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Before I could think better of it, I leaned down and planted my lips to hers.
She hesitated for the barest moment, but then, she brought her hand to my face, her fingers slipping to the back of my neck, pulling me in closer, as though she didn’t want to let me go. I traced my tongue along her lips, and she parted them at once, allowing me to deepen the kiss and draw her in even closer. I felt the vibration of her moan against my mouth, and she tilted her head, moving in nearer to me …
And then, all at once, she pulled back. Her hand was still on my neck, fingers still caressing over my scalp, but her eyes were downturned, her cheeks burning a bright pink.
"I … I’m sorry," she blurted out, drawing back from me. She couldn’t even look me in the eye. "I should … I mean, I shouldn’t …"
She backed out of the room, her teeth nibbling her bottom lip, as though she could still feel the pressure of her mouth against mine. Fuck. Fuck! She pushed the door closed behind her, and I leaned back, catching my breath, staring at the ceiling for a second. What the fuck had I just done? I knew Maxim would kill me for making a move on her, but there had been something about the way she’d looked at me, something about how she had touched me, that had made it impossible to resist.
Shit. I had just made everything a whole lot more complicated.
And, despite that, despite all the good sense in my head telling me to forget that it had ever happened and leave it there … all I wanted was to go after her and pick up right where we had left off.
Chapter Ten – Mina
I paced back and forth in my bedroom, my whole body alight with energy. What the hell had just happened?
He had kissed me. Or I had kissed him. I wasn’t entirely sure. But I could feel the pressure of his mouth against mine, the feel of his breath mingling with my own, his tongue expertly parting my lips and slipping into my mouth like he owned me—like I wanted him to own me. I didn’t know what had come over me, but there was something about the way he spoke to me that made it impossible to resist him.
I couldn’t let myself get drawn into to something … something I couldn’t handle, something physical like that. I mean, I hardly knew these men, and what I did know about them should have told me they were anything but the kind of guys I should be letting myself get close to. He had admitted it himself, Damyan—they were Bratva, they were criminals, they had probably caused more harm in this city than I could ever have imagined.
And yet, at the same time … they were so soft and careful with me, so gentle. It was hard to believe they had done anything like that when they seemed so delicate in how they handled me. Was I being drawn in by a version of them that didn’t exist? Or …?
Or was I starting to get real feelings for them?
No. It couldn’t be that. These men had paid for me, after all, purchased me. I couldn’t be developing actual feelings for them; there was just no way in fucking hell. Shit, I had been cooped up in here too long, and now, I was starting to get all up in my head. I needed to get out of here. I needed to put some space between myself and this apartment …
My mind drifted back to what Damyan had just told me, about the club downstairs. It was just a few stories down from here, right? It would probably be easy for me to get out, sneak down, spend a little time there, go dancing, and maybe flirt with a couple of guys to get me a drink or two. I wouldn’t try to get out or anything; I knew there was no chance of me pulling something like that off, but at least … At least I could just get out of here and clear my head, right?
There were a handful of clothes in the closet; stuff that had been appearing in there since I had arrived. I hadn’t looked at much other than the pajamas, but maybe there was something in there I could wear to the club. Wait; I still had the clothes I arrived in, right? I rifled through the closet, trying to remember where I had left them, and eventually managed to dig out the red outfit I had been auctioned in. Okay, if I could try and pair this with something a little less scandalous, maybe it would work …
I grabbed a pair of jeans and slipped them on, using the red bodysuit as a top to cover me up—well, a little, at least. I didn’t have any makeup, but I fluffed out my hair and grabbed the dangerously high heels I had come here in. When I caught sight of myself in the mirror, I hardly recognized myself, but maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it was what I needed right now, a chance to leave myself behind and forget about what was going on up here.
I had never really been super into clubbing before, but I knew I needed to get out of here for long enough to clear my head—for now, at least. I would sneak back up before they even noticed I had gone; that was the plan, and hopefully a few dances and drinks would help me make sense of what was going on inside my head.
And, besides, didn’t I deserve to blow off some steam after everything that had happened? I mean, I had been through hell, being sold off by my own father, and I felt like I was within my rights to just want to leave everything behind for a bit, get tipsy, forget about the mess that had become of my life lately.
I slipped out of my room, glancing around to make sure Damyan wasn’t about or paying attention to me. I was sure he would have stopped me. For all that he and his stepbrother could talk a good game about not wanting to control me, I got the feeling things would be very different if they caught me trying to do something they genuinely didn’t approve of …
But nobody sprang out to stop me; nobody got in my way. I scurried to the elevator that led out of the penthouse and jabbed at the button to call it up until it arrived, slipping between the doors and urging them to slide shut before anyone could catch me in the act.
I let out a breath of relief once I was inside and turned my attention to the buttons—one was labelled The Flood. That was the name of the club, right? I tapped it, and the elevator began its smooth journey downward.
The doors slid open once more, and I found myself standing in what looked to be the back rooms of the club; I could hear the low throb of music just a few feet away, and, to either side of me, there were doors labeled for various staff. I glanced around, making sure nobody was going to catch me back here, and then picked my way towards the source of the music in my toweringly high heels.
Once I reached the main floor of the club, I could hardly hear my own thoughts over the music and the sound of chatter. The place was packed-out with people, full of dozens of gorgeous creatures who were making the most of their time here, grinding up on each other, dancing close, hands in each other’s hair and all over each other’s bodies. I stared for a moment as one couple standing close to me shared a kiss, their mouths moving with a deep, aching hunger against each other. I quickly drew my gaze away as my mind drew me back to the memory of Damyan kissing me just like that. I was here to forget, not here to remember …
I stepped out onto the dancefloor, letting the music take control of me. See? Right now, I was just like anyone else here in the club, anyone looking to blow off some steam and have fun. I closed my eyes, allowing the low pulse of the bass to shudder up and through my system …
I felt a hand on my waist, and my eyes flew open. There was a man, maybe a few years older than me, grinning at me.
"Hey," he greeted me. "Can I get you a drink?"
"Vodka and Coke," I told him. I didn’t normally like to drink, not after seeing what it had done to my father, but God, right now, could anyone have blamed me for wanting to just let everything go and have some fun? He grinned, nodded, and headed off towards the bar. Was I meant to go with him? I hung back, unsure.
I could feel eyes on me, men watching me, and I found myself drawn back to the night of the auction, when they had all been watching me as though I was a piece of meat hanging from a hook in a butcher’s shop window. I could feel their gazes clawing, cloying at my skin, and I suddenly felt so exposed, the scratchy fabric of the lace nipping at me.
The man returned with my drink, and pushed it into my hand, like he wanted me to drink up already. There was something about the way he was looking at me that made my stomach twist up. Like he thought he could buy me with a drink, just like those men at the auction seemed so sure they could by me with a few thousand dollars …
