Chapter 36 TRUE NATURE
NIKOLAI:
Elena Vorn.
The name echoed in my head like a gunshot that never stopped ringing. Jasmine wasn't Jasmine. She was Elena. The same woman I'd hunted that night at the pit, the one I'd sworn to use like a weapon and then discard in a pool of her own blood. All for revenge against the Vorn mafia, to finish the war my father started. She was the key to their destruction, the daughter of their fallen leader, and I'd vowed to break her, to make her suffer before ending it.
Every instinct screamed at me to act now, to pull the trigger, to wrap my hands around her throat and watch the light fade from those eyes I'd come to crave. But I couldn't. God help me, I couldn't. The woman I'd fallen for, the one who'd unraveled my control, was the very enemy I'd sought. And I loved her. Fuck!
I stood under the scalding shower in my en suite bathroom, the water pounding against my skin like it could wash away the betrayal. But it only brought flashbacks, vivid and torturous. Her in this very shower with me, her body slick and arching as I thrust into her, her moans echoing off the tiles while bruises on her wrists fuelled my rage.
On my bed, her legs wrapped around me, whispering "I love you" as I buried myself deep inside her, our bodies tangled in sheets stained with sweat.
In my study, bent over the desk, her cries of pleasure mixed with mine as I claimed her, as my papers scattered like the fragments of my resolve. Each memory twisted the knife deeper. I was at a crossroads… Revenge or love? Destroy her or keep her? Frustration clawed at me, my fists slamming against the tile until my knuckles bled. How had I let this happen? How had I let her in?
The water ran cold before I could find an answer. I shut it off, wrapping a towel around my waist, the steam clearing to reveal my reflection. A man torn between duty and desire.
Just then, a knock echoed from the bedroom door, sharp and insistent. I opened it with water dripping from my hair, and there she was. Jasmine... Elena. My La Prescelta. My enemy. Her eyes roamed over me, concerned etching her features in the dim hallway light.
"You didn't come back to bed," she said softly, stepping closer.
I didn't speak. Words felt like weapons I wasn't ready to wield.
"Why are you taking a shower now?" she pressed, her gaze searching mine. "Did you do some... did you kill Vittorio?"
Guilt must have flashed in my eyes because I said nothing, I just stared at her like the ghost she was. The weight of what I'd done tonight, of what I knew now, hung between us, heavy and unspoken.
"Tell me the truth, Nikolai. Don't lie to me."
"Well, that's rich coming from you," I snapped, the bitterness slipping out before I could rein it in.
She blinked, widening her eyes in surprise. "What do you mean by that?"
I rubbed a hand over my face, forcing an apology. "Nothing. Forget it."
She wasn't letting it go, because she knew that if I knew the truth about who kidnapped her, her truth would be known. "Did Vittorio know anything about who kidnapped me?"
"Nothing," I lied. I couldn't do this, not yet. I needed to shift the mood, to bury the truth under something else. "I'm sorry. I'm always like this after I use my gun on someone. It... gets to me."
Before she could probe further, I reached out, my hand sliding seductively around her waist, pulling her inside my room. The door clicked shut behind us, sealing us in the room where some of those flashbacks had played out.
"Is everything alright?" she asked, her voice laced with worry as she touched my chest.
"Everything will be when I'm inside you," I murmured, my tone low and commanding, laced with the hunger I tried to but couldn't deny.
I stripped her clothes off slowly, deliberately, first her nightshirt, revealing her full breasts and already hardened nipples, then her panties, sliding them down her legs. She watched me with amused curiosity, a small smile playing on her lips despite the tension. I dropped my towel, my dick already hardening at the sight of her, thick and ready. Gently but firmly, I pushed her back onto the bed, her body yielding to me as always.
She laughed softly, amused by the sudden shift, but I wasn't in the mood for tenderness. I turned her over, positioning her on all fours, her back arching just the way I liked, vulnerable, and exposed.
Punishment. That's what this was. For lying, for being Elena, for making me love her when I should hate her. I gripped her hips, thrusting into her violently from behind, my dick slamming deep with a force that made the bed shake. She cried out, a mix of pain and pleasure, her body clenching around me as I drove in and out, relentlessly.
"Oh God, Nikolai... harder, please," she moaned, talking dirty through gasps and tears, her voice breaking with how good it felt.
“Punish me daddy, for lying to you about who I truly am... yes, just like that." I thought she said, but it was all in my head.
Back to reality, her moans and cries fuelled the fire, but inside, I was a storm of anger and love. Each thrust was a punishment, for her deception, for the revenge I couldn't take. I grunted with every violent snap of my hips, my hands bruising her skin as I pulled her back onto me, her ass slapping against my thighs. She was crying now, moaning wildly, her body trembling as pleasure overtook her, but all I could think was how much I hated this. How much I hated that I loved her too much to end it. My enemy, my love. I thrusted deeper, faster, the frustration boiling over, but I couldn't stop. I wouldn't. She was mine, and damn the consequences.