Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“Look, hate me later. Scream at me, whatever. We have to go to your mom's, and I want to be sure that you're safe. Don't do anything fucking stupid.”
“Nice double standard, Mr. Romanov,” she snarls. “‘Don't do anything stupid,’ but it's totally fine for you to install something in my neck like I'm a dog? When did you do this?”
“When I first got you,” I say between clenched teeth.
“When you… got me? It's really like I'm a dog. Viktor!”
“No, it isn’t, Lydia,” I say, losing patience.
“This isn't normal! This isn't okay.”
“I'll take it out once we have the ex in custody.”
“No!” She claws at her neck, her fingernails digging into her skin. Blood bubbles to the surface. “Do you know what it feels like having some kind of foreign object in your body? Are you crazy?”
I move closer to her, her smaller body cast in shadow next to mine. “Calm down, Lydia,” I say, trying to keep my voice calm and steady. “You're safe with me.”
She looks up at me, her mouth open. “Safe? How can I be safe when you put this… this thing inside me?” Her eyes blaze with anger, her hands clenched into fists, trembling as she reaches for her neck and tries to claw at it again.
I reach out, but she flinches and turns away from me. “You say everything is about my protection, but maybe this is your control. Have you thought of that, Viktor?” Her voice drips with sarcasm and fury. She backs away from me, her eyes darting toward the door, clearly weighing her chances of escaping.
“Both,” I admit, my voice low and rough. “You don't understand the danger you're in. You're a smart girl, but your former fiancé is a lot more than a narcissistic bastard. He's deadly. We don't know what his plans are for you, and I don't want to take a single risk of anyone, especially him, hurting you. At this point, he wants you out of sheer vengeance.”
Her breath comes in short bursts. “You mean you won't let anybody but you control me.” She shakes her head, laughing bitterly.
I clench my jaw. “I'm the only one who cares about keeping you alive.”
She grits her teeth, her cheeks flaming as hot as the fires she’s obsessed with. “This isn't about you caring about me. You're obsessed. Who keeps a napkin, Viktor?”
I take another step forward. “Call it what you like. You know where we stand. You know I know you better than anybody.”
Her eyes narrow. “You think you know me. But do you really?”
“I would if you let me in.”
She crosses her arms over her chest, her body taut with defiance. “I would rather burn, Viktor.”
I give one sharp shake of my head, my patience waning. The room is thick with tension, our battle of wills evident. This is how it will always be with us—thunderstorms and fire, volcanoes and eruptions. But that's who we are.
“Viktor,” she says, her voice softening. “I know you need to protect me. I know what happened to your sister.”
I look away, not meeting her eyes. I don't know who told her, but I wouldn't have withheld it from her. I just wasn't ready. “I can't be controlled like this. I feel like I'm caged.”
I give her a dark look. “That can be arranged.”
Despite her anger, I know by the way her pupils dilate and she clutches at her collarbone, pink rising on her cheeks, that she likes this. She might fight me, but she needs this.
So do I.
“It feels like you're suffocating me,” she says in a soft voice.
I take a step closer to her, wrapping my hand around the front of her throat and tightening it. “Like this?” I say, my voice a growl. Beneath her fear and anger, a small part of her is drawn to this intensity, the raw, primal need I have for her. It's dark, dangerous, and twisted, and it scares her, but she craves us.
“Don't distract me,” she says, but it's a last-ditch effort. She wants this. I know she does.
My mouth slams on hers with a punishing kiss. I tighten my hand on her throat until she is gasping for breath and only release it when her mouth opens. She moans into my mouth, trying to push me away, but I tighten my grip, grab her ass, and squeeze her while I pull her into me. When we pull away, we are both panting.
I reach down and gently brush my thumb over her hardened nipple. “This isn't over, Viktor. You can't distract me with sex.”
“I'm not trying to distract you with sex, but I'm also not going to pretend that I don't want this as much as you do.”
“I'm not marrying you until you take this out of me.”
“I'm not taking it out of you until he is dead in the fucking grave.” We stare at each other in a battle of wills.