Page 70 of Where the Wicked Reign

She was mine.

Tonight had seen to it.

There’s no escaping me now, Caterina.

13

~Caterina~

I jolted awake to foreign surroundings as light filtered in through the gap in a pair of drawn, silky gold curtains.

Blinking rapidly, I fought to get my bearings as I took in the unknown space.

The walls were decorated with lacquered deep-red wallpaper with abstract paintings of gold foil spaced evenly throughout. There was a heart-shaped mirror above the bed, flashing neon-pink, and the light fixtures were made of black and gold feathers. I even spotted a massive tiger-print rug in front of the bed.

It was… a lot.Wow.

And there, beneath the leopard-print sheets of the luxurious high-end queen-size bed nestled against me as he slept, was Nico.

Shit.

He was pressed right up against me, effectively spooning me, one arm wrapped around my waist possessively.

Possessively?Oh, no.

Last night came back to me in a heady rush.

Shit again.

More likeholy shit.

I’d gone there for two reasons last night.

The first had been to clear my head for the upcoming operation. My mind had been in a whirl because of him ever since he’d broken into my apartment that night and been right up in my space, all over me, touching me and consuming me.

The second reason had been to get him out of my system. I’d thought going there with him would have broken through the sexual tension between us, something that had been increasing to such an extent that it had been ridiculously difficult to think straight around him. I couldn’t have that either. Especially with the marriage directive. I needed to be at the top of my game and not controlled by my need for him. Ideally, it should just be business and an alliance between us.

I carefully extricated myself from him, then eased out of bed, wincing as my entire body burned and ached.

I started as I looked down at myself to see dried blood, bruises, and marks all over me.

I’d lost control last night. I’d given him what he’d wanted from me for so long. I’d surrendered to that fucked-up part of myself.

And the disturbing truth was that it had felt amazing.

I’d never felt so free in my life.

Never felt so satiated.

But he’d seen that monster in me.

Julian had, too.

And I knew Nico, especially, wouldn’t let me forget it, or deny it.

He’d want me to embrace it, andhe’dwant to embrace it too.

Maybe that was what I needed, though.

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