Chapter 10 - Nikita
"Please, please don't kill him," I shout, desperate, terrified. The guy's face is covered in blood, and he's barely conscious. Bardil still looks like he wants to carry on punching him. I have my arms wrapped around his thick forearm, clinging on to try and stop him from swinging his fist again.
He groans loudly, furrowing his brows and sneering.
He tugs his arm away from me and stares down at the guy on the floor, trapped beneath him. Bardil is much stronger than him. He never stood a chance.
"Please, Bardil, I'll go with you. Just leave him alone. It's my fault for using him. I was manipulating him into helping me."
My heart is racing a million miles an hour, and tears are streaming down my cheeks.
It really is my fault. The guy was an easy target.
He had his eyes on me the moment I walked in.
My feet are aching, I'm exhausted, and I was too tired to think properly.
I just walked over to him and started flirting to get him to lend me his car.
It was stupid and reckless, and I put his life in danger.
It was selfish.
I reach out and touch Bardil's arm. "Please," I whisper, begging him.
He closes his eyes for a moment, and I repeat myself. "I'll go with you. We can leave now."
Bardil is blinded by rage. Rage he feels toward me, but is taking out on this stranger.
Guilt pushes inside me.
Biting my lip, I wait for him to react in some way.
He stands up, shoving the guy away from himself. Roughly, he grabs my arm, and I don't stop him. "Let's go," he snaps.
Everyone in the bar is looking away. Minding their own business. It makes me angry, but I'm also relieved. If anyone else tried to help me at this point, I don't think I'd be able to get Bardil to calm down again. I can't be responsible for anyone else getting hurt.
He pushes me into the car, and I sit tensely, in angry silence.
Now that it's him and me again, my rage is quickly taking over from the fear for that stranger's life.
Bardil starts the car and pulls away so fast the tires skid on the road.
I try so hard to hold my anger in, but it doesn't work, and when we're away from the town, I blurt out.
"You almost fucking killed him!"
"So what?" he snaps back.
"You're a fucking psychopath. Who does that? Why the hell would you hurt him so badly when he was just trying to help me?"
"Help you?" he scoffs, glaring at me.
"Yes! Help me!" I shout, clenching my fists.
Bardil slams on the brakes and pulls over on the side of the road. It's pitch black in the middle of nowhere when he leans over to my side.
"He didn't want to help you! How blind are you?"
He's close to me. The car suddenly feels smaller than before.
"I'm not blind. You're an asshole. A bully. A heartless monster," I snap.
"I'm not a monster. That guy, the type of man he is, he's a monster. He would take you home and… he would've… " Bardil's voice is tight, and I realize he's struggling to say whatever he's thinking.
He lifts his hand and wraps his fingers around my jaw.
I push him away from me, intensely aware of the heat of his eyes and the way his hand on my skin makes my heart beat faster.
My eyes dart to his lips, and I take in a sharp breath, wondering why the hell I'm thinking about kissing him when I'm so fucking angry.
Bardil growls, shaking his head, closing his eyes.
I push him away again, and this time he lets go of my jaw. My skin feels cold in the absence of his touch.
He moves back to his seat, still fighting for control over his anger.
"If you ever touch me again, I'll… "
I don't get a chance to finish my sentence before his lips are on mine.
My heart screams to a stop. My body ignites with fire so intense I can't breathe.
There isn't even a moment when I think to myself, No, don't kiss him back.
Our lips move against each other, and he slips his hand around my waist. As though I weigh nothing at all, he pulls me into his lap in the car with my legs straddling him.
The kiss intensifies.
Every cell in my body is begging for more as I move with him. A moan slips from my lips, and I arch my back as he runs his hands down my spine and cups them over my ass, pulling me onto his cock.
He's rock hard and massive, pressing against his pants.
Get a hold of yourself, Nikita.
Why? Why should I get a hold of myself? This feels so good. It's better than anything I've felt before. I'm in the middle of nowhere, kissing the hottest guy I've ever seen in my life. This is the kind of moment I long for when I'm trapped at home. This is the adventure I want in my life.
Bardil groans deeply as he pulls me harder against his raging boner.
He sounds savage. Wild. Like an animal dragging its prey into its den.
I wrap my hands around his thick, muscular neck and pull him harder against my mouth.
He pushes his tongue into me and threads the fingers of one hand through my hair.
He tugs my head back and exposes my throat.
His lips brush over my skin, kissing me, his tongue playing along the vulnerability of my neck.
My breathing becomes faster, and a desperate need takes over my thoughts.
I want him.
I want him more than I've ever wanted anyone.
My fingers move to the buttons of his shirt, tugging at him, wanting to run my hands over his toned muscles. To touch his skin. To be as close to him as possible.
He locks his mouth over mine again and kisses me.
I can't believe it.
I can't believe I've pushed away the attraction toward him since day one, but all this time, he felt it too. Something wild and deep. Something dangerous and raw.
The top button of his shirt pops open when I pull it, and Bardil laughs.
The laugh makes me pause. My heart constricts.
I pull away, and he laughs again. Cold and nasty.
"Do you see how easy it is, little rabbit?"
"What is?" I whisper, anxiety creeping in.
"To get what I want from you. The same way the guy in the bar was going to," he smirks.
Horror slaps me.
"I… no!" I exclaim. The guy in the bar wasn't even the least bit attractive to me. I would never have kissed him…
My eyes lock with Bardil's, and I see the mockery in them.
My heart sinks. Horrified, I scramble off his lap, realizing that he was only kissing me to prove a point.
Or to stop me from arguing. It was a game of control and nothing more.
He was toying with me like he's been toying with me from the start.
I'm a pawn. A tool. I don't think he even looks at me and sees a person. Just something he can use to get whatever he wants.
I scramble back into the passenger seat, mortified that I let it get that far. Mortified that I fell for it. I got carried away, out of control, and all the while he was using me.
With my face turned away from him, I stare out of the window into the darkness. Tears are stinging my eyes for the second time today, but I would hate for him to catch me crying. I'm embarrassed enough as it is.
He pulls into the road again and heads toward the cabin. I don't say a word.
There's nothing to say.
I was a complete and utter fool. So naive and pathetic to think he was attracted to me.
I'll never let anything like that happen again.
Not ever.