Chapter 16

Clara

 

My eyes widen as the car pulls up to the theater. I can’t tear my eyes away from the glittering sign.

“Are we going?” I ask looking over at the smile on Alexei’s face.

“We are. Have you been?” he asks. I shake my head excitedly. I used to beg my father to bring me when I was younger, but he never would.

“No, never. Father was always too busy to take time away to do much with me,” I admit. Alexei smiles brighter, reaching for my hand as the door is opened. He climbs out and tugs me along with him, jerking me against his body once we’re out of the car.

“Then it will be a first for both of us,” he says before pecking a kiss on my lips. He loops my arm around his and walks us inside. I can’t stop looking around at all the people dressed in the fanciest of clothing, smiling, and enjoying their night. I’m hypnotized by the sight in front of me.

“This is amazing,” I say softly. Alexei chuckles and leads me toward the door that reads balcony. I gasp loudly, but he only laughs and leads me inside. We climb the stairs and he ushers me to our seats.

“I don’t know what to say, Alexei,” I tell him looking at his handsome face. He just smiles and brings my hand to his lips, pressing a soft gentle kiss to my knuckles.

“Seeing you smile is thanks enough, воробей.” My heart stutters in my chest. I want to say more but the lights dim, and the show begins. I watch in awe as we watch the performers doing their rendition of the Nutcracker. I can’t tear my eyes away from the stage for even a second. All too soon it’s over and Alexei is ushering me back down the stairs.

“Did you enjoy it?” He asks with a smile.

“It was amazing. I have no words.” Alexei pulls me against his body, hugging me to him when a man speaks.

“Alexei. Never expected to see you here,” the man says. Alexei spins me, keeping me tucked into his side as he extends his hand to the man.

“Ivan, how lovely to see you, and you as well Meredith,” he says greeting them both.

“Who do you have here?” The woman asks, her brown eyes sparkling as she looks at me.

“This is my date, Clara.” He introduces us, and we speak briefly.

“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you, Clara. As always, it’s lovely to see you, Mr. Pavlov.” I gasp when she says that name. My head jerks to look up at Alexei before I look back to her. She called him Pavlov. He isn’t Pavlov. He can’t be. My mind whirls as I try to keep my breathing even. It isn’t working. Alexei notices and excuses us, tugging me out of the theater. Resting his hands on my shoulders, he turns me to face him.

“What happened? You’re pale. Are you feeling alright?” His concern is genuine which only plunges another dagger through my heart. I swallow hard and will myself to calm down.

“I’m fine. I’m sorry, I think it was just a lot to take in,” I lie. Alexei nods his head and grabs my hand leading me back to the car. My mind is a mess of information. I can’t focus on having a conversation with him, so I don’t. I sit quietly in the car on the way back to his house. All this new information is causing my heart to race. The ride back to Alexei’s is a blur and once we’re there, I’m not sure what to do. He leads me inside but he’s as silent as I am. He takes my coat and as soon as he turns to put it away, I move. I’m up the stairs and in my room before he has the chance to process. I tear the earrings from my ears and toss them to the floor before moving to the dress next. It slides down my body caressing every inch of me as tears stream down my cheeks. I bend over and pick it up, balling it up in my hands. Alexei walks through the door and I take my anger out on him. As I throw the dress in his face, he watches me intently.

“What happened?” he asks unsure of what to do or say.

“What are we doing, Alexei? What are we doing?” I scream. He watches me, a strange look crossing his face. He moves toward me slowly, never taking his eyes off me and God, do I want him to. His stare is so heated and full of passion. I want this man in ways that I shouldn’t, but I can’t stop myself.

“What do you mean? We were having a great Christmas Eve as far as I was concerned,” he says. I want to hate him. I do, but I can’t find it in me. I know what needs to be done and yet, I can’t find it in me to do it. Not yet. I just need more time. That’s what I keep telling myself. I just need more time to come to terms with all of this.

“Were we?” Alexei moves quickly once he’s close enough to me. He grabs me around the waist and lifts me in his arms. He turns on his heel and storms out of my room and straight to his. I scream, pounding my fists into his back but he doesn’t stop. Throwing me roughly on the bed, my body bounces as he reaches for something in his nightstand. I scramble to get off the bed but he’s faster than I am. He’s stronger and bigger. He climbs onto the bed, pressing me into the mattress, grabbing my wrists and yanking them above my head. I writhe and wiggle, trying to buck him off, but it’s impossible. My wrists are bound to the headboard in a matter of seconds, the rope digging into my flesh.

“Let me go!” I scream and try to kick. Alexei chuckles and grabs my ankles, tying them down as well. I’m spread wide on his bed unable to move. I tug at the restraints but it’s no use.

“You won’t get free,” he muses as he watches me.

“I’m not your toy! You can’t just keep playing with me!” I scream louder. I watch as he pulls his jacket down his arms and discards it. The tattoos that I know are under that shirt slowly come into view as he removes that too. I swallow harder, but I can’t pull my eyes from him. He’s magnetic.

“I’ve been wondering when you would break,” he says keeping his tone smooth just like the man himself.

“You’re a little late to the party for that,” I remind him. His eyes sparkle as the corner of his lips tug into a grin. He removes the rest of his clothes before climbing on the end of the bed, his fingers dragging up my leg and inner thigh. Fire burns in my core and my heart races.

“Are you going to take me like they did? With force?” His fingers stop when I say that. His eyes jump to mine, a darkness I’ve never seen in him catches me off guard.

“Have I taken you without your permission since you’ve been here?” Asshole. That bastard. He knows what he’s doing to me. He reaches for my panties and in one hard tug rips them from my body. His crawling up my body makes me shiver.

“I think I liked it better when you didn’t speak,” he hisses shoving my panties into my mouth. I try to use my tongue to push them out but when Alexei looks down at me, I stop. There’s danger seeping out of this man that he’s never shown me before. There’s hatred and rage that he’s kept bottled up inside of him but now I see it in his eyes and it terrifies, yet excites me. Alexei moves back down my body licking and kissing at my chest and stomach before spreading me wider. With that evil glint in his eyes, he leans down and runs his tongue through the wetness he’s created. He never takes his eyes off mine and I find it harder and harder to not watch him too.

“You can’t do this,” I pant knowing he will do it anyway. Not like he can understand a word I’m saying with these panties in my mouth.  I don’t know why I’m trying to fight him. His lips suck my clit into his mouth and my body trembles. One finger slides inside of me, curling at just the right angle. Each stroke of his finger sends me spiraling out of control. I breathe heavily through my nose as I feel myself tipping toward the edge of an orgasm, but Alexei doesn’t give it to me. He pulls away and I whine and whimper. Positioning himself between my legs, I watch him intently.

“Now it’s time to fuck you the way I’ve been thinking about since you got here. I didn’t think I could keep the monster at bay for that long, but I saw something in you,” he says as though he isn’t quite sure of what that something is. My eyes are laser-focused on him and when he unties one of my ankles, I think about fighting him, then he’s pushing inside me and I can’t. I can’t breathe or react. His thrusts are out of control. His fingers dig into my flesh no doubt marking me. There’s pain mixed with pleasure and I’m able to differentiate the two. They both mingle as one as tears slowly slide down my cheeks.

“You think you can fly away from me, воробей?” he asks, evil dancing in the shadows of his eyes. I’ve never seen this side of him, but as he plunges into me, I can feel it. Whatever rage simmers inside of him, he’s taking it out on me. I don’t know what happened, what flipped the switch in him but I’m on the receiving end of it.