Chapter 5
Two days later
Is it wrong to say that I’m a little excited for this? I know that I shouldn’t be. Nothing good can come from becoming more familiar with a man like Nikolai. He certainly is not the sort of man that I’ve been lying awake at night dreaming of.
Just last night I told myself that what I needed was to have a nice and indulgent fantasy about Horus coming into my room late at night. Things had been going fairly well until at the very last minute, Horus had turned into Nikolai. I couldn’t even seem to stop myself at the sight of his massive frame over me, his hands on my thighs holding me open for him with that same hungry and possessive look on his face.
Now I need to get it together. I have no more time for such things. I’m here to do a job. The distraction is lovely, but it’s not enough to keep me distracted from the drama that my ex-husband keeps sending to my phone.
Today the prison guards take me to the same private meeting room as the last time.
Only this time, Nikolai isn’t chained to the table. It doesn’t look like a man in his condition would be able to put up much of a fight. I stifle a gasp of surprise as I move into the room and take my seat. He looks far worse than he did before. He has a full-blown black eye instead of the purple bags from the lack of sleep that had been there before. He’s got bruises underneath the thin white tank top that he’s wearing today. The rest of his prison uniform is bunched around his waist as he leans back in the metal chair. His breathing is labored and I can better appreciate the sheer mass of tattoos that he’s got on his skin now that I can see more of it.
He doesn’t stand to address me. He doesn’t even so much as look up from his hands while he’s waiting for me to speak. The swagger that seemed to be overabundant in his every move two days ago is gone. They must have done a hell of a number on him. But the last thing that I’m going to do is pity him. A tough man like him would only find something like that insulting. So, I do the only logical thing that I can do. I sit down across from him like nothing is wrong with him at all.
Slowly, his head lifts and he cracks his neck from one side to the other and it’s like his persona snaps into place with the movements.
“Twice in one week? You’re going to get addicted rather quickly, Ms. Thorne.” Nikolai smirks.
It doesn’t even truly occur to me to be scared of the lack of chains between us. “I don’t suppose there are any official reports on what happened to you that I can use for your case?”
Nikolai rolls a shoulder. It tells me everything I need to know. I wouldn’t be surprised if the guards themselves were in on this. That’s the sort of power trip that they like. It’s infuriating because it’s a violation of inmates’ rights. Yet, Nikolai is unlikely to tell me which guards did it, or what inmates have an urge to mess up his pretty face.
“I’m surprised that you’re not talking about how much of an improvement this is.” Nikolai teases me.
“Well, I thought that much was abundantly obvious.” I tease right back.
Yesterday I spent the better part of the daylight hours working his case. I’ve identified all of the key witnesses and testimonies that will benefit him. It’s going to require a taking a lot of liberties with the truth but sometimes that’s just what’s needed. To get Nikolai out of here, the judge is going to have to drop all of the charges against him. It’s impossible to think about for most people. I’m just about the only one who is going to be able to do it. By some stroke of luck, they aren’t even including his Bratva or any of the crimes listed to it as charges. The only thing that he’s presently being held on is the kidnapping of a minor and a couple other smaller charges. Then there’s the matter of the divorce, but that’s another minor thing. I just need the right leverage. I know that I can do it.
But if he’s being injured to the point that he is now, he might not live long enough for me to take the luxury of time to do this the easy way. It’s going to have to be a lot faster than I imagined.
I pull out the divorce papers and put them on the table between us. “I assumed that you missed these by mistake.”
Finally, Nikolai lifts his gaze to meet mine. I’m trapped under how intense it is. It feels akin to a drug high to have such focus on me. What is it about this particular man that has such a damned effect on my body? He’s just looking at me with those dark, menacing eyes and now I’m stuck.
“Maybe I don’t want to sign them?” Nikolai says without the playful bite from yesterday.
“And here I was hoping that those injuries meant that they knocked some sense into you. I see that they didn’t.”
Nikolai grins. He almost looks amused by my little joke. “That’s a good one.” He reaches forward and pulls the papers toward him. “Tell Alek that if he wants me to sign them, he can come ask me himself. Say pretty please and everything.”
“I don’t think that he or his fiancée are going to come within a hundred yards of this place.” I cross my legs and wink at him. “I do think it’s rather amusing that you can hit on me while being so happily married.”
“Is that what you think that I’m doing?”
“Sign the fucking papers, Volkovich. You know as well as I do that they are conditional for me to represent you.”
The muscle in Nikolai’s jaw ticks again. It tells that he’s doing something he doesn’t have a choice about. Sure enough, he signs the papers so roughly that I’m almost surprised that the damned paper doesn’t tear under the force of it.
“And when this is done, what happens next? Do you have a plan to get me out of here or am I just pissing in the wind with my final shot here?” Nikolai asks. It’s perhaps the most vulnerable he’s been with me yet. Is he actually worried? I didn’t think ‘monsters’ like him could experience such emotions.
“It will take me at least a week to have you in front of a judge. It shouldn’t be more than that.”
He’s silent for a moment, considering. “And me signing these papers is what? A good fucking faith gesture?”
“If that makes it easier for you, then yes. You can consider it that.”
“I would much rather seal the deal with a kiss, actually.”
“You’re not going to convince Anya and Alek without signing them. If they aren’t on your side, then there is no way in hell that Henry will be on your side. Furthermore, without Henry there is no way in hell you’re getting out of here.”
I won’t deny that it’s exciting to have one up on him.
“So what I’m hearing is that you’re not nearly as good as you think you are.” Nikolai responds.
I didn’t see that one coming.
“What?”
Nikolai leans forward. He tries to hide the wince as the movement jars whatever injury to his ribs he must have. “You’re saying that you’re not good enough to get me off without my signing these papers.” Nikolai shrugs one shoulder. “It’s alright, not everybody can live up to their reputations.”
“I - I can get you off.” I bluster as he stares at me.
Nikolai’s grin turns feral. “Oh, I have no doubt about that sweetheart.”
Damn him.
Either way, he’s signed the papers. That’s what counts. “We’re done here for today.” I conclude and grab the papers. For a moment, I’m foolish enough to think that he’s going to just let me go just like that. I push up from the table and head to the door. But Nikolai moves far more quickly than I could have imagined a man his size could move.
His hand comes up to block me from attempting to open the door. His massive frame warms my back as my breath catches in my throat.
“Are you certain that I can’t convince you to sign the deal with a kiss?” Nikolai pulls my hair over my shoulder, exposing the skin of my neck to him. I can feel the warmth of his breath wash over my skin and it leaves a trail of gooseflesh in its sake. “Belated birthday present.”
His other hand finds my hip, closing his fingers possessively around the skin there and spinning me in his grasp until he’s got me boxed against the door. My nose crinkles in irritation. Fear of his proximity lances through my chest in equal measure to my arousal. It takes almost no effort to pull my ceramic knife and aim it directly at his most favorite appendage.
There’s something deeply wrong with me. There’s no reason for this messy, hormonally out of control part of me to crave this. I want to be handled this way. I have been dreaming about this very exchange for the last two nights. Yet, I can’t let him think that he’s going to get anywhere with me.
Seconds before my snarled retort can tell him to get the hell off of me - he kisses me.
Fuck he knows what he’s doing.
Nikolai kisses me like he knows exactly what to do with my body and somehow just by looking at me he’s figured out exactly what I crave. I can’t breathe. His hands are everywhere. It’s not enough. A moan of pleasure slips through my lips before I can stop it. All thoughts skitter out of my head for an embarrassingly long time before I come to my senses. Two seconds longer and he would have my legs wrapped around his hips right here up against the wall. There’s no cameras. Perhaps my libido could win for just a moment…
Fuck. No. I have to stop. I have to stop right this very second.
Oh, but it feels so fucking good. Just a second longer.
Nikolai’s tongue claims mine. His hand flattens over my stomach and starts to travel lower. He slips past the band of my skirt and his rough, calloused fingertips brush against my panties and overheated skin.
It’s enough to snap me out of my trance. I can’t let this happen.
I twist the knife in my hand, digging the ceramic tip against the impressive bulge in his pants. His lips leave mine as he glances down between our bodies to the knife that I have aimed at his genitals.
“If you don’t want to lose it, I suggest that you get the hell off of me, Volkovich.”
To my eternal surprise, he takes a step back. Nikolai’s hands lift in surrender. “Can’t blame a man for trying, can you?”
I knock on the door for the guards to let me the hell out of here as fast as possible. I slip from the room before I can think about the situation for too long.
Talk about a conflict of interest.