Chapter Nineteen
Alora
3 months later
I swung my legs in the cool water as Constantine took another lap past me. Dove held up a timer and jumped up and down when he reached her at the edge of the pool.
“I beat it by seven seconds,” he yelled to me, a huge grin on his face.
Dove clapped while I screamed out words of encouragement. With Elena no longer around, and with the help of doctors, Constantine had come out of his coma within days. It had been three months of intensive rehabilitation—daily sessions of rebuilding muscle memory, occupational therapy to help with fine motor skills, as well as speech therapy.
But I’d quickly learned that Constantine was a fighter, just as tough and pig-headed as Kreos. Swimming was supposed to be one of the best ways to help him rebuild muscle mass and help with his heart health. And Constantine was kicking ass and taking names.
A shadow fell over me, and I looked up as Kreos stood there with his arms crossed over his chest. Sasha sat at his feet, a smug look on her cute little face.
“What do you think you’re doing, kotic ?” His voice was soft, but I could feel the tension radiating off his body.
I bit my bottom lip, leaning back on my arms. “Helping Constantine with his recovery, darling. What does it look like I’m doing?”
He crouched down so that we were eye level and lowered his sunglasses down his nose. “It looks like my wife wants to be punished for wearing a bikini in front of my brother.”
“Kreos, come on,” I scoffed.
My cheeks heated because he was right. I’d known if he caught me wearing this outside, he would blow a gasket. But at the same time, there was no way Constantine could have looked at me in that way. He acted more like a big brother than anything.
Kind of like Jameson.
After that night in the tunnel, things had been… hectic. Elena’s body had been taken care of, and there were no cops to worry about because Kreos was the judge, jury, and executioner. Except in this case, I was the one who had taken her life.
I hadn’t had a choice. She would have killed us. I found myself thinking about her sometimes, what she must have gone through as a child and how terrified she must have been. She’d spent all those years carrying around grief and anger inside of her. What Viktor had done to her family was monstrous. I understood loss, the ache of your family being torn away from you.
I understood her rage too, but the moment she’d decided to threaten me, poison an innocent man and put him in a coma, and torture Kreos any way she could, she’d turned into the same kind of monster she’d grown up to hate. Sometimes justice and tragedy were the same thing.
I’d asked Kreos why he had shown up alone without backup. Apparently, Elena used a jammer to block the security camera feed, but Kreos’ men were able to get it back up and running. Kreos had seen her wheeling me through the tunnels. He had been close to finding out the whereabouts of the Cruel, but had raced home. Gavriil had warned him not to come alone, that it was a trap. But Kreos hadn’t cared. He knew that if he showed up with his army, Elena might have gotten spooked and killed me. So he came alone.
He’d once told me he would never let anything happen to me, that he would rather die first. And that was what he was prepared to do. Give up his life for mine. My heart had shattered into a million pieces at his confession, and I swore my love for him grew tenfold.
The USBs, SD cards, and journals were all a set-up. Kreos would never keep that kind of information around for the FBI or God knew who else to find. He had thought, however, that it would be a good trap for a mole within his ranks. He just never expected me to get caught in the middle of it.
It had also been a test for me. He wanted to see if I would take the supposed evidence and give it to the FBI. I asked him what he would have done if I had indeed betrayed him. He was quick to say that he would have locked me in a beautiful cage until I came to my senses and fell in love with him.
Lucky for him, I already had.
If I had just told him about the coin, all of this could have been avoided. I promised to never keep secrets from him again.
Kreos and Jameson had a sit-down days later after I explained everything that had happened. The night that Jameson “died,” Kreos and his father were there meeting with the Cruel. It was the night Viktor exiled him from the Bratva for taking part in human trafficking. They had no idea all those people were down in the basement. The Cruel and the cop murdered them all, then went into hiding.
Jameson was out for vengeance, and Kreos offered to help him. The Cruel hadn’t been seen or heard from though, and it was likely that he’d gone back into hiding. But that wasn’t going to stop them from going after him, or his men.
“I think a punishment is in order, milaya . Go to your office and wait for me.” Kreos stood, pushing his sunglasses up his nose.
Sasha barked at me, as if telling me to get up.
“Did you narc on me, little monster?” I scratched behind her ears and stood.
“Oh, c’mon, K. You’re ruining our fun,” Constantine shouted from the pool as he floated around on his back.
“If I catch you looking at my wife in a bikini again, I’ll drown you,” Kreos shouted over his shoulder as Sasha followed him up the stairs into the house.
Excitement ran through me as I made my way to my office, which was right next to Kreos’. I didn’t really need an office, but Kreos insisted it was necessary. He had this obsessive need to keep me close, even more so after everything that had happened with Elena.
I left my office door cracked open, went over to the desk, and sat on the edge. I picked up my award from the MIP competition and ran my fingers over the lettering .
I’d come in third place overall, and I wasn’t even mad about it. I’d been the youngest photographer to ever be awarded the Most Innovative Artistic Vision award for my photo, Blood Moon Salvation . The photo of me nude under the blood moon had been praised for telling a story of transformation and metamorphosis through a single image. Not only that, but I was recognized for blending multiple photography styles including architecture, night photography, self-portraiture, and gothic romanticism. If I was being honest with myself, none of that had been my intention. I’d only known the photo would be beautiful, but I was amazed that so many people recognized my skills and had given me my own special award.
In my mind, the blood moon was a symbol of my so-called baptism into this new, darker world I was entering with Kreos, and the church ruins represented the crumbling of my old life.
That photo now hung up in my office so that I could stare at it every day. It was also a great reminder of my husband’s addiction to chasing me through the woods, which he did often, and I loved every second of it.
Kreos slipped through the door, letting it slide shut behind him. He had changed into his black workout pants and had no shirt on. My gaze traveled over his chest, where Dove had tattooed my name over his heart. We’d also got each other’s names tattooed on our ring fingers. That way, if I was ever crazy enough to take off my wedding ring, everyone would still know I belonged to Kreos.
I set the award down and leaned back on the desk, spreading my legs. “What’s this about me getting punished?”
He reached me in three strides, his eyes darkening as they traveled up and down my body. I knew he loved this pink bikini; he just didn’t love it when others saw me wearing it too. He stepped between my open legs, his arms caging me in on the desk.
“You know you’re not allowed to wear that bikini for anyone but me,” he growled.
Goosebumps covered my body as he leaned closer, kissing my shoulder. His lips traveled up the curve of my neck, and he bit down, making me gasp. He loved to mark me—bite me, suck on my skin until it turned crimson, leave bruises on my thighs. And honestly, I loved it too.
“You belong to me, don’t you, Alora?” He kissed along my jaw, my head falling back as a moan escaped me.
“Yes, Kreos. Only you,” I whispered, my voice husky. Something about his possessiveness made me absolutely soaked. If you’d told me years ago that a man calling me his property would turn me into a drooling fool, I would have laughed in your face. But now? Oh, yeah, I had no problem declaring I belonged to him, and only him.
“And what happens if I catch another man looking at what belongs to me?” His fingers dug into my thighs, holding my legs open for him.
“You cut their eyes out,” I gasped as he pressed into me, making me ache for him even more.
“Damn fucking right.” His mouth crashed into mine, my hands weaving into his hair as our tongues teased each other. My nipples hardened as he pressed his warm chest against mine, my muscles already tensing at what I knew would be coming next. I could never get enough of his filthy mouth and gentle hands.
He pulled back, and I pouted at him. He twirled his finger in a circle, telling me I needed to turn around. I tried to keep the smile off my face as I jumped down and bent slightly over the desk. He trailed his fingers down my spine, making me arch my back. His lips followed, trailing kisses lower and lower until he got to my bikini bottoms.
I whimpered when he yanked on the fabric, the knots on each side unraveling and falling to the ground.
He slapped my ass, the edge of the desk digging into my thighs as I screamed out.
“One,” I panted, counting them out without him telling me to.
With each smack, I grew more and more wet. By the time I counted to twenty, my arousal was coating my thighs, and I was a whimpering, moaning mess, begging him to fuck me.
He kneeled down, biting my ass cheek. I looked over my shoulder at him, sucking in a breath at the darkness in his eyes.
“Look at this pretty little pink cunt all glistening for me,” he growled deep in his throat, his tongue lashing out and tasting me. I gasped when his tongue traveled in the other direction, and suddenly he was licking my other hole. “Maybe I’ll fuck your ass tonight instead. You’d like that, wouldn’t you, kotic ? For me to fill up every single one of your holes with my come? To show you that you belong to me, and only me?”
“Oh, God, yes,” I cried out. My pussy was throbbing, aching to be filled with him.
He stood up, tugging his pants down so his cock was pressed against my ass. I pushed back into him, wanting him to do anything he wanted with me. His hand came up, wrapping around my throat, squeezing gently, while his other hand reached lower as he stroked his fingers through my wetness.
“Tell me you love me,” he commanded, his voice dark and desperate with desire.
“I love you, Kreos,” I panted. “I love you so fucking much. In this life, and the next.”
“Good girl.” He lined up his cock, sliding it up and down my slit, coating himself with my wetness. “You know how much I love you, right? My sun, my moon. You’re the air I breathe. Without you I would cease to exist, my love.” He squeezed my neck a little tighter, making my pussy clench.
“Yes, I know.”
“Good, because I’m about to fuck you like you’re my little fuck toy. You’re going to take my cock like the good girl you are, and if you beg me nicely, I promise to give you my come. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” His voice was laced with a hunger I’d grown accustomed to, and my eyes fluttered closed at his filthy words.
“Yes,” I panted. “Please, Kreos. I want it all.”
“Then hold on, milaya . I’m going to give you everything you ever wanted. In this life, and the next.”
And he did.
*** ***
Kreos
I trailed my fingers over Alora’s back as she slept peacefully in our bed. We’d spent all afternoon making love, and only stopped because her body demanded a break. I could never get enough of her. It wasn’t even an obsession at this point. I was completely consumed by her. She was in my blood, invading every corner of my mind like a madness. Oh, but how beautiful it was.
When I’d seen Nadya—well, Elena—on that security feed wheeling her through the tunnel, my heart stopped beating. A rage I’d never experienced in my entire life took over, and all I could see was red.
Gavriil demanded that I wait for him, but I was way closer and refused to wait. The thought of Elena hurting Alora had been too much to bear. I would have been willing to give up my life for hers if that was what it took. She could have tortured me for years on end, but it wouldn’t have mattered so long as Alora was safe.
Now Alora stirred in her sleep, mumbling into her pillow. I moved her hair away from her face, staring at the angel next to me. I wasn’t a good man by any stretch of the imagination, and I didn’t deserve her love. But I was selfish when it came to her, so I would take it, and love her just as fiercely.
I loved seeing her body covered in my marks. She was the perfect canvas that I would never stop painting. Her hand reached out, looking for me, and I dragged her onto my chest, holding her against me.
I’d never known love could feel like this.
Consuming.
Intoxicating.
She was worth it all.
Every second of hell I’d gone through my entire life, all the madness and mayhem had led me straight to her. And now we were exactly where we were both supposed to be.
My phone pinged, and I glanced at the screen.
Jameson .
Now he was something I hadn’t expected. When Alora had told me that not only was he alive, but he was in the mafia, I almost couldn’t believe it. But then all the pieces started to click into place. That night with the Cruel and my father, we’d had no idea there were people being held captive in that home. Otherwise, we would have freed them all. Instead, though, the Cruel decided to have them all executed in a fit of rage after being exiled.
I had no qualms with Jameson, so long as he didn’t hurt Alora. Otherwise, I’d have to kill him, of course. He was determined to get his vengeance against the cop who had ruined his life, and I’d offered to assist. Because the Cruel was going to pay for everything he had done here, and I wouldn’t stop until he took his last breath.
“You better tell whoever is calling you to fuck off,” Alora murmured against my chest. She lifted herself up, staring at the phone. “Jameson? OK, don’t do that then.”
I chuckled, running my fingers through her hair. “I heard an interesting story the other day.”
“And what might that have been?” She rested her chin on my chest, looking up at me.
“Katia claims you attempted to stab her with the ice tongs. Threatened to kill her?” I quirked my eyebrow.
“Pfft. That’s insane.” Alora’s cheeks heated as she tried to contain her smile.
“So it is true.” My heart filled with pride at the little psycho in my arms. I’d known she was born for this life, and she loved to prove me right each and every day.
She traced a heart on my chest with her nails, goosebumps rising on my skin. I grabbed her wrist, holding her still. “You’re supposed to be resting, milaya .”
“Hm, how am I supposed to rest when you drag me into your arms and hold me close? You know you’re like a furnace. A hot, sexy, delicious furnace.” She wiggled her eyebrows and laughed, the sound making my heart swell.
Her laughter turned into a shriek when I rolled over, pinning her underneath me. “Always trying to tempt me, Mrs. Zokrova. You know I can’t resist you.” I leaned down, pressing my lips softly against hers. “I love you. Don’t you ever forget it.”
Our love was inked in blood and darkness. Two twisted hearts crafted from mayhem. We were the Devil’s favorite love story, the bookmarked page he had to read over and over again.
And our story was far from over.