Page 42 of Reclaimed Crown

He grabs my hair and yanks my head towards him so my ear is close enough to his mouth I can hear his breath.

“You’re a spy,” he whispers before releasing my head. He takes a triumphant step back as he watches the horror on my face. “Arkady admitted it to me himself. I had to put a gun to his head, to get him to talk, but it’s no lie.”

The man steps back and crosses his arms in front of his chest and nods at me. “You’re a clever girl. You may even survive your captivity here. Or you might die here.” He shrugs his shoulders as a deranged smile spreads across his face. “But there is one thing youwilldo. You’re going to spread your legs and give me your pussy the way you should have the first night I saw you, or your captor will find out you were sent to spy on him.” His eyes stay on me for a moment before he breaks his stare. He turns his back to me and walks a few paces away.

“I’ll give you time to think it over,” he says to me as if he’s doing me a favor. “Take the elevator back upstairs and realize this is a good deal for you.” He turns back to me and chuckles. “You can keep fucking your captor, too. I don’t care. But you will open your pussy for me whenever I want you to.”

I shuffle my feet to side-step out of the room, keeping my hands behind me to feel for any obstacles while I keep my eyes on him. I turn and walk to the doorway, looking back to make sure he doesn’t follow. When I reach the foyer, the floor spins as my shock sets in. I press the elevator button and step inside, terrified of what Viktor will do if he finds out my secret.

Chapter15

VIKTOR

Asoft creek echoes from the entrance hallway. I stay at my desk and don’t bother investigating it because I know exactly what that sound is. Tatyana is sneaking back into the apartment after a failed escape. It was a trap I set to see how likely she was to run out of here, and it didn’t take long at all.

Muffled footsteps fade in the closet's direction. She’s likely putting my coat and boots back inside. I recline in my leather chair and take a sip of whiskey as I turn to face the end of the hall where she’ll appear. I find her attempts to run from me amusing, especially when she discovers she can’t. It’s not enough to stop her from trying, and a part of me likes that.

My littlezaychikhas a survivor mentality, just like me.

She should have walked the length of the hall by now. Even sitting across the apartment, I can sense her hesitation. She’s still trying to come up with a plan to explain her absence.

“You can come out now,” I call to her.

I smile when I hear her snicker, knowing she’s coming to terms with how helpless she is. Like prey in a trap, there’s only one direction she can go: back to me. After another moment, she appears from the end of the hall, taking slow footsteps and stopping in front of my office.

I point at a chair in front of my desk. “Here,” I say.

She licks her lips and takes measured footsteps into my office but doesn’t sit in the chair. Instead, she leans herself against the wall and keeps a vigilant eye on me. The curls of her dark hair flirt with the sides of her face in a way that makes me fantasize about grabbing a handful of it and fucking her. It’s hard for me to admit, but I’m obsessed with Tatyana. Every time I lay my eyes on her, I feel an urge to rip her clothes off and fuck her. There’s only so long I can keep that desire contained, and it makes me uneasy to think she’s already made me lose control over my impulses. I have a certain power over Tatyana, but as hard as it is for me to admit, she has power over me as well.

My eyes lower from her face to the rest of her body as I get out of my chair. Tatyana shrinks back. I see her eyes dart back to the hall. This time, I decide to cut off her fantasy of escaping before she tries. I slam my arm against the wall in front of her just as she tries to run, catching her torso in the crook of my elbow before tossing her back against the wall. She glares at me, breathing heavier as I trap her once again. She hates me, but right now I could get lost in the sweet darkness of her eyes.

I run my fingers along the sweatshirt I gave her before I let her out of the cell. “You’re still wearing these,” I say.

Her eyes glow in disdain for me. “I’m not stripping my clothes off for you!”

I laugh at her response, surprised that for once I wasn’t referring to her being naked. “I left a change of clothes for you in the bedroom this morning,” I clarify.

Tatyana releases the tension in her face and lowers her eyes. She disobeyed me and should pay a price for it, but being near her ignites the primal instinct within me. I peel my body away and fight my impulses as I lean onto my desk and cross my arms.

“You tried to run,” I say in a damning tone.

Tatyana braces herself against the wall but keeps her eyes on me. She’s so brave, but it won’t help. It just makes breaking her down that much more satisfying for me.

“I came back, didn’t I?” she says defensively.

I shake my head at her. “That’s because I gave you no other choice.”

She bolts upwards at my response and I hear her breath becoming shakier.

Something doesn’t feel right. I expected to catch Tatyana attempting an escape, but if that were the case, one of the men would have escorted her back to my apartment. She returned alone.

An intense feeling roils in my stomach. It’s one I don’t like.

“What happened when you left this apartment?” I ask.

Tatyana’s throat lifts with a hard swallow. She gives me a weak shake of her head as a response. It’s not convincing at all.

I turn my body to the side, letting one of my legs dangle off the edge of the desk while the other remains on the floor. “Right now, I’m asking a question. You know I’m capable of far worse, so don’t try me. Tell me what happened when you left this apartment.”

---