Every time I press against his chest to shove him back, my breasts ache against the sheer, flimsy fabric of my cotton T-shirt. Every time he leans in to assert his dominance, his grip softens just enough to feel like a caress.
He is entirely too close to me.
I look up at his mouth, and a sudden, maddening need ignites deep in my core, blinding in its intensity. It defies all logic. It overwhelms my survival instincts.
I’m burning up from the inside out, consumed by a wild, desperate urge to close the last bit of distance between us and lock my lips with his.
Heat travels over my body in a raging, electric rush.
It starts at the base of my spine, becoming a tingling current that shoots upward to the nape of my neck and plunges straight down to my toes.
The air around us is thick with the scent of rain and his expensive cologne, and a sudden shiver ripples across my skin, making every single hair on my arms rise in anticipation.
I’m shivering, not from the cold of the wall at my back, but from the terrifying realization that my body wants this monster just as much as he wants me.
But I’m also furious. I want to claw his eyes out; I want to run away from him until my legs collapse.
I’m utterly torn between a deep, rational hatred for what he’s done to my life, a paralyzing fear of his power, and a tingling, unwanted desire for the man who took everything from me.
But when he looks down at me, that dark, intentional smirk playing on his lips as he feels my heart hammering wildly against his own, I know that no matter how hard I fight this cage, I am already, entirely his.
Chapter Thirteen
Leonid
“You can do that all you want. Burn a hole in the carpet; I’ll replace it. It’s not going to change anything. You know why?”
Elena stops pacing to look me dead in the eyes. Her green eyes spark with rage and defiance when she says, “Let me guess:you’rein charge.Youget to say or do whatever the hell you want while the world around you either burns or submits.”
I shrug, then stick my hands into my pockets. “Your words, not mine. But that nails it perfectly. I’m glad to see that you might have fucking dumb ideas, but at least you’re paying attention to how this shit works.”
I struggle to remain calm. Ever since she made an appearance on those docks, I tend to lose my shit a lot faster than I should.
“You think this is funny, don’t you?” She shakes her head. “You really do think this is funny.”
She starts pacing again, with her arms wrapped protectively around her body and her eyes drifting far away, lost in thought.
She’s been doing this for hours after I caught her in the foyer trying to make a run for it—pacing the floor in the bedroom, sulking, and muttering curses under her breath.
Her hair bounces below her shoulders in a wavy mess, with some strands sticking out across her forehead and her neck. With each glimpse into her eyes, I see an immense sadness she doesn’t even bother to hide.
She plops down on the side of the bed, but keeps her gaze lowered and her arms wrapped around her body.
I shift my weight from one leg to the other while I watch her intently.
“Are you tired already?” I raise an eyebrow. “Here I was thinking you wanted to start a fire.”
“Can you just stop?” She shoots back to her feet and crosses the room until she’s almost chest to chest with me. “You’re making light of my misery and, honestly, I’m sick of it. None of this is funny.”
I narrow my eyes. The pain in her voice rubs me the wrong way. I can take anything else from her—aggression, insults—but not pain. Not when I knowIcaused it.
I grit my teeth. “Would you prefer I bind your hands and feet to that fucking bedpost so you’d never have to move again?”
She blinks. “You wouldn’t.”
“Oh, but I would. You don’t know half of what I could do to you for that stunt you pulled, ptichka.” I move forward, eliminating one of the last inches of space separating us. “And you really don’t want to push me to go there.”
“Leonid…” She inhales deeply. “Please...can you...take a step back? I need space to think. I need to breathe!”
