Page 65 of Born in Depravity

MIKHAIL

I knewthe moment she fell asleep in my arms.

I should probably have gotten some sleep. I was fucking tired, and I couldn’t even remember the last time I had a full night of sleep, but I didn’t want to close my eyes.

I wanted to watch her.

I wanted to hold her.

What I told her was true. If only she knew the power she held. Just a look in her eyes and I could feel myself softening.

I was not a soft man.

I was not a feeling man, but little Catalina was bringing out all these foreign feelings in me, and I didn’t know if I hated it or if I … didn’t mind it so much.

I should probably put her back down on her side of the bed. There were a lot of things I should be doing, but I wasn’t doing any of them.

It was too dark in the room for me to see her, but I could just make out the delicate line of her face and feel her even breathing. Could feelher.

She was solid and real in my arms, and what was more, she was mine.

So fuck, why was I feeling so heavy?

There was a weight on my chest when I thought about the look in her eyes while I waxed her. She was mine …ours. Waxing her was only another way for me to mark her as such, so I shouldn’t feel guilty, and shouldn’t hate the look of betrayal in her eyes while I had done it.

The pinching in my chest was still there. I rubbed away the ache.

With one finger, I softly traced the outline of her face. She didn’t even stir, so deep was she in sleep.

I wondered if this meant she trusted me even the smallest amount, to have fallen asleep in my arms like this.

She shouldn’t trust me.

I wasn’t a good man, but fuck if I didn’t like the idea of her trusting me a little too much.

Hating the pressure in my heart, I gently moved her back to her side of the bed and drew the blanket up her naked body, feeling my own reaction to her.

She was exquisite.

Even more so than I had imagined.

Shaking my head, I quietly moved around the dark room and quickly dressed before moving out the door and locking it behind me.

Letting out a small sigh, I crossed my arms over my chest. “Are you ever going to go in the room to see her, or will you just be lurking outside the room like a fucking creeper?”

A cackle came from the dark corner. Weird fucker.

But he was a weird fucker I would die for.

Nikolay moved out of the shadow and into the dimly lit hallway. His green eyes took me in.

“How is our little princess?”

“Waxed,” I answered, earning me another laugh, though I could tell by the way his eyes darkened that he liked the idea very much. He had more control than I did, trying to keep his distance from her.

As if by doing so, he wouldn’t be affected. Hated to break the news to him, but even Damien was affected, and he had been indifferent toward anything and anyone, save for Nikolay and me, for a very long time now.

Nikolay didn’t say anything for a moment, his eyes taking me in. I resisted the urge to fidget underneath his gaze and only from years of experience was I able to school my features.

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