Claimed by Shadows (The Shadowmen #2)

Chapter 35

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

“ONE FINE DAY (UN BEL DI) (FROM MADAME BUTTERFLY)” BY GIACOMO PUCCINI, KATHERINE JENKINS

IRIS

I can hardly concentrate on the performance in front of me, wonderful as I’m sure it is, because Nik, my Nik, is right beside me. His warmth seeps into my leg, his own spread wide in a way that would normally have me scoffing at a man needing so much room, but the space he takes up is justified. Plus it allows me to feel him more than just the clasp of our hands.

It’s the sweetest torture, to have him so close but be too afraid to touch him fully. I don’t know how he knew we’d be here, though a quick glance at Hunt’s smug smile gives me some clue, and it makes me love my Shadowmen even more, knowing that they organised this so I could see Nik on my birthday.

The first act is stunning, the music adding to my own heartache and anticipation. There are also those damned butterflies, the sharp kind, on account of the secret that Nik hasn’t discovered yet but I need to tell him about.

How do you tell the man you’re in love with that you’re carrying his father’s child though? A child he knows was put there in the worst circumstances.

What a shitshow.

The first act finally comes to a close, the applause loud, but all I can focus on is Nik beside me, on being so close, and soon perhaps being in his arms. Then the lights come on and the audience stands.

“Come, Peaches,” Hunt says from my other side, taking the flowers from my hand and helping me to my feet.

Nik is slower to stand, and I see the moment his eyes alight on my bump, feel it in the way he grips my hand. I freeze, Hunt looking down at Nik, who’s still staring at my stomach, his chest barely moving.

“Petrov,” Hunt hisses quietly, and it’s enough to have Nik’s head snapping up, his deep chocolate eyes locked on my face, which I know is drained of all colour. “Come with us and we will explain. Not here.”

Nik’s jaw clenches, but he gives a sharp nod, letting my hand go as Hunt tugs me in front of him. It’s like a piece of my soul has been ripped away, and tears flood my eyes as we are swallowed up in the crowd leaving the auditorium, most heading to the bar.

We take another route, towards the gates we entered but are going to be closed for the evening. The twins are ahead of us, and I barely register someone opening the gates, money exchanged as we slip through, Nik following us moments later.

We remain silent as Roman leads us to the Chinese gardens, the sound of the water trickling down the man-made river attempting to be soothing, but it’s not enough. My hands tremble, my throat tight with what I know will be explosive. I can feel it in the air and it leaves me feeling nauseous.

As soon as we enter the garden, Nik grasps my upper arm and spins me around, Hunt growling behind me.

“Tell me it’s not his,” Nik snarls, and a sob leaves my mouth, unable to form any words. The anger drains from his face, his skin pale in the moonlight. “ Tvoyu mat bliad! ”

He spins, his back to me as he rakes his hands through his hair. Hunt is at my back, his hands coming around and cupping my stomach, lending me strength.

“It’s our baby, yours too,” Hunt states, and Nik freezes, his chest heaving as he slowly spins back to face me. “I don’t give a fuck if your rapist father is its bio dad. It’s. Ours.”

Nik swallows, his gaze flicking down to where Hunt cups my rounded stomach.

“I–I had a choice,” I tell him, and his face turns up to look at me, his hair a mess, his eyes wild. “I found out when I went into Serene Haven and could have gotten rid of it.” I step away from Hunt, my hands taking Nik’s limp ones into my grasp and placing them where Hunt’s palms just were. He doesn’t flinch, good sign. “But I couldn’t do it, Nik. I couldn’t kill this innocent baby just because its father is a monster.”

The skin around his eyes bunches, his gaze pained as he looks into my eyes. “But you had an IUD, Solnishko . How is it even possible…” He trails off as Hunt clears his throat, and I hold my breath, knowing that he’s going to kick off if Hunt tells him the truth.

“I took it out, before she was taken. It’s my fault, all of i—” Hunt doesn’t get to finish, Rowan tugging me out of the way as Nikolai launches himself at Hunter with a furious roar. His fist connects with Hunt’s face, and the leader of the Shadows doesn’t even stop him, like he deserves the beating.

“Please! Stop them, Ro! Roo!” I beg, my hands coming up to cover my mouth as Nik lands blow after blow and Hunt takes it.

“They need this, Princess,” Roman says softly, stepping in front of me to block my view. It doesn’t stop the sounds, accompanied by the most beautiful music. “Hunt needs this to ease the guilt.”

“B–but, this isn’t his fault!” I sob, tears scalding hot paths down my cheeks, and Rowan wraps my shaking body in his arms.

“Shhh, Lamb. We know, but he feels like he’s responsible,” he tells me, kissing the side of my temple while Roman cups my face in his hands and kisses away my tears. “Petrov won’t hurt him too much.”

The grunts behind Roman ease, and Roman continues kissing a path down my neck, sending tingles in his wake that are not fucking appropriate given the situation. He’s moved enough to allow me to see Nik and Hunt, both panting, their clean-cut looks ruined as blood decorates Hunt’s face, dripping from his nose and split lip.

I take in a sharp gasp as Roman tugs one of my breasts free and seals his mouth over my nipple, sucking and tugging at my peak in just the way that drives me mad. It draws the attention of both men in front of us, their stares morphing from spent rage to lust in an instant. Rowan frees the other breast, giving it the same lavish treatment, and a deep moan falls from my lips, the backdrop of the opera, the soft summer nighttime breeze all adding to the sensory experience.

My gaze ping-pongs between them as Roman drops to his knees on the dirt path, Rowan cupping my breasts and playing with them as Roman inches up the skirt of my dress, the air tickling my hot skin.

“Such a beautiful pussy,” Ro purrs, clearly admiring the lace underwear that hides nothing. “Let’s see how wet she is for us, shall we?”

Nik stalks towards us, his hand disappearing into his pocket and pulling something out.

“You might need this, Lev ,” he states, and my mouth drops open as the moonlight hits the light of my knife, the one Rowan gave me and that Sergi stole.

“Thanks, Sir,” Roman replies, taking the knife and using it to cut away my underwear.

Then he hands the knife back to Nik, who takes it, leaving the blade open as his eyes devour me.

“I’m sorry, for how I reacted,” he says, swallowing as Roman pauses, letting me focus on Nik. “I would be honoured to help parent our child. It shares my DNA after all.”

“I’d like that,” I whisper, swallowing past the lump in my throat.

He gives me a smile that is full of such hope, such longing that I reach out and cup his cheek, pulling his lips to mine. A small sob leaves my throat at the first touch of our lips. It's like coming home after so long away you wonder how you even recognise the place, but you do, because it goes bone-deep, this feeling of safety, of contentment.

Just as my lips part to allow his tongue to slide into my mouth, Roman licks a stripe up my slit and Nik swallows my moan of pleasure, the hand not holding the knife coming up to tangle into my hair and pulls me closer. My leg is lifted, Rowan supporting me from behind as Roman buries his face in Evangeline, the sounds of his feasting overlaid with the beautiful opera behind us.

Pleasure fills my every atom, my eyes closed as three of my men show me what it must feel like to be favoured by the stars. Roman grunts, and I pull away from Nik’s lips to find Hunt at my side, his hand tangled in the other man’s hair and pushing him into me, making Roman go deeper with his tongue until my eyes roll.

“That’s it, Baby Boy. Spear her with your dirty fucking tongue,” Hunt orders, and both Roman and I groan at his dirty words.

“Eyes on me, Kotenok ,” Nik commands, and my eyes move to him, finding that he’s brought the blade up, still open and gleaming in the moonlight. My chest heaves as his eyes dart down to the tops of my breasts. “Hold them still for me.”

I feel Rowan nod, and watch, not daring to breathe as Nik brings the tip of the knife to my right breast, just above the faint mark that Rowan left there. My breathing turns shallow as the cool metal makes contact with my feverish skin, a pained hiss escaping my lips when he digs it in. Then a bead of red wells at the tip, and he continues to cut down, the sweet agony mixing with the pleasure of Roman’s tongue until I’m shaking and cursing.

“My mark will be over your heart, as yours is branded into mine, Kotenok ,” Nik declares, my eyes rolling when Roman sucks my clit into his mouth as Nik carves the letter N into my flesh.

It’s too much, the pain, the pleasure, the music and night around us, and my orgasm is like a supernova forming, tearing me apart and leaving something new in its place. I open my mouth to scream, the feeling so intense, but Hunt’s hand covers my mouth and nose, cutting off my air and just sending me that much higher.

My body locks up, the waves of pleasure so intense tears leak from my eyes. My hands grasp Nik’s forearm and Rowan’s, my nails digging into their suit jackets as I just keep fucking coming.

Finally, when I’m a twitching, sweaty, and bloody mess, Hunt tugs Roman away from my core, letting me inhale a gasping breath just as Nik lifts the blade from my skin. My vision is blurred, but it’s enough to see Nik hand the blade to Rowan behind me, his hands at the crotch of his suit pants and undoing them, his beautiful dick springing free. The tip glistens with pre-cum, and I see Hunt dragging Roman up by his hair, slamming his lips to Roman’s and growling as he tastes my release on them.

“Eyes. On. Me,” Nik growls, my attention turning to him as he dips down and takes both my thighs in his arms, lifting me and forcing me back against Rowan, who braces with a grunt. “Put me inside you. Now.”

My trembling hands reach between us, past the beaded fabric of my dress, and I find him hard and waiting, the skin of his shaft soft as silk. I’ve just lined him up with my sopping entrance when he thrusts forward, seating himself inside me in one move that leaves me gasping, my hands digging into his shoulders.

“Fuck, Nik!” I cry as he pulls out just to punch back inside me, his piercing rubbing all the right places and sending electric sparks running across my nerve endings.

“This belongs to me, Kotenok ,” he snarls, his hips thrusting and his hands digging into my thighs, helping to pull me down onto his dick every time his hips move.

“He means it belongs to us,” Roo teases in my ear, nibbling at the sensitive skin behind it. It was clearly said to rile Nik, because he snarls like a wolf and fucks into me harder, cursing in Russian.

I throw my head back against Rowan’s shoulder, letting them hold me as Nik fucks me so hard another orgasm threatens to steal my soul from my body.

“Come for me, Kotenok . Right. Fucking. Now,” Nik commands, and I’m helpless to resist as he grinds deep inside me, his pelvis rubbing my poor swollen clit and causing me to explode with a cry of pleasure.

Lights dance in front of my eyes, the crescendo of the opera masking my cries as pleasure takes over my entire being, leaving me trembling and barely able to breathe.

Nik pounds into me, once, twice, then stills, coming with a deep growl that raises all the hair on my spent body. He keeps pulsing his hips, like he can’t get enough of the sweet torture even as I tremble and shake in his and Rowan’s arms. Then his forehead drops to mine, both of us sweaty, but I don’t care as I breathe him in.

“I could never get enough of this, Solnishko . Never have enough of you,” he pants, buried inside me, and I cling to him, trying to pull him closer because I know that this will come to an end. Tonight is like a dream, and with the morning, it will fade into smoke and he will be gone again.

“I wish you could stay with us. I hate it when you’re not there,” I confess, tears stinging my eyes and making my throat thicken.

“One day, Solnishko . Then I can take care of you both and I’ll never have to leave again,” he replies in a whisper, letting my legs drop to the ground, his dick slipping out with a wet gush. His hands frame my stomach, and I can’t stop the tears that fall as he starts to softly sing a Russian lullaby.

His song comes to an end and I can hardly breathe as he sighs, dropping his hands from my stomach and tucking himself back into his trousers.

“I love you, Nikolai Petrov. So, so much,” I choke out, and he pulls me into his arms, Rowan releasing me and stepping back, allowing us this moment. Because all Nik and I have are a series of stolen moments, and I fucking hate it.

“I love you, Moy Solntse ,” he whispers against my hair, his own body strung tight, his voice thick. “And I can’t wait to meet our baby.”

I take a shuddering inhale, my soul fracturing into a thousand pieces when he pulls away.

“Stay safe, please,” I manage to say, his image blurring as he cups my face in his palms, his eyes drinking me in. He dips his head, not saying a word, because how can he make that promise when Sergi is his father?

The kiss he gives me tastes like heartache, like a longing so strong it can drown you, and it’s over far too soon. Warmth surrounds me the moment he steps back, the twins bracketing me either side and supporting me as my knees threaten to give out.

I watch, tears burning a path down my cheeks as Nik gives me a final searing look, nods to Hunt, and then disappears into the dark. I watch him until the darkness swallows him whole, a shiver travelling down my spine at the horrible image.

“Let’s get you home, Princess,” Roman suggests softly, and I nod, knowing that I won’t enjoy the rest of the performance, not now that Nik is gone.

“Thank you, for organising this and for inviting Nik,” I say as we make our way towards one of the gates in the park. “It really was the best birthday.”

“And next year will be even better,” Rowan assures me, his arm around my waist, Roman holding my hand as Hunter leads the way. “Our family will be complete by then.”

My heart leaps at his words, my stomach quivering at the idea. The baby will be here by then, and I have to believe so will Nik, with Sergi gone and no longer posing a threat. I glance up at the sky, at the few stars that are twinkling.

Please , I beg them. Please keep us all safe and sound, and in twelve months time, all together at last .

Then I recall the image of Nik being swallowed by the dark night, and goosebumps erupt across my skin.