Page 29 of Chased & Bred by the BRATVA
I glance at Nikolai. He’s watching me again.
“I don’t miss it,” I say quietly.
He brushes his knuckles down my arm. “Your old life?”
I nod. “It never really felt like mine.”
He’s silent for a moment, then asks, “What do you want instead?”
I let the question hang in the air.
“I don’t know,” I admit. “But I think I’d like to figure it out here. With you.”
His hand finds my thigh and squeezes gently, like he’s grounding us both. “You belong here. Whether you know it yet or not.”
I smile. “What does that even mean? Belonging to you?”
He shrugs. “It means loyalty. Protection. Power. And yes, control. But it also means you’re mine now. Which means no one touches you. No one hurts you.”
I exhale a soft laugh. “That’s poetic. In a scary way.”
He leans down, his lips brushing the corner of mine. “You’re not scared of me anymore.”
“No,” I whisper. “I never was. Not really. But I know I’m scared of going back to a life without you.
Nikolai
She’s sitting on the edge of my bed in one of my shirts, bare legs swinging slightly above the floor, her fingers toying with the hem like she’s thinking about something dangerous.
And I want to tear that shirt off and make her forget everything else.
The light hits her hair just right, catching the gold at her temples. The cuts and scrapes are healing, the bruises fading. There’s a slight mark on her thigh, faint, like a fingerprint that stayed too long. My fingerprint. From when I pinned her to the forest floor and claimed what was mine.
I shouldn’t want her this badly again. Not yet. Not so soon after I destroyed the men who dared to touch what none of us knew belonged to me. But I’m ravenous for her. Always. And worse, I’m not sure I’ll ever be full again.
“What are you thinking?” I ask, stepping closer, towel slung over my shoulder from the gym downstairs.
She glances up. “That you’re staring at me like you want to eat me alive.”
“I do,” I reply, without hesitation. “I always do.”
Her cheeks flush pink, but she doesn’t look away. “You already have.”
I shake my head, slow. “Not even close.”
I kneel in front of her. Her legs still. I push the shirt up and place my palms against her thighs, watching the way her pupils dilate.
“You said you don’t miss your old life,” I murmur. “So let me give you a new one. Stay here. In my bed. At my side. Let the world forget you existed.”
“That’s a terrifying offer.”
“No. Terrifying would be me letting you go.”
She licks her lips, and I’m instantly hard. She has no idea what that mouth does to me. What it means that soon I’ll be the only one who will ever feel them wrapped around his cock. That I’ll be the last.
I rise up between her knees and press my mouth to her throat, right over the frantic beat of her pulse. “Tell me you’re mine.”
“I already did,” she whispers.
