Page 60 of Kissed By Shadows

Fingers from my left tickle up my thigh and I take in a sharp breath as they move higher. My hand grabs his wrist, but it does nothing to stop him. “Roman.”

“They may all think that you’re his wife,” he whispers, his fingers gliding underneath my barely there skirt and teasing along my knicker line. “But you belong to me too, and I’m going to make you come while they all watch.”

He doesn’t even give me time to answer, sliding his fingers inside my lace thong and going straight for my clit. My fingers tighten around his wrist, but I don’t push him away like I really should. Instead, I stifle a moan into Hunt’s neck as Roman sets to work destroying me as quickly as he can, and there’s something about the fact we are in a public place that makes my blood sizzle in my veins.

“What’s—” Hunter cuts himself off, and I move my face so I can look up at him. His gaze is hooded, his stare between my thighs as Roman moves his fingers lower, sinking two of them inside me so suddenly that I can’t stop the cry from escaping. “Fuck, we really don’t need this kind of distraction,” he mumbles, but then his hand is on my thigh, pulling it open to give Ro better access.

“Evenin’, Hunter, boys,” a deep male voice says, and I hide my face in Hunter’s neck again, my nails digging into Roman’s skin as he slowly pumps his fingers in and out of me. “I hear congratulations are in order.”

“Thank you, Roger,” Hunter answers just as Roman strokes that spot inside me that is sure to make me see stars. “May I introduce my wife? Iris, this is Roger Sterling.”

Gritting my teeth, I try to school my face and turn to look up at Roger. He’s older than Hunter, maybe mid to late forties,handsome in a silver fox kind of way, and smartly dressed. There’s something a little unsettling about him though, like a beautiful snake that will hypnotise you and then sink its fangs deep.

“Pleased to m–meet you, Roger,” I say, my nails digging into Roman’s wrist and Hunter’s thigh as Ro finger fucks me hard. My breaths are panting, and it’s taking everything in me to keep a straight face and not roll my eyes at the pleasure that is flowing through me, threatening to drown me. Roger gives me a considering look, one eyebrow arched slightly.

“The pleasure is all mine, though I must say, I thought your father struck a deal with the Russians? That’s certainly the impression I got when we last spoke,” he tells me casually, and it’s as if a bucket of iced water has just been dumped over my head.

“P–pardon?” I whisper, Roman’s fingers stilling and Hunter going taut next to me.

“Your father and I had business together, and when I heard that he was in a little trouble, offering his beautiful daughter up in exchange for clearing his debts, I thought I could be of assistance.” Bile fills my throat at the thought of more people being aware of my shame, of the fact that my own father was offering me up like a prized cow and that he wasn’t hiding it from anyone, instead, flaunting it. “I’m glad Hunter got you in the end. Sergi Petrov is a brutal man who I doubt would appreciate such an English rose.”

Tears sting the back of my eyes, and Roman removes his hand completely as Hunt rubs soothing circles on my thigh, but I barely feel them, my body going numb as a wave of grief hits me so hard that I sway a little.

“I do hope you’re okay, Iris. I’m sorry if I said anything upsetting, I assumed you knew,” Roger is saying, but it’s as if it’s coming from a vast distance. Hunt assures him it’s justthe champagne, but I hardly hear him. The need to flee, to go somewhere just to breathe becomes so overwhelming that before I know what I’m doing, I’m pushing past Roman and striding towards the ladies’ bathrooms that I spotted earlier.

Bursting through the door, I’m relieved to find it’s an individual room, complete with a vanity and plush velvet chair, a sink to one side, and the toilet behind another door.

I lock the door behind me, jumping when a loud fist bangs against it.

“Let me in, Lamb,” Rowan demands, and I’m shaking my head even though he can’t see.

“I–I’ll only be a m–minute,” I tell him, my voice thick with unshed tears. I just need a moment alone to process what that man said, what my father did. Movement in the mirror has me spinning, my eyes widening when a dark figure emerges from the toilet. “Nikolai?”

“I need to check the space, Iris,” Rowan grits out, pounding on the door again, but my focus is on the man in front of me. He looks, well, he kind of looks like shit, deep violet smudges underneath his eyes.

“Hello,Malyshka,” he whispers, and before I’m thinking, I’m throwing myself in his arms. He catches me with a grunt, but his arms wrap around me, pulling me so close, and my body immediately relaxes. “What’s wrong,Dorogoi?”

“Nothing, not anymore now that you’re here,” I murmur back, unconvincing as a tear glides down my cheek. My breath stalls and fear makes me flash hot. I pull away to look up into his beautiful, tired face.“Why are you here? What if Sergi?—”

He cuts me off with his lips and I melt into his kiss. He starts off slow, like he can’t quite believe that I’m here, which I sympathise with because I feel the same. My hands travel up his chest, feeling the tight muscles underneath his fitted shirt, but I need more. I need to feel his hot skin beneath my fingertips. Soas he deepens the kiss, I start undoing the buttons of his shirt, making quick work of them and pushing the garment off him to land in a pile on the floor.

I pull back from the kiss, just so my eyes can confirm what my hands are feeling, and a sob rips from my chest at the purples and blues that cover his inked-up torso. “Oh, Nik.”

“Shhhh,Dorogoi. I’m fine,” he assures me, even though he clearly isn’t, but then his lips are on mine again, his large palms cupping my face as he walks me backwards until my thighs hit the vanity top.

Then his tongue delves inside my mouth, stroking and leaving me whimpering before he picks me up underneath my thighs to set me down on the cool marble, and I hiss into his mouth when it hits my overheated skin. My legs open to allow him to step between them, and I lose myself to him, letting him ease the pain of my father’s latest betrayal.

I moan when his fingers glide up the inside of my thigh, and he growls into my mouth when they brush over my damp underwear. The door pounds again, but the sound is muffled because all I can focus on is Nik.

“Do they keep you satisfied,Kotenok?” he whispers harshly against my lips, and I whimper when he tugs the fabric aside, roughly shoving two fingers inside me. “It feels like they warmed you up just for me.”

With a feral snarl, he pulls his fingers out, wrapping them around the material and tearing it from my body. I stifle a cry of pain as the fabric pulls against my skin, my chest rising and falling rapidly as the sound of his belt buckle being undone fills the room.

His other hand grabs my chin, forcing me to look into his dark eyes as I feel the tip of him nudge my entrance. No words are said as with a single hard thrust, he slams his way inside my body just as the door flies open.

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

“RIDE FOR ME” BY KAYAM

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