The War of Gods (A Welcome to the Underworld Novel, Book 3)

by Con Template

  Feeling quite impatient, Yoori playfully jumped onto the soft bed, crawled on the mattress, and comfortably sat on his lower back, reveling in the feel of Tae Hyun sleeping beneath her.

  “Kwon Tae Hyun,” she prompted quietly, leaning across his back. She purposely brushed her lips against his ear, loving the scent of his cologne enrapturing her senses.

  Unable to resist the tempting proximity of his skin, Yoori began to bestow doting kisses along the line of his strong jaw. He stirred underneath her, clearly enjoying the feel of her spoiling him with affection. Yet, he still wouldn’t open his eyes.

  By now, Yoori had a good hunch that he was already awake and was just messing with her.

  “Hey you duck-loving Snob,” she whispered in a low, sexy voice. “Hurry and wake up before I give you the same treatment I gave that duck in the park.”

  At first, she wasn’t certain if Tae Hyun would find this tone of voice to be sexy. Once she felt him exhale a breath in bliss, she knew he was very much a fan of the teasing voice. Though a smile lined his lips, his eyes were still shut tight.

  Okay, this was getting ridiculous, Yoori thought impatiently, hating that he was ignoring her when she was making such an effort to wake him up so they could enjoy their day.

  “Hey! Boss Kwon!” she griped loudly, playfully biting his earlobe. “If you don’t wake up soon, I’m going to kick you so hard, I’ll have you wishing you woke up faster—Ah!”

  Next thing she knew, her back was thrown against the cushion of the bed. Tae Hyun was suddenly on top of her, his eyes still closed yet his lips very busy as he dove straight for her neck and nuzzled himself there.

  “Tae Hyun, stop! Ahhh, it tickles!” Yoori cried once his tongue peeked out.

  Without mercy, his mouth began to suckle on the sensitive skin there. There was lazy sensuality to the affection Tae Hyun’s talented mouth showed her. It made her burn, both in bliss and laughter. Because in adjunction to seducing her, he was also purposely nuzzling himself in the ticklish area that he knew would have her squirming around in laughter. It had been a while since she laughed like that and it was a euphoric feeling.

  “Bad girl,” he purred seconds later. He easily controlled her squirming by pinning his body onto hers. He did not put all his weight on her, but he did put enough to allow Yoori to feel each and every part of him. And boy did she like feeling all those parts.

  Eyes still closed, his tongue traced the column of her neck before moving to her mouth. He began to nip her bottom lip. He kissed her leisurely and passionately, acting like he had the rest of the lazy eternities to do this. It left her breathless when he alternated between filling her lips with paradise and speaking to her.

  “You know I don’t respond well to threats, and you actually threaten me?”

  “You were awake and ignoring me,” Yoori argued, holding back her stupid, girlish whimpers from all the joy she was getting from the sexy beast himself.

  “And you called me ‘Boss’ too,” he added with amusement. “Do you know what that does to a guy when he’s in bed with his girlfriend?”

  “What does it do to a guy?” she humored, liking very much how their morning was starting out.

  His lids lifted, and Yoori was graced with the translucent eyes that held promises of sinful pleasures and divine paradise. Yoori had to gasp for breath. He was already melting her like butter on toast.

  “Breaks him.”

  “Breaks him?”

  Tae Hyun nodded, languidly pulling his lips away. He stared down at her, ardor flicking in his captive gaze. “It makes Kings fall from their thrones; it causes them to dismiss the realities of life when all they want to do is lay naked above their woman, revel in the feel of her nails clawing their skin as she screams in the most climatic of ecstasies.”

  Whoa, Yoori thought candidly, her big brown eyes widening as said images popped into her mind.

  “What a dangerous power for a man to give to any woman, right, my little prude?” Tae Hyun asked, his eyes sparkling at the sight of her eyes widening. He could see she was playing out the images he placed in her head. He was well aware of the power he had over her, and being as considerate as he was, he relinquished that power by bringing them on to a more serious topic. Concern materialized in his eyes. “You’re different today,” he noted with a tentative voice. “Are you actually feeling better or am I dreaming all of this up because I want you to be better?”

  Still reeling from the naughty images that played like a movie in her mind, Yoori nodded.

  “I decided that I deserve to be happy,” she told him honestly. “I’ve been a loser-face for cooping us up in misery when we don’t deserve any of it. I don’t want to be unhappy any longer, especially for things I have no control over.”

  Tae Hyun nodded, his expression relieved that she finally understood this.

  Elated and reminded of all that he had done for her, she teasingly pecked her nose with his.

  “Thank you for being by my side, Kwon,” she told him affectionately. She meant every word. “It would’ve sucked to go through this alone. I couldn’t have done it without you.”

  A smile of profound contentment glowed on his angelic face.

  “Anytime, Choi,” he told her simply, yet she knew his emotions were more complex than those simple words. She could feel the happiness exude out of him, radiate into her, and she knew he was dying from happiness that she was finally smiling and becoming her old self again.

  “Damn, I’ve missed your spunkiness,” he told her, steering the topic along to more carefree things. His full body weight fell on top of her in some sort of relief. He exhaled dramatically. “We have been getting along so well that I was wondering if the immature couple in us had left already.”

  Yoori laughed inwardly. Outwardly, she feigned a menacing glare.

  “You love ducks, and I hate ducks. I think it’s safe to say that we’d never truly get along,” she uttered, thoroughly enjoying the feel of his body draped over hers like a mouthwatering blanket.

  Sadly, the supply of air was becoming an issue. Yoori was conflicted on what she should do. Should she tell him to get off or keep the sensual heat going by being aggressive? It would make sense for Yoori to gather some common sense to pull down the obtrusive blue pajama pants he wore and further enjoy the feel of his body draped over hers. She really wanted to do that since she would like nothing more than to run her fingers over his entire body. Alas, enjoying the sight of his nakedness would be a bit useless if she died from suffocation. Though it wasn’t a popular decision, she made the rational choice.

  “Now get off me, piggy!” she cried, smacking his back. She wiggled her legs beneath him. “You’re so heavy! I can’t breathe!”

  The name-calling was irony at its best. There wasn’t an ounce of fat on Tae Hyun’s toned and muscular body. Everything was rock hard and immersed with tempting heat. Any other girl would probably kill to die under Tae Hyun’s half naked body, but being seduced by sex gods aside, Yoori couldn’t be distracted because she still had to let him know about the itinerary she planned for them. More importantly, she needed to breathe.

  Thinking she was just being a tease, Tae Hyun proceeded to steal her breath some more by brushing his lips with hers, kissing her with deliberate and sensuous passion. Though she was fighting for air, Yoori fell victim to those irresistible lips and kissed him while she squirmed beneath him. She kissed until she couldn’t take it anymore. She pulled away from the kiss and panted for air.

  “Hurry!” she shouted dramatically, knowing exactly what to say to get him off of her. “You’re squishing my boobs!”

  “Oh fuck! Fuck!” he shouted, horrified with himself that he could forget for a moment how small she was under him.

  Like a launching rocket, he freed her from beneath him and jumped off the bed. There was an expression of worry on his handsome face that she might have gotten hurt in his bout of teasing. He stood up and gaped at her. She could literally hear Tae Hyun berate himself
for losing control and allowing the majority of his weight to fall upon her.

  Yoori sat up with the biggest grin. The adorable concern on his face melted her heart. Here was a renowned King, who was feared all throughout the Underworld, and he was worried about possibly squishing her boobs? The irony was too much for her. Yoori burst out laughing. She pointed at Tae Hyun, who now had a disgruntled expression on his face.

  “Look at your face!” she said in between laughs. “You really thought you squished my boobs!”

  It was definitely immature of her to laugh, and Tae Hyun was the first one to put her in her place.

  “The lack of air must’ve gone to your head because you look like a perky fool right now.”

  Yoori instantly stopped laughing and gave bitter slits to Tae Hyun.

  Yes, all was well in their world if the former boss and assistant were bickering about nonsensical crap again.

  Yoori cleared her throat, getting back on to more important topics. It was time to let him know about her plan.

  “We’re going to be a normal couple today, Tae Hyun.”

  His face gleamed with curiosity. “What do you mean?”

  She smiled, lifting her chin up with pride while the contents of her “dream day” played out in her mind.

  “Today, you’re going to take me out . . . maybe to a park or something, and you’re going to buy me my favorite ice cream. We’re going to sit on that park bench, amongst the sea of all the normal people in this city, and we’ll simply enjoy ourselves. Maybe even kiss if you don’t make me mad. We can probably even nap on the grass for most of the day because the weather is really nice today and I want to take a nap on your stomach.”

  His lips tilted in smug amusement, and Yoori could’ve sworn she saw his abs tighten in pride. Folding his arms across his chest, he gave her a look that said, “Stop gawking and finish what you’re saying.”

  Blushing with her chin held high, she resumed with reciting her list. “Then after that, we’re going to go to a really fancy restaurant. You’ll pull my chair out for me, and we’ll eat, laugh, and probably argue about stupid things that are never worth arguing about to begin with. But we’ll have a great time regardless because we’re tight like that. After which, you’ll buy me ice cream again, and we’ll take a walk around the city at night, enjoy the cool air, and just hold hands because we’re cute like that.”

  He held back a smile at this.

  “Then, we’ll hang out with Chae Young, Hae Jin, and the brothers because I miss hanging out with everyone as a group. After that, you and I can come home and maybe have more fun by ourselves.”

  Yoori hoped that Tae Hyun would be clever enough to pick up the subtlety of her last sentence. While deciding in the bathroom that she deserved to be happy, Yoori also decided that she was ready to “get more intimate” with Tae Hyun. The sexual tension between them was becoming unbearable, and Yoori could no longer deal with being a prude. It was becoming more difficult to resist when sex pretty much radiated from Tae Hyun.

  They would “do it” after their normal day—that was if the guy would make this prospect easier by catching her hint!

  Instead of catching her insinuation, there was actually a bored expression on his face that told her he wasn’t really interested in doing those silly things with her.

  “Hanging out with my sister, Chae Young, and the brothers is fine. But what makes you think I’d be cooperative and do anything else with you?”

  Though the content of his words were dismissive, the tone he delivered already told her that he was more than willing to do whatever she wanted to do. He just wanted to present a challenge for her so she didn’t think she had so much power over him.

  Yoori grinned inwardly, humoring him.

  “Fine, you don’t have to,” she replied with a bored sigh. She shrugged her indifference. “I’m sure I could find another guy to fill in for you. He could hang out with me, eat ice cream with me, hold hands with me, and cuddle with me.”

  Outrage fluttered like flames in his eyes.

  “Who the hell are you going to find?” he asked, enraged at the thought of Yoori walking around the city with another guy.

  Yoori concealed a sneaky grin as she continued to speak in a careless tone. “Oh, you know . . . I have so many options. When I was working at the diner, I had so manyguys hit on me it was crazy. All I have to do is snap my fingers and I’m sure a line of them will appear, ready and willing to woo me—”

  “I’d kill any bastard who dares to touch you,” Tae Hyun snapped, the muscles in his body rippling with tenseness. The sight of this caused the breath to stall in her lungs. How the hell was it possible that she hadn’t slept with the guy yet? He was built to give women pleasure.

  “Possessive much?” she teased, swallowing tightly to regulate her breathing. Damn. She was tempted to abort the whole “be a normal couple and make normal memories” plan and bond with him in bed instead.

  “Just jealous,” Tae Hyun corrected tightly, throwing Yoori off with his candidness.

  Yoori gaped at him like she had just heard the Pope curse. Kwon Tae Hyun admitting that he was jealous was something that Yoori never thought she’d hear. And goddamn, she loved hearing it.

  He forged on, unaffected by the surprised look on her face. He was strong as ever, even as he admitted his weakness. “It is a rarity for any other guys to evoke any jealousy from me, but it took me a little over an eternity to convince you to be my girlfriend. I’ll be damned if I let some other bastard hold hands with you or cuddle with you.”

  Yoori grinned teasingly, her heart elated at her boyfriend’s admittance to a weakness and how prideful he continued to look even after admitting it. “Does that mean you’ll be my date today then?”

  There was more to what she was leading on in terms of what she wanted to do with him. She thought it was best to only tell him after she made him jealous about her non-existent suitors.

  Knowing her too well, Tae Hyun arched a suspicious brow. “What are you up to, Nemo?”

  Yoori beamed, reaching underneath her pillow and whipping out silver handcuffs that were once in the drawer. She shook it suggestively, naughtiness contrasting the innocence in her doe-like eyes.

  “Let’s have some fun.”

  Any other alpha male would have been thrilled at the sight of handcuffs. In Tae Hyun’s case, his latest experience with them prohibited any arousal that would’ve worked its way through his body. Unenthused and actually somewhat cautious, Tae Hyun’s eyes morphed into hard slits. He knew her too well to fall for any tricks.

  “You suck at life so I know I can’t get my hopes up. Whatever it is we’re doing, I’m sure it doesn’t involve me handcuffing you to the bed while ripping all your clothes off. So tell me, my little prude, why are you smiling like that, and what are we doing with the handcuffs?”

  ■ ■ ■

  “Is all of this still necessary?” Tae Hyun sullenly asked later that night.

  They were walking on the busy winter street, and he was freezing under his long black trench coat. Tae Hyun shivered while one hand held his cookies and cream ice cream cone and the other held Yoori’s hand. Their wrists winked with silver under the city light. They were handcuffed to one another while they dawdled down the sidewalk.

  Dressed in a long white coat with white furry earmuffs to shield her from the cold, Yoori smiled sheepishly at Tae Hyun. She squeezed his hand for encouragement while licking her own ice cream cone. In the background, cars, people, and bicyclists whizzed past them in the hectic night.

  For the majority of the day, much to Yoori’s delight, the itinerary she mapped out had gone exactly as planned. Though Tae Hyun was a relatively good sport all day, he was becoming quite unruly as the night lingered on. He didn’t complain much while they were eating ice cream in the afternoon, but now that dinner was over, he was becoming bitter that he still had to eat ice cream in the cold. He was also seemingly bitter that they were still handcuffed together while they shook un
der the mercy of the winter cold.

  It surprised Yoori that he hated the cuffs so much. She brought out the cuffs because she wanted to reminisce with him about the good old days, which ironically didn’t appear like good old days to her when she was living through it. Who would’ve thought their boss and assistant days were some of her most favorite memories? The reminder of the “innocence” of those days brought a genuine smile to her face.

  Such a happy moment was polluted when someone said:

  “Give me your watch and no one gets hurt.”

  What the fuck?

  Yoori came out of her reverie in disbelief. She stared at the young teenager before her, shock hitting her at full force.

  He looked like he was about seventeen. He wore a red beanie and had a baby-like face that reminded her of Kang Min. He was standing in front of them, wearing a big black coat with a gun pointed at them—or more specifically Tae Hyun, who was still holding his ice cream in indignation.

  It took her a few moments to realize that they were being held up at gunpoint.

  It took Tae Hyun a few moments longer to realize the same.

  “Are you deaf?” the guy said irritably. His chapped lips shuddered in the cold. He gestured his black gun at the expensive Rolex blinging off Tae Hyun’s wrist. It glimmered under the city lights, letting everyone know just how spectacular it was. “Give me your watch or I’ll shoot!”

  Tae Hyun looked dumbfounded and then seconds later, annoyed.

  He looked at Yoori, his eyes outraged that he had been reduced to this state in life. She could only imagine how insulting it was for the King of the Underworld to be held at gunpoint by some teenage street thug.

  “Is this really fucking happening?” he breathed out to Yoori, clearly unable to grasp his embarrassing reality.