Bravery like his is rare and it makes a girl want to bow her head in veneration and gratitude.
“I didn’t want to see you place your sweet lips against a corpse’s. I would’ve lost control. Sought that fucker out in the afterlife and killed him once more.”
My limbs begin shuddering but Iversen misjudged my reaction.
“Forgive me. It was wrong of me to curse in front of you.”
“N...no...,” I stutter, “why did you say once m...more?”
The slow and calculated look Iversen gives me tells me everything I need to know. I gasp, putting my hand in front of my mouth as my eyes flash. “It wasn’t an accident, was it? You murdered him.”
“You knew it was me,” Iversen says and a muscle ticks in his jaw. “You knew I wanted to kill him since the moment they announced your engagement.”
I do remember the way he looked when it was announced that I was supposed to marry. All color left his face, his eyes turning lifeless and then dark and then deadly. It had made me shiver so hard that I didn’t manage to get it to stop until the very next day. And then the news came...
There would be no wedding because there was no longer a groom.
“How did you do it?” I whisper and his eyes flash, a dangerous smile lingering around his mouth and I want to kiss it to know what it tastes like. “How did you kill that man?”
I’m not so stupid to mention his name. That would be an offense to Iversen. You never mention the name of enemies.
“I’ll spare you the bloody details.” His eyes deepen. “Unless it gets you excited to know how far I’m willing to go to have you?”
I gulp, now unsure of if I should have asked and Iversen continues.
“He’d had dinner at the compound, laughed and drank with his brothers and then it was time to go home. It was dark out and he got into his car.” Iversen slowly begins to pace, his eyes plastered on me to read my reaction. “I was hiding in the backseat and once he was on the highway, I placed a very cold blade on his throat.”
Wrapping my arms around me, I nod for him to continue.
“And as I held it against his skin and told him to take the next turn, I wondered if I really should go through with it.”
“You had doubts?” I ask and the sudden curiosity stops my voice from shuddering.
Iversen nods. “I thought that here was a man who’d be my brother if I rose up in rank. And there is no bigger crime than killing a brother, other than killing his woman. But then I remembered that he was aftermywoman and I thought about him kissing you and touching you and lusting over you and loving you and something inside of me snapped.”
Turning, Iversen adds, “I forced him to drive toward the edge of a cliff, slit his throat and jumped out last minute.”
Panting, I stare at him and I squirm.
The crime he did...if anyone ever finds out...
He’ll be a dead man.
And it would be such a waste of a powerful and vicious male and I inhale, trying to keep myself composed and his eyes burn when they look at me. “Do you understand now?” he says in a low voice. “I won’t let anything stop me from claiming you.”
“But you’re making a mistake,” I whisper and he freezes. I wring my hands. “You’ll be ashamed of me. With me by your side, your chest won’t ever swell with superiority, you’ll never look into my eyes, knowing you have the most poised and powerful woman in the room...,” I bite my lip, feeling that dreaded heartache, “I’m ordinary. Unnoticeable.”
“To me you’re not,” Iversen says heatedly. “I’ll kill anyone who challenges your superiority, kill anyone who dares to think they’re above you. And don’t you worry about my heart. It’s swelling just fine.” Under his breath, he mutters, “Just like other parts of me...”
I fidget, my body filling with warmth and Iversen’s eyes flash with remorse. “I shouldn’t have said that. I know how innocent you are,” he explains and I nod. “It’s just that...,” he squeezes his eyes, painfully hard, “it takes a toll on me, to be in your presence, never speaking to you, never rubbernecking you the way I want to, never allowed to touch you...fuck,” he kicks a wooden board to the side, “I don’t even know the size of you in case I want to buy you a dress...”
A dress? Something girly and rousing flares in me.
“I’d like a dress,” I whisper. “Maybe in the color p...peach...?”
He nods as if my wish is his law and rasps, “Will you let me hold your hand?”
I slowly nod and give it to him and it feels so right when we’re skin to skin. Two pieces in a puzzle and my heart clenches. The rain has stopped and Iversen is worried we’ll be back too late so we walk back out to the bike. This time sitting behind him feels more natural and this time I wrap my arms around his waist on my own. I’m being so bold that I almost can’t believe myself but being bold is so worth it just to see Iversen brim with satisfaction. He’s practically flooding with it, his cold skin prickling under my fingers and knowing that I’m the one responsible makes me heady.