“I’ve been at Kylemore over a year and every day seems longer than the last.”
“Why do you stay then?” she asked.
“Safer that way.” I grunted, unwilling to share more details.
She pulled her hair out of her ponytail then, running her fingers through the dark waves a few times before piling it all on top of her head into a messy bun.
She seemed so on edge, and yet she was still so beautiful she left me breathless.
I thought back to the way she’d responded when I touched her, the thought of her taste undid me, the wild visions of her in the throes of passion beneath me were hard to stamp out of my overactive imagination. I’d abstained from the pleasures of the flesh for all of my adult life. It was too easy to lose myself, but Pet brought feelings out in me I’d never quite felt before. I’d had my fair share of schoolyard crushes as a teenager, but that's all they ever were. I'd never been drawn to any of them the way I was her.
One look from Pet brought me to my knees. She brought out an inner protector I hadn't known existed before.
“You're welcome to stay here,” I said the words before thinking of the implications. Could I control myself with her under my roof all night long? Could I control myself if she wasn't?
“You would let me? But the Queen—”
“The Queen doesn't have any say in who I spend my time with.”
She turned then, eyes tracking across the countryside to the stand of evergreens in the distance.
“I mean it.” I hovered at her shoulder, desperate to touch her, more afraid to scare her away. “The company would be nice.”
“Nice?” She turned, shy smile hiding on her lips.
“Very nice, okay? I can even fix you dinner, flaeskesteg and potatoes, even better than my Granny makes. She wouldn't cop to that though.”
“Granny's recipe, huh?” Her smile turned up a little more.
I was about to offer her a glass of sparkling pear wine aged at my family's northern vineyard, but then a vibrating noise emanated from her pocket.
She pulled her phone out of the back of the denim skirt, eyes dashing across the screen before her face fell and her eyes crammed closed.
“Ae you okay?” I held her shoulders, forcing her gaze on mine.
“Yes, just a prank caller.”
“I've never been brought to tears by a prank call before.”
She remained silent.
Something deep in my bones told me she needed me, I didn't know why, only that in this moment, every cell in my body buzzed with the awareness of her.
Pet was in trouble, whoever was on the other end of that line had struck fear in her eyes, and I was hellbent on not just finding out why, but who, even if it killed me.
Four
Pet
“Age when you lost your virginity?”
His eyes widened with the shock of my question. I shrugged, playing cards poised in my hand as we sat on a large flat-top boulder at the back of his property. The stream bubbled and churned around the boulder as Larz and I played a half-hearted game of poker and twenty questions. Larz had made us an amazingly delicious but simple dinner of crispy pork and buttery seasoned potatoes. The simplicity reminded me of my home country and filled me up with a sense of safety I hadn't felt in Denmark before now. Before him.
“These questions just took a turn in tone.” He chucked softly. “I was too young when I lost my virginity.”
“How young?” I asked again. My own inexperience burned bright on my cheeks. He was so big and strong, virile and charming, I imagined women throwing themselves at him.
His gaze connected with mine before he pushed a hand over his face and mumbled, “Thirteen.”
“Thirteen?!”
“I went through a lot at boarding school in Gstaad. Kids left alone with so much free time is bad news. After that happened the entire class found out and teased both of us relentlessly. Exactly one week after it happened, one kid had some choice words about it, so I pummeled him until he couldn't see straight. He never talked about me again. Sometimes the only way guys like him learn lessons is with fists.”
“You've been through so much. Coming to Denmark was the first time I'd ever left my country. Growing up in Bulgaria, the threat of war hung over our heads daily. I was stealing bread from the local baker at thirteen just to give my little brother something to eat–I can't imagine boarding school in Switzerland.”
“It sucked.” Larz shrugged. “I'm not the boarding school kind of guy. Following rules isn't my strongest skill.”
“Really?” I laughed. His grin warmed my insides.
“So whatcha got?” He nodded at my cards.
I scrunched my nose, laying a mismanaged hand of diamonds and spades between us.
“Oh man, I'm not a very good poker teacher. Guess I’m going to learn a lot about you tonight.”