I scrambled to my feet, knife clutched in my hands. Nikolai lounged against the wall opposite me. He must have been sitting in the kitchen. I hadn’t even thought that he might still be inside.
“Don’t come near me,” I warned, pointing the knife at him. The end was shaking. I didn’t want to look scared, but the adrenaline of the coffin wake-up call was still surging in my veins.
“I find it interesting that you grabbed a knife instead of the phone.”
He lobbed something toward me, and my phone clattered off the seat beside the front door.
“When an intruder enters your house, don’t you know it’s best to call for help instead of trying to defend yourself with a weapon that could be turned against you?”
His gaze stayed on me. He looked like he was having the time of his life. His mocking eyes swept down me, taking in my rumpled silk shorts and thin cami top. The hunger in his look made it hard to breathe.
“Come on, Sofia. Call the cops. I won’t stop you. Send me back to prison. It would be so easy. I’ll even confess to harassing you.”
What the hell? It wasn’t enough for Nikolai to fuck with my safety and body, but he had to mindfuck me, too. He was still the man who had crawled so far inside my head, I’d never been able to get him out.
He pushed himself off the wall and approached.
“Don’t come closer.” My warning was muted at best.
He tilted his head to the side. He had a predatory grace that was stronger than ever. “I don’t see you calling the cops, lastochka. Are you sure that’s smart?”
“Maybe I just want to finish you myself and put you in that box you left so handily in the woods.”
Nikolai laughed. There was something jagged in that sound. It wasn’t quite right. He stopped in front of me and spread his arms open. “Go ahead then. You won the game. You got out of my little box. Hurt me back.”
My throat was so dry it ached. My arm hurt from holding it out before me for so long. Nikolai advanced until the point of the knife pressed into his chest, just above his heart.
“Can you still remember how it feels when the blade slides in? If I’m going to die, it’s only right that you should do it. You sliced up my face when we were kids, then you cut out my heart and left me to bleed to death for seven years. It’s only right that you should finish the job.”
His words struck me hard. Tears gathered at the corners of my eyes.
“Take your shot or stop pretending that you can.” His words were too hard for the look in his eyes.
His hand slowly closed around the knife, and he tugged it out of my hand. He was right, after all. I couldn’t hurt him. I deserved his wrath. Every single second. The guilt that had plagued me clung on to his hurt. He tossed the knife away and moved closer, his gaze dropped over me again.
His hand came to my chin, and he tilted my head back, so my eyes never left his, then dropped his grip to my neck. He circled my throat, pressing lightly at the sides. His gaze slid lower, to my chest, scouring across my breasts.
“Your nipples are hard. Are you that cold?” His finger rose to one of the tight peaks, pressing through the thin silk of my top.
I flushed, embarrassed by the evidence of how my body reacted to this man, even when he was threatening my life.
His finger traced a circle around my nipple, and I shivered.
“I can feel your heart beating,” he muttered, his fingers against my pulse.
He stepped closer to me, resting his forehead against mine. His fingers closed on my nipple now, pinching. The touch rode the line between pleasure and pain. His breath was hot on my forehead, and my eyes closed for a second, enjoying his volatile touch. I didn’t know what the hell he was going to do next. I should be more scared than I was. I’d clearly lost my goddamn mind. Maybe Chiara was right, it was dangerous to go too long without sex. The hormones had messed with my survival instincts.
His hand closed over my entire breast, squeezing it just the right amount to make my knees weak. Thoughts of this man had kept me company in my cold bed for so long, that now, his touch was all my fantasies come true.
He kept one hand on my breast, and the other hand landed on my stomach, pressing lightly against me and sliding down the way. How could I have gone from terrified and furious to wet and desperate so quickly? I really was as crazy as him. He tugged at the elastic waist of my shorts, snapping it against my skin.
“Last chance to call the cops on me, prom queen. Take it or leave it.”
His hot breath burned my cheek. My face tilted up without my consent. It wasn’t Nikolai doing it, but my own desire.
I felt his smirk against my skin as his hand dropped lower, sliding between my legs.
I was embarrassingly wet and had no panties on to hide behind. He pulled the shorts down by the gusset, and they went easily, pooling in a silk puddle around my ankles. His hand delved between my legs, long fingers finding my clit before stroking down my slit. Then he thrust two fingers inside me. The sudden stretch hurt, but not in the way that made me want to stop him. It felt good to be ruthlessly touched like this. Any touch of his felt good.
My head fell to his shoulder, and he jammed me against the wall to keep me up. His thumb rubbed my clit relentlessly, and his fingers worked inside me, so thick and long, my pussy drooled over them, trying to suck them deeper.
His hand picked up speed, finger-fucking me fast now, and only the wall and his hard body kept me from falling. I was holding his shoulders, my legs awkwardly splayed as I was chased toward coming. I could feel it, the first twinges of a hard orgasm rushing within reach. Just as my pussy clenched, he pulled his fingers abruptly from me. I cried out. It was disappointment, not pain. My eyes snapped open, and I glared up at him. He leaned a hand on the wall, and the other the one that had been inside me, he brought to his lips and cleaned with his mouth.
“Do you think you deserve to come, Sofia?” His deep murmur made me shake.
Embarrassment scorched me, and my hand was flying for his cheek before I could rethink the wisdom of such a moment. He caught my hand before it could land, and only more embarrassment filled me. I pushed at his chest, trying to get some space between us. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. As I twisted madly, my bare foot slipped on the polished wood floor, and I fell.
I never met the floor, however. Nikolai somehow managed to cushion my faceplant, getting his knees under me just in time. I twisted away from him, kicking at him with my legs. He was laughing. The bastard. Whatever I’d hoped to come off as, if we ever met again, it wasn’t a desperate housewife who exploded at the first touch of a man. My pride had gone out the window. My dignity was lying at the bottom of that half-dug grave.
“Come on, prom queen, you know better than to think you can get away from me that easily.” He added a tut at the end of his mocking words, only infuriating me more.
A lucky kick landed on him, and his breath whooshed out. I managed to wiggle away at a crawl. His hand landed on my hip after a second and flipped me over. This time, I landed harder, my back flat against the floor. Nikolai knelt at my feet, his hands wrapped around my ankles like manacles I’d never be able to break. He yanked me closer, pushing my knees apart so I was splayed wide open before him. More heat flooded my face, and the rest of me, a liquid drip inside that hungered for his rough touch.
Our eyes met as his hand went to my pussy.
“What are you doing?” My voice sounded throaty. I had no idea if it was worry or want in my tone. It felt like both.
“Reminding you who this cunt belongs to. Stop me and call the cops… or shut the fuck up and be a good girl for me, for once in your life.”
I stared at him, pulse pounding in my ears. It wasn’t a choice really. I was never going to call the cops on Nikolai. I would never send him back to jail, and somehow, despite all that had happened between us, we both knew it.
A wicked, satisfied smile stretched across his face, and then he was moving.
He pushed my thighs to the floor, loomed over my exposed pussy, and spit downwards, before swooping in to lick me. His hot tongue worked right up my center, from ass to clit and back.
“Fuck, you taste good,” he muttered against my skin, before pushing his long tongue as far inside me as it could go. I rose on my elbows and watched him. I couldn’t take my eyes away. This was real. He was here, pinning me to the floor and eating me out like he hadn’t decided whether to spare me or devour me.
Those fingers from before sank inside me, and he added a third. An involuntary cry left me.
“Are you fucking kidding me with this cunt?” he growled, almost sounding angry. “So tight, and so goddamn pretty.”
I fell back and gazed at the ceiling, bursts of pleasure moving across my skin as he latched his lips around my clit and laved it, biting down on it, sucking it into his mouth. His fingers pumped in and out of me, curled just right to press the spongy spot on the front wall. I felt like I might pee myself. It had been so long, and after pregnancy and everything, maybe I’d lost all control down there. I gripped his head, trying to shift his insistent tongue, nearly scared of what would happen when I came.
“Try and move me again, and lose a finger,” he warned and dove right back into driving me crazy.
I came with a strangled cry, his name spilling from my lips. I couldn’t control my words. I was begging him, pleading with him, thanking him. I was a mess. He hummed approval against me as my thighs tightened around his head, locking his clever mouth in place. I soaked his face. Maybe even the floor below. The full feeling burst like an overfilled balloon, and I was locked in pleasure so long, I lost track of time. I couldn’t see or hear. I could only feel. When I’d floated back down toward earth, little by little, I found Nikolai’s gaze on me. His expression was unreadable. I was a mess. Wet, and splayed out on the floor. His face was wet, too, with my juices. I wanted to curl up and die on the spot. He ran his thumb over his lips and popped it in his mouth. I couldn’t look away. His hand was bloody from where he’d gripped the blade of the knife.
“You’re bleeding,” I said quietly.
“I’ve been bleeding for seven years. Don’t pretend to care. We’ve always made each other bleed, haven’t we?”
He stroked my hair back from my sticky forehead, his tender touch at odds with his cold words.
“It’s been my turn for seven years. Now, it’s yours.”
I was late for school. I was lucky I had made it at all. After the fastest shower in the world, trying to scrub dirt and blood from my feet, I’d gotten dressed, looking over my shoulder the entire time. Now, pulling into the parking lot of Hade Harbor High, I saw I was too late to miss the student rush. I had also forgotten what day it was.
The lot was packed with demons, ghouls, and sexy vampires.
Halloween. It made a sick kind of sense, considering the nightmare my life had turned into overnight. Today students were free to dress up for school, and tomorrow night was the Halloween-themed dance.
Inching forward, I cursed my luck as the parking lot flooded with kids drifting purposelessly away from their cars. There was no way of getting to the staff lot without leaning on my horn, and it probably wouldn’t do any good. These entitled little assholes at Hade Harbor High would move when they pleased. Something I’d learned about Maine in the last seven years was the pace was just different. It had been a steep learning curve for someone who’d gone to school in New York.
I took a deep breath, tried to halt my tapping foot, and waited.
Ahead of me, a girl drifted across the parking lot. The crowd was thinning out now, and she was daydreaming, lost in a biology book, by the looks of it. Lillian Williams. She had headphones dangling from a cord in one ear and was oblivious to the world around her.
A towering figure reached her and leaned over her shoulder, tugging the earbud free. She stopped and looked for who had stolen her music. She looked up, and then up some more. Cayden stared down at Lily like he couldn’t tear his eyes away.
A horn blared behind me, and Cayden looked up. He fixed me with a look, clearly thinking I was the one who had beeped him, then he strode off.
I became dimly aware of the sound of the bell ringing through the cracked window.
Crap. I was late.
I hurried through my first class, feeling distracted and paranoid. When I had a free period, I sat at my desk and held my phone in my hand. I should call Angelo and tell him everything. At least someone would know what had happened when I went missing.
I couldn’t overcome my reluctance. What if Nikolai hurt him? There didn’t seem to be any lines he wouldn’t cross now. I couldn’t risk it.
Leo. The thought of my secret hung heavily over my head. Was Nikolai too far gone to be safe around anyone? What about his own son? I gnawed on my nails, a habit I thought I’d kicked a long time ago, but here it was.
As I stared at the phone, it chimed in my hand. A message from an unknown number.
Happy Halloween, prom queen. Did you enjoy our game?
I dropped the phone like it had bitten me. I looked around the room. There wasn’t anywhere to hide in here. He couldn’t be here. He was just fucking with me. With shaking fingers, I picked up the cell.
You’re a fucking lunatic. Maybe I’ll go to the police after all.
It was only a moment before he replied.
No, you won’t, and we both know it. Now, let’s get down to it. What do you pick for me? Truth or dare?
I swallowed hard. He was right. I wouldn’t go to the police. I couldn’t even tell my brother, unless I wanted my father to find out, and then Leo’s life would be in danger.
Truth.
Predictable, but fine. What do you want to know?
Are you going to kill me?
The question flew from my fingers before I could stop myself. He was typing for a while before his answer came.
No, lastochka. I’ll never kill you, you have my word.
My chest loosened at that revelation. How fucked up it was that I’d even had to ask that to the father of my child, and the only man I’d ever loved, I didn’t want to think about. I was just setting my phone down when the last message came in.
After all, a swift death is a great mercy.
