Danika's POV
No! No! No! No! What was actually happening? I thought…how could…
"Welcome home, Mrs. Dimitri," Nikolai said from where he stood. He didn't have a smug look on his face. Instead, he narrowed his eyes at me, as if wondering all the way that I could be punished.
"We are not married! Don't call me that! I am never going to get married to someone as cold and heartless as you!" I retorted weakly, even though I knew the chances of my reaching the gates of this estate before being caught by his men were non-existent.
"We will be." Nikola strolled forward slowly. His thumb hooked on my chin as he jerked my head upwards so I could stare deep into his eyes. "Tomorrow. And you wouldn't have a choice because your father has sold you to me. All the fucker cares about is getting every penny he spent on you as his foster child."
It was not novel that Richard hated me. Sometimes, I wondered why he didn't just let me stay back at the orphanage, rather than bring me into a life that was ten times worse than where I was. At least, back in the orphanage, my bed wasn't riddled with moths, and I had baths.
I wouldn't call them clean baths, as that would have been overdoing it.
Jerking away from his touch, I spat into his face. But Nikolai didn't recoil. Instead, a scary smile stretched out on his face.
My eyes met the stranger who stood behind him, seemingly unbothered by everything that was happening. He looked at me and shook his head slowly. For some reason, it felt like I had seen that before.
Nikolai raised his hands, wiping off my work of art on his face. "I warned you, Danika," he growled. Suddenly, Nikolai bent, wrapping his hands around my knees.
"What are you doing?" I yelped, but that didn't stop him from throwing me across his shoulders, my hands swinging in the air as he moved into the building.
The stranger turned around like he was enjoying a show. The last thing I saw before Nikola took me with him down a dark hallway was the fucker winking at me.
"Nikolai," I breathed, trying to reason with him. "Can you please put me down so we can talk?"
"I gave you chances, Danika," he breathed, his steel voice sending waves of panic through me. Panic that was a tad late, because if I'd known any better, I wouldn't have done anything to provoke him.
"And I don't give second chances." His voice dropped lower at the same time as his body. I could smell the change in the air. We were no longer above ground.
"Nikolai!" Dread crept into my voice, but he wasn't listening. Dumping me onto a chair unceremoniously, he moved with a purpose, like a lion out in the wild.
I watched with wide eyes as he dragged huge and heavy chains on the ground, bringing them to a stop beside a standing platform that had hooks above and underneath. My throat went parched abruptly as my mind painted the picture for me.
"Nikolai," I whimpered, pulling away from where he'd tossed me. My feet hit the ground, and a loud yelp fell from my mouth. The ground was made with sharp stones. Anyone who came in here would have to do that with shoes on.
But mine were still in the diner, probably forgotten by everyone.
"Please," I turned my face back to him, as tears stung the corners of my eyes. "What are you going to do with me?"
"You will see," he growled, then walked back to me, lifting me easily in his arms. Soon, I was leaning on the wall of the platform as Nikolai worked the chains onto my hands and feet. He pulled it as tight as it could go, until I was screaming, with tears and snot coming down my face.
"Nikolai!" My voice broke and echoed around the walls. "You cannot leave me here!"
"Oh! Not yet, my wife."
It was the way he said it, how chill crept onto his very words, that had me shaking my head insistently.
"Nikolai! Nikolai! Listen to me."
"The time for listening is over, Danika," he murmured as he moved away from me, the darkness of the dungeon partially shielding him from view. I couldn't tell what he was doing, but I could feel it.
With each scrape of mental and each sudden clang reverberating round the space, I jumped. And when he appeared from the darkness, the sight knocked the wind out of my body.
"Ahhhhhh!" I screamed with frustration, tugging hard at the chains keeping me in place. But every move made it worse, as the metal dug into my skin, leaving a blinding pain in its wake.
"You would have noticed, my dear wife," he said slowly. "That the more you move, the more horrific this is going to be for you. But at the end of the day, it is totally your choice."
And then, he raised two whips in the air, one in each hand. "Choose, Danika."
I shook my head exasperatedly.
"Danika!" The dungeon trembled as my name bounced off its walls. "Don't make me choose for you."
This man was a raving lunatic. Held in one hand was a bullwhip made out of leather, and in the other a Quirt made out of chains.
"The leather," I breathed, my heart thumping so hard against my chest that I was certain he could hear it.
"Great choice," he smirked, returning to hang the other. "It is my favourite. I knew I picked the right bride."
With the bullwhip in one hand, he strolled to my back and, with the force of the wind, ripped out my dress. I gasped as my hands flew to cover my naked boobs, while the destroyed dress pooled at my feet.
But the last thing I should have been bothered about was my naked form, as Nikolai leaned in, whispering into my ears. "This should hurt. If it does, scream."