My life in this place was like a habitat at a zoo. It felt real, but it was still a life in captivity. How could we have any semblance of a normal relationship if I was still his hostage? I would remain his prisoner until the moment he put a bullet in my head.
Let’s face it, a man like Alexie could have any woman he wanted. He was going to kill me once he tired of using my body to suit his own selfish desires—namely, begetting an heir. The orgasms were good, but I wasn’t so dick drunk that I couldn’t see the truth.
And…well, it kind of hurt.
I sobbed into my cup.
The balcony door swung open. Standing in the doorway was the bane of my existence. The man who’d caused all this sorrow deep inside of me. Alexie Petrov.
I couldn’t understand the kindness and the flair of pain that echoed in his own eyes. I was the one who’d been kidnapped. I was the one who was hurting. I was the one who was going to be a mother far sooner than I’d ever prepared for. Yet he acted like the sight of my tears tore him up inside.
I opened my mouth to rip him a new asshole, but the words caught in my throat. A keening wail rose from my throat instead.
Alexie rushed to my side, concern dripping off him in waves as he took the cup from my hand.
“D-don’t t-touch me,” I cried.
He ignored me and swept me up into his arms. I couldn’t help but bury my head in his neck, nuzzling into his skin.
“Shhh, it’ll be alright,malishka.”
“How could you say that?” I hiccupped. “Nothing has been right since you snatched me off the streets and threw me in your trunk.” At that last word I punched him in the shoulder.
It felt so good that I did it again. I repeated the motion over and over until I was beating his arm with weak hits that soothed my soul. I wanted to hurt him how he hurt me.
Alexie didn’t stop me. He didn’t hold my arms above my head or pin me down. He could’ve, but I think on some level he knew I needed this. I had to vent my frustration over my situation on someone.
When I was done, he carried me out of the room. He took me down the familiar hallway, nudging open the double doors with his leg. The fire was already going in the library, and Alexie carried me over to it. He slowly lowered himself to the rug and adjusted me so that I was sitting in between his legs.
We sat like this, he and I, until I had nothing left to get out. When my breathing slowed down, that was the moment he spoke.
“Malishka.I know you are unhappy with your situation. I want to make it better. But I can’t do that if you continuously fight against me. Can you try to be a little more understanding?”
I shook my head no, but he tsk’d.
“Do you know why I find you so desirable?”
His husky voice was so soothing, I couldn’t help leaning back into his arms.
“No, I figured you’d never been with a person of color and that’s what had you so fascinated.”
His chest rumbled with his laughter. “You may not want to hear this, but I have been with many women of all races. It was not that. It is true that what first drew me to you was your hips. When I saw them, I knew you would be the perfect woman to bring my heir into the world, to carry on the family legacy.”
“Great.”
He brushed a light kiss across my shoulder. “But what keeps me fascinated with you are your scars. I knew there were more hidden underneath your clothes when I met you, and I was right.” He then ran his fingertips over the spot our names shared on my chest. “I wanted to give you new scars—better ones to replace those given to you by those who terrorized you.”
“I know you said you would protect me and the baby, but for how long? How long can you keep your guard up? One day the Devils will find me, and you won’t be able to protect me any longer,” I whispered. “Or care to bother. You will have your heir, and no use for me.”
Shame shadowed my voice. Saying it out loud shouldn’t be this humiliating or hurt this much.
Alexie laughed, as if my confession amused him. “Well, first, that little club is currently too busy to take you from me.”
“What’s going on?” I was afraid to even find out.
“Let’s just say I called a friend of a friend who had no problem playing with the docks for me. You’ll find that every biker in this area is chasing down leads that will go nowhere, searching for their shipments that are already heading to Ireland and Russia.”
“Alexie! That’s too dangerous.” I tried to turn in his arms, but his arms wrapped tighter around me. “You don’t know them like I do. They will link this back to you and try to retaliate.”