Page 91 of Born in Depravity

I had never been more wary of a smile in my entire life.

“You look exquisite today, princess. Did I mention that?”

I didn’t know if it was a rhetorical question or not. I shook my head anyway, and something shifted in his green eyes. Something light.

“It’s no wonder both Mikhail and Damien want to keep you,” he added.

I blinked up at him. I never really thought about what would happen to me once they got what they wanted by taking me—I didn’t allow myself to think about it, because I always knew my days were numbered.

But now he was saying Mikhail and Damien wanted to keep me?

Didhewant to keep me?

And did I want to be kept by them?

What Nikolay said back at the motel came to the forefront of my mind, not for the first time. He mentioned sharing. I just didn’t think it went beyond anything physical. I had thought he said it to scare me.

Now …

I wasn’t sure what their place was for me.

Nikolay moved closer to me, letting the hardest part of him press against me. I gasped.

“Did I lose you there, princess? Where did you go in that pretty little head of yours?” he asked.

How did he expect me to answer him?

He smiled, looking both beautiful and cruel.

“I suppose it’s my job to work for your attention, isn’t it? Did you have fun with my brothers? I know they showered you with gifts. You probably didn’t have that much fun two days ago, though.”

He leaned down until his soft lips were almost pressed against my temple. I held still, feeling my heart racing. This was what a gazelle must feel like, staring down the jaws of a lion.

“Don’t worry. I showed the fucker what happens when he touches what doesn’t belonged to him. He had become … ah, intimate with the end of a broomstick before Damien got his hands on him.”

Did that mean …

I shook away the mental image he painted. I didn’t want to think about what happened to that man. I didn’t want to think about that man, period.

“No one will ever dare touch you again,” Nikolay finished darkly.

Did that mean I belonged to him? To them?

Nikolay moved his lips down across the side of my face. My breath caught and my arms rested awkwardly by my side.

I didn’t know what to do.

I didn’t know if I should push him away or not.

Nikolay might be a bomb, but how powerful would it be to be the one who controlled that bomb? To hold it in the palm of my hand?

I didn’t want to be weak. I didn’t want to be used.

I wanted to be the one using them. Letting them protect me.

I closed my eyes when his lips made their way down my jawline. His tongue came out, and he licked the skin there before going down to my neck. There was a pressure in my chest when I felt him suckle, and this pressure didn’t feel like such a bad thing.

“You taste delicious, princess. Like my own little doll.”

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