Page 20 of Shadow

He didn’t utter a sound.

I eased off the bed and headed into the bathroom, taking a quick moment to clean myself up and rid myself of my slacks. After grabbing a clean, damp hand towel, I headed back into the room, finding Malik in the same position I’d left him.

Those dark eyes of his locked back on me as I set to cleaning him up, wiping the cum from his belly and the neatly trimmed hair around his cock. Then, I eased one of his thighs back and cleaned between his cheeks. I wanted nothing more than to stuff my cum back inside of him, but the little flinches he gave told me he was definitely too sensitive for that. I’d been extremely rough with him, and he needed rest and time to recover.

Tossing the hand towel aside, I propped the pillows up and then leaned against the headboard. Malik still didn’t move, and I sighed.

“Come here,” I murmured.

Surprisingly, he moved without hesitation, pushing himself up on trembling arms until he was leaning back against me, his head resting on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him and dropped a kiss to the top of his head. He shivered and relaxed even more against me, his eyes sliding shut.

“You’re awfully quiet,” I murmured as I stroked my fingers through his dark hair, scraping my blunt nails along his scalp.

He frowned, but his eyes didn’t open. Finally, he shrugged, making a small noise I couldn’t decipher. “Maybe you’re right about the whole anxiety thing,” he said after a moment, his voice low and soft. “My head is… quiet. I don’t ever remember my head being this silent. It’s… nice.”

I hummed and tightened my arm around him. “You know it can always be like this for you?” I asked him. “If you would just stop fighting me and let me have you, your head could always be this blissfully silent. Because I’d make your decisions, and you’d never have to think. Not while I’m around.”

He sighed. “It’s not that simple,” he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep.

“It can be,” I assured him. “I canmakeit that simple. I just need you to give me the chance. To stop fighting me every step of the way.” I settled my chin on his head. “You’ve been mine from the very beginning, Shadow. I named you, giving you the name I was to you—a Shadow. Put you in that club so you were within my radar. I’ve kept you a free man. You’re more fucking protected than a goddamn king, Malik. You know why Anatoly didn’t have a bullet put through your stubborn, thick-ass skull for that stunt you pulled today? Because you’remine. And Anatoly won’t touch what belongs to me.”

Malik sighed, and he was still so lost in that headspace I’d put him, he hadn’t even tensed at my confession. Instead, he just slumped even more against me, letting me take his body weight. He was bigger than me, but I’d support him anytime. Hold him however long he let me.

“I’ll think about it,” he mumbled, sleep quickly taking him.

I chuckled. “Okay, baby. You do that.”

A knock soundedon the hotel room door, dragging me from my slumber. At some point, Malik and I had flattened ourselves onto the mattress, and he had become the little spoon to my big spoon, his body curled into a little ball, and I’d wrapped myself around him. He didn’t even stir, soft snores leaving his mouth. But when a louder knock sounded, this one a bit more impatient, he jerked, his eyes snapping open as he reached for his gun—the gun he did not have near him.

“Easy,” I rumbled as I slid from the bed. “Get some pants on, baby.”

I made my way into the bathroom as the knock sounded again—this time with impatience behind it. Grunting in annoyance, I snatched my slacks off the floor and tugged them on, doing up the button and zipper as I headed for the door. One look through the peephole had me tensing.

Unlocking the door, I opened it and leaned my shoulder against the doorjamb, arching an eyebrow at my boss and best friend.

“Not like you to make a personal visit.”

He hummed, running his eyes over my half-naked form. Closing his eyes, he drew in a deep breath and reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “Do not fucking tell me your idea of teaching your boy a lesson was tofuck him?” he growled.

I smirked. “I mean, it worked.”

His sigh was weighted with annoyance before he stepped past me and into the hotel room. Malik was tugging his shirt over his head when Anatoly stepped in, and he quickly tugged it down the rest of the way, every single one of his shields going up against the Pakhan.

Which meant, more than likely, they were going up against me, too.

Fuck.

“Anatoly,” he said quietly.

“Find some shoes, Shadow,” Anatoly ordered. “You and I have a dinner reservation.”

“The fuck?” I blurted, instantly suspicious. Malik cast me a questioning look, and though I was sure Anatoly wouldn’t pick up on it since Malik hid it well, there was a hint of trepidation there, too. My man just couldn’t hide a fucking thing from me. “What game are you playing at, Balakin?” I snapped, calling Anatoly by his last name.

“Shadow and I just need to have a talk,” Anatoly told me as Malik worked on finding his socks and shoes.

“If you fucking—” I growled, my temper spiking and my mask slipping. Anatoly knew I’d slaughter anyone who harmed Malik. He wasmine.

And family or not, I’d slit Anatoly’s throat if he triedanythingfunny with him.

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