Page 117 of Essence of Fear

It stopped.

Altogether quit.

All it took was the sound of Viktoria’s sweet voice behind and his heart jumped in his chest like someone had fucking shocked it. It stopped beating for a split second, and then it restarted, beating twice as hard as it ever had before.

He spun on his heels, and there she was.

Standing just beyond the door of the hotel where Kolya had set them up until Konstantin and Viktoria could arrive in Russia, there she was.

She smiled a little, like she could read his mind and all the craziness that was happening up there. Without looking away from him, she reached back and shut the hotel door. It was only then, right before the door closed, that he could hear the familiar voices of her brothers filtering out in the hallway.

He didn’t care about them.

Not right now.

Viktoria pulled off the leather gloves keeping her pretty hands hidden and worked on undoing the buttons of her tweed jacket. Pav took that moment to check her over, his gaze drifting over the column of her neck, and the lines of her face. She was bruised—makeup did wonders, but he could see the odd yellowish and blue tints where she hadn’t been able to cover the color entirely.

His rage danced again.

His hatred flared.

Still, he swallowed it back.

“He hurt you,” Pav murmured.

Viktoria looked up from the buttons on her jacket, whispering, “Only a little.”

“Not only a little. Too much, babe.”

“I’m okay.”

Was she?

He would soon find out.

“Did he—”

“No,” she said quickly, like she already knew what he was going to ask. “No, not again.”

Pav was back to feeling like a fucking animal again. Like the one thing he wanted was just beyond the bars of his cage. He could smell her—that vanilla and pear perfume she wore that made him think of innocence and sin at the same time. Perfect for her.

He was able to wait just long enough for her to remove her jacket, but then his control snapped. He’d already waited too long as it was to get her back in his arms again. He’d been stuck in his head for days, thinking constantly about every horrible thing that might be happening to her because he hadn’t been able to help her.

The second Pav had Viktoria in his arms, the world felt slightly better. Like the axis titled just a bit, and the world was starting to turn again. It wasn’t completely right, but it was getting there, which was better than nothing.

It was made perfect when she kissed him.

So fucking perfect.

“I felt crazy,” he muttered against her lips. “An animal.”

Even with that admission, she kissed him again, and her fingers came up to drift over the tense muscles of his face. With every swipe of her fingers, his clenching jaw relaxed, and he breathed a bit easier.

She helped with everything.

Did she even know that?

“It’s okay,” she whispered. “I’m okay.”