TWENTY-THREE
Nik . Nikolai fucking Vostik stares at me, his glowing gold eyes seemingly dulling a shade the longer I stand there in silence. His posture doesn’t scream that of impatience. No, he stands like a man ready to grab onto me. To hold me until yes is the only word I can manage beneath his strong grip. To squeeze the simple word out like toothpaste. But he doesn’t. He waits. Nik waits for me to give him my answer, his hands, the hands I’ve imagined countless times navigating every inch of my body, folded behind his back.
I can’t do this. I can’t utter anything let alone dispel the thoughts running rampant in my head. Yes, he checks all the boxes. Yes, there are some I didn’t even know made the list. But then … there’s the others. Turns into a wolf when the moon is full? Check. Has more than a few monsters in his family tree? Double check. An entire pack that’d sooner see him dead than take on the role of alpha? What in the fuck am I doing? This is an easy decision. No. The obvious answer is no.
Then I stare at him. The hard lines of his face tensing when our eyes meet. His jaw line clenches. His broad chest tightens. Will my decision really destroy this man? Someone capable of hearing things from miles away? Able to follow my scent through the city. Ready to turn his back on his family, his entire life, for someone they say makes him weak? I don’t have to keep looking at him to know. The answer, Nik’s answer, is yes. He would give all of it up in a heartbeat. He chooses me.
He scans my face, his eyes landing on my tightened lips. “It’s not fair for me to ask this of you. I wish we had more time, but—”
“Yes,” I cut him off, ignoring the voices in my head for once. “Yes, I’ll go with you.”
Nikolai swallows hard, fighting against the lump in his throat. “Are you sure?” He’s not chained this time but holds his arms out to the sides as if he is. Nik doesn’t step forward. He doesn’t reach for me despite my longing for him to do so.
Am I sure? No. I’m not sure of a lot of things, but one thing I know for certain is letting him go without even putting up a fight would be the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. My life, my existence, would be no different than it is now. An apartment I can barely afford. Taking pictures of happy couples to pay the rent while the other half of my bed is consistently empty. Tears fill my eyes. Tears and the promise of a life I don’t recognize as my own. For once, the voices in my head stay silent, not daring to argue against me. This is my decision. The metaphorical ball is in my court. I can say no and watch the man I am falling for disappear into the night. Or …
“Yes, Nik. I will go with you.”
He doesn’t let a single beat of the music vibrating the floors pass before he’s right in front of me. His arms are on my body in an instant, heating as high as my neck and as low as the small of my back. God , there are no words I can find in the English language to explain how impossibly hot I ignite the very second his skin is on mine. Maybe there’s a word in Russian. Eruption? I’ll have to ask Nikolai later. Our hips crash together, and the latest song thrums through my legs to the spot throbbing between my thighs.
“You’ll go with me ?” he asks, growling the last few syllables.
I tilt my chin up, meeting Nikolai’s insatiable eyes. “Don’t do that.”
Confusion settles on his stern brow. For the very first time since I’ve met him, Nik is the one that’s speechless. It’s as if he has never been questioned before, not by the likes of a human he was bringing to bed. Or in this case, a woman into his vacant loft.
Smirking, I kiss his collarbone, nipping at the tight skin above his chest. “Don’t trap yourself in your own head. Talk to me.”
The bulge in his pants thickens as he presses into me, and the hard ridges of his torso tighten with each kiss I brush along his throat. He cups my face in his hands and outlines my bottom lip with his thumb. “You have such beautiful lips,” he growls. “I’ve never tasted anything so delicious.”
“Then taste them,” I say around his thumb without skipping a beat, raking my hands up his firm chest. My breath hitches as he leans in close, close enough to feel the warmth of his parted mouth.
“These are mine.” He kisses me softly, sending a shockwave down my spine and as far as my toes. Then, Nik slides his hands to my breasts. I arch my head back and gasp to the ceiling. “These,” he continues, biting at my neck. “These are mine, too.”
“Yes,” I moan, pleasure nearly cracking my voice. Fuck . There is no control left. I am merely putty for him to mold in his hands. His rough, gentle hands exploring the parts of my body that want him most. My nipples harden under Nik’s grip, forming sharp points as he squeezes in territorial display. “Yes, those are yours.”
He kisses along my jaw line, bringing his mouth to my ear. “And this …” He runs two fingers up my thigh, stopping at the lace band below my stomach. Anticipation builds in my chest, stuttering every breath I manage to take in. Fuck, I want him to touch me there. I need him to touch me there or my insides might just combust. “This wet pussy—” He cuts off and lowers his voice to a whisper, sliding his fingers inside and over my aching center. “Is fucking mine.”
I kiss him again, invading his mouth with my tongue. His kiss is just as fierce, picking up the pace as he massages my swelling clit. Ecstasy blurs everything, and despite how I’ve used all five senses my whole life, right now, only one seems to be working. His touch, his hand making slow and precise movements, threatens to break me in a way I am ill-prepared for.
Nik brings his mouth to my ear once more. “You. Are. Fucking. Mine.”
I moan again. It’s the only sound I can make while the intense beating at my core somehow raises a decibel. Nik’s words and touch don’t pound at me like a hammer. No, there’s a mallet beating my insides into submission. I’m not sure how much more I can take, not while he skillfully teases my clit. And just as release is within reach, when I’m so close to that primal bliss, he stops. Nik fucking stops and removes his wet fingers from me. I dig my nails into his shoulders and bite back a frustrated scream.
“Say it,” he demands, matching my uneven breaths.
I stare at him incredulously, both of our chests heaving. Say what? I try to retrace his words even though there’s a nagging like none I have ever felt demanding something of its own. There’s a hunger. An insatiable need to have all of Nikolai Vostik plunged into me. And while he might be asking me for a few words, I am begging for everything from him.
“You are fucking mine. Say it,” he repeats.
Each breath comes out in a slow, short burst, impatiently waiting for his skin to meet mine. “I’m yours.” The words come out in a clipped, almost desperate plea. “I’m yours, Nikolai Vostik.”
A satisfied smirk curls his lips. “One more time,” he says and slides one finger down my clit to the opening longing for him, circling the soft skin with a satisfied groan. Electricity tenses my entire body, a devastating blast of lightning seizing my limbs.
“I …” I say and even nibble at his ear for good measure. “Am …” Another gasp escapes me as he circles faster, even slipping the tip of his finger inside for just a moment. I can’t breathe. I can’t even move. All I can do is revel in the way unimaginable pleasure comes in tremendous spurts. Three words. Three simple words and he will stop toying with me. Give me the release I’m ready to drop to my knees and beg for. “Fucking. Yours.”
He narrows his eyes on mine. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“Hard?” I say defiantly. “Like this?” I lower my hand to his waist and stroke the length of him, feeling his impressive cock thicken beneath the fabric of his pants. Heavy gasps escape him and warm my cheeks, burning my sure to be reddened face. It doesn’t matter though. While he may have had the upper hand at one point, I’m the one winning this game.
“Fuck,” he snarls, keeping his fingers moving at an even pace. “You have no idea what you do to me.”
Oh, I have an idea. I’m gripping it right now. But his words do little else than pour gasoline on the fire scorching me from the inside out. I want to take all of this man. I want so badly for him to bury his cock into me until I plead for surrender. Cry out his name until my voice gives out. For him to ravage my body like the predator he is.
“I can’t control myself. Not with you.” Nik doesn’t shy away and instead bites his lower lip. He looks at me like an animal well past the point of starvation. A feral hunger in his shifting black and gold eyes.
I tilt my chin, letting our gazes lock. “So don’t …” I whisper and unclasp the top button of his pants. “Don’t control yourself.”
An unnaturally large grin spreads across his face, and despite how he looks ready to eat me, I’m more than fucking inclined to let him. Nik lifts my dress until the bottom hem reaches my stomach. He could rip it off my body for all I care. His pants, however, are a completely different story. For what feels like ten agonizing minutes, I fumble the zipper, struggling to undress him with the same ease.
Nik lifts his hand to stop me.
No. No, no, no. “What—why are you stopping?” I murmur, my chest deflating. Then, his nails grow in lethal size and sharpness. “What are you—”
Before I can finish, he shreds his shirt down the center, exposing his scarred and jaw-dropping chest. Next, he rips down his pants, leaving his legs and his swollen cock on full display. Finally, another slash, this one almost too fast to see. The laced underwear I picked out in case the Volk photoshoot finished early flitters to the floor near my ankles, black threads adding to the white-marble tiles. Nik smirks deviously and lets his nails return to their normal state.
“That’s better,” he says, pulling our bare hips together.
Heat surges between my thighs. Heat and his hard shaft gliding against me, eventually finding home resting against the wetness of my pussy. Longing rolls in my stomach as well as the intense desire to feel him slide inside me. Short, muffled cries break through each kiss, and it’s only when his familiar growl passes through the both of us that I know I’m not leaving this loft the same Natalie he brought up here. I told him this wouldn’t happen tonight, not when I was working. But if he stops now, I might fucking explode.
“Do you want me?” he asks, brushing the loose hair from my face. It’s not his question that does it. No, it’s the way he rubs my clit with the head of his thick cock. Teasing me in such a way my legs are ready to clamp shut like a fucking vice grip.
I whimper a pleading, “Yes.”
“Are you sure that tight little pussy can handle it?”
Biting his lower lip in my teeth, I squeeze until I’m sure the skin is close to breaking. Then, I suck it into my mouth, letting the swelling blood even out. “If you don’t shut the hell up and fuck me,” I pause and run my thumb and forefinger along the silver chain falling against my collarbone, “I’ll shove this necklace down your goddamn throat.”
There’s no hesitation from him. Not a single response. No, Nik hoists me up, bringing my chin level to his. Legs dangling, I wrap my large thighs around his hips. The temperature of his body increases, gifting me another surge of warmth to share with him. Holy shit. I don’t feel the blood drain but disappear from my face. The sheer ease in which he picks me up is no different than before, but this time there’s nothing gentle about it. He’s claiming me. Displaying the strength only the cursed are capable of.
Carrying me to the closest wall, Nik forces my back into the window as I clamp down harder into him like a boa constrictor. Icy glass cools the skin my dress doesn’t cover while the rest is scalding. We’ve been here. This exact moment. And it was over as soon as it started. Tonight, I’d sooner die than let him stop.
I sink my teeth in his neck and kiss up his sharp jaw line. “Werewolves don’t need an invitation do they?” I ask, lowering my voice to a shallow gasp. “Know any vampires that won’t hesitate?”
He pins my arms above my head, using one hand to keep mine at bay. Snarls work their way up his chest to his throat the way I’d imagine a dragon would ready itself to spit fire. “You going to keep testing my patience?”
I fight against him, struggling to break free under his tightened grip. “Depends,” I say despite my entire body folding beneath his. I arch my head back against the glass and glare at him with pure disobedience. “You going to keep making bruises on my thigh with your cock or fucking use it?”
“Oh, Natalia,” he says and tsks . “You are barking at the wrong wolf.”
I scoff out in impatience. “Oh, yeah? Show—”
My words cut off in an instant, seemingly dying in the silence of the thrumming loft.
Is he … Yes. Yes he fucking is. For the second time in thirty seconds I have taunted a werewolf and found myself wrong in every facet. Nikolai rubs the head of his steel-like cock against my clit in a mesmerizing, counterclockwise motion, and each time, fuck , my entire body jolts as if I’ve somehow found myself on death row. I’ve had my final meal, and now, I think Nikolai is about to make me his.
He teases my small opening, dipping himself in enough to stretch that first layer of skin, and he pulls out when the sensation reaches its peak. Jesus Christ. Everything inside me withers. This roller coaster he has me on comes complete with a faulty lap belt. God, he knows exactly how to ruin me. Leave me in a puddle on the marble floors in his loft. Only now, I’m hugging him like a fucking tree, playing the most intense game of cat and mouse I’ve ever experienced.
“You done?” he rasps.
Done? No, I am not done . I am fucking throbbing for him. Each heartbeat sending another wave of blood to the place craving him. If just the tip can do this to me, can create tantalizing swells in my stomach, how can I possibly handle the rest? Do I want to find out? Of course, I do. Is there a small part of me worried that when he does slide himself inside I’ll never want him to take it out? Also yes.
“Fuck me, Nikolai …” I say, my voice trailing off. It comes out as more of a plea than demand, but if I have to yell at him to shove his cock inside me, I will. Another limb-tightening shock pulses throughout my body, finding rhythm with my ragged breaths. “I need it. I need you.”
Nik kisses our cheeks together, his small breaths tickling my ear. “Take a deep breath, Natalia.”
A deep breath? What in the fuck does he— Oh. My. Fucking. God. Pain surges at my core when he slides himself inside me. Pain and the unfathomable fullness when he adds every inch to the spot that now feels impossibly small. My walls squeeze around him, fighting against the large cock practically splitting me in two. Torture turns to pleasure in a way I can’t describe if I want to. Right now, I’m only focused on finding the breaths escaping me.
He splays the hair away from my face and brings his thumb and forefinger to my chin, inspecting me. “Are you okay?”
I nod. Fuck, I nod three or four times, fighting the urge to scream out all my lungs will give. “Y—yes. I’m—” Christ. I chew on my lip. “I’m okay.”
Nik gives me a peck, our mouths intertwining for a small moment. Then, he braces his arms against the window on either side of me. “It’s your turn, little wolf. I want you to howl this time. And I want you to howl my name.” Rocking his hips back, he slides himself out, leaving only the head of his swollen cock in, and mere seconds later, he buries it deeper when he slams into me.
My vision goes black. Colorful stars explode in the skyline of my mind like fireworks. Our skin slaps together again, echoing in the silent hum of the loft. The only thing I can do is close my eyes and wait for the next thrust to bring with it a new palette of pinks and purples to the darkened recesses of my mind. He fills me once more. Not stars this time, but an entire galaxy to admire as bliss has my toes curling behind his back.
“Fuck,” I scream, my voice reaching a higher pitch than I recognize. I was close before, now I am there and ready to burst from my own skin. The hottest fire I have ever felt emanates up my pussy to my rib cage, setting the rest of my limbs ablaze. He pulls out, pausing when my walls clench onto him, refusing to let his cock leave.
“Say my name, Natalia,” he instructs and shoves into me, testing the window’s resistance with the hard force of him.
“Ni—” I sputter, taking his length again and again. The pace increases, and he lets the time between filling me dwindle to seconds. Every time Nikolai brings that cock into me, my body thirsts for the next hit of oxygen, waiting for another sharp inhale to keep me alive. There’s a good chance I can pass out. I’m not sure if it’s an orgasm taking hold or simply the early stages of cardiac arrest. Either way, I will probably die in this loft. And for once, I have no issue meeting the reaper. Let her come. I’ll greet the ripe bitch with a satisfied smile on my fucking face.
“Nik!” I howl to the ceiling, joining in with his rhythm, sliding against the window to take him in fully.
He bores into me harder, leaving no amount of strength left in the legs I struggle to keep around him. “Come on me …” he says and holds himself just outside my walls begging him to rejoin the symphony we’ve created. For that final crescendo to send us both over the edge. “Come on my cock.”
My back arches on impulse, and an overwhelming surge of pleasure twists my contorting limbs. “I’m— I’m—”
Nikolai pushes himself into me all the way to the base and clashes our lips together, kissing around my moans and uneasy breaths. Wave after tremendous wave of pleasure crashes through me. A blindness takes over my eyes. My sight is gone, and in its place is a sensation like none I have ever felt. I’m there, and as I feel his hard cock somehow strengthen, I know he’s right there with me. Warmth floods around the seal of us he’s created, some even dribbling down the length of him to my thighs.
I never thought I’d end up here. Tangled in the arms of a man cursed with the mark of the beast. His erection still throbbing inside me. His attempts to calm himself leaving hot gusts of air warming my chest and bare shoulders. Long brown hair tickling my taut cheeks and neck. Neither of us move. No, we continue to clutch onto each other like it might be the last time. I don’t want to leave Los Angeles, but there’s no way in hell I can watch him leave me. I guess this means I’m cursed too.