Page 30 of Kissed By Shadows

“Semantics, baby,” Roman purrs, his hot breath fanning against my skin and lighting my nerves on fire.

“You belong to us now, Iris. You are ours to protect, to keep safe, to look after and cherish,” Hunter tells me, my chest tightening as the sting of tears fills my closed lids. My father’s betrayal stirred up all those old feelings of unworthiness, of feeling like I’m not enough that stem from my mother’s abandonment of me as a child and Nikolai’s rejection, even if it was for my own safety. It compounded them, reinforcing this inadequacy that slithers inside my very bones. “We don’t need to know everything about you yet to know that you are ours. Only ours.”

I don’t miss the way he says they don’t know everything yet. I’ve no doubt they will, sure that they’ll discover all my secrets just as they have infiltrated my mind and taken over my body.

A sharp knock at the door has me jumping, my eyes flying wide and landing on Hunter. The guys don’t move, just wait.

“The Russians are here, boss,” a male voice says from the other side of the door, my heart thumping inside my chest.Nikolai is here, and I’m going to have to face him in just a few short moments.

“Rowan, go bring them up,” Hunter orders, his palms still cupping my face, his eyes not leaving mine. “Roman, make sure everything is in place.” I wonder what he means, my brows dipping even as I’m still caught in his stare. “You ready, Peaches?”

I smooth my features, glancing down at my harem pants and slouchy, wide-necked jumper, then back up before shrugging. “I guess he’s also seen me naked, so I don’t suppose it matters what I’m wearing.”

His nostrils flare, his grip tightening on my cheeks, but not to the point of pain. It’s just enough to show me what his large hands are capable of. Why does that make my core twitch?

“My name will be on that list very fucking soon,” he growls out, my fingers aching at my sides to grip him, but I keep them down, needing to gain back some control if I’m going to face my childhood crush again. Or maybe he’s now the man who I gave my virginity to? Or the one whose father technically owns me? Who the fuck knows. “Let’s go show him what he foolishly let go, shall we?”

CHAPTER TWELVE

“OVERCOME” BY SKOTT

IRIS

Isee what Hunter meant when he told Roman to make sure everything was ready as soon as we step outside the front door. Unlike last night, there are not one but three dark thrones on the balcony, looking like something out ofGame of Thrones. Ego much? They’re each dark wood, carved and ostentatious-looking, inky-black velvet cushions softening the hard wooden seats.

It should be surprising, how much power these guys wield at such a young age, but even just meeting these three, feeling the power that rolls off them like a heady perfume, it’s no wonder others will follow them. Will trust them to make their lives that little bit better.

“Really?” I ask, my bows raised as Hunter leads me to the one in the middle, his warm hand in mine. He sits down, tugging me onto his lap and wrapping his muscular arms around me.He snagged a form-fitting, black-knitted jumper before we left, telling me not to worry about a coat when I went to get mine from the peg by the door.

I see why as several large heaters fill the space, making it pretty toasty even though it’s early January and by the slight sparkle of frost on the ground and trees beyond the balcony, colder than a witch’s tit out here.

Grumbling, I snuggle into his lap, thinking of the reminder he gave me about obedience and figuring this way I get the extra warmth of his body heat. It has nothing to do with how nice it feels to be in his lap, his arms banded around me, letting me know he has no plans of letting me go anytime soon.

“You’ll come to realise, Peaches, that a lot of life is the theatre, the spectacle. It’s showing people what you want them to see. We are the kings of this estate, we hold power. We can’t let them forget it,” Hunter tells me, absently placing a kiss on my temple. Shivers race across my skin from where his lips make contact, feeling hypersensitive as his minty rosemary scent wraps around me.

“They’re on their way up,” Roman states, walking from the end of the balcony and taking the throne on Hunter’s right. He lounges in it, slinging one leg over the arm, all lazy insouciance, a smirk playing around his plush lips. “Almost showtime.” He looks directly at me as he says the words, giving me a wink that sends another shudder running through me.

I tear my gaze away, my heart feeling like it’s in my throat as I stare at the door to the stairway. My skin itches, and I shift in Hunt’s lap, earning a grunt and his arms clamping tighter around me. I don’t know how to feel about seeing Nikolai again. Excitement thrums in my veins, the memories of our brief time together filling my head with images that have my thighs clenching, but then the heartache follows, leaving me hollow.

He left me, just like my mum. Just like my dad who said it was for my own safety, and look how that turned out, I’m sat in the lap of a gang leader having given my body over to him and his men as a plaything. Even if it feels right to be with Hunt and the twins, the circumstances are so fucking wrong it’s not funny.

How am I meant to act when Nikolai walks through that door? Shit, I’m a hot mess, all churned up and feeling like I don’t know what’s up or down anymore.

“Breathe, Peaches,” Hunter commands just as the door to the stairway opens, and I take a gasping inhale when an unknown man walks through. He’s huge, a large scar running down his left cheek, his dark eyes menacing as they sweep the area, pausing when they see me sitting on Hunter’s lap.

Something flickers in his eyes, something that doesn’t terrify me like I expect when faced with a massive Russian gangster. I slowly exhale the breath I took in, my body deciding there’s no threat before my mind catches up.

Movement behind him has my gaze snapping, locking with familiar chocolate eyes, and just like that, I’m frozen, trapped by his intense stare as he walks through the door. It’s like everything else ceases to exist as he looks into my soul, a fierce pain in my heart bringing tears to my eyes. My mind knows that we can’t have him, but my soul refuses to accept defeat, still believing that somehow we will be together.

He left you. My brain is trying to regain some control and latching onto the hurt of his rejection, however well meaning.

“Solnishko,” he breathes out, and I see fucking red, all the mixed-up emotions morphing into a single one; pure rage.

I’m leaping out of Hunter’s lap before he can stop me, fuelled by anger at how fucking shitty life can be, and Nikolai is the embodiment of all that pain and hurt.

Crack!

His head whips to the side as my palm makes contact, the sharp sting bringing me back to the moment, the hot tears that are flowing down my cheeks like a river that won’t be damned.

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