Arawn “When did you come back?” Nerthus barges into my office, wearing a cute frown. “A few hours ago. I needed to finish some work before being able to spend my time with you,” I answer, concentrating back on my papers.“Bullshit! You were gone for days, Arawn,” she yells and the corner of my mouth twitches as much as another part of my body does. “You are hiding because you know that you owe me!” God, I missed her fire.I lean back in my chair and smile at her. “Sit.” She scoffs but takes the chair in front of me anyway. “You want my story. You can have it.” I grin at her as I add. “Sure about still wanting to play?” She nods slowly, her eyes glued to mine. “Okay,” I clear my throat, standing up to take my seat in the armchair next to hers. After I sit down, I lean forward to kiss her lips gently, before I put my forearms on the armrests, starting to tell her what she wants to hear. “My mother grew up neglected and abused. Her family was poor but she eventually got addicted
Nerthus“Be mine. Move in with me. Permanently.” My heart skips a beat. “You mean sell my apartment?” He shakes his head with one of his awesome smiles. “You can still keep your apartment. I’m asking you to move in with me to make things a bit more official.” I gulp as his eyes bore into mine. Oh, my. “You know, like an actual couple does from time to time.” He chuckles, making me squint my eyes at him. “Does that mean you will stop acting this bossy towards me?” I ask, wanting to act coldly but he sees right through my act. His smile stretches into a sly grin as he tilts his head at me. “I don’t think so because I know how much you like it. If I were to tell you to climb on my desk, because I want to fuck you on it… You would still comply, right?” My breath hitches in my throat as my most intimate part throbs expectantly. “Absolutely.” *** I surely had sex on all types of surfaces. And tables and desks are always popular, even if few can actually perform adequately on them.
Nerthus “Have you seen this creepy shit?” Danny laughs as I reach him, staring outside agape. He turns around to the jacket-bodyguard, “Elia, what kind of Mafia code is that?”“I don’t know this one,” Elia just shrugs annoyed. I crack up as I halt to stand next to Danny. There are hundreds of gnomes distributed in the grass, facing the house. “This isn’t a Mafia code,” I say, hugging him to my side. “It’s an Ohio code.” Danny looks at me, furrowing his brows. “An Ohio code? What does it mean?” “I love you,” I grin up at him, before admiring the small army of gnomes. “That’s what it means.” He scrunches up his face, scoffing. "You guys are so strange." Tapping his shoulder, I shake him slightly. “Want to go to the beach?” “Yes!” Danny says, sprinting out and through the gnomes to reach the beach. I laugh, watching after him before turning to Elia, who looks at me annoyed. “Concetta just said he wasn’t allowed as he just ate.” Smiling widely, I shrug, walking after him. “I di
Nerthus “How did you find me?” I shrug, scanning the room as we sit in a booth at a bar of the casino. “I’m dating the King, remember?” “I heard the King has long lost the castle as he was exiled,” he scoffs, taking a sip of the amber liquid of the new drink he got himself. Leaning in, I scrunch up my face. “Well, he is back. And we need your help. How much to save a King’s ass?” “Why me?” he asks, gulping. I shrug again, holding his gaze. “You mean business. You are loyal to your highest bidder. No morals, no games. We are ready to pay you any sum to get you onto our side. Also, we go a long way back, don’t we, Mikey?” “Yeah… What tells you that I would take a higher pay from your adversary to betray you?” He scrunches up his face, obviously not liking the pet name. I smile, leaning back. “Like I said. You mean business. And you wouldn’t be that stupid to throw away a nice challenge for a bit of money. Also, as I said, we will double any offer.” “I don’t know,” he says, pin
Nerthus I gulp painfully as I descend a set of stairs to what seems to be a bunker. Even if Arawn’s broad shoulders are perfectly reassuring, I feel a bit lost as we reach what should be Michelangelo’s main operating base. “Ready?” Arawn asks, making me nod. He clears his throat, lifting his hand to pound it against the secured door and a small screen on the right side lights up, showing Michelangelo’s smiling face. “You are late, Your Highness,” he says jokingly, making me chuckle. “Hurry up then,” Arawn growls and a click resounds. I pull my jeans jacket close as a cold wind blows up the stairs just as he opens the door, and we walk into a wide hall where we find Michelangelo, welcoming us with spread arms. “Welcome, it’s this way.” Arawn holds out his hand for me to take, and we follow him through the arched bows of the underground tunnels just as we reach a slightly bigger hall which was dismantled and is now filled with gigantic servers signaling their activity with bli
Nerthus I’m clasping my cup as I stare at the TV spellbound. The news anchor’s voice keeps fading out as I follow the huge letters of the breaking news running along the bottom of the big screen. The news channel switches on to the live feed of Feds coming out of the main offices of the Goldman Group, carrying boxes filled with documents and technical appliances. It took a few days until we saw the first effects rolling out from when the hackers had started working. But when it started showing, I couldn’t get through the day gasping enthusiastically at least once every hour. It was just perfect, and my malicious joy was having a field day. After they got into his systems and could ravage through his files as well as the client records, they planted fake documents perfectly. It didn’t take much longer to have them unfold their destructive potential as they got anonymously leaked to the closest business partners of Goldman, making them believe that they fell for a so-called Ponzi
Danny “Go make yourself an awesome night, please,” Amber looks at me pleadingly, and I lower my gaze to see the many hundred-dollar bills in my hand. My brain cells are already doing some kind of dance to celebrate this, making me miss what she says next, but as I hear Elia respond with a grunt, I know that it wasn’t directed toward me anyway. Just as I’m about to turn towards her again, telling her that I want to watch the game with Arawn, she closes the door in my face, making me jerk back. “Aw, man,” I groan, pushing the crumbled bills into the pocket of my jacket. Elia sighs, laying his hand over my shoulder. “What did you want to do?” “Actually, I wanted to watch the game with Arawn tonight,” I respond, as he steers me to the elevator. Two armed men remain standing at the entrance while we ride down with the third man who was positioned in the apartment to protect Amber. “Sometimes plans get interrupted, but a man always has to be happy when the other gets to change his p
Arawn “And the house in the Hamptons?” I ask while taking a pull from my cigarette. Roger grunts, declining that they got to it. “Michelangelo didn’t find it. He said that he would look into it once again, but he hasn’t called back yet.” I hum, looking back into the bedroom where Nerthus is sleeping peacefully. “But we got the family mansion in Connecticut, and the offices as well as the fancy business tower in the city, Boss. The boys did an awesome job. What should we do next?” he asks, and I let escape the smoke from my mouth. “Go home. And bring the boy home. I will talk to Michelangelo and let you know as soon as possible about what we will do next,” I instruct him. “Yes, Boss,” he says, and I end the call. After finishing my cigarette in peace, I walk back into the penthouse. I would want nothing more than to join Nerthus in bed, wrapping my arm around her to pull her close and breathe in her alluring perfume. But unfortunately, there are still things that have to be ta
Thank you so much, my lovelies for reading, your amazing support and for your patience as I had to take several breaks to finish this one. I hope you loved Nerthus' and Arawn's love story and will be following me for the sequel. XoXo, Shelagh
Lenore Her high-pitched giggles sound like razor blades in my ears as my gaze is fixed on the huge diamond sparkling on her finger. “Well, you will surely understand, right?” Jason asks with a stupid grin as he shoves the hand of his new fiancée under my nose. “We weren’t compatible anyway.” I force up a smile, caressing my arms as I hug myself against the cold. “Of course, you are so cute together.” “Thank you so much,” Gina squeals in her fake happy voice, putting her hand on her chest. “It was so important for me that you would understand.” This scene is so telling. Also, because I’m standing in the open, freezing to death in my cute dress while the snowflakes fall on me, sticking to my hair and melting into my already freezing skin.My best friend and my ex-boyfriend, on the other hand, are standing beneath the roof of the entrance to his house, smiling at me like it’s about to be Christmas.And luckily it is. I gave the best days of my life to this man, my high-school love,
Danny “Is this thing on?” I clear my throat as I tap on the microphone, smiling uncomfortably. “Hey everyone.” The guests are staring up at me and I squirm on my feet as I push out a deep breath. I have never spoken in front of so many people and my throat feels raspy. “As my brother asked me to be his best man, I felt honored, but the first thing I asked him was, ‘Don’t you have any friends?’” A low chuckle goes through the crowd, and I wet my lips with my tongue. “Of course, I know that he has a lot of friends, but he wanted me as his brother to do it. And thank God, Bernie was not too offended about it to help me with the planning of the bachelor party.” “Hear, hear!” Bernard lifts his glass, cheering loudly, getting other guests to join him. I play with my notes, my nervousness increasing as I feel my throat close. “Well, the bachelor party was great. Sorry, Amber, but there were a lot of beautiful girls.” Amber laughs, the diamond pins holding up her hair sparkling in th
Arawn“This is not fair! You can’t treat me like this.” Amanda screams at the top of her lungs, making me close my eyes exhausted.“Well, why don’t you go ahead and sue me?”Her theatrical gasp must cost her so much air that I’m surprised she doesn’t faint.“I hate you!” She screams even louder. “I never want to see you ever again!”So dramatic.It has been quite a while and I still struggle to adjust to this ‘love topic’.All because of that woman.Fifteen years have passed since I asked Nerthus to be my wife, and claimed she just said yes because of her job.I might have her punished for this.But she made me pay severely anyway.“Well, what a shame that you are stuck with me, isn’t it, Amanda?”“I hate you! I hate you!”Groaning, I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You keep repeating yourself. We already figured it out that far, didn’t we, my love?”The shrill scream that she is used to producing during her tantrums risks bursting my eardrums.Well, my fucking fault for thinking I coul
NerthusMy birthday was more than memorable. Especially because after getting proposed to by the love of my life, I got to party my entry into a new life-year with my friends. I drank way too much, fearing I would have spoiled my chance of a tasty breakfast. “I’m out!” I hear Danny shout before the door slams close. Groaning, I fight myself out of bed, desperately needing a cup of coffee. As I reach the kitchen, a strange sensation rises in me. I notice that there is no staff around whatsoever. Not even the usual bodyguard is scurrying around my feet and I guess that Danny left with Goldie to go to the dog school, making the house awfully silent. I tie my morning gown tighter around my waist, concentrating on refilling the water tank of my coffee machine. My heart drops as I hear footsteps nearing, but I don’t turn around. Pressing the button to get the coffee to start flowing, I ignore my body shivering in anticipation as Arawn puts his hands on the counter, caging me in. “I
Nerthus - Six months later I take a sip of my coffee, hugging my denim jacket closer as I watch the children run around the statue of Alice in Wonderland. Thinking about how my life has changed in the last year, I nearly can’t believe my luck and I push down the urge to ask myself how I deserved this kind of life. So many things have happened in these six months and it is just crazy how I’m just living my days with a partner in crime, an adopted boy and a stolen dog. As they had liquidated my uncle’s and aunt’s assets, and as they couldn’t get hold of my cousin, I got nominated as their heir. First, I didn’t want to have nothing to do with it, but with Arawn’s and Danny’s support, I got to the house where I lived before I came to New York and we searched for something that I would want to keep before he arranged for the clean-up and the sale of the house. Naturally, I didn’t want to keep anything. But as we searched the house, Danny found a hidden safe where there were various docu
Nerthus It takes my lungs a few seconds to fill with enough air to push out a horrified scream. But it actually feels like it takes an eternity. Lizzy looks at us with a blank look before she sinks to the floor, collapsing in her own pool of blood. Arawn steps towards her with his gun still pointed and picks her gun up. “Are you alright?” he asks in our direction as he pushes the gun into the belt in the back of his pants. Danny nods, exhaling a deep breath, and I loop my arm around his, hugging him closer. “Let’s sit down. Shall we?” He slumps to the ground nearly immediately, tearing me with him. Nodding once again, he lets his shoulders slump and I turn my head to watch Arawn crouch down before me. Cupping my chin gently, he turns my head to inspect my face. “The ambulance is already on its way. I called Detective Ramirez. Are you feeling well enough to wait for them? Or shall I drive you to the ER?” “I’m fine,” I say, my voice nearly failing me as sobs rise in my throat.
Nerthus The first thing I feel as I wake up is the cold surface I’m lying on. Turning my head to the side, I wait for my sight to focus while I notice that I can’t move. I seem to be constricted by ropes that are tying me to the table and I suddenly feel like I can’t breathe. My clothes are missing, my body shaking as I’m only dressed in my lingerie and I dread the moment when we will find out why we are in this shitty situation. My panic is crushing my throat, my breathing getting heavy as I try to pull at the ropes constricting me on the shiny surface. Checking the room, I see Danny lying next to me. He is bound to a table as well but seems to be still knocked out, and for a moment, I’m glad as I couldn’t take his desperation which would be adding to my panic. The gas must have been inducted into the room on purpose to knock us out and I fight hard not to faint at the thought. I groan, turning my head to the other side as I hope it will reduce the pulsating pain in my skull.
Nerthus “Get him off me!” I scream pushing the dead body from me but failing miserably. Danny scurries around him a few times before he decides on what to do and how to get hold of the body the best way. With a groan, he pushes him off me, making me take a deep breath. “Oh, my God.” He remains standing, staring at the dead man with a void look while I drag myself over the ground to get to the gun he had kicked out of my hand. “Are you alright?” I ask as I sit up with a pained groan, and Danny nods. Laying the gun into my lap, I massage my hand as I take another deep breath. “I think he might broke my hand too.” Sighing, I look up while I let my shoulders slump. I watch Danny while my desperation still streams through me, and I can’t seem to be able to push it down. I know exactly that there is more where he came from. Danny has his gaze still directed to the dead man, his look is flowing into the void, and I gulp as I think about how I must get him out of this dark place as s