Page 166 of Blood Mosaic

She was awake, staring at him, and there were tears in her eyes. “Oleg.”

“Shhh.” He walked to her and knelt, brushing the bloody hair away from her face. “I did what you wanted. It will hurt for a while, but you will be free of her influence now.”

“When she came to my room…” Tatyana hiccuped a little bit. “I… Ilovedher. She wanted me to kill you, and I forgot all about Elene. I forgot about the beatings and the violence. All I wanted was to please?—”

“Shh.” He put a finger on her lips and forced her chin up to meet his eyes. “She was your sire. Of course you wanted all that. Of course you did.”

Her face crumpled in pain, and she threw her arms around Oleg’s shoulders, her body shaking.

He held her tightly. “But you didn’t kill me, did you?” The thought brought a sharp jolt of satisfaction. She was already attached to him. More even than she realized. “You didn’t hurt me; you tried to kill her.”

The strength it must have taken. Oleg hadn’t even been able tochallengehis sire for a hundred years. Tatyana had defied her blood bond with Zara in less than a month.

“You are stronger than I was, Tatyana. You are so strong.”

Yes, his little wolf’s resolve was a thing of beauty. When he made her fall in love with him, she would be his fiercest protector and his most trustworthy ally.

Oleg held her tightly as she wept, lifting her up and walking her over to the shower so she could wash the night of violence away.

He lifted her hair, pouring oils and soaps through it to wash the caked blood away until the strands were golden and the water ran clear.

“She was so angry,” Tatyana murmured. “We looked all over the house for her gold, but she couldn’t find it.”

Oleg smiled a little bit. “I moved it to the Amber Room. I had this sentimental vision of you naked, wearing some of the jewelry I collected that Luana never wore.”

She turned to him and slid her arms around his shoulders. “You wanted me to wear Luana’s jewelry?”

“I wanted you to wearmyjewelry,” he growled. “Gold and silver I’ve collected for centuries. I gave it to Luana, but she…” He shrugged. “It was not to her liking. I thought you might enjoy it more.”

“You would give all that to me?”

He met her blue eyes and didn’t look away. “I would give you far more than you can imagine, Tatyana Vorona.”

All she needed was to surrender to him.

So why did it feel like he was the one begging?

Her eyes were impossible to read. “So in this vision, I was wearing gold and jewels… and what else?”

Oleg could feel her hunger, and he couldn’t hold back the smile. “Skin.”

He slid slick hands down the sides of her body. The water on his shoulders began to steam with the heat of his element, and he felt his blood move. The pain of Zara’s death was leaching away like water down the drain, and the satisfaction of victory was rising like his cock.

His soldiers would be fucking after their fight, working off their remaining energy in far more pleasurable ways than violence.

And he could feel Tatyana’s amnis rising too.

“I won,” she whispered. “She’s dead.”

“Wewon.” He bent to Tatyana’s ear and muttered, “They tried to kill you, but instead, you killed them. You are the victor, little wolf. Your fangs were stained with blood, and you arealive.”

“I’m alive.” Her hand slid to the back of his neck.

Oleg closed his eyes at the pleasure of the intimacy. He wanted to press her mouth to his neck and feel her teeth pierce his skin. “Yes, you arealive.”

Her hand reached down and wrapped around his hard erection. “We’realive.”

Oleg reached down and lifted Tatyana against the wall, the water from the shower hitting his shoulders and turning to steam.

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