Chapter 16 - Parker

My wrists ached, Lev's belt digging into the flesh and joint as I hung there. Catching my breath was a challenge, and the deep burn that radiated from within me was intense. Despite the damage it had endured, my tired womb radiated a comforting warmth, as if it had also experienced pleasure amidst its pains.

You're not a virgin anymore.Lev's cock pulsed once inside me, a final twitch before he slipped free. Wow, okay, um, yeah. You actually did that.

Evidence of the way I'd let Lev claim me dripped down my thighs, and my cheeks burned like hell as embarrassment and shock rammed themselves forward in my mind. Still trapped and secured to Lev's bed, all I could do was let it happen.

I tried to pull my wrists free of the belt, but then Lev dragged his fingers across my side, sending goosebumps rippling over my flesh as he came to stand in front of me.

"I am damn tempted to make you stay like that." His eyes flicked past my face to my naked ass.

My eyes widened, and I shook my head as I walked my knees under me and glared at him. Even my knees were sore, and leaning back on my hips made them crack.

"Don't you dare."

That evil smirk darkened, and Lev cocked his head slightly. I could feel the command radiate off him without any words. I sighed.

"Please," I blinked slowly, "let me down."

Lev leaned forward, resting an arm against the bedpost while he reached for the belt with the other hand. "I do love when you beg, little one."

With that, he gripped the section that was bent back and threaded through the loop, pulling it forward and dislodging it from the metal spoke. The tension went out of the belt, and I sagged against the post, my head dropping as relief washed through me.

The stretch on my shoulders had been intense, but having the pressure relieved was nearly just as painful, and I groaned low.

"Oh, fuck." I pulled my hands out of the belt and rubbed the red skin on my wrists.

Lev's chuckle brought my attention up, and I went right back to glaring at him. Still, I couldn't stop myself from admiring his muscular chest and tattoos again, reading them like the pages of a book as they covered his skin.

My pussy clenched despite everything, and the lick of pain it caused wasn't nearly enough to keep me from pooling with warmth again.

Jesus, what the fuck is wrong with me?

I was ready to watch Lev stalk off for the bathroom, leaving me alone to clean up, but he just stood there, eyeing me.

Swallowing hard, I stared between Lev and the floor, that fire in my cheeks soaring higher.

"What?"

His fingers came to my chin, lifting my face up to look at him. He ate me up with his eyes and then shifted forward, hovering his lips near my ear as he whispered to me.

"You look so good." Lev breathed against my skin, rubbing his nose beneath my ear. "That innocence of yours ruined like the crumpled petals of a rose. I love seeing my corruption dripping from you."

My mouth fell open as I took a shaky breath, and the blood in my veins was pure fire. My pussy clamped down on nothing again, and where Lev's fingers touched me, where his lips caressed me, my skin tingled.

He slid back, and I nearly lost my balance as Lev stepped away from the bed and toward the bathroom. I was left in silence as he showered, unable to move or even think really. I had never been so conflicted. There was no truer way to put how I felt into words. Before I knew it, Lev was dressed and heading for the door.

"I have matters to arrange for tomorrow. Stay put," he smirked over his shoulder at me, "princess."

As much as I wanted to say something, to stop him from leaving and demand that we talk about this, I couldn't. I was glued to the spot, just watching how the door closed and locked behind Lev instead of getting up, going after him, or at least saying something.

When the resounding click of the lock finished its loud echo, I cursed.

"Dammit." With a sigh, I slid off the bed, my legs wobbly. "What the hell did you just do, Parker?"

I padded to the shower, and the soreness quickly worsening in my muscles and core reminded me all the more of exactly what I had just done.

I'd had sex with Lev.

My heartbeat sped up, beginning to boom behind my ribs as I hurried across the cool tiles. I reached for the shower faucet, still wet from Lev's shower, and turned it to hot, real damn hot. Steam filled the large expanse, and I was begrudgingly impressed once again at the lavish furnishings and amenities of Lev's home.

The hot water was still going strong after Lev's turn in here, and I wanted to scream at the luxury of it all.

Lukewarm showers and laundromats were my norm, and in the course of just a few days, I'd gone from a med student sporting her V-card to the property of a dangerous mafioso who just fucked her within an inch of her life.

"Shit."

I couldn't stop shaking my head at myself, and then I made the mistake of looking at myself in the mirror. I really was a mess, just like Lev had said, and worse, I didn't hate how it looked on me. Red stripes crossed over the skin of my ass, and my wrists were starting to bruise beneath the smear of dried blood from Lev's man.

There was also the still-present flush beneath my skin. I may have just run a mile for how I glowed with exertion. And, of course, the glistening cum decorating my inner thighs was tinged pink.

Not a virgin.

Eventually, I got inside the warm shower and let it rain over me. The heat felt incredible, and I let it soothe the ache in my muscles. But when it hit over my ass, I hissed. The strike marks on my cheeks were sensitive, the water stinging slightly.

My mind was still a blender of thoughts, too. As I stared at the dark marble walls of the shower, watching the droplets slide down the surface, I had a full-blown conversation with myself in my head.

How could you do that?

You know exactly how. You loved every second of that, Parker.

I remembered how we'd gotten to that place, what led up to the sex. I'd helped that man live, stopped his bleeding. Because…

I was living with a criminal. I'd been kidnapped by a criminal.

Your father is a criminal. He fucking killed your… I gasped around the sob that choked me. Fucking hell, are you just trading one thug for another?

Reaching for the soap on the built-in ledge, I squirted a large handful of the body wash into my palm and lathered it up over my arms and chest. The scent was unmistakably masculine, a combination of musk and wood that was all too familiar. But there was also a coolness to it, and all I could think of as the fragrance hit my nose was Lev.

Because it smelled like him, not completely, but enough to get the swirling in my mind to kick up another notch. Part of me longed for the background scent of Lev, wanting it there in the body wash even though it was impossible.

People had their own unique body chemistries. That's what made the soap smell different on him than it did on me.

And I missed it. I missed his scent.

"You are damn crazy." I closed my eyes tighter, putting my face under the spray.

Eventually, my need for cleanliness was too strong to resist, and I lathered up my hands with more soap and scrubbed my legs and waist. When I smoothed it over the insides of my thighs, my fingers brushed the skin between them, and I flinched.

My core was battered, swollen even.

Why do you fucking love that?!

It was just something about what Lev did to me. I was drunk on how damn good it had felt to be dominated like that. I'd never toyed with anything too intense, even in my mind, but it wasn't because I wasn't interested. On the contrary, it was because I knew once I'd had it, I'd go wild for it.

"And you totally did."

I rinsed off again, careful of the sore spots. Why had it been Lev out of all the other potentials, all the other maybes? I didn't know. And yet, I thought about his brother.

Murder had been a part of Lev's life since the beginning—betrayal and ruin, too. I could relate. In fact, I did even more now that my father's scheme had been discovered. He'd lost his mother, and so had I. He'd watched someone close to him fuck him over, hurt him.

So had I.

When I was with Lev, I felt…seen—in a way I never had been. I liked how forthright he was. I enjoyed the way he put his found family, the people who'd earned his trust, first. The way he'd spoken to Igor when I was patching him up had been…kind.

A smile cracked my lips, and I laughed once. Lev was a criminal, a killer; there was no way around that, but he'd also treated me with more respect and been more honest than my supposed family ever had.

"How is this my life?" I mused.

I grabbed the bottle of shampoo, doling some out and then scrubbing it gently through my curls. They'd be a little unhappy with me that I wasn't using the normal stuff, and I scoffed at myself.

Because shampoo should be your biggest concern right now.

I didn"t think my choice of soap was important, so I quickly lathered it through my hair and used some conditioner that I found. It was a bit surprising to find conditioner in a guy"s bathroom, but I appreciated it nonetheless. After rinsing everything off, I was left with clean hair.

"Time to get out."

Stepping out of the steamy cube, I took a towel off the rack affixed to the shower door and wrapped it around myself. There was a smaller hand towel on the counter, so I used that as best as I could on my hair.

Drying off and getting changed into the more comfortable options from the shopping bag—a set of soft cotton shorts and a matching grey hoodie top—felt almost normal. But as I sat back down on the bed, scooting myself to the head of the bed and pulling the covers over my legs, my rational brain reminded me of what was coming up on the agenda tomorrow.

"Wedding."

Yes, I was supposed to be getting married the next day. To Lev. The man who kidnapped me. Ugh.

"I suppose there could be worse people to marry."

My eyes burned, glossing over. I should have a say in who I was spending the rest of my life with, and still…

Lev had stood up for me with my father, implying very strongly that if he hurt me again, Lev would kill him. That shouldn't be flattering, but it was. Still, my nerves prickled, and it wasn't just because I was about to be Lev's wife, though that was obviously part of it.

My father had hired people to watch over the office. That's how Igor and the others had gotten injured.

If I knew anything about dear old dad, which was becoming less and less certain, I knew he was paranoid. Holding onto every last penny that he'd ever made was always the most important thing to him. It seemed unlikely that he'd be all right with just dropping this issue with Lev.

Just because he'd been found out, that wouldn't stop my father from trying to keep what he'd apparently stolen from the mob.

"He's going to try something." I dropped my stare to the blanket over my legs, gripping the fabric in my fists. "He's got to be watching, and he's going to fucking try something. I just know it."

My stomach churned. I didn't want tomorrow to come. I wanted more time to think, to prepare. I typically spent weeks studying, not one to cram at the last minute. But the lack of a complete view of the situation made my chest constrict with anxiety, causing an uncomfortable burning sensation in my throat.

What the hell, world? What the absolute hell?

I laid back against the pillow, curling onto my side and looking forward into the empty room. I was so on edge. Sleep wouldn't be coming any time soon. The only thing that felt certain was my desire to be at Lev's side if my father tried anything—like he was most certainly going to do.

And I wasn't sure how to feel about that.