"Trust," she chokes out. "Is that it?"
"Yes. And do you know why?"
"It's priceless," she whispers, as her body tenses.
"Exactly." I thrust my hand higher and rotate her clit, pushing her higher up that mountain. "Remember that. It's the only part of this arrangement that matters." I tell her before I give one last thrust, and swallow her orgasm in my kiss.
***
Viktor and Daniil appear at my home. "Gentlemen," I greet them, leading them into the kitchen where Jana and I were having a meal. Viktor's eyes move over the scene, his expression unreadable. Daniil glances from her to me, a knowing smirk touching his lips before he erases it.
"Volodymyr situation is contained," Viktor reports, his gaze fixed on Jana. "Eyes on him around the clock."
I nod, then gesture for them to follow me out into the garden. As we walk down the hall, Viktor falls into step beside me.
"You're getting attached," he says, his voice low.
"I'm aware."
"Attachments make you vulnerable. They make you let men who steal from you keep breathing." He glances back toward the library. "When her contract ends. You'll have to decide: let her go, or find a way to keep her that doesn't make you into your father."
The word hangs in the air between us.Trap.
"I'm not my father," I say. The words taste like a lie.
"No. He would have just taken what he wanted without caring," Viktor agrees. "You're better than that. Just make sure you remember it when you start building her cage."
They leave me alone in the hall. I'm already planning how to keep her. Already calculating what it would take to make her choose to stay, what it would take to bind her to me so tightly she never even thinks of leaving.
I look back at the library door. I broke her today. Took from her until nothing was left but the raw, shaking truth of my possession.
And I know, with a certainty that chills me to the bone, that I'll do it again.
I'm not becoming someone different for her. I'm becoming exactly the monster I always knew I was. And now I have to figure out how to chain her to my side before she realizes she needs to run.
Chapter six
Jana
"Good morning. No, don't cover yourself," Rafail says, after I instinctively pull the sheet to my chest. I let it fall. My body aches in places I didn't know could ache. A testimony of what happened, what I let happen. What I begged for, even when the words wouldn't come.
His eyes track down my body, heating my skin. Memories of the things he showed me, taught me,did to me,flood my system.
The cool air tightens my nipples when he pulls the sheets completely off. "Roll on your stomach," Rafail says in a gruff voice.
He doesn't repeat himself, just waits with those intense eyes until I roll over. The mattress dips as he climbs onto the bed, straddling my thighs. His pants abrade my naked skin, and the contrast makes it worse. More vulnerable. He wants my trust, but how can I give it when I’m the only one exposed?
I’m blinded by the pillow. My choice. A choice I still have. The darkness cushions me, gives me a haven from complete exposure. The price for safety is not knowing what he’ll do next.
His hands knead my shoulders, working down my spine, leaving tremors in their wake. "Relax."
"Hard to do when you're—"
"Shhh," he interrupts, fingers pressing into the knots in my lower back. "Let go."
His hands move lower, spreading my cheeks. I freeze, and he stops. "Breathe, Jana."
What the hell does that mean?
