Page 43 of Owned By Shadows

“Are you hungry,Solnishko?” I ask softly, my hands gently rubbing up and down her back in an attempt to further soothe her.

“Um, I don’t really know if I can eat,” she replies, looking up at me, and the tears that glisten in her eyes guts me. Her stomach gives an almighty grumble, and I just raise a brow at her.

“Hunter would have my balls if I didn’t feed you properly,” I tell her, and she chuckles, the sound loosening the tension that’s wrapped around my heart at seeing her so afraid. “Lev, could you message the others and tell them to head back here, please?”

“Already done that, Love,” he states absent-mindedly, and I freeze, my heart thudding inside my chest.

“Love?” I whisper, holding Iris tightly as I look at the man who just gave me such an endearment. Roman looks up, his eyes serious.

“Yes, Love.”

I swear I stop breathing, everything fading but his perfect face and beautiful eyes.

“Go to him, Nik,” Iris encourages, breaking me from Roman’s spell just enough to glance down at her. She goes up on her tiptoes and presses a light kiss to my lips before stepping out of my embrace.

I swallow, glancing back at Roman to find him still staring at me. My heart pounds as I take a step towards him, then another until I’m striding over there, grabbing his face, and yanking him up to my mouth, slamming my lips on his.

He groans, and it’s quite possibly the sexiest sound I’ve ever heard, my dick hardening in seconds. The feelings roaring inside me are so overwhelming, so powerful, that all I can do is pour them all into kissing the man who has claimed a piece of my heart without me even realising it.

I pull back with a gasp, staring into his swirling brown eyes that always make me feel like the sun is shining directly into my fucking soul.

“Love.” It’s a statement, a confession, and all that I can manage right now.

“Love,” he repeats, fusing his lips to mine in a kiss that’s sweet and so devastating I’m not sure I’ll survive it.

We pull apart when the sound of the others returning filters in, but I can’t tear my eyes away from him, not yet, even if there are a thousand things we should be doing right now.

“Are we interrupting? Your message sounded urgent,” Hunt’s deep voice asks, and I tear my gaze away to look at him. His look of confusion morphs to one of understanding as he takes in my no doubt dazed expression. “Don’t worry, he has that effect on me too.” He turns to Iris, who’s wearing the biggest smile, tears making her eyes shine. “Come on, Peaches, let’s feed you because I doubt these bastards did.”

I can’t even argue, my power of speech gone as he takes her into the kitchen area, Dima and Andrei giving me knowing looks as they follow them, giving Roman and me some privacy.

“You okay, Love?” Roman asks, and the words send a jolt through me, just like it did the first time.

I turn back to gaze at him, my thumb stroking his cheek.

“I will be now,Lev,” I tell him truthfully, closing my eyes and brushing my lips against his.

“Good.” He returns my soft kiss with one of his own, and we just spend a moment breathing each other in. “I need to finish some things before we eat, okay?”

I let out a shuddering exhale, feeling like a totally different person. Like something has shifted inside me and won’t ever move back.

“Okay,Lev.”

Reluctantly, I pull away from him, my eyes tracing a path across his beautiful face. Seems like I have more than one person to love, which is so much more than I thought I’d ever get. Than I’d ever deserve to have.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“WATER” BY TYLA

IRIS

Hunter fed me like he promised, Nik joining us halfway through our meal with a calm determination that I’d not seen before. The sun was still pretty high in the sky, the clock telling me it was just after two in the afternoon, and I gazed out at the ocean, a sigh leaving my lips.

“What is it,Malyshka?” Nik asks softly from beside me, his arm around me as I rest my head on his shoulder.

“I want to go to the beach, but I’ve a feeling you’ll all say I can’t. That it’s too dangerous,” I reply, my tone wistful as I keep my eyes fixed on the sparkling water.

“Fuck, Peaches, don’t give us the puppy dog eyes,” Hunt groans, and I switch my gaze to him in time to see him rubbing his palm down his face, looking up at the ceiling as if it will give him strength.

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