Chapter 7 - Arseny

I look into her eyes, and they look filled with guilt. I push the first aid kit toward her and lean back. "Don't try anything cute."

I watch as she opens the medical aid box and starts rummaging through it. She brings out gauze, tape, alcohol wipes, cotton balls, and some disinfectant. She then brings out a syringe without a needle.

"We need hot water," she says to me.

I nod. "Up we get."

"This is ridiculous," she mutters.

"Sorry, but you did this to yourself," I smile at her. I put a kettle on the stove to boil, and once it whistles, I pour it into a cup, and we sit back down by the first aid equipment.

I watch as she carefully arranges everything and then picks up the syringe and disinfectant. She pours the disinfectant into the hot water and stirs it with the syringe before she extracts some.

"This is going to hurt," she says as she pushes the syringe into the wound.

"I'm used to pain," I hiss as she plunges the syringe and hot disinfectant into the gash to rinse out the quarter-inch-deep wound on my chest. The liquid drips down my chest, and I follow her eyes as it pools on my pants by my crotch. I smirk and tilt my head. "Distracted?"

She blinks and shakes her head. "Another round. We need to get all the dirt out of there."

She extracts more hot disinfectant and rinses out the wound. Then, she picks up a cotton ball, dips it in the mixture, and dabs it on the wound.

She is very gentle. How she calmly cleans the wound and how deft her hands are turns me on. I have never met a woman like this. I've never been dealt with like this. Maybe once upon a memory with Mama when I was younger, but father always demanded we be brought up strong and resilient. There was no room for tears in our home.

I'm close enough to Elena to smell her perfume mixed in with the earthy smell of the forest. If it weren't for the disinfectant overriding it, it would be intoxicating.

"Why are you so angry about losing your father's butchery? Why is it special to you?" she asks.

I shake my head. "It's not. I just know your father is buying up all the butchers in the area, which is quite a power move."

"What do you care? How are you connected to my world? You're just a butcher"s son." She looks at me curiously.

"It doesn't matter," I grunt. "I just need as much information as possible right now."

"But it's your father"s choice to sell the butchery. Surely, you should take it up with him. Not me." She looks up at me as though this is the most logical thing she's ever said.

I smirk, but I don't answer her.

She discards the soaked and now dirty cotton balls. She takes the alcohol wipe and begins to wipe the wound. "It's not deep, you won't need stitches."

"Feels deep," I say. "Hurts like hell."

"Sorry about that," she looks at me with guilt in her eyes. "I just wanted to get away. I've never actually hurt anyone before."

She blushes as though she's revealed a big secret. I could have told you she'd never hurt anyone before, that she was a rookie.

"It's still confusing," she says quietly, placing a piece of gauze over the wound. I hold it there for her.

"What is?" I ask.

"Your anger is disproportionate to what's going on. You're having an overreaction. Are you sure there's not more to the story?" She looks into my eyes, and I find myself looking away.

"It doesn't matter," I say quietly.

"It does." She uses surgical tape to stick the gauze to my chest before she places a waterproof plaster over it. "I need to know why you want the information so I can get it for you." I look down at her hand, softly resting on my chest.

"You wouldn't understand," I say, taking her hand off my chest. "Thank you for cleaning my wound."

"What wouldn't I understand? Why don't you try me? I'm not like other Mafia families. I don't know what experience you have with families like ours, but we can offer you a job, protection, or anything else you need. I just have to talk to my father."

She looks at me earnestly, and I know I shouldn't tell her who I am. If she gets away from me and tells her father who kidnapped her, that could spell a lot of shit for Kervyn. At the same time, I need her to know she's not just playing with a little psycho butcher's boy. She's playing in the big leagues now.

Elena bats her eyelids at me and rests her hands on my arm. She looks almost shy but definitely manipulative. Is she trying to seduce me? It's cute. But it also pushes me over the edge with my decision.

"The problem is, Elena, I'm not a butcher's son. Unless you count someone who's butchered people," I look at her with a small smirk. "My name is Arseny Milov. You may have heard about my family from your father and brothers."

She suddenly sits still, and her facial expression changes. There's a sudden tension in the air that you could cut with a blunt knife. I can see the anger registering in her eyes, and she purses her lips. This is information she didn't want to hear.

"You see, Elena, I'm quite accustomed to what our families do, and I already have a job. It looks like you know who I am. Good, that means you know what level of danger you're in if you cross me again. The first time was a freebie, a chance to prove yourself, which you failed. Next time, I will carve up your pretty little face."

She pulls her hands away from me, and I yank them back. "What's wrong? Not in love with a butcher's son now?"

"I could never love someone below my station in life," she growls. "A butcher's son would be a promotion over a Milov."

I chuckle. "So you say. I have plenty to say about the Sokolov family myself and where they stand in my food chain."

She gets up and tugs on the chain slightly. "I want to know where my room is."

She starts to walk away, but I yank her back. I like this feisty, fiery side of her. It's appealing and sexy. She is more powerful than even she knows.

I stand and pull her again. "There is no your or my room, Elena. There is one room and one bed, and you'll be damned if I'll let you out of my sight again so you can escape a second time."

She glares at me. "No fucking way, Milov. I need to shower, wash the mud off my legs and feet, and get some rest. You can't stay tied to me while I do this.

"Wanna bet?" I grab her by the wrist that has the cuff on it and drag her to the bathroom.

"What are you doing?" she protests. "Let me go."

"Why? I thought you needed a shower?" As we enter the bathroom, I stop her in front of a cupboard to the left. I open it and rummage through it, handing her things as I go.

"Shampoo and conditioner, it's two-in-one. Shower gel. Unfortunately, it's a men's scent. You'll have to live with that. I don't normally bring princesses up here. A sponge to wash yourself with. A new toothbrush to brush your teeth. Is that all you need?"

I look at her, and she looks back at me worriedly. She says, "You're not going to make me shower while you're tied to me."

"Is that everything you need or not?" I demand to know.

"You're being ridiculous. How am I supposed to get undressed if I'm bound." She looks around. "And there's no way I'm getting naked in front of you."

"Right, I assume that's all you need then."

I yank the shower curtain back. "Get in, get undressed, and let your clothes slide down the chain. I will remove them. When you're done, wrap yourself in a towel from the shelf there, and I will find you some clothes to sleep in." I sit on the toilet next to the tub.

"You could just leave me in here and stand guard at the door," she whines.

I don't budge. "It's this, or you go to bed dirty. I don't care either way."

She huffs and climbs into the bath. She rearranges the shower curtain so I can't see her, and the chain runs underneath it.

I wait calmly when I feel a weight on the chain. She shoves her clothes under the shower curtain, and I slip the cuff off my hand to drop the clothes onto the floor. I then attach it again and wait.

At first, there was nothing, but then some more clothes were dumped out of the shower via the back of the curtain, and the water was turned on.

She gives a deep, audible groan, and I'd be lying if I said it doesn't make my dick twitch while I sit there. I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. I adjust myself in my pants as she groans again, and then she issues these little sighs of contentment.

While I'm waiting, I try to figure out what my plan is here so I can distract myself from the little sighs that Elena is making. I need to use her as a bargaining chip. I need to get the butchers back.

It's clear that her father is trying to outdo Kervyn with businesses. He's trying to push our family out of the area by taking over. I can't let that happen.

But I'm not ready to call Kervyn yet. My mind drifts back to Elena, and I imagine her curvy body naked, wet from the shower. I imagine her hand between her legs touching herself, and my dick is now semi-hard.

Fuck.

I can't seem to control myself around her.

I will my dick to soften again, thinking of everything from puppies to my mother, but then Elena groans again, and I lick my lips.

I would love to yank back the shower curtain and see what she looks like naked. She must be a sight to behold if she naturally looks that good while clothed.

But I wouldn't do that. I promised her privacy, and I'm a man of my word.

"Are you really enjoying yourself that much?" I ask, trying to fill the silence with something other than her sighs and moans.

"It's been a horrible day. A shower makes it better." I can feel the little tug along the chain as she turns around, probably to rinse her hair.

"You're lucky I extend such a courtesy. Normally, I just tie people to whatever is sturdiest and leave them there for the night, dirty and cut up. You know, the way a prisoner is supposed to be."

"Am I supposed to thank you?" she snips. "Because I'm not going to. You can take away the shower. I won't thank a Milov for a damn thing."

I shift, and she freezes. I chuckle. "I just moved. I'm not going to make you come out naked."

"I wouldn't without a fight," she murmurs before turning her concentration back to the shower.

"If you're trying to use up all the hot water, you're not going to for at least two hours. I built this place to survive. I kitted it out with a huge boiler that can handle all temperatures and weather situations. So you might as well get done and get out." I kick her clothes away from me. "And don't slip because I promise you, I'll just put you in bed and not take you to hospital."

The shower turns off, and I see her hand reaching out for the towel at the end of the shower. She pulls it into the shower, and I can feel through her movements that she is drying herself off. She then shifts again and opens the shower curtain, getting out and standing there with wet hair.

She looks so clean and innocent. I could take her right now if she were interested. But I don't force people. It's not my game. I point to the toilet. "Sit down, don't irritate me."

I then pull my pants and boxers down. I'm not shy, even if she is. I kick them away and get in the shower, turning the hot water on.