Page 55 of Vienna Bliss

Alexander retreated a step, then another.

“See this?” She held out her forearm, turning it to show off an angry red mark. “You left marks worse than this, didn’t you? So that makes you the same, doesn’t it?”

“Yes,” Alexander ground out, hating himself.

“I knew you’d do this!” Alena threw her hands in the air. “Alexander, it’s not. Please, please listen to me. We have trust, consent.”

“I forced you to—”

“Yes, you put my ass between a rock and a hard place, and I chose you. You know why? Because I trust you. Because I…”

Because she loved him? No. She wouldn’t say it again, because she didn’t love him. The only reason she’d said it the first time was the circumstances he’d created had influenced her.

Her angry stalking halted, and she paused, as if poised on the edge of something. After a moment, she shook her head. “Are you a sexual sadist? Yes. And I get it, you’re conflicted about that. I feel the same way about being a sexual submissive when I’m otherwise not submissive at all.”

There was a feeling in the air, as if her words had a nearly spiritual weight to them.

She rubbed her upper arms with her hands, once more seeming to sink into herself. “But I trust you, Alexander. And I have, since the day we met. You’re nothing like Absolon. Nothing. And I don’t know how to make you believe me.”

She didn’t have to make him believe her, because each word she said rang of truth.

The guilt he’d been holding, not just for how he’d treated her, but an older guilt, rooted in shame over his sexual proclivities, eased.

“I believe you,” Alexander said softly, and that too, was truth.

Alena glanced up sharply. “You do?”

“I…I do. I am a sadist, though I tried not to be.”

“And I had no idea how much of a masochist I was until you.”

“I will always regret…some…of what I did to you.”

“I’d say that I’ll always feel bad about using you in order to get the data, but I’d be lying.”

“Unrepentant?” He arched a brow at her.

“Totally. Though I am sorry for lying to you.”

“There’s a distinction between the two?”

“It’s a fine line, but I know where it is.” She shifted her weight from foot to foot. “Are we…okay?”

“Yes.”

“Good, because I…I really need you to hug me while I cry.” Her smile wavered.

Alexander’s heart broke and he rushed forward, sweeping her up into his arms. Alena twined her arms around his neck. He sank down on the floor by the bed—sitting on the floor was where they seemed to connect best—and held her while she cried on his shoulder.

“I’m not sad,” she said between sobs. “I’m fucking pissed.”

“I know,” he murmured. He’d switched to German, because he was less likely to be tongue tied in that language. “You’re safe now. I’m so sorry he hurt you.”

“And you don’t get to kill him.” Alena smacked his arm. “I do.”

He had no idea if she would follow his German while upset, but he keep going, hoping his tone would be the comfort she needed. “Of course. You have the right to murder him.”

“And now we’re going to actually have to have an auction—”