Page 4 of Heartless Enemy

I had been so angry last night. At Ulric. At the constable force. At the whole north side. And at Levi for trying to stop me from going back there to slit Ulric’s throat in his sleep.

But now, when dawn shone its bright light over the city, a sense of calm determination had returned to me.

What Levi had told me last night made a lot of sense. I hadn’t wanted to listen at first, but now I was glad that he had stopped me from doing something rash. Maybe that was why I had come here in the first place. Why I had walked across the whole city in the middle of the night while being pelted by rain. Because I knew that Levi would help me.

“See something you like?” Levi suddenly asked even though he still hadn’t even opened his eyes.

A huff of amusement escaped my throat. Reaching up, I drew soft fingers along Levi’s throat. “Actually, I was just thinking about how easy it would be to kill you right now.”

At last, he cracked his eyes open. There was a sly smile playing over his lips as he cocked an eyebrow. “Is that what you think?”

Before I could so much as open my mouth to reply, smooth metal wrapped around my wrist as a coil from Levi’s black and golden bedframe shot through the air. The band of metal locked around my wrist and yanked my hand away from his throat before pulling back so quickly that I was forced to turn over on my back.

With a smug smirk on his face, Levi rolled over and threw his leg over my body so that he was straddling my hips. The metal from the bedframe kept my wrist trapped as Levi leaned down over me and slid his calloused hand over my collarbones.

Casually resting his hand around my throat, he leaned down and claimed my lips with a possessive kiss.

My spine tingled in response.

“Come try it, spitfire,” Levi breathed against my lips.

I chuckled.

After smiling against my mouth and then stealing one more kiss, Levi made the metal retreat back into the bedframe and then maneuvered over to the edge of the mattress before climbing out of bed. I sat up, raking my fingers through my hair and pushing it back.

My clothes had been completely soaked when Levi had carried me up to his bedroom last night, so he had helped me get them off and then handed them to one of his household staff. So I sat there naked in bed while Levi walked over to his door and opened it. After reaching outside, he returned with a neatly folded stack of very familiar black and red clothes.

With my eyebrows raised, I watched as Levi moved back to the bed and placed my now dry clothes next to me.

For a moment, it looked like he was going to say something. But then he just gave his head a quick shake as if changing his mind. I furrowed my brows as I watched him walk over to his closet and pull out some clothes for himself.

His powerful muscles rippled when he buckled his belt and then pulled a tight black shirt over his head. The sight of it made me want to pull him back to bed and spend the rest of the day fucking his brains out. But unfortunately, there were other matters to handle right now, so I forced myself to get out of bed and get dressed as well.

Once Levi was done, he turned around to face me again. And once more, he opened his mouth as if to say something before apparently thinking better of it and closing it again.

Sunlight streamed in through the windows, making his gray eyes glint like sharpened steel and causing the gold veins in the black metal around us to glimmer.

“What is it?” I asked as I pulled on my pants and then reached for my shirt.

“What do you mean?” Levi replied.

“I can clearly see that there is something you want to ask me.” I yanked my shirt over my head and then strapped on my sword belt. “And you’ve never been one to mince words. So what is it?”

Levi cleared his throat in a very uncharacteristic display of uncertainty. “It’s just… I was just wondering where this leaves us?”

“With Ulric? I thought that I already agreed that you were right last night?”

“No, I, uhm… I mean, what does this mean for us?”

For a moment, I couldn’t figure out what he was asking about. Narrowing my eyes, I studied him. Realization slammed into me.Oh. Us, as in… us.

Pain stabbed through my chest.

He had laid his heart at my feet last time I was in this bedroom. And I had walked all over it and right out the door.

I hated myself for walking out on him. For choosing my perceived duty over him. Over us. Over myself. Now, I knew what I wanted. But a terrified part of me was worried that I might have missed my chance. That I had hurt Levi one too many times, and that the offer he had made me, of a home here with him, was no longer on the table.

“What does this mean?” I echoed.