Chapter 4 #2
“Just forget I ever said it. I’ll take you however I can.”
“Quinn, I have a lot going on right now. I,” sighing, I place a hand on my hip. “I have a lot of things to think about.”
She saunters over to me, smelling of rich cinnamon, spice and impure intentions. Her hand tugs at the corner of my towel, releasing it.
Grabbing and stroking my shaft, she says, “this is the perfect time as any to get your mind off of things.”
She lifts up on her toes and kisses the side of my mouth. More damage control, I see. She pushed too far, now she’s smoothing things over the only way she knows how.
“Let me be a distraction, hm?”
I do.
We fuck. That is all. When it’s over, lying in the dark, I feel nothing. No satisfaction. No comfort. Just the same hollowness I’ve been carrying these past fifteen years.
It has to stop.
Soon.
Getting married is quite brilliantly the best way out of this fucked up cycle.
It’s close to three a.m. when I’m awakened by the buzzing of my phone. It’s my father .
I slightly lift up, alarmed.
Is it my mother? No, is it Lilith? She’s due any day now. My mother told me two weeks ago she’s been experiencing some complications. Something about the baby could be breech.
“Hello,” I answer while Quinn’s arm is around my waist.
“Niko. Get here now. Alone.” He hangs up before I can respond.
Quinn moans as I get out of the bed. I throw on a simple black shirt and sweats.
“Where are you going?” She asks groggily, wiping sleep from her eyes.
“To see my father,” I pull a hoodie over my head. “You can rest some more before you leave.”
I turn to walk out of my bedroom when she calls out, “you’re forgetting something.”
She puckers her lips. Walking up to her, I skip her lips and plant a kiss on top of her copper, frizzy head. I don’t miss the disappointment in her eyes before I leave the room.
I take my private elevator to the garage and hop in my car.
***
I get to the compound in no time since there’s no one in the streets at this hour.
Boris greets me at the door. “This way, Boss.”
He takes me to the west wing of the compound, the VIP guest rooms. Boris knocks on the very familiar door at the end of the hall.
“Come in,” father’s voice cuts through, muffled.
Entering alone, I see my father standing, looking out the bay window south of the room, his hands resting in his front pockets. His face is half lit from the light from the nightstand next to him. But I know that look, it’s contemplative and calculating.
“Why did you have me rush here—”
“Keep your voice down!” he hisses. He nods towards the bed, my eyes follow.
That’s when I see her.
She lies there, in bed, so still she looks like a beautifully preserved corpse. She looks porcelain. Breakable. If it wasn’t for the faint sound of her breathing, you would think she’s dead. Even in the mostly dark room, her rich brown skin glows as if she’s the moon herself.
My new moon.
Her box braids fan out across the pillow, and her scent fills the room. Vanilla and jasmine. It calls to me, beckoning me to claim, to protect, to own and to possess.
“That’s your fiancée. She was in Solna, just outside of where Igor was attacked.”
My eyes snap towards him. He’s still watching her sleep, he looks at her with softened eyes with a hint of admiration.
“What the fuck is this?”
“When I found her, she was fighting off my men.” He bobs his head, proudly.
Throwing my hands up, I ask, “so, you brought home a… werewolf? What is this, some prisoner of war shit?”
He slowly shakes his head. “No, she’s not a werewolf, I checked her eyes.
There’re no gold flecks. She just— happened to be in the right place at the perfect time.
” He turns to face me with a glint in his eyes.
“What this is, is your salvation, Niko. She’s exactly what you need. What this family needs.”
Dumbfounded, I palm my face with exasperation. He must have lost several marbles tonight. No, he told me he was old and tired, but this is too far, even for my standards.
“You can’t be serious.”
“Marry her, or she dies,” he shrugs. He fucking shrugs. “Your choice,” he says like it’s nothing. “When she wakes up, make her aware of her situation. Once she agrees, bring her to my office.”
He pats me on my back and leaves the room as if we were discussing the fucking weather and not a forced marriage. Like his business is done here.
No, the fuck it is not.
I stand here, looking at the woman in this bed wondering what I’m going to do with her.
Her manicured hands rest on top of the blanket. The knuckles are bruised, the skin is split and there’s a small cut on her forehead too. Sleeping beauty is a fucking fighter.
I’d like to see how she will fight her way out of this little bind she’s found herself in.
Despite myself, I move forward, compelled to take a closer look. In the dim light, I can make out the curve of her jaw, her full lips, the fine hair on her temple—
No.
Stepping back, my jaw clenches.
What the fuck am I even doing? I haven’t been curious about a woman since Helana, never even looked at a woman with desire let alone interest. Quinn doesn’t count.
She was convenient, nothing personal, nothing to daydream about.
But this woman has my full attention piqued whether I want to acknowledge it or not.
Forced marriage be damned, I’m drawn to her.
Just hours ago, I was prepared to have a marriage of avoidance. Not anymore. Not with her. Tonight, I felt my heart beat fast against my ribcage. I haven’t felt such electricity since I lost my entire world. Since all emotions abandoned me and turned me into stone.
But she revived it by just lying there, breathing.
I didn’t plan on being a husband a second time. But this time it will be forever. Even if I have to force it to make it so.
Standing over her, I caress her chin. “I hope you’re ready for this because I’ll never let you go.”