Page 66 of Dark Embers

We are in the special room Oleksi had designed in his family's Moscow mansion, deep into our sexual play. I'm on my knees, clad only in my underwear. My bra is pulled beneath my breasts, exposing them and offering them to him while anticipation quivers through me as Oleksi approaches with my new favorite toys—vibrating nipple clamps.

He kneels before me, kissing me deeply as his fingers tease my hardening nipple, sucking and licking, driving me wild with desire.

He teases the other nipple, whispering, “Beg for it, my naughty little pet.” He snaps the clamp a few times in the air, the sound sending shivers down my spine.

“Please, sir,” I beg, “pinch my hard nipple with the clamp.”

He chuckles, gently placing the clamp onto my nipple. But instead of the usual pleasure-pain, a sharp agony sears through me. I scream, my body convulsing as a cold mist coils through me. Darkness engulfs me, the last thing I hear is Oleksi yelling my name before I collapse, the cold tile meeting my head.

Bright lights assault my senses as I come to, being wheeled through a corridor. My head throbs. I try to sit up, but a firm hand pushes me down.

“Don't sit up, baby,” Oleksi's frantic voice surrounds me, pulling me further into consciousness.

“What happened?” I ask, my voice weak. “Where am I?”

“In the emergency room,” Oleksi's words alarm me.

“Elena?” I breathe.

“She's here.” He steps back, and I see my little girl strapped into a baby sling on Oleksi's chest, sleeping peacefully.

They wheel me into a private room with soft lighting and fresh linens that do nothing to ease the panic clawing at my chest. The walls feel like they’re pressing in, the sterile scent prickling my nose. I shift to sit up, but Oleksi is there, adjusting the bed with the remote so I’m only slightly elevated. His touch is gentle, but his face—his face is tight with concern, jaw clenched like he’s barely holding it together.

Then it hits me.

The clamp. The pain. The cold rushing through me before everything went black.

I lift a hand to my forehead and wince as my fingers graze a tender knot.

“You have a gash. The nurse cleaned it and put two butterfly bandages on it,” Oleksi says, sitting down beside me, Elena still tucked securely against his chest. “And there’s quite a bump, too. You hit the tile hard when you collapsed.”

“What the hell is this?” My voice is hoarse, my throat dry when I see the ball of cotton wool pasted to the crook of my arm

“The doctor took blood as you were out for twenty minutes and I gave them my permission to.”

“Great!” I hiss. “I’m feeling fine now. I want to go.”

“No.” Oleksi’s voice snaps and his eyes hold me. “Sabrina last night when I entered you, you were in pain…” I feel my cheeks start to heat. “Then tonight your nipples are extra sensitive.” His eyes flash with concern. “Please, baby, humor me and just let the doctors run their tests.”

“Fine!” My head is aching anyway. So I lie back. “Has Syd or Ivan managed to find out anything more about thatprominent mystery family who have that hotel suite?” I make conversation to keep my mind off my throbbing head and stinging nipple because the numbness that had shrouded me has warn off and FUCK, my nipple is burning like I’ve been stung by a wasp.

“Yes,” Oleksi answers. “I was about to tell you earlier but you made that hard to do when I walked into the room and found you on your knees in your black lacy underwear and heels.” His eyes darken and his mouth lifts in a delicious grin. “After that I wasn’t thinking too clearly.”

“What news were you going to tell me?” I interrupt his musings.

“You’re not going to believe who that suite ispermanentlybooked for,” Oleksi tells me deliberately leaving me hanging like a fucking game show host making the guests wait to see if their answer is correct.

“Who?” My voice snaps with impatience.

“Anya and Timofey Morozova.” Oleksi says the names slowly and deliberately.

“Oh, my God!” I feel as if the breath has been knocked out of me. “So my mother must know them?” I frown. “How did Syd and Ivan finally get the information?”

“The old fashioned way,” Oleksi says with a half smile. “Ivan distracted the manager while Syd helped herself to the woman’s computer.”

I stare at him suspiciously. I know there is a double meaning. “She wasn’t hurt was she?”

“Not if you call being seduced by Ivan hurt.” Oleksi laughs. “He is a handsome brute.”

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