Chapter 5 Tied To The Enemy

Aliara

He didn't speak on the drive home.

Not when I slid into the leather seat beside him. Not when the doors locked. Not even when I kicked off my heels and propped my feet up like I didn't just lie to his face again.

He sat stone still, watching me out of the corner of his eye, a muscle ticking in his jaw. The calm before a storm.

"So, are we doing the silent treatment now?" I asked casually, swirling the remains of my espresso in its paper cup. "Because it's kind of boring."

His voice was razor-sharp.

"What did you take from her?"

I didn't look at him. "Just caffeine."

"You're lying."

I smiled. "Of course I am."

He didn't react. Just pulled out his phone and texted something quickly. The kind of message that got people followed. Or buried.

"What do you want me to say, Nikolai? That I'm sorry? That I didn't mean to slip off like a newlywed spy and meet someone I used to do jobs with? That I'm not planning something big behind your back?"

"Yes," he said flatly.

"Well, I'm not saying any of that."

His smirk was dark, unreadable.

"I know."

The car turned, and I realized we weren't heading home.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

"To teach you a lesson."

I raised a brow. "How original."

But something in his voice made my pulse flicker.

Not fear.

Excitement.

Nikolai

I didn't speak again until we arrived.

Private estate. South end of the city. A place I used for business. Or threats.

Tonight, it would be both.

She didn't ask questions when I helped her out of the car. She just followed, silent and sharp, like a panther waiting for a trap to spring.

Inside, the hallways echoed. Dim lighting. Marble floors. No staff.

She stopped at the door to the inner room.

"You're going to lock me up?"

"No," I said.

Then I pushed the door open.

A room filled with weapons. Files. Steel cabinets. Digital maps glowing on the walls. It was my war room.

She stepped inside, eyes scanning everything like she was already memorizing it.

"I want to show you something," I said.

She turned, guarded.

I tossed the napkin on the table.

The one from the café.

Her face didn't change, but her shoulders stiffened.

"So you followed me."

"Of course I did."

"And you waited until now to bring it up?"

"Because I wanted to see what you'd do with it."

She walked over, picked up the napkin, and slowly tore it in half.

Then again.

Then again, until nothing was left but shreds on the table.

"There," she said. "Happy?"

I walked up behind her, close enough to feel her body tense.

"No," I whispered. "I want the truth."

She turned around, our faces inches apart.

"And if I give it to you?"

"I might still let you leave."

She smirked. "Liar."

I grabbed her wrist and yanked her forward.

Not rough.

But firm.

Commanding.

"Enough games, Aliara."

"You started them."

"I'll end them."

She shoved me back.

And I let her.

But then she did something I didn't expect.

She dropped to the chair, crossed her legs, and said, "Then teach me."

I raised an eyebrow.

"Teach you what?"

"To stop running."

My jaw flexed.

She was daring me.

Challenging me.

Begging me, in her own twisted way, to be the monster she knew I was.

So I leaned forward, palms braced on either side of her chair, trapping her.

"You want to know what it's like to be mine?" I said, low and dangerous.

Her voice was a whisper. "Show me."

Aliara

There was no safe word with Nikolai.

No rules.

Just a storm of control and heat and promises I didn't want to believe.

He tied my wrists with black silk, soft but tight enough to remind me who held the leash now.

"You've lied to me," he murmured.

"Yes."

"You've tried to steal from me."

I smiled. "Almost."

"And you think I won't punish that?"

"I want you to," I whispered.

His mouth was on mine before the words finished falling.

Rough. Deep. Desperate.

Like he was trying to erase every betrayal I'd etched into his skin.

He lifted me like I weighed nothing, threw me down on the table, and stared down at me with fire in his eyes.

Then he kissed down my neck, my collarbone, slowly, possessively-his hands tight around my wrists as he made me feel every inch of what it meant to belong to someone like him.

And for the first time since the night everything burned...

I wanted to be ruined.

Nikolai

She was silk and steel beneath me.

Mouth like poison. Body like a fever.

And when she said my name between gasps-

Not in anger.

Not in hate.

But in a voice that sounded like surrender-

I knew I was screwed.

Because if this was war...

I didn't want to win anymore.

I just wanted her.

Aliara

Two hours later, the silk was gone.

So were most of my defenses.

I sat in Nikolai's war room wrapped in one of his shirts, barefoot, staring at the glowing map on the wall.

"You never sleep, do you?" I asked.

He was pouring himself a drink. "Only when I know where my enemies are."

"And what am I?"

He looked at me.

Something cold. Something almost vulnerable.

"My wife."

I laughed. "That wasn't an answer."

"It was the only one you're getting."

I stood. Walked over to the map.

The pier was still highlighted. Brooklyn. Midnight.

"You're going, aren't you?" he asked.

I didn't answer.

He stepped behind me, his hand sliding up my spine.

"If you walk into that ambush, they'll kill you."

"Then don't let me walk alone."

He didn't say yes.

But he didn't say no.

Nikolai

11:43 p.m.

We arrived at the pier in separate cars. Separate teams. But I kept her in my line of sight.

She moved like a shadow. Confident. Beautiful. Deadly.

The shipment was late.

The air was cold.

Then headlights appeared-blinding and wrong.

Too fast.

Too quiet.

My phone buzzed once in my pocket.

One word from Lukas: "Trap."

"Aliara-"

But I was too late.

Gunfire exploded across the docks.

She ducked behind a crate.

I fired twice, dropped one of the shooters, and ran toward her.

Screams. Metal clanging. Tires screeching.

Chaos.

I reached her just as she stood.

"You brought me here to die?" she shouted.

"No. They followed you."

"Bullshit!"

More shots.

We ducked behind a container.

"Still want to be tied to me?" I growled.

Her eyes sparked.

She grabbed my collar.

Dragged me into a kiss so fierce, it stole my breath.

And then she pulled back and whispered-

"Always."

                         

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