Page 82 of The Never List
“I’ll help, too,” Kal offers. “No wager needed.”
“I don’t know how to thank you both.”
The fact that Kal so readily wants to help shouldn’t surprise me, but it does. I can’t turn off my survival instincts that are questioning everything.
“You don’t have to,” Kal says, running his thumb across the back of my hand, and Axl nods his agreement.
I swallow hard, desperately wanting to get back to more neutral territory. “You know, with a nickname like the Player, I thought it meant you liked to play the field, but it’s more a nod to your wagers and playful attitude, isn’t it?”
Axl grins at me. “Definitely,” he says. “And while Kaland myself and Pierce and Jax are open to sharing you, we’ll only have eyes for you.”
I’ve never experienced such easy communication before, such honesty with needs expressed. “I don’t know what to say…about the wager.”
“One, you earned it, so you don’t have to thank me. I’m sure you know how much I love games like this,” he says, grinning mischievously at me. “Two,” he continues, smoothing his hand over my hip, “I hope you know what you’re asking for.” Hesitation flutters over his strong features. “You may not like what we find.” He eyes Kal with concern.
A lump forms in my throat, but I shove it down. “My parents died on a Never List mission,” I answer as calmly as I can. “I understand what you two might discover.”
“I hate to hear that, kitten,” Axl says, fully enveloping me in an embrace.
Kal gently releases my hand, letting me fully sink into Axl. I inhale his sea-and-salt scent, allowing myself to believe everything will work out in the end.
Too soon, Axl shifts me out of his arms, motioning inside. “The villa is yours,” he says. “Make yourself comfortable. We’ll be back in an hour.”
“Wait, what? You two are goingnow?” I ask, following him and Kal inside the house. Axl slides his feet into a pair of black boots, grabs a black leather jacket—the one with the Legends’ crest embellished on the back, identical to the one they all wear—and slips into it.
“You want answers, and I want to give them to you,” he says, striding over to me and planting me with a toe-curling kiss. He nips my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth for asecond before he pulls away, leaving me completely stunned and buzzing with need. “When I come back, I want you sprawled naked on my bed so Kal and I can have our way with you.”
Kal chuckles where he waits for Axl, shrugging as I arch a brow at him.
I stutter a breath, barely able to form a response before they’re out the door.
I don’t, in fact, get naked and lie around waiting for Axl. Not that the idea isn’t splendid, but my nerves are too shot.
It’s been over three hours, the sun giving way to the moon over the ocean long ago. I tried to eat, tried to browse the books on the shelves surrounding his fireplace, but I can’t concentrate. All I can think is that with Axl and Kal’s digging, they’ll unearth the truth about me and that will be the end.
I graze my fingers along my neck, wondering if they’d let Baydel publicly execute me like he did the supposed demi yesterday. Like they did when demis attempted to start a revolution. A chill skirts along my skin at the image of the Legends looking at me in disgust while Baydel choreographs a dance to the tune of my death—
The front door swings open, and I yelp, shaken by the scenario playing out in my mind.
“Cover up, kitten! We have two more than expected!” Axl calls as if he expects me to be doing as he told me—lying in his bed in wait. “Oh,” he says when he rounds thecorner, finding me tucked on his blue velvet couch, my arms around my knees. “You didn’t listen to me,” he says in a gravelly tone. “Guess I’ll have to punish you later.”
Warm tendrils of relief swirl inside me, not an ounce of fear of whatever punishment he may have—not when he’s looking at me like I’m his favorite treat. My heart lifts to my throat as footsteps sound behind him, and Kal rounds the corner, then Pierce, then Jax.
Kal immediately wraps his arms around me, and I sigh against the touch as he lifts me off my feet, holding me to him.
“Easy,” Axl warns in a playful tone from behind me. “You’ll make me jealous. That’ll be another punishment.”
Heat pools low in my core. Hearing his words while Kal is holding me against him is almost too much to take without whimpering. I manage, and Kal sets me on my feet. I settle back onto the couch, Axl slipping an arm around my shoulders as I lean against him. I eye him curiously before watching Pierce and Jax take up the opposite armchairs closer to the fireplace, with Kal closing me in on my open side.
“Legend meeting?” I ask innocently, my pulse skyrocketing in the presence of all four of them. Axl’s house isn’t as large as Kal’s—it’s cozier, more minimalist—and their powers fill the room so much, it’s hard to breathe. It’s like being outside right before a massive thunderstorm. I can feel the intensity in my bones.
“Sort of,” Axl says, flashing me an apologetic look.
My heart drops to my stomach.
They know. Axl and Kal brought Jax and Pierce here to deal with me. The punishments are real, not some sexyinnuendo.
The power in my blood rises, panic clawing up my spine in a desperate rush to get out.
