Cruel King (Royal Elite #0) by Rina Kent

The three wankers come out after they shower and change into dry clothes. Astrid already has breakfast ready for them. Aiden and I helped. Correction. I made the little shit Aiden help.

It’s surreal when we all sit down for breakfast. I’m at the head of the table. Astrid is on my right and Aiden is at my left.

“Your parents are never here?” Astrid asks Ronan.

“They work a lot for the European Union and shit.” He finishes chewing on his bacon. “C’est merveilleux, my queen.”

“Stop calling her that,” I warn.

He rolls his eyes at the same time as Astrid.

“Are they okay with all the parties you throw?” She helps Xander to another serving of eggs.

Fortunately, she made extra because we eat like pigs in the morning.

“They have to be here to care.” Ronan scowls at me. “But I’m totally telling them what you did when I get bloody Ebola, Captain.”

Xan stops mid-chewing. “Isn’t that shit deadly?”

“Ebola isn’t from the cold,” Cole corrects them, but Ronan and Xander aren’t hearing him. They continue their overdramatic bitching, painting imaginary scenarios about dying of Ebola.

Astrid laughs and jests with them and although I hate seeing her laugh with anyone but me, I can’t help being mesmerised by her spontaneous energy.

She knows I won’t be her prince charming, but she still wants me anyway.

If anything, she wants me because I’m not.

I kick Ronan or Xander whenever they attempt to talk to her and grab her thigh under the table.

My hand snakes up her thigh under the shorts. She sucks in a breath, trying so hard to focus on the coffee.

When she meets my gaze with those huge fucking eyes, my breath catches somewhere out of reach.

Will she still look at me that way when she learns the truth?





46





Astrid





No matter how much you hide it, the darkest truths will always come out.



* * *



After breakfast with the guys, Levi shooed them away.

When that didn’t work, he kidnapped me to the room upstairs and showed me that I should be only looking at him, not his teammates.

I might get close to them just so he’ll show me all over again.

This part of Levi will always get me in a twist.

I try to move from my position splayed out on top of him. I must be heavy. He wraps his strong hands at the small of my back, forbidding me from moving.

He rolls us over so we’re lying facing each other. I want to let him sleep since I doubt he got any last night, but his lips find mine and I’m a goner.

We kiss for what seems like hours. We devour each other in a slow passionate pace like we’re re-learning one another again. We don’t even pull back for air, we just breathe each other in.

I love kissing him. Not only do I feel his taste in my mouth, but I also feel him all over me and inside me.

Levi and I were made for kissing. We should never stop kissing.

It should be a blasphemy that we weren’t kissing since that party.

After what seems like an eternity, he pulls back, but he threads his fingers in my hair, playing with the falling strands.

I love all the little ways he touches me like he can’t get enough of me.

My own fingers get lost in his Viking hair.

“What do you want to do today?” he asks.

“Why?”

“I’m being nice here, princess.” He slides his hand from my hair to wrap it around my throat, squeezing the slightest bit.

I grip his arm, not sure if I want to stop or encourage him. Judging from the shaking of my thighs, it’s the last.

It’s crazy how much his intensity wakes something entirely feral in me.

It’s like a high that’s spreading through my bloodstream.

“Is this your version of playing nice?” I bite my lower lip.

“Oh, I’m playing fucking nice.” He brushes his lips over my nose. “If it were up to me, you’d be naked all day in my bed.”

The familiar need surges through me. Maybe I want that, too. Maybe I don’t want to leave his arms until I get enough.

But then again, will I ever get enough of him?

Besides, he’s offering me a way to get to know him better and Levi doesn’t offer chances.

“I can ask for anything?” I poke.

He narrows his eyes. “Ask and I’ll decide.”

“No. You have to agree to anything first.”

“Try again, princess. I don’t agree to something without knowing the consequences. That’s a terrible negotiating method and a sure way to lose before even starting.”

“Make an exception for me.”

“Are you going to ask for other people? Because that’s a resounding fucking no.”

“Aw, man. There goes my chance to have an orgy with Xander, Ronan, and Cole.”

His eyes darken as he grips my hip tighter until it’s almost painful. “You want to have an orgy with those three fuckers?”

When I remain silent, his demeanour stiffens. The anger radiating off him seeps under my skin even though it’s not directed at me. I think.

“What did they do to you last night?”

“Nothing.”

He continues glaring at me.

“I’m kidding, Levi. Jeez.”