Angel chuckles as he leaves the room, and I’m left with the man who’s making my blood boil. “Do you enjoy challenging me at every fucking turn?”
He snorts and steps closer. “Only when you need it. You were out of line earlier, and you know it.”
“No. Angel was out of line. I was merely—”
“Showing him who’s boss?”
“Exactly.”
Nikita comes closer still, eating up the distance between us until he’s mere inches away. Up close, he uses his extra inches in height to tower over me, and it infuriates me for some reason.
“Oh, it’s just darling that you think you’re the boss now.”
I narrow my eyes at him and try to rein in my temper. “I’m sorry, did I miss something? I thought my name was Maxim Volkov.”
Nikita rasps a breathy laugh, and it annoys me that he still seems so relaxed, and yet I’m the one wound up. I should be the one in control, but it’s slipping through my fingers like smoke.
“Yes, Max. You’re the boss out there, but here—” he flicks his fingers between the two of us, “—I’m in charge. And you’re going to like it.”
His hand grabs my throat in a firm grasp, halting any chance I have of escaping, and he pulls me closer. So close I can count the eyelashes surrounding those ice-blue eyes. They burn hot as they stare into my soul, and my knees threaten to pull me to the ground in a fucking bow. I snarl at him. I don’t bow to anyone.
“That’s it, baby. Fight me.”He mouths the words slowly so he doesn’t have to sign. Hell, standing this close, there’s no room to fucking sign.
“Don’t call me that.”
Niki rasps deep in his throat, like a lion purring. “Baby.”
His lips brush mine with the syllables, and it feels like he’s branding me with the word. My entire body shudders, and the tension bleeds from every pore until I’m left standing there and relying on his hand to hold me up.
He pushes downward on my throat, a challenge in his eyes. When I don’t sink to my knees willingly, his eyebrow arches arrogantly. “Kneel.”
I shake my head, throwing my own gauntlet down. “Make me.”
A flash of manic glee floods his face, and I realise I’ve played right into his hands. He wants to challenge me, and he wants me to fight back.
“With pleasure.”
He moves quick, far quicker than a man of his size has any right to. He slams the heel of his hand into my sternum, winding me. I step backwards and throw a chair into his path while I try to catch my breath. The man just smiles at me like he doesn’t have a care in the world, and I itch to wipe that smug fucking grin off his face.
He lunges towards me, hurling the chair into the wall, and I turn on my heel and run. I know it’s futile, though. Speed was never my strength, and it’s not long before I feel Niki slamming into my back and forcing me into the ground. I scramble forwards, but he grabs my ankle, pulling me toward him.
He slides up the length of my body, and I’m reminded again how much bigger than me he is. I’m so used to being the strongest, the biggest, the man who made the decisions, but Niki makes me feel small.Vulnerable.
Still, my body kicks into survival mode, trying to escape the threat. I guess my subconscious needs persuading a little more that Niki doesn’t really mean us any harm.
I throw my elbow back, catching something solid. Niki hisses behind me, but my victory is short-lived. There’s a sound ofa buckle undoing and the sharp hiss of leather being pulled through belt loops.
Fuck. I start to crawl up on my knees, but Niki slams his forearm down on the small of my back, and my limbs flail beneath me, sending me crashing to the floor. Niki grabs my waist and drags me backwards until he can settle his weight on my ass, pinning me helplessly beneath him.
“Fuck, you’re heavy.”
I look over my shoulder at him, his hair wild and eyes bright.
“Hands,”he signs sharply.
I shake my head, struggling to give up the last vestiges of my control. But it doesn’t matter. Niki grabs them anyway and wrestles my arms up the length of my back. His leather belt is wrapped around my wrists tightly, the edges digging into my skin hard enough that they’ll leave marks.
The thought makes my dick hard, and every movement he makes has my hips grinding into the floor trying to find some sweet relief.
