Page 29 of Hateful Vows

TWENTY-THREE

IRINA

“ I ’m going to shower. I stink of you both,” I complain and almost run, locking both the bedroom and bathroom doors behind me when we reach the penthouse. My hand lands on my heart, beating a wild drum inside my chest. My breaths are so uneven I fear I’m having a heart attack.

The reflection that greets me in the mirror is of someone thoroughly fucked.

My eyes are shiny, my make up has run down my face, leaving traces of mascara on my cheeks and red lipstick around my mouth.

When I close my eyes, I can almost feel Aleksei coming inside me again, reminding me that his cum is leaking out of me right now.

And I fucking love it.

I almost don’t want to shower. I don’t want to erase the traces of what happened between us.

Of how Dante kissed us both and directed our bodies to obey him like his puppets.

His playful dominance has awakened something in me I didn’t even know slept in the shadows.

And finally having Aleksei was… Fuck , it was everything.

Once everything has been washed away, will we return to what we were before tonight? Two people who have done their utmost to give each other hell to keep the other at bay. I doubt Aleksei will be anything but disgusted by his lust for me.

I straighten and swallow. Suddenly, the sticky clothes suffocate me. I discard them fast, tearing the fabric of the dress and throwing everything in the garbage bin by the sink. The makeup remover is harsh on my skin as I rub a cotton pad all over my face, over and over, until I turn red.

I can’t manage to make the water hot enough and to scrub my skin raw. Both of them need to be removed. If I bleed, will they be purged from my body and my mind? That’s what I need. I can’t allow myself any weakness. One is hard enough to stomach. Two is a recipe for disaster.

The bristles of the brush are supposed to be soft but I press them against my skin harder, and soap myself a second time. I also use shampoo twice and deep condition my hair, finishing with a shower oil that makes me smell more like me and less like them.

I breathe easier and when I look into the mirror again, I’m back to being me.

A knock takes me out of my twelve steps skincare routine and I sigh in annoyance. Can a woman not get five minutes of peace in this household without being pestered by beasts?

“Irina, stop hiding. Food is ready.” Dante’s voice sounds far away but I hear the jab clearly. And I’m back at wanting to stab him.

Good.

The gall on this man.

I open the bathroom door and enter our bedroom, where he moved all my clothing a few days ago, and take a soft black Egyptian cotton lounge set.

Perceval meows from his place on Dante’s pillow and I click my tongue.

“I know he buys you treats behind my back,” I admonish my baby but still kiss the top of his head before giving him the scratches he craves. He stretches on the bed then jumps into my arms.

My black cat purrs against my chest. It helps settle the rest of the nervous energy at seeing Dante and Aleksei after what happened.

When I enter the living room, I stop short.

“Who are you? And what have you done with the Bratva pakhan?” I ask.

While Dante’s at the island, cooking what looks like Veal Milanese, Aleksei is cutting vegetables and throwing them into a frying pan right next to him.

The large oak table is set for three with placemats, two plates on top of each other and silver cutlery.

My mouth hangs agape.

Dante wipes his hands on a dish towel before prowling to me and handing me a glass of red wine with a smirk.

“Close your mouth, vipera , or I’ll find use for it.”

I glower the best I can but I’m basically in pyjamas, my cat meowing in my arms. I’ve looked fiercer and I can recognise when I’ve been bested. I exchange Perceval for the wine and take a sip, glancing back at Aleksei, who is fixed on his task like it’s all that matters.

“You missed me, baby?” Dante coos at Perceval before going back into the kitchen, opening a cupboard and giving him something I can’t see.

“I knew you were giving him treats behind my back! There’s no way he would like you otherwise.”

He drops the cat to the floor and it disappears again in the corridor.

“Like mother, like son.” The bastard winks. I’m about to protest when an alarm rings. “Perfect timing. Let’s eat, vipera . You can rip me a new one later.”

With a heavy hand at the small of my back, Dante directs me to sit at the head of the table, filling my plate with delicious smelling food that they both cooked together. Like they were not enemies who wanted to kill each other five weeks ago.

They take a seat on each side of me and the silence that surrounds us threatens to smother me.

I turn my attention to Aleksei, who drinks water and already has his heterochromatic eyes on me.

Where rage used to boil down to the surface, now it’s like an eerie calm has taken over his body.

I don’t know what to do with this version of my step-brother.

I’ve never lived with someone calm and peaceful.

Even with Dante these past few weeks, we’ve been at each other's throats.

In a different way, but familiar nonetheless.

“Aren’t you going to say something?” I ask.

I’d rather rip the band-aid now. I can’t stand the unknown.

Aleksei’s features remain emotionless. Nothing like the man who was desperate to fuck me just a few hours ago. The pakhan is back. That’s what I wanted. So why do I feel so exposed and disappointed?

“What would you have me say, solnychko ?”

“That you still hate me. That you regret everything and never want to see us again.”

“Is that what you want?”

“That’s what you’ll say,” I scoff.

The air thickens as time stretches. I wait with bated breaths for the words to come out of his mouth. To agree or deny, I’m unsure. But I need something. This cold version of him is the one I know and—I realise—the one I despise.

Slowly, Aleksei leans forward and drops his elbows on the table, his chin resting on his hands. His gaze is even more searing as he looks at me. “I’ve never hated you, Irina.”

My name on his lips sends a shiver through my body. On my left, Dante is silent but his hand lands on my thigh. As if in support.

“You’ve had a strange way of showing me how much you don’t hate me, Lyosha ,” I say dismissively and pick up my fork and knife, shoving food into my mouth. I don’t taste anything but ash.

“You two are absolutely incorrigible,” Dante complains. “Aleksei, what Irina wants to hear is that you don’t regret fucking her. And you, vipera , be nice. I know you’re not used to it, but now, you’re married to me and I’ll always, always give you what you want.”

Since I was sixteen, I’ve had to build a heart made of armour. There was no place for love and affection, for softness and emotions in the Dobrev household. Ivan would have eaten me alive like he did my mother.

Dante sees me. And as I look at Aleksei, I suspect he feels the same. A muscle in his jaw pops and he nods imperceptibly. “I don’t regret it.”

I gasp. My lips tremble for the first time in years, my vision going slightly hazy with tears threatening to fall.

The chair scrapes the floor as Dante pulls it closer to him. My cold heart warms up at having the heat of his body so close and his scent invades my senses. He kisses the side of my neck, then holds my jaw and orients me so I face Aleksei.

“You’re thinking too hard, cuore mio . Did you enjoy Aleksei’s cock in your needy pussy?”

The shift in conversation is brutal. I know what he’s doing, but I don’t stop the distraction he’s setting in place.

“Yes.”

“Do you want it again?”

I don’t need to know that my husband is also looking intently at the man on the other side of the table, who holds himself back, knuckles white on top of the table, poised to strike.

“Yes,” I breathe.

“Then, it’s settled. Why do you refuse yourself pleasure, Lyosha ? Your father is dead. The woman you were told to stay away from is ready to open her legs for you. Take what you want. I promise it will feel good.” I hear the smile in his words, the taunt and the salacious temptation he offers.

Wetness pools at my core. I get dizzy knowing that Dante’s once again the architect of our lust, and that Aleksei will fall into the trap set out for him. He won’t even try to escape. Not with how dark his eyes have gotten.

Dante moves my body so I straddle him, my back to his chest. His fingers dance across my chest and stomach.

With ease, he opens each button of my soft shirt and drags it across my arms with agonising slowness.

I might combust if one of them doesn’t touch me soon.

My skin is on fire, molten desire pouring into my veins and making me mindless.

I fear it’s always going to be like this with both of them.

My husband is a volcano, ready to ignite, and Aleksei blows air colder than the winds of Siberia with his perfect control.

Though I know now it’s all a facade. He isn’t unaffected.

My eyes drop to his crotch and knowing we affect him like this is a powerful drug. One I could get used to.

Half naked, Dante has me stand in between his legs to remove my loungewear pants, before he repositions me exactly as he wants.

Open legged across his thick thighs, all for Aleksei’s hungry gaze.

I’ve never been so exposed and I love it.

Just for them. I’ll be a wanton slut, just for them.

They can use me, take my body as they see fit, I want all their depravity directed at me, the centre of their attention and need.

My head floats with the force of Aleksei’s attention on me. His mismatched eyes are ravenous but the hard swallow and outline of his cock are the only indications that he’s about to unravel. It’s enough. A slow smile stretches on my lips.