Chapter 15

Kraven

The last thing I'd needed to do was to fuck her.

But I'd never felt so exhilarated, so alive. At least it had been a hell of a long time.

Still, I was reminding myself I didn't need complications of any type. None. There was that word again. I also didn't need anyone feeling as if they were attached to me. Sure. I owed her for being braver than most men, daring to save my life when she'd had no idea what doing so meant. I'd wanted to purchase her beautiful things out of gratitude, even though the suspicious man in me continued to remind myself that she could be some highly skilled actress.

Why lie to yourself, asshole? You meant what you said. You. Own. Her.

Fuck. That was true and exactly what I wanted.

Okay, it was laughable at this point given her na?ve attitude and actions, but to let my guard down enough to fuck her like some wild animal? Well, it was the kind of behavior I'd come to expect from myself all those years ago. Had I truly believed I'd been able to control my urges, even becoming more refined as I'd gotten older?

How irresponsible of me.

I took a deep breath before raking a hand through my hair. It was damp from the exertion. In all the years I'd enjoyed the company of a beautiful woman, I'd never felt awkward after fucking her. Not once.

She wiped the mirror with a hand towel, her looks of passion now unrecognizable. I'd felt the light switch or maybe the entire lamp being smashed into pieces when I'd seen her smiling with Misha, laughing as if they were old friends. My reaction had been ridiculous of course.

Misha would never touch her. I had plenty of guys that might dare try but only once before their hand was cut off. The thoughts shifting through my mind were ridiculous.

Of course, I knew I needed to say something to her, but I wasn't a man of sentiment or embellishment. It didn't serve me any purpose. So I shifted back into the bastard of a man I was better at being.

"Get a shower and get dressed. Pick one of the sundresses that was selected for you."

Obviously, my straightforward words surprised her after the heated passion we'd just shared. She laughed, even rolling her eyes.

"Now you're dictating my clothes? Why? So I can sit around waiting for you like a perfect little doll? Are you going to build me a shelf, requiring me to sit there or are you the cage kind of guy?"

I simply gave her a cautionary look and she shook her head, glancing away.

"We're going out and in case you haven't noticed, the heat is like a blast furnace," I told her.

"Where are you taking me?"

"You seem insistent on being distrustful, questioning who I am. That's fair enough given how this illustrious relationship began. I thought I'd give you the grand tour and allow you to get out of this room to enjoy some of the finer aspects of Las Vegas. Especially since you've not had an enjoyable time while living here."

"What about Remington? He's not used to strange places and being by himself." I sensed she was desperately trying to come up with excuses.

"He can come too. The more the merrier."

She chewed on her inner cheek, still uncertain if she could trust me. I finally dragged myself out of my comfort zone, trying to put myself in her shoes. I'd pulled her away from her life, albeit not a decent one. She didn't know me and I'd forced my way into her bedroom and the bathroom, fucking her without hesitation.

My filthy actions didn't allow me any good boy points. Not that I'd ever cared about obtaining any before. My soul was dark. Hers was light and bright, a place where only angels could live. Never the two could mix without dynamite involved. However, I gripped her shoulders in a moment of reassurance, even sliding my hands down her arms.

That was the moment I was certain she was about to freak. She jerked from my hold, making her hands as large as possible as she folded one arm over the other. As she backed away, I could see pain and a flash of humiliation in her eyes.

I found myself gazing down at the cuts on her arms, although somewhere in the back of my mind I knew it was the wrong thing to do. Exhaling, I sensed she was angry I'd touched her, although I had before during our heated round of passion. But my touch seconds before had been more intimate, pushing her comfort zone.

"Fine. I'll go with you because I'm sure I don't have another choice. Just go. Leave me alone."

While I wasn't the kind of man to allow anyone to issue a command, I found myself almost giving her the space. However, if I wanted her to learn to trust me, I'd need to break through what had to be her toughest barrier. As I'd done before, I crowded her space, pulling one of her hands free.

"Don't. Just don't."

"There is no reason or desire to hurt you, Penny. Why would I bring you here only to do that?"

She remained wary of me as I pulled her hand closer, kissing her fingertips. There was such uncertainly in her eyes that if I was the kind of man who had a conscience, I'd want to do everything in my power to fix all her problems. She'd felt my scars before, although she hadn't said a word. Now I pressed her fingertips against my chest, requiring her to rub her hand up and down.

"I'm going to tell you a story, something very private," I told her. "When I was eighteen, I was taken from the streets while with some friends by one of my father's enemies. The bastard who took me was some drug lord, the asshole taking me into Mexico. He tortured me for days on end, thinking I knew intimate details of my father's business. At the time my dad was involved with trafficking in illegal drugs, likely stepping on the man's territory."

I continued to use her hand as my own, tracing the various scars, most of which I'd hidden under the tattoos.

"I'd been trained my whole life how to handle brutal men like the cartel leader, or so I thought. However, the physical pain I endured was nothing in comparison to the mental anguish I felt after my father had tracked me down. My father had always been a cruel man, someone who believed in harsh punishments and training. I never understood until I was older and after being returned. He'd done his best preparing me for the worst humanity had to offer. Sadly, it wasn't enough."

When I pulled my hand away, she kept hers there, her brow furrowing as she stroked the scars on her own. I could tell her mind was reeling, her thoughts all over the place.

"Between the nightmares and the self-destructive and very risky behavior for months afterwards, I'm lucky to be alive. I understand that some people go through horrible things their minds can't process. Maybe that's why I'm so controlling now because I know the kind of enemies I have and what they're capable of. No matter what you think of me, I don't want you to experience any of the horrors I did."

I pulled her palm to my lips, kissing it gently then purposely backing away. That was enough for her to think about right now.

"Don't judge me, Kraven. I had my reasons. I need relief from tremendous pain."

"I can't and won't judge you, Penny. After I returned, I killed six men to try and make myself feel better. I thought the gruesome act would ease my pain. It didn't."

She sucked in her breath. Now she knew just how terrible a man I was. "Did it help at all?" she asked.

"Actually? No." The fact she was genuinely curious had me wonder even more about what horrors she'd been through.

It also put a nasty twinge in me, the need to kill whoever had been the issue.

But now wasn't the time to continue a conversation so troubling. With that, I left the bathroom. She deserved some privacy.

And I deserved a stiff drink.

How had a girl with doe eyes captured a part of me that I ensured was long since dead?