Not when one wrong step could get me dragged back by my hair and punished in ways I don’t want to imagine.
No—this is a tool, not a victory.
I slip the knife under the mattress, pressing it deep into the corner where he won’t notice.
And just like that, I have a plan.
A way out.
A chance.
Chapter 53
Aurelia
My body is in agony.
Not the bad kind—not pain, exactly. Every nerve is wound so tight it feels scorched.
Yes, I just had the best sleep I’ve had since being taken from my home, and yes, this bed is amazing—soft, warm, swallowing me whole—but it doesn’t matter. In the last two weeks, I’ve been close, so close, to finding any kind of sensual release, and each time it’s been ripped away from me.
My eyes search the room, but I don’t see anything.
Okay. I’ll be quick.
My hand drifts down my body, the sheets sliding with it, brushing over my stomach. I find the band on the boxer briefs—no, theshorts, I’m calling them shorts for the sake of my mental stability—and pause, feeling the elastic press against my fingertips before I hook them beneath it.
The morning light pours over my skin in warm stripes, and for the first time, I let my body soften into the mattress.
If he’s gone—and heshouldbe gone—then I can have one moment to myself.
I slide my hand lower, my fingers trembling with relief as they reach my clit. The first touch pulls a quiet, involuntarybreath from my lips. I circle again, and again, the pressure spreading like a slow, melting warmth through my limbs—
And then, because the universe hates me, a door opens.
Nikolai walks out of the bathroom.
My entire body jerks. My hand flies out of my shorts, and I shoot upright, eyes wide, pulse slamming against my throat so hard it hurts.
“What are you doing?” he asks, like he didn’t just walk in on me mid-orgasm attempt.
“Just waking up,” I lie.
He smiles a knowing, infuriating smile, and sits down beside me on the bed. The mattress dips under his weight, heat radiating from his body.
“I could take care of that for you,” he says softly. “You just gotta ask.”
I give him the sweetest fake smile I can muster. “I’d rather die horny than ask for that.”
He laughs, pushing off the bed and grabbing a shirt from his closet, then throwing it at me. “Here’s a new shirt. I’m sure that one smells like me.”
It does, but the scent strangely brought me comfort, and I never thought to change it.
“I’m staying with you today, so what would you like to do?”
I look at him in awe as I replace his shirt, continuing to act like he doesn’t have an effect on me.
“I have movies. I know you like them. Gilda is a classic I’m sure you’d enjoy, so I can put that on while we wait for breakfast to be delivered.”
