Page 38 of The Red Room

A subtle smirk. “Believe me, I’ve tried to look anywhere else.”

The breath I take in seizes somewhere between my lungs and throat. I want to take another picture, it might just be thebest one yet, but I can’t. My finger only hovers over the small circular button, awaiting enough pressure to slam the shutter to a close. There it sits as our eyes meet each other’s.

What does he meanhe’stried to look anywhere else? Like … other women? Someone he’s met hosting Völk events? My smile loses slack. While I don’t mean to, my grip tightens over the camera, and I glance away from him, doing my best to keep my face indifferent.Click.

“That’s not what I meant, Natalia.”

“It’s fine. You’re—fine,” I say and return my eye to the camera, snapping another few pictures before turning toward my camera bag. This was a mistake. All it took was one simple phrase to realize how stupid I was to come back here. “No need to explain.”

He steps forward, fighting against the restraints. “I didn’t mean I’ve looked …” His sentence trails off and when he takes a step closer, the chains lock in place, keeping his arms bound behind him. Nik takes a deep breath and releases it. “There are a lot of women in this world, Natalia.”

Great.Now he’s going to tell me something I already know. How very insignificant I really am stacked up against his ever-changing clientele. The parade of women coming to his club with a body I can only dream about having while stuck behind the lens of my fucking camera.Believe me, Nikolai Vostik, I already know.It doesn’t take a genius to figure out where I stand in the pecking order of attraction. I am not—

“Look at me,” he snarls, and when I do, his sharp gaze fixes on me. “There’s a reason I asked you not to come back here. Not because I want some other woman, or because you didn’t measure up to some ridiculous standard you’ve set in your own head.”

I swallow hard and rest the camera against my hip.

“It’s because you are dangerous for me,” he says, his eyes never leaving mine. “And my world doesn’t deserve someone like you.”

Tremendous heat travels up my chest and neck, ready to make my cheeks glow bright red.Me … dangerous to him?He almost ripped out my throat with his fucking teeth, and I’m the one that’s dangerous? I want to laugh in his face, but I still myself and wait for an explanation.

Nik thrusts his arms, showcasing the strength of the chains keeping him in place. “I have to wear these chains so I don’t become the monster everyone expects me to be. The alpha they’re all waiting for.” A long pause accompanies the silence. “I can’t look at you because you don’t see me the way they do. Their answer to another hundred years of savagery. The constant expectation of unleashing some horrible thing into the world. You look at me for not just what I am, but who I am.”

I try to say something. Anything. But the words fumble in my throat. I want to tell him he’s right. To scream that he isn’t the monster his father raised. I can’t though. I’m falling down this unimaginable cliffside, my arms and legs begging for purchase. I can’t manage a single thing, not even a short breath.

“You are special to me, Natalia,” he says, his voice lowering somehow. “Special … but dangerous.”

There it is again for a second time.Dangerous?My limbs stay frozen to the sides, fingers about to lose grip on the camera I can’t afford to replace. A light-headed rush envelopes me, making standing upright a difficult task. Nik doesn’t smile, though. No irritating smirk either. He’s serious, and for some reason, he’s just as afraid of me as I might be of him.

He brings his face inches from mine. “It’s the look you have in your eyes right now, Natalia.” He glides his mouth over my cheek to my ear and whispers, “And it’s the only thing keeping me from becoming a monster.”

Something simmers inside me. My heart doesn’t seize but stops altogether.Everything numbs, even the parts of me closest to him. His whole life he was trained to take his father’s place. A thing of nightmares. The apex predator of the very first werewolf pack. One of many bloodthirsty killing machines set loose on Los Angeles. But he isn’t like them. No, I’d bet my life on it. This man staring into my eyes now is not the alpha they want him to be. Nik isn’t his father. No. He’s … mine.

I kiss him, forcing our lips to intertwine as the chains rattle and bend in the background. Our tongues swipe together, tasting all the other has to offer. He tries to wrap his arms around me, but the chains keep him at bay, allowing his hands to reach my waist and no higher. I drop my camera to the floor and drag my fingers down his chest and stomach, feeling each ripple of scar tissue and muscles begging my hands to splay lower. There’s something else, though. The incredible desire to pull his boxers down one leg at a time. Nik bites my neck, and an insatiable gasp releases from my mouth into the loft.

“Oh, fuck,” I say, each syllable coming out more erratic than the last.

I feel the hardness of his cock resting on my thigh, throbbing like a second heartbeat. God, I want it inside me.Arousal leaves me nothing if not dripping for him. Could I physically handle it? The impressive size of this man? The short answer is no. The long answer? Well, I’m more than willing to fucking try.

He hums against my collarbone and continues placing light kisses on my exposed skin. My neck. My shoulder. My chest. None are off-limits, and Nik doesn’t seem to leave anything unattended. A sharp ringing breaks through the static in my ears, taking over the sounds of his soft mouth bringing pleasure wherever he sees fit. I roll my head back, exposing all of my throat to him. If he wanted to kill me and rip out mythroat, he would’ve done so by now. I don’t do it as a show of faith but for my own selfishness. When he sucks on my neck, the world around us melts away, leaving me in some uncharted void. Nik. Me. The unmatched heat of his skin warming mine. His lips setting my insides ablaze. And despite being tossed in this blissful unknown, I am in no hurry to leave.

“Why do you taste so fucking good?” he growls, ready to sink his teeth into another part of me.

He won’t though.Not tonight.I drop to my knees and grab the choke on each restraint.

“What—what are you doing?” he asks, his breath hitching and eyes growing wide.

I tighten the chains until his arms are practically immovable, cast to the side without any give.

“This one is, how do we Americans say? On the house.” I give him a devious glance, and nearly rip the boxers from his waist, leaving the length of him on full display.

Nik tries to grab at me, even fights against the fetters keeping him in place. The chains clank but ultimately do little else than ring like a pocketful of change.

“Do you want me to stop?” I ask, staring up at a bound Nikolai Vostik sinfully.

He huffs out a breath, glancing down at his restraints first, and then me. There’s no doubt the gears in his head are turning. No, they aren’t just turning but cranking like the hatch door of his loft. He appears apprehensive. Nervous even. Something tells me he isn’t used to being thedobycha, but tonight, I am the goddamn wolf.

I ready myself for the real monster of this man, taking a deep breath before I plunge my lips to the head of him. Fitting my mouth around it is difficult. Opening wide enough so I don’t grate my teeth against him? Near fucking impossible. If he were any bigger my jaw might crack out of place.

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