“The entrance to this floor will be locked,” Alexei says, looking at Sasha and Sofia. “Guards posted all along it and at every exit, as I said. So I advise you to go back to your room and get comfortable. You’ll be there for the foreseeable future, unless I say otherwise. And trying to escape will, as I also said, come with penalties. Punishments, you might say.”
Sasha and Sofia say nothing, pale and white-lipped, clinging to Anika and Yelena. Alexei’s hand is on my elbow, gripping it tightly as he leads me down the hall, out of the door that leads to our rooms, and towards the main hall by the staircase, which spirals up to another floor.
“This way,” he says firmly, and I have no choice but to follow him.
Alexei has, of course, chosen the most elaborate suite of rooms for himself. It’s still nothing like the rooms I shared with Viktor back at his fortress of a safe house. The bed in the center of the room is bigger than any others I’ve seen. This bedroom has a fireplace and a door to another room filled with covered furniture and an attached bathroom.
I don’t have long to take in my surroundings, though. Alexei locks the door behind us and strides towards the fireplace, which has been lit by someone. It casts odd, frightening shadows around the room as Alexei beckons to me with one finger, and I walk towards him, knowing that I have to do as he asks.
Whateverhe asks.
That was the bargain I struck for Vincent’s life. For Luca’s, Liam’s, Levin’s, and Max’s. And now the time has come to pay the piper.
Alexei grins as if he can read my thoughts. He’s already erect, I can tell, pushing against his fly with an urgency that makes me feel nauseous.
“On your knees,tsarina,” he says, one hand going to his belt. The other goes to my hair as I sink down obediently, my heart hammering in my chest as I do all I can not be sick. When I see him, eager and ready as he slides his zipper down, it takes more than a little effort.
He’s not as large as Viktor, not even close. I could almost laugh if the situation weren’t so awful.He wants so badly to be Viktor, and yet his cock can’t even measure up.
The thought makes me feel a little better. It’s a ridiculous thought, but I cling to it because I have nothing else. Nothing except gallows humor and the knowledge that by being on my knees right now, I’m protecting everyone who came here with me.
My responsibility. My duty.
“Suck,tsarina,” Alexei orders, his voice thick with lust. “And swallow it all when it’s time. Every drop. Don’t worry, we won’t be finished then. We have all night.”
That’s what I was afraid of.But I don’t say it aloud.
I simply bend my head and obey.