Chapter 12 #2
I swallow as he really takes me in, his gaze roaming over my face, snagging when he reaches my neck. Then his hand comes up, tracing a spot on the side of my throat, and heat suffices my cheeks when I realise that the twins, and maybe Hunter, must have left a hickey there.
“Nikolai, I…” I trail off, not really sure what to say.
That I’m sorry? But the thing is, I’m not.
I made no promise to Nik, and this thing between Hunter and the twins can’t be easily dismissed.
There’s a pain in the back of my throat at even thinking about ending things with the Shadows, but equally, the idea of never being with Nik again leaves me nauseous, my entire body feeling like it’ll curl in on itself if I have to let him go.
“He’s right, Dorogaia,” he states, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows, the back of his jaw working and his tone pained as if this isn’t easy for him to say.
I guess he didn’t expect things to be like this when he brought me here.
“You need them to keep you safe, and maybe happy too?” His eyes come back to mine, searching once again, the skin around them tight and the look in them almost begging me to deny his words.
I suck my lips between my teeth, only able to give him a nod. It’s still so new, but the time I’ve spent with the Shadows hasn’t all been bad. Most of it has been…nice. More than nice if I’m being truthful.
“We should discuss what happens now,” Hunter interjects from behind me, and I twist to see him still seated, his large hands gripping the arms of his throne so tightly that his knuckles have gone white.
The memory of being on my knees before him last night, his hands in a similar position hits me, sending a bolt of desire straight to my centre. As if he knows, his eyes catch mine, a small twitch of his lips hinting that perhaps he’s remembering too.
“My father sent me here to encourage you to hand Iris back into his care,” Nikolai states, and I snap my head back to him, trying to tug myself out of his arms. The movement is instinctual, knowing he wouldn’t take me back since he was the one who sent me here in the first place for my safety.
“Don’t worry, Dorogaia, I won’t be leaving here with you tonight.
” His voice is soft, his words enough to calm me, years of friendship building an unshakable trust between us.
“We wouldn’t give her back anyway,” Hunter states, his tone hard and unyielding. “She’s under the protection of the Shadows now, and our connections if need be.”
“Family is important to the Irish,” Roman adds, and I turn in Nikolai’s grip, my back to his front to look at Roman.
Nikolai keeps his arms around me, like now that he’s got me back, he’s not letting me go anytime soon.
Roman’s leg is still slung over the arm of his throne, but his eyes are uncompromising with a dark gleam in the brown depths, which are usually full of laughter.
“And we have the Murphys and the Kellys on our side if we need them.”
“Good, that should be enough to stop a declaration of an outright war,” Nikolai responds, and I must say, my curiosity is piqued.
Nik spoke about the twins before and their connections to Irish mobsters, but I didn’t quite realise it was enough to make Sergi pause, if not halt him altogether.
“You’ll need to keep watch on her at all times, she can’t be alone for even a moment. ”
“Not you too,” I groan as his arms tighten. “I suppose you agree with Hunter to keep me trapped in their flat forever more? Perhaps I should grow my hair out and maybe a prince will come along to save me?”
Roman huffs a laugh, clearly getting the fairy tale reference.
Hunter looks like it’s taking all his effort to remain seated, his hands still clutching his throne tightly as he stares at Nik’s arms around me almost like he wants to tear them off.
Rowan is seated on his throne, his body poised, his hands twitching like he needs to occupy them.
And Nikolai’s lips brush the shell of my ear, a low growl rumbling against my back.
“I don’t think there’s room for another in your harem, Kotenok,” he murmurs darkly into my ear, shivers making my nipples pebble. “Plus I’ll compromise and share with them because I have to. Because I can see the way they light you up. But no one else.”
“THE OTHER SIDE” BY RUELLE
NIKOLAI
Iris shudders in my arms, and suka, I want nothing more than to throw her down on the dirty concrete floor and sink into her body again.
Especially knowing that the Shadows have marked her, have maybe taken her too, even if not fully.
My inner beast demands we stake our claim, regardless of the fact we now have to share her, something I never thought I’d be okay with.
“Okay,” she breathes out, and her acquiesce has a groan wanting to escape my throat.
I hold it back though, instead taking a deep inhale of her intoxicating honey and cocoa scent.
It’s laced with something sharper, a citrus that I don’t like, and I make a note to send her some of the body wash bars I found in her bathroom that smells like her.
I pull her closer, so not a breath of air is between us, knowing that this may be the last time I get to hold her like this for a long time.
Every cell in my body rebels at the idea of not having her close, at walking away from her once more, but I have to because it’s the only way to keep her safe.
It’s the only reason why I’m okay with this situation at all.
Straightening up, I glance over at the three men I’m entrusting my heart and soul to.
They look as hungry as I feel, an air of possessive protection that I feel in my very bones aimed at her as they gaze not at me or my men, but her.
I can respect them for that. I suppose it eases the sting of having to share her somewhat, knowing that they will also keep her safe and that even if they don’t have the same level of feeling for her as I do, what they do feel is strong and will be enough to help protect her from the bigger threat.
Given a choice, I would hoard her to myself like a dragon, breathing fire on anyone who tried to steal her away, but I won’t lie and say that it isn’t smart that she also feels something for them, that her heart is no longer just mine.
And I am partly responsible for that, though very little in my life is about choice, so I will do what I have to in order to survive. In order for her to survive.
“I will report back to my father that she is under your protection and that you refused to hand her over, reminding me of your connections,” I tell them, registering Hunter’s nod as Iris goes stiff in my arms.
“What will he do to you? For failing to bring me back?” she asks quietly, but I know that everyone heard, Dima and Andrei shuffling either side of me.