Chapter 26

26

GWEN

T he minute the words leave my lips, a gust of cold air swipes across my spine, and I know I'm screwed. Nik's eyes darken to that mystical deep blue that feels like looking straight down into the Atlantic Ocean, but instead of fear, my heart races at the prospect of jumping in, of being his. Fuck! Why the hell did I say that? "Yes, sir?" Have I lost my mind? Or is the dick that good that I say things I can't possibly mean?

Nik's breathing heavily, staring into my eyes, and unlike with Mason, I don't feel brave around Nik. I feel human. I feel the need to run, to get away from the man who has shredded my maid costume, fucked me in his bar's bathroom, and now stares at me like he would worship the ground I walk on if I gave him a chance.

"How the hell am I supposed to go back to work when most of my uniform is still on the main stage?" I want to snap at him, but my breath comes out breathy and drunk with lust.

He leans forward, his nose brushing mine with a small laugh that sounds like he's blowing dust off his vocal cords. "Who said anything about you going back to work?" he mumbles against my skin.

My back shoots straight when his head lolls to the side, and he hovers over my collarbone. He peppers kisses over his hickeys and bite marks as he continues to speak. "Your punishment is not over."

"Excuse me?" I jerk back, my head bumping against the mirror as I scoot further up the counter, trying to put some distance between us. "You just punished me, Nik. Playtime is over."

I move to close my legs, but Nik keeps his hands firmly on my inner thigh. His tight grip makes me suck in a sharp breath as heat pools between my thighs, and fuck, maybe I don't want playtime to be over. But the darkness of his eyes makes me think that I don't want to play with him anymore. He clicks his tongue at me disapprovingly. "You think this is a game, Kotik?"

"Two people fucking whenever the fever of the night takes them?" I snort, before sighing and leaning up against the mirror, as if my stomach isn't fluttering with a horde of butterflies I intend to kill by the end of tonight. "Yup, sounds like a game to me."

A wicked smile curls across his lips, and from this angle, he looks like the devil reincarnated. "That's your problem, Kotik. You think I'm just having fun. That you're like any other girl that I can just get tired of and throw away."

His eyes flicker down to my lips as I gasp. My eyes shoot to his pink tongue swiping across his bottom lip, and my voice comes out shakily. "Aren't I just a game? Isn't this just for fun, Nik? "

His smile falls off his face. A growl crawls up his throat. "Kotik, you are more than just a game. You are everything I have ever wanted. You are like an addiction to me," he purrs, his hand gripping my waist as he pulls me closer to him. "You've made me into a fucking addict, chasing the high that is you. Never feeling high enough, so I take dose after dose trying to get back to you."

Jesus Christ. My mouth is dry as I search his eyes for a lie or exaggeration, and even though his eyes don't speak of dishonesty, I still call him out. "Bullshit, Nik."

"Are you calling me a liar, Gwen?" he growls, his face snarling right in front of mine.

"No," I whisper, too afraid to speak. "But you're exaggerating because you want what you can't have."

His right hand slides down my stomach, his fingertips grazing the mound of my pussy, and it takes everything in me not to shiver at his touch. "You don't think this pussy is addictive? You don't think this pussy is intoxicating?"

Two fingers slide across my very sensitive clit and trail between my folds. Against my better judgment, I inhale sharply, gripping the edge of the counter as I turn to look away from him, but Nik pinches my cheeks between his other hand and pulls my face to his. "You think this is what? A cat and mouse game? Just something to pass the time?"

His eyes dart across my face as he slides a finger inside my sore pussy and smiles at how I sharply inhale through my nose. "I am not the type of animal that hunts for fun, Gwen." His fingers curve inside me, and I gasp, trying to catch my breath. "I'm chasing you because this sweet pussy, this delectable body, and this smart mouth of yours that needs to be filled has me acting like a fucking addict."

He swiftly takes two fingers out of me and plunges them into my mouth. An explosion of cum and honey runs across my tongue, but I don't dare close my eyes. I keep them trained on Nik's drunken stare as he pushes his fingers back so far in my throat that I gag. "I do not play games when it comes to you, Kotik."

He pulls his fingers out of my mouth, and I gasp. "Nikolai, you can't just?—"

"I can't just do what? I can't have you just because you say no?" Nik moves his hand from my cheeks to my chin, pinching tightly as he tilts my head to be aligned with his. His ocean eyes drown me as he whispers, a breath away from my lips, "You keep saying no, yet you keep ending up with my cock inside of you. Funny."

"Nik," I scold, narrowing my eyes at him, but he just flashes that boyish smile.

"Gwen, you don't get it. You are making me go through withdrawal. An addict going through withdrawal can't be held responsible for what they do," Nik whispers against my lips, and a flurry of butterflies in my stomach goes mad. I want to jump his bones, give him his high. Admit that despite all the fighting, I'm addicted to him too. I want to drown in his embrace. I want to submit to his will and be his because there is nothing that feels more natural to me. But instead, I harden my face.

I scowl. "You are responsible for all of your actions, withdrawal or not."

Nik's shoulders hunch up as he lets out a heavy sigh, his fingers tapping impatiently on the counter next to us. He looks around for a moment before grabbing his phone off the counter. "What are you doing?" I ask, trying to peek at his phone, but he quickly backs up and begins furiously typing a message. "Nikolai?"

He finally looks up at me with narrowed eyes, his lips drawn into a tight line. "Nik," he corrects me sharply.

Suddenly, there's a knock at the door. My heart pounds in my chest as Nik quickly moves to block me from view with his body. He opens the door and exchanges words with someone outside before turning back to face me, holding clothes in his hand that he received from one of the guards. His expression unreadable, he meets my gaze and says, "You're coming with me."

"The hell I am!" I snap, crossing my arms over my chest.

Nik stalks closer to me, his nostrils flared as he tosses the clothes onto the counter next to me. "Either you get dressed and come with me willingly, or I drag you out of here naked and screaming while I shoot every man out there that lays an eye on you. Your choice."

His eyes are now a piercing blue, and the mere thought of the potential bloodshed makes my chest tremble. A small part of me feels excited by the idea of Nik ruthlessly taking out anyone who sees me naked, but the rational side of me—the part that studied law and knows that impulsive behavior like this would make a great case for an insanity plea—makes my mouth go dry. I silently nod as I pull the cotton white t-shirt and gray sweats into my lap. The woodsy scent of Nik drifts off the clothes, and I turn to look at Nik with a smirk.

"What?" he interrogates me as his head lolls to the side.

"Of course you would wear gray sweatpants," I comment, sliding his shirt over my head .

"I don't normally hide the goods, but if you want me to, I will." His smile is lazy, but his eyes are trained on me expectantly.

"Don't tell me you let your addictions control your life," I tease.

He doesn't respond, just smiles to himself for a moment as I shimmy off the counter and grab the sweats. As I step into them, I can't help but think about everything Nik just said. He's right—there's something about him that has me entangled, something intoxicating.

I play with the string around the waist of the sweats and pull tight. Nik watches me closely, his eyes darkening as I struggle to adjust the sweats around my hips. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I ask, finally meeting his gaze.

He chuckles softly, shaking his head. "Because, Kotik, you are drowning in my sweats. It's adorable." Nik turns to leave the bathroom, and I stumble, following behind him out into the hallway as I slide my kitten heels on from the maid costume.

"Nik, where are you taking me?" I whisper-yell as the smooth jazz of Kimberly's set flows across the club. When he rounds the corner into the main club, I grip his arm, attempting to pull him back, but it's like the wind pushing against a mountain. "I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me where we're going first."

Nik turns around, shaking his head. His voice is a low, velvet growl as he says, "Sweetheart, you don't have a choice."

Fucking hell, despite my ass burning every time the fabric of his sweatpants touches my abused skin and my pussy sore from how roughly he fucked me only minutes ago, I still want him. My heart pounds in my chest as I look him over, trying to find some annoyance or hatred deep within me, but I can't. But as Nana Rose always said: fake it until you make it.

I raise an eyebrow, crossing my arms again. "And you expect me to make it easy for you to drag me to your dungeon and be your little live-in sex slave with the rest of your women? No dice. I won't do it."

Nikolai gets in my face again. His features darken, illuminated by the flashes of white and pink light across his face, making him look dangerously beautiful. "I don't have other women, Gwen. I only have you, and if I want you chained to my bed on the constant brink of orgasm, you will do it."

I take a deep breath, trying to compose myself because, fuck, that sounds amazing. "And why is that? Why do you just assume I'll let you have me anyway you please?"

"Because I'm not bargaining with you anymore. You're mine. You said it," he growls, gripping my arm firmly.

"I said it with your dick balls-deep in me. That doesn't count, Nik," I counter, leaning into my right hip as I cock my head at him with a smirk.

"If I have to keep my dick in you for you to be mine, I'll do it. If I have to keep you chained to my bed so you don't go anywhere, I'll do it. Fuck, if you need to be on your hands and knees with a fucking collar on, then just say the word," he snarls, his voice low and commanding.

His jaw clicks under the light, nostrils flared as if he's on his last nerve. And if I test it, if I keep trying to fight him, he'll have me crawling after him like a fucking dog. I take a deep breath and bow my head as if in submission.

His hand flies across his face, and a breath I didn't realize he was holding escapes his lips so quietly that if I wasn't so attuned to every fiber of his being, I would have missed it. He caresses his hand down my face and threads his fingertips through the curls of my hair. As my eyes meet his, I gasp, "Nik."

Nik bends down, his forehead resting gently against mine. "Let's go home, Gwen."

Before a snarky comment can leave my mouth, he threads his fingers with mine and leads me out of the club.