“You know I had a room set up for you down here,” I said quietly, close to her ear.“Before I found out about Runa.”
Her back straightened. Her head rose.
I had her full attention now.
Chapter 71
Iskra
His words hit me like ice water, pulling me back from the rage. I wasn’t surprised he had planned to keep me underground. I had never truly believed he would let me live—not in the beginning, not when I was just a function and a contract and a womb he needed to fill.
He leaned down and slid his hand beneath the hem of my skirt, past my knee, moving toward my inner thigh. Sergei’s eyes were closed and I wasn’t wearing anything beneath the dress.
“I had every intention of leaving you down here,” he continued, his fingers brushing against me.“Only visiting when I needed to unload inside you.”
I closed my eyes as his fingers began to circle. His other hand found my breast—grasping, bruising, the way that bypassed thought entirely.
Just the way I had learned I enjoyed it.
“Why don’t I show you?” he said, pushing his fingers inside me.
My head fell back against him. He would do whatever he wanted regardless of what I said—we both knew that, had always known that. I groaned when he pulled back only to push deeper. The silk of the dress hanging off his hand, the cool basement air against my skin, the heat he was building underneath it all.
The contrast of it.
God. I’d let him.
I’d let him take me in front of that man of all people.
It made me want to kick his face.
I grabbed Vadim’s lapel and used the grip to try. He caught me before I could make contact.
“So small, yet so very angry,” he murmured, tugging me toward the door.
“I’m not done yet,” I said, my voice flat.
“Neither am I.”
Before I could fully register the warning in those words we were back in the hallway. Another door opened. A trap—but like everything else in this house, I walked into it willingly.
One large black wooden X against the wall. A stand to one side. A table and bench with a case laid open, holding items designed for a different kind of torture entirely. I stepped closer, drawn by curiosity, when the door slammed shut behind me and I jumped.
When I turned I saw the small metal-framed bed with cuffs attached.
“I see you’ve had company down here,” I said stiffly.
His speculative glance made me uncomfortable enough to look away. The heavy beat of his shoes followed. His fingers curled around my neck.
“You left me, remember?” he said—but without the fury that had been there before. Something quieter in its place.
His face moved closer. He rubbed his forehead against mine before tilting my head to one side with his grip. Hungry lips grazed my jaw.
“This room was created for one woman,” he murmured.
I looked around, trying to decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The conclusion I reached wasn’t entirely comfortable.
“Now get out of that dress before Runa needs you again,” he said, releasing my neck.
