She lowered her eyes. “Please, sir,” she said to him.
She felt his cock against her groin and then she felt him cup her breasts. She gasped and looked up, locking gazes with him. He clenched his teeth. “One day soon you are going to be mine, Malayna. I have wanted you since day one. I’m not weak, nor will I be tricked. Get her to cooperate, or you will suffer some of her pain as well.”
He lowered her feet to the ground but not before squeezing her ass and giving it a smack. She jumped away from him and he smirked but looked at her with evil and lust in his eyes. It wouldn’t be long now. She had to get Nalia to cooperate so she could survive. Malayna was running out of time.
* * * *
Nalia felt the warm washcloth against her battered skin. She ached everywhere and the cuts and bruises were raw and painful. She didn’t want to move.
“Just lay still, Nalia.”
“Malayna?” she whispered. She had been the one to take care of her after Vlladim’s beatings. Nalia didn’t know what was going on, who these men were, and where she was. Malayna had whispered things to her but she didn’t know if she were dreaming or if those things were real.
“Who are you?” Nalia asked her as she blinked her eyes to try and open them but they hurt, too.
“I told you, Nalia. You need to listen to me and to learn the rules. It’s been three weeks since Vlladim brought you here.”
“Three weeks?” She felt the tears roll down her cheeks. Why hadn’t her men come for her? Who was this man who held her captive?
“You need to listen to me. The men you say you love will never find you. They can’t and you need to keep quiet about loving them. If Cornikup and Vlladim find out then they’ll do worse to you. They’ll take from your body. They have to think you are a virgin still,” she whispered and looked around to be sure no one could hear her.
Nalia swallowed hard.
“How do you know? How long have you been here?”
“Three years,” she whispered.
“Three years. Oh my God. Oh God, no. No,” she cried, feeling sick and weak.
“Shh, please, Nalia, listen to me. They’ll take you out of the country as soon as they can and you’re trained. I’m not going to last much longer. Vlladim is going to want me for himself and I feel that Cornikup wants you. He’ll release me to Vlladim for him being so loyal.”
“Oh God, Malayna. Who is this Cornikup and why does he want me?”
“I heard him say revenge. Your father Karlicov killed someone in his family, a brother I think, and Nicolai gave the order. Cornikup retaliated and sent a man, his main guard to kill your father, but Nicolai’s brother, Jacob, was there with his son, and killed Nicolai’s brother. But then Jacob’s son, who was a teenage boy, killed Cornikup’s main guy. He sought revenge against Nicolai but there was no one he was close to. Then he found out about my mother. That’s when he sent Vlladim to kill her and to take me.”
“Why?”
Malayna swallowed hard and whispered to her. “I am Nicolai’s daughter.”
Nalia gasped. “You have a sister, and a cousin.” Nalia began to explain and Malayna was shocked to learn about Aspen and to also learn about Viktor.
“He is one of my men. He must have been the teenager that killed Cornikup’s main guy back then.”
“Oh my God, we can’t let anyone know. None of it matters. They will never find you just like my father never found me. I don’t even know if he knows I exist.”
“You can’t think that way. You have to keep fighting,” Nalia said to her.
She shook her head. “Nalia, don’t make the mistakes I did. Don’t plan and hope on a possibility of being rescued like I once had. They aren’t coming for you. No one will find you or know where to find Cornikup. I’ve been a prisoner for three years. Three years, Nalia. I finally understand that my life is over and I am going to die here. Be smart and learn the rules quickly. This is your new life, unless you decide you are willing to push Vlladim and Cornikup to the point of killing you. Then that will be your destiny, just as I have stated mine.”
“We can’t give up, Malayna. Your father is helping my men, your cousin find me, and they will find us. My men and the others in the family are American soldiers. They’re resourceful and they love me. I know they’re coming, and when they do, we need to be ready to help them.”
“I don’t think I have any more fight inside of me, Nalia. I was eighteen when they killed my mother in front of me and then took me away from the only home I ever knew.”
“They killed my mother in front of me as well.”
“What did you do?”
“I killed the man who did it. I can help us get out of here.”