Chapter 4 - Viktor
“Has the girl eaten?”
Fedor cleared his throat behind me, his footsteps echoing on the concrete floor as we passed the men pairing handguns and packing rifles. The masculine energy in the room was high and the sounds of whirring and humming machinery could be heard. We walked past a few concrete pillars and entered a room full of thick, odorless smoke.
My second in command remained quiet. I glanced over my shoulder. “Fedor?”
He avoided my gaze and brushed a lint off his collar when we left the foggy room. “No.”
We reached the elevator that went down to the basement. I got in. Fedor and three of my men followed. I refused to look at him. If I had, I would have punched him in the gut. A mechanical whirring sounded and gradually we descended into a room with a cage big enough to hold five men as tall as Fedor. The room smelled of iron and chemicals.
“Is there a reason my orders were disobeyed?” I asked the second we stepped out.
He scratched behind his ear and flicked the switch. Bright light flooded the room and fell on our prisoner, who clung to the steel bars with white knuckles. She stood there, not flinching, her vibrant auburn hair dangling messily over her shoulders. For a brief second, it was as if we were the only ones in the room. Her eyes bored deep into mine and I found myself in a sea of green.
“No special treatment for prisoners, boss. That’s your rule.” Fedor’s voice reeled me back. “I didn’t think you would wantus to change that for this one.”
As I turned my head toward him, I saw the small smile playing on his lips and the subtle accusation in his eyes. I slipped my hand into my pockets, ignoring him, and stepped closer to the cage.
She stood still and did not say a word. Resilience and anger burned in her green orbs and a bitter taste settled in my mouth as I remembered how she’d looked at fucking Dicklan with such affection after wed beaten the shit out of him yesterday.
I lifted a finger and lightly brushed over her knuckles. She withdrew her hand from the bars, and I smiled. “Hello, sweetie,” I said in Russian.
Her silence was an echo of her answer. She ignored me, seemed to look at me, but stared past me as if I wasn’t even there. I smiled even more; this game would be fun.
“Did you sleep okay? Or was it too cold?”
She narrowed her eyes. There was neither a bed nor sunlight. Of course, she had had a terrible sleep.
“I heard you haven’t eaten since yesterday.” I scratched the stubble on my jaw. “Blame my men for that. That wasn’t me.”
Silence.
“Proving stubborn, aren’t we?”
If I had learned anything from my last encounter with the pretty Irish princess, it was that she was very proud. But this time I swore to myself that I would break her pretty little wings until she could fly no more.
I took another step closer. “Do you remember that moment, sweetie? It was exactly a year ago. I had you in the same place in a similar cage.” I ran a finger along the steel bar and looked at the top of the cage. “I got you a bigger cage, my little dove,” I murmured the last part in Russian, and the crease between her eyebrows told me she didn’t understand.
“The roof’s not leaking, the lighting is a lot better, and it doesn’t smell of dead rats.” I grinned. “Don’t you like it?”
Surprisingly, she flashed a smile. “A five-star hotel can’t be compared to this. It’s perfect.” Those were the exact words she’d used last year, and it amused me to know she hadn’t forgotten.
“Great!” I rubbed my palms together. “I’m glad you are enjoying your stay here. I’ll tell Fedor to send word back to Dicklan that you’re well taken care of and are in good hands.”
The smile fell off her face. “It’s Declan! Asshole. You’re a fucking monster.”
I gaped, choked on a scoff, and dragged my finger from one bar to the next as I rounded the cage. “A monster? What, over a harmless kidnapping and a few punches to your pretty boy? What are you going to call me when you see what Im going to do to you?”
“I’m not scared of you.”
The blazing flames in her eyes were hotter than a furnace and her fingers curled into fists. At least that got a reaction out of her. The shiny black Lady Liberty on her crop shirt caught my attention and sparked an idea in the pit of my mind.
“Fedor, open the cage.”
She didn’t understand until Fedor turned the key in the lock and held the door open for me. I stepped inside and the loud creaking of the hinges echoed in the room as he closed it. The brightness in her eyes disappeared and fear took its place. I moved closer and she backed away.
“I thought you said you weren’t scared of me.”
Her back hit the corner and her chest rose and fell rapidly. She was breathing so heavily that I thought she was going to faint. “I’m ... I’m not.”
“Liar.”
“Stay back!” She huffed.
“No.” I put my hands on either side of her face and pinned her between my chest and the bars. Her fruity scent of strawberries and grapes hit me, and I clenched my jaw. My resolve slipped away like melting ice.
I wanted to sink my teeth into her skin, to taste the fruit on her lips. I lowered my face to her neck and trailed a finger from the short sleeve of her shirt over the bare skin of her arm. Goose bumps covered her skin. “When it comes to you, my little dove,” I growled against the softness of her nape. “I find it hard to stay away.”
Her eyes searched mine; fear and trepidation were written in her gaze. This woman was an irresistible temptation, and she didn’t even know it.
“I—I don’t understand what you’re saying.” I’d spoken in Russian.
I smiled and my finger journeyed lower, stopping on the waistband of her jeans. My fingernails grazed the skin of her stomach, and she inhaled sharply through gritted teeth.
“It’s hard to stay away from you,” I repeated in English. Her breathing became more rugged.
Although she was quite tall, I hooked a finger under her chin and tilted her head up so that we could look into each others eyes. She closed her eyes briefly, cutting off the green beams, I wanted so much aimed at me again. Her eyelashes fluttered and her gaze was both coy and innocent, a fusion of vulnerability and allure. When her pink tongue swiped over her lips and she opened her mouth, it sent a burning heat through my body. Fuck, how could I ever resist her?
“You do know that if you harm me, it will mean a war between my people and yours, the Bratva. You’ll be wreaking havoc.”
I spread my palms, gripped her ass, and yanked her into me, I was sure she could feel my hard length. Her curves fit my hands perfectly. They were so soft that I succumbed to the urge to squeeze them. She gasped and I pressed my lips to her ears.
“Tut, tut, tut.” I shook my head. “What you don’t know is that the War has already begun. I am wreaking havoc on your poor, poor daddy, and his fucking world.”
She shuddered in my grasp and her hair brushed my mouth. Blood rushed below my belt and my cock twitched in my pants. God, she smelled so fucking good.
Another squeeze on her ass and a nip on her neck, and I was floating in the fucking clouds. My grip on her hips tightened and I sucked on the sensitive skin under her ear, lightly grazing it with my teeth. Her body nestled so perfectly against mine.
She sighed, her heart raced violently against my chest, and she tried to push me away. I grabbed her delicate hands and kissed her palms. “Stop fighting me, don’t fucking deny it. You can’t push me away. You can’t run away.”
Undeterred, she fought against my grip and successfully shoved me, just enough to create a breathing space. “I can, and I will.” My eyes shimmered under the light and her teeth bared in an ugly snarl. “You’re my worst nightmare.”
My lips curved up in the most content smile. “Well then, that’s a good thing. Want to know why?”
I grabbed a fistful of her hair and pulled her face closer to mine. She winced in pain, but I didn’t let go.
“It’s because dreams don’t fucking haunt you. But nightmares do.” I licked her upper lip with a flick of my tongue and breathed against her mouth. “What I want, my little dove, is to be etched in that pretty head of yours, so that you’ll never, ever forget me.”