Throne of Power (Throne Duet #1) by Rina Kent

At one point, I realized there would be a day where she will leave me and never look back.

But that was before I decided I won’t lose her.

I wasn’t joking when I told her she’s coming with me. It was said in the heat of the moment, but it’s the truest decision I’ve ever made.

Rai is coming with me.

When this whole thing is done, she will be by my side when we go to live somewhere far away from here.

Far away from the tragedy I’ll bring to the place she loves so much. The wound in my chest is nothing compared to the one she’ll suffer once I’m done.

She’s currently changing my bandage and telling me about Mikhail’s latest screw-up. That’s what she’s been doing for the past couple of weeks. I try to focus on her words instead of the urge to flip her underneath me and fuck her.

It doesn’t matter that we just came out of the shower and I took her against the wall until she was screaming at me to stop.

I can’t stop.

Not when she looks at me with those eyes. I wish to be able to keep them safe somewhere. I wish I could hide them so they wouldn’t see the monstrosity of what I truly am or what I’m capable of. If she does see, she won’t only want me dead like the other time I disappeared on her. This time, she will shoot me with her own hands.

I would probably deserve it, but still, I won’t let it happen, even if I have to resort to methods she won’t approve of.

Once finished with the bandage, she helps me put on my shirt and buttons it. Her black-manicured nails look so feminine against the fabric, elegant and full of finesse like everything about her.

Her face appears younger, probably because she’s not completely alert like when we’re in the company of others. She’s starting to gradually let her guard down around me.

I wouldn’t say that’s a very clever choice on her part, but it’s better than having her always fight me—though she does still fight me whenever she feels the urge to. I love provoking Rai and causing her to blush or squirm before she tells me to take her against the closest available surface.

“All finished.” She smiles at her handiwork.

“I wouldn’t say it’s all finished unless you’re bouncing on my dick, Princess.”

She sucks in a harsh breath. “Do you ever stop talking like that?”

“I do.”

“Yeah, right.”

“I really do.”

“When have you ever, pervert?”

“When you’re riding me, Mrs. Hunter.”

She rolls her eyes. “You say that as if you let me.”

“I will now.” I tap my thigh.

She hesitates for a second too long before she shakes her head. “No, we’re supposed to go meet Kai, remember?”

“How could I forget?” I mutter.

We have a meeting with the Japanese fucker who looks at her in a way that bugs me. That’s an understatement. It’s not only that I dislike the way he looks at her. Whenever his name is brought up, I have the urge to finish his miserable life and start a diplomatic problem between the Yakuza and the Bratva.

However, the other fucker, Vladimir, has been urging Rai to go talk to him for a possible alliance. He knows Kai has some sort of an agreement with Rai, and I don’t like that type of agreement.

Needless to say, there was no way in hell I was going to let her go meet him on her own. So either I go or we ditch him. I prefer the second option, or better yet, I’d rather option zero where I should’ve had Flame snipe him down.

“Kai can wait,” I say.

“No, he can’t.”

“Yes, he can. In the meantime, you can ride me. Come on, you know you want to.”

She pulls her bottom lip between her teeth and peeks at me through her thick lashes with a seductiveness I’m sure she doesn’t know she has but still manages to exude, anyway.

She might not be a natural seductress like her twin sister, but she has these hidden tendencies that appear every now and then, and they sure as fuck work on me judging from the bulge in my trousers.

“Later, okay?”

“Why wait for later when we can do it now?”

She sighs heavily but doesn’t push away from me when I grab her by the waist.

Rai stares at me. In the beginning, I hated her eyes. I thought they were too cold, callous, and impenetrable, but now they’re anything but closed off. She’s soft, peaceful, and I might be too addicted to that side of her.

“Do you realize just how much you’ve screwed up my schedule?”

“And is that a bad thing?”

“Of course it is. I have work to do, and it’s not only about the brotherhood. I’m an executive manager in V Corp, where many people’s livelihoods depend on me. I have the directors to answer to and the employees to look after. I also have to keep an eye on Ana’s internship so she stops being too sheltered, but I forget all about that when I’m with you. Would you stop distracting me?”

“Why would I when it’s the best distraction you will ever have?”

“Kyle…” she pleads. “Let’s just go, and when we return, I will let you do whatever you want.”

My interest is piqued at that. “Whatever I want?”

“Whatever. You. Want,” she says emphatically. “But now promise you’ll be good.”