Page 15 of Volatile

The annoying idiot beside me drops his voice and says my full name with authority. I’ve never seen this side to the usually playful Vitali, he’s normally like a little puppy: always wagging his tail and asking for belly rubs. I don’t know why I respond to it, but I do, and my voice comes out small, hoping he doesn’t judge me.

“I pretended to pass out.”

This time.

Usually, I just giggle and walk into them but Brodie was too alert and he kept looking at the rapey fuckers on his table when I stumbled. He’s not high up enough in the chain for me to face any consequences and my identity was hidden, but it’s his own fault for leaving the room to invite his little predator buddies to ‘join in the fun’ like he said.

There’s a split second of calm before the raging storm and Tali’s voice booms, vibrating off the walls and shaking the screens.

“Fuck no. You do not put yourself in fucking danger.”

If he didn’t curse I could imagine it was someone else speaking. It’s like a switch has gone off and I’ve been transported to a world I don’t know as he jumps up, ignoring the pain in his knee. He doesn’t break anything or punch a wall, he paces, which is somehow worse because he’s trying to calm himself down.

When it doesn’t work, he stomps over to me and pulls me up with his hands wrapped around my biceps. The authority in his tone is making me react how I definitely shouldn’t in this room.

“You will never fucking do that shit again, am I understood, Anastasia?”

No one ever says my full name; it’s been Stasi since I was three years old and I’m definitely going to do whatever the fuck I want. Seeing my defiance, he jolts my body and growls my name as he grits, “Anastasia, do you understand?.”

I like that, the way he says my name and how commanding he is.

All this shit is fucking with my head.

I can’t focus on any pleasure I derive from him and cross my arms over my chest to strengthen my voice as I refuse. “You don’t come into my house, uninvited, and tell me what to do. You can sit down and shut up like a good boy or leave.”

He straightens, dropping his hold on my biceps as he looks me up and down and lets out a deep breath. I naively think I’ve won. Until the word turns gray due to my t-shirt covering my face. My toes hurt at the impact of his stupid shins as I kick out at him, and he comes into view for a split second before I’m turned around. He’s a psycho and ties my wrists together with the material and I’m spitting murder.

“Untie me, you prick.”

My foot hits air as I kick back and then I’m tilted as he hauls me over his shoulder.Digging my knee into his stomach doesn’t deter him and I don’t know what the fuck his problem is, but he doesn’t slow down despite my wriggling. He grabs my ankles together in one hand, stopping my knees from hitting into his ribs, leaving me with one weapon — my head. The impact of my forehead on his back does fuck all as I lose my carefully crafted unaffected voice and seethe, “Vitali! Put me down!”

He does what I said as we go into the bathroom and pushes me into the shower.My hands are literally tied behind my back as he stands at the open end of the shower, and I make it half a step when his deadly voice bounces off the tile.

“Are you going to do that shit again?”

Squaring my shoulders, I tilt my chin up and spit out, “Fuck. You.”

It ends in a screech as ice-cold water rains down against my body. I bring my shoulders up and hug the glass partition to escape the water, but it shuts off before my hair is fully drenched.

He clenches his jaw and shakes his head. “Wrong answer, sweetness.”

The cunt is literally torturing me and my teeth chatter, goosebumps dot my skin, and I don’t answer as I mentally prepare myself for the icy water.He changes tactics and hot water splashes against my cold skin; it’s not scorching, but the difference in temperature has me flinching away as I try to escape and nearly slip. There’s only one way to leave the shower unless I manage to break the glass and Tali is fucking blocking it. He presses one hand against the center of my chest to keep me in place, lightly pushing me back so I’m fully under the spray.

I should have bought a place with a bigger shower.

Once I’ve warmed, he turns off the large overhead spray and asks the same question, deeper and slower this time.

“Will you put yourself in danger again, Anastasia?”

Why does he sound so grown up? And, more importantly, why does it make him so much more attractive?

I’ve got hypothermia and it’s interfering with my cognitive abilities, the playful puppy is the real Vitali, and I shake away my stupid libido. Water drips off my lashes as I shiver in front of him and manage to strengthen my voice to argue with his idiotic man-logic.

“Fuck you, Vartanov, I wasn’t in danger.”

His entire body flexes and he takes a step closer, trying to prove I’m a liar as he nods to himself, “No danger. Okay.”

Everything about him darkens on the next step.

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