Chapter 8 Yulian
YULIAN
So here’s the thing.
I truly, irrevocably, and without a shadow of a doubt always get what I want.
Always.
It doesn’t matter what the circumstances dictate, what methods I use, or how far I need to go. If I decide it’s happening, my fucked-up brain will come up with the necessary shitstorm to ensure the thing I want will take place.
You know, because I’m persistent.
And annoying.
A general eyesore, if you will.
Most importantly, I will take the blood I’m fucking owed even if it’s the last thing I do.
That’s how I find myself standing by the floor-to-ceiling window in a hotel room in downtown Manhattan, staring at the city that never sleeps.
I’ve never liked New York and it’s not due to an idiotic snobbishness about being from Chicago—though my city is superior, just saying.
It’s because the couple times I’ve been here, I ended up with a goddamn tragedy, blood on my hands, and a hole in my chest.
Literally and figuratively.
I ended up with a curse.
A weakness.
A pit in the fabric of my soul.
This time will be different.
Yes, I still returned and walked into that restaurant I had no business being in and made eye contact I shouldn’t have.
Touched.
Breathed.
Felt.
I take a deep drag of my cigarette and release a cloud against the window, briefly closing my eyes, chasing the fucking burn in my chest, one not even the rush of nicotine can extinguish.
No, so actually, I have a plan this time. Very out of character, I know. But really, my brain is running in overdrive; I could give Cy a run for his money.
Just kidding, but seriously, I have an amazing plan that will definitely work.
It has to.
I’ve lost so much since I met that calamity Vaughn, while he’s just thriving, looking so put together and flaunting a stunning girl on his arm.
But the thing is, I believe in karma. So he has to feel the pain I did and still do.
He owes me his life, and I’ll slurp it the fuck out and pull him down into the mud I’ve been floundering in since he abandoned me and left me to die in that cave.
A beep echoes in the room.
A small smile grazes my lips, but I don’t face the door.
I know exactly who it is without having to turn around.
It’s my guards, who’ve opened the door, and I can hear the cautious steps before it shuts again with a soft click.
Instantly, the delicate smell of floral perfume permeates the air, clashing with the stench of nicotine.
It does nothing for me.
I mean, it does, usually. I like worshiping girls’ bodies whenever possible, but I wouldn’t say I’m particularly dying to fuck this one.
I know, me not being excited about sex? Kind of blasphemous, considering the highlight of my day is dicking someone to the mattress so hard, they see angels.
Or demons.
But, remember, I have a plan this time.
“Hey…” Her soft voice fills the space, sounding a bit on edge.
Hmm. Can’t have her changing her mind after I finally lured her here.
With a smile, I face the girl Vaughn had on his arm tonight. She’s even wearing the same golden strapless dress, her makeup touched up from earlier, her hair redone in a ponytail, two strands framing her face like a curtain.
Danika is Vaughn’s long-term girlfriend—the girl he liked and wanted to save his virginity for.
The girl I saw him kissing the day I lost everything.
It’s only poetic justice that she serves as the catalyst to the decimation of his life, no?
I’m nothing but the most vengeful bastard around.
“Wow, you look gorgeous,” I say, lowering my voice to a flirtatious tone as I kill the cigarette in the ashtray and walk toward her.
She blushes, fidgeting with her glittery black purse that she’s holding with both hands. “Thanks, you…look amazing yourself.”
No need to state the obvious now.
When I stand in front of her, my smile falters but doesn’t disappear. On the corner of her lip, she missed a smudge of red lipstick that’s been covered by powder but isn’t entirely invisible.
“So…leaving your number under my napkin at the restaurant as you were whispering to Vaughn was actually audacious, you know. I thought you’d lost your mind.”
“You texted anyway.” I stare into her dark doe-like eyes, then back at the smudge I can’t look away from.
“I’ve always loved bold men.”
“Hmm.” My grin widens. “Is that why you’re here? Because I’m bolder than your boyfriend?”
“It’s not that. I love Vaughn.”
Yeah, right.
I can tell a serial cheater when I see one. Danika wouldn’t have taken the bait if she were even slightly loyal to Vaughn. One look at her, and I knew she was as allergic to monogamy as I am.
Well, almost as much as I am.
The moment I smiled at her, she had a sultry look in her eyes, one her boyfriend didn’t notice, because he was busy murdering me in his head.
Danika’s way of watching me, subtly checking me out, and texting me almost as soon as I was out of the restaurant told me she was open to flirting and possibly more.
Which means that she’s done this before.
And while I’m disappointed I’m not the only one—because that would hurt the asshole more—I’m delighted that she has zero respect for him.
Danika stares up at me with heavy-lidded eyes.
I stare at the mark.
“But?” I lift my hand and trace the smudge at the corner of her lip.
I just can’t help it.
A rush of pleasure rips through me, knowing exactly who touched this not so long ago.
Danika releases a puff of air, her lips parting as she whispers in a breathy voice, “But I want more.”
“Then you came to the right place.” I swipe her lower lip, smudging her reddish lipstick exactly to where the previous one was, my heart thundering the moment the marks collide.
Fucking hell. This is more thrilling than I anticipated.
I place an arm at the small of her back and pull her flush against me.
She gasps and her purse falls to the floor, its contents spilling everywhere, but she doesn’t notice as her wide eyes droop and a whimper spills from her parted lips.
Danika’s so turned on, I can smell her eagerness, but there’s another scent that rushes to my groin. Something that’s camouflaged by her perfume but still there—woodsier, harsher.
Male.
I inhale the top of her hair, filling my lungs thoroughly like it’s a hit of powder.
I can smell him on her—smoke and damnation.
“Did you fuck him before you came here?” I croon, licking the side of her neck and nibbling slightly.
My taste buds explode with traces of him. Yes, it’s covered up with her, but there are hints of him—masculine, harsh, and more fucking heady.
I’m getting so hard, it’s a miracle I don’t explode.
She moans. “Yeah, just a quickie… Is that a problem?”
“Of course not. You deserve more than a quickie, gorgeous.”
She moans louder, gripping my shoulders as I lick and bite her neck, her ears, her collarbone, devouring every inch that he did.
Every fucking place that he touched.
Kissed.
Licked.
Tasted.
I’m taking away the love of his life, and it’s making me feel so goddamn euphoric.
Like my father says, I’m a demon, and demons love to ruin other people’s lives.
Their hopes.
Their dreams.
Their love.
I’ll destroy Vaughn’s perfect life until he has nothing left, and when that happens, I’ll drag him down into the depths of hell with me.
As I pull Danika toward the bed with my fingers under her dress, my cock grows and lengthens until it’s filling my boxer shorts.
I’ve had this plan for a while, though not too long, to be honest, because my brain kind of comes up with the most random shit at the most unexpected times.
But when I thought of this, I believed it’d just be a normal fuck.
Really, I love fucking girls, I do, but they’re not my first choice. While I’m game for getting my dick into any available hole, I prefer animalistic sex.
The freakier, the better.
The rougher, the more enjoyable.
And most girls don’t like that. I’ve had my fair share of amazing women who taught me how to please them and loved being bent and used, but not all women are into that.
So, in reality, I prefer using men for my unhinged tendencies. The pressure, the pain, the goddamn release.
Just two animals exploiting one another, then pissing off.
That’s how I like sex—rough and with no strings attached.
Danika seems to love it when I bite her neck and throw her on the bed, her eyes lighting up as she pulls her dress up her thighs, opening her legs wide so I can see her soaked panties.
A smirk lifts my lips as I grab her by the hair and rip her dress down the back.
Because I can.
Because she clearly loves it.
And I will love the shit out of feeling Vaughn inside her.
Maybe that’s fucked up, but I don’t give two flying fucks. Ever since she told me they fucked before she got here, implying that she still wasn’t satisfied, I’ve been getting so hard, my cock aches.
Not because I want to satisfy her.
No.
It’s because I want to feel Vaughn inside her pussy.
Or maybe feel how he felt when he was pounding her. Have the same expression, make the same noises—
Fuck, I’m going to come just thinking about it, and I shouldn’t be this fucking excited.
It’s not part of my grand plan—the same plan Cy calls stupid, but he’s an anti-fan, so his opinion means jack shit.
As I kiss Danika, I’m transported to four years ago, to the uncertainty and the pounding heart, to trembling lips and rattled insides when I kissed Vaughn.
It was a curiosity, a need, an innocent, albeit impulsive, action to test out why the fuck I couldn’t stop my racing heartbeat around Vaughn.
The moment I kissed him, I couldn’t deny how good it felt, how much I wanted to keep doing it, how hard it hit to just have my lips on his.
But then it became the worst decision of my life.
Vaughn Morozov gave me my bi-awakening, but it came at a calamitous price.
Because I started obsessing, even after he abandoned me, and I’m really not good with obsessions.
He consumed my heart, body, and soul.
I used all resources available to find him, call him, get in touch with him, and even traveled hundreds of miles to see him, but all I got in return was a gash in the chest and a fuck ton of regrets.
See, I thought I could let go.
And I did, because my young, immature obsession with Vaughn exacted more than I could handle.
But somewhere in the back of my head, I was waiting for him to join his friends at The King’s U so that I could get closure once and for all.
I was itching for a battle.
A gloves-off type of battle.
But he continued to evade me.
Cy said it shouldn’t matter if I’d already let him go.
But you know, it’s not fair that he still has his perfect life. So here I am, ruining everything just like he did back then by taking away the love of his life.
And I am taking her away. Knowing his inflexible personality, Vaughn will not want to touch her again.
Not after I have.
Sooner or later, he’ll be right where I want him.
Under my fucking shoe.