Chapter 36 I Made A Terrible Mistake
I Made A Terrible Mistake
Tess to Kai: I wish there was another option. [unsent]
Tess
Happy birthday to me.
I’m thirty years old today, and instead of celebrating it with Kai and my friends, I’m on a plane to Russia to get married to a man who looks like he can’t wait to sink his teeth into me.
I’m curled up on a seat, the furthest away from him I can get, while his eyes burn holes in my head.
It’s a rather nice plane, I hate to admit. Plush leather seats—although I’m not sure I’m a big fan of all the cream. There’s a stewardess who has spent the entire flight ignoring me and only speaking to Nikolai. Not that I care, but also—rude.
I lift my face to glare at him which just makes him grin.
“I like your fire,” he says, leaning back casually in his seat, crossing one leg over the other. His expensive dark suit shifts with the movement, pulling it open to show his handgun strapped under the jacket.
I keep my eyes trained on his, faking a confidence I don’t feel. “Let me guess. You like it because you can’t wait to snuff it out? Am I close?” He purses his lips, and I sneer. “Be more original dude,” I scoff at him.
His eyes finally leave me as he turns away, annoyed. I can finally breathe, even if it’s only for a minute.
We’ve been on this plane for almost ten hours and I’m desperate to stretch my legs but I’m refusing to move from this seat.
The pilot's voice crackles overhead. “Apologies, there’s a signalling error so there’s a delay to landing. It shouldn’t be long now.”
Nikolai’s expression turns murderous, but he doesn’t say anything. Just begins to stare at me once again.
I fidget and he beams like he won the lottery. “So, I do make you uncomfortable.”
I try to make my expression say, “are you stupid?”
“I didn’t realise that was up for debate.”
He cocks his head at me. “It’s nice to be reassured.”
“Need your ego stroked do you, baby?” I sass with a smirk.
His eyes turn molten. “Say that again.”
“What? Ego?” I know exactly what he wants me to say, but I refuse to give him that satisfaction. I curse myself for joking about it in the first place.
He growls. And not a sexy growl. A deep, evil growl that would be comical if I wasn’t trembling like a leaf, my pulse racing.
I roll my eyes, pretending to be unaffected. But I also don’t have a death wish—yet. “Baby, you’re not you when you’re hungry.”
He barks out a laugh. “I’m going to have so much fun with you.”
“That makes one of us,” I mutter.
After another hour the pilot finally announces that we are beginning our descent. The sky outside is dark, lit only by the scattering lights inside the few houses surrounding the airstrip. The clock showing the local time tells me it’s now three in the morning on the twenty fifth. Birthday over.
Oh well.
The plane touches down on the tarmac and begins to slow. Outside I see three figures waiting for us in the darkness. More guards I’m guessing.
The plane door opens and stairs unfurl. Nikolai offers me his hand. I really don’t want to take it. But I do, because I really am trying to stay alive.
We had five guards on the plane with us, each of them now surrounding us as we walk towards the waiting bodies.
“Is everything ready?” Nikolai asks.
The new guards nod and Nikolai drags me behind him to the waiting car, pushing me in roughly before climbing in next to me.
I keep myself huddled against the door on the opposite side to him, trying to calm my breathing.
The car rumbles to life and we begin moving. Nikolai turns to me with a grin. “Take off your clothes.”
Ice climbs up my spine.
I force myself to maintain an outward persona of confidence and calm. I can’t let him know how truly terrified I am.
“No.”
His grin turns feral, he undoes his seatbelt, sliding across the seats towards me.
I have nowhere to go, already backed against the door, so when he reaches out to trail a hand over my arm in a featherlight touch there’s nothing for me to do but shiver in disgust. His hand moves towards my breast, and I slap it away, bile rising in my throat.
There’s a gleam in his narrowed eyes that scares me more than anything else ever has.
Quicker than I can react, there's a gun pressed to my skull. The cold press of the barrel against my skin has my heart stuttering in my chest.
“I said,” he growls (again, not the sexy kind), “take off your clothes.”
The command comes with another press of the gun into my temple.
I close my eyes, breathing hard.
Part of me wonders whether I should just let him kill me.
But another part is scared that he will go after my family instead, knowing that would motivate me.
With trembling fingers I shift, lifting Kai’s hoodie over my head to expose my bra. Thank God it’s one of those granny bras and not some lacy silky thing. Though, I don’t think he really cares that much.
He waves the gun at me but shifts back so I have more space.
“All of it.”
My fingers hook into the waistband of my joggers, and I lift my hips to push them down.
Now I’m in just my underwear and I’m trying not to tremble like a terrified animal.
Nikolai just looks at me expectantly.
In a moment of stupidity, I try the door handle, but of course the locks are engaged.
Stupid. Stupid Tess.
All I achieve is enraging him. He pounces, grasping the fabric of my bra and ripping it roughly from my skin, hard enough that I yelp in pain. I try to squirm; to struggle away but he holds firm, ripping my pants off too until I’m totally nude—vulnerable.
A single tear slips down my cheek and he leans in to lick it away.
“Your pain is beautiful,” he whispers against my skin.
I meet the eyes of the driver through the rear mirror as Nikolai squeezes my breasts roughly. He just looks away, focusing back on the road as if this isn’t happening.
“I have expectations,” Nikolai says, waving the gun at me with one hand while the other begins to travel across my body. “My wife will submit to me. She will do exactly as I ask, when I ask. Or there will be punishments.”
“Why do I get the feeling these are not the sexy kind of punishments?” I ask, because sometimes it’s hard to shut myself up.
Nikolai’s eyes glint, one of his fingers shoves roughly inside me. I cry out in shock, but I don’t dare slap his hand away this time.
How did my life turn into this?
He releases me and I scramble away, holding my arms around myself.
I expect him to do more, to force himself on me. But he buckles himself back in and the rest of the drive is silent as I cry quietly to myself. I don’t bother trying to put my clothes back on.
I made a terrible mistake.
As soon as the car jolts to a stop Nikolai is holding my arm in a bruising grip and pulling me towards the doors of a large mansion.
I take a quick scan of my surroundings, noting that we’re surrounded by a sprawling estate, with security that’s clearly designed to keep even the most cunning of criminals out.
Then we’re inside.
And I know I won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
I’m naked as the day I was born, and five men stand in the entrance to the mansion.
My entire body is vibrating with fear. But there’s nowhere for me to go. No way for me to hide. Nikolai’s grasp on my arm is too tight.
“She’s a bit fat for your liking isn’t she, boss?” one of the sneers, raking his gaze over me with a predatory stare. His accent is thick Russian, yet he speaks in English. I assume that’s for my benefit not his own.
Nikolai snickers next to me.
“Her cunt’s tight. That’s all that matters.”
Tears burn behind my eyes, but I will them not to fall. I already look weak. Vulnerable.
“You sampled the goods already?” a different one asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Not properly,” Nikolai replies, his hand moving to my breast and giving it a rough squeeze.
“Perhaps we should all have a go? Make sure she’s really good?” the first guy says, taking a step towards us.
I try to shift away, but my back meets Nikolai's chest. His arms wrap around me, imprisoning me against him. I hear them laughing, but I don’t understand the words—they feel foreign, distant, almost unreal.
My breath comes in quick, shallow gasps, panic rising in my throat.
A harsh whisper tickles my ear. “You’ll be good for my men, won’t you?
” I shake my head, but the defiance feels small, suffocated by the weight of my fear.
A whimper escapes, a sound so weak it disgusts me. I wish I could disappear.
His fingers dig into my chin, forcing my face upward. I can feel the burn of his grip, his words dripping with venom. ‘You don’t have a choice, wife,’ he snarls.
I try to hold onto my pride, to push back against the tide of fear choking me. “Not your wife,” I manage to spit out, my voice shaky but defiant.
His smirk grows as he presses closer, his body a looming presence against mine. The space between us feels suffocating, oppressive, but I refuse to let him see the fear curling in my gut.
“I love how feisty you are. So much spirit for me to break.”
He releases me and the men start closing in.
I can’t let this happen.
I force my feet to move, stumbling to the door and yanking it open.
There’s no time to think or plan as I make a break for it. Running stark bollock naked across the grounds.
Pain ricochets through me as I’m tackled to the floor. My face is shoved roughly into the dirt; each breath now filled with the scent of grass and mud.
“You fucking bitch.” It’s Nikolai’s voice that howls at me. “You handed yourself over, Tessa. I don’t know why you’re fighting now.”
Pain rips through me as my hair is yanked, forcing my head up.
I try to ignore the burn in my scalp, the fear coiling tighter in my chest. “You need to be taught a lesson,” he growls.
The words are meant to break me, but I refuse to let him see how close I am to shattering.
I won’t let him win this part of me, no matter how hard he tries.
My head is dropped back to the floor with a thud.
The sound of a zip echoes in the air, cold and sharp, and I freeze, panic gripping me.
I want to move, to run, but my body won’t cooperate.
My heart hammers in my chest as I push myself up, trying to escape, but I’m too slow. His hand grabs my arm, jerking me back to the ground. My breath catches as I feel the weight of him above me, the ground beneath me hard and unforgiving.
The rain begins to fall, a soft, steady patter against the earth.
But it doesn't matter to him—nothing does. He speaks in low, guttural tones I don’t understand, but the intent is clear.
I can feel the weight of his presence behind me, the tension thick in the air.
My body freezes, caught between fight and flight, neither of which seem possible in this moment.
That’s when I feel it.
Him.
I stop breathing.