Page 14
“Stop the car,” I demanded. “Turn around!” But no one answered.
The city slid past the windows in streaks of white and gold, streetlights blurring together as we drove deeper into the night. My resistance faltered in uneven bursts, exhaustion creeping in where adrenaline had been. My breathing came too fast, too shallow. At some point, my fists slowed and then stopped.
Viking shifted slightly, not loosening his hold, just adjusting enough that my back was fully against his chest. His hand spread over my ribs, steady and grounding in a way that made my anger twist into something more complicated. I hated that part most of all.
The quiet stretched, there was only the hum of the engine, the rhythm of the road. His breathing even and controlled behind me, like none of this rattled him the way it shattered me. Eventually, I sagged, forehead tipping forward as the fight drained out of me. My chest still felt tight, but the screaming urge to escape dulled into a heavy, hollow ache.
No amount of logic was going to undo what had already been done. I didn’t know where we were going. I didn’t know how I was supposed to get away from a man who could overpower me without effort. All I knew was that the city I recognized was slipping behind us, and whatever waited ahead felt permanent in a way that made my stomach drop.
Viking’s chin dipped briefly, resting against the top of my head. “You’re safe,” he said quietly.
I didn’t answer, because I didn’t know whether that terrified me more than the alternative. The mansion loomed out of the dark like something unreal, tall and silent. When he finally set me down inside, my legs nearly buckled.
“This ends now,” I said, voice shaking but defiant. “You don’t own me.”
Viking crouched in front of me, eyes level with mine, fire barely leashed. “You think this is about ownership?” he said quietly. “This is about survival, yours. and now, mine.”
I crossed my arms, heart still racing. “I’m not staying.”
His gaze softened just enough to be dangerous. “You are,” he added, like that was supposed to help. “Until it’s safe. Until I deal with what’s coming.”
“And if I say no?”
His jaw tightened. “Then we argue until you come to your senses.”
Despite myself, a sharp laugh broke free. “You’re impossible.”
“Yes,” he agreed. “But I protect what’s mine.”
I hated how my chest tightened at that. I hated that even now, even furious and terrified and then furious all over again, some part of me had already stopped pretending this was something I could outrun. I could feel the truth settling in, heavy and unyielding, like gravity finally asserting itself. Running from him wasn’t an option anymore.
Not when he could catch me in two steps without even breaking stride. Not when escape wasn’t just about distance, but about will. And mine was already fraying at the edges. Not when my body still remembered his arms with a traitorous clarity. The way they’d held me firm without hurting me. The way his presence had wrapped around me like something solid in a world that had suddenly gone unstable.
I pressed my lips together, staring at his shirt, trying to anchor myself to logic, to reason, to the version of my life that had existed only hours ago, but that life was already gone.
The flat with the creaky floors, the quiet mornings, the safe, boring predictability I’d complained about but relied on. It all felt like it belonged to someone else now, like a memory I’d borrowed instead of lived. Whatever waited ahead of us felt just as dangerous as the man beside me. Unknown, unforgiving, permanent in a way that made my stomach twist.
And the worst part is that somewhere beneath the fear, beneath the anger and disbelief, there was a pulse of something else entirely. There was deep sense of recognition, like my world hadn’t ended so much as cracked open, and no matter how hard I fought it, I was already standing on the other side of it.
“What now?” I asked quietly.
The question felt heavier than it should have, like I was asking more than just what came next, like I was asking what this meant, what he meant. Viking didn’t answer right away, he took my hand instead.
Just closed his fingers around mine and turned, leading me down a long corridor that swallowed sound and light the farther we went. I was aware of Draugr behind us, his presence unmistakable, but Viking didn’t look back, he didn’t slow, didn’t acknowledge him at all. Whatever passed between the brothers happened without words.
A door opened and then closed. The room beyond was vast and dark, lit low and warm. Stone walls and heavy wood. A massive bed dressed in black and charcoal linens that looked untouched, like it had been waiting. Floor-to-ceiling windows stared out into the night, curtains drawn just enough to let the city glow bleed in.
It felt… intentional, controlled like everything about this place had been chosen with purpose. Viking turned, the look in his eyes stole the breath straight out of my lungs. He crossed the room in two strides and pulled me into him, one hand cradling the back of my head as his mouth crashed down on mine. The kiss was blistering, all heat and hunger and restraint snapping at once. I forgot where I was, forgot why I should stop, forgot every reason I’d had to fight him.
My fingers fisted in his shirt.
“God, you’re beautiful,” he murmured against my mouth. “Do you have any idea what you do to me?”
I should have said no. Instead, my pulse answered for me. His hands moved with devastating confidence, peeling away my clothes like he’d memorized how I was put together. The speed of it left me breathless, heart pounding as cool air kissed skin that still burned from his touch.
“This,” he said softly, reverently, as if I were something sacred. “All of this.” My thoughts fractured. This was wrong I knew it was, this was madness, I had been taken here, swept up, overwhelmed. This was basically kidnapping. I should stop this, I should push him away, but my heart wasn’t listening, my body wasn’t listening.
And standing there with him, the world I’d known already gone, I made a decision that felt reckless and inevitable all at once. I would worry about everything tomorrow because tonight I was done fighting for what I wanted.
