In Wicked Chains (The Wicked) (7 page)

Her eyes burned. It was stupid to think she’d be different. Kingston only did one-night stands.

He sighed, the sound heavy in the quiet room. She heard the clink as he placed the glass on the night table on her side of the bed. He didn’t move right away. She felt his stare and the faint touch as he slid a finger down her cheek.

She wanted to jump up and scream at him.
Why won’t you be with me?
Why don’t you
want me?
Instead she held still until he moved away. She breathed a quiet breath only to have her heart stutter when the mattress dipped at her back.

A heavy arm slid around her waist. Kingston pulled her back into him, his heavy cock poking her ass, his hot breath branding her nape. Firm lips pressed into her shoulder.

“Goodnight, El.”

It was difficult not to melt into the heat of his embrace, to not turn around and hug him to her, but Elina stayed frozen, barely daring to breathe until his grip on her slackened and muted snores filled her ears. Only then did she relax enough to let sleep take her.

Blood everywhere.

Sticky. Wet.

Soaking her clothes and assaulting her nose. She stared down at the stain on her hands, unsure of the source of all that red. She lay alone in bed, the covers pulled up to her breasts. Her hands had been folded on her stomach, yet the bright red remained. She moved to sit up, but blinding pain racked her middle and vibrated down her legs.

The intense pain forced her mouth open, but no words, no sounds escaped. Tears blinded her as she tried pushing past the pain to get up.
I have to see, have to make sure
…She became aware of the sticky mess under her, on the sheets, when she finally reached a sitting position. Gritting her teeth at the pain, feeling like she was being split in two, she rolled to her side, pulling at the blankets.

Blood covered the yellow sheets, her legs, and the cheap two-dollar night gown. She flung away the blankets with herculean efforts, exposing her rounded stomach. Another rush of pain brought sweat to her brow. Once again she opened her mouth, and once again no sound escaped. She brought her watery gaze to her thighs, marked obscenely with red and knew.

He’d taken her child.

Stuffing her fist in her mouth, she screamed.

“Elina. Elina, wake up, baby.”

Someone shook her.

“It’s only a dream.”

“Oh,
Dios
.” She came awake screaming, arms and legs flailing. “Oh, God. He took my baby, he killed my baby.” Her throat hurt, her head hurt, but her chest hurt more, her heart. Elina placed a hand over her racing heart and stared up at Kingston. Her lips trembled, tears rolled down her face. “
Mi bebe se ha ido
.”

“Christ. El, I’m so sorry.” He gathered her in his arms. “I’m so sorry.”

She sobbed into his bare chest, hanging on to him for dear life. “One minute my baby’s there and the next he’s not. I had a life growing inside me and he took it away. My father took it away.”

“I know, baby. I’m so sorry.” Kingston rocked her, pressing kisses to her head. “If I could take your pain as my own I would.”

“I’d never seen so much blood. Red everywhere.” She shuddered. “And the pain.” Tears fell harder. “It tore me apart. They couldn’t put me back together. I’m only half of what I used to be.”

Kingston froze. “What does that mean?”

She squeezed her eyes shut and forced the words out. Words she’d never spoken before. “I-I’m not…I can’t get pregnant anymore. C-can’t have children.”

“Oh, God. El…” His arms tightened around her. “That fucking bastard is lucky he’s dead.”

She cried. Kingston didn’t seem to notice her tears sliding down his chest. Or maybe he didn’t mind. Elina cried for all she’d lost, openly, in broken sobs. She never got the chance to share her pain with anyone. Niko disappeared while she lay in her hospital bed and then she was back under her father’s thumb, a puppet for three years.

She had her nightmares, revisiting all the horror nightly, but this was the first time anyone held her while she mourned the little boy she’d already fallen in love with, the future she’d lost, and the family she’d never have.

Kingston held her through it all, whispering soothing words, dropping kisses and stroking her back. As she calmed down, it occurred to Elina maybe she should be embarrassed Kingston saw her in this state, but she pushed it to the back of her mind. She’d worry about it later. Right now she snuggled deeper into his hold, inhaling his clean skin.

He lay on the bed, maneuvering them so her head ended up on his chest.

“Do you have those every night?”

She nodded. “Pretty much.”

“Jeesuz, El. That’s why you always look so tired, so pale. You’re not getting any sleep.”

“I manage.” She sniffed.

His fingers curled in her hair. “No, you have to do more than manage. Have you spoken to someone about this?”

She lifted her head to look at him. “What, like a shrink?”

“Yes. Have you spoken to anyone at all?”

She shook her head. “You’re the first person I’ve cried to, the first person I talked to about this since it happened.”

The room was dark, with the blazing fireplace as the only light source, but she caught the surprise in his eyes. “But…what about Niko? You both lost a child, didn’t he comfort you?” He sounded positively bewildered at the notion.

She smiled and stroked a hand over his heart. “My father chained Niko in his basement while I was still in surgery, then sent him over a cliff in a burning car. By the time I woke up, my father was there and Niko wasn’t. He told me Niko was dead. That was that, until the day in your club.” She referred to the day she fainted dead away at his feet at the sight of Niko. Well, not really sight since he had a different face. She recognized his voice.

“God.”

“Yeah.”

“I knew you’d lost your child and you’d had it tough with your father, but all this…” He shook his head. “You’ve been through so much.”

“I’m still kicking.”

“I’m sorry for all of it.” He stroked her cheek. “If I could change it I would.”

“I know.” She turned and placed a kiss in his palm. “And I treasure you for saying that. At one time I’d allowed all I went through to keep me back, hold me captive. I wallowed in all my pain, feeling sorry for myself, until your sister showed up at my father’s house. He’d blackmailed her, threatened you, her family, but she didn’t blink. She turned his plan around on him, threw it back in his face, and pulled a gun on him.”

Kingston grunted. “She’s reckless, that one.”

“No.” Elina shook her head. “She fights for those she loves. I watched her as she held the gun on my father. Her hands were steady, her body on alert, but I was the only one close enough to see her eyes. She was on a mission and if she had to shoot him, she would have. She’d do it to protect you and the rest of the gang.”

She crawled up his body, brought her nose to his. “I fell in love with your sister then. I wanted to be fearless like her. I wanted to belong to the family she protected so fiercely. I’d never known anyone like that before I saw her, someone devoted to the people they called family, by blood or by choice.”

“Now you’re one of us.” Kingston kissed her nose. “We protect our own.”

“My father’s dead. Someone beat you guys to the punch.” She shrugged. “There’s nothing to protect me from now.”

Something flashed in Kingston’s dark eyes at the statement.

“What?” She lifted an eyebrow. “Should I be protected from you?”

“Maybe.”

She waved his words away. “You’ll never hurt me. I asked for this and whatever you dish out I can take. I think tonight proved that.”

“That you did.” He stared at her, the whites of his eyes gleaming in the dim light. “You misled me, El.”

“What?” She pushed the hair away from her eyes and sat up. Heart in her throat, she waited for his response.

“Yeah. You have this whole demure, untouchable exterior you show everyone and then there’s this other side. You’re stronger, more open. Even sexier. I like that side.”

Warmth spread through her body. She forgot about worrying if he knew her true feelings and pressed her lips to his. “You thought I was untouchable?”

“Yes.” His fingers twined in her hair, held her still when she would’ve moved away. “I still do, but those rules are suspended for a little while.”

She opened her mouth, but his cell phone rang, cutting off her words. She scrambled away from him as he leaned over her body and grabbed it from the nightstand.

“Hello?”

She hoped the club didn’t have an emergency. She didn’t want to leave just yet.

“Hello?”

Elina pulled her knees close to her chest, tugging on her hair as Kingston frowned at the phone and mumbled under his breath.

“Everything okay?”

He ended the call and nodded. “Yeah, probably wrong number.”

She raised an eyebrow at that. The sudden tension in his voice and lines of his body spoke of something else altogether, but she let it go.
Not my business
.

Placing the phone back on the nightstand, Kingston asked, “How do you go back to sleep after your…uh, nightmares?”

She shrugged. “Music usually helps. Soft music. I keep my MP3 under my pillow.”

“Where’s it now?” He rolled off the bed and got to his feet.

Eyes on the heavy cock swinging between his legs, she gulped. “Uh, my MP3? Um, it-it should be in my car, or my purse. Somewhere,” she waved a hand behind her back, “Somewhere out there.”

“K, get back into bed. I’ll get it.” He walked away.

“Oh, you don’t have to—” He disappeared before she finished protesting.
Really, my music?
That had to be the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for her in a long time. He couldn’t claim not to care for her when he could’ve easily fucked her and sent her on her way. Instead here he was, practically pampering her. If she had more spine she’d call him on it, but her bravery only extended so far when it came to Kingston.

He came back in, soundless, moving as one with the shadows. His dark skin blended effortlessly with his surroundings. She scooted under the covers, back against the pillows and watched in fascination. He really was a study in beauty and quiet strength.

“How does it work?”

She giggled. “Er, so you load music onto it, then you put ear buds—”

“Shut your mouth.” He chuckled. “I meant how do you do it at night, ear buds?”

“Nah.” She held out her palm and he handed over the device. “There’s a speaker function…here.” She hit play, then switched the music to speaker. Soft R and B flowed through the room. “
Y musica
!”

“Really?” Kingston raised an eyebrow, lips twitching.

“Hey. Good music is good music.”

“Cool.”

He lifted the blankets and crawled in beside her, cold skin brushing up against hers. She shivered but didn’t shift away. He pulled her into his embrace, stroking her hair absently as she placed her head on his chest.

His heart thumped under her ear.

“What time is it?” Pretty soon she’d have to get up from his bed and walk out the door, back to the life where she only had him in her fantasies, where she watched from up close as he went back to his women and pretend she didn’t exist.

“A little after three AM.”

Elina squeezed her eyes shut, inhaled Kingston’s fragrant skin and allowed the soft song filling the room to speak her emotions. Tears and regret clogging her throat, she rose on her elbows and dropped kisses on his smooth chest.

If nothing came of tonight, she wanted her fill of King. He’d have his way with her all night, now this was her turn to taste, touch, tattoo him on her memory.

She threw a leg over him and straddled his midsection. All those times she flipped through the adult channels were paying off big time, those times she stared wide-eyed at the activities on the screen, touching herself while crying out his name.

His cock jerked under her ass, and she scooted backwards until his smooth head brushed her pussy. She rolled her hips, palms flat on King’s chest, mouth open. He said nothing, just watched under hooded eyes. She picked up his hands lying taut at his side and brought them to her breasts.

“Touch me.”

He squeezed her mounds, then flicked a thumb over each nipple.

“
Dios
!” She arched, pushing herself firmly into his hands. His hard cock pressed insistently at her wetness, sparking fires low in her belly. Elina reached behind and wrapped a palm around the throbbing length of him. Easing off his thighs, she positioned him just right and sank down, enveloping him inch by thickly veined inch.

“Fuck!” His hips lifted off the bed.