudder from deep within me. “Too bad. The deal with the devil is a one-way ticket.”
When I toldLevi I wanted to go on a normal date, I certainly didn’t mean for him to terrify me in the amusement park.
I’m sweating and breathing harshly by the time we come down from the rollercoaster ride.
Levi laughs, wrapping his bigger hand around mine.
“That’s not funny!” I nudge him.
“For someone who won a drinking game against our ace drinker, you’re rubbish with thrill rides.”
“Whatever.”
“You should’ve seen your face.” His voice drips with amusement.
I throw him a glare, scowling.
He clutches my cheeks and pulls them so his face is mere inches away from mine. “You’re so fucking adorable when you’re angry.”
“Is that why you ghosted me for two weeks?” The question comes out of nowhere, but that’s probably because it’s been at the back of my mind since I woke up this morning.
I won’t pretend everything is okay after he spent two weeks pretending I wasn’t there.
His expression closes and he lets go of my face. Just when I think he’ll retreat and I’ll have to chase him all over the park, he entwines his hand with mine.
I run in front of him but with his hand holding me hostage, it’s kind of impossible to get far ahead from him.
“Tell me why.” My voice catches. “I have the right to know why you treated me like I didn’t exist.”
He says nothing, continuing to stride ahead.
“Are you going to do it again? Do I have to sit and wait until your switch is on and you turn against me?”
Levi tugs on my hand, bringing me to a screeching halt. “Believe me, princess. That won’t happen again.”
“Why not? If you did it once, what’s going to stop you from doing it again?”
He releases a frustrated sound and continues dragging me along. At first, I think we’re leaving, but he stops in front of the Ferris wheel and gives the man our tickets before he flings me inside.
I fold my arms and sit at the far end from him.
He slides to my side. When I attempt to stand up, he yanks down on my thigh with a strong hand.
A groan of frustration rips from me. “I’m angry at you right now.”
“You can be angry all you want without leaving my side.”
I release an annoyed breath and stare outside as the Ferris starts moving. The more we go up, the smaller the world becomes. People are so minuscule, they’re barely decipherable.
Levi’s hand snakes up the leg of my shorts. I grab and throw it away. “Unless you’re ready to talk, don’t touch me.”
“That’s where you’re wrong, princess.” His hand surrounds my throat. “I touch what’s mine whenever I damn well please.”
“Stop,” I hiss, feeling my walls crumble. “Just stop playing these mind games with me and tell me, Levi.”
His head tilts to the side like it does every time when he’s plotting something — usually trouble.
“Are you still searching into what happened that night?” he asks.
My brows furrow. “How did the conversation go to that?”
“Answer me.”
“I told you I’m not giving up on my justice.” My lips part as I search his face. “Is this what is it about? Did you have something to do with the accident?”
A muscle ticks in his jaw and he focuses on the outside world.
I clutch his face with both my palms, forcing him to look at me. “You… did?”
Oh. God. Please tell me this isn’t true.
I search his pale eyes for any tell, but they’re glassed over. He’s sealing himself inside.
“I was there,” he says calmly. Too calmly.
A sob tears from my throat.
He was there.
Levi watched me being hit.
“But I wasn’t part of the accident.”
“Then you were a part of the ones who chased me like I was an animal?” I ask with stupor.
“No.”
“How the hell am I able to believe anything you say, Levi?” Everything clicks into place and I stare at him as if he’s not real. “This is why you approached me, isn’t it? You didn’t want me to reveal what you and your little band of friends did… wait… were Ronan, Xan, and Cole a part of it? Oh, my God. Of course, they were. Aiden told them to leave me to die, didn’t he?”
“Astrid!” He clutches my shoulders and I realise tears are streaming down my cheeks.
I promised myself that I’d never cry for him, but here I am.
Only, these tears are for myself. For the pathetic fool in me who considered trusting him again.
“For the last time, I’m repeating that I had nothing to do with the accident.”
“How did you feel when you saw me covered in my own blood, King?” I cry. “Did you get off on it?”
“No!” His grip tightens on my shoulder.
“Then why were you so insistent that I drop the case? Why did you make my life hell for it? And don’t lie to me. If you do, I’m erasing you completely. I swear.”
“You’re erasing me, huh?” He fists a handful of my hair in his fist, eyes menacing. “Do you think you can forget me?”