Cupping the back of my neck, he brings my cheek back to his chest. With my palm flat on his beating heart, I place a tender kiss as if wanting to seduce and thank the organ for keeping him alive. He caresses my back, knowing exactly what to do to subdue me.
“It’s not fair.”
“Shhh, baby girl. Just close your eyes. I’m here.”
“But you won’t be once I wake up. You never stay… I want you to stay,” I sound just like I feel—needy.
He inhales so deeply that his chest expands under me.
I am losing him, and there’s nothing I can do to change that. As he lifts me up, carrying me to bed, I hold on to him, knowing I have to let him go. And it kills me. The moon peering through the window is the only witness to the agony transpiring inside.
“A goodnight kiss?” I ask, pouring all my innocence into the question.
He eyes me through a glint of suspicion, but he lowers his face to kiss my forehead. I smack his lips instead. Stealing the kiss, I smile at him.
A growl rumbles in his throat, the sound sexy and virile, awakening the dormant volcano that is ready to explode.
I am still grinning, proud of myself, when a slap lands on my ass cheek. A yelp rushes out of my mouth. I blink, completely taken by surprise.
Did he spank me? He did.
And ouch. That wasn’t gentle.
He rubs his palm over the sensitive skin, kneading the afflicted skin. “A small reminder of who you’re playing with.”
As if I could forget. Damn. His proclivity for rough sex is not something I could have forgotten. I lived through that even though I am pretty sure he went easier with me even then.
I roll onto my back, the bite of discomfort reminding me of his loss of control. “Do you miss it?”
“Stop it, Dahlia,” he groans low.
I sigh in the dimly lit room. “I’ll crack you, Mikail Morozov. You will give me what I want. What I deserve and what you can’t deny. I will make you face what you keep hidden until you won’t be able to hide.”
His answer is to slam the door closed. Cruel, leaving me aching. The sadist to my masochist. Is there another way?
Just as I am about to drift to sleep, I hear him pacing up and down the hall.
“Come to me,” I whisper.
But he doesn’t.
6
MIKAIL
Islept like crap. It was past four a.m. when I finally went to bed, only to toss and turn. But I needed to hear that she was sound asleep, with no nightmares disturbing her.
Those few nights after we returned, she would wake up in the middle of the night, shouting and crying for me. No one else could calm her down, but she would settle in my arms and fall asleep.
At first, Enzo thought her need for me to be close had something to do with me saving her. But I was the reason she had those nightmares to begin with. Each night, pretending became more difficult. She clung to me like a lover. I had to put a stop to it. After suffering such a traumatic event, she was confused. She perceived me as her damn hero when I was her fucking captor. Had to, but that doesn’t make a difference to me. I thought the best way for her to overcome the horrific event was to stay away.
I refused to take advantage of her delicate state, and I didn’t want my brother to discover the truth. My priority became her, ensuring that what happened to her would never repeat itself.A war with my brother would have diminished my chances of gaining total power and control.
It killed a part of me to leave her.
I shouldn’t have left her when she needed me. When I needed her.
Fuck. I shove a fist in my mouth, shouting a muffled sound ringing with pure agony.
