Chapter 14 - Ninel
Ughhhhhh!
Artyom was so damn infuriating!
He made me want to rip my hair out. He was so stubborn, so impossible.
I had been trying to get him to see that he was the only one still holding onto the past. Everyone else had moved on, yet he clung to it, pretending it was more important than being happy for his sisters, who had husbands worshipping the ground they walked on.
But no, according to him, he had a reputation to maintain. How he showed up for the rest of the world mattered more than how he showed up for his family.
I had told him Alexi and Evie needed all of us, not just some. He just shook his head, lecturing me about Bratva toughness, about them learning harsh lessons early, about how it had shaped him into the leader he was today, and it would do the same for them.
I reminded him he was more than a leader. He was the oldest Rykov sibling. His choices were hurting everyone else, including his siblings who loved him and looked up to him. He just closed himself off and walked away.
Kira, Zahkar, and Yegor had cut all ties with my family and their sisters because the guilt of knowing where I was ate them alive. Not only couldn’t they face the others, they hadn’t visited me either.
And Artyom…he kept leaving gifts but I refused to open them. I just dropped them at the door of his office, my silence a quiet protest.
Not wanting to drag Ruslan into trouble again, I waited until he was off duty and slipped out into the city. I needed space to think, a place where I wasn’t reminded of the brute I was forced to marry.
I knew the first place he would look was the art gallery, so I went the opposite way. That day, I wore no disguise. Dangerous? Maybe. But it would piss Artyom off, and right then, I needed that. I was in black knee-high boots and a cute floral dress with buttons down the front.
The more I walked, the more restless I became. Because deep down, I knew that walking wouldn’t fix a damn anything. Only Artyom had the power to fix this, and that thought alone grated on every last nerve I had.
As I wove through the crowd, I kept glancing at the street mirrors, because it's engrained in me to always be on the look out for trouble.
As I crossed the street I glanced up at the street mirror to scan the crowd behind me.
I do it again and again. Someone was following me. I forced myself to stay calm.
A man in a suit, baseball cap low over his face, sunglasses hiding his eyes. I swallowed hard, remembering everything Artyom had warned me about his faction…safe places, tattoos, coded colors.
I lengthened my strides, my chest tightening, and rounded the corner, sliding into the nearest store. Ducking behind a display case, I pressed myself against it, barely daring to breathe.
Peering around the case, I caught a glimpse of the man passing the entrance. He took a step back and looked inside. I caught a glimpse of the tattoo on his neck and pulled back before he could see me.
Artyom.
Fury replaced the fear knotting my stomach. I slipped out of the store and rounded the corner, in the direction I had just come from.
The logical thing would've been to head to Artyom's house. But the pain he was causing me, my family, and his, fueled a fire I couldn’t ignore. Artyom wanted an obedient wife, a woman at his beck and call. I would never be that.
I gave him the middle finger…in my head, at least. If he wanted to take me home, he’d have to catch me first. I was Bratva-born, and no man, not even one as cruel as Artyom, was going to break me.
It didn’t take long before he was back on my trail.
My pulse jumped at every footstep behind me, and I darted into the densest crowds, letting bodies shield me, letting voices and chaos mask my movements.
Back alleys became my allies, hats and coats my weapons as I tossed them carelessly just before slipping out of a store.
Every time I caught a glimpse of him, his shadow among the people, my heart raced with both fear and thrill. Adrenaline painted every nerve in fire, and I couldn’t help but grin every time I slipped through his grasp.
Thunder rumbled like distant cannons, lightning slicing the sky in jagged knives, as the drizzle began to descend.
I pivoted sharply, slipping through the doors of a nearby mall, the sliding glass swallowing me into a new arena.
The scent of polished floors, the hum of air conditioning, and the oblivious crowd became my new playground.
If he wanted me, he would have to find me here. And I wasn’t about to make it easy.
I continued our dangerous little game of cat and mouse, slipping into a clothing boutique as soon as I saw him approaching. I peeked through the crowd, catching sight of him entering. A chill ran down my spine. This wasn’t the first time he had tracked me into a store.
A sales clerk wheeled a rack of clothes toward the front, and I ducked behind it, pressing myself into it. My escape almost worked, until someone stepped in my path, blocking my way.
I straightened and met Artyom’s furious gaze, anger radiating off of him in waves. I spun on my heels, heart hammering, and sprinted toward the back of the store, hoping desperately that there was a back exit
A hand gripped onto my arm just as I passed the changing rooms, before I could reach it, and my stomach dropped.
Artyom shoved me into the changing room at the end and locked the door behind him, before turning to face me.
His eyes burned with fury, his jaw twitching as he slammed his palms against the wall on either side of my head, our bodies almost touching.
My gaze lifted to his, stubborn and defiant, but goosebumps rippled along my skin as his heat surrounded me, my heart pounding erratically because of how close he was.
“Why do you keep running from me, Printsessa? Do you know how that makes me look in front of my men?” Though his voice was low and controlled, anger was stitched into every word.
“Why wouldn’t I run from you?” I spat back, though my voice trembled. “I’m nothing but a pawn in your twisted game.” I added. “I don't care how it looks to your men, since you don't care about what you're doing to our families.”
His hands snapped to my waist, his grip tight, jolts of electricity shooting through me until my knees nearly buckled.
“Is that what you think?” He leaned closer, his mouth brushing my ear.
“That’s what I know. You haven't made it a secret. You said you don't have the luxury of caring for anyone…” I tried to sound harsh but my voice wavered as his thumbs began to caress my sides.
His mask slipped for a fraction of a second.
“It doesn’t matter where you run.” His eyes darkened possessively. “I will always find you because you belong to me.”
“I don’t belong to you. I’ll never belong to you.”
“You are my wife!” he growled, and in one swift motion, ripped open my dress, sending the buttons scattering across the floor.
My eyes widened, my breath caught in my throat. Before I could react, he grabbed my wrists and slammed them above my head with one hand, pinning me against the wall. My black-laced bra and panties left me exposed, and instinctively I crossed my legs, trying to shield myself.
Artyom’s gaze dragged over me before meeting mine.
“Do I need to tie you to our bedpost and whip you into submission?” he snarled. “Do you want me to treat you like a prisoner?”
My lips parted to snap back at him, but instead, a low, needy moan slipped out. My nipples hardened, pulse hammering, and my pussy throbbed.
God. He just threatened to whip me, and yet every nerve in my body lit on fire for him.
“Your nipples are aching for me, printsessa,” he rasped, his eyes glued to my chest. “And you still think you don’t belong to me?”
“I-it’s…cold in here,” I managed to say, my voice cracking. The excuse was pathetic, even to me.
Artyom tilted my head and sank his teeth into my neck, sucking hard. My hips jerked forward, a desperate moan escaping as my panties dampened under his touch.
“Did the air conditioning make you sound like that?” he sneered.
“Yes…” I gasped, my lie collapsing as my chest rose and fell heavily.
“Am I making your cunt drip?” His teeth sank into my neck again as he parted my legs and pressed his thigh against my aching pussy.
I tried to form words but they never came. I moaned louder, pain and pleasure coursing through my veins.
“Do you want me in that delicate little cunt of yours?” he asked huskily, nibbling on my ear.
“Yes,” I said breathlessly, before I could stop myself.
My face flushed; I could barely think past the ache he created between my legs, as I began to shamelessly squirm against his thigh seeking my release.
“Printsessa…” His mouth crushed mine, swallowing my moans. I yanked at his hair, pulling him closer, and he growled animalistic, and intoxicating.
When he finally tore his mouth from mine, his breath ghosted over my lips. “I’m taking you home. To our bed. I’ll spread you wide, fuck you so hard that with every breath, every touch, every dream you will remember how my cock feels inside your tight little cunt.”
Without hesitation, he shrugged off his jacket, holding it out for me. I slipped my arms through, chest heaving.
“Hold my jacket closed,” he ordered.
I obeyed, my head spinning with desire. With one arm firmly around my waist, he opened the door of the dressing room and power walked to the entrance of the mall.
When Artyom and I stepped out of the mall it was raining heavily.
We ran through the downpour, ignoring Ruslan who held an umbrella for us, water plastering my hair against my cheeks.
Artyom yanked the car door open for me and I slid inside, heart hammering.
Before I could even settle in, he slammed it shut and jogged around to the driver’s side.
He climbed in, started the engine, and pulled onto the road, trailing behind one of his SUVs while another kept close on our tail.
But no matter how I tried to fight it, the storm inside me was louder than the one raging outside. My lips felt bruised from the rough kiss that we just shared and my body ached in anticipation for his touch…
As Artyom manoeuvred through the streets in our quest for getting home, these feelings for him…the hunger, the ache…kept clawing up through me no matter how I pushed them down. I needed to wait until we got home. But, these feelings? They were winning.
My body burned, restless and unsatisfied, and it felt like if I didn’t touch me, didn't curb this pulse between my thighs, I would go completely insane.
I didn't want to. I wanted to be unravelled by his touch, his mouth…his cock…but I needed it.
Without thinking, I opened his jacket and slid my fingers into my soaked panties, pressing over my throbbing pussy.
“Artyom…please,” I whimpered. “I need you…”
His gaze flicked from my eyes to my hand in my panties and back again, blazing with raw, possessive desire. In the blink of an eye, he snatched my hand from my panties and gripped both of my wrists in his, holding them tight.
“Artyom…” I whimpered, close to tears. The ache inside me was unbearable, like he was deliberately torturing me. I needed release but now I was completely at his mercy.
A few minutes later, he pulled the car to a stop, the pounding rain hammering down so hard it drowned the world around us. He pressed a button, and the hum of the tinted privacy screen slid into place, the glass darkening until we were cocooned in shadows, hidden from everything but each other.
He flicked on the light, then he turned to me, his grey eyes like a raging storm. His mouth crashed onto mine, hot and demanding, and before I knew it, he was dragging me out of my seat and into his lap to straddle him.