Page 1 of Twisted Desire

1

I’m going to kill Nikolai Sterling.

I locked myself in the fitness room of the Westbrook Hotel, and he’s been knocking on the door every five minutes for the past half hour. This has been my routine for months now. This simple, undecorated room with its cardio machines, weight rack, and heavy bag has become a reprieve for me. Getting up and starting my morning off with a good sweat session. It’s one way to work out my frustrations that doesn’t have others frowning at my “poor behavior.” I could think of several more enjoyable ways, one of which includes the man on the other side of the frosted-glass door. And trust me, I can attest to how good a sweat session with Nikolai makes a girl feel.

I can’t remember exactly how it started—Nikolai would probably know better than me. What I do recall is the months we spent taunting each other before we finally gave in. After the first time we had sex, I was hooked—almost as much as he was. It drove Tristan and Aurora insane. Sex with Nikolai quickly became a mutually beneficial pastime, and that sure as hell isn’t going to stop just because we’re diving into battle against the corrupt, fae-killing humans.

The deep tone of Nik’s voice stops my punch mid-swing. “Sky, we need to talk.”

I exhale a harsh breath, glaring at my reflection in the wall of mirrors in front of me. “Not now, Sterling.” Talking isnotwhat I’m interested in doing if I let him in.

The ache across my knuckles flares as my fist connects with the punching bag hanging from the ceiling on a thick iron chain.

“Let me in, Skylar.” His words sound muffled through the door.

Oh, for fuck’s sake.He isn’t going to leave, but he also isn’t going to shift inside because he knows I’ll kick his ass.

I rip the fingerless gloves off, tossing them on the floor, and grab my water bottle. I chug half of it on my way to the door, flip the lock, and walk back to where I was working out. Nikolai enters the room, closing the door behind him.

I turn around to face him and his annoying, effortless appearance. He’s wearing black jeans and a white T-shirt that’s two sizes too fucking small by the looks of how tight it’s hugging his chest. My gaze collides with his, and I’m forced to remember how soft and comforting his emerald eyes became when I lost everything. “What do you want?”

His chipper grin makes me consider dumping the rest of my water on him. “And good morning to you, sunshine.”

“You want your ass kicked?” I shoot back.

He lifts a brow at the idea. “You want to play?” he challenges, amusement in his eyes.

A bead of sweat rolls down my temple, and I catch it with the back of my hand, wiping it on my black jogging pants. “With you?” I offer a laugh. “Not a chance.” Nikolai and I play so many games, it’s sometimes hard to keep up.

“I’d beg to differ.” He runs a finger up the side of the punching bag.

“Good for you,” I retort, dropping my water bottle beside the gloves. “What do you want, Nikolai? I was in the middle of something.”

His eyes travel the length of me, pausing at my bare midriff, and I snap my fingers in his face.

“I’ve got a bunch of the fae downstairs ready to train,” he says.

My lips come together. “Let me take a shower, and I’ll meet you down there.”

“Sure. Allison’s already there. Oliver wanted to come, but I told him that’d be pointless unless he wanted to volunteer as a guinea pig for fae mind manipulation.”

I stare at him without comment. While Allison has been running the bookstore in Aurora’s absence, the human boy has been sticking his nose into everything around here. We haven’t kicked him out—none of us have the heart to. Not even me. So, I guess he’s staying.

It’s been almost a year and a half since we set Tristan and Aurora up with their new lives, and I want them to come back. At least Aurora was practiced at keeping Nikolai in line. As much as any one person can be.

Nikolai is... a lot. He kept me together when my world was falling apart—when I lost both of my best friends in the span of a couple weeks, but he still drives me absolutely nuts on a daily basis.

Losing Max was something none of us were prepared for—something I haven’t completely been able to move past. Nikolai was there when I needed someone, and when I didn’t want anyone. Sometimes, he’d sit next to me for hours without saying a word. That Nikolai I can tolerate. It’s when he opens his mouth—when he looks at me with that glimmer in his eyes and that ridiculous smirk on his lips that I want to smack him. Or fuck him. Honestly, I’ve done both, and I have yet to decide which one I get more of a rush from. Though the former typically leads to the latter.

It’s been a long eighteen months. Shortly after we left Tristan and Aurora, I figured we would’ve at least made headway with The Experiment. It took almost that whole first year for Nikolai and I to adjust to our new roles. A lot of the fae weren’t happy with the idea of a merger. That’s essentially what it was—bringing the dark and light fae together to defeat The Experiment. It’s the fae who still refuse to get on board we’re worried about, and we’ve been wasting too much time trying to keep the peace. I’m tired of the bullshit. Nikolai is about ready to start outcasting fae, and I’m not far behind. We don’t have time to deal with these pathetic issues when there are humans still kidnapping and killing us.

That being said, and as damaging as this war with the humans has been, it’s reminded our people that we need to take care of our own.

We’re still losing numbers. As hard as we’ve tried to keep everyone safe, we’re still figuring out The Experiment. They have the upper hand—they’ve known about us far longer than we’ve known about them. It’s going to take time for us to get on the same level, and during that time, we’re losing numbers. A sacrifice—a tragedy.

Standing under the hot spray of water, I close my eyes and let my muscles relax. They’ve been tense for days, and I’m not sure it’s something even a deep-tissue massage could work out. Training the fae for a war against humans is tougher than I had anticipated. Sure, humans don’t have the same speed, strength, and abilities we do, but they have weapons with the ability to take us down faster than I care to admit. Case in point: Max.

My gaze freezes on the white shower tile in front of me. Not a day goes by where I don’t think of him. He was my best friend, aside from Tristan, but it feels as if I lost them both. So that leaves Nikolai—the man I can’t stand to be around unless we’re doing things other than talking.

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