A Lock Of Death by Beena Khan

9

Nine remained quiet during the entire ride.

Dimitri eyed her, but she stared straight ahead, not moving at all from her seat. She only blinked and breathed like she wasn’t even present at all. Her skin was left raw from the tears. Those cheeks stained pink. Her hair had dried up, and her natural waves overwhelmed her small, heart-shaped face.

She didn’t bother to put her hair in a braid either. Her hair hung around her like a lioness, reaching her knees. He almost wanted to reach out and tuck it behind her ears, but he gripped the steering wheel instead.

Stopping by a local drive-through, he picked up a meal for them. Reaching out a hand, he waited for her to take the French Fries and burger from his hands, but she stayed still.

He waited five seconds. When she didn’t, he placed it in her lap, but she moved, and it fell on the floor.

His gaze snapped up at her, but she didn’t look at him at all. Her eyes were trained to the night ahead of her.

“Look at me,” he commanded.

She did no such thing and looked straight ahead.

His jaw ticked, and his fists clenched against the steering wheel. Exhaling an uneven breath, he spoke again.

“Goldie.”

He glanced at her untamed mane again.

“Eyes on me.”

A moment passed before her head turned in his direction.

Her eyes were no longer wet and red. Now, they looked dry, so dry and vacant. That spark in her he’d seen that night she jumped off the railing was gone.

This wasn’t the same girl who’d bit and ravaged his neck like a vampire. He liked that spirit, the fieriness she had shown, but now, her essence was gone because he’d killed it.

Narrowing his eyes and slowing down his vehicle, he reached down below her feet and picked up the burger. It was still wrapped. She could still eat it. The fries were wasted, though. He unwrapped the burger and forced it in her hand.

“You will eat otherwise I will shove it down your throat.”

She only blinked.

“And you know, I don’t lie.”

Lowering her gaze, her eyes fell on the burger before her head leaned down and she took a small nibble of it. Satisfied, he turned around and unwrapped his sandwich.

Still driving, he took bites while glancing at her, to make sure she ate too. Her mouth moved slowly, and her throat bobbed every time she swallowed.

Turning his gaze to the road, the silence continued to fill the ride. He didn’t play any music. He didn’t make any conversations with her either.

The wrath he’d felt hours earlier had diminished, but it still tempted to boil and rise to the surface again. Hopefully, she’d learned her lesson and never tried to escape again.

He glanced at her again, but she didn’t return the look.

His gaze fell on her hands that she often fiddled with, then they trailed to her wrists that he had wrapped with one of his t-shirt’s. He didn’t need her bleeding all over the car.

She might need some ointment and gauze, but that was a privilege, and after she pulled that little stunt, she deserved his cruelty some more.

Were her wrists burning?

He looked up, seeking discomfort in her face but only a stoic face greeted him. Now, she resembled him. As long as she kept her mouth shut, they might just get along.

Tilting his head, his gaze landed on his steering wheel that he’d cleaned. No one could ever tell there was blood on it once.

She didn’t say one word to him.

He didn’t say one word to her.

It was time for another break, and it was almost dawn.

We’d been on the road for eight hours.

I knew Dimitri was looking at me again.

I stayed still like a statue or a… corpse.

Before exiting, he spoke.

“We’ll leave tomorrow. If you try anything again…” his voice trailed off, letting the warning linger in the air.

I closed my eyes at the sound of his dark voice before opening them again.

I understood the threat a little too well now. I nodded, hoping he was satisfied and didn’t need an audible answer.

He unlocked the doors and I turned to open my door. I stepped outside and an icy chill hit my heated skin. It was still autumn, but winter would be here soon.

I glanced at the night above me. Even the moon and the stars cowered behind dense layers of clouds. The clouds didn’t lift and reveal the stars that I longed to see. Now, even the sky reflected the deadness of everything around me. The trees around the bricked motel had silhouettes against the silvery night. Branches swayed with the wind, creaking into the pulsing air. My wobbling legs shook as I simply stared.

The long mess of my mane framed me, almost drowning me in its cocoon. For the first time in three years, I hadn’t braided it.

Now, it just hung around me, wild and untamed like an Amazonian. It tousled and swayed with the breeze, blowing across my face. I reached up and tucked a few tendrils behind my ears. I closed the door behind me, and my aching wrists tingled with the lingering agony in them.

I wanted to see what had become of them. It hadn’t cut too deep, I realized, otherwise I would have lost consciousness by now. The blood in my ears roared as I moved forward with every step, my shoes hitting the cement gray ground.

I opened the door to grab my bag from the backseat, but it wasn’t there. Dazed, I closed it before moving in front of the car and staring at the man in front of me.

Dimitri carried my bag along with his. I didn’t think he was being a gentleman. He didn’t have a gentleman bone in his body.

I glanced down at my wrists that were still in shackles. No longer ones of handcuffs but of fabric. I could never truly be free. He’d smothered me with his belonging, with a piece of him. Despair filled my heart as I moved forward in timid movements.

He knew I couldn’t run away from him. The moment I did, he would raze this building up in an inferno too. He’d exerted his cruelty in front of me, daggering me in a way that I’d never even imagined, that I’d never thought would have hurt me.

It was easy to hurt a woman by defiling her body but that wasn’t true darkness. That made you evil. Pitch black.

Darkness came from within the grittiness that lurked in his soul. People often gave empty threats of murder, but they never carried through with them, but… he punished me without even touching me. He found a creative way to torture me and destroy my soul.

I couldn’t help but compare him to his brother.

They were so different with their personalities.

Alexander was laid-back and charming, but it was his very personality that was deceptive. He was the type to lend you a hand and stab you in the back with his other. At least, Dimitri didn’t cover up his ruthlessness with a mask.

He was transparent.

Dimitri Nikolaev was darkness at its finest.

Dark wings cloaked him like an angel of death with the shadows surrounding him.

If he was Pakhan, there would be more bodies than humans.

He wasn’t a man meant for redemption or a happy ending.

He was the destroyer of all life and all endings.

A primal animal whose first instinct was to hunt and kill.

Anyone in my situation would have tried to ask for help.

I was a victim, and he was the villain.

I shouldn’t care though. I didn’t know these people in this new building. They meant nothing to me. I had no personal connection to them besides the fact that we were… human.

I glanced at the new motel in front of me.

I couldn’t leave these people behind to die while I enjoyed my newfound freedom. I wanted to protect them. Maybe this could give me a chance to redeem myself in my own eyes.

A bitter smile formed on my lips. It was a nice tactic that he’d used. Make it seem like it was my fault, mourn the losses of those innocent lives when truly the fault laid in his heart and soul. I didn’t force his hand. He could have stopped himself.

He snapped and acted, but that was on him. Never me.

That punishment when he killed that kid should have been the first and last. I wouldn’t have tried to escape after that, but he wanted to punish me some more. I shouldn’t have to fight for redemption though. I had the right to be walking, breathing, and living freely, and those who didn’t think so could rightly go fuck themselves in the ass because they were fucking privileged.

If they had walked a mile in my shoes, then they could talk.

If they had whored themselves out at the age of ten, then they could judge me.

I wasn’t a slave, and I never would be one.

I wondered how many people died in the last building.

Were any of them children?

There must have been at least a few.

I’d never been a witness to so many deaths before.

They couldn’t even have proper funerals, and it would be all closed caskets. Nothing but smoke, ash, and bones left behind.

With a hardened heart, I followed Dimitri behind, and we entered the building.

My mind lulled in and out as he did the same routine and charade he’d done yesterday. My eyelids were heavy against my resolve to sleep. I’d slept just nine hours ago, and I already wanted to return to dreamland. It was easier than facing reality.

I didn’t cry anymore, and my eyes were dry like sandpaper that even the natural water in them prickled. A throb pulsed throughout my aching eyelids. He didn’t speak to me anymore, and I didn’t think I could hear his voice without my treacherous heart spiraling into the sky. I patted my heart in my chest a couple of times before sighing silently.

He’s not our broken knight, my dear heart…

No one was going to rescue us.

We would rescue ourselves.

Inside the room laid another single bed. I looked at it and stared at the carpet. At least, this one didn’t have carpet burns. It was clean and the atmosphere had a lingering floral smell to it.

I rather sniff floral than crisp ever again. I would rather sleep on the floor than lay my body next to his again.

I took off my shoes and headed to the bathroom.

Locking the door behind me, I turned the sink faucet on. I winced as I removed the blood soaked fabrics from my skin, and I stared at my mangled red wrists.

The bleeding had stopped.

The handcuffs had cut into them but not deep enough to slice my veins. It wasn’t two lines that would leave permanent scars. It was torn flesh. I wondered how many more I would have to form a collection of them.

Perhaps, this was only the beginning.

I turned my wrists upward and placed them under the faucet. Hissing under my breath when my inflamed skin scorched, the bleeding began again. I stared as the clear mild water turned scarlet, splattering the white, glossy sink.

It reminded me of the blazing building I’d witnessed.

Slowly, the sink water cleared as the water ran clean.

The bleeding stopped mow.

I threw the ripped shirt pieces in the trash and turned off the faucet. I observed my wrists again. They were clean and pink now, but a good few inches of the outer layer of my skin had torn off. Grabbing a towel on the racket nearby, I held it against my swollen wrists. I returned it on the racket as I exited the restroom. I didn’t meet Dimitri’s eyes, even though his dry gaze landed on me again.

I moved toward the bed and grabbed the pillow before dropping it on the plush brown carpet below me.

I was just about to sit but Dimitri spoke again.

“What are you doing?”

I ignored him.

I lowered my body to the floor, but Dimitri moved toward me like a panther. Before my bottom could reach the floor, his rough hand landed on my bruised wrist, forcing me to stand.

Tears stung my eyes. I hissed and let out a soft grunt. He loosened his hold before his hand moved from my wrist to my hand. It was the second time he’d held my hand. My mind flashed to the balcony where he’d held it too.

Dazed, I glanced up.

Blue.

He was no longer my Blue.

Blue wasn’t real.

He was an illusion.

I wish I could say concern lay in his eyes, but there was absolutely nothing in them.

Desolate like death.

“You will sleep on the bed.”

My eyebrows creased because he was commanding me again. He’d told me I could sleep on the floor in the last motel.

Why would he be an ass now?

I cocked my head and arched an eyebrow, waiting for him to clarify but he didn’t. I tried to pull my hand back, but he refused to let go. Pressing my lips together, I tried to remove it from his grasp, but it did not affect this brute.

I was just about to claw him instead, but he pulled me toward him, and my other hand landed on his hard chest.

Startled, I glanced up, meeting his gaze. I didn’t want to hold his gaze for too long because I was afraid if I looked deep into his eyes again, I would stop hating him.

Dimitri’s eyes hardened. “In my bed now.”

Just four words to run a shudder through my body.

It was his bed though since he was paying for the room. I just wish he wouldn’t speak to me like that. It ran tingles down my spine in ways that weren’t… uncomfortable.

I shook my head in defiance, but I didn’t speak at all. I didn’t think I could speak, anyway. My voice had been fucked up the last time I’d tried. It might still be croaky, and I wanted to give it a rest. My eyes flared as I looked him dead in the eye.

I wouldn’t try to escape, but it didn’t mean that I would stop fighting. Pulling my hand from his clutch, I turned and moved forward to sit on the floor and have a moment of peace.

A low growl erupted behind me.

Dimitri was growling like a damn grizzly bear.

Someone needs to fucking relax.

I tried to quicken my footsteps in case he shot me down. A small gasp left my dry throat when I was tugged from behind. I reached up a hand to my scalp and peered behind. My locks were curled around Death himself.

I stayed still, not wanting to break my hair from his hold.

He had the edges wrapped around his hand. Before I could flash my eyes again, he twisted his hand and curled my long untamed mane around his arm, forcing me to step back every time he did until my back hit his chest. My eyes fell on his thick inked arms and my hair draped around him like a snake wrapped around a human being. He was covered in me, the same way my hair wrapped around a curling iron.

Unfortunately, my hair couldn’t burn him.

It didn’t have any magical powers.

“I said get in the bed.”

His harsh command sent a tremble through my body, and my core vibrated.

Fucking hormones.

It would help if he didn’t sound so attractive.

He always spoke low, and I liked that he never raised his voice to dominate. He had the kind of deep magnetic voice that had an air of solid confidence behind it that affixed and stilled my soul in time. That timbre had a way of detonating my internal engine like I wanted to ride him and have him speak filthy throughout the night.

Wait…

What the fuck did I just think?

And I wasn’t even high.

I scoffed internally, brushing off my silly thoughts. It didn’t change the fact that his insides were grotesque and that he was born with a dead soul. I crossed my legs to stop the quivering and tried not to fall on my wobbling feet. I would blame my treacherous body for this one.

He jerked me toward the bed, and I stumbled. I lowered my legs and tried to sit, but my hair was still wrapped around him.

“How am I supposed to sit if I’m being held by you?” I snapped. I tried to be strong and confident, but my croaky voice wavered, and I ended up coughing.

I sounded like a goddamn goat.

I glanced over my shoulder and flared my eyes.

Dimitri loosened his hold, and my hair tumbled in loose curls. He stared at them when they hit my back and rolled down to my knees all over again. I looked away and glanced at my damaged wrists, turning them face up as I sat down on the bed.

Footsteps moved next to me, and I lifted my eyes.

Dimitri met my accusing stare before he looked down at my bruises. His expression didn’t change at all.

I guess bloodshed was in his DNA.

Holding in a sigh, I sat down on the corner of the bed. My feeble limbs were tired. I stared stonily at my wounds.

His black shoes moved away from me and fiddled behind the opposite side of the bed. I didn’t know what he was doing, but I didn’t pay attention. I stared face forward at the wall, staring blankly, trying to clear my mind.

A scent of a man like crisp and clean sweat hit me. I lifted my head and took in the two large tattoo hands before me.

The same ones that held gauze and ointment.

He placed them on the bed next to me.

He was strange and ten shades of fucked up.

First, he punished me and now he wanted to mend me.

I guess toxicity ran in his DNA too.

Mafia Men.

I was just about to turn and apply the medication on my injuries, but without saying a word, he lifted my hand with soft feather-like touches, my wrist facing upward to the ceiling. Goosebumps exploded on my skin and chilled me to the bone.

His fingers ran a gentle touch on the mangled flesh, and a throaty hiss left my lips. It still burned. His touch wasn’t painful… but any kind of touch added to the anguish.

Dimitri paused and instead of running his fingers down the injury, he pressed two at a time on the bruise, dotting it. The pressure was soothing, and a sigh of relief left my throat.

I closed my eyes and caved for a moment before I snapped open my eyes and yanked my hand back. Jerking my head up, I met his narrowed eyes that looked somewhat dazed.

He was clearly delusional if he’d think I would let him touch him me after the unnatural disaster he had caused. He was the lethal poison that soaked into your skin, contaminating your blood. I gritted my teeth and scowled.

“I don’t like to be touched by unclean hands.”

Dimitri’s eyebrows creased, perhaps he didn’t understand sarcasm because he looked down at his own hands before returning his attention to me.

“You’re a murderer.”

The edges of his eyes narrowed, and he cocked his head.

“I don’t need your violent touch,” I gritted out.

I should probably shut up. I knew exactly what he was capable of, and if I didn’t tread carefully, I might be the next one to be turned into ash. I didn’t think he would, not because he cared, but because I was the wife of Boris Fedorov. As much as I hated the guts of that shithead, we were legally married.

Ignoring his gaze, I shifted and picked up the ointment. Uncapping the tube, I squeezed it until a blob of cream landed on the palm of my hand. I blew a warm breath on my torn flesh, knowing that Dimitri still hovered above me, and watched my little activities. He could keep standing there for all I care.

Still, it was hard to ignore the penetrating heat that rolled from his body and passed through mine.

Once I finished applying, I wrapped the gauze on my wrists clumsily and held out my wrists in front of me.

Now I resembled a mummy.

It didn’t fail to pass through my mind that he had a first aid kit this entire time with him. My eyes dimmed, remembering that he could have given me these supplies in the car too, but no, he’d let me suffer in the long drive with bleeding wrists. I wondered when the punishment would be completed.

He’d already punished me thrice.

With a sigh, I placed the ointment on the table next to me.

Dimitri still hovered over me like a freaking creep. The brute didn’t budge from the spot like his feet were glued to the carpet.

Was he going to stay there the whole time?

I would expect nothing less from him anyway.

I didn’t want to ask the next question, but I did anyway.

“Could you give me my molly?”

He didn’t reply.

“I need it. It helps me sleep at night.”

He remained mute and my curious eyes fell on his tall frame.

I wondered what kind of fantastic torturous thoughts ran through his mind now. I looked at his eyes for two seconds before resting my gaze on his chin stubble instead. That seemed like a better idea. His chin moved, and I realized he was denying me. I peeked at his eyes again.

He shook his head deliberately slow.

My heart fell.

My fourth punishment.

I held in a bitter remark. “It’s important.”

“No,” he replied, at last, the single word flowing through the room and echoing against the walls.

What a dick.

If I had a knife, I would have stabbed him already.

My eyebrows shot up. “But Alexander always lets me.”

Dimitri cocked his head. “Brother would agree with me.”

I shook my head in disbelief and arched an eyebrow in frustration. He couldn’t possibly be serious. I did it every night, and I’d never gone a single night in years without it. A sigh left my lips and I chewed on the inside of my cheek.

“Blue…” I tried, the nickname slipping and rolling off my tongue.

His lip curled up in a sneer.

He wore cruelty so well on his handsome face.

It was a pity his heart and soul were dead.

“Dimitri,” he replied aloofly. “My name is Dimitri.”

Coldness etched from every body part of his as he spoke.

“Don’t try your little charms on me because you’re just another meaningless junkie whore.”

My eyes plummeted to the bedsheets, but no tears came. I had run out of them. It was like he had slapped me.

It stung more than it should have.

I’d been called that before, but when he called me it, it made it more real. I felt absolutely worthless.

I wouldn’t let him get to me anymore, though.

I raised my head in defiance and stared him dead in the eye.

“It’s ironic how many soldiers of the Bratva fuck whores all the time, and then act like they’re all clean,” I snapped.

“I have casual partners,” my breath hitched, “I don’t pay for whores,” Dimitri countered.

Another taunt to my soul, but it didn’t hurt me anymore.

I snickered bitterly. “Your kind are the reason whores get STDs. Do you know how many have refused to wear a condom, forcing me to go on birth control in the past?”

His eyebrows furrowed but he stayed silent.

I took it as my cue to continue.

“And clean?” I scoffed under my breath, rolling my eyes. “There is nothing clean about the life you live.” I challenged, pointing a finger at him.

I still sat on the bed, and he hovered over the edge. It didn’t make me afraid though. I’d already seen the darkness in him.

Maybe he would pull out a gun and threaten me, but I would like to see him try. He didn’t get to fucking walk all over me and judge me.

“You’ve killed people, and I’ve fucked them. The difference is you have destroyed your soul in the process, but I have only destroyed my body. My humanity still exists whereas yours is gone,” I shot at him. “What happened to you?” I wondered out loud. “Mommy and Daddy didn’t love you enough?” I snickered. I shouldn’t be provoking him again, but I had a voice, and I would never stop using it.

The edges on his eyes narrowed and he took a step forward, filling the distance between us. Maybe he would snap my neck.

I didn’t give a damn anymore.

“Lower your tone,” he said roughly, and I could sense the rage hidden beneath it.

I smirked, realizing I had hit a nerve.

I refused and only spoke louder.

“You weren’t your parents’ favorite kid? Was it Alexander?”

He gritted his teeth and remained silent.

“You were right all along,” I continued. “You have no conscience at all. If you did, you would have never burned those people.” Before he could counter, I continued, “What you did, that’s not what the mafia does. You overstepped. That is fucking terrorism, and you, Dimitri Nikolaev, are a terrorist.”

Before I could continue chiding him, his hand shot out and landed on the back of my mane. His large hand curled up in my locks, forcing me to look up into his cold as ice eyes. I bit down on my lip hard so I wouldn’t wince. I would never let him see me cry again. I tried to turn my head to break out of his hold, but his grip locked onto my hair like a grip of death.

My heated eyes flashed, and I had an urge to kick him, but I knew that wouldn’t end up well for me. I would get a kick in, and then what? He would just pummel my face with his advanced skills. He could control my mane all he wanted, but he could never control my mouth.

“You know what?” I questioned.

His eyes narrowed.

“I’m glad to be going to Boris.” That was a complete utter lie, and I had no idea where I was going with it. “At least he has accepted a little dirty whore like me.” My eyes blazed and challenged Dimitri. “At least he is man enough to do so.”

Boris was not a man, that much was obvious, and my twisted insides secretly felt pleased when Dimitri’s pale skin flushed red. His hand tugged harder on my hair, pulling it until my neck was bared out to him. He was one second away from dismembering my head from my neck.

The fury that had churned behind his voice was evident on his face. His once oceanic eyes turned stormy like lightning ready to strike any second, yet he stayed silent. He stayed silent the entire time he massacred those people too.

In our short time together, I learned Dimitri didn’t speak much. He never gave empty threats.

He took action. Quick action.

I wonder what my punishment would be this time… I wouldn’t be surprised if he brought the male receptionist from downstairs and ordered him to fuck me.

I didn’t know how keen Dimitri was on fucking me.

He hadn’t tried anything… yet.

“If you’re going to kill me already, do it. I’ve seen too many of you to be afraid now.” I probably shouldn’t encourage him, but I would die with no regrets today. If I could, I would shake my head. My fiery eyes met his. “You will never break me.”

He yanked my hair back again, and water brimmed my eyes, but I refused to let it fall. His menacing eyes leaned closer, and his body hovered over me. He was in between my legs. I couldn’t even close them. He had me caged from all angles.

“You attack the weak, the innocent, and the defenseless. An entire fucking building, and now you want to intimidate me by using your manpower?” I called him out. “You’re a fucking coward, Dimitri Nikolaev.”

I leaned closer and spat on his face.

I spat on him, and I was fucking delirious about it. I would probably die, but I would die proudly with my little achievement.

A blob of salvia landed on his cheek and eye, and his hold on my hair loosened, stepping back. He muttered Russian curse words under his breath. I couldn’t help but give him a smug, twisted smile. He reached for his shirt and wiped his face clean, allowing me a glimpse of his tattoos and skin again.

Such a pity… Good looks wasted on this horrendous soul.

Once his face was squeaky clean again, his eyes narrowed.

I met his gaze head on.

I waited for him to slap me, yank my hair again, or pull out his gun. Instead, he reached for my hand. I swatted it away, but his hand grabbed my aching wrist again. His fingertips grasped the edge of the gauze before he pulled it off. I stared open-mouthed at my bare wrist. He grabbed my elbow and pressed one knee down on my lower legs so I couldn’t fight him off.

“Let me go!” I protested.

He ignored me and pulled the other gauze of my wrist off.

What the hell was he planning?

I opened my mouth to scream and alert the neighbors. His quick eyes caught on and slammed his callous hand on my mouth, muffling my shouts, so I stopped screaming.

His hand loosened, and I took control of his power.

I bit his hand instead.

He was mistaken if he thought I wouldn’t defend myself. I would bite his hand off and bleed him dry. I clamped my teeth into his skin, the salty taste brushing against my tongue, and sank my teeth into his palm.

Dimitri’s eyes darkened, and he gritted his teeth.

His hand pressed firmer against my mouth, knocking me on the bed. His heavy body came on top of me, rubbing against me. My biting intensified and a moment later, metallic blood flooded in my mouth, and I had no choice but to swallow.

“You’re always fucking biting me,” he said hoarsely under his breath.

If I was in a better mood, I would have fucking laughed.

Instead, I sucked on the palm of his hand, biting my teeth into it until he grunted above me, his eyes wincing in anguish. I didn’t know why he wasn’t slapping or punching me instead. He said so before that he killed women before. I ground my teeth into his palm with as much strength as possible until he hissed like I had killed him before he snatched away his hand.

Too late.

A flesh of his palm clung in between my teeth.

I spat it out on the carpet and wiped my bloody mouth with the back of my hand.

His murderous eyes followed that little skin. His breathing grew denser, and his chest heaved. Adrenaline rushed through my veins, pumping blood faster. My breaths came too frantic at the surge of energy. If he tried to touch me again, I would use my teeth again. I glanced at the skin with my eyes too.

A small square size of white flesh was on the floor.

I followed his movements as he held out the palm of his hand and looked down at it. Blood gushed from the scab, from the one I’d bitten into.

I’d left a mark on him, permanently scarring him forever.

Good. I only smiled with blood staining my lips and teeth.

Dimitri’s intense eyes lifted from the wound and jerked up. He stood there for a few seconds, exhaling uneven exhales.

Perhaps, he hadn’t expected that from me at all.

What else had he expected from a wildcat?

Those blue eyes though…

I had just tempted him, and my fate was sealed yet again.

“You have a death wish,” he said at last.

His voice was low with the dark promise lurking behind it.

“You want me to go on a killing spree again, don’t you?” he tilted his head and challenged me.

I swallowed thickly. That wasn’t what I wanted at all.

I waited for him to approach me, but he only stood there a few feet away as he inspected me with a whole new lens and approach now. He stared with so much intensity in his eyes, my skin burned under it. I could just imagine the fantastic ideas running through his brilliant yet heinous mind.

I’ll handcuff her again.

No… let’s kill more people… but I’ll knock her teeth out first.

He moved forward, and I crawled back into the bed.

His eyes flashed, but he didn’t come near me.

In slow and confident strides with a bleeding hand, he moved toward his bag. Puzzled, I stared at him, wondering what his next move was. My breath hitched when he unzipped it and pulled out a little baggie.

I tilted my head.

Would he make me beg for it?

I wasn’t that desperate.

I crossed my arms over my chest, and I stared him down.

Dimitri was in front of me again, and he took out two colorful pills. If he thought he could tempt me with those and I would start apologizing, he was surely mistaken.

I moved to crawl back toward the headspace, but he grabbed my leg with the same hand that still bled. He hissed under his breath when the wounded hand landed on my bare leg, his blood splattering me.

Why didn’t he just use his other hand?

I almost wanted to ask him how hurt he was.

But then, I scoffed in disbelief. He didn’t deserve any pity.

He dragged my leg toward him, and I yelped against him. I punched him across his rock-hard chest, but my futile attempts did not affect this man made from steel.

He dropped his hold from my leg once I was at eye level with him. My legs dangled from the bed, and I shoved against his chest, protests leaving my lips. His wounded hand pressed on my cheeks, squeezing them as if he wanted me to open them.

A startling realization hit me.

He would shove those pills down my throat.

He wouldn’t make me beg at all.

I had underestimated his actions.

Death by overdose.

A fantastic and convenient way to kill a junkie whore.

He could easily tell the world I killed myself.

Water consumed my eyes, and I shook my head in defiance, refusing to open it. I didn’t care about the blood that still gushed out of his skin and poured onto my chin and neck as he gripped my cheeks. I was stained in his blood, in him forever.

I pressed my lips together, biting them down with my teeth, refusing to give in. I tried to kick him, but his knee pressed against my legs again, and I couldn’t move. His hand dropped from my cheeks, and I sagged in relief. It was short-lived.

A second later, his fingertips pressed on the edge of my nose, cutting off my oxygen. My hands pounded against his chest, but I still refused to open my mouth. My face probably turned purple, and my head spun in circles, feeling light-headed. Out of desperation, I opened my mouth and Dimitri shoved two fingers in my mouth. Before I could spit the two pills out, he lifted my chin, forcing me to close my mouth.

I had no choice but to swallow.

I wouldn’t let him shove more in my mouth, and I reached up a hand and punched him across the jaw.

He grunted and rolled away from me, dropping his hold.

Breathing rougher, I inhaled sharply, and oxygen tinted with the scent of bitter blood flooded into my nostrils. I sat upright and gripped the bedsheets from under me. I sat up too quickly and my forehead throbbed. Gritting my teeth, I glanced at my knuckles that turned white. I jerked my head in Dimitri’s direction as a rough exhale left my breath.

Inhale.

Exhale.

In.

Out.

Once I’d caught my breath, I snapped, “I didn’t want it!”

He glanced over his shoulder, on his feet now.

“You begged for it twenty minutes ago,” he countered.

His voice was calm again, the ferocity in it had disappeared.

I shook my head in disbelief. Before I could open my mouth, he continued, “Now, you can shut up and fucking relax, Goldie, so I don’t have to deal with your crazy ass.”

Goldie. He had a nickname for me.

His murderous ass moved away from me and headed toward the bathroom. He said that and left me staring open-mouthed after him.

I glanced at the door, wondering what trick was up his sleeve. The door remained opened while the sink water ran.

Why didn’t he shove more pills down my mouth?

I thought he would kill me.

Stumped, I looked intensely at the door with bewildered eyes until a fullness filled my body. My skin flushed. I closed my eyes for a few seconds until I collapsed back onto the bed.

Dimitri Nikolaev wouldn’t kill me…

I stared up at the ceiling in fascination and clasped my hands in front of me, blinking in and out. The door closed but I didn’t lift my eyes in the direction of the noise.

I knew it was him.

“I don’t understand,” I whispered. My voice sounded too far to my ears. “Why couldn’t you have given me them when I had first asked?”

His reply came, “Because I didn’t know you were going to chew on my hand like a rabid dog.”

He’d just called me a dog, and a giggle erupted from my lips.

I slammed my hand against my mouth to cover it, but a laugh burst out of me.

My shoulders trembled with my happiness crackling through the air. I pulled my hand away, and my gaze took in the shiny blood on it. I was still covered in it. His blood. It kind of comforted me, knowing a part of him was stained on me.

“Your unclean blood is on me,” I whispered, glassy-eyed, staring and inspecting my hand. Three hands swirled in front of me. The red changed into hues of burgundy. “I’m surprised your blood isn’t black.”

Then, I burst into laughter again.

I laughed so hard until my stomach hurt.

“I can’t stop laughing,” I murmured.

I closed my eyes again because my mind swirled.

“I would rather hear you laugh again.”

My eyes snapped open, and I wondered if I had misheard him. Must be my silly mind playing tricks on me. “You know,” I said after a sigh, “You’re kind of decent when I’m high… otherwise…” my voice trailed off with another fit of giggles.

I didn’t hear another reply from him. Slowly, I lifted myself and flipped myself onto my stomach. He wrapped gauze around his hand, on the wound I had inflicted on him.

Gauze…

Why did that sound so familiar?

I stretched my arms in front of me like a kitten, and my gaze fell on my throbbing wrists again. They didn’t bleed, but I didn’t have the dressing on them anymore. I placed my elbows under my head as I peered up at him in amusement.

“Did I bite you too hard?” my voice came out small.

His eyes glanced at me but he didn’t reply.

“Blue…” I whispered.

He paused in dressing, keeping his eyes locked to mine.

“I don’t like when your eyes turn into a storm,” I continued. “I like your original color. Never change.”

I rambled, but I was too far lost to stop.

I smiled and my eyes brightened at him.

He didn’t return the smile, of course.

Dimitri moved until he stood in front of me.

I beamed at him.

He only blinked before he reached down and wrapped the remaining gauze on my wrists again. I sighed in relief at the pressure. I stared at his long veiny hands in fascination.

Once he finished, he moved away from me.

Taking another glance at him, I rose to change out of my clothes.