Page 31 of Nikolai Petrov

Pulling a heart from a body is harder than it may sound. The large vessels that it’s attached to are tough to tear, but give easily under the sharpened edge of my favorite blade.

Standing with the dripping core of the man I once called ‘friend’, I turn back to the men who frame me in the fringes of light.

“This is what happens when you decide to make a deal behind my back. I will remove yours. Remember that.”

Turning back to Ivanov’s body, splayed out with his bloody wings, I push the heart into his silent mouth and stare into his unfocused eyes.

“Rot in hell, Peter.”

Chapter Twelve

Natalia

Mystomachisrollingand I curl into a ball in our bed as I wait for him to come home. Lightning flashes across the dark windows and rain taps a fast rhythm on the panes.

I know he’s proving a point. It’s strange that even though Peter Ivanov isn’t my father, and treated me like shit, a part of me still wants to cling to the idea that he was.

Does this mean I have ‘daddy’ issues? I’m sure there’s some therapist out there who would tell me that marrying a man thirty years older than me would qualify.

Will his sons accept me? I’m pretty sure I’m younger than all of them.

My jaw sets as a stubborn feeling settles in my chest. I don’t care if they’ll judge me. The way I love Nikolai transcends age. He’s still young enough, I’ll have many decades of memories to make with him.

I hope. It’s a dangerous life. He was honest with me about what happened to his first wife. And here we are, a night of death surrounding our lives. Threats and betrayals have him gone from my side while he slays the demon that tried to sell me to the devil.

A wave of nausea curls in my belly as I think of the life I may have had with Tosya. I can’t stop my heart from hammering in my chest at the thoughts of the pain and cruelty I may have endured in his hands.

Nikolai makes me scream in passion. The only agony he inflicts is the flicking of his magical tongue between my legs and the red handprints he leaves on my ass.

Not able to relax enough to sleep, I find myself pulling the heavy door to the suite open.

One of our hefty bodyguards sits outside and stands as I enter the hall.

“Ma’am. Can I call the kitchen for you?” His voice is deep as he looks to the ground at my feet.

“No. I’m sorry, yes. Do we have any ginger ale, please? And, I think I’d like to go to the library.” Pulling my robe around me, it’s an eerie feeling having him trail along behind me.

My husband is very strict about being accompanied anywhere outside of our room.

Trailing my fingers over the newest additions, their shiny gloss covers each beckon me to read. The shelves had been mostly bare, but with Nikolai’s encouragement, he’s been letting me order whatever I want to.

It’s a whole new perspective reading the racy romances now that I know what the scenes really feel like.

Maybe I’ll try my hand at writing my own story one day. I wonder if it will make a good book?

The soft knock on the door signals the arrival of my drink. I find myself settling into one of the overstuffed leather chairs with a dark covered book boasting the naked chest of a man on the front.

While I’m idling sipping the bubbly soda, the door opens again.

“Natalia?” Nikolai’s voice carries from the hall and I can hear him exchange a few words in low tones with the guard.

His hair and beard are damp and tousled as he steps into the room with little more than a low slung pair of sweatpants revealing his chiseled physique and a towel around his broad shoulders. A clean smell of soap and shampoo surrounds me at the same time as strong arms pull me up and fold around me.

The implication of his appearance hits me. He would never shower before seeing me unless there was something on him he didn’t want me to see.

Pulling him tighter, I find myself burrowing my cheek against the soft hair on his tattooed chest. “It’s done, isn’t it.” It’s not even a question. I just know. “I’m glad you’re safe. I was worried that something would happen and you wouldn’t make it back.”

Even the thought of losing him is terrifying. He’s so much more than my savior. He’s my entire world.

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