King of the Underworld by RJ Kane

Chapter Two Hundred Twenty-Three

Adrik was laying across the bed, lost in thought as he waited for me to finish drying my hair. 1 hader’s planned on washingt after Misha and I got back from our run this morning, but since Adrik couldn’t keep his hands off me in the dyr,

my

hair was washed and now needed to be dried. It was getting colder outside and he knows how much I ha te to be cold, so he Insisted.

I walked to the bed, climbing on top of him. His hands immediately went to my neck and my hair as 1 fald down on top of him. He clicked his tongue. “Your hair is still wet, solnishko. I don’t want you to catch a crid “

I laughed. “I’d be in there for like another hour if you want me to dry my hair completely. It’s dry enough. I won’t catch cold” 1 snuggled into him. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me close. “Especially not if I have you to keep me warm.”

“I’ll make you wear a hat later,” he said. It sounded like a threat, so I picked my head up to look at him. He laughed at my expression. “I’m leaving my phone with Viktor this afternoon and you and I are going to the lake. For as long as you’d like to stay,” he said, fighting his usual battle with the curls around my face. He looked more amused than usual with my hair. He smiled, adding, “your curls are even more out of control when you use the hair dryer. I didn’t think that was possible”

I laughed. “It’s why I don’t usually use the hair dryer. My hair revolts, which is a situation hobody wants.” I loved watching the wonderment on his face as he tried to get my hair to obey his wishes. “You’re really going to ditch work this afternoon?” !

asked.

He nodded his head, taking a deep breath. “I could use a break, too, and I can’t think of a better way to spend the afternoon than with you, away from everyone.”

face. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon than with him, either. He pulled me

to be comfortable in the silence was unmatched. I had a feeling he loved it about me too. We had talked on the way to the lake. He kept his fingers laced through mine the entire way. He would steal glances at me as we were walking and talking, like

up against an old tree that had fallen years ago. He finally broke the silence, saying, “this has always been my favorite spot to come to when I needed a break from

something magical about this place. Even Misha knows it, without knowing it. It’s why he ordered you to

never given an order in his life.” He laughed harder thinking about

he did about coming here. It’s a powerful reaction that he gets now and I made him pinky swear he would always tell us,” I said. Adrik reached over and put

reaction he’s always had or it’s a new one now?” he asked.

to go wrong. He said since he’s been using it more, now he can get a reaction when something is going to go right. It’s a different reaction to each, so he can tell the difference. When he thought about coming here, he wasn’t just thinking about the house, and he got goosebumps. My m om used

and your body

was quiet for a moment, then chuckled. “You’ve given me goosebumps when you’ve told me things before, solnishko.” He leaned down and kissed the top of my head. “What was Misha thinking about when he thought about coming here?”

me when we were talking about Glana, thinking about how I looked like I did after we got attacked, just without the concussion, and how I looked after the ball, just without the ho le in my hip. He knows that coming to the lake recharges me, if you will. He said he got goosebumps when he thought

on his face.

“Saw what?”

had

didn’t say it exactly like that, but he noticed.”

him to finish his thought, but he stayed quiet. The wind had picked up slightly as we were sitting by the lake. We both heard a loud clap of thunder that sounded like it was almost above us. I sat up and looked behind us to see that a storm had blown in quickly while we were at the lake. Adrik saw it too. He stood up, pulling me up with him. “We should head back. That doesn’t look like it’s going to bl ow over,” he said, watching the sky. Just as he said that, a streak of lightning stretched across the sky, followed quickly by another loud clap of thunder. I felt the first few raindrops start to