Page 124 of Beautiful Trauma

“You lie.”

With my head lolling back, I said, “I swear on my life.”

The next thing I knew, a whip cracked between my shoulders. I hissed in a breath, but no air came in. Just as I was about to slip under, Dima removed his hand from my throat.

As I tried gulping in air, the whip cracked over and over. My body convulsed with each hit as my skin flayed open. A metallic smell entered my nose as blood began to drip from my back and hit the floor and walls with each flick of the whip.

Pinching my eyes shut, I focused on Mila’s face as she appeared before me in my mind. Her smile. The silky strands of her hair. The floral smell of her perfume. The taste of her arousal on my tongue. The tight clench of her walls around my cock.

As I floundered in hell, I tried surrounding myself with heaven through memories of her. My knees gave way, and I bowed forward. Agony shot through me causing me to groan.

To my surprise, the whipping stopped. Air wheezed in and out of me as Dima limped over to me. With a glare, he demanded, “If you love Mila so much, would you die for her?”

For a moment, I couldn’t speak. The pain ricocheting through my body made it hard to speak. Unable to form words, my jaw worked in phantom movements for a few moments. Finally, the words croaked from my throat.

“Yes. I would give my life for her.”

A dark chuckle rumbled through Dima. “Then I’m happy to grant your wish. But first, you’ll continue to pay for your sins.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: MILA

Once Kira left, I knew what I had to do. After I eased out of bed, I tiptoed across the room. To my surprise, no one was stationed outside the door. Glancing at the circular station in the center of the room, I found it empty.

To my right, there seemed to be a flurry of activity behind one of the curtains. I couldn’t help wondering if one of the other soldiers had been injured.

With the others distracted, I slipped over to the medicine closet and dipped inside. Since we weren’t a regular hospital, the drugs weren’t locked up or regulated. Gazing at all the options, I snatched up two vials of morphine along with two of adrenaline. After pocketing them, I grabbed four packs of syringes.

After peeking out of the door, everyone still remained focused on the tasks before them. So, I hurried out.

A single focus lay ahead of me as I power-walked over to the elevator and went .

When the elevator doors opened, I swallowed hard before stepping off. Slowly, I began walking along the corridor with my hands stuffed in my sweater pocket. My gaze darted around as I stayed on the edge waiting for someone to jump out and grab me.

As I reached the chamber, a guard stepped out to stop me. “Ms. Korolova, you’re not supposed to be here.”

I gave him a sad smile. “I know. I heard he was going to die in the morning, so I wanted to tell him goodbye.”

The guard shook his head. “We have strict orders not to allow anyone in to see the prisoner.”

“Are you always such an order follower?”

“I am.”

Nodding, I said, “Not even a peek at him?”

He sighed exasperatedly. “Please leave, Ms. Korolova.”

“Fine,” I growled.

As I started to turn to go, my fingers slid along the needle in my pocket. When I started pulling it out, my heartbeat started echoing loudly in my ears.

I launched myself at the guard. I took him by such surprise that he didn’t even have time to react before I plunged the needle into his neck. A strange sense of deja vu came over me. That night at Bandia flashed before me when I’d done the same thing to Kellan.

“You cunt!” he growled as he staggered.

With a shrug, I replied, “You’re the one who had to make it hard.”

Slowly, he slid down the wall into a sitting position. When his head lolled over, I bent over and grabbed his keycard. After swiping it on the wall, the door slid open.