monster. Usually that wouldn’t bother me but in this case I don’t know what to do, or to say. I reach out to grab her hand and she cries out, pulling back and cradling against herself.
“Shit, I—”
Victoria turns her hand to me, showing the bright red burns on her palm. Why didn’t she say anything before?
I return to the front desk. “I need that room number now. I also need you to get this woman in to see a doctor. She’s been burned and needs treatment.”
“Sir, I understand that, but there are people that have been here for hours,” she argues.
I raise a hand and cut her off. “My name is Matvei Morozov,” I hiss. “And I just told you that this woman needs help.”
She blanches immediately at the sound of my name. “Sorry, sir,” she gulps. “I’ll get right on it. I’ll have her in a room as soon as I can.”
I nod. “That’s better.”
While we wait, Victoria keeps her eyes on the floor, unable to even look at me.
I thought this was what I wanted. Fear. Obedience. But right now, I’m not sure that’s what’s best. Not when Victoria can’t look me in the eye.
A nurse stops by to take Victoria to get treatment. Soon, I’m left alone, bouncing my knees and overwhelmed with nerves.
Twenty minutes go by. A nurse passing through tells me Niko will be with the doctor for another fifteen minutes or so.
Right after that, Victoria steps back out into the waiting room with her hand bandaged, and I feel a bit of relief flow through me. As much as I’ve been trying to distance myself from the woman and regain control over my feelings, I’m happy to see that she wasn’t too badly injured.
Then I think about Nikolas, sitting in that room frightened, his hand badly burned. How could this have happened? If I had been there, he’d be fine. He wouldn’t be in any pain. Pissed at myself, I push myself from the chair and stalk off towards the vending machines. It’s quiet over here, and I can think.
At least, I try to.
Soon, Victoria is behind me, calling out my name. “Matvei,” she says, reaching for my hand with the one that isn’t wrapped up in bandages. “He’s going to be okay.”
“You don’t know that,” I say, dragging my gaze up to hers.
“I do know that,” she insists, squeezing my hand harder. “He’s going to be fine.”
She stares at me with conviction in her eyes, and like a damn fool, I believe her. Nikolas may be a boy, but he isn’t weak. He’s strong, just like his father and his father’s father.
Despite her injuries, despite her fear, she’s trying to make me feel better. Trying to calm my nerves and keep me from losing it.
Without thinking, I pull her close to me and slip my arm around her waist, pressing my lips to hers.
At first, Victoria is timid, and I feel her uneasy. But the moment my tongue brushes against hers, that fight disappears, and she allows herself to enjoy this. I don’t know what’s come over me, but I ache for her touch. I ache to feel every smooth curve of her body pressing against mine. Feeling her breasts flatten against my chest and her shaky breaths dance with my own.
She smells of shampoo and apple-scented soap, a combination sweet enough to eat.
I slide my hand from her waist to her ass, squeezing her, feeling that supple flesh warm my hand. In an instant, I forget where we are and who I am. It doesn’t matter, because this woman is the one thing that I want.
Fuck.
“Come with me,” I tell her authoritatively. Niko won’t be done for another few minutes yet. We have time for this.
“What—” she starts to protest, but I’m already dragging her down one green-walled hallway. I see what I’m looking for—a janitor’s closet—and drag her into it.
It’s dark and warm in here in contrast to the cold, harshly-lit hall, but that’s perfect, because Victoria’s kiss is even hotter. I yank her into me, my mouth crashing hard on hers, my hands already roaming her body with a desperation I didn’t know I had in me until this second.
I want to seize her, twist her, break her—make her moan, make her beg, make her whimper, make her come. I’m so filled with this desire that it blocks out all the other thoughts competing for priority in my head. For this minute, I don’t give a flying fuck about Brahim