Chapter 25
Irelynn
I could hardly look at the man after everything that happened last night.
He’d joined me for breakfast before disappearing into his office with the door closed and, undoubtedly, locked.
More than once, I’d thought of the way it had felt to come apart at the seams for him. How hot his cum had been as it coated my most private place. The sound he made when he found his release.
The echo of his roar has lived rent free in my mind since, even dominating my dreams as I fell, my body and mind exhausted, into sleep.
Thinking of the way his big hands had cleaned me in the shower, red hot heat fills my face. I clear my throat, practicing the thought-stopping technique I recall reading about only months ago, before all this. It had been something I’d wanted to start practicing. To stop the negative thoughts that tormented me, the grief from my past that ate at my insides, slowly turning them to rot.
“You feeling okay?” I look up in time to find Luka smirking at me.
Oh no—he knows.
I’d screamed more than once last night. Had he heard me?
I clear my throat. “I’m fine. Just a little flushed today.” I stand, abandoning my mid-day coffee as I head for the hall. I can hear Luka following close behind me. “I think I’ll head out for a walk.”
Luka chuckles. “Whatever you want.”
I don’t bother responding. My mind is too full of Ilya to formulate anything proper, anyway.
I still can’t believe the way he’d played my body. It’s like he’d known exactly how to touch me. And the other things he’d done.
I need to stop, or my face is going to be able to melt the snow that covers Ilya’s yard.
I need a cold shower.
Jeez. I don’t want to be thinking about him. It’s bad enough I’m stuck here because of him—now I’m all tingly and needy for what, his touch?
Trudging through snow with Luka on my heels, I head for the dogs. It’s not like I’m going to tell them about what happened, because Luka will be within ear-shot. I figure I could use a good hate-on-Ilya session, anyway. Besides, I’m on a winning streak of ‘Ways to Murder One’s Kidnapper—Canine Approved’ so, why stop now?
“Hey pretties.” Luka explained that all the dogs were female after I’d been calling them boys for four days. Insert serious eye-roll. Dropping my booty to my bench, I lean forward as my girls trot closer, eager to chat. Or, well, listen to me chat. They don’t say a whole lot in return, but I feel a kind of kinship with their eyes as they absorb me while I speak. “How are my ladies today?”
No one responds, but with the whipping wind, I shiver. “It’s a cold one today.” I shove my hands between my thighs. “Why are you all outside when you’ve got that warm house to snooze in?”
Not a one of them looks bothered by the chill. I huff, “I guess you’re used to the cold, huh?” I nod to myself as eight sets of eyes watch me. “Well, I suppose you know he’s home. I bet you can smell him as soon as he gets out of his car.” I snort, nose scrunching. “I agree, he wears too much cologne.” That’s not true. Ilya smells divine, but there’s no way I’m admitting that with Luka behind me. “He’s like a walking bottle of aftershave, if aftershave had the strength of an ape and the countenance of a devil.”
The pretty golden blonde pup, who really isn’t a pup at all, scoots closer until she’s pressing her entire right side to the fence. I heave another sorrowful sigh. “I would pet you. I want to pet you, but the oompa loompa behind me takes orders from the aftershave ape—and he says I’m not allowed.” I lean forward to whisper, “I think he’s just afraid you’ll love me more.”
The entire eight begin to whinny and whine. I sit up straight, because they’ve never done this. Not ever.
And then a deep rumble sounds, “I have no doubt they will love you more. But until I’ve introduced you as a friend, they’re more likely to tear you to pieces. This would cause me great grief, because I would destroy anything and anyone who harmed even a hair on your head. And I happen to like my dogs very much. I would not take pleasure in destroying them.”
I stand, startled to find he’s standing in Luka’s place. Luka is gone. “Ilya.”
“If you’re done calling me and my men names, I can introduce you now.”
He’s cocking one brow at me as he waits, seemingly patiently.
I know better. The man doesn’t have a patient bone in his body.
This is also the first time I’ve seen him since breakfast early this morning, and even though he’s dressed head to toe, I can’t help but see him half naked, hovering above me with his large fist pumping his massive cock.
Again, I feel my face get hot.
Spinning back to the dogs, I croak, “I’d like that.”
“Good.” He moves to the gate, unlocking it before moving inside. He bends to one knee and takes his time giving affection to the dogs, each one of the ladies preening under the attention of his gifted hands.
I know how you feel, ladies. Oh, boy, do I know how you feel.
Shoot. There I go again, thinking about his hands on me.
He’s like a drug. I don’t want to want him, but I can’t help myself.
One taste, and I’m hooked.
My thoughts sharpen when Ilya begins to speak to the dogs. He moves to the gate, opening it and gesturing me forward. After hearing from so many how these dogs would happily shred me to pieces, I can’t help the hesitation.
“Come, Irelynn,” Ilya commands. “They will not hurt you.”
I raise a brow. “You sure about that?”
His eyes snap to mine. “You are mine. They know you are mine. They will lay down their lives for you, as would I.” Oh, God—my heart. “Come.”
Narrowing my eyes on that wicked, heart-thieving tongue, I step toward him. “You wouldn’t lay down your life for me.”
“I would.”
I hold my ground. “Then let me leave. Let me go home.”
He steps toward me as the gate falls closed. I can feel the curious eyes of the dogs all around us as he steps dangerously toward me. Gripping my face in his hands, Ilya leans down so his face is a breath from mine. I taste his words as he speaks them. “Anything your heart desires, I will give to you. Any destination you wish to travel, I will take you. Diamonds, pearls—yours. If you begged me for the moon, I’d find a way to give it to you, fuck the tides. Whatever you want, I am at your mercy. But the one thing I will never do, never give, no matter the tears you cry or the fits you throw, is your freedom—not if you use that freedom to rip my heart from my chest.”
“I—I wouldn’t?—”
His hands give me a single, gentle shake. “That is exactly what you would do. You’re talons deep in my heart, love. Like it or not, it’s yours. Walk away now, and I’ll bleed out after you.”
Searching his blue eyes, I see nothing to hint at his words being anything but truth. But they can’t be.
I wheeze, “You don’t know me.”
“I’m in love with you.”
“No.”
“Forever, Irelynn.” With that, he presses his mouth to mine. It’s a soft, sweet, devastating kiss. As his tongue swipes against the seam of my lips, I’m helpless against him. With a single sigh, he invades.
I don’t know how long we kiss for, but I’m pulled from it by a wet nose bumping into my hand.
When he releases me, I see the golden lady blinking warm brown eyes up at me.
Ilya rasps, “She’s hoping for a pet, my heart.”
His heart.He’d called me that last night, too.
God, but he’s knocking down the brick wall surrounding my heart. It’s a violent, bloody takedown.
I don’t want it.
I’m not ready for it.
I must fight it.
Steeling myself against the onslaught of him, I smile down at the pup as I stroke her soft fur.
Just like her master, she pushes into my heart like a needle into a pincushion.
God, I’m going to miss her when I’m gone.
“Her name is Belle,” Ilya tells me softly. Then he points to the pup with the green eyes. “That’s Ariel, then there’s Snow, Cinder, Jasmine, Aurora, Pocha and that one,” Ilya points to the large black beauty with her long hair and dark, watchful eyes. She’s one of the two more reserved dogs—and she’s beautiful. “That one is Maleficent.”
All the dogs—apart from Maleficent—are named after princesses. DisneyPrincesses.
I can’t help the surprised curiosity that corkscrews my expression. Ilya sees it and chuckles, explaining, “My mother names my dogs. She’s a fan of fairy tales. Disney, in particular.”
I can’t help but look at him. Really look at him. He’s so hard. So firm and dangerous, and yet there’s a softness deep inside the granite shell of his core. A gooey center I’m getting glimpses of. Like there’s more to the tyrant man who claims to end lives with ease.
“Are you close to your mother?”
A ghost of a smile touches his lips. “I am.” He offers me nothing more, even though I suddenly feel ravenous for information. “What do you say we let them out to run? We can walk the property while the girl’s patrol.”
I’m horrified to think of some poor soul happening onto Ilya’s property and being doggy lunch. “Is that a good idea? What if someone comes here?”
“The property is gated, but if someone happens to get through, the girls won’t attack without my command. Not while I’m out here.”
“I’ve seen them out at night. What happens if someone unfamiliar were to come here at night?”
Ilya’s eyes bore into mine. Softly, he tells me, “That would be very unfortunate.”
I shiver. “They don’t seem like they’d do something like that.”
“The girls are very well trained. I would never keep an animal that was a danger to myself, my family, or my men. They have a roll here, and they know it. They are also deeply cared for by myself and my men.” His eyes are such a warm contrast to the cool wind when they drift over my face. “And now they have you.”
Ilya doesn’t wait for me to agree to a walk before he’s opening the gate wide. The dogs don’t barge through, however. They sit and wait as Ilya goes through their names, verbally giving them permission to exit.
The training is astounding.
“Do they ever come inside the main house?”
“No.”
“Would they—what would happen if they—um—met Lucy?”
Ilya cocks a rueful grin. “With proper introductions, Lucy would be just fine.”
“How can you be sure?” The idea of anything ever befalling Lucy has my heart cramping painfully in my chest.
“The girls are very gentle with my mother’s dog, much to my father’s annoyance, I’m sure.” He chuckles darkly. “The thing is smaller than Lucifer, and far more annoying.”
“And the girls are good with it?”
He nods. “Like I told you, they will not harm without command.”
“Unless someone unfamiliar happens along.”
“Probably not even then. Introductions are a precaution I take to avoid messy inconveniences. It’s more likely that they would incapacitate an intruder and wait until they received a command to either release or finish the job.”
Again, I shiver. Ilya frowns. “Are you cold?”
“Yes,” I lie.
“We’ll go inside.”
“No.” I’m reaching for his hand before I’ve thought it through. “I want to walk.”
Ilya looks down at our hands, and I hurry to drop his only for him to reach out and wrap his large hand around mine. My heart knocks in my chest. An uncomfortable, persistent bludgeoning, that’s going to destroy all my walls eventually.
I can’t wait for eventually to happen along.I must escape him before he steals my heart like he stole my body.
Setting my jaw, I look forward. The dogs are leaping and rolling in deep snow. They’re living their best lives, that’s for sure.
“They’re happy.” I point out the obvious.
“If you let yourself, you will be, too.”
I pretend I don’t hear him as I take in the snow-capped trees that seem to stretch on for miles, and the big, stone house under a backdrop of blue-grey sky. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen and feels almost as though I’ve stepped back in time to a dark fairy tale. It’s magical and yet haunted. Breathtaking with a surging, ominous undercurrent.
If I’m not careful, I might lose my footing. If I lose my footing, it’ll pull me under.
When my eyes slide over the trees again, I wonder, if I ran, would I ever make it to the break on the other side? Would I stumble into freedom, or would I be consumed by the dark forest that spears from the ground to surround this dark man’s estate?
I suspect the odds aren’t in my favor.
“Come, my heart.” Ilya tugs me into his side. “You’re shivering again.”
Whether the odds are in my favor or not, I have to try.
Because every time he speaks those words to me—my heart—I feel as though he’s carving into me. Branding his dark desire into the very fabric that weaves the tattered threads of my soul.
I have to escape. Or forever be consumed by him.