Page 117 of Gilded Cage (Kovalyov Bratva 1)

If I’d stripped her down and fucked her on that piano she had played so well, she wouldn’t have stopped me. She might’ve done what she’d done that night in bathroom at The Siren: begged for more, harder, faster, deeper.

So close to happening. Sofuckingclose.

I saw the disappointment in her eyes when I’d pulled away, but something in me had struck a brick wall back there.

She’s conflicted. She’s wary of me. She doesn’t want this life.

That much has all been made very clear.

And as for me… I brought one woman into my world before. She died because of it.

I always swore I’d never make that mistake again.

I place my hand around the shaft of my cock and start massaging a little, imagining that it’s Esme’s hand around me.

That’s not enough, though. That’s just a fucking tease. A first taste.

My fantasy builds. I imagine her bending over me, her sexy little mouth parting slightly to take in my tip between those plump, perfect lips.

But even that fantasy crumbles almost immediately. Nothing is fucking satisfying about lying here alone with my hand on my cock when Esme was in the next room.

“Goddammit,” I growl up at the dark, silent ceiling overhead.

I abandon the sexual fantasy altogether and just picture her standing in front of me. I see what I always notice in her—the dark waves of her hair, the fire in her hazel-gold eyes, the defiant fullness in her bottom lip.

Sweet. Wild. Beautiful.

That’swhat I want.

I jerk off to that image, thrusting up and down on my cock with increasingly violent movements until I burst over the sheets.

For one second, I’m purged of the never-ending desire.

A second later, as always, it’s back.

“Goddammit,” I say for a second time. “God fucking dammit.”

32

Artem

I move to the bathroom and wash my hands as I stare at my reflection in the mirror.

I look like an addict in withdrawal. Like I’m craving something.

No prizes for guessing what “something” that might be.

I splash cold water onto my face and move back to the bedroom. I’ve just pulled on my boxers…

When a scream explodes through the quiet night.

My mind goes blank for a second before I jump right into action mode.

I snatch my gun from my bedside table and rush out of the room, straight towards Esme’s where the cry came from.

The screaming is getting louder, more panicked.

My mind goes blind with fury.

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