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Chapter 24 – Viktor
After cutting me outof the hand wrappings, I told my cousin I wanted to be alone. Good man that he was, he protested. But I held firm.
“I don’t know what’s with you tonight, ace,” Nikolai muttered, marching out the door.
I did. My usual vice hadn’t worked. I had just proved violence wasn’t as powerful a drug as lust. I refused to use the other L word. What we had wasn’t that, but the intimacy we shared made the passion of our sexual culminations superior to any other partner I’d had.
I ran a hand down my face, fighting back the torrid thoughts.
There was a rap at the door.
“Go away,” I shouted, leaning over the sink. I needed to clean up and get the hell out of here before anyone else came to chat about what an off night I was having.
The doorknob rattled, and the hinges creaked.
“I said, get the fuck away! –Oh! It’s you.”
Briana slid through the opening and closed the door. She took a moment to observe the room. The first aid kit lay open where my cousin had discarded it after his dismissal. Taking a stilted breath, Briana crossed the space, snatching some items from the kit as she approached. There wasn’t a falter in her step, and she met my gaze as she walked into my space.
“Saints! I can feel the dangerous energy rippling off you,” she murmured, setting the bottle of antiseptic on the sink’s ledge.
“And yet you walk up to me as if it’s nothing.”
The corner of her mouth twitched, but her eyes told a far deeper story. “You won’t hurt me, Tor. I know that. No matter what you are or what your profession is, I’m safe with you.”
“Good.” I choked the single word out.
With precise movements, Briana squirted the liquid on the cloth and began to dab at the abrasions on my face. The sting was sharp but not strong enough to feed my monsters.
“You don’t even wince,” she whispered in awe.
I shrugged. “I’ve had worse.”
A derisive snort escaped her. She gestured to my body. “Obviously.”
There was a moment of silence as she continued to clean the cuts and abrasions. “I am sorry if this hurts you,” she insisted.
“You can’t hurt me, suits. Not anymore than I already am.”
Briana shook her head. “You don’t get it. I came here because I wanted to see you in pain.”
Surprise made me twitch. “You have every right to be mad, Bri. I shouldn’t have used you. First in the truck when I planned to take you to the airport, then catching you in the hall the other night. I’m a sick bastard, and I can’t get enough of you—even when I know I never deserved to touch you in the first place.”
Briana dropped her hands to her sides. Those stormy eyes turned a brighter blue, but she squeezed them closed so fast it was hard to see what lay within them. Breathing hard, she battled whatever emotion she was trying to hide from me. I let her. I didn’t have the right to intrude or to offer comfort.
After a moment, she said softly, “After that first hit, Tor, I couldn’t watch any more. And yet, I stood there, waiting for it to be over, praying you’d survive.”
“Bri—”
She held up her hand. “I thought seeing you suffer would help—but it only made it worse. And the reason why became immediately obvious—I care too much about you to want you in pain. I’m in hell, Tor.”
“Well, that makes two of us. Sure is hot down here, isn’t it?”
Briana laughed at the analogy. It was pure, real, and the most beautiful sound. I craved more of it, but like a condemned man, I couldn’t take it.
“I’ve come to apologize for being such a bitch. This whole thing is beyond hard, and I’ve not been handling it well.” Briana clasped her fingers around her opposite wrist.
