Page 143 of Sins of a King
A rush of gratitude enveloped me. I struggled to sit up and Dolinsky helped me, puffing up pillows behind my back. I noticed I was wearing a silky pajama top and wondered who had dressed me. At the moment I didn’t care.
If Vlad had succeeded, they would’ve found my corpse, naked and pale. For some reason, it felt like I’d dodged a great indecency. I shook my head, trying to clear it, but it only made it throb.
“The doctor’s here,” Dolinsky said, moving toward the door. “Will you let him examine you?”
“Doctor?” I asked in surprise.
“He’s one of us,” he explained.
I nodded. “What happened to Vlad?”
“Nothing,” Dolinsky clipped. “Yet.”
“You’re going to kill him?”
“Da—yes.”
“When?”
Dolinsky’s eyes narrowed. “Why?”
“I want to be there. I deserve to be there. I want to watch.” I saw his surprise; he hadn’t expected me to be bloodthirsty. I wasn’t a wilting flower, I couldn’t be. I needed him to see me as more than a pet.
“I promise you’ll be there.” He slipped through the door, and I was left alone. I leaned back my head but didn’t close my eyes. If I did, Vlad’s angry face would loom before me.
I had no idea he’d been so conflicted. I thought he’d hated me because he hated wanting me. If I had known the depth of Vlad’s true rage, I never would have taken such a risk trying to break him just to prove that I could—just to prove I was capable of being Dolinsky’s queen and commanding his men.
Dolinsky came back with the doctor, a middle-aged-man with dark hair streaked with gray at the temples. I was quiet while he examined me, his touch gentle, especially at my throat.
“You will have bruises,” he said in a gruff voice. He, too, had a Russian accent. Was I the only non-Russian?
“But,” the doctor went on, “you will have no lasting damage. You will heal.”
On the outside, maybe. At night, when sleep came for me, what nightmares would lurk in the shadows of my subconscious?
“Thank you,” I croaked.
The doctor nodded and left us alone.
Dolinsky stood next to my bed and said, “I have Galina preparing a tray for you. Broth. You should rest.” He leaned over and kissed my forehead. Before he could leave, I wrapped my arms around him, pressing my face to his strong chest. It was as much for show as anything else. I needed the comfort.
“This is my fault,” he whispered into my hair as he stroked it.
“You couldn’t have known. He was one of your trusted few.”
“I can’t trust anyone. Not when it comes to your safety.” He pulled away from me so that he could stare into my eyes. His mouth descended toward mine and he pressed a soft kiss to my lips. I gently cupped his cheeks and kissed him back, shoving the guilt deep into my belly.
“I want you,” he said against my mouth.
“I want you, too.”
His jaw hardened. “Not as long as you are bound to Flynn Campbell. I will not have you as my mistress. I will have you when you are a no longer his wife.”
I forced my voice to be completely detached when I said, “The only way to do that is to kill him.”
“Yes.”
“Take me back to the city with you,” I pleaded. “Do not separate us. We’re stronger together.”
