Nerthus “Danny, hi.” I move my hands in my pockets questioningly, opening my jacket with the movement. “What are you doing here?”He shrugs, smiling slightly. “You didn’t come to game with me.”“Oh, sorry, baby. I was so busy with the events that I had to go to with Arawn that I totally forgot.”He nods, shifting on his feet. “It’s okay. That’s why I brought a movie.”“Awesome!” I say, inviting him up with me.“I hope there are a lot of funny scenes in it.”He chuckles as he gets in behind me, following me to the elevator. “Actually, it is full of it.”“Nice!”As his usual bubbly self, he talks non-stop until we are in my apartment.“Just feel at home. You know, as usual!” I snicker and turn around just in time to see him jumping onto the couch.“Sugar or salt?” I ask as he is putting the movie on.“Sugar! Sugar! Sugar!” He says funnily as if he was rapping it.I laugh, putting the corn into my popcorn machine. “Sugar it is.”As I settle into the couch next to him, I feel like wantin
Arawn I’m tapping my fingers nervously against the steering wheel, as I wait for Danny to come out of that woman’s building.I have to admit that I felt my heart exploding in my chest as I figured that Danny was lying to me because he was in her flat. And God did my body react to it when I finally got to hear her voice again.As if it wasn’t bad enough that I had it haunting me night by night, I was now also yearning for it.Also, that stupid cancelation fee for the girl that I had booked for tonight is bugging me beyond measure.Great. Just great!I sigh deeply as I see him finally exiting the building, running towards my car.“Woah!” He shouts as he opens the door to my new Audi. “Is this a R8, bro?”I chuckle, as I push the button to start the engine and watch him get into the car. “Yeah.”“Awesome! I wanna drive it!” He says, still looking around while putting on his seatbelt.The car fills with his perfume mixed with the sweet one of Nerthus, and I groan.You have to be fucking
Arawn I watch Danny walk up the stairs to the front door of his house and disappear into it before I take my phone out. As I don’t really know what to say or to ask, I turn it in my hands for several minutes, before I dial Dario’s number. “Boss, is everything alright?” “Yeah,” I murmur, taking a deep breath. “You didn’t tell me about the night you picked up Nerthus. Is there something I should know?” He doesn’t answer straight away as he is probably weighing out his options. “No, I don’t think so, boss.” What’s with them and their loyalty towards her? Even if I want to be mad at it, it actually has me smiling. “Is there something she asked you not to tell me?” I push again, lighting my cigarette. “Like something that happened that evening?” He clears his throat, my patience running thin. “Yes, boss.” “What is it?” “I didn’t get much of it. But I got a call from Jenna, who asked me to go to the Sin Palace and pick up her friend.” “Jenna called you?” “Yes, apparently Nerthu
Nerthus “Don’t you look absolutely gorgeous?”I giggle as I reach Owen, who is waiting for me outside my alibi building. “Right back to you, Mr.”His smile is more handsome than I remembered as he greets me with a kiss on my cheek. I gasp as he holds open the passenger door of his sporty car and force a smile as it immediately makes me think of Arawn.Damn it.“Wow! Are you driving today? How sexy.” “Thought I would show you that I’m not all about money.”I laugh, as he starts the car. “By taking the Porsche and leaving your golden Lamborghini at home?”“I would act offended,” He grins, shaking his head. “But I actually like your sense of humor very much.”“Oh, thank you.” I smile, leaning my head on my seat to look at him.“So, how was work in your little company in the last few days?”“Very boring, actually. How was the bakery?”I hum, looking out onto the street. “Very sugary.”“Sugary?” He chuckles, and I grin. “That’s all you came up with?”“I’m sorry, I really couldn’t help bu
Nerthus I cringe at the fact that I am more afraid of Arawn getting to know about my date than of Danny making a scene that could embarrass me in front of Owen. “Danny? What are you doing here?” I hiss, as he looks at me wide-eyed. “What am I doing here? What is this bougie doing here?” At least he is so young that Owen will not mistake him for a jealous lover. “What is happening? Who is this?” Owen asks, looking at me confused. “He-” “I’m her husband’s brother,” Danny shouts, causing me to stare at him wide-eyed. Oh God! “Ex! Ex-husband. Danny, what are you doing here?” He lifts his phone for me to see. “I wanted to watch another movie.” Letting my arms slump, I turn around. “I’m so sorry!” Owen forces a smile, shaking his head but I can see how cringe this is. “Danny, take these and go upstairs. We will talk about this.” I hiss, passing him the keys. He takes them reluctantly, walking to the entrance of my building crestfallen. “I’m sorry! I would have invited you ups
Arawn – eleven years ago “Your face tells me that you still didn’t grow your balls back to go get her.” I take a sip of my beer as Jensen slumps into the couch next to me. “Did you at least tell your father?” He asks, and I click my tongue. “How did the talk with your father go, by the way? Did he believe that you didn’t steal the stuff?” He chuckles, shaking his head. “Nah. He beat me to a pulp as soon as I tried to make excuses.” Leaning in, he adds in a whisper, “He is kind of touchy when it comes to his drugs.” “I told you. You should have just admitted it and gotten over with it.” Raising his shirt, he shows me his beat-up sides, now covered in black and blue bruises. “Dude, he was about to kill me. If he knew it for sure, he certainly would have.” I shrug, taking another sip. “It’s not that you wouldn’t have deserved it.” “You are unbelievable. Our good and righteous, Arawn.” He lights his cigarette, propping himself on his knees. “But don’t change the subject. Don’t y
Arawn I take another pull of my cigarette as I stand in the dark room, my void gaze still directed on the partly decapitated body of the man I once called Brother.I might overdid it by strangling him to the extent that I severed his throat even if he was long gone.The rage I felt was exorbitant.Not that killing a family member would be something entirely new to me, but this kind of hurt me.Not that it would matter.Dario finally seems to have gathered enough courage to open the door, having a ray of light falling onto me while I’m leaning against the wall.“Boss, we were just informed that Danny is waiting in the lobby. If you are ready to go…”I hum, tilting my head, not tearing it away from the dead body.“Did you inform the maids?” I ask him, seeing him nod from the corner of my eye. “Perfect.”
Arawn “My mom always had this little box filled with cookies, but my brother got diabetes, so she stopped buying them. I’m alright, so I didn’t get why she wouldn’t buy me a box just for me.” Nerthus laughs, and I admire her as blowing my brains out seems like an amazing perspective. “Danny, eat. You are talking too much.” Danny pouts shortly before he starts digging in. As he eats his pizza, which must be cold already, Nerthus slaps my chest gently. “Let him talk. There is nothing wrong with it. Don’t be mean.” “It’s already past one, he should be in bed already.” I straighten my spine with a groan, taking a sip of my coke. “Come on, I don’t think an evening out will ruin him.” Danny scoffs, munching on a piece of pizza. “Yeah. Like curfews would exist for people like us.” “Again, Danny. They don’t exist for people like me. For you, they exist.” The small restaurant, in which I probably wouldn’t have put a foot in, is actually cozy, and the food wasn’t bad. It would be empt
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