The Rise (The Kings and Gods #3)

Chapter 18

Lana

His words hit me like a fucking freight train to the chest. I never thought I’d hear anything like that come from Hunter or anyone for that matter. As much as I’ve been used and abused in the past and told I wasn’t wanted, I didn’t think anyone would want me again.

He stormed inside a few minutes ago, and I stood here just trying to catch my breath and my thoughts. I don’t know how to feel or what I should say to him. I don’t know much of anything at this point.

“You know when Gods take a woman, it’s the highest honor,” I hear Hoax behind me. I turn to look at him, wiping my eyes as I do.

“Without their permission?” he chuckles and nods his head.

“Even then. You know what that means when he doesn’t ask your permission?” I shake my head. “It means that he already knew it was going to be you all along.”

“How could he know that?” I ask him.

“You let him in, Lana. You give him tiny pieces of yourself every time you follow his orders. When you care about him, he sees it as more. He feels it as more.”

“But wouldn’t it be better if I agreed?”

“Do you not care about Hunter? I won’t say love because you can’t know that yet, but you care in some capacity for him,” he tells me. He’s right. I do care about him.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Then just be with him, Lana. Hunter had a hard life. He never really fit in anywhere but at Chaos with the Gods. That’s his home. That’s all he knows. Give the man a chance.” He walks past me and heads inside as I take in his words.

After a few more minutes of collecting myself, I walk up the stairs and in the front door and am greeted by Tamsyn and Angel.

“You’re a God! Can you believe it?” Angel squeals as she pulls me into a hug.

“I’m not sure how I feel.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Tamsyn adds.

“It’s just a strange ritual, I guess,” I tell them. That’s when my eyes find his across the room. He isn’t looking at me directly, but I can feel his gaze. It always feels like I’m on fire, and butterflies erupt inside of me. A few girls and a guy stand there talking to him while he takes small sips from a glass.

“You should go over there,” Tamsyn says, nudging me a little.

“He’s pissed at me.”

“No, he’s not. Go over there before Heidi puts her claws in your man,” Angel adds. I nod my head, take a deep breath, and walk across the room toward him. I stop when I come up next to him, but he doesn’t look at me. He continues talking to the girl in front of him and I can’t take it anymore. I turn and start to walk away when I feel his hands wrap around my stomach and pull me back.

“Who told you to leave?” his voice is gruff and sexy. Why does it affect me the way it does?

“You were busy.”

“Oh, little rebel. I’m never too busy for you,” he whispers against my ear, causing me to shiver.

“You’re mad at me,” I say softly.

“No. I’m mad at me.”

“For what?”

“Letting myself feel things I probably shouldn’t. Letting myself feel things for you. I’ve been alone most of my life because I thought no one would want me because of the man I am. I thought they’d see what I do, and they’d be disgusted by it, so yeah, I fucked women, and then I sent them on their way. But you, little rebel? You were different. I could see it in your eyes the night you killed that man. I knew then that if anyone were going to see me for who I am, it would be you.” Tears spill down my cheeks as I listen to his words. I try to turn to him, but he doesn’t let me. He keeps me like this, his front to my back.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper. He chuckles.

“I don’t want ‘your sorry’, Lana.”

“Then what do you want?”

“You.” He knows my story. I’ve told him more than once about what happened to me, and he still wants me. The thought of that has my insides on fire. I, like Hunter, never thought someone would want me aside from Gabe, and he only wanted to use me.

“You have me,” I tell him.

“Then say the words, little rebel. Let me hear you say them.” I suck in a breath before I turn, and he lets me. He grabs my face roughly in his hands, squeezing it hard as he looks into my eyes. “Say the words.” I lick my suddenly dry lips before I open my mouth.

“I vow.” As soon as the words leave my mouth, his lips come crashing down on mine. His tongue slips past my lips and curls around mine in the most delicious way imaginable. Moans fall from my mouth and into his, but he just eats them up one by one.

I hear people cheering, and when Hunter pulls back, he pulls me into him. Everyone is watching us, and I can’t help but smile.

Hunter pulls me around the room introducing me to everyone and a lot of the other Gods and their wives. For the most part, they all seem to be okay, but I know what they do, and I find myself wondering if they’re like Hunter. If that darkness he craves when hunting these people down overlaps into their private lives.

We dance, we drink, we hang out, and have fun. I laugh like I’ve never laughed before at Hunter and the guys, and before I know it, the night is over. I’m almost sad it is because once I let go and let loose, I was having a good time.

We tell everyone goodbye, and Hunter takes me out to the car and opens my door. I climb in, and he closes it, walking around to get in the driver’s seat. Once he’s inside, he sighs and starts the car.

“You okay?” I ask him. He doesn’t answer; he just takes off driving.

“No. I’ve put some feelers out to find them, Lana.”

“And? Did you?”

“Yeah, I did. I asked for a girl who looked like you,” he tells me. My heart beats faster.

“And?”

“And they have one, but … I feel sick to my fucking stomach about asking! The price that little girl has to pay for me to get what I want isn’t fair!” he yells loudly. I cover my mouth with my hand because I get it. We don’t know what’s happening to her right now. We don’t know if she’s okay.

“This isn’t going to make you feel better, but none of the guys would touch her.” He glances over at me, but I can’t place the look in his eyes before he drags them back to the road.

“They hurt you. Why wouldn’t they hurt her?”

“They’re not really about hurting kids. They’re more about the money. As much as this makes me sick to say, they keep the kids pretty healthy and in good shape for whoever is buying them.” Hunter doesn’t speak at first, but then he slams his hands on the steering wheel, yelling, “Fuck!” I can’t say that I don’t get it because I do. And I hated those words leaving my mouth.

The rest of the ride back to Chaos is silent. Neither of us speaks because we don’t know what to say to the other. My heart breaks for Hunter after everything he’s told me. We pull up to the front, and he parks the car but doesn’t make a move to get out.

“I first killed when I was a teenager. I don’t want to go into it, but it was a family member.”

“Jesus,” I whisper.

“I don’t expect you to understand me or how my mind works, Lana. You’re right; I shouldn’t have done this,” he says before climbing out of the car. He slams the door shut just as a rumble of thunder shakes the car, and I climb out.

“Are you serious?” I yell at him. Hunter turns to look at me and nods his head. “You gave me all those bullshit words back there, and for what?” I ask, throwing my hands out to the sides to make my point.

“They weren’t bullshit,” he argues, pointing at me.

“They were bullshit! You can’t say that shit to me and then decide you made a mistake, Hunter.”

“You don’t want this!”

“I wasn’t sure what I wanted!” I argue back at him.

“And what? Now you know?” Lightening cracks across the sky, lighting up Chaos and making it look eerier than it already is, but my focus is on Hunter.

“I’ve been thinking about it since the chapel.”

“That’s not long enough.”

“I’ve been thinking about it since you pulled that knife from my hand!” He runs his hand through his hair, looking angry and sexy all at the same time.

“And what, Lana?”

“And you’re right, Hunter. I’m just like you, except I’m scared. I’m scared to death to let you in.”

“I wouldn’t hurt you, Lana, not like they did,” he screams at me. I know what he’s saying, and I get it. I don’t believe that Hunter would hurt me the way they did, either.

“I know that now.”

“Do you?” he asks, cocking his head to the side to study me.

“I do. Because you hurt me in the best ways possible, Hunter.” I walk closer to him, and right here in front of Chaos, I do what he always orders me to do. I drop to my knees in front of him. I lift my head and look up at him, and I see the blazing inferno in his gaze. He lowers his hand to my cheek and softly strokes it before sliding his hand around to the back of my head, gripping my hair in his hand. He tugs so my head tips back, and I’m at his mercy.

Then he leans down and spits on my face and my pussy clenches. He knows what he’s doing to me. With his free hand, he reaches for the spit and runs his fingers through it just like he did before and then shoves his fingers into my mouth.

“Do you have any idea what you’re doing, Lana?” he asks me. I shake my head. I don’t know what I’m doing. I have no fucking clue, but what I do know is that I want to do it all with him. Hunter releases my hair and pulls his fingers from my mouth.

“Stand up,” he demands. I stand to my feet just as the rain starts to sprinkle down on us.

“I made a vow to you, Lana, and I meant every word of it.”

“And I made a vow to you, too.”

“And you mean every word of it?” he asks me.

“I do.”