27
Isa
My body jostled as the plane landed hours later. My shoulders ached and throbbed with being restrained behind my back for the entire flight. I’d lost track of how long we’d been in the air since I awoke, and with no idea how long I’d been unconscious at the start of the journey, it was impossible to predict where Pavel might have taken me, but it didn’t seem too far.
Only the knowledge that he resided in Russia gave me any kind of affirmation that we had arrived there, but it was also the place Rafe would expect Pavel to take me. My knowledge of the world might have been limited, but I suspected Stockholm and Russia weren’t all that far from one another, depending onwherein Russia they would take me.
I resisted the urge to groan as my body shifted along the carpeted floor with the force of our landing, sliding forward so harshly that the rough fabric rubbed the skin on my arms and legs until it felt raw and the wire at my wrists and ankles tore through my flesh.
Faye unbuckled her seatbelt, but made no motion to get up from her seat when the plane came to a stop finally. She waited in silence, looking far too cowed and obedient for what I knew of the woman who seemed to want to defy the men that thought to control her.
I suspected it had far more to do with the proximity to the brother she was willing to sacrifice her humanity to save. Her very soul rested in the balance, but I understood better than ever the desperation to protect those we loved.
I shuddered to think of what I would do to save my unborn child’s life should it come to it. My only real hope was that Odina had kept that one fact to herself.
That even though she hated me, she hadn’t been able to bring harm to her own niece or nephew. Considering my predicament, that didn’t seem likely.
The door at the front of the cabin opened, and the footsteps that glided along the fuselage were smooth and even. Somehow less heavy than Pavel’s; the physical vibrations didn’t jar my body in the same way his had.
The shoes that came into my vision weren’t the same brown loafers Pavel had worn, and I swallowed back the saliva that filled my mouth. Staring at the black dress shoes in front of me, I hesitated to glance up at the man who wore them.
Even knowing who I would find, even feeling his eyes on me like a stain on my soul that I would never be rid of, I couldn’t bear to see those grey eyes in person. Not when I’d thought him a hero for so many years, a mysterious specter who’d saved my life and disappeared in the chaos following the accident.
To know he’d be the one to rip it all away, and to stare that kind of evil in the face, I sank my teeth into my bottom lip in an effort to restrain the burning at the backs of my eyes.
I’d had thirteen years of freedom wasted in a cage of my own choosing. A few months of captivity where I enjoyed the freedom to discover the woman I was meant to be.
I was not a frightened little girl any longer. I was not theprincesawho did as others expected for fear of upsetting them.
I wasmi reina, and I would not bow.
Dragging my eyes up the fitted suit slacks, my gaze faltered on the sight of the gun held firmly within his grasp. He squatted down next to me, making it easier for my glare to land on his face. His square jaw was clenched as if he couldn’t contain his fury, those icy grey eyes firm on mine when I finally met them. “??? ?????,” he murmured, reaching out a hand to grasp my chin between his fingers. He glanced around the rest of the cabin quickly, nodding his head to dismiss Faye. She gave me one last rueful glance, but then ultimately left me to the fate she’d decided for me.
To the pain she’d sacrificed me to in order to save her brother.
Dima’s thumb touched my bottom lip, rubbing against the flesh that felt dry and cracked after the plane ride. His focus narrowed in on the place where he touched me, his eyes drifting closed as he pressed that thumb in tighter. The minute he pushed through the barrier of my lips, I sank my teeth into the tip and bit it as sharply as I could.
He didn’t retract the appendage, in fact he made no movement to even show that I’d hurt him. “Don’t be like that,” he said, smirking and pushing his thumb further into my mouth. I resisted the urge to gag as the taste of his skin coated my tongue. It was so wrong to haveanypart of a man who was not my husband inside of me, I knew I would do almost anything to protect my body from his assaults.
I had chosen my King. Had given him everything despite all he made me endure. Everything he put me through, he’d suffered alongside me, until we were equals. Molded in the flames and united through the marks on our skin.
Dima would never be worthy of me. He would never be able to compete with the man who possessed me body and soul. No matter how long I spent trapped with him.
I would not bow.
I bit down all over again until the sharp, coppery taste of blood filled my mouth. He finally grimaced, withdrawing his thumb and staring down at the bloody mess I’d left when I sawed through the base of his appendage with my teeth.
Even as thirsty as I felt, as desperate for fluids of any kind, I spit his blood from my mouth so that it stained the pristine carpet beneath my body. He watched me in silence, staring down at my glare and considering something as he drew his thumb to his own mouth and licked the blood from the wound.
Dima shuddered when his tongue touched the wet skin that had been in my mouth, sliding his gun into the holster strapped across his chest. His eyes drifted closed, savoring the taste of me on his skin and mixed with his own blood.
I ground my teeth together, resisting the overwhelming urge to wrap him in the barbed wire that pierced my skin, undoubtedly leaving me with more scars.
The thought of it damaging the ends of my tattoo made a pang of sadness pulse through me, and I spent a moment reflecting on how furious I’d been when Rafe marked me. When he branded me, I’d sworn I wouldn’t forgive him.
I didn’t know that I had, or that I ever would claim forgiveness was the right word for what I’d done.
In the end, there was nothing to forgive. In the end, I loved seeing my name carved into his chest andmi reinaburned into his skin. I liked to know that I owned him so fully that he felt no shame in wearing the signs of that for the world to see.