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“What’s wrong with me? How the fuck can you ask me that? It’s one thing for him to flirt with you in front of me—that’s just him trying to get a reaction out of me, and I can handle that. But openly trying to steal you from me? When I’m right fucking here? That’s just too much, Kat. He’s asking for it now. Let’s see how well he can protect himself from me.” Nik grabs me by the waist, trying to move me out of his way.
“Nik—” I say as loudly as I dare. The last thing we need is to attract any undue attention to us right now. “Have you lost your mind? You were just talking about how badly outnumbered we are. This is his home. Pick a fight with him, and you’ll get yourself killed.”
He smirks darkly. “I’ll take him with me. It’ll be worth it.”
Horrified, I gasp. I grab his jacket’s lapel and drag him back into the secluded dark corner with me, pulling his enormous body as hard as I can. I don’t want prying ears or wandering eyes picking up what I’m about to tell him. Lucky for me, he doesn’t resist me too much.
“How can you say something like that? What about me? What will happen to me if you get killed in a brawl with McGuire and his men?” I ask him, my voice breaking.
He finally seems to notice my dismay. Rapidly blinking, he frowns. “Milaya—” he says with a sigh, tenderly caressing my cheek. His eyes finally connect with mine. The crazed look in them slowly dissipates, melting into something much more tender. “No, no, milaya. Don’t be upset. Please. I can’t stand to see you upset. I didn’t mean to make you sad.”
“What did you think would happen when you announced you were going to throw yourself at them? All by yourself against dozens of men! What were you thinking?” I shake him by his jacket.
“I—I wasn’t thinking,” he says with a confused look on his face.
I scoff. “Well, we can agree on that. I just don’t understand you sometimes.”
Nik sighs wearily. “Since I’ve met you, I don’t understand myself sometimes.” He shrugs. “But is it really such a big surprise that I’m struggling to curb the impulse to kill him after everything he’s put me through?”
“Well, no. But there’s a reason you have restrained yourself so far. You don’t want to start a war, remember?”
“Less and less by the minute.”
“Nik,” I say through gritted teeth, shaking him once more for good measure. “I can’t believe you’re risking everything you’ve worked for. Especially now when we’re closer than ever to nailing McGuire. I haven’t even told you what Erin said to me. That’s how crazy you’re acting.”
“You think I’m crazy now? Wait until you see what I’ll do if I have to tolerate another minute of him flirting with you or touching you.”
“What about Maxim? What about your plan to make his killer pay? Have you forgotten about all that?”
That crazed look returns to Nik’s beautiful eyes. “No, but maybe I’ve just had enough. Maybe I just want to watch everything burn, consequences be damned. If McGuire wants war, maybe I’ll give it to him.”
“You don’t mean that,” I whisper.
“You’re sure about that?” he asks, raising an eyebrow. “Because I’m not.”
“You wouldn’t want all that death and chaos. You wouldn’t do that to your men. You’re their pakhan. They trust you to lead them.”
“Well, maybe I’m tired of always being the pakhan. Maybe I want to be just a man for once.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Nik’s eyes, still glittering with that wild look, burn and glow like molten lava. He leans closer to me until his forehead leans against mine. “As the pakhan, I have to think of others. I have to put their needs above mine. As a man, I could take what I want and need and tell the rest to go to hell.”
Breathless, I ask, “What do you need and want so badly that you would risk a war for it?”
His eyes never leave mine, simmering with unrestrained emotion, as he says, “Right now, I need to take you away from this place and make you mine until there’s no doubt to you or anyone else that you belong to me.”
I stare at him, speechless.
Without another word, Nik kisses me.
3
KAT
Nik’s touch isn’t gentle or tender. No, his kiss is almost savagely overwhelming. With little preamble, his tongue enters my mouth, and he groans against my lips as he tastes me.
Next thing I know, Nik’s left hand’s fingers are tangled up in my hair as he pulls me even closer to him. With his right arm, he scoops me up against his body, lifting me.
