Bratva Prince (Bratva Series Book 2)

“Ha! That’ll be $900. Pay up, sucka!” Lukyan thrust his hand out towards Illayana, palm facing up, demanding his cash for her landing on his property.

I snickered at the look of pure rage on my sister’s face. Even though monopoly was a game of complete chance, she still let herself get all worked up when she was losing.

After a huge dinner that was fit for a king, we all gathered in Father’s office to spend the night playing all the board games we used to play when we were kids. It had been a long time since we’d done this.

Since before my mother’s death.

The thought of my mother stirred up the same feelings it always did, and I locked them away, refusing to acknowledge them.

Father had rolled his big leather chair out from behind his desk so he could watch, a glass of vodka in one hand and a cigar in the other. He didn’t play any of the games. Never did. He just sat and watched, like he was committing everything to memory to look back on later. Every so often, his lips would kick up in the smallest hint of a smile.

We were all sitting in a circle in the middle of the room, the Game of Thrones monopoly board smack dab in the centre of us. All the furniture had been pushed up against the far wall, so we had enough space. Lukyan sat across from me, a smug as fuck smile on his face as he took the cash from Illayana and fanned himself with it tauntingly. My sister sat to my left, seething. Nik was on my right.

“He’s cheating,” Illayana bit out, rearranging her properties so they all lined up neatly.

Lukyan gasped. “Well, I never,” he said in a feminine tone. “I would never do such a thing. I’m just better than you,” he winked.

Illayana growled and threw the dice at him. “Shut up and take your turn.”

Lukyan scooped them up and rolled. He moved his piece, landing on Castle Black. “Buy!” he yelled, picking up his stack of cash.

“You can’t buy every property you land on, Lukyan! You don’t even need it!” Illayana fumed, her face going red.

“No, I don’t. But you do,” he laughed. It was true. She had the two other corresponding properties—Pyke and Winterfell. All she needed was Castle Black to finish the set and then she could have started putting Keeps and Villages on it. But now that Lukyan had purchased it, it was too late. He handed the money over to me and Nik gave him the card with Castle Black on it. He put it with the rest of his properties.

Illayana looked like she was going to strangle him.

“Stop letting him rile you up so much,” I whispered as Nik took his turn. “He does it deliberately to piss you off.”

“I know,” she gritted out. But she couldn’t help it. I understood. Lukyan had a real fucking knack for getting under your skin. For making you want to stab him in the eye with a fork. If pissing people off was a superpower, it would be his. And he loved doing it too. It was like it was an integral part of his personality. You couldn’t have Lukyan without also having his innate ability for making people mad. It was just who he was.

I looked down at my properties. Pentos. The Eyrie. Dragonstone. Braavos. Harrenhal. Astapor. All of mine were useless. I didn’t have a full set, and I never would. Each of my siblings had at least one of the others I needed that would make it complete. There was no way I was going to win.

Not that I cared. Like I said, monopoly was a game of complete chance, so I didn’t see the point in getting competitive over it. It was the luck of the dice.

I sneaked a glance at Illayana’s properties and smirked. Nik handed the dice to me and I handed them to Illayana.

She frowned. “What are you doing? It’s your turn.”

“I’m out,” I said, scooping my properties up and getting to my feet. We’d been playing games for the last two hours, and I was done. The entire time we’d been playing my mind hadn’t really been here. It had been down in the pit with Drea. I wanted to go see her. To fight with her. To hear that sexy as fuck accent as she cursed me out in Spanish.

I knew I shouldn’t. Knew it was only going to make it harder for me to fight my attraction towards her. But I didn’t care anymore. My body came alive at the thought of going down to see her. That was all the incentive I needed.

I was sick and tired of fighting myself. Denying myself. If I wanted to see her, I was damn well going to see her. No one was going to stop me. Not even myself.

I handed my properties to Illayana. “You can have these.”

Lukyan choked. “Whoa, you can’t do that! If you quit, the properties go back up for sale! Those are the rules.”

“They’re not our rules and you know it.” We followed the main set of rules that came with the game, but we also made up our own too. Like if you ever had to pay tax or pay $100 because you picked up a card that said you had to, or pay to get out of jail, it all went in the centre of the board instead of in the bank, and whoever landed on FREE PARKING got all the money. Well, this was another one of ours. If someone wanted to quit, they could choose to give all their cash and properties to someone else. I chose Illayana.

“But that’s not fair!” Lukyan yelled with all the grace of a toddler throwing a tantrum. “You’re giving her two full sets!”

Yeah, I was. I saw her properties. Three of mine would give her two complete sets, and one of them was the most expensive set in the game. King’s Landing and Braavos. If anyone landed on those when they were full of Keeps, they’d owe her thousands.

Illayana smiled evilly and snatched the cards and money from my hands. “You heard him, he’s giving them to me. No take backs.” She started counting out the cash she needed to add Keeps, her entire focus on the game.

I shook my head, a small chuckle in my throat. She was twenty-one and still acted like such a child sometimes. Both of them did.

I said my goodbyes to them all and left.

I walked down the hallway in the pit, excitement surging through my body. My skin buzzed, a shiver of anticipation curling down my spine as I got closer and closer to the room that held Drea. When I turned the corner, I saw Sasha and Pavel standing in front of her door as usual. Their heads turned to me, a flash of confusion on Sasha’s face.

I knew why. For the last week I’d been coming to see Drea once a day at the same time. I wedged it into my daily routine. Wake up. Shower. Eat. Workout. Perimeter check. Visit Drea.

It was now 9:17pm.

Father and Illayana were both creatures of habit. I was one of structure. Order. My morning routine was not to be trifled with. Especially my workout. If I didn’t hit the gym at least once a day, very bad things would happen.

It was my release. My happy place. Where I went to rid myself of my inner demons. In a way, it was like therapy for me. The ache I got in my muscles after an intense workout was euphoria.

“Boss,” Sasha said, nodding his head in greeting.

“Any problems?” I asked, coming to a stop in front of them.

“Just the usual ranting and raving. Nothing out of the ordinary,” Sasha responded. “She did demand a shower though.”

“Did she?” Indecent thoughts streaked through my mind. Drea…wet. Soapy. Her hands running over her body.

I think a shower sounded like a good idea.

“Take the rest of the night off. Come back in the morning,” I ordered.

Sasha frowned. “Uh—”

I narrowed my eyes in warning.

Sasha straightened. “Sorry, boss. Let’s go, Pavel.” The younger man followed after Sasha, leaving me alone in the hall.

Sasha knew better than to question an order. All it took was a look to remind him of that.

I opened the door and stepped into the room. I flicked the switch on the wall, light flooding the room. Drea was slumped in the chair, head hanging forward, her dark hair curtaining her face. She lifted her head at my arrival and squinted, like she was having trouble seeing me properly through the light.

She groaned, letting her head fall forward again. “My, my, my, two visits in one day? Whatever did I do to earn such a privilege?” She sounded tired. Trying to sleep in an upright position like that, with her hands cuffed behind the back of the chair, wouldn’t be comfortable. I’d be surprised if she managed to sleep at all.

I didn’t like how exhausted she looked.

I tilted my head to the side. “How are you tonight, malyshka?”

“Fan-fucking-tastic. And yourself?” She lifted her head. “Oh wait, I just realised I don’t care.”

“Lovely as always, I see.” I leaned against the doorframe, watching her intently. “Any thoughts on my offer?”

“Hmm, let me think.” She pursed her lips. “Nope. Still not a fucking snitch. Sorry. Now, can you leave? I’m trying to fucking sleep, in case you couldn’t tell.”

“You don’t want your shower then?”

She narrowed her eyes. She didn’t say a word, just looked at me suspiciously, like I had some ulterior motive.

Maybe I did.

I walked behind her and undid her cuffs. Red lines marred her wrists. She’d been fighting against them.

“What’s the catch?” she asked, lightly massaging her red and bruised wrists.

“No catch. Let’s go, before I change my mind.”

She went to stand and her knees buckled. Before I even knew what I was doing, I rushed forward. My arms wrapped around her almost without thought, shielding her from hitting the ground. Her body pressed to mine. My mind went completely blank. All I could think about was how good it felt having her so close, all those luscious curves pressed against me in all the right places.

Drea shoved at my chest. “Don’t touch me. I don’t need your help,” she snapped, but the moment I let her go she fell to the ground.

And I let her. If she wanted to be stubborn and reject my help, then fine.

She landed roughly on her hands and knees, breathing hard.

I walked to the door. “Hurry up, I don’t have all night.”

Her eyes snapped to me in anger. With a growl she pushed to her feet, a slight wobble in her legs. She took a hesitant step, as if testing to make sure she wasn’t going to fall flat on her face again before she straightened her spine and marched past me without so much as a glance in my direction, her head held high.

She turned right.

“Wrong way.”

She huffed and spun on the balls of her feet, heading in the opposite direction. I stepped into line behind her, not giving her an inch of space. When she went to turn down another corridor, I put my hand on her shoulder and steered her back the right way.

She spun abruptly, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at me. “Why don’t you just lead the way then?”

“I don’t mind you leading. I like the view.” My eyes darted down her body. More specifically, I liked the way her ass swayed from side to side with each step she took.

She scowled, moving to press herself right up against the wall. She waved her hand through the air in a ‘you first’ gesture.

I shrugged and headed down the corridor towards the steel door. It didn’t make me nervous having her at my back. If anything, it made me excited. I wanted her to try something. To attack me. To give me a reason to throw her to the ground and pin her down with my body.

But she didn’t. How disappointing.

I led her up the stairs, through the steel door and across the main floor. It was now empty—not a single person in sight—all the gym equipment sitting idle and waiting for use. I glanced over my shoulder.

Drea’s eyes were darting in every direction. Looking for a way out, no doubt. Possibly memorising the layout to use in an escape attempt later.

Or right now.

Quick as lightning, Drea bolted for the door, hurtling over machines and benches as she sprinted for the exit.

Adrenaline spiked through me and I gave chase, excitement filling my bones. She might be quick, but I knew the layout of this place better than anyone. I spent most of my time in here. I could manoeuvre around here with my fucking eyes closed.

She was an inch away from the door when I caught her, my arms wrapping around her waist and lifting her off the ground.

“Let me go, you son of a bitch!” She swung her elbow back and hit me in the side of the face, a brutal cut slashing down my eyebrow.

I cursed, my hold loosening on her slightly.

She slipped out of my arms like jello, landing in a crouch at my feet. She spun, kicking my legs right out from underneath me and my back smashed to the floor with a loud thud.

Fuck.

She lunged for the door and I wrapped my hand around her ankle, her body airborne for all of two seconds before she came crashing to the ground face first, an ‘omph’ falling from her lips.

I kept my grip tight on her ankle as she fought me. She turned, kicking out at me with her other foot. I deflected her blows, wrestling for the dominant position. I went to cover her body with mine, planning to use my body weight to subdue her when she flung her head forward, her skull whacking into my lips.

Pain lanced through me, blood pooling in my mouth. I smiled.

Drea brought her knees up between us and pushed against my chest, the strength of her legs surprising me as she shoved me away. She scrambled on her stomach for the door and I pounced on her back, flattening her to the ground and making it impossible for her to move. I held myself up a little so I didn’t crush her under my weight.

“Fucking asshole!” she thrashed below me, throwing her head, arms and legs in every direction trying to hit me.

I grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back, making her wince. Winding a hand under her body, I collared her throat. “Enough,” I barked out roughly. “You can’t beat me.” Though she definitely put up a worthy fight. Better than anyone else before her.

“Yeah? Watch me.” She dug her fingers into some sort of pressure point on my wrist and pain shot through me like a speeding bullet.

“Son of a bitch!” I hissed, letting go of her throat.

She flung me off her and scrambled to her feet, bolting the first chance she got. I followed, ignoring the pain throbbing in my wrist as I chased her.

Okay, I may have slightly underestimated her.

Drea used the gym equipment to keep distance between me and her, running the opposite way from me every time I got close. It was like a game of cat and mouse. Or tag. At one point, we just ran in circles around one of the machines over and over again until I’d had enough.

When I stopped, she stopped. We both stared at each other, sizing the other up to see who’d make the first move. Her eyes darted down to my crotch and back up.

“You’re enjoying this,” she panted, slightly out of breath.

My whole body was on fire, adrenaline and lust surging through me, making my cock so hard it hurt. Sex and fighting went hand and hand with me. So yeah, I was enjoying it.

I took a step left and she mirrored it, keeping the distance. “What’s not to enjoy? Chasing a beautiful woman, feeling her body fight against mine. That’s a good time in my book.” I lunged for her and she dove away, rolling along the ground and springing back up in one quick move. She placed the leg press machine between us instantly and we were right back where we started again.

“Aw, you think I’m beautiful. How sweet. Too bad you’re a kidnapping asshole. That compliment might have gotten you laid in a different scenario.”

“I wasn’t giving you a compliment. Just stating a fact.” I lunged for her again and she just managed to slip out of my grasp. “You’re a fast little thing aren’t you?”

She smiled, full of cheekiness and confidence. “Someone my size has to be. Can’t go getting caught by the big bad wolf.” She picked up a two-kilo dumbbell and hurled it at me.

I jumped to the side, dodging it. It clambered to the ground.

“You’re fast too,” she stated, observing me closely. She watched me with a predatory glint in her eyes, taking note of everything I did. The way I moved. If I favoured one side over the other. It was like she was cataloguing it all, trying to figure out my weakness.

Whatever she saw gave her the confidence to strike. Or maybe she was just done fucking around. She moved out from behind the machine and bolted for the wall of weapons.

It was a mistake that cost her the game.

Like I said before, I know this place better than anyone else. I know the entire layout like the back of my hand. I know where each machine was. The distance between one machine and the other. I know that the mat beneath my feet runs all the way along the room, and that she’d need to step on it to get to the wall.

I crouched and yanked on the mat at the same time her foot landed on it, pulling it right out from underneath her.

Drea squealed in surprise, her back smashing to the ground.

I ran, not wasting a single moment. I reached her just as she got back on her feet. I picked her up and slammed her back down, covering her with my body. I grabbed her hands and pinned them above her head as she screamed and cursed.

Her legs flailed wildly. Her head reared forward, trying to headbutt me, but I wasn’t going to fall for that again. I leaned back just out of her reach.

“Caught you,” I whispered, smirking down at her. “Now, what to do with my prize?”

She breathed heavily, anger and frustration in her eyes. But there was also something else. Something I recognised. “Is this the part where you rape me?” If it wasn’t for the breathy moan in which she said it, I would think she was afraid I would actually do it. Then I felt her hips swivel beneath me—almost as if she couldn’t control it—and I knew she was just as turned on as I was.

Did she like the fight too?

“I don’t take women by force. If they want me, they need to tell me first.”

I didn’t like the word rape. Not even in a roleplay scenario. CNC was something I’d dabbled in before, but not very much. Primal play and CNC were similar in some ways, but drastically different in others.

They both centred around dominance and submission, which was one of the main things I loved to explore.

“I want you,” Drea moaned, clenching her teeth. “I always want to stab you in the eye with whatever sharp object I can get my hands on.” I loved her honesty. It was refreshing.

A chuckle rumbled in my throat. “What an interesting conundrum you’re in then.”

I pulled back, getting to my feet and taking a few steps back. Drea propped herself up on her elbows, looking at me with a confused expression. Her face was flushed, chest rising and falling in breathy pants, eyes burning with the fire I felt inside.

Yeah, she definitely liked the fight.

“Well, hurry up. On your feet.”

She picked herself up, that feisty glare on her face telling me all I needed to know. She wanted to escape, but she also wanted to fuck me too. This burning attraction was affecting both of us, it seemed. Her eyes darted to the door, the thought of running again so obvious it streaked across her features.

“You run again, and I’ll take you back to that room and you can sit in your own filth.”

Her glare intensified tenfold. She looked as though she was still considering it.

“We both know I’ll catch you,” I taunted, keeping my body loose, ready to strike.

She stood there for a few moments, debating what to do. She kicked the bench beside her, a growl of frustration falling from her lips. “You can’t keep me here! People will come looking for me.”

“They won’t find you.” That I was confident in. “Last chance. You want your shower or not?”

She stamped her foot. “Yes.”

I pointed to the door at the other end of the warehouse. “Walk.”

When we got to the shower room, I opened the door and held it open for her.

She snorted. “What, you’re going to start acting like a gentleman now?” It was a rhetorical question. She marched right past me, not giving me a chance to answer. Not that I would have anyway. I wasn’t a gentleman. Far fucking from it.

At the back of the room sat a row of showers. To the left of them was a mirror that ran the entire length of the wall, with sinks spread out evenly in front. To the right were enough lockers for twenty people to store their belongings, as well as a shelf with towels and shower products.

I waited for Drea to do her scan of the room. Her eyes ran over everything from left to right. The mirror, the showers, the lockers. Her head snapped back to the showers, doing a double take. She turned to face me, eyes full of fury.

They didn’t have any doors on them. They were completely open.

I held in my smirk. “Well, hurry it up then. You’ve got ten minutes.”

She glared. “Ever heard of privacy?”

“You lost the right to privacy the moment you tried to escape.” There were several windows in here she could crawl out of. No way was I leaving her alone.

Her glare intensified. Oh, I just loved that look in her eyes. Antagonising her was quickly becoming my new favourite thing.

Drea walked to the right side of the room and grabbed a towel, yanking it from the shelf with aggression. She picked up bottles of shampoo, conditioner and body wash and marched back, dropping them on the long wooden bench seat in front of the showers.

“Turn around,” she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.

I copied her stance, leaning back against the door, making it crystal fucking clear I had no intention whatsoever of doing as she demanded.

We stared at each other, sexual tension zapping between us.

After a few more seconds of intense eye fucking, she stood tall, her head held high and whipped off her shirt. Full, plump breasts in a black cotton bra greeted me. My mouth went dry. It was just a plain bra, nothing particularly racy or exciting about it. And yet on her it was the sexiest thing I’d ever fucking seen.

Her whole upper body was covered in tattoos. Skulls, bloody daggers, roses. A huge fire-breathing dragon that spanned the entire width of her chest. An array of different graphic images over every inch of skin I could see. She was the complete opposite of every woman I’d ever been with. Majority of them were elegant. Refined. Classic.

Drea was rough. Foul-mouthed. Hot-headed. And I’d never been so attracted to another before.

Drea popped the buttons on her ripped jeans and pushed them down, stepping out of them. Her underwear matched her bra. Black. Cotton. Plain. Sexy as fuck.

More tattoos ran down her legs.

Jesus, was she covered from head to fucking toe?

Not that I minded. Tatts weren’t usually my thing, but I was quickly discovering anything to do with Drea was a turn on.

Eyes locked on me, she reached back and unclasped her bra, letting it fall away.

Lord have mercy. Her nipples were pierced.

She pulled down her underwear next. It took every ounce of self control I possessed not to jump on her and ravage her. On the inside I was ravenous, my beast screaming to take her now and rut her like some wild, feral animal in heat. On the outside, I was cool, calm and collected, like having a naked woman in front of me was nothing. No big deal.

Drea turned, giving me her back as she strolled towards the shower with complete casualness. I almost fell to my knees in worship.

I was an ass man. Not only was Drea’s ass so luscious I wanted to take a bite out of it. It was also plump and toned, as if she’d spent hours working the muscles to perfection.

Surprise, surprise. More tattoos ran down the back of her body, over her ass and down her legs. She really was covered head to toe.

It wasn’t just her body that turned me on; it was the way she held herself. Here she was, naked, exposed, and it didn’t seem to bother her in the slightest. She didn’t cower or try to cover herself under my intense scrutiny. There was no nervousness or shame. Not that there was a damn thing to be ashamed about. Her body was perfection. A literal work of art.

Drea was completely confident in herself, her body. And fuck if that didn’t make me ten times hotter for her.