Chapter 11 – Kat
The car ride back to the estate had been a terrifying silence. I sat there, my body buzzing with a strange mix of gear and adrenaline. I couldn’t pinpoint exactly why Danil was so furious.
At the party, I had done everything right. I had smiled, mingled, and made conversation. I hadn’t acted like a resentful wife. I had played the part of the new Yezhov. So, why was he so mad? The confusion was a cold knot in my stomach.
When the car finally stopped, the silence continued all the way to our suite.
He didn’t speak. I didn’t dare. He unlocked the door and held it open for me, and I walked in, my heart pounding a frantic rhythm against my ribs.
The moment the door swung shut behind me, the cold, quiet control I’d exerted on him all night disappeared.
He didn’t even wait for the lock to click.
He was on me in a flash, grabbing me from behind.
One arm went around my waist, pulling me hard against the solid wall of his body.
The other hand shot up to cover my mouth.
The action was so sudden, so forceful. It stole my breath.
I was completely stunned at his manhandling, my body going rigid with shock.
He slammed me against the wall, not hard enough to hurt me, but hard enough to make a point. His hand pressed firmly and unyieldingly over my mouth, effectively silencing me. The scent of him—clean linen and expensive cologne mixed with the low, musky aroma of his rage—filled my senses.
“Did you want to test me?” he rasped, his voice calm, but with a terrifying, low, threatening edge. His lips were right beside my ear, the sound sending a shiver through me. “Because I don’t break. But I bend so much. And if you keep forcing me to bend, I’ll make sure you do too.”
I tried to squirm, to push him away, to speak, but his hold was impossible. My body felt small and useless against him.
“Just tell me, Katria,” he went on, his voice a chilling murmur that sliced through the quiet. “Just tell me if that’s what you want. Because you’ll get what you’re asking for. And you won’t like it.”
I stopped struggling, the fear of a cold weight in my stomach. He felt my stillness and slowly, cautiously, took his hand away from my mouth. I gasped, sucking in a long, shaky breath. My mind was racing.
“What is wrong with you?” I demanded, my voice trembling slightly. “Why are you acting this way? I did everything right at that party!”
He laughed. It was a cold, humorless sound that held no joy, only a bitter, cruel mockery. “You think you did everything right? You think you did what a wife is supposed to do?”
I was completely lost.
“Yes! I didn’t hide in the corner. I mingled. I was friendly. I played the part. That’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?”
Danil laughed again, that same cold, humorless sound. It sent a shiver down my spine, but I refused to break eye contact. He was still pressing me against the wall, his body a solid, immovable force against mine.
“You think mingling is doing everything right?” he scoffed, his voice laced with venom.
“You think wearing that dress, that pink silk mockery, with your entire back exposed, is playing the part?” He leaned closer, his eyes burning mine.
“You think laughing with every man in that room, hanging on their words, like you hadn’t just been forced into marriage, is right? ”
My breath hitched. My mind raced, trying to keep up with his sudden, furious outburst.
“What are you talking about?” I demanded, genuinely shocked. “It’s a dress! Everyone wears dresses like that. And I was being polite. I was being friendly. You wanted me to make a good impression!”
“Polite?” he snarled, his grip on my arms tightening.
“Friendly?” You were laughing, Katria. Laughing with Sava.
Laughing with those other men. A genuine, open laugh.
A sound I have never once heard from you.
Not a single time.” His voice dropped to a low, dangerous growl.
“You only fight me. You only glare at me. But you can laugh like that with them?"
It hit me then, a sudden, blinding realization that stole the air from my lungs.
He was jealous.
The thought was so absurd, so unbelievably human for a man who seemed carved from ice, that I almost laughed myself. A cold, bitter laugh, just for him.
“Are you…jealous?” The words slipped out before I could stop them, a dangerous question, but I couldn’t help myself. The audacity of it. The hypocrisy.
His eyes narrowed, and for a second, I thought he would deny it. But then, his response came, raw and brutal. “You’re mine, Katria. Mine. You belong to me, and me alone. What you show to the world is a reflection of me. And you will not smile like that, laugh like that, with any other man.”
My own anger, fierce and undeniable, surged to the surface.
“Oh, I belong to you, do I?” I said, my voice rising.
I pushed against his chest, hard, and to my surprise, he stumbled back a step, releasing me from the wall.
I put some distance between us, my body still shaking from the confrontation.
“Is that why you were practically frayed all over Irene Durov, then? Flirting with her right in front of me? Right after you warned me about what I showed to the world?”
He looked momentarily stunned before he spoke. “I was not flirting with Irene—”
“You looked perfectly comfortable with her!” I cut him off, my voice sharp with my own hidden jealousy.
“You were smiling, you were laughing, you were kissing her cheek! All you do with me is shout! All you do with me is tell me I’m a burden!
But with her, you’re charming. You’re…human.
” I knew I was pushing him, pushing him hard, but I couldn’t stop.
The hypocrisy burned. “If I belong to you, then you belong to me too, Danil! And I don’t want you touching anyone else!
I don’t want you looking at anyone else!
” I almost couldn’t believe I was saying it out loud, but the words poured out, fueled by my own rage and a sudden, fierce possessiveness I hadn’t known I possessed.
He just stared at me, his eyes widening, a mixture of shock and something else, something primal and dangerous, burning in their depths.
My own heart hammered, but still I refused to back down. Let him see it all. Let him see how furious I was, how hypocritical he was.
“Irene is just an old friend,” he finally said, his voice low, almost a growl.
“The rules apply to both of us? You think that gives you the right to dictate who I speak to? Who I look at?” He took a step closer, his eyes burning into mine.
“You belong to me, Katria. Not the other way around. My connections, my friends, they are my business. You are my business.”
“And what I choose to do with my own life is my business!” I shot back, meeting his intensity with my own.
“Don’t tell me I belong to you. Not after you stood there, smiling at her, acting like a normal human being, when all you do is fight me!
” My voice rose, raw with anger. “I don’t care if she’s an old friend!
I don’t care about your connections. You stay away from everyone! ”
His eyes narrowed, and a muscle jumped in his jaw. That air crackled between us, thick with unspoken desires and fury. It was a volatile mix. He took another step, closing the distance, and now we were toe-to-toe, almost touching.
“You really want to test me tonight, don’t you?” he whispered, his voice dangerously soft. “You really want to see how far you can push?”
“I’m not pushing,” I breathed, my heart pounding so hard I felt it in my throat. “I’m just tired of your double standards.”
His gaze dropped to my mouth. He was furious. I could feel the heat radiating off him. And in that moment, something snapped inside me. A reckless defiance, a need to ignite the fire, to see him burn with the same intensity I felt.
Without thinking, I lunged forward, pressing my body against his. My hands went to his face, my fingers digging into the hard line of his jaw. And then I bit his lower lip. Not a playful nip, but a sharp, deliberate bite that left the coppery taste of blood in my mouth.
He gasped, a guttural sound torn from his throat. His arms shot out, gripping my waist, hauling me even tighter against him until there was no space left between us. And then his mouth crashed down on mine.
The kiss was explosive. It was furious and desperate, all teeth and tongue and raw, unbridled need.
My body hummed with the shock of it, the unexpected violence of his reaction.
He tasted anger and passion and a hint of blood.
My hands tangled in his hair, pulling, desperate to feel something as chaotic as he was.
His mouth moved down my throat, leaving a trail of fire.
My hips instinctively pressed against his, a primal dance of defiance and surrender.
He pulled back suddenly, tearing his mouth from mine, leaving me gasping for air. His eyes were blazing, dark with a hunger that scared and thrilled me. His breath was ragged, his chest heaving.
“You’ve angered me, Katria,” he rasped, his voice rough and low. “You have no idea how much you’ve angered me. And you will suffer for it.” His grip tightened on my arms, pulling me closer still, trapping me. “You will suffer tonight.”
His threat hung in the air, a chilling promise. The heat radiating off him was immense, a physical manifestation of his fury. My body trembled, caught between defiance and a primal fear. I opened my mouth to retort, to lash out one more time, but he didn’t give me the chance.