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She burrowed into me, and I absorbed her perfect love in this imperfect sublime moment.
Valerie shivered against the cold air. I hoisted her up over the counter and sat her down. She spread her legs enough so I could stand and settle between them. A giggle escaped past her lips when I took another towel and started to squeeze the water from her hair.
After making sure her hair was somewhat dry enough, I went to push the towel around her body away. My gaze found something else instead, and I stopped, my hold tightening around her lush white towel.
Where her collar started around her neck, her skin was red. On the side, the color was starting to turn a light purple. I saw the fingerprints. Always like her neck had been gripped hard.
I hadn’t noticed it before, when we were in the bed. The darkness had hidden those marks, but now I could see them clearly. They marred her beautiful pale skin, causing my blood to boil at the sight.
“Valerie—” I started to say, but she shook her head.
Her eyes turned sad, and it fucking hurt. “Please—”
My lips parted with a low snarl, and she flinched.
“Was it Valentin?” I hissed before pushing the towel away. I assessed the damage, tracing my finger lightly over her bruised neck. The collar was in my way, and I fought against the urge to rip it off her.
She shouldn’t have been collared. Ever. Yet this bastard kept her leashed against her will. He had her trapped in this room, hidden away from everyone but me.
“Who else would it be?” Valerie murmured, looking away from me. Her voice cracked over the whispered words, and it made my heart ache in a dangerous way.
Fuck. When did her pain become mine? When…fucking when did my heart become wounded at the thought of Valerie being hurt?
While I was gone to investigate about Irina, Valentin had slipped in and taken another piece of my myshka’s soul. Knowing that Valentin had come to her last night when I wasn’t home, he had touched her…hurt her…it had me raging. My jaw clenched and I closed my eyes for a brief second, breathing in Valerie’s sweet scent in an effort to calm me.
“It’s okay. I’m okay.”
I stiffened, biting the inside of my cheek to stop from saying something I would regret. My anger was meant for Solonik, never my beautiful Valerie.
My eyes opened and I stared her down, forcing her to accept my words. “No, it’s not okay,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s. Not. Fucking. Okay.”
She touched my shoulders, and then her fingers glided upward. Her nails scraped the back of my neck before she cupped my head. Her fingers ran through the strands of my hair, just the way she knew it soothed me.
I glared at the mirror behind her. I glared at the angry, useless man.
Valerie grasped my face and brought my gaze back to her. Her chest heaved, her eyes softened. “Viktor, I’m fine. He didn’t use me like that…I mean, last night he didn’t…”
She swallowed and then looked down before whispering. “He only made me pleasure him. That’s it. He didn’t use me in the other way. Not like he always does. He left after he…”
Her sentence was left unfinished, but I knew exactly what she meant. I could almost taste her agonized words.
I shook my head and moved closer. My hands were shaking as I brought them up to palm her soft cheeks. My throat grew tight, and I growled the words out. “That doesn’t make it okay. It’s not…”
She leaned in and kissed me, stopping my tirade of words. “Please. Can we not talk about him? Can we not…taint us? I feel if we bring him between us, if we speak of him, we are somehow tainting us, our moments. You make me forget, and that’s all I want.”
Her lips feathered over mine again, stopping me from speaking any further. The silence stretched between us, her words left hanging, creating a hollow pit inside of my stomach.
Valerie breathed shakily and wrapped her arms around my neck. Our lips met again and again, kissing away our pain.
I took her mouth in a soft kiss. A tender kiss filled with promises. She kissed me back as if she understood…
Valerie knew, one day Valentin would meet his end at my hands. I would make him bleed at the feet of my woman. And she knew that.
We breathed into our kiss.
I made a silent vow.
She believed me.
Chapter 3
Valerie
Viktor had a way to speak his words without actually saying them. His actions spoke louder, his kisses told me his thoughts, and his touches whispered his silent promises.
I understood them.
I believed them.
And I knew, just like he promised, one day…our story would take place beyond those four walls. We would be free from the chains that kept us here.
