Page 114 of Caged

One squeeze, and he could rip out my throat. His nails dig into the tender skin sending shoots of agony down my chest and into my jaw.

Nikolai’s eyes widen.

I can see him staring at his father’s grip.

“Where. Is. Zoya?” Ivan grits to Nikolai.

Dmitri leans against the table, his arms crossed with a smug smile.

The cords of Nikolai’s neck stand out as he screams. “I don’t know!”

My vision is starting to go fuzzy, and my lungs burn.

A heavy knock on the door cuts through the haze.

I’m struggling to stay conscious as Ivan stares down Nikolai.

But then, I can breathe again.

Ivan sits back and nods to Dmitri.

In hushed tones, another man whispers urgently to Dmitri, but I’m too foggy to understand what they’re saying.

“Sir, there seems to be an altercation at the front gate.” Dmitri nods to the unseen man who disappears into the hall.

“Fuck.” Ivan stands and tosses the hammer and nails to Dmitri. “Get him talking. Use her as a board.”

That sounds scary.

When Dmitri turns and smiles at me with his dead, fishy eyes, I know I’m in for a problem.

I think he’s probably even more sadistic. The way he licks his lips as he takes Ivan’s seat in front of me makes my stomach roll.

“Where were we?” Holding one of the long spikes in his thin fist, he drops his hand and stabs the point into my leg.

Pain arcs through my body. It feels like fire running through my thigh.

Then, he pulls it out and jabs it into me again.

Fuck. I can’t hold back the groan when he sinks the prod for a third time into the thick muscle of my leg.

Blood soaks my jeans from the punctures.

Nikolai thrashes in his chair and grunts his frustration with each failed attempt to move. “Leave her alone!” he yells, arching his hips away from the steel seat.

“You’re a pussy,” I spit out at Dmitri. “Ivan got them deeper. Look at you with your tiny holes. Are you used to just short strokes?”

“Mila,” Nikolai growls in a warning tone.

Dmitri’s features cloud and his jaw ticks. “I didn’t think you’d be used to a full sized prick.” He raises the hammer and hits the pin, driving it through my thigh to bounce against the steel chair beneath me.

God damn, that makes my stomach seize and knocks the breath out of me when the excruciating pain rockets through me.

It takes me a second to shut it down. I’ve fought with it my whole life.

Nothing hurts more than the moment I had to betray Nikolai.

Knowing he’s here because he forgave me gives me the strength to tamp down this momentary agony.