Page 32 of Shadow

He opened his bleary eyes to look up at me, and I gently swept some of his tears off his cheek. “See?” I asked. “Told you.”

“Fuck you,” he muttered, giving me his classic comeback response. But his hand belied his words as he gripped my waist and tugged me down just enough that our torsos pressed together. “Can the cock cage come off now?”

I chuckled and pressed my lips to his in a soft kiss before I rolled off of him and got off the bed. “No,” I said as I headed for the bathroom to wash my hands and clean my cock up.

“What?!” he barked after me. “Rurik, come take it off!”

I snickered. “Your punishment’s not over, baby. You’re wearing that until tomorrow morning.”

“Oh, fuck you,” he snarled.

I grinned as I flicked on the bathroom light with my clean hand. “In due time, Shadow.”

25

Rurik

Malik’s breathing was soft and deep as he slept, his snores barely audible. There was something about feeling his back rise and fall against my chest that settled me. In my arms like this, I knew he was safe. Knew no one could touch him.

Malik had gone to sleep pissed at me, but that hadn’t stopped him from tucking his body into mine so I could spoon him. Even angry at me, he knew where he belonged. But honestly, the only person he could be angry with was himself. If he had just let Anatoly take those fucking bullets, he wouldn’t have been tortured and had to sleep with his cock in a cage.

A cage he still had on.

But I was about to relieve him, just as I promised I would. I was nothing if not a man of my word, after all.

I turned onto my back and grabbed the key off the nightstand. I’d left it there as a way to tease Malik further. I knew, no matterhow much he wanted to, he wouldn’t grab it and free himself. As much as he hated this, he liked being under my control even more. I made his head quiet. Gave him freedom and peace from his brain.

I’d need to eventually find him a trusted psychiatrist so he could get on some anxiety meds, but until then, I was more than happy to keep being this for him. His rock. His quiet place amidst all the chaos that constantly thrummed inside of him.

Sliding my arm back around him, I carefully unlocked the little padlock, then slid it free. He groaned quietly as I slid the cage off of him, but he didn’t wake. Once the ring was off, I set it all aside, then gripped his cock in my hand and lazily stroked him until he was hard. A soft moan crawled up his throat as he thrust into my grasp.

“Morning,” I rasped when he slowly peeled his eyes open.

“Fuck,” he hissed when I swiped my thumb over his slit, gathering the precum there. I stroked my hand back down his length. My lips pressed to his shoulder, and I nuzzled the skin there as I quickened my pace, wanting to get him off. Last night had been a punishment for him, sure, but I wanted to reward him for taking that punishment so fucking well.

“Rurik…” he breathed as he rolled his hips, repeatedly thrusting his leaking shaft into my fist. “Fuuuuck,” he groaned.

“Come on, baby,” I murmured, gently nipping at the skin of his shoulder. It was his injured shoulder, and I didn’t want to do anything to hurt him more. But I also couldn’t just keep my teeth to myself. “Give it to me. Come all over my fist, Malik.”

His breathing quickened, and his hips moved faster, and within a couple of minutes, he was moaning my name and his cockwas pulsing in my fist, his cum covering my fingers. When he shuddered from the sensitivity of my fist around him, I carefully released him, then lifted my hand to my lips and licked his cum from my fingers. Malik rolled onto his back and groaned as he watched me with pupils blown wide and his skin flushed.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then, his regular cell phone rang. Frowning, he pushed himself up with his good arm, then reached over and grabbed it. I rolled out of bed and headed into the bathroom to clean my hand up.

“Kaleen?” Malik asked incredulously as I washed my hands. I turned my head to look back at him. “How the fuck—Yeah, give me a minute.” I walked out of the bathroom drying my hands on a hand towel, arching my brow at him. Malik looked up at me. “I need your burner.”

I grabbed it off the top of the dresser and tossed it to him. Malik dialed a number, then raised the phone to his ear. “Hey, it’s me. What the fuck is going on, Kaleen? I thought you were supposed to be trying to work something out.”

“Speaker,” I quietly ordered.

Malik quickly followed my order, putting the phone on speaker. I sat on the foot of the bed, listening as Kaleen talked. “I tried, brother. But Prez lost his shit over the fact that I even met up with you. Fucking busted my nose, then ordered the hit. Took me a minute to be able to find your number. Someone has your details locked down tighter than Fort Knox.”

Malik raised his eyes to meet mine, already knowing who did. I quietly scoffed. “Obviously not tight enough if he found your number,” I muttered. Malik’s lips quirked in amusement.

“I appreciate you trying anyway,” Malik told him. “You know we’re at war now, right? I took those bullets for Anatoly.”

Kaleen sighed. “Yeah, I know.” He blew out a harsh breath. “For what it’s worth, Malik, I’m sorry this shit is happening. Hopefully I’ll see you on the other side of all this bullshit.”

“You, too,” Malik told him. He ended the call and set my burner phone aside before reaching up to scrub his good hand down his face. Finally, he looked up at me. “He tried. I’d appreciate it if you did your best to keep him safe during all of this.”

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