Page 74 of Deception

“Luchik…” Mama utters behind me at the same time as Red cups my face, pushing onto her tiptoes to steal my stare.

“Tomasz…”

With her other hand trailing the length of my arm, she pries my hand open enough to release Vanya.

“I don’t want your help or your pity,” Lucy says plainly.

Standing between me and the spoilt bitch, she strokes over the marks I left on Vanya’s face, as though she’s swiping away what just happened. It’ll take a lot more than that to erase this. Not even God himself can save her.

“Keep your fucking righteousness, and stay out of my way. This is the first and last time I turn a blind eye. Thank your mother for that, because once she’s gone, you’ll have no one to protect you. No one to stand between you and me…and I won’t just squeeze your pretty cheeks…”

Shaking me off, Lucy takes a step forward. Delicate hands fist around gold hair, pulling so hard that it’s a wonder how the force doesn’t snap Vanya’s neck. She’s a fucking goddess, and if I wasn’t fuming with her too, I would fuck her in front of the entire world.

“Come at me again and I’ll turn you inside out. You think he’s bad now…”

With a scoff, she walks out of the room without a backward glance. The only evidence of her emotions is the trembling hands balled tightly at her sides as I follow.

“One of you,” I level Father and Niko with a scowl, “put her in her place, or so help me God…”

Red is halfway up the stairs when I leave the dining room. The hallway is bright, making it impossible not to pause and watch her. Bone straight, her hair reaches down to her ass. She’s never looked so small and fragile, not even when she was battered and bruised. Even with her fire and strength, she’s more vulnerable now than ever before. We’re more vulnerable now that we have something aside from the two of us to protect.

I stalk after her in silence. Leaving the bedroom door open for me, she meanders straight for the balcony doors, looking out at the lake.

“Before you bark at me,” she says, finding my stare in the glass, “you can’t protect me or our child if they hate you, but you can protect me from their hate.”

“And who will protect you from me?” I ask, prisoning her between my arms as I brace onto the glass from behind her.

“You’re a man of your word, husband… Master…” Big, beguiling eyes flutter closed as her head lolls back onto my shoulder, and she whispers up at me, “You vowed to protect me…”

“And that leaves you at my mercy. It makes you my pet, and?—”

“Yes,” she cuts me off brusquely, spinning slowly to face me. “In these walls, I am your pet and slave and all those things you need. I am beholden to your grace, and I will indulge every want and whim. You say jump and I say how high…”

“Good. We understand each other, then.”

With a shake of her head, Red strokes the back of her fingers across my cheeks. Angry, frustrated tears bulge in her eyes, tinging them pink.

“Not yet. I’ll submit to you in here…but out there…” There’s a moment of pause where she tightens her hold on me, causing my chest to squeeze in response to the contact. Irresistible lips pinch into a pout as her body inches flush to mine. “I’ll honour, hell, I’ll even obey, but you cannot make me cower. Please…please,” she begs with a tear rolling down one side of her face, heavy and brutal, more so than any violent act I’ve ever witnessed. That one drop of her pain and desperation cuts right through me. “Don’t make me weak. If you meant your vows, don’t make me weak.”

Heavy breaths punch the buzzing silence as I walk her back into the glass until she is sandwiched between my hard body and the door. “Nothing could ever make you weak.”

“That’s not true.”

“You’re a fucking goddess.”

“Please.”

With her wet stare boring into mine, it’s impossible not to give her what she needs. Every cell of my being aches to do it. To make her feel as precious as she is. My girl is a diamond. Delicate to look at. Brilliant to hold. And it will take the weight of a million years, an entire universe, to break her. If she can’t see that, it’s up to me to ensure she knows it.

“In here you are my pet.”

“I’ll get on my hands and knees and kiss your feet.”

Thumbing the tears hanging on her long lashes, I trail a hand down her stunning face, drying the tracks of her pain. I’ve always been a man of my word. What I say, I do. And protecting her isn’t enough. It wasn’t enough when I said my vows, so I swore to care for her too. I promised to worship and adore her, and if she feels weak, then I’ve failed on all accounts. That’ll never happen. Not with her.

Tracing my palm to her chest, I hold it over her pounding heart. “In here too,” I add. “In here you are my slave. It beats for me. Only me.”

Cupping her hand over mine, Lucy nods with shaky breaths. “Yes, master.”

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