23. -22-
Nina
The moment the door opened, my lungs forgot how to function.
Three endless days of watching Dorian hover between life and death collapsed into a single electric jolt that shot through my veins so violently I almost screamed.
There he was, frozen in the doorway of his office, with that stupid, breathtaking face that ruined my mental stability.
A brief flicker of shock crossed his face, and a spark of destructive fire ignited behind his hazel eyes. It was so strong that it made my thighs press together.
I held his fierce look like a starving creature clutching its last meal. Relief flooded my system, washing away the panic that lived in my chest while I watched him fight for his life.
Dorian didn’t move. He just stared at me, slowly taking me in as if memorizing every inch and matching it to a memory.
His expression darkened when his attention reached the leather gripping my thighs before lifting to my mask.
The moment our eyes locked, my heart slammed so hard against my ribs the bruise there pulsed with the impact.
The nasty reminder of my first reason for kidnapping Dorian harshly brought me back to reality. The unsigned marriage certificate shattered the illusion I clung to. The excitement of seeing him was almost chased away by the devastating truth: I had nothing to prove we were married.
“You broke into my hospital,” Dorian said flatly, but the pulse ticking at his throat betrayed him. “The list of your crimes keeps growing, ma vilaine.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.” A seductive smile stretched my lips. “Security here is embarrassingly incompetent.”
It was a lie, obviously. Four guys in the lobby and a dozen cameras were easy to dodge, only thanks to Lucas and his miraculous gift of hacking.
“What is it then? A social visit?” Dorian crossed his arms over his broad chest, the simple white T-shirt highlighting his flexing biceps and flat abdomen. The memory of those perfectly ripped muscles momentarily hazed my mind, but I quickly regained my composure.
“A social visit?” I let out a quiet, slightly maniacal laugh. “No, handsome,” I purred, dragging my gloved finger across the seam of my thigh holster. “I came to collect what’s mine. You didn’t think a hospital full of guards would keep me from my husband, did you?”
My falsely innocent look collided with his narrowed eyes. The dangerous glimmer in them attacked all the right places in me. He took a calculated step closer, his scent blending with the thick air around us.
His presence hit me like a drug. My heart kicked hard against my ribs, but I kept still, even though part of me wanted to press my face against his chest and inhale him into my lungs like the addict I was.
“Which mental institution did you escape, ma vilaine?” he asked in a sweet, patronizing voice, most probably trying to get me off my game. But he forgot that it was my game and I made the rules.
“Whichever one decided it was safer for society if I stalked you instead of rotting there.” I winked at him, letting him know his hints about my mental state didn’t affect me at all. I knew I was one foot in the cemetery and the other in the asylum.
“Stalk me,” Dorian mumbled under his breath. “And how long have you been stalking me?” He took another step closer, making me highly aware of his tall, muscular body. Not because he was absolutely edible, but because he was much bigger and stronger than me.
“A few weeks,” I replied casually, standing up. My gun was one swift movement away, and he needed at least two steps to jump me. I was confident my reactions were quicker despite the height difference.
“But you seem not to have learned anything about me.” One corner of his tempting full lips lifted in an arrogant smirk.
A weird dark energy surrounded him, chasing away the light that radiated off him most of the time.
“If you knew me at all, you’d know walking into my den means you don’t walk out unless I say so. ”
A loud click of the door lock resonated through the office, proving him wrong.
Lucas had obviously ignored my request and was listening to our conversation, demonstrating power at the right time.
Dorian whipped his head toward the door, zooming in on it while I used this tiny distraction to put more distance between us.
I moved behind his desk, watching him with a sly smile.
“You were saying, handsome?” I raised a teasing brow, grazing the back of the leather chair with my hand.
“You’ll get yourself killed,” he ground out, surprisingly angry. His eyes flashed with something I hadn’t seen before. It wasn’t just annoyance with my behavior. It was something… unhinged.
“That’s the second time in one day you sound like you care, Dorian.” I raised my index finger at him, wagging it in a teasing, mock-scolding way. “Admit that I’m growing on you.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” He chuckled as if I had told a hilarious joke, but his eyes showed no amusement. “You kidnapped me and trapped me in my own office.” He shook his head in disapproval. “Why don’t you just invite me for dinner? A free meal offer would earn you some points.”
“Points?” I echoed in disbelief. My heart missed a painful beat, and I instinctively placed my hand on my hip, but the gun wasn’t there. My nails dug into my leather jacket as a tiny seed of jealousy grew in my chest at the speed of light.
“I don’t need any points, baby.” I cast him my hardest glare. “You are mine. And if I ever find you dining with another woman, I’ll make sure it’s her last meal.”
“Possessive much?” he mocked.
“You have no fucking idea,” I hissed, jealousy, anger, and a strong feeling of momentary helplessness taking control of my rational thinking. Still, it all vanished into thin air when a painful groan cut our staring contest short.
“Fuck.” Dorian bent over, clutching his abdomen.
The movement was completely unexpected, catching me by surprise.
For a second, I just looked at him as he fell to his knees, gripping the edge of the glass coffee table for support so he didn’t collapse on the floor.
He looked trapped inside his own body, frozen mid-collapse, teeth clenched so tightly the muscle in his jaw throbbed.
“Dorian!” I yelled when my slow brain finally caught up. Every survival instinct vanished. I ran to him and dropped to my knees. Cupping his cheeks with my hands, I scanned him for injuries, but saw nothing. “Talk to me. What’s going on? Where does it hurt?”
I inspected his chest and stomach, touching him everywhere to find the source of pain. My entire body shook, fear for him overwhelming me.
“Dorian, please.” I looked into his face, realizing too late that he had outplayed me. Harshly, he pushed me, and I fell backward, unable to defend myself when he grabbed my throat and pinned me down.
“Well, well, well,” he sang, his thumb pressing against my speeding pulse. “Game over, ma vilaine.”
I licked my lips, fighting to push him away, but he only chuckled. No matter how much I kicked or punched, nothing worked. He kept me down with ease, and when my arms annoyed him too much, he pinned them above my head, and his massive chest pressed against mine did the rest.
I could barely breathe when his weight dropped on me, but at the same time, having him this close, feeling his skin on mine, his breath on my neck and his lips almost brushing my cheek, felt like all the trouble was worth it.
My breasts pushed against his ripped chest muscles with every inhale.
My painfully erect nipples begged to be released and met with some attention from his hands and mouth.
Despite the frightening realization that with one movement, he could ruin everything I built, I was more aroused than afraid.
Fuck. Where was my common sense when I needed it?
“I love the position,” I said in a hushed voice, panting from the exhausting, futile fight. “Very intimate. Are we going to consummate the marriage?”
“Not yet,” he replied, observing my mask. “First I want to know who you are.”
Yet? That sounded promising, but I had to focus on the more disturbing thing he said. My identity couldn’t be uncovered.
“Be careful what you wish for, hubby,” I whispered, wriggling to free my hands, without any success. He held my wrists tightly with one hand while his other traveled up my neck slowly.
“I’ve never been so certain of what I want,” he muttered, his clouded eyes locking with mine.
For a split second, I was sure I saw a spark of affection there before it shifted into something dangerous, like a predator realizing the prey wandered willingly into its jaws.
His fingers tightened around my wrists possessively.
A dark thrill shot through his expression, as though having me pinned beneath him was exactly where I belonged. And God help me, it felt so right.
My thundering heart missed a beat, and my lungs forgot how to take in oxygen when his hungry gaze dipped to my mask. But beneath the desire glowed confusion.
I felt his chaos, the disorder he couldn’t hide or deny. Maybe it was only my wild imagination, my deepest wish, or the desperation, but at that very moment, I would swear on my life that he considered me his.
“Dorian!”
The sudden, loud bang on the door, along with the terrifying voice, made me flinch, and Dorian abruptly woke from his trance. He blinked, lifting his eyes to stare at the door as if he wasn’t sure he had heard his name coming from behind it.
“Dorian!” the male voice yelled again, trying the doorknob, but it was locked. “I know you’re inside.”
“Fuck,” Dorian hissed, letting me go. He sat on his heels, his eyes frantically scanning the room. “Malin can’t find you here. He’d hang you from the shelf by your intestines.”
My stomach dropped. The monster from my nightmares was only a few feet from me.
“Tell your friend to unlock the door,” Dorian commanded, standing up. He wiped his hands on his sweatpants and helped me to my feet. My body cooperated, but panic quickly rose in my chest.
“Dorian!” Malin called out, his chilling voice seeping into my bones like a poisonous curse. “Fine. Your choice.”
Dorian shot me a startled look and shoved me behind the closet just as the gunshot cracked through the air.
The fucking psycho shot the door, leaving a hole as big as a fist where the knob was a second ago.
An alarm went off, the annoying sound piercing my skull as I shook in the tiny space between the shelf and wall.
With my fingertips, I found the earpiece in my pocket and put it back in my ear, the end of Lucas’s sentence hitting me right in the gut.
“…how, but they caught me,” he mumbled, his fingers running over the keyboard. “Fuck, I can’t escape. I have to abort.”
“Go,” I whispered, hoping he heard me. I dropped the device on the floor and crushed it with my foot just as Malin walked into the office. His emotionless expression made my knees buckle.
“Someone hacked the cameras in the hospital, brother,” he announced coldly, his shadow moving across the floor as I pressed my body against the wall, trying to melt into it. “I’ll only ask once. Where are they?”