15. Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Fifteen
Natalya
“ H e said no,” is the first thing Mikhail tells me when he returns home.
My heart deflates. Everything I was hoping for goes completely down the drain. It’s not going to happen. I’m not going to be able to save my sister.
“Hey,” he says gently, pulling me into his arms. “It will be ok.”
“How? Denis won’t work with you. How else can we save Sasha?”
“We have our other plan. Once Sasha finds out who Denis is going to marry her to, I’ll kill the man. Simple as that.”
I shiver. “It’s not that simple, Mikhail, and you know it.”
He tilts my chin up. “I have been a good husband to you, haven’t I? Have I let you down yet?”
“No,” I mumble.
“Exactly. I will do this for you, Natalya. I promise you that. Now, you need to take this off your mind. I don’t want the stress to kill you. I have an idea. Come with me.”
“Where are we going?” I don’t bother telling Mikhail that worry for my family isn’t easily replaced. But I know he’s great at taking my mind off things. He’s done it before.
“You’ll see.”
Mikhail’s driver takes us to… the theater. My dance theater. The theater where I’ve performed multiple shows. Where I got to dance the lead in Swan Lake. This was the place I practically lived at some nights. This was the place where my father last saw me dance. Where my family still felt whole.
“Why did you take me here? It’s not open this time of night.”
“I know. That’s why I wanted to take you here now. I wanted it all for ourselves.”
Turns out, Mikhail has a key and he easily lets us inside.
“Where did you get a key?”
He gives me a pointed look. “Natalya, I can do most things in this world.”
I blush. There’s a strong innuendo in his voice.
We enter the main theater, walking down the aisle towards the stage.
It’s so eerie and beautiful at night with no one else around.
My friends from the company have been worried for me since I took a break.
I’ve been able to text them and tell them that I’m all right but I haven’t seen them since my last performance.
“What does this feel like?” he asks, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
“It feels like… home. But it also feels like a stranger in so many ways. Why did you bring me here, Mikhail?”
“I brought you here because I wanted to watch you dance. You always look so free when you dance. I figured it would help take your mind off everything.”
From my family. Who I can’t help.
I shudder and let out a shaky exhale. “Thank you. I’ve been missing this place. I’ve been missing dancing in a place like this.”
“I brought you this.” He pulls my pointe shoes out of his coat pocket. “I thought you could dance properly this time.”
Slipping my pointe shoes back on feels like coming home. It feels just right. The smoothness of the shoes. The hardness of the tip. It’s both painful and pleasurable.
I walk onto the stage while Mikhail takes a seat. With no music, the entire theater feels more expansive and yet small at the same time. I find Mikhail’s eyes just like I did the first time we met. Back then, I was an innocent virgin, unaware of the danger coming for me.
Now, I’m a married woman who’s very much aware of the dangers in my life. Mikhail might even be one of them. But he’s the devil I know.
And he’s the devil I trust.
Keeping my eyes on him, I take in a deep breath and begin to dance. I dance like my heart could explode. Like I could die if I don’t dance hard enough. Fast enough.
My lines are extended perfectly with my pointe shoes on.
Mikhail leans back in his seat, spreading his legs wide as he watches me. It’s a power move and it’s one that makes me dance harder.
I never take my eyes off him. Not even when I spin. When I leap. When I arch. I never look away once.
My eyes are still locked with his as I take my bow. When I stand back up, Mikhail leans forward in his seat.
“How was it?” I ask, my voice sounding louder in the quiet room.
He looks at me with a hungry, dark expression that makes me swallow hard. “It was perfect. Now, I want you to run.”
I frown. “Run?”
“Run.”
He stands up and starts to approach the stage, like a predator stalks its prey. It dawns on me then. He wants to hunt me.
And I want to be hunted.
I take off running to the back of the stage where there’s a hallway that leads to the dressing rooms. I can hear Mikhail behind me, taking his time coming after me. He’s not running but he’s still moving fast. I can feel his dark presence.
I make it to one of the dressing rooms. It was shared by a few of the background dancers. I hide behind one of the tables, keeping my eyes glued to the door. When Mikhail enters, the entire mood of the room changes. It becomes hotter and darker.
He doesn’t spot me hiding behind the table as he takes his time entering the room and looking around.
As he gets closer and closer to my spot, I take off running around the side of the room and out the door, back into the hallway.
Mikhail could easily catch me. We both know this.
But he’s deliberately not. This is a game we’re both playing.
I run with all of my might down the hallway until I reach my dressing room. Some of my makeup it still left behind on the dressing table. Some of my costumes are still hanging up. It’s like I never left.
I’m struck by how strange it is and don’t move as Mikhail enters the room.
“You were supposed to hide, baby,” he says, making me shiver.
I gasp. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry.” He stalks towards me and I walk backwards until I bump into the wall. “I’m only hunting you down. Did you want to get caught?”
Yes. “No,” I lie before I take off running again. Mikhail purposefully lets me pass him as I head back out into the hallway. I find myself running to the stage again. It was the place I always felt the most at home at. I loved being watched by a large audience every night as I danced.
And now, I’m going to let Mikhail catch me on it.
I stop right in the center of the stage, waiting for him. Mikhail slowly approaches me, knowing he has all the time in the world.
I still gasp when he grabs my waist and pulls me flush against him. I still moan when he kisses me deeply. And I still feel my flare of arousal when he shoves my dress up and rips my panties down.
I grip his arms as he cups me between my legs. The heat from his hand is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. His touch is addicting.
Mikhail lowers me onto the stage and spreads my legs wide, “You’re wet for me, baby.” He rubs me harder, bringing even more pleasure to my body. My hips buck up. I’m desperate for more. “You liked being hunted, didn’t you?”
“You already hunted me,” I gasp out. “When we first met.”
“You’re right about that. I knew you had to be mine so I made you mine.”
He pulls his hand away and pushes his pants and underwear down. The sight of his erection turns me on even more.
“You let me catch you,” he says, settling his hips between my legs. “You wanted to be caught, naughty girl.”
“Yes,” I gasp out, right as he thrusts into me. My moan echoes through the large theater. On instinct, I wrap my legs around his waist and pull him deeper into me.
Mikhail’s thrusts are intense and purposeful. Every plunge of his erection into me sends me to new heights.
He takes me like he owns me and in some ways, he does. In all the ways that count, he does. He owns my name and he owns my body and he owns my future. What he does will affect my entire life.
I let myself sink into him. All the stress and worry I had over my sisters falls away. It’s still there at the back of my mind but for right now, this moment is between me and Mikhail.
He pulls me into his arms and sits back so I’m upright on his lap. This new position allows him to sink deeper into me. I roll my hips forward, letting the natural progression of this moment take over.
“Mikhail,” I gasp out, clutching his back. The low growl that escapes him turns me on even more. A flash of heat rushes right through me.
“I wanted to take you right on this stage the first moment I ever saw you.”
“Oh!” My head drops back and my eyes flutter closed.
“No,” he says in his commanding voice. “You will look at me as we fuck. I need to look you right in the eye as I make you come for me.”
I lift my head back up and open my eyes. Mikhail’s gaze pins me in place. I never want to be anywhere else.
Our bodies move in perfect tandem together. He thrusts and I rock. He plunges while I grind. It’s like a dance of our own that we know how to move together seamlessly.
The flutter of my growing orgasm runs through my body, getting closer and closer and closer…
Until I can’t hold back anymore.
“Mikhail,” I cry out, his name echoing through the theater, as I come, shuddering in his arms.
He lays me onto my back and thrusts into me with wild abandon before be comes next. We cling to each other, panting heavily. Being in Mikhail’s arms is the only place in this world where I feel truly safe.
He kisses along my neck. “God, baby. You are perfect.”
Goosebumps break out on my skin. That’s the kind of magic he has over me.
He slips out of me and rolls onto his back. We both stare up at the ceiling, catching our breaths.
Being in the place where I love with the man I’m falling in love with hits me like a tidal wave. Tears run down my face as I begin to sob.
“Natalya?” Mikhail pulls me into his arms as I cling to him, crying for everything that has happened. For the death of my dad. For the loss of my family. For the worry that my sisters will be hurt in this pointless war of my uncle’s. It all comes out of me.
Mikhail holds me close. “Why are you crying?”
I can’t give him an answer as I cry harder. Instead of trying to make me stop, he holds me closer, comforting me for the first real time in our marriage.
This moment isn’t about discipline or dominance. It’s about Mikhail showing me that he can be a supportive, kind husband when he wants to be. That he can comfort me without spanking it out of me.