The Two Kings (Afterlife Saga)

by Hudson, Stephanie

  As much as I love seeing Draven, this was one moment when I just wanted to walk away. The windows were tinted as black as the body was but that soon wasn’t going to be enough to conceal the car’s owner. The driver’s side door open upwards giving the car the appearance of having wings...which was very befitting to Draven’s character. He unfolded his body in a surprisingly graceful way considering his size. The little crowd gasped and it now gave something for the girls to gawk at in awe.

  He straightened his frame to reveal grey denim covered legs, a tight black T-shirt underneath the world’s sexiest jacket. It was maroon colored leather that fitted him like liquid skin. It molded to his perfect structure in the style of a biker.

  Round the neck was a thin collar that curved down with the zip that was off to one side and the whole jacket was framed with a tan colored piping. The sight of his arms made me gulp down the feelings that his body was causing to my own. The leather strained over his biceps and just before the crease in his elbow was a thick line of piped maroon leather that went the other way round his arm like a band. The material went low down his arms and flared out at his wrists thanks to the zips that were loose at his forearms. Oh my God, he looked sexy! I was close to hyperventilating, that is, along with every other female that was also having improper thoughts about my boyfriend.

  Most striking of all was the face. Set in a honey colored stone of flawless skin was the deepest, darkest eyes anyone had ever witnessed. A strong jaw flexed when our eyes met and I knew he was angry. Draven did broody better than anyone I knew and now was no exception. I knew this was coming and that was evident while I sat un-nerved by the two hours of body mutilation without flinching. Killer Robots from space had nothing on Draven’s wrath!

  Draven only took a few steps before he reached us, with his long muscular legs a few strides was all it took. As habit, one look from the owner of the prestigious nightclub Afterlife, the crowd dispersed and avoided his unhappy gaze. I wished I could have joined them. Meanwhile, Hilary had pushed in front of RJ so that she was next in line for when his look returned.

  “Dominic, what a surprise, Kizzy Cat didn’t say you were meeting us.” The nickname I loathed made its way past her lips having an effect on me like barbed wire across a blackboard. I even winced, which Draven didn’t miss. He never did.

  “I am here to pick up Keira, We have a date...don’t we?” After emphasizing my correct name, he made it very clear this was an order not a request, that I was to agree too. I first had to clear my throat before answering.

  “Umm, Ye...yes, I guess we do.” I couldn’t help speaking unsurely and this softened Draven’s features slightly.

  “Oh, well I guess you want to get as many dates in before she leaves you!” Hilary’s acid tongue whipped out and I wanted to growl but Draven beat me too it. Everyone looked shocked and Jack took a cautious step closer to me. Draven didn’t like this one little bit.

  I decided to try and defuse the situation before a real life reconstruction of the movie we just saw was to happen. I took a step closer to Draven and looked up at him with big sloppy eyes that hopefully resembled a puppy. I just hoped he liked puppies.

  “Hilary, you know I haven’t yet decided anything about Christmas, I told you that earlier.” Although I was speaking to my cousin this was really aimed at Draven. I didn’t really give two hoots about what my cousin thought, but hell if she was going to use me to get closer to my man then I would do the same.

  “And remember you saying that it would be nice if my parents were to finally meet my boyfriend and how Christmas would be the ideal opportunity?” I said smoothly which was amazing considering what a bad liar I was. Of course Draven would know this was lies but the others didn’t.

  “Hey RJ, we gotta get going if we’re going to meet the rest of the gang but hey Kaz we will probably catch you later, at the club.” Jack commented while edging his sister away who hadn’t yet spoken a word. She was still staring at Draven like a starving wolf would to a giant T-bone.

  “That’s cool, I will see you later, but is it alright to give Hilary a lift home?” I said.

  “It’s ok, why doesn’t Dominic give me a ride and you go with Jack?” Hilary said shamelessly flicking her hair back and I wasn’t the only one that looked utterly shocked. I turned to Jack and saw his face had numerous more lines, which looked out of place on Jack’s “happy go lucky” features. He was looking at Hilary as though he was seeing her for the first time and he didn’t like what he saw there. I couldn’t help but feel for him, I mean there was a small part of me that wanted to scream out “I told you so” but I was not the type that would have ever followed through with that impulse. It just made me hate her even more! She could hurt me all she wanted, I was close to being immune, but not Jack. Not my friend.

  I was fuming but in the end it was Draven that cut her down into pieces and finally put her in her place. He leaned into her and lowered his head slightly to get to her ear. I was next to him so I heard every sharp edge to his words.

  “It is only Keira that I want and I will take her now. I suggest you leave, while you still have the kindness of others that are prepared to put up with you. I doubt your degrading act will hold much longer!” She had been holding her breath in the hopes of something else a close proximity could mean but she was oh so wrong. I couldn’t help but try and hide the biggest grin I had ever felt.

  For the first time since we were young children, Hilary looked like she wanted to cry and for the first time I couldn’t find any sympathy for the emotion. She deserved far worse and I think way down, on some deeply buried level, she knew it too. She huffed once and turned away to follow Jack and his sister to his truck. I couldn’t help but notice an action that looked like she was wiping a tear from her face, which stopped me smiling.

  “Keira, get in the car please!” Draven’s cool tone was direct and precise. It made me shudder. I turned round to realize he was no longer next to me but by the car door waiting. I was torn between giving in or making a run for it.

  “I wouldn’t even try....if you please.” He finished by nodding to the low bucket seat.

  “Fine!” I surrendered and stormed over to the curb. I felt like I was bending over to such a degree that I was about to sit on the floor. It was the lowest car I had ever been in and no doubt the most expensive. I think if Draven ever sold his car collection he could have bought Brazil with the funds received.

  I jumped at the sound of the door slamming home and thought he had closed it with a little too much force for such an expensive car. I watched as he walked slowing around to the driver’s side which reminded me of home as it was on the UK side. He slid into the seat that was positioned further back than my own, allowing for his impressive leg span. He didn’t just start up the beast and let us go roaring off like I thought he would. He just sat there and lowered his head like he was trying to find the best way of dealing with this.

  “Draven I...”

  “Do you want to leave me?” He blurted out like he could no longer contain it. Almost like the idea of that question was burning a hole in his chest and he had to, no more like... needed too, stop the pain it caused. It was the first time I had ever seen Draven seem desperate.

  “NO! I don’t want to leave you!” I said forcefully. His head whipped round to look at me and once he read my truthful eyes his shoulders relaxed. It was only then that I took notice of the rest of his body. His hands had fisted around the steering wheel and the leather around his arms groaned under the strain. These all eased as he studied my face.

  “Right...right.” He said twice to himself before starting the car that started to vibrate around me in anticipation.

  “Then you will not leave!” He said like it was final and the conversation was now over, which it so wasn’t.

  “Draven you can’t just say that, I...”

  “And why not? You do not want to leave me and therefore you are not going anywhere.” He said in a fairly controlled manner.

 
; “I have other commitments, I can’t just...”

  “You can and you WILL, that is final Keira!” He interrupted again and it was starting to get on my last nerve. This time he didn’t wait for a response and pulled the car out with the speed and maneuvering of a formula one driver. It did briefly make me wonder if he owned one of those as well.

  “We are going to talk about this,” I said trying to keep calm but with the speed he was doing I kind of felt like I was having an argument on a rollercoaster.

  “No, we are not!” He said simply and I felt like I was being told off by a parent.

  “Fine!” I said folding my arms like the child I felt. He took this the wrong way.

  “I am glad you see things my way for once, it is for the best.”

  “Draven you mistake me, I said fine because if we are not going to discuss it then I will end up leaving and you will not know why, but that will be through your doing, not mine!” I snapped at him causing his reactions to filter through to the Ferrari.

  He sped up before applying the brakes and turning the wheel so as the car screeched across the road and snapped around facing the other way. I screamed out which he ignored and my hands flew out to brace myself on the dash and window as we continued spinning. It was like watching life in slow motion and I wondered if this is what happened to people in car accidents.

  Did they have that moment when they waited for impact or did it just happen in the seconds time gave us. I found myself waiting for something but I wasn’t sure what. All I knew was when I opened my eyes that the car was now on the other side and we were hammering it down the, thankfully, empty road.

  “Draven pull over.” I said surprisingly calm.

  “What?”

  “Pull over NOW!” I shouted giving calm the boot! I was glad that he didn’t argue. We carried on until the road widened for us to pull over but even in those few minutes I hadn’t regained any cool. He stopped the car and after undoing my seatbelt I tried to find the handle...unsuccessfully.

  “Where the hell is this bloody thing?” I waved my hands around in frustration as I lost the last shred of sanity. The door opened without being touched. I nearly fell out in my haste and my legs wobbled like jelly thanks to Draven’s stunt driving. I used the car to steady myself until I ran out of frame and then I started walking, ok so more like stomping.

  “Keira! Keira stop!” Draven shouted after me but he seemed to have his hands around me in the nanoseconds before his words hit me. I turned around and pushed him as hard as I could. Of course it didn’t cause his body to react to the pressure but he did stop trying to touch me.

  “You Idiot! How dare you scare me like that! I will never get in the car with you ever again if that is how you are going to drive! Do you understand me?” I was screaming at him and if anyone were to drive past and see this, I had no doubt that it would probably find its way onto the front page of the town’s newspaper.

  Draven looked guilty as hell for scaring me and when he tried to touch me again I moved back.

  “Don’t!” I threw at him. He looked hurt but damn it, he deserved it!

  “Keira, I am sorry for scaring you, but you have to know, no harm would have come to you”

  “Oh right, Mr. Immortal! Look, you maybe indestructible but I am not, let’s try and remember this fact alright because the next time you want to drive like you’re in a drag race I will be happy to stand on the sidelines and watch and survive. You get me?”

  “You are so angry.” He stated like this was some sort of shock.

  “You’re God damn right I am angry!” He frowned at my reference to God but I just said his name in warning and his brows smoothed.

  “I understand and once again, I am sorry.” He said in earnest and he tilted his head to catch my eyes that he found watering. I couldn’t help it, I wasn’t exactly crying but I was on the verge. I hated confrontation but when I was this angry I found it difficult to come back down from boiling point. My fists clenched and I gathered this was something we had in common.

  “Would you like to hit me?” He asked me with no humor in his voice. Was he serious? I looked up at him and he nodded towards my clenched fists.

  “What? No!” I said.

  “You look like you do. It’s alright, I don’t mind, besides it may make you feel better. I could show you how, without hurting yourself.” He was deadly serious and I almost burst out laughing.

  “Draven, I’m not going to hit you.”

  “You hit me once before, remember?” He now had the slightest of smirks and I knew why.

  “Yes and if I remember correctly we had sex soon after.” Now he wore a full bad arse smile. He also took a step closer towards me making my heart rate hitch up a notch.

  “A perk on my part, but I am willing to sacrifice myself to the cause, I can assure you. I will let you beat me down if you will but only forgive me. It was an inexcusable mistake on my part and one that will not happen again.” A man like Draven was not the type to make a habit of apologizing so when it happened you do not take it lightly. Besides, who could not respond to such an apology.

  I looked down, which he didn’t like. He hooked a finger under my chin and applied a little pressure to make me look up at him. His head was tilted again and his eyes penetrated mine like a fire was burning behind them. Of course there was a burning, deep and full of emotions too hot to touch. They started to glow purple at the sight of me yielding. I was about to say something before he got carried away but he didn’t let me. He took my head in his hands and angled me to lock his lips with mine.

  His kiss didn’t start off soft and then deepen, no, this time he kissed me with such a fever induced hunger that it took my breath away. His hands left my face and encircled round my body so as he could lift me to his height. I was thankful because giving the height difference my neck would suffer from it. It was only when he knew my need for oxygen was growing did he let me go, rather reluctantly I might add.

  “Am I forgiven?” He asked over my lips with his eyes closed.

  “Yes,” I whispered and although I couldn’t see, I could feel his smile spread over mine.

  “Then come my little one.” He said in a husky voice that was still thick with lust. He took my hand that seemed tiny encased in his and pulled me round so that I was facing the car. I decided at that moment that there was no point. I pulled back making him stop. He turned to face me and his look was full of questions he was about to ask but I just held up my hand.

  “Look Draven, there’s no point me coming with you if you’re not going to listen to me. I am telling you that although I do not want to leave you, I still have to go.” He was about to argue and add words to his shaking head but I beat him to it. I came right up close to him and placed my hands on his chest. He was breathing hard.

  “Dominic,” I whispered his name making it sound right for once. He looked down at me, eyes full of an emotion I couldn’t grasp.

  “I never want to leave you but I would not be the person you love if I didn’t think of others before myself. It would hurt my family if I didn’t go and I can’t do that...not even for you.” I held my breath after saying this last part and I could no longer look into his eyes, so I found my feet.

  “I have hurt them enough to last more than one life time and I will not add more guilt to my soul.” I was speaking so quietly that anyone else would not have heard me. I also had tears rolling down my cheeks that I didn’t want him to see.

  “Catherine, look at me.” The sound of my first name always made me shudder. Like he was seeing a different me standing here, one I was always trying to hide. I looked off to the side instead of braving his eyes. It was not enough for him. He decided that he would take the steps to change this. He got down on his knees so as I was at his level.

  I was in shock and I showed it. A man like Draven also does NOT get down on his knees for anyone! Well evidently now he did.

  “Draven don’t.” I tried to get him to get back up but he shook his head. If a
nyone had been driving past now it would look like he was proposing to me and that would have made the front page for sure!

  “I now understand why I must let you...let you go.” He looked like it actually caused him physical pain to say those words. I felt hopeless, I felt that no matter what choices I made in life, I kept making the wrong ones. No matter what I did I would have to hurt someone but it felt like I would be hurting myself more than anyone. It was a strange feeling but it was almost like someone was telling me in the back of my mind that I was making the wrong decision. Maybe I was but there was nothing I could do about it.

  I let myself crumble down to his level which he let out a little moan about but before he could protest further I wrapped my arms around his neck and hugged onto him so tightly I could have been classed as a limpet. I kissed his neck twice and told him the three most important words in life.

  “I love you.” He groaned in response and kissed me back. The next thing I knew was that he had lifted us both to a standing position, only my feet weren’t exactly touching the ground. I giggled as he swung me around and my legs dangled in the air like a small child sat on a big chair.

  “You’re so little.” He said teasingly as he set me down.

  “And you’re a big oaf!” I said as my come back, which was received by raucous laughter. We walked back to the car and when I hesitated to get in he said in a guilty voice,

  “It’s alright, I won’t go too fast.”

  My answer was given by getting in the car and soon we were making our way to Afterlife at a speed that only just broke the law. It looked like it was causing Draven a great deal of concentration to maintain this speed and I had to suppress a satisfied smile. I could see by the natural road signs that we were near the turning for Afterlife. There was always a double twisted tree that had split in the middle and wound back together like brothers. This was my sign that we were near.