Pride-Niklaus's Point of View
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The moment the audiobook continued, I could feel the heat rising to my skin, not just across my face and ears, but deep into my neck as well. It felt like an uncomfortable, almost suffocating warmth that spread through me in waves, and I couldn't shake the feeling of unease that clung to my every nerve. "This is sick. It's sick," I muttered under my breath, my voice barely audible in the quiet of the room. I couldn't believe what I was hearing, but the words were undeniable. The more I listened, the more repulsed I felt, though I couldn't quite bring myself to stop. "It's definitely a red flag dark romance. What the hell? What kind of book is this even?" My mind was reeling, trying to process everything, but the realization that I had just accidentally stumbled into this twisted audiobook was too much to ignore.
I quickly started changing my shirt, trying to distract myself from the chaos unfolding in my mind. But the more I tried to focus on something simple—like slipping my arms into the sleeves—the more the words from the speaker crept into my thoughts. The narrative kept playing, making it hard to ignore, even though I told myself I wasn't into this kind of stuff.
I'm not into this, I repeated like a mantra, trying to convince myself that I wasn't actually being drawn in. But deep down, I knew I wasn't just reacting to the content; it was the fact that I couldn't believe she was into something like this.
"God, I didn't even know she read stuff like this," I thought, half to myself and half to the air. My mind drifted to her personality—intense, independent, always craving something more than the ordinary. It wasn't surprising in a way, considering how she was. She was never one for the usual, the mainstream, or the simple. So, in that sense, it kind of made sense that she'd pick something like this. But even so, I couldn't quite grasp it. This? Really? This was what she chose to immerse herself in? I paused for a moment, trying to steady my breath. The situation felt so bizarre, so strange, that I found myself gasping aloud. "I mean, it was expected, given her personality, that she wouldn't read any kind of normal content, but this? Really?"
I was still holding my shirt in my hands, the fabric now forgotten as I stood frozen, mentally replaying what I had just heard. It was almost as if the entire room was closing in on me, like the weight of the situation was pressing down on my shoulders. I quickly put the shirt on, not caring if I was rushing. I didn't even take the time to properly adjust it; my mind was too occupied with the weirdness of the moment. I didn't know what I was supposed to feel, whether I should laugh or just be disgusted. But one thing was clear—I needed to figure out what the hell I had just walked into.
"Let me put this on just one more time," I muttered, shaking my head, trying to justify my actions. "Just to see if they name-drop or something. Maybe it'll make sense. Maybe I'll figure out what book this is." But deep down, I knew I wasn't really that interested. I wasn't into this type of dark, twisted content, but a part of me felt compelled to understand it, to know what she was consuming. What did it say about her? Why did this particular book speak to her? There were too many questions in my head, swirling and bouncing off one another, making it impossible for me to focus.
And then, just as I was about to press play again, I heard it—this time, it wasn't just the deep male voice, but a melodic, almost ethereal female voice joining in. My eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Was this the same story? Was this another character? Addie, I remembered from before. That name stood out, and as the voices continued, the realization hit me. The woman's voice was soft, almost hypnotic, but the words they exchanged were chilling. This was no ordinary romance, no simple love story. This was something far darker. His obsession, I thought to myself, the words echoing in my mind. This wasn't just about two people falling in love; it was about something deeper, something far more disturbing than I was ready to admit.
What kind of twisted connection did these characters share? And why did I feel so... pulled into it?
※※※
["Why can't you just be decent and not feel the need to stalk me?"
"Because then I wouldn't be true to myself, little mouse. I love that I scare you. I love that you try to run from me. The push and pull. The cat and mouse game. I fucking love it. And I think a part of you does, too."
She scoffs at me. "You're fucking insane if you think I love you scaring me. But then again, I already knew you were."
I smile. I can't remember the last time I genuinely smiled before I inserted myself into this beautiful creature's life.
"Don't you, though? I see how you try to hide how wet your pussy gets when you're scared. Your nipples get so fucking hard, and you clench your thighs tight as if that's going to lessen the need to feel my cock inside of you."]
※※※
Two knocks came on the door, and I swear to God, I nearly choked on my own saliva. The sudden sound jerked me out of my stupor, and I reacted so fast that it felt like time had slowed down for a second. Without thinking, I threw the earbud as far as I possibly could across the room, just barely missing my desk. It landed with a soft thud against the wall, the sound of the narrator's voice still faintly echoing in my mind.
I was acting like a damn teenager caught with a porn magazine or a video, scrambling to hide it before anyone found out. But this? This wasn't just some forbidden material—it was literary porn. Pure, unfiltered, _bookish_ porn. Scarlet, of all people, was listening to this? A twisted, dark romance that didn't hold back.
"Let's just call it what it is," I muttered under my breath. "This is definitely literary porn."
My mind was racing, trying to process what I had just heard and what I was still hearing, even as I struggled to get my bearings. The voice—both the male and now the female—kept replaying in my mind, their words thick with tension. My thoughts were all over the place, but there was one thing I could say with certainty: Scarlet was listening to a fucking dark romance audiobook, and it was beyond what I could've imagined.
Before I could gather my thoughts any further, I heard Dom's voice from outside. "The pizza is ready!" he groaned, sounding half annoyed, half excited. "Kai used magic to fasten it." The way he said it almost made me chuckle, but the urgency of the moment kept me from letting it slip. I was still reeling. How the hell did I get here?
"Are you alright in there?" My sister's voice called from the hallway, concern lacing her tone. It snapped me back to reality, and I quickly stood up, trying to regain some sense of composure.
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves before I did anything drastic. I needed to act normal. Hell, I needed to get the hell out of this room and away from that damn audiobook before I lost my mind. Without wasting another second, I grabbed a new shirt from my closet—one almost identical to the one I had been wearing before—and quickly slipped it on. As I buttoned it up, I made a mental note to thank whatever higher power existed that I was still somehow functioning like a normal person.
I left my bedroom, but not without first locking the door behind me. The earbud was still playing that damn book, and I wasn't taking any chances. I needed to make sure no one would hear it, not that they would ever believe me if they found out. "You're acting weird," Kai said, narrowing his black siren eyes at me.
His gaze was sharp and calculating, the contrast of his dark eyes standing out against his black straight hair and pale skin. He looked like something straight out of an anime, a strange mixture of his Japanese mother's genes and his German father's towering height. Despite how effortlessly cool he looked, though, I didn't have the energy to deal with his observation.
I glared at him, irritation bubbling up from somewhere deep inside.
"What? It's the truth. Why are you glaring at me?" Kai blinked, clearly confused by my reaction, but I wasn't in the mood to explain. I could feel my face flushing again, not from embarrassment but from the sheer frustration of being caught in this awkward mess.
"I'm hoping you'll spontaneously combust," I shot back, sarcasm dripping from my words. With a few steps, I walked toward the kitchen, not bothering to look back. They all followed me like a bunch of overenthusiastic puppies trailing after their owner, as always. It was honestly exhausting sometimes.
"One pizza to each of you, you can eat now," I said, forcing myself to focus on something other than the chaos in my head. "Then we'll head to Freya's party." I was trying to move on, pretending like the entire audiobook incident hadn't happened, but deep down, I couldn't shake the lingering unease.
"Hell yeah, I love you, Nik," Dom said, his voice full of energy as he reached for his slice of pizza. "But I love your food more." He grinned, and for a moment, I had to stop and shake my head, though I couldn't help but feel a slight tug of amusement. He was such a glutton. If there were ever a more obvious embodiment of the seven deadly sins, it was Dom with his insatiable appetite.
I couldn't help but think, _and people wonder why he's the gluttony of our seven sins. It wasn't a joke—Dom had always been that way, and the pizza was his sacred territory.
I handed each of them a slice, making sure there was enough for everyone, before starting to pick at my own piece. The conversation shifted, everyone chattering and laughing as they dug in. But despite the normalcy of the moment, my mind was still somewhere else. What the hell was Scarlet getting into? I asked myself again, the question circling my thoughts, and I couldn't find an answer.
I should've been focused on the party, on enjoying the night with my friends. But instead, I kept wondering why the hell Scarlet was listening to that audiobook—and whether she even realized the depth of what she was really indulging in.