Chapter 12 – Kaz
I open one eye. Morning seeps in slowly, golden and soft. The room is quiet except for the rhythmic sound of her breathing. Soft. Measured. Still asleep. Violet.
She’s lying right behind me. Curled toward my back like she belongs there. And fuck— she does.
My body aches like hell. My muscles are sore from the fight. From the rage. From the way I took her last night, like I was starving for her—because I was.
She’s probably even sorer than I am.
I stare at the ceiling for a long moment. My neck still smells like blood, some dried, some fresh, and all of it not mine. But the animal in me—feral, vicious, always coiled and waiting—feels oddly…still.
Tamed.
Not by chains. Not by choice. But by the girl who’s sleeping behind me like she didn’t just let a monster touch her. I shift slightly, careful not to wake her. She stirs, murmurs something in her sleep, and presses closer.
Her warmth seeps into my skin like it has a right to be there. I should feel guilty. I should feel like the predator I am.
But all I feel is this overwhelming need to stay. To wrap an arm around her waist. To pull her closer and pretend—for a second—that this life isn’t what it is. That I’m not who I am.
Because last night, she looked at me like I wasn’t a monster. And I fucking believed her. I glance at the clock. Reality is clawing its way back in.
But for a few more minutes, I let her sleep. I lie still, letting her heartbeat tether me to the kind of quiet I’ve never known.
Because I know the world outside this bed hasn’t changed. But something in me has. And it has everything to do with the girl whose name I never should’ve learned.
As seconds trickle into minutes, I feel the soft rustle of sheets and the slow, guilty slide of her body trying to slip away from mine. But she doesn’t get far. My arm shoots out, fast and hard, locking around her waist.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” I growl, dragging her back into me.
She lets out a quiet gasp as her spine meets my chest. Her skin is warm against mine, her breath catching the way it always does when I touch her.
I press a kiss to her bare shoulder. Then another, lower this time.
“Don’t run from me, kotyonok,” I murmur, my voice gravely from sleep and something darker. “Not after last night.”
She doesn’t say anything. But I feel her body tense, waiting—for what, she doesn’t know. For what I’ll take, for what I’ll say, for what this means.
I slip her gently onto her back, my palm sliding beneath the sheet and along the curve of her thigh. Her eyes are wide, searching mine. There’s defiance there. But underneath it—need.
“You’re mine,” I whisper, hovering above her. “And I’ll have you again. Right here. Right now.”
She trembles beneath me, and I lower my mouth to hers.
“You’re mine, kotyonok,” I repeat, voice rough against her lips. “Mine for the fucking taking.”
“You’re insane.”
I press her onto the bed, my body stirring. “Don’t test me,” I growl into her ear. “I may not take it easy on you this time.”
She rolls her eyes. “Were you easy on me yesterday?”
“Yes. You want to see what I’m like when I’m not going easy?”
Something flashes in her eyes, and I take it as a “yes.” I flip her onto her stomach, force her arms behind her back, and wrap the sleeve of my shirt around her wrists, knotting so hard she won’t be able to break free.
“What are you doing?” she grunts into the bed.
“Shhh.” I kiss the curve of her back. She’s my favorite pet. My favorite toy. My favorite everything. “Be still. I’ll be as gentle as you make me.”
“Kaz.” She wiggles her hips. “You’re not—”
She swallows her words as I thrust into her—so hard, so deep, so sudden, she cries out.
“Kaz!”
“If you hate it,” I grunt. “Tell me to stop. I’ll stop.”
She whimpers and moans, but doesn’t say stop. I force her face into the mattress, holding her in position as I fuck her like I didn’t just deflower her last night. I know I should be gentle, and I really wanted to, but she arches her hips, meeting my thrusts halfway with deep shrieks.
My grip on her arm is so tight, I’m certain I’ll leave imprints on her skin, but I don’t stop. I’m mindless. A fucking animal.
“Kaz, please. Slower…” she moans.
“No.” I pound into her even harder. “I need to mark you. You need to know who you belong to.”
“You.”
A single word. But it overturns my world and almost drives me to insanity.
“You’re a good girl.” I lean forward, licking the shell of her ear. “You’re mine. You bleed for me, cry for me, and come for me. Do you understand that?”
“Yes.”
“Louder.” I pull out completely and slam into her again.
“Yes! Yes! Yes!” she cries.
“Now come for me.”
On my command, she comes—a groundbreaking orgasm that pulls me into mine. I hold her close as the pleasure spirals through me, better than anything I’ve ever experienced. As my sanity returns, I loosen the knot around her arms and adjust her body with mine.
We don’t move. The room is quiet except for the sound of our breathing. My body still covers hers, her heartbeat steady under my palm.
I don’t say anything for a long time. I just hold her. Let the silence stretch between us like something sacred. Something I’m not used to.
She’s the first to speak.
“Will you always be like this?” Her voice is low, amused. “This possessive?”
I tilt my head, resting my mouth in the curve of her neck, breathing her in. She smells like sweat and sex and mine.
I could lie. Tell her it’ll get easier. That I’ll loosen the grip. That I’ll become better.
But that would be the biggest fucking lie I’ve ever told.
“No,” I murmur against her skin. “I’ll only get worse.”
She goes still.
“The next time someone even looks at you,” I say, voice cold now, hard, honest, “I’ll kill them.”
She laughs. “You’re crazy.”
Before I can respond, the door swings open. We left it unlocked yesterday. Maxim steps inside, immediately halting like he’s stepped into a damn furnace.
His eyes flick straight to the ceiling.
“Jesus,” he mutters, turning his back in the most respectful way Maxim can muster. “I didn’t realize….”
Violet gasps, dragging the sheets over her chest. She’s flushed to her ears, scrambling to hide herself even though we’ve already ruined each other a dozen different ways.
I just laugh. A deep, low sound from my throat.
“Relax,” I say lazily, dragging my hand down Violet’s bare back, slow and deliberate. “Maxim knows better than to let his eyes lead him astray.”
Violet shoots me a glare like she’s ready to stab me with the nearest object. Cute.
Maxim clears his throat. “I wouldn’t have come in if it wasn’t urgent.”
I sit up, not bothering to cover a damn thing. “So speak.”
He glances over his shoulder like he’s still not sure if it’s safe to talk in front of her.
I wave a dismissive hand. “She knows everything, Maxim. There’s no point hiding shit from her anymore.”
Violet stays quiet, clutching the blanket like armor, but I feel her eyes on me—waiting.
Maxim finally nods, then says, “It’s confirmed. Violet’s location was leaked.”
“I already know that.” I stiffen. “By who?”
“Someone inside,” he says tightly. “We don’t know who yet. But they had access to internal comms and movement logs. This isn’t just a breach, Kaz. It’s a fucking stain on the Bratva.”
My jaw clenches. “A rat.”
“Yeah,” he replies. “And it’s got the inner circle spooked. If word gets out that you’re compromised, there’ll be moves made. Not just on you. On all of us.”
I glance down at Violet.
She’s staring back at me.
And I know what she’s thinking—that all this blood, this chaos, it’s because of her. She’s not wrong. But I don’t regret it. Not for a second.
“We will find the rat,” I say, my voice low and cold now. “Turn over every rock. Check everyone’s loyalties. I want a name because someone must pay.”