Page 41 of Darkest Desire

“Because you are my wife and I need you to not run. You keep sneaking out of the house and it gets you into trouble. I’ve had to kill two men in two days because of your actions.”

“Poor baby,” I mock.

“Fine. Yes, I do like to kill. But I don’t like to draw unnecessary attention to myself from the police. Now I have to go deal with the man I killed in that alleyway.”

“You only care about yourself and your job.”

“I also care about you now too.”

I scoff. “If you cared about me, you wouldn’t have tied me up right now.”

“I care about you, Sasha. I married you for a reason. I don’t want to see you get raped or beaten up. I may be a monster but that’s one thing I don’t want to see.”

There’s a sincerity in his eyes that draws me up short. I can’t even make sense of it.

“That’s why I’ve tied you up,” he continues. “So I can make sure you’re safe in our home tonight while I go clean up your mess.”

“I never asked you to kill that man.”

Anger flashes in his eyes and I flinch back. But he doesn’t hurt me. “If a man is attacking my wife, then yes, I’m going to kill the motherfucker. If you had never left, then we wouldn’t be in this mess in the first place.”

“If you had never forced me to marry you, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Touché. I’ll give you that one.” With a wink, he leaves me alone, tied to his bed, with nothing to do but feel the pain in my stomach and backside all night long.

Nico doesn’t untie me until the morning. The bastard even slept by my side all night and ignored me every time I asked him to let me go. Eventually, I stopped asking.

Now, the moment I’m free, I rush from the bed, ignoring the pain in my stomach, and run to the ensuite bathroom. I moan when I can finally relieve myself.

“I wish you would moan like that for me,” Nico comments on the other side of the door.

“In your dreams,” I say as I wash my hands. “Now, I’m going to take a bath. Leave me alone.”

“I can join you.” His tone is suggestive.

“I was just beaten up last night. I’m still bruised. Why would I want you to join me?”

“Not for sex. I give a mean back rub.”

“I’m not going to take a bath with you.” I can’t help that my cheeks are flushed and my words stutter. The thought of being with Nico, alone, in the bath, is too much to bear.

“Well, if you change your mind, come get me.”

I’m expecting Nico to wait outside my door but I hear him walk away and I can’t deny the slight sense of disappointment. Is there a tiny part of me that likes the way he challenges me? I’ll be honest: it’s the most excitement I’ve gotten all my life.

I slip into the bath and let myself relax under the bubbles. The warmth of the water helps ease the pain in my stomach.

My eyes flutter closed.

Nico enters the bathroom and kneels beside the tub, giving me a smirk as he lowers his hand beneath the water. I gasp when I feel his hand on my thigh and before I know it, I open my legs wider for him. His hand moves up, up, up…

I gasp awake.

I must have dozed off for a moment because Nico is not in the bathroom. I’m all alone.Which is fine, I tell myself. I don’t want Nico to touch me.

I can’t deny though that he has saved my life two times now. Granted, he’s the reason I’m in this position in the first place. But he still saved me.

It must be doing strange things to me. That’s the only reason. There’s no other reason I would want Nico to touch me like he almost did in my dream.