26. Sina
My back went rigid, breaths ragged as the room seemed to shrink around us.
The storm outside muffled beneath the rush of blood in my ears.
I forced myself to look at him and when our eyes met, his dark blue eyes were shining golden.
Something not human burned there for a split second before he dragged it back under, that careful control of his locked back into place.
A breath tore out of me. This was insane. Every survival instinct I had screamed that this was his goal the whole time.
Had he pretended to be a therapist to gain my trust just to trap me here?
“What are you going to do to me, Nik?”
I hadn’t meant to say his name like a challenge this time. But the moment it left my mouth, I recoiled, my fear spiking. His brows drew together as he studied me from a short distance and I was grateful the marble island separated us.
That predatory look was unnerving as hell.
“If I were going to hurt you, Sina, don’t you think I would have done it by now? Plus, I just declared you under my protection earlier this evening.” His voice stayed maddeningly calm as he sipped his… drink . “There have been plenty of opportunities for us to do whatever we wanted to you.”
Us. My throat tightened. They all were vampires. Fuck.
Wind slammed against the windows—startling me—the glass rattling in its frame as thunder rolled somewhere overhead, low and distant.
“I could easily do anything I wanted to you, Sina.”
A dangerous, devilish grin revealed his fangs to me for the first time.
I gasped. They were longer than I expected.
He licked the tip of one and an image of his fangs piercing my flesh flashed before I could stop it.
I touched my neck and my pulse kicked hard against my fingertips.
Heat curled low in my stomach. It made absolutely no sense to find the thought of being at his mercy so damn appealing .
I should have been trying to defend myself.
My gaze flicked across the kitchen automatically, searching for the knife block.
Nik followed the movement. His gaze dropped briefly to the butcher block right next to the sink, before returning to my face with that infuriating smirk.
Like he knew damn well my first thought had been how fast I could grab a knife if he tried anything.
He leaned his palms casually against the island between us, his eyes zeroed in on my throat.
“Not even a weapon could save you from me, Sina.”
“Can you blame me for wanting to defend myself?”
He tilted his head like he was actually considering it, studying me in a long, assessing silence. Something in his expression shifted—a decision. Then, without breaking eye contact, his fingers brushed the handle of one knife and slid it free with an almost lazy motion.
“If it makes you feel better… here .” Steel whispered against marble as he pushed it toward me. Handle first. “ Take it. ”
I stared at the knife. Then at him as he took another slow sip of blood. I watched him swallow with fascination. My mind reeled. He had deliberately shown me. Let me figure out that he was a vampire.
Why? Because I’d taunted him and he wanted to scare me?
“Go ahead, Sina. Pick it up. I won’t stop you.”
I was frozen, torn between logic and this pull toward him I didn’t understand. My body was at war with itself.
Nik smiled again, slower this time, like he found my reaction amusing. Then he crossed his arms over his bare chest, still leaning against the counter near the sink.
Realization sparked something hot and stubborn in my chest. He wasn't just trying to scare me, he was trying to push me away. Despite everything, I still found myself wanting to tempt the vampire standing in front of me .
I leaned forward and finally picked up the knife—but for a completely different reason. Because the truth was… I wasn’t thinking about stabbing him and running anymore. I was thinking about pushing him harder just to see what he would do.
Nik's head tilted slightly, curiosity flashing behind his glasses. “What’s the plan, Sina? After you stab me, are you going to steal a car, drive off the island? The storm out there is pretty wild."
My grip tightened on the knife. I had no fucking clue what I was doing. I was winging it.
“Let’s say you manage to kill me. You think my hive will just let you go?
That all three of them won’t come after you if you kill their alpha?
They’re quite obsessed with you little mate, if you haven’t already noticed,” he chuckled, the deep base of it vibrating through me seductively.
“My psychotic brother won’t just let you walk away.
What about Kiron? He went almost feral, willing to attack his own bondmates. For you .”
His confession sent a dangerous thrill through my stomach. That heat inside me stroked hotter. I was crazy for wanting them all, but knowing they were vampires didn’t change that. If anything, it only made me want them more.
“It's taken every ounce of my leadership just to keep them from claiming you already. Without my control you'll have nothing standing between you and them.”
I opened my mouth to say something snarky, but for once I was speechless and all that came out was a breathy whimper.
The thing was… his words didn’t sound like a threat. They sounded like a seductive promise. Obsessive and dangerous, yes. But protective all the same. Because nothing he’d said suggested I would be the one in danger.
Anyone else who stood in their way? Maybe .
But not me .
That was a heady, powerful fucking feeling.
“What about me, Sina? What will I do to you if you miss my heart and I live, hmm?”
His eyes flicked to the knife in my hand, that lazy smile returning. “I told you earlier. I punish brats.” His gaze dragged back up to mine, gold burning bright again. “Or is that your plan? Provoke me just to see how this plays out.”
My fingers wrapped around the knife’s handle without any real intent behind it. The blade hung useless at my side.
“I’ll be honest, Sina. I’m starting to think you just want my attention.” He tilted his head slightly. “Well. You have it. Now what?”
I gripped the edge of the kitchen island with my other hand to steady myself. I was so stunned speechless I didn’t know what to say.
“ This is the part where you run away, little mate. Go back to the safety of Rafe’s room before I do something we both regret.”
His chin dipped as he looked at me through his lashes, gold burning brighter. A chill skated down my spine.
“Are you just trying to scare me?” I pointed the blade at him.
He studied me like he didn’t quite know what to do with my reaction.
“A normal person would be terrified of me. A sane person would have run away screaming the moment they realized vampires existed.”
“Yeah, well… I never claimed to be normal, Nikolai .”
I put just enough emphasis on his name to make it a challenge.
His jaw flexed. That devious thrill returned, ghosting up and down my spine like a live wire. Watching his control teeter was like a hit of heroin.
“ Don’t push me. ”
The rough edge in his voice slid down my spine, heat following right behind it. Instead of sending me running, it pulled me closer. My traitorous mouth reacted before my brain could catch up .
“Why not? Can’t handle losing control for one second?”
“Sina.”
My name in his mouth was low and edged—a feral warning wrapped in heat. The challenge shot through me, reckless and dizzying, my pulse pounding hard enough to make my fingers tremble around the knife.
“If you want me to run away screaming, you’re going to have to make me.”
That did it.
His eyes darkened. Gold sharpening.
The shift in him was immediate. A predator deciding to engage instead of warn.
Lightning flashed, throwing sharp shadows across his angular face.
He pushed off the counter and took one slow step toward me.
Shoulders tense. Chin tipped down. Eyes locked on mine.
Feral. Predatory. And completely in control of it.
That wouldn’t do.
He didn’t want to lose control. I wanted to push him over the edge.
“Careful, little mate.” The danger in his voice made my pulse kick harder.
This was the deadliest game of chicken I had ever played. Self-preservation had officially left the building.
“Or what, Nik? Are you going to punish me like you said? Or are you too afraid? ”
The air between us tightened, pressure building in my lungs. The hairs on my arms stood on end, but I didn’t back down. I held his gaze. His eyes flashed gold again, brighter this time. His nostrils flared slightly, like he was tracking every breath I took.
Like he could smell exactly how much I wanted him.
“Are you taunting a vampire, Sina?”
He began to circle around the island .
I stepped back instinctively, keeping the counter between us. Fuck . Maybe this was a bad idea. My mouth went dry. The knife shook in my grip as I lifted it higher between us.
“That knife won’t stop me. I could take it from you before you even realized I moved.”
He took another step. I mirrored him. We continued that slow dance around the kitchen, his eyes burning into mine.
“I could compel you. Make you give yourself to me. Or I could compel you to run… and enjoy the chase. ”
He stopped then, standing between me and the exit. The feral look in his eyes was wicked as hell.
“If I have a taste of you, I might not be able to stop. Not even if you change your mind halfway through.”
Step.
“I don’t care. I want this.”
Step.
“I might kill you.”
“You won’t.”
“ I could. That’s what we are, Sina.” Lightning flashed across his glasses. “Monsters.” The storm rattled the windows. “So I’m giving you one last chance. Walk away. Go back to Rafael’s room. Stay there until this storm passes.”
I don't think he was talking about the weather.
I shook my head.
“I’m not running away from you.”
Something shifted in his expression.
“ Set the knife down, Sina. ”
His voice didn’t rise. But it landed warm and heavy in my mind, like a hand at the back of my neck guiding me forward. My fingers loosened. The knife clattered softly onto the kitchen island between us.
My breath hitched. I hadn’t meant to do that.
Heat curled low in my stomach.
His gaze never left mine. “Just imagine what else I could have compelled you to do.” The threat in his voice sent a shiver through me that had nothing to do with fear. I suddenly had a new compel kink I was very interested in exploring.
“Sounds kinky.”
“ Damn it, woman, ” he growled, slapping a palm on the granite. “Do you have a death wish?”
If I wanted him to fulfill my kink, maybe I needed to fulfill his too. I smirked, lifting my chin. “Maybe I just want to see what you’ll do to me… sir .”
A sound left him. Not quite a laugh. Not quite a growl.
Then he moved.
He came around the island and backed me into the wall, caging me in with his body, hands braced on either side of my head. Still he didn’t touch me beyond that. His face hovered inches from mine, eyes a storm of gold and blue.
Damn, he was beautiful. Like a golden god dipped in malice.
My body hummed with awareness, heat pooling low and reckless. I wanted him to snap. To lose that iron control. To push back just like he promised.
Yeah. I was stupid as fuck. He was a predator. A goddamn vampire, and I didn’t fucking care.