Collared By The Warrior

by Daniella Wright

  “I got really drunk at my birthday party. And when the shooting in the bar started I got so scared that I ran out the back door and stumbled around walking down a few alleys. I flagged down a cab and I had it take me to a hotel where I slept it off. The next day I was going to come home, but I just didn’t feel like going back to real life. I’ve been under a lot of stress lately and I just decided that I needed a break. I’m sorry I didn’t contact you and tell you what I was doing. I thought you would just try to talk me out of it. And I needed this. I just had to get away from everything and everyone for a while. I’m sorry.”

  Tori almost believed every word of it herself. It was well-thought out and convincing even though she just made it up on the spot.

  “Well, honey if you felt that way I would have understood. You should have called. You almost put your mother into an early grave with a stunt like that, you know?”

  “I’m sorry,” Tori said. “That’s all I can say. I have no excuse for doing that; it was selfish of me and I just didn’t think. I was too wrapped up in me.”

  “Ok,” her father said. “Well, when do you think you can get back to work? No pressure; you take your time, but I was just curious because I do miss you being out there. The people like you and they respond to you.”

  “Soon, dad. Soon.”

  “Alright, well you just let me know honey. In the meantime just take it easy and enjoy your long birthday,” Tony said with a chuckle.

  Tori smiled and walked out of his office feeling the relief washing over her.

  CHAPTER 8

  Tori sat in her apartment looking at the blank television. She’d been sitting there for probably close to an hour enjoying the silence and the peace. It was odd, but for the past month she’d had nonstop peace and quiet all day and was desperate to talk to somebody, but now she was free and could pick up a phone and talk to anyone or go out into the house instead of her studio apartment her parents had built over top of the pool house when she turned sixteen, converting it essentially into a nice two-story house and talk to whoever she wanted to talk to.

  But she just wanted to be alone with her thoughts, probably because her thoughts would not stop about Mikhail. She could not get her mind on anything else. She kept thinking that he would be in the kitchen making breakfast when she got done with her morning workout or that he would be coming home just before dinner to fix one of his amazing feasts and tell her stories about the stupid things his friends and employees had done that day, some of them horrible things, but it put a smile on her face anyway.

  She missed him. She knew it was ridiculous, but she could not help the way she felt. When she broke it down everything he did he did because he wanted her, but he did not force her to do anything she didn’t want to beyond staying in the house. She did not want for anything there. And when she really looked back on it she had to wonder if she knew deep down that Laila was alright. After the first few weeks did she know? Did she know and choose to stay because she liked being there with him?

  Tori did not know what to make of her feelings. She had to tell Mikhail how she felt. She had to get some answers and confront him about his feelings.

  Thirty minutes later she was knocking on his door. She could barely remember the drive over or even being cleared at the gate to get into his property, but here she was. Was this a mistake after all?

  Mikhail answered the door just as Tori was debating whether to leave or not. The sight of seeing him standing there was shocking. He looked incredible and she immediately found herself being sucked back into him.

  Mikhail was shocked as well. It took him a few moments of standing there and looking her up and down before he spoke. And gone was the snarky cocky wit he usually displayed. He was talking to her like an actual person.

  “Wow, I didn’t expect to see you here ever again,” Mikhail said.

  “Well, that makes two of us.”

  “So, stupid question, but how are you?” Mikhail asked.

  “Enough with the pleasantries,” Tori said. “I came here to ask you why you did that to me. Why did you take me away from my life? Was I just some toy for your amusement? You asked me to acknowledge my feelings; well I’m asking you to acknowledge yours.”

  Mikhail did not answer for a few seconds. He stepped back and motioned her inside. She stepped back inside the house and he shut the door behind her.

  “Listen, I’m sorry I hurt you. That was never my intention.”

  “Then why do what you did? I still don’t get it.”

  “It’s like I told you at the bar; I saw an opportunity and I took it. I’ve been like that with everything in life; I’m a risk taker. I take chances. When I see an opportunity I don’t hesitate for a second. I just pounce on it.”

  “I see; so I’m just an opportunity,” Tori said.

  “No. You are much more than that. Listen, I really care about you. I’m sorry I did that to you. I ended up blowing what could have been the greatest opportunity of my life by trying to force something to happen instead of letting life take its course. I was wrong. I am sorry.”

  Tori could tell that for the first time Mikhail was being genuine. He really meant every word he was saying. And she believed him. And she had to admit the truth to herself too; she cared for him deeply.

  “I forgive you,” Tori said. “I can’t stop thinking about you.”

  Mikhail took her hands in his and held her close. “I haven’t stopped thinking about you since I met you. I never want to let you go.”

  “I’m not sure where this will lead or if it will work at all, but I want to try. I think we owe it to ourselves to let down our guards and just see what will happen with us.”

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Mikhail said. He bent down and kissed her gently on the lips.

  “Whatever doesn’t make sense, I’m sure we'll figure it out together,” Tori said.

  She closed her eyes as Mikhail leaned in for another kiss. His lips were so firm and so strong; just as she remembered. She had been craving him ever since she left him at the club.

  They barely made it to the bed with a single item of clothing left between them. The passion had taken over, true passion. It was a mix of lust and beginning love that was intense and sharp, swooping in like a speeding arrow with a destination that it could not be swayed from.

  She could not remember a time when she had felt so desired and so spent. As Mikhail entered her with his huge, thick member pushing through her wet shield into her waiting center she knew that it was all going to work out somehow.

  Love like this could not be destroyed. It started fast and it burned bright and hard, but with the right tending it would grow to become massive and nothing could burn hotter.

  Caged Passion was often that way.

  Bastard

  ~Bonus Story~

  An Arranged Marriage Mafia Romance

  I dreamt about him again, as I had many a night for years. Gray Petrokov was my first love, my everything. In my dream, he still loved me. We were lying on our sides, face-to-face, and he gently cupped my cheek in his hand and leaned his head forward for a kiss as he had so many times before. I actually felt the kiss in my dream, felt it so deeply that my lips still tingled when I woke. I felt like crying every time I had the dream. We had been so in love, Gray and I, before he left me unexpectedly in the middle of the night, leaving me feeling bruised and battered as surely as if he had hit me.

  Kat

  I never thought I’d see Gray Petrokov again. I never thought I would want to—he had broken my heart when I was younger, shattered it when he left me in the middle of the night after we had been so desperately in love with each other. When my father told me I’d have to marry him, I decided to run away from my home. I’d heard dark rumors about Gray, rumors that convinced me he would hurt me in more ways than just breaking my heart. I only hoped he wouldn’t find me, that I wouldn’t have to face the heartbreak of ever seeing him again.

  Gray

  I had been a bad man all
my life, a hitman for the mafia who had wandered like a lone wolf picking off targets, enemies of my father’s gang. I never thought I’d be married, but when my family said that it would be Kat I was to wed, my heart leapt with hope. We’d been sweethearts when we were young, back before I left her to protect her, but I knew that it would take some convincing to let her know that I would never leave her again. When she disappeared the day of the wedding, I knew I had to find her, to hunt her down and convince her that I would never leave her again, if only she’d give me the chance.

  * * *

  Chapter 1: Kat

  I dreamt about him again, as I had many a night for years. Gray Petrokov was my first love, my everything. In my dream, he still loved me. We were lying on our sides, face-to-face, and he gently cupped my cheek in his hand and leaned his head forward for a kiss as he had so many times before. I actually felt the kiss in my dream, felt it so deeply that my lips still tingled when I woke. I felt like crying every time I had the dream. We had been so in love, Gray and I, before he left me unexpectedly in the middle of the night, leaving me feeling bruised and battered as surely as if he had hit me.

  I sighed when I woke up. It was the middle of the night and yet I couldn’t go back to sleep, no matter how I tossed and turned to try to get comfortable in my bed. It had been years since I’d even seen Gray and yet I remembered every detail of his face and every line of his body. After he’d left me, I’d spent years avoiding relationships, unable to trust men no matter how hard I tried. Even if I were able to let down my guard and let someone in, I had a feeling that no man would ever be able to live up to the memory of the passion I’d felt for Gray.

  I walked around for a long while early that morning, trying to clear my head. It was no good to dwell on such things, to pine over lost loves until it made me sick and miserable. I occupied myself by meditating on my walk, listening to the sound of the fall leaves crunching under my feet, of the chirping of birds and the scuffling of squirrels as they ran from my approach. I walked until our maid, Jessica, interrupted my thoughts by clearing her throat behind me. I turned to her, a benevolent smile on my face. She was a new maid, young and skittish as a mouse but otherwise perfectly competent. I liked her.

  “What is it, Jess?” I asked gently.

  “Um,” she said. “Your father would like to see you in his study.”

  I sighed, knowing what this was about. My father didn’t have much to do with me other than to lecture me about school or marriage, and since I’d just graduated, I knew it was about the latter. I followed Jess into the large house and through the halls to my father’s study.

  He was sitting across the desk from me and beckoned me to take the chair across from him, as if this were a business meeting. To him, I’d imagine it was. He had never been particularly warm to me, even when I was a small child. He was large and imposing and able to make even the strongest of men cower in their seats. He didn’t intimidate me, though; family was everything to my father, even more important to him than money or notoriety. He would never hurt me, no matter how dangerous he was to both his allies and his enemies.

  Still, I sat with my back straight the way he expected me to, with strength and dignity. I met and held his eye firmly, proudly, which garnered from him a small, rare smile.

  “Good morning, Kat,” he said politely.

  “Good morning, father.”

  He cleared his throat and looked up at Jess, who was standing in the doorway awaiting dismissal.

  “Jess, a scotch for me. Water for Kat, if you don’t mind.”

  He always phrased his commands as polite requests when speaking to the help. He said it kept them loyal. We waited in silence while Jess brought our beverages and when she had quietly backed out of the room and shut the door, he gazed at me with his piercing dark eyes.

  “I assume you know why I’ve called you in here?”

  I nodded, sighing. “You want me to get married.”

  “It’s time, Kat,” he said, taking a sip of his scotch. My father always started drinking at the beginning of the day but it never seemed to affect him—he kept a cool head at all times, a trait which I had not inherited from him.

  “I don’t think I’m ready to be committed like that,” I said. “I don’t know if I want to.”

  He shook his head, holding my eye.

  “As my daughter, it is your duty to get married and carry on the family line, my legacy. Your sister—“

  “—was in love,” I pointed out, boldly interrupting him. He shot me a look that told me my impertinence was unacceptable.

  “I’ve given you time. I’ve been patient,” he said, and that was true. He had given me years to choose a man to marry and yet my heart was trapped, stuck in a place it no longer belonged. “But time is up, Kat. Your marriage must secure the family’s position. I will not take no for an answer anymore.”

  I paused for a moment, ready to argue, then deflated when I saw the look on his face. He would brook no argument; once his mind was made up, he was like steel.

  “I suppose you already have someone lined up for me?”

  He nodded. “And you already know him. Gray Petrokov.”

  The words hit me straight in the chest. If I hadn’t been sitting already, I probably would have sunk straight through the floor.

  “Daddy, please,” I pleaded, addressing him in a way that I hadn’t since I was a small child. I felt like a child, too, powerless and afraid. I couldn’t marry the man who had shattered my heart years ago, the man who haunted my dreams and kept me from ever finding love again. “You must be joking. I can’t marry Gray.”

  “I assure you, I’m very serious. You can and you will,” he said in a stern voice. “I have spoken to the head of the Petrokov family and we both agreed that an alliance between the two of us would be very beneficial. Plus, you already know Gray. The two of you have a history. It was the logical option.”

  The Petrokov family was notorious in the city. Everybody knew that they were part of the mafia but nobody dared bother them. Law enforcement was too afraid of the repercussions and rival families didn’t dare intrude upon their territory. A marriage alliance between my family and the Petrokovs was, admittedly, a smart strategy to further our power. My family would gain the protection that the Petrokov family offered and the Petrokovs would expand their territory twofold. Still, I couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that the nightmarish pain of seeing him again was about to come true.

  “I can’t believe this,” I muttered, shaking my head.

  “Believe it,” my father said, and then his voice rose. “Gray, you may come in.”

  My heart stopped. I had not expected to see him today and I would have preferred to have time to prepare. I turned in my chair and watched him enter, holding my breath, my heart beating hard and fast in my chest. He was no longer the skinny young man I remembered from my youth, but was tall and broad, his powerful body corded with muscle. His arms were covered with tattoos from forearm to shoulder and there was a large scar across his cheek that somehow emphasized the height and depth of his perfect bone structure. He still had the face I remembered, though, his eyes the color of his name, the sensual mouth that I hadn’t grown tired of kissing even after he’d left me. His skin was pale and even, much paler than my chocolate brown complexion. I had always thought our bodies looked so beautiful together, but now, looking at him, I could only see the monster he seemed to have become. And I wanted nothing to do with him.

  He held my eye and my stomach did a somersault. He seemed to know what I was thinking because he flinched almost imperceptibly. I stood up and forced a smile on my face, offering my hand to shake. He took it, his palm rough against mine, but the feel of it sent the same jolt of electricity through my body as it always had before. I cursed myself for my response to him and quickly withdrew from his touch.

  “It’s a pleasure to see you again, Kat,” he said, his voice deeper and richer than it had been before. It was like velvet, something tangible and so
ft and pleasant to the touch.

  “Same to you,” I lied. If I’d had it my way, I’d never have had to look upon him again.

  “It’s been a long time. Too long. I hope…” he trailed off, paused for a moment, then finished his sentence. “I hope we can be friends again.”

  Friends. As if I hadn’t love him more than anything else in the world. As if he hadn’t broken my heart beyond mending. I was glad that my back was to my father because I knew that I was glaring daggers at the man. He looked away uncomfortably and directed his gaze toward my father.

  “My father says two weeks until the wedding. Do you agree?”

  I turned to look at my father, with pain written all over my face.

  He nodded. “Two weeks is fine,” he said.

  And that was that.

  Chapter 2: Gray

  Kat was as lovely as I remembered. Actually, she was somehow even more beautiful. She had always straightened her hair before but now she let it hang in long black ringlets that framed her gorgeous face and made her large brown eyes stand out against the sweet mocha color of her skin. She had filled out, too, and was no longer the skinny girl I had left behind years before. Her body was curvy and mouthwateringly perfect. The moment I’d seen her, I’d wanted to take her into my arms and kiss her, though the look of pure disgust and trepidation on her face had told me that she wouldn’t take kindly to that sort of thing.

  I had missed Kat every day since the night I had left her. I dreamt of her often—of her lips and her eyes, her smile and the sweet sounds of pleasure she used to make when I’d made love to her so long ago. We were so in love back then—so in tune with each other, and we spent hours and hours intertwined in the secret place we’d gone to get away from our families, our fathers in particular. We’d had a lot in common back then, both having grown up in criminal families with empires all their own. I had left to protect her from my family and from myself, but I had a feeling that no amount of explanation would make her believe a word of that. I had torn her heart out, I knew, and seeing her again made me deeply regret what I had done.