Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 39046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 39046 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 195(@200wpm)___ 156(@250wpm)___ 130(@300wpm)
16
Rurik
The moment my brain came back online, I eased out of Malik and straddled his ass, quickly unwrapping my belt from around his wrists. They flopped to his sides, and he didn’t even try to budge. Moving aside, I gently rolled him onto his back and grabbed his left wrist, gently massaging blood back into it before working my way up his arm and to his shoulder. He remained silent as I did the same to the other side, his tired, dazed eyes just watching me as I worked, roving over my face like he was trying to read me or figure me out.
I pressed my lips to his in a soft kiss and stroked my thumb over his cheek. “Stay,” I gently ordered.
He didn’t utter a sound.
I eased off the bed and headed into the bathroom, taking a quick moment to clean myself up and rid myself of my slacks. After grabbing a clean, damp hand towel, I headed back into the room, finding Malik in the same position I’d left him.
Those dark eyes of his locked back on me as I set to cleaning him up, wiping the cum from his belly and the neatly trimmed hair around his cock. Then, I eased one of his thighs back and cleaned between his cheeks. I wanted nothing more than to stuff my cum back inside of him, but the little flinches he gave told me he was definitely too sensitive for that. I’d been extremely rough with him, and he needed rest and time to recover.
Tossing the hand towel aside, I propped the pillows up and then leaned against the headboard. Malik still didn’t move, and I sighed.
“Come here,” I murmured.
Surprisingly, he moved without hesitation, pushing himself up on trembling arms until he was leaning back against me, his head resting on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him and dropped a kiss to the top of his head. He shivered and relaxed even more against me, his eyes sliding shut.
“You’re awfully quiet,” I murmured as I stroked my fingers through his dark hair, scraping my blunt nails along his scalp.
He frowned, but his eyes didn’t open. Finally, he shrugged, making a small noise I couldn’t decipher. “Maybe you’re right about the whole anxiety thing,” he said after a moment, his voice low and soft. “My head is… quiet. I don’t ever remember my head being this silent. It’s… nice.”
I hummed and tightened my arm around him. “You know it can always be like this for you?” I asked him. “If you would just stop fighting me and let me have you, your head could always be this blissfully silent. Because I’d make your decisions, and you’d never have to think. Not while I’m around.”
He sighed. “It’s not that simple,” he mumbled, his voice thick with sleep.
“It can be,” I assured him. “I can make it that simple. I just need you to give me the chance. To stop fighting me every step of the way.” I settled my chin on his head. “You’ve been mine from the very beginning, Shadow. I named you, giving you the name I was to you—a Shadow. Put you in that club so you were within my radar. I’ve kept you a free man. You’re more fucking protected than a goddamn king, Malik. You know why Anatoly didn’t have a bullet put through your stubborn, thick-ass skull for that stunt you pulled today? Because you’re mine. And Anatoly won’t touch what belongs to me.”
Malik sighed, and he was still so lost in that headspace I’d put him, he hadn’t even tensed at my confession. Instead, he just slumped even more against me, letting me take his body weight. He was bigger than me, but I’d support him anytime. Hold him however long he let me.
“I’ll think about it,” he mumbled, sleep quickly taking him.
I chuckled. “Okay, baby. You do that.”
A knock sounded on the hotel room door, dragging me from my slumber. At some point, Malik and I had flattened ourselves onto the mattress, and he had become the little spoon to my big spoon, his body curled into a little ball, and I’d wrapped myself around him. He didn’t even stir, soft snores leaving his mouth. But when a louder knock sounded, this one a bit more impatient, he jerked, his eyes snapping open as he reached for his gun—the gun he did not have near him.
“Easy,” I rumbled as I slid from the bed. “Get some pants on, baby.”
I made my way into the bathroom as the knock sounded again—this time with impatience behind it. Grunting in annoyance, I snatched my slacks off the floor and tugged them on, doing up the button and zipper as I headed for the door. One look through the peephole had me tensing.
Unlocking the door, I opened it and leaned my shoulder against the doorjamb, arching an eyebrow at my boss and best friend.