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“Oh, I’m sorry, am I annoying you?” Her head rolled to the side lazily, and she flashed me a big, beaming smile. “Good.”
Autumn crossed her legs elegantly like a well-mannered woman from the upper class, tilted her head to the side and said, “Woof, woof.” A chuffing laugh burst out of me before I even knew what was happening. My eyes widened in shock. What. The. Fuck?
Begrudgingly, I had to give Autumn my respect. Despite being an annoying, chatty, massive pain in the ass, I had to give respect where respect was due.
Unwanted sexual advances were one of my triggers. I’d prefer the bite of a blade than to ever experience that again.
“Odnazhdy ya pererezhu tebe gorlo i iskupayus’ v tvoyey krov,” he spat harshly before spinning around, giving me his back, effectively ending our conversation. A smirk curled my lips. Autumn: 1 Dimitri: 0
But that woman… She tested my fucking patience more than anyone I’d ever met in my life.
I grasped a chicken drumstick and smacked Dimitri across the face with it. It made this very satisfying splat sound, thanks to all the gravy. His eyes bulged wide in shock, mouth dropping open as if he couldn’t believe I had the audacity to slap him in the face with a piece of chicken.
Fed up and full of anger, I unlocked that dark, evil side of me. The one that felt nothing. No pain. No remorse. No mercy. The Butcher.
It didn’t scare me, though. It made me…excited. What would it feel like to be hunted by the Bratva Butcher? To finally be the hunted instead of the hunter? The thought intrigued me far more than it should have.
The more time I spent around her… The more I got to know her… The more I hated her. And it was because I didn’t hate it at all. She had qualities I respected and admired. She was tough as shit. Had no problem saying whatever was on her mind, even if it offended someone bigger and stronger than she was. Strength was something I respected. I despised weakness, and it was becoming clearer with each passing day that there wasn’t a weak bone in Autumn’s body.
But Autumn said nothing like that, surprising me for the umpteenth time when she softly murmured, “What does love feel like?”
“Ultimately, though, love…is death. Because to love someone—and I mean truly, truly love someone—your heart…your soul…are tethered to theirs. So, when they die, you die too.
Autumn smiled. She fucking smiled. Why had she smiled at him? He’d barely fucking said anything.
Surprise flitted through me next. Followed by anger. Why? Why had I said that? Why did I react that way? Why did I give a fuck what Autumn did? Or, more specifically, who Autumn did? I shouldn’t have. I shouldn’t have given a shit. And yet, I did.
Over the years, I’d seen Yekaterina a total of twelve times, and this was the first time she’d ever spoken a word. “I like her.” She was referring to Autumn. Those three words had shocked me so much that, for the first time in my life, I’d been completely speechless. Not only was I hallucinating my dead wife, but now she was talking to me? A figment of my imagination was talking to me.
Instead, I looked up at Dimitri and couldn’t help but smile brightly at the look of complete and utter shock on his face.
The crowd released an ear-splitting, thunderous cheer, chanting, “Deadly Duo! Deadly Duo!” over and over again. To be honest, I didn’t really mind the nickname. It kind of fit.
felt the need to say something, so I went with what came naturally. “If we don’t make it out of this, Your Royal Grouchiness, it has not been nice working with you.” What a bold-faced lie. Those last few weeks… I’d never felt so alive. But I would take that secret to my grave. Dimitri grunted. “Same to you, devil woman.” Our gazes clashed. He could see I was full of shit. I could see he was full of shit. Neither of us acknowledged it. What cowards we were.
“Little piece of advice,” he whispered. “My father is a bit of a hardass, but he has the biggest heart out of all of us. I watched you guys interact. I haven’t seen him smile in over ten years, and yet, he smiled at you. There was this light in his eyes whenever he looked at you. Whenever he spoke to you. If you do anything to hurt him, I’ll gut you from throat to pelvis and let rats eat you from the inside out. We clear?”
The time we spent together wasn’t by choice. I didn’t miss her. Didn’t miss her voice. Her laugh. Her smile. The way she made me feel. I didn’t miss any of it. I didn’t. I. Fucking. Didn’t.
Of course he did. But I knew my limits. I had an addictive personality, and Dimitri was the kind of man I could very easily become addicted to. If I wasn’t already. I already craved those rare smiles he would sometimes give. That deep, baritone laugh of his. The sound of his voice. I feared that if I didn’t get away from him when the opportunity first presented itself, I never would.
And then, almost as if he couldn’t help himself, as if he was being drawn towards me by some powerful, unseen force, he closed the small distance between us and kissed me.
“Fuck it.”
“Give me your fucking mouth, Autumn,” he grunted, pounding and pounding and pounding. I didn’t give it. “Fucking take it, Butcher.”
Another part of me, though, did regret it, and it was for the exact same reason: having him once would never be enough.
I’d had sex. I’d had sex with another woman, and it had been…amazing. Soft, supple skin. Glossy, luscious lips. That one kiss, that first touch to her lips had broken me. I was powerless to fight against it any longer. Against her. It was like I’d been in a trance. The music, the feel of her body pressed so agonisingly perfect against mine…. Something had just come over—no, taken over—me, and I couldn’t wait a second longer to find out how she tasted.
There was something about having my jacket over her shoulders that satiated the beast within me. I liked seeing her in my clothes. Liked seeing the indent of my teeth on her skin. I could stare at her for hours—
“Cut me wherever you fucking want. Write your name into my skin, for all I care. That shit turns me on,” he grunted, moving faster and faster.
“I’m not the kind of man who does things he doesn’t want to do. You want blood?” He ran his hand across his chest and then smeared the blood onto my face. I moaned, my tongue falling out of my mouth. “Take mine. It belongs to you anyway.” He kissed me savagely. “Now, fucking come for me.”
Talon sneered at me, face full of unimaginable rage. “Congratulations. You fucking got me. Go ahead. Kill me,” he spat, still struggling. I laughed, shaking my head in disbelief. “You think I’m going to kill you? Oh, Talon. For such a smart man, you sure are dumb as fuck.” He finally stopped struggling, the meaning of my words making him stiffen. “What are you talking about?” A dark, evil smirk curled on my lips. “I don’t kill people who hurt my children, Talon. I take them home.”
It’s time to say goodbye, Father. Yes. Yes it was.
“Usually, when someone hangs up on you and blocks your number—several numbers—it means they don’t want to talk to you,” I said coldly, refusing to allow myself to be happy in his presence.
“Just give me a chance to explain.” “Why should I?” I asked incredulously. “I heard everything you had to say then.” “I’m begging you, Autumn.” I scoffed. “Begging means getting down on your knees. A man like you doesn’t—” He dropped to his knees right in front of me. I was so stunned that I could do nothing but stare at him in shock. He took that opportunity to talk.
“You are the first and only woman I have been with in the last ten years.”
“No, baby,” he murmured softly, stepping forward to grasp my face again with both hands. “There’s no competition. She was the mother of my children. A huge part of my life. I’ll always respect and care for her on some level. But my heart no longer belongs to her. It belongs to you.” When I went to look away, he forced my head back, and lowered himself until our eyes locked, his gaze focused entirely on me. “I’m in love with you, Autumn. You’re the one I think about. The one I dream about. The one I can’t bear to be without. You.” He took my hand and placed it over his heart. “You own all of
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“Do it, baby.” He moved at a slow, leisurely pace, his cock sliding in and out. “Mark me,” he groaned. “Carve your name into my skin.”
