Page 44 of Darkest Deeds

I’m used to being naked in front of people. But for some reason, sitting on this bathroom counter, baring my body in front of the only man who was ever supposed to see it makes me feel ashamed. I lower my eyes, unable to look at him. Not when I see his shirt drop to the floor, not when his boots come off, not when I hear the clang of his belt buckle, and especially not when I watch his jeans and boxers land in a heap by his feet.

“Eyes up, pchelka.”

I lift my chin and gasp. His eyes are almost completely dark, the gray only a faded memory. Tension fills the air, and I’m scooped into his arms again then placed on my feet facing away from him under the warm water.

Niko’s soapy fingers run up my back and down my arms. I shiver, conflicted in wanting him to stop and needing more. I fight to hold in a moan as one hand snakes around my waist, the other brushing over my breast before continuing its torturously slow path downward.

So many nights I fantasized about how Niko’s body would feel inside me. Now, with his hard erection pressing against my ass, I can’t help rocking against him. I gasp at how big he feels, and on impulse, I do it again. He lets out a groan, his hand curling against my stomach.

“You want to play, pchelka?”

My response is a hoarse cry as his hand slides between my legs. Pushing a finger inside me, he pumps it as his thumb works my clit until I can’t see straight. I’m moaning and squirming in his arms, helpless to do anything but take it.

“Niko!”

“Scream for me, Ava,” he growls, adding a second finger.

I can’t take it, crying out his name over and over as I unravel in his hand. Still, he doesn’t relent, pumping harder and demanding more until I scream for him once more. Sagging against his chest, I ride out the crashing wave as it mercifully tosses me back to shore.

“Good girl. Now it’s my turn.”

No words have ever frightened me more, but I refuse to show weakness. Weakness is fuel to men like him. Niko had the chance to kill me. He didn’t because he craves my fear. As long as I deny him that one thing, I’m in control.

That thought is still in my head when Niko turns me around, his eyes glassy as he strokes my cheek. “Have you ever felt death, Ava? Felt it burn inside you with a soul so dark you swore you stopped breathing even though you still walked the earth?”

“Yes.”

His lips curl into a smirk as his other hand strokes my throat. “You know nothing. I’m Bratva and Cavalieri Della Morte. These hands have taken the lives of hundreds of men without remorse.”

His dismissive tone sparks something inside me that erupts the minute I open my mouth, blowing my resolve to hell. “This body has held on through shit you could never fathom,” I hiss. “You want to intimidate me, Nikolai Garetovsky or Gaheris or whatever the fuck you’re calling yourself these days? You take your best shot. You think I can’t handle it? You think again. I’ll play whatever role you want, but don’t you dare think I’m going to be your pet or your doll or whatever sick shit you’ve dreamed up inside your head.”

I stand there, chest heaving, burning with rage, and not sorry for one damn thing I said. I brace myself for an explosion, but what I get instead is a slow and steady smile. The chilling kind of smile that makes me desperately want to leap back over the line I just crossed.

“I don’t want a doll,” he says, walking me backward. “They don’t interest me.”

“What do you want?”

Niko closes his hand around my throat. In a blur of movement, he has me backed against the shower wall. His eyebrows tighten, pulling together as the corners of his mouth turn downward. “I want Yuri gone.”

His words take me by surprise, as does the pained look on his face. They don’t match his actions, and the confliction sets me on edge. “He is. I killed him, remember?”

“I want him gone from your memory.” His expression slackens as his thumb traces the dip at the base of my throat. “Did he touch you here?”

“No.”

“Then this,” he says, laying his other hand on my shoulder and guiding me to my knees, “this will be the first part of you I claim.”

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