Chapter 6
Chapter Six
AINSLEY
Y esterday was New Year’s Day, and I spent it with my sisters at Lennon’s house. Lyric forgave me and said she understood why I did what I did. She told me she and Aleksei are in love. I’m happy for them both.
I’ve done everything I can to avoid Mikhail. We still sleep in the same bed, but I put pillows between us so I’m not tempted by my desire for him. He avoids me too, which makes me think he’s tired of me already. He hasn’t touched me since I got Lyric captured. Maybe I’m too much of a handful for him.
I want there to be something more. I deserve more. At least a relationship where we care about each other. It doesn’t have to be love. I don’t even know if I believe in love.
Taking a deep breath, I sigh as I walk around the house. I hate being in lockdown. I hate how we are living.
Chloe called me to wish me a Happy New Year, but I can’t go out to see her. I need to get out of this house. I need a release. If my fiancé doesn’t desire me, maybe I should go to the club and find someone who does.
My phone pings with a text message, and I pull it out of my pocket.
Ric: I’m leaving for my honeymoon in a few days. Want to go shopping with me?
Me: Okay
Perfect timing. I don’t want to get her in trouble, but I can sneak off while we’re out.
I change into a pair of jeans and an off-the-shoulder sweater, then slip on a pair of chunky heeled boots.
Lyric pulls up in an armored SUV. Her hand is still in a cast.
“Could you come to the house and help me with something first? I tried to do it myself, but I can’t type, and my hand hurts today.”
“Sure.” I climb in, and we head back to her house.
I follow her up to the office and spot Aleksei on the wall of monitors. He’s at the Lucky Dice. He’s been working steadily, clearing his schedule, so they can go to Hawaii for their honeymoon.
Lyric directs me on what to do, and I help her. After a few moments, she turns away.
“Give me a minute. I need to use the bathroom.” She leaves, and I sit there, waiting.
Staring at the computer, I notice a file named Duncan and click on it. I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t stop myself. My curiosity gets to me.
A video pops up, and I watch it in shock. Jimmy is strapped to a chair. He’s bleeding, and his clothes are torn and dirty. He looks like he hasn’t showered in days. His hands have missing fingers. The camera pans out, and I see his legs twisted at an odd angle. I glance at the sledgehammer next to his chair.
I gasp and put a hand over my mouth as I continue watching.
“What did you do to earn the Irish’s trust?” a man I don’t know asks him.
“I d-didn’t just have the I-I-Irish’s trust,” Jimmy says.
“Who else?” the man asks.
A sinister smile forms on Jimmy’s face.
“B-B-Barone too.”
Oh my God, he worked for Barone and the Irish. He was married to the head of the Irish mob’s aunt.
“What did you do for him?” the man asks.
“Hits,” Jimmy says, and the man shakes his head in disbelief. “N-Not like Bronwyn.”
Lyric told me Jimmy was bad and that he was killed because of it, but this is really bad.
“How so?”
He coughs, hacking violently, before smiling again. “I’d hire thugs to do it.”
“Who did you take out?”
“Belyaev.” Jimmy takes a shuddering breath.
He goes on to explain how and why he killed Aleksei’s father. When he coughs again, blood dribbles from his mouth. He’s dying.
“Sokolov because he was getting too close to me.” My chest heaves. Mikhail’s father. “Killed him myself.” His laugh is bitter as he looks at someone off screen. “Wife was a hot piece of ass.”
I gasp, and tears roll down my face.
The man is pushed aside, and Mikhail is standing there. The screen goes black, but a gunshot sounds.
I scream and jump up from the chair. I take off running. I run past my guards, and they try to stop me, but I don’t stop.
I can’t believe Jimmy was a rapist. My father was one of those sick men who violate women’s bodies.
I’m running down the street when I’m lifted up by arms I recognize. His expensive cologne and scent of coffee creeps over my senses.
“ Zayka ,” he calls me the nickname I haven’t heard from his lips in days, but it doesn’t stop the screams and cries of pain spilling from my mouth.
“He raped her. He raped her,” I chant over and over.
I hear other voices, but nothing breaks through the fog of pain.
* * *
Mikhail
I ignore the guards and Andrei as I take her home. She fights me, but I keep moving forward, knowing what she needs.
I kick the door closed behind us and lock it before heading upstairs. I’ve avoided her because I thought that’s what she needed. But while working at Andrei’s house today, I watched her on the hidden cameras.
My body craves hers, and it was as if I knew she was getting ready to run.
When I heard she took off running from Lyric and Alek’s house, I was shocked. It was too brazen. But then I saw her—the pain, the screaming, the words. In that moment, I knew what she had found out.
I’ve suspected for a long time that my girl had suffered, but she never mentioned it, and we didn’t talk about it. I didn’t see it in her files, but it explains so much. Her need to run, her need for revenge. My need to protect her overcame me, and I can no longer keep her at arm’s length. I have to have her, and she needs me.
I lower her to our bed and stretch out over her body. I reach up into the headboard and pull the cuffs from their hiding spot. Carefully, as she fights me, I shackle each wrist.
Once she’s strapped to the bed, she slowly starts to calm. But her eyes still have a wild look to them, so I collar her neck with my hand. My long, tattooed fingers on one side, my thick thumb on the other. Her body stills completely. Her eyes stare into mine. I can see the pain, feel it as if it were my own.
“He raped your mother,” she says, the words torn from her soul. I see my pain reflected back at me. “You killed him because he raped your mother.” It’s not a question, but I still answer her.
“ Da .” It’s simple. It’s all I can say.
“How could he do that? Why? What was his reason?”
“He didn’t say. But he told me he was hired to kill them both and rape her.”
“What?” Her body convulses.
“Tell me, zayka . Tell me what happened.”
“I couldn’t stop myself. I saw the file on Lyric’s computer and opened it.”
“ Nyet, not that. Tell me what happened to you.”
Her eyes grow distant, and I lean down to take her lips. Kissing her like I’ve wanted to for days. Weeks. Months even.
Her tongue slips out and plays with mine. I release the hold I have on her neck as I dominate her mouth. She moans and moves against my body. My cock is hard and thick behind the fly of my slacks.
Reaching behind me, I pull one of my fixed-blade knives from my back. I set it next to me on the bed and sit up over her body, straddling her.
Lifting her sweater, I push it up her arms, caging them in a bit more. I then slip off the bed and strip off my jacket, vest, guns, and shirt. Kicking off my shoes, I admire her body as she pants, watching me undress.
“I can see all your tattoos this time,” she murmurs softly.
“To keep my identity secret at the club, it was determined that I cover them.”
“I liked the thrill of not knowing it was you, but I’m liking the show here now better.” Her legs move restlessly, trying to relieve the ache I know she’s feeling. It’s the same ache I’ve had for months.
I move back to the bed and unbutton her jeans. I slide them down her legs, stopping to remove her boots, before tossing them across the room. She’s left in nothing but her sheer, soaked panties.
Her small breasts move as she breathes. Her nipples hard and erect, begging me to suckle them. The last time I had her at my mercy, I didn’t get to taste her skin.
I climb back on the bed over her and use the backside of my blade to trace her body. The tip is sharp, and every so often, I’ll move the blade just right to nick her slightly. She’s moaning and writhing under me, but I don’t stop. The knife is only the beginning.
I set it back on the bed and trace her body with my tongue. I suck her nipples deep into the recesses of my mouth, giving her an edge of pain. My teeth sink into her flesh, marking her skin with small hickeys and love bites. Her body flushes as she moans and cries for me.
“Mikhail, please. Master, I need you.”
I like hearing these chants versus the one from earlier.
“ Zayka, I’ll give you what you need after I’m done.” I slide down her body. When I see the vertical hood piercing, my breath catches. “What man saw this?” I demand, but she doesn’t answer me. She’s too lost in her head to the torture I’m inflicting on her body.
I lean my head down and suck the piercing between my lips. She didn’t have this when we were at the club. Someone saw her body since that night.
“ Zayka ,” I bark, and her eyes focus on me. “What man will die for seeing your body like this?”
“No man. It was Chloe.” She sighs, and a soft smile pulls at her lips.
I pick up my blade and slide it along her folds. She gasps, and I watch her eyes fill with worry for only a moment before they roll back, and she moans, long and deep.
My mouth moves to her sensitive core, and I suck in each lip before spreading them open with one hand while pushing three fingers into her with the other. I suck her piercing and clit into my mouth, then scrape my teeth along it when she screams in ecstasy, making her orgasm instantly.
I yank my pants and boxers down while I wait for her to come back to herself.
She’s panting and trying to focus on me as I notch my cock at her entrance. Finally, I slam home. She’s tight, hot, and perfect. I throw my head back, trying to hold off the orgasm wanting to erupt from my body. She screams at the intrusion. I hold myself deep inside her as I reach up and release her arms. I didn’t let her touch me the last time, but this time I want her marks on me.
“Claw me, zayka . Mark me,” I order her.
She wraps her arms around my body, and her little nails dig into my back. The duality of pain and pleasure is what I’ve always craved.
I pull out and power back into the heat of her body. I’m lost in the moment until I realize I’m in her without a condom. I pause with my cock deep inside her and wait until she focuses on me again.
“Please, Master,” she begs, but I hold myself still until I can confirm she’s okay with this.
I want her to have my baby someday, but right now, she’s in danger, and we both still need to get to know each other.
“Ainsley,” I say her name so she knows I’m serious. “I’m inside you bare. I want to knock you up, but not right now. We need time.” I’m honest with her.
She moves her gaze to my chest and bites her lip. “Mikhail, I was told it would be extremely difficult for me to get pregnant.” When her eyes move back to mine, she lets me see the hurt and pain. “I do want children someday, but I don’t know how.”
Ainsley doesn’t tell me more, and now isn’t the time to talk to her about it. I’ll question her afterward.
I slowly move inside her in long, deep thrusts. She claws at my back and turns her head to sink her teeth into my arm. I want to drive her crazy with need, so I don’t change my pace. I don’t change anything, just keep thrusting.
“Mikhail. Master, please. I need more,” she begs and pleads.
I’ve led her to that precipice, but I’m not taking her over. When I feel her pussy start to flutter, I pull out and flip her to her stomach.
“Chest to the bed, ass in the air zayka .” I smack her ass, and she cries out. Her desire drips down between her thighs.
When she obeys and is in position, I slide back into her heat. She throws her head back, and I grab a handful of her beautiful red hair. I grip her hip with my other hand and let her have all of me. I give her what she’s been begging for.
She’s moaning and writhing beneath me.
“ Zayka , who’s pussy is this? Who do you belong to?” I need her to confirm she’s mine. I have this deep need to claim her.
“You. It’s yours. Yours since that night,” she confesses, and something breaks open inside me.
My chest expands, and my heart pumps harder. I’m scared, but I’m also elated that she’s mine. The chain holding me back snaps, and my hips start thrusting harder. Taking her deeper. She’s going to feel me there tomorrow every time she moves.
I bend my body over hers and release her hair. She moans at the deeper penetration. I don’t stop. I work her up, and as she screams her release, I come deep inside her. My body trembles and my arms shake. I roll us to the side, keeping my cock inside her.
We lie there for a while. She’s in my arms as she slowly comes out of the deep subspace she went into after her last orgasm.
I slowly slide from her body, then head for the bathroom, where I grab a washcloth to clean her up. When I climb back in bed, spooning her body, she starts talking.
“I was eleven the first time I was raped. He was one of my foster fathers. He and his sixteen-year-old son continued for two years. It wasn’t until one of his friends raped me so bad he tore me up that a nurse figured it out and called authorities.” She trembles in my arms as she relives the experience.
“What did your foster mother do?” My body is so tight. I want to kill them for hurting her.
“Nothing. When Lyric went to her and told her, she called Lyric a liar.” She pauses for a moment. “They threatened to kill my sister if I didn’t keep my mouth shut. So I didn’t tell anyone.”
I need to unseal her foster records and find out their names. I’ll make them suffer for what they did to my woman.
My hands glide over her body, rubbing and massaging her. Warming her as she shivers from the memories. I push up on one arm and pull the blankets over us. She snuggles back into my body, and I like her right here. Before, during the night, even with the pillow wall up, we’d end up spooning. I didn’t realize how much I needed that innocent contact.
“I need names, zayka . I’ll avenge you.” I can hear the growl in my voice, and I try to soften it for her.
She turns toward me, and her hand comes to my cheek. The warmth seeping into me from her.
“A few months ago, both the father and son died in a car accident. The friend died in prison a couple of days later. I don’t know how or why, but I’m glad they’re gone.”
“Is it because of them you can’t get pregnant?”
She nods slowly before she burrows in under my chin. I hold her tight and wait to see if she’ll tell me more. When she doesn’t, I decide to give her my truth.
“Until Duncan confessed to raping and killing my parents, I was on a path of destruction. I’d been searching for their killer ever since I lost them. Right before I pulled the trigger, he had a sinister grin on his face. He told me he was hired to kill them. I don’t know by who, and now I’ll probably never know. My anger at what he did to my mother was too much. I had to avenge her. I’ve had soldiers helping me search for who contracted him.” I take a deep breath before continuing.
“I remember that night as if it were yesterday. I was nine, and they decided to go out on a date. It was during a time of peace, but something was different that night. I begged my mama not to go, but she just patted me on the head and said to be her big man and watch over the house. Babushka was babysitting me. I remember screaming in pain when I learned they were both killed.” I briefly close my eyes, trying to shake off the memory of that night.
“My father and I didn’t always see eye to eye, but I was nine. Then he was gone, and I didn’t have him anymore. My mama was everything. She was Pakhan Vladimir’s cousin. They grew up together. He was the one who taught me vengeance was my right.”
Now I have to answer the question she asked me before.
“I tried to stay away from you and just protect you. I paid my penance to Pakhan Vladimir, but I couldn’t stay away. Like I told you before, you are my endgame, and he made me prove it by my penance.”
Ainsley sits up and pushes me to my back before straddling me. “Mikhail, I’ll be here for you. You don’t have to prove anything to me. Andrei said you wanted someone to fight for you. To live. I’m trying to do that. I want to see where this goes. I wouldn’t have told you about what happened to me before. What penance did you pay?”
“He made me give up my vengeance. He said a woman didn’t want to be with a man who only had hate in his heart.”
She rears back as she looks down at me. “Why? Why would you give that up for me?”
I roll up and wrap my arms around her. “Because I want everything with you.” I take her lips in a deep kiss. When I pull back, I see the doubt in her eyes, so I roll us and wrap my hand around her throat. “ Zayka , I know you doubt me. I know I’m going to have to prove I’m staying with you. Just like you are trying to prove to me that you’ll live. So, let’s do it together, okay?” I kiss her again, dominating her mouth. “I’ve kept an eye on you for months now. Every time you’d go to the club, I would know. I’d go and watch to see if you’d scene with another Dom.”
She sighs. “Okay.” She pauses. When she looks at me, I see the questions in her eyes. “How many other subs did you take?”
“No one else. Before you, I hadn’t found a sub I wanted. After you, I knew no other would do.”
“You said you were taking one for the team, though.” She bites her lip, and I pull it from between her teeth.
“Only I bruise you,” I remind her. “I was lying. You’re the one taking one for the team. I’m not good enough for you. I’m grumpy most days, and the thought of any man seeing or touching you causes me to want to commit murder. Pakhan said that’s how he knew you were the one for me. That’s why he asked me to quit my vengeance. For you.”
“We have a lot to overcome,” she says softly.
“We’ll do what we can. Just don’t give up on me and don’t run.”
“I won’t. I promise.”
“Then Saturday we’ll marry.”
“You’re not going to ask me.”
“Nope.”
I readjust her and impale her on my cock. We make love this time, showing each other our feelings without words. I know we have a lot to work through, but I’m sure we can do it.