Chapter 6
Chapter
Six
The sensation of calloused hands skating up my legs made me groan, replacing the throbbing pain with pleasure.
A bell tapped the back of my head, but I turned away from it, letting myself drown in the bliss, sinking deeper into pleasure. Into a peace I had never known.
Palms grazed my ribs. Heat pulsed against them like a magical rope wrapping around the cracked pieces, fixing their fractured parts.
As if lips grazed over my nipples through the thin fabric of my shirt, my back arched, demanding more. Another soft moan puffed from my lips.
A growl hummed against my ear, once again tickling at my unconscious. I had a distant awareness of water swishing against my skin, cool air caressing my breasts under the wet cotton.
“Fuck, Kovacs.” His gritty voice dragged over my body, yanking me out of the last bit of oblivion. My eyes opened with a start, my spine knocking against the tub as a man crawled over me.
Feral.
Ruthless.
Savage.
His severe energy punched my chest with a gasp. As if I had been asleep for weeks, the hit of adrenaline burst through my veins, everything in me screaming with both life and death. Peace and violence. Lust and abhorrence. Calm and terror.
His long, dark lashes lifted to mine, pinning me in place, his face only inches from mine. The weight of his physique, his skin touching mine, his wet clothes rubbing against my mostly naked figure was so real.
“Getting into fights again, Kovacs?” he rumbled, his thumb passing over my cheek, his lids flinching as if he experienced the pain I should have felt from his touch.
But there was only warmth. Fear blocked out everything other than my pounding heart.
How was this possible? Was he actually here? Was I dreaming?
“Can’t leave you alone for a moment.” He smirked, his lids narrowing on me.
“Even got Killian wrapped around your finger.” His hand trailed between my breasts, over my stomach, gliding over my underwear, tracing over my folds.
I inhaled sharply, my hips reacting without thought, seeking the unbelievable pleasure from his simple touch.
“I told you. Your life is mine. I own you . . . and I own this.” He rubbed harder, my lids fluttering, my mouth gasping.
“Fuck you. You betrayed me.” Anger and desire choked my throat, my voice low and tight. “And I told you. No one owns me.”
“Really?” He snorted. “Look around you, Kovacs. You are someone’s pet. Soon you will have a shiny collar to match.”
I snarled, but my body behaved in opposition to my hate, tilting into his touch.
“Time to stop playing house, Kovacs.” He grunted into my ear, pressing his erection into me, his mouth grazing my neck. “Be ready . . . It’s all about to go to hell . . . in three, two, one . . .”
Booooooom!
The explosion ripped through the air, hurling me back to reality with a violent jump. I bolted up as tremors shook the room.
What the hell was that? What was going on? Confusion caused me to tremble as I pitched forward, scrambling out of the tub. I was alone. I had been dreaming. Though inexplicably, I still could feel the imprint of where he had touched me, his lips on the curve of my neck.
“Brexley!” An anxious voice screamed for me, lurching me toward the doorway. Zander’s expression was etched with tension, but he came to a stuttering stop, his gaze moving down me.
My eyes lowered, aware I stood before him in only knickers and sports bra, both white, wet, and see-through. But it wasn’t that which flooded me with shock and fear. My skin was unmarred.
Not a hint of a bruise or cuts where Nyx had kicked and beat me. It was all completely healed. Gaping, I glided my fingers over my pale skin, feeling no pain.
What the hell . . . ?
Boom!
Another blast rattled the crystal chandeliers, jerking me to the window. Smoke and fire billowed up into the twilight from the river right below the palace gates.
“We have to go!” Zander snapped out of his trance, heading to a cupboard.
“What’s going on?”
“Put this on now!” Zander tossed me a pair of pants, a shirt, and slip-on shoes. I hadn’t even noticed the closet had been stocked with items for me. “Hurry!”
“Zander?” I grabbed the garments as the bellows of guards filled the corridors. My heart leaped into my throat, my brain still trying to wrap around all that was happening.
“Getting you out of here.” He jogged back for the door, putting his ear against it to listen to movement on the other side.
I quickly dressed, his statement sinking in. Leave. Escape. My stomach tightened, a whisper of sorrow trickling into my gut. No! You want to leave, Brexley. What is wrong with you?
“Come on! We have to go now.” He bounced at the door, waving me forward. Shoving my feet into the shoes, I ran to him.
Cracking open the door, he peered out, every muscle tight and ready to react. He motioned me forward, creeping down the corridor. My pulse echoed in my ears. Distant shouts, bangs, and movement haunted the hallway, scraping my nerves. We could be caught at any time.
Zander led me down the hall toward the lift, but he skirted me to a bookcase, his hands pushing and stabbing at every book on the shelf.
“What are you—” I yipped in surprise as the bookcase shifted, swinging in. Stone steps descended into a pit of blackness.
“Stay close.” His hand clutched mine, pulling me in. The moment the door shut behind us, a firebulb flickered on, giving us enough light to see in front of us.
“Killian and his main guards use this tunnel all the time, but it’s the only chance we have.” Zander moved down the steps. “If they decide to use it . . .”
“We’re screwed,” I finished.
“Basically.” His warm brown eyes glanced back at me, his fingers threading through mine. We padded down the secret stairs, passing a few doors inserted deeper into the stone wall, heading under the ground.
Zander came to a sudden stop, going rigid, his head tilting to listen as he sniffed the air. Below, a door slammed, and so did my lungs. I swallowed back the rush of fear, feeling my heart rebound off the walls like it was trying to tattle on me.
The thud of footsteps hitting the stone beat in tune with my heart. We were done. Our escape was about to be exposed in seconds.
Zander’s head snapped around frantically, his eyes locking on something behind me.
He surged for me, his arms wrapping around as he yanked me into a doorway we had recently passed.
His hand covered my mouth, his body tucking me tightly to his, trying to make us dissolve into the shadows.
He pressed us against the corner, the uneven stone cutting into my vertebrae.
The steps grew closer, our pounding hearts knocking against each other.
A crackle of a voice filled the chamber, the guard’s gait slowing.
Oh. Baszd meg . . . of all guards.
Nyx came into view, half her face swollen and cut as if she had been violently reprimanded. She brought a device to her mouth. “I’m heading to her now, my lord.”
“If you hurt her, I will kill you, Nyx. There are no second chances if you disobey me.”
“Yes, sir.” She clicked off, pausing on the same platform as us, a snarl curling her lip. “Szuka . . .” Bitch.
Terror engulfed me. I couldn’t breathe or even think. All she had to do was shift her eyes just a little more toward the door, and she would see the lumpy silhouettes in the corner. Discover us.
She rolled her head, letting out her annoyance. Her frame went stiff, her hand reaching for her gun.
Fuck. Fuck. Bile scorched my throat.
A distant boom seeped through the tunnel, and she took off, racing up the steps. Her footsteps ebbed away.
My body sagged into Zander’s, relief whimpering in my chest. Zander exhaled, his hands rubbing my arms. “That was close.”
I scoffed. “That was beyond close. I thought we were done.”
“Come on. We have to go.” He squeezed my hand, pulling me back down the steps. My legs wobbled under the stress, but my training kicked in and I stayed upright.
We descended quickly to the bottom, then ran down an underground path, stopping at a heavy door. Zander dug out a set of keys, and potent magic hummed off them, telling me this door was protected with a spell. No one could get in or out unless they had the key to the spell.
He unlocked the door, but instead of opening it, he turned to me, hands gripping my shoulders, his gaze drifting back and forth between mine.
“Once again, I am forced to watch him take you away.”
My brow furrowed with confusion, but he gave me no time to ask. Pulling me into him, his mouth slanted over mine, and he gave me a quick kiss, his lips soft.
“Our paths will meet again. I promise you.” He cupped one side of my face, his eyes filling with adoration. Then he shook his head, inhaling, and yanked the door open, letting in the commotion outside. “Head that way.” He pointed behind me. “Go!”
I jolted between the doorway and Zander.
“Hurry!” The intensity of his voice shifted my legs, and I scrambled out the door.
Act first; ask questions later. It was instinct.
Survival. I peered over my shoulder at him.
He gestured, pointing the way. Deep purples and reds painted the sky, reflecting the last bits of light in his brown eyes.
They were filled with a sorrow I didn’t know how to decipher.
The roar of a motorcycle wrenched my attention away from Zander to the outline in front of me. My feet came to a grinding halt, my heart leaping up my throat as my gaze took in what my brain had yet to fully comprehend.
No.
No way.
“Come on!” His deep gravelly voice vibrated through my body, like his words could physically touch me.
My muscles were frozen, oxygen blocked from my lungs, tilting me off-kilter as if I were hallucinating again. I could think of no other way he would be here. The man who betrayed me. The reason I had been locked up here in the first place.
And he was even sexier than I remembered.