Page 8 of Rivals

Chapter four

Nick

Heat curled in Nick's stomach, lower, pooling thick and heavy. His own cock twitched, aching for touch, but he was trapped, pinned beneath Viktor's weight, forced to lie there and witness every inch of raw, unfiltered desire playing out above him.

Viktor exhaled roughly. "Look at you." His voice was thick with arousal, low and rough like gravel. "So desperate."

Nick made a strangled noise, somewhere between protest and something infinitely worse. "Me?" His voice cracked before he could rein it in. "Oh,I’mthe desperate one?" He tried for sharp, for biting, for some kind of cutting remark that would put distance between them. It came out embarrassingly weak.

Viktor smirked like he knew exactly what kind of effect he was having. His pace didn’t slow. If anything, it got more deliberate. Moreintentional.

Nick wanted to fight back, to snap something vicious and pointed, to turn this moment into something he could control. But he couldn't think—couldn't do anything except watch, wide-eyed and breathless, as Viktor’s hand moved faster, as his hipsrolled into his own grip with a shuddering breath, as the slick, wet sound of it filled the space between them.

Then Viktor’s free handgrippedNick’s thigh, hard, fingers digging deep enough that Nick knew he’d be feeling it tomorrow. The pressure sent a sharp jolt of sensation straight to his groin, a collision of pain and pleasure that had him arching into the touch before he could stop himself.

A whimper slipped past his lips. Immediate, involuntary. His stomach dropped the second he realized it had happened.

Viktor heard. His eyes flashed, predatory satisfaction darkening his already blown pupils. "Youlikethis," he snarled, voice ragged, breath coming fast. It wasn’t a question. "My attention. You’ve been asking for it. All that bluster." His fingers tightened, nails just barely scratching against Nick’s skin. "You're a noisy little pet dog, barking at what he wants."

Nick bit his lip hard enough to taste blood, furious with himself, with his body, with the way he couldn't stop reacting. He refused to give Viktor the satisfaction of an answer.

But there was no way to hide it.

Not when his thighs trembled under Viktor’s grip. Not when his chest rose and fell too fast, too uneven. Not when his own cock was aching, heavy, pinned between them, leaking against his stomach as Viktorkept going.

And there wasdefinitelyno way he could tear his gaze away from Viktor’s hand.

Viktor leaned in, his breath hot against Nick’s skin, voice dripping with authority. “Admit it.”

Nick clenched his jaw so hard it was a miracle his teeth didn’t crack. Absolutely not. He wasn’t giving Viktor the satisfaction. He scrambled for a comeback—something cutting, something witty, something that would wipe that insufferable look off Viktor’s face.

But nothing came.

His body had betrayed him in the worst way possible. Every breath felt too thick, too hot. Blood rushed south, his hips shifting instinctively toward the source of his torment. Weak.Weak.

Viktor’s smirk deepened, eyes flashing with knowing amusement. Damn wolf could probably smell how wrecked he was.

Nick sucked in a breath and scowled. Fine. If he was going down, he was going down swinging.

“Oh, absolutely,” he deadpanned. “I live to be tackled naked in the dirt by my overbearing co-worker. It’s really fulfilling a lifelong dream.”

Viktor huffed a laugh, low and rough, but his amusement didn’t soften him. If anything, the heat in his gaze only darkened, turned sharper, like he was savoring the fight even as he crushed it under his weight.

With a firm grip, he seized Nick’s chin, forcing his head back until their eyes locked. "Look," he commanded, voice a dark velvet snarl.

Nick tried to summon the defiance that had always been his shield, the cocky grin, the easy sarcasm that kept people at arm’s length. But here, pinned beneath Viktor’s overpowering presence, he had nothing. It crumbled to dust.

His throat felt dry as sandpaper, the words he wanted to spit out caught there. His skin burned under Viktor’s hold, his jaw aching from the pressure of those fingers. Viktor was so close. Too close. Heat radiated from him, every inch of his powerful body pressing Nick into the earth like he belonged there.

“There’s not much to look at,” Nick rasped, barely getting the words out.

Viktor’s smirk sharpened. His thumb brushed over Nick’s jaw, deceptively gentle as his fingers flexed, keeping him trapped. His eyes flicked over Nick’s flushed face, over the way his pulsejumped at his throat, the way his breath came too fast, too uneven. “You’re shaking,” Viktor murmured, satisfaction curling through his voice like smoke.

Nick gritted his teeth, hating how easily Viktor could see through him. Hating the way he felt pinned beneath that knowing gaze, stripped bare in more ways than one. He forced a breath, grasping for control. “Allergies,” he shot back, voice rough.

Viktor laughed, deep and satisfied, and Nick hated how much he felt it, how the sound of it sent a shiver straight through him.

Every nerve in Nick’s body was on fire, overloaded with sensation. His breath hitched as Viktor moved above him, fisting his cock, dragging this out just to make him suffer.

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