Darkest Deeds: Cavalieri Della Morte

by Kenborn, Cora

  “Fuck, shit!” I mumble through gritted teeth. Then I stop. The table is heavy. It wouldn’t rattle. Lifting my head off the floor, I push as high off my shoulder as I can, and that’s when I see it.

  Niko’s vodka bottle.

  It’s right where he left it, open and sitting right at the edge of the table. I lick my lips, the thought of liquid touching them too tempting to pass up. After a minute or two of assessing my options, I can only come to one, and it’s going to really suck.

  Rolling away from the table, I take a deep breath, clench my stomach, and power roll back into it. The impact sends white hot pain searing through my muscles. I second guess myself until I see the bottle rattle then tip toward the edge.

  Screw pain.

  Three more times I roll away and then bang into the table. Three times more, the bottle tips and almost falls. Sweat pours down my face, and my shoulder burns.

  One more.

  “Jri govno i zdohni!” I yell, slamming into the table leg. As if cursed, the bottle tumbles off the table and slams onto the floor. I brace for shattering glass, but it breaks in four clean pieces.

  Well damn. If I knew screaming eat shit and die in Russian was the key, I’d have done it a long time ago.

  It only takes one full roll until I’m face down in eighty proof Stolichnaya. The first slurp burns like hell. My throat feels like it’s been doused in gasoline and set on fire, but I’ll be damned if I’m stopping now. I worked too hard for this.

  “I brought you a bottle of water, but I can pour some whiskey on the bathroom floor if you’d prefer.”

  I freeze. I don’t have to look to see who it is, but I do anyway. Niko’s standing in the open doorway, one arm gripping the molding over his head. A huge water bottle dangles from his free hand. I expect him to be pissed at the mess I made, but to my surprise, he seems amused.

  “Fuck your water,” I growl, lowering my lips back down to the vodka.

  Within five steps he’s squatting down beside me, slowly unscrewing the cap off the bottle and making an unnecessary production of taking a sip. “Mmmm.” The sound draws my eyes to his lips as he licks them. “This is ice cold. You know, one taste is like a drug. The moment you have it, you’ll never get enough.”

  I may be drunk, but I don’t think we’re talking about water anymore.

  Rolling onto my side, I rest my head in what’s left of the vodka. “You were gone a long time.”

  “And you’re a mess.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I have a high tolerance for things, but to put it bluntly, you fucking stink.” Horrified, I tilt my head back to tell him he doesn’t smell like a bed of roses either when he holds up a hand. “I also can’t have you cutting yourself on broken glass and bleeding to death one day into our time together, now can I?”

  I shrug. “It’d be easier.”

  “Ava, I’m not negotiating anything with you. What I say goes. When I ask you to do something, you do it. If you don’t…” His voice trails off, and I risk a glance up at him. The sparkle in his silver eyes is gone.

  “If I don’t?”

  “That’s a question you don’t want me to answer,” he calmly answers.

  I believe him.

  “Now, first thing’s first.” Fear grips me as Niko produces a knife from his pocket and pops the blade. Before I can muster the energy to scream, he shifts toward my feet and slices through the tie binding my ankles. The relief of being able to move them is almost enough to make me cry, but when he circles around and cuts the one restraining my hands, I slump forward in a mix of gratitude and fury.

  “So, thanks for tying me up like a Thanksgiving turkey,” I say, climbing to my knees. “That was fun for six or twelve hours. Since I offend you so much, kindly point me toward the shower, and I’ll…wait…what are you…Niko, no!”

  I fight like a rabid bear as Niko pulls out another zip tie and tugs my wrists in front of me. In my weakened state, I’m no match for him, and within thirty seconds he has my hands bound.

  I only have one question. “Why?”

  “Because letting you move freely around this house takes trust, pchelka, and that’s something I lack the ability to do now.”

  I stare down at my freshly bound hands. “How do you expect me to clean myself like this?”

  “I don’t.”

  Glancing up, I see the same unapologetically primal heat in his eyes I saw last night. My heart slams against my chest as Niko picks me up in his arms and carries me into the bathroom. Without a word, he sits me on the pale granite counter while he opens the glass door to the shower and turns on the water. When he returns, I steal a sharp inhale.

  “I’m the only reason you took that breath, Ava.” He grips my chin, forcing my eyes on him. “There was a contract put out on your life. I accepted the job, and that’s why you’re sitting here. If it had been anyone else, you’d be dead.”

  “Why?” It seems to be the only word I can manage.

  He laughs. “I’m not your hero, sweetheart. I spent two years locked in that torture hole your father calls a prison because of you. I had every intention of choking the life out of you last night.” I lower my chin, but he tilts it back up. “But then you said my name. You touched me, and all I could see was the beautiful, innocent girl who promised she loved me. So many broken promises.”

  A tear rolls down my cheek. “I kept my promise. Even when…when…” I shake my head. “You left me, Niko!”

  “You forced me to!”

  “I had no choice!”

  “It doesn’t matter now. I own you now, Ava. You’re going to surrender your freedom. When I tell you to do something, you do it. No questions. No arguments. No crying. Do you understand me?”

  I swallow. That’s all he’ll get. If this is the way it’s to be, then fine. He’ll have my submission, but he’ll never get another drop of my tears.

  “I understand.”

  “Good. Now, hands above your head.” I stare at him a second too long, and his jaw ticks. Remembering his warning, I quickly swing my arms up and hold them. Steam fills the room, but it’s not too thick that I can’t see the glint of the blade as it comes closer to my neck.

  I hate myself for the immediate spike in my pulse. This twinge of anticipation is perverse. I bow my head, willing the reaction to fade.

  What comes next won’t be kind, but I’ll obey every command in order to gain his trust. This devil blessed with an angel’s face bends my will while weakening my resolve, but playing his game is the only way to win.

  I know freedom isn’t free.

  I just wish I didn’t crave paying the price.

  Niko grabs the top of my T-shirt in one hand and slices the knife down the front of it with the other. He nods toward my hands, and I lower my arms. Pulling what’s left of the shirt off my shoulders, he quickly cuts the sleeves, and it falls to the floor. The only thing I have left are my panties, and I know they won’t be there for long.

  The steam is thicker now, so much that I can barely see Niko’s face. But I can hear the change in his breathing. What was once even is now heavy and ragged. The sounds come closer as the steel blade slips under the thin string on my hip, and with a jerk of his wrist, the sharp edge slices through it. He does the same to the other side, and I hear a click as the blade closes.

  I’m used to being naked in front of people. But for some reason, sitting on this bathroom counter, baring my body in front of the only man who was ever supposed to see it makes me feel ashamed. I lower my eyes, unable to look at him. Not when I see his shirt drop to the floor, not when his boots come off, not when I hear the clang of his belt buckle, and especially not when I watch his jeans and boxers land in a heap by his feet.

  “Eyes up, pchelka.”

  I lift my chin and gasp. His eyes are almost completely dark, the gray only a faded memory. Tension fills the air, and I’m scooped into his arms again then placed on my feet facing away from him under the warm water.

  Niko’s soapy finger
s run up my back and down my arms. I shiver, conflicted in wanting him to stop and needing more. I fight to hold in a moan as one hand snakes around my waist, the other brushing over my breast before continuing its torturously slow path downward.

  So many nights I fantasized about how Niko’s body would feel inside me. Now, with his hard erection pressing against my ass, I can’t help rocking against him. I gasp at how big he feels, and on impulse, I do it again. He lets out a groan, his hand curling against my stomach.

  “You want to play, pchelka?”

  My response is a hoarse cry as his hand slides between my legs. Pushing a finger inside me, he pumps it as his thumb works my clit until I can’t see straight. I’m moaning and squirming in his arms, helpless to do anything but take it.

  “Niko!”

  “Scream for me, Ava,” he growls, adding a second finger.

  I can’t take it, crying out his name over and over as I unravel in his hand. Still, he doesn’t relent, pumping harder and demanding more until I scream for him once more. Sagging against his chest, I ride out the crashing wave as it mercifully tosses me back to shore.

  “Good girl. Now it’s my turn.”

  No words have ever frightened me more, but I refuse to show weakness. Weakness is fuel to men like him. Niko had the chance to kill me. He didn’t because he craves my fear. As long as I deny him that one thing, I’m in control.

  That thought is still in my head when Niko turns me around, his eyes glassy as he strokes my cheek. “Have you ever felt death, Ava? Felt it burn inside you with a soul so dark you swore you stopped breathing even though you still walked the earth?”

  “Yes.”

  His lips curl into a smirk as his other hand strokes my throat. “You know nothing. I’m Bratva and Cavalieri Della Morte. These hands have taken the lives of hundreds of men without remorse.”

  His dismissive tone sparks something inside me that erupts the minute I open my mouth, blowing my resolve to hell. “This body has held on through shit you could never fathom,” I hiss. “You want to intimidate me, Nikolai Garetovsky or Gaheris or whatever the fuck you’re calling yourself these days? You take your best shot. You think I can’t handle it? You think again. I’ll play whatever role you want, but don’t you dare think I’m going to be your pet or your doll or whatever sick shit you’ve dreamed up inside your head.”

  I stand there, chest heaving, burning with rage, and not sorry for one damn thing I said. I brace myself for an explosion, but what I get instead is a slow and steady smile. The chilling kind of smile that makes me desperately want to leap back over the line I just crossed.

  “I don’t want a doll,” he says, walking me backward. “They don’t interest me.”

  “What do you want?”

  Niko closes his hand around my throat. In a blur of movement, he has me backed against the shower wall. His eyebrows tighten, pulling together as the corners of his mouth turn downward. “I want Yuri gone.”

  His words take me by surprise, as does the pained look on his face. They don’t match his actions, and the confliction sets me on edge. “He is. I killed him, remember?”

  “I want him gone from your memory.” His expression slackens as his thumb traces the dip at the base of my throat. “Did he touch you here?”

  “No.”

  “Then this,” he says, laying his other hand on my shoulder and guiding me to my knees, “this will be the first part of you I claim.”

  Niko

  “Fuck!” My grip on her bound wrists tightens as I hold them over her head. Nothing in the world matters right now except for the feel of her wet mouth around my cock. I may have brought her to her knees, but Ava willingly took me in her mouth, her eyes on me the whole time. I thought I wanted her full submission, but damn if the defiance in her words and the desire on her face doesn’t awaken a primal instinct in me.

  My thoughts are interrupted by the gagging noises below me, and I open my eyes to see her struggling, a flash of panic in her eyes. My throbbing cock begs me to ignore it and make her choke on every inch, but I can’t do it.

  Not to my Ava.

  Slowing my thrusts, I pull out until the head barely brushes against her lips. “Breathe,” I command. She complies without arguing, taking in precious gulps of air. Keeping her arms pinned above her head, I tilt her chin so she’s forced to look at me. “I won’t lie to you, Ava; I’m going to hurt you, but, as fucked up as I am, I’ll never force myself on you. I’ll never be him. If you ask me to stop, I’ll stop. Do you understand?

  All I get in return is a slight nod, but that’s all I need. Pressing my thumb into her chin, I give it a firm tap. “Now open.” She does as I ask, and I slide back into her mouth. “Suck, Ava. Show me what my thousand dollars would’ve gotten me.” I don’t bother looking down at her, but I don’t need to. I can feel her anger coming off her in waves, and I can’t wait to see what she does with it.

  I’m not disappointed.

  The expert way her tongue dances along my cock almost blinds me. I grunt, steadying my legs as she alternates between stroking, licking, and sucking until everything tightens and the pressure is too much to take.

  “Enough!” Without another word, I thrust deep and hard, bucking my hips as I wind my hand around her wet hair. She’s gagging again, but I’ve lost all patience. “Relax your throat,” I growl. “Take all of me.”

  As if my commands flip a switch in her head, Ava stops fighting against the invasion and welcomes it instead. Sliding down her throat without obstruction, I fucking lose every ounce of restraint and relentlessly drive into her mouth.

  Fighting to take back what I lost.

  Fighting to take back the only thing that’s ever broken me.

  “Ava!” Her name is a tortured groan torn from my lips. Letting go of her hair, I slam my hand against the tile wall and release every coiled emotion down her throat. The more I come, the more she swallows, the moment seeming to last forever until my body jerks one last time, and I sag against her.

  I hear her ragged breathing beneath me, yet I can’t move. I can’t open my eyes. If I do, I’ll have to look at her. I refuse to risk it. If I see anything other than regret in them, I don’t know what will happen.

  This was supposed to be punishment for what she’s done. A show of dominance. She held fear in her eyes. She cried. She knelt before me. She shook in my presence.

  I won.

  So why does it feel like I just got played?

  * * *

  I’m reading a text from Mik when I see Ava standing in the doorway of my bedroom, her shoulders rounded and her ankles crossed. “Can I help you?”

  “Didn’t you forget something?”

  I take in her freshy washed and still dripping hair. “Not that I can see.”

  “Clothes, Niko. You cut mine to pieces, remember?”

  My gaze travels up and down her body. “I did,” I note, returning my attention to my phone.

  “Aren’t you going to give me more?”

  “Nope.”

  “You seriously expect me to spend the rest of my life naked?”

  I nod. “What’s left of it, yes.”

  “What if someone sees me?”

  “People see you every day, pchelka. What would it really matter?” It’s true, a fact that pisses me off the more time we’re alone. Still, I can’t let her feel comfortable and settled.

  “Fine, but can you at least remove these?” Glaring at me, she holds up her still zip tied wrists.

  “Nope.”

  “Are you joking?”

  “Do I look like I’m joking?”

  “No, you look like an asshole,” she grumbles.

  Typing the last few words of my text, I hit send and place my phone on the nightstand. “Ava, your attitude is becoming a problem. Do we need to rehash the rules again?”

  “I thought…” She glances at her feet, her body tensing. “I thought after what happened that…”

  “That what? That after sucking my dick we’d play h
ouse?”

  “No.” Her tone is flat, all emotion draining out of her.

  I study her. “Then what did you think?”

  “I thought you’d at least treat me like a human being. You said you didn’t want a pet, but you’re keeping me tied up like a dog.”

  “That’s not—”

  “You’re giving me whiplash, Niko,” she groans, leaning against the doorway. “One minute, you’re screaming you want to kill me, and the next you’re naked in the shower with me telling me I’m yours. Which one’s the real Niko? Do you even know?”

  I could answer that question, but I’m not particularly into being psychoanalyzed by my captive. “I have water,” I say, lifting the same bottle I brought in hours ago.

  “I’m not thirsty.”

  She could at least put some effort in selling that pile of bullshit.

  “What’s happened to you, Ava? You’ve become a terrible liar.” She tosses a scowl at me, which I ignore. “Be smart about this. When someone says they’ll eventually kill you, do you think a liquid strike is an effective countermeasure?”

  “I hate it when you make sense.”

  “Logic tends to anger the irrational.” I pat the mattress beside me. “Sit down and don’t argue with me.”

  She doesn’t argue, but when she barely sits her ass on the edge with her back to me, I’m pissed. I’m not living this way for another hour, much less however long I decide to keep her here. Hooking an arm around her waist, I drag her onto the bed and flip her onto her back. “Sit up so you don’t drown.” If looks could kill, I’d be dead, but she does as I ask. Once she’s in place, I tilt the bottle to her lips, and she guzzles half of it down.

  “I don’t get a thank you?”

  She licks her lips and smirks. “Sorry. Thanks for not killing me tonight.”

  “I’ll let that one slide.” I tip the rest of the water bottle up, letting her finish it while I drown myself in a more eighty-proof version.