Shivering, Sasha yelled at him in Russian.
“Da, I’m all of those things, but you are too. Your actions have not only affected yourself, but Andriena as well. Look at her; she’s suffering all because you can’t control your fear.”
Sasha looked over at her. “If the Black Russian didn’t encumber me with severe consequences I wouldn’t have lost my mind.”
Andriena glared back at him. “Is that supposed to be an apology? Because if it is, it sucks.” Leaning her back against the wall, she slid down to the floor and brought her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. She didn’t know how things had gone from pure heaven to hell within seconds.
“You don’t understand,” Sasha said.
“You bet I don’t.” Shivering, she buried her face in her knees, cursing the day she’d met him.
8
SASHA
He sat in the corner of the room, feeling worn out and alone, the last part his own doing. After his meltdown a couple of days ago, Andriena had given him the silent treatment, which he deserved for losing his mind. He’d allowed fear to overtake reason, and all because he’d wanted to fuck her. And if she hadn’t touched his scars, he probably would’ve too. Then he would’ve suffered the consequences, like the last time he’d broken his vow of celibacy. Which meant it was probably for the best that she was still angry with him, because he couldn’t afford to get close to her again, especially since she was too tempting.
He looked across the room, spotting her sitting in the far corner. She had her arms wrapped around her knees, with her chin resting on top, appearing so young and vulnerable. An urge to apologize overcame him, but he forced it down, knowing there was nothing he could say to make things right.
Andriena looked up at his attention, giving him a grimace in return.
He averted his gaze, turning back at the sound of her muttering. “Did you call me a coward?” he asked.
“Sì, because you are one.”
“Why the fuck am I a coward?”
She let go of her knees and pushed to her feet. “You took your anger out on me because you were scared of what the Black Russian would do to you.”
“So, he did send you to tempt me?”
“No, he didn’t!” she yelled. “And I’ve had enough of you, so don’t talk to me.”
“You started talking first.”
“I wasn’t talking to you. In case you haven’t noticed, I’d rather talk to myself than to you, stronzo.”
He scowled at her. “I may have done you wrong, but I’ll do a good deal more if you purposely antagonize me. You should’ve learned by now that I’ve got a short temper.”
Her grimace grew. “It’s always about you, isn’t it, Sasha?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“You have a short temper so I have to tiptoe around you, making sure I don’t upset your sensitive soul,” she spat, her tone dripping with contempt. “Well, toughen up, sweetheart, because I’ve had enough of you sulking like a cry-baby.”
His eyes widened. “Watch your mouth!”
“I don’t need to, since you love to watch it for me.” She bit her bottom lip. “You like it when I do this too, don’t you?” She licked her upper lip. “What about this? Does that make you hard?”
“Why are you trying to provoke me?”
“Because I don’t give a fuck anymore, you pezzo di merda,” she said, calling him a piece of shit.
He shot to his feet. “What has gotten into you?” he snapped, taken aback by her bravado.
“You.” She sneered at him. “I don’t usually swear, but you don’t deserve my consideration. I’m done with you. You can rot in here for all I care, because there’s no way I’m spending even a cent to get you out.”
“I never asked for you to.”
“Good, then you won’t be disappointed, coward.”
“Stop calling me a coward.”
“Why? You are one. You let fear rule you to the point of insanity.”
“Everyone has fears, it makes us human, and everyone has certain limits. My limit is listening to you, so how about you keep your mouth shut and I won’t come near you again. Problem solved for the both of us.”
“My problem will be solved once I’m back with my sister and—”
The door opened, cutting her off. Armed guards entered, followed by Nikita. “Out, Sasha,” he barked.
Wary, Sasha remained still. “Where are you taking me?”
“To a room on a higher level,” Nikita replied. “And don’t attack us, because now we know you like Andriena—”
“I don’t fucking like her,” he snapped. “She’s annoying as hell.”
“Yet, you still want to fuck her. The master saw the video of you kissing and grinding against her. Because of it, he’s ordered her to be flayed alive if you don’t participate in the game.”
“What game?” Sasha asked, dread creeping in.
“You’ll find out soon enough, so move.” Nikita’s pale gaze shifted to Andriena. “You too.”
One of the guards went to Andriena, indicating with his gun for her to move forward. She scampered away from him, exiting the cell. Sasha followed her out, with Nikita right behind him.
Howling started up from one of the neighboring cells, freezing Andriena in place, her expression fearful. It sounded like a man was mimicking either a dog or a wolf. Sasha hoped it was a dog, because at least the slave wouldn’t be sent to a hunter. Not all of the prisoners in the animal cells were sold to butchers. Some of the Black Russian’s clients ordered prey for hunting, while others wanted domesticated pets to pamper and play with.
The guard behind Andriena shoved her forward, barking, “Move!”
She tripped over, crying out as she hit the concrete. Sasha swore at the guard and went to help her up.
Andriena yanked her arm out of his grip, snapping, “Don’t touch me!”
He held his hands up and stepped back. Throwing him a glare, she pushed to her feet and moved forward.
Nikita chuckled behind him, “Looks like she’s not going to forgive you this time, Sasha.”
“I don’t care.”
Sasha followed Andriena and the guard up a flight of stairs. They came to a stop in front of a pleasure cell—one he’d been in before. Horrified, Sasha backed up, the memories of the last time he’d entered it far from pleasurable. Nikita shoved him hard, knocking him into Andriena, causing them both to stumble into the room. She spun around and slapped him. Sasha took the blow without flinching, more concerned with getting the hell out of the room. The interior was swathed in red and filled with whips, clamps, handcuffs, chains, two tables, one of them a fucking one, as well as a large circular bed. There was also filming equipment imbedded in the walls and ceiling, all of it remote controlled.
Sasha went for the door, intending on fighting his way out, but Nikita slammed it in his face, locking him in with Andriena. A few seconds later, Nikita appeared at the viewing-window, which was on the far side of the room. His voice came over the intercom, “There’s a gun on the table.”
Sasha’s head snapped around to it. Sitting on a small wooden table was an old-fashioned revolver. He looked back at Nikita. “Russian roulette?”
Nikita nodded. “Take a seat, you too, Andriena. The game will commence soon.”
Andriena started crying, fear coming off her in waves. But Sasha wasn’t fearful, he was fucking furious!
“Why do you keep tormenting me?” he yelled. “You’ve made me suffer enough, master.”
“He isn’t here,” Nikita replied.
“He is! I know what he’s like. I was his first guard, his number one.” Sasha turned to one of the cameras. “Face me, you bastard! Tell me why you treat me so poorly. I’ve done so much for you, suffered even more, yet you don’t give a shit about me. Your proclamations of love are nothing but lies. The only thing you love is inflicting pain upon me.”
“You’re wrong,” a deep voice resonated over the intercom.
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br /> Sasha spun around. His gaze shot to the viewing-window as the Black Russian appeared out of nowhere.
A nightmare forming before his eyes.
His master smiled at him, looking like a lion ready to rip his throat out, the glass between them protecting Sasha more than the Black Russian.
Regardless, Sasha stormed over to the window and slammed his hands against it. “I’m not wrong! If you truly love me you wouldn’t cause me so much pain.”
“I’m not the cause of your pain, your actions are.”
“Liar! You tortured and tormented me. You also had your guards beat me.”
“You tried to run, Sasha.”
“Because I hate you!”
The Black Russian’s face darkened. “You need to tread more carefully with what you say, Sasha. You know I’m capable of many things and compassion is rarely one of them.”
Sasha dropped his hands from the window. “I have a right to say those words,” he said, tempering his voice down. Rage still bubbled in his veins, but he knew he’d overstepped the mark, especially since his master was a vindictive man. “You brutalized me.”
“You betrayed your vows.”
“That doesn’t excuse what you did to me.”
“Others have died for breaking their vows. The fact you’re still alive shows you got off lightly.”
“Lightly?” Sasha said, not believing the bastard’s nerve. “What you did to me was worse than death.”
“Maybe so, but I couldn’t kill you. Your mother wouldn’t have forgiven me. I wouldn’t have forgiven me.”
“So, torturing me was your solution?”
“You had to be punished, and if you hadn’t given into temptation, you would still be whole today.”
Sasha didn’t reply, not wanting Andriena to know the true meaning behind his master’s words.
The Black Russian nodded toward the table. “Take a seat, Sasha, and don’t dally, you’ve wasted enough of my time with idle chat. You too, Andriena. Sit.”
Sasha took a seat, while Andriena remained in the same spot, shaking badly.
“Sit, woman,” the Black Russian commanded.
She shook her head. “You promised I would be set free.”
“My promises mean nothing unless I swear on my sister’s life, so either sit down or I’ll have my guards nail you to the fucking chair.” He flashed his teeth at her, his smile sinister. “And I promise that on my sister’s life.”
Still shaking, she headed for the table, slipping into her seat. She looked down at the gun as though it was a King Cobra snake, primed and ready to attack her at any moment. Not feeling the same way, Sasha reached for the revolver. Instead, he felt nothing but comfort as his fingers wrapped around the grip. He lifted it up and aimed it at the window, knowing the thick glass was bulletproof, but still wanting the pleasure of pointing a gun at the Black Russian.
“It’s not meant to be aimed at me, my beautiful Sasha,” the Black Russian replied. “It’s meant to be aimed at your damaged mind.”
Sasha moved the gun to his temple. “So, you want me to kill myself so no blood stains your hands?”
The Black Russian shook his head. “I’m giving you a choice.”
“Why? You’ve never given me one before,” Sasha spat. “All I am to you is an animal. You order me to sit and stand, to fetch and kill, like the other guards. But you can’t make me do what you want anymore. My baby brother is dead, which means you have nothing to blackmail me with.”
“Yuri is alive and well,” the Black Russian replied. “He’s in my bed, waiting for me.”
“Yuri is not alive, I saw him murdered before my eyes. Whoever you have in your bed isn’t my brother.”
The Black Russian’s face turned vicious. “It is him!”
“You’re delusional. And if he did return from Heaven, he’d choose to burn in Hell rather than see you again.”
The Black Russian slammed his hands against the window. “I want my sweet boy back, not this spiteful savage before my eyes.”
“I’m not your boy, never was and never will be.”
“Never say never, Sasha. You of all people should know that. I’ve broken the strongest and lifted up the weakest. I can mold anyone I please into whatever I want, like I’m going to do with you.”
“You won’t be able to if I blow my brains out.”
“I predict you won’t.”
“Oh, so now you can predict the future?”
“Da, and yours looks very grim if you don’t relent to me.”
Sasha sneered at him. “I would rather shoot myself than do that.”
“You will relent.” The Black Russian’s gaze moved to Andriena. “And I’ll do it through her.”
“I don’t care about Andriena, so you have no hold over me.”
“You’re lying, Sasha, otherwise you wouldn’t have given her your food or kissed her. And the way you ground against her... It was full of desire and need.”
“I don’t need anyone!”
“You do, like I need my sister.”
“You’re wrong, you incestuous freak.”
The Black Russian smiled wickedly. “Incest is a game the whole family can play.”
“You’re a sick fuck.”
“So true, but sex is such a gift; one my sister loves receiving from me.”
Sasha screwed up his face. “Because she’s sick like you.”
“No, she’s sicker, but in a charming, sexy way. No one compares to her. She’s the most incredible person I’ve ever known, a pure joy—”
“I don’t want to hear about her. Just tell me the rules of the damn game.”
“Watch how you speak to me, Sasha. Again, you can only push so far before something snaps.”
“These might be my last words, so I won’t waste them on talking about someone I hate even more than you.”
The Black Russian shook his head. “For the first time I wish it was you who died instead of Yuri.”
Sasha closed his eyes for a moment, the grief of losing his baby brother still searing his soul. “I wish that too.”
The Black Russian frowned. “He didn’t deserve to be shot down like that. You were supposed to protect him.”
Sasha exhaled slowly, willing himself not to show how much the Black Russian’s words hurt him, because they were true. Even though he and his brother had been outnumbered, he still should’ve done something, anything to have stopped Yuri from being killed. There hadn’t been a day since his brother’s death that he hadn’t gone over those last moments of Yuri’s life, trying to find a way he could’ve saved him.
“You feel guilt, don’t you, Sasha?”
Sasha dropped his gaze.
“Looks like you do, and you should. He was only there because he wanted to be with you.”
Sasha remained silent, again wishing he’d been killed instead of Yuri, his brother having been a much better person than him. The Black Russian tapped the microphone, making him look up at the man, his expression also pained. Without a doubt, the Black Russian had loved Yuri, but then again, everyone in the palace had, his baby brother’s nature so sweet.
“Enough talk about what we both lost,” the Black Russian said, his voice thick with emotion. “We can’t change the past, only the future. So, put the gun to your head like what was done to Yuri and pull the trigger, or kiss Andriena on the lips.”
Without hesitating, Sasha moved the gun to his forehead and pulled the trigger. The gun clicked, the empty chamber making him yell out, death his preference.
The Black Russian frowned. “Is the pain so deep that you would rather die than kiss a beautiful woman?”
“Death is more welcome than the touch of a woman’s lips.”
“Life has more to offer, even after tragedy.”
“Not for me.”
“Then, I’m going to change the rules of the game since you’re not playing the way it was intended.”
“Why? You gave me a choice and I chose to pull the trigger.”
“When I kissed my ex you punished me severely for it.”
“You did way more than kiss that Viper, and again, I’m not here to talk about the past. I’m here to be entertained and to entertain others. As you would’ve noticed, there are cameras filming everything you do. So, play the game my way, lover.”
“I’m not your lover,” Sasha spat.
“Everyone is my lover, just in varying degrees. In case you haven’t noticed, if I want someone I get them, like I’ve had you. You were one of my favorites, the cream of the crop, yet you disappointed me so much when you ran. I thought it wasn’t true at first. I couldn’t believe that my precious Sasha would do such a thing, but I couldn’t deny it when I saw you try to escape before my eyes, screaming you would rather die than return to me. It pained me more than you can ever know, especially since I don’t give many people my love—”
“You don’t love me; you love no one, other than your sick sister, who’s even worse than you.” Sasha sneered. “And if you want her to remain safe, you should kill me now, because if I ever get free I’m going to kill that cyka. I’d tie her up and place a gun to where her heart should be, telling her that you ordered me to execute her. She would say I was lying, then I would smile at her, asking her if she was sure of that. And as soon as a flicker of self-doubt forms in her eye, I’ll pull the trigger, killing the evil cyka while she questions your love for her.”
The Black Russian’s face turned vicious. “You’re delusional if you think you can fuck with my mind, Sasha. I am the manipulator, while you’re the manipulated. So, give that gun to Andriena or see the flesh stripped from her bones.” He bared his teeth. “Which you know I would do, with pleasure.”
Believing him, Sasha slid the gun across the table to Andriena. Fear colored her expression, looking like she didn’t want to leave this earth as readily as he did. Her hands were fixed firmly at her side, the slight shake to her head telling him she wasn’t going to pick up the gun.
The Black Russian’s voice came over the intercom again: “Place the gun to your head, Andriena.”
Sasha & Andriena #1 (Lovers & Sinners) Page 8