LAYLAH
Song dedication for this chapter: Shameless, Camilla Cabello

"YOU'RE FRIENDS WITH A FUCKING COP?" I cried out, unsure if I should be shocked or impressed at his precariousness.

"Don't get your panties in a twist. Said cop is in on everything," Mikhail answered nonchalantly as he removed his sweater in one quick movement. He really shouldn't be doing things like that around me. I averted my eyes as heat rose up from my cheeks to my head. There was no denying it, he was beautiful. Like a dagger with a jewelled hilt any craftsman would be proud of but it's blade, rugged and eroded with crystallised blood.

"He's in on everything?" I cocked an eye brow at the door; there was no way I was going to look back until I was sure he was dressed.
"Okay, well maybe not everything. You...this is excluded."
I could hear the shuffling of crisp fabric behind me.
"You mean kidnapping a woman on whim?"
"It was not on whim. God, we've been through this way too many times Luna."
"Yeah sureee," I dragged, knowing it would irk him. He hated when I questioned his principles. He was adamant he had broken none in my abduction and that this was a very humane and practical arrangement on his part.

"So, why's he helping you? In fact, when did this even begin?" The shuffling behind me had long died down so I decided to turn around only to bump into something.
He was right there, right behind me. I felt as if the air had been knocked out of me with a sharp blow to my chest as he stood centimetres apart from me; my face having planted into his bare chest only moments ago. He didn't back off.

I tried to ignore how fucking good he looked in a black dress shirt with all the buttons open save for the ones at his navel. I know he was giving his wound needed to breathe....but god....so did I.

"Because, sweetheart,"
Oh god please don't call me that, anything but that right now...
"He and I escaped that god forsaken place together."
His eyes were desperately searching for something in my face. They were searching for comfort, consolation perhaps. I wasn't even sure if anything I said would be enough to soothe the scars on his body and soul. Hell, one of them was from me now.

"I'm sorry...for you both," was all I could pathetically maffle.
He stepped back and suddenly, my respiratory abilities began functioning once more. Sometimes he made me feel like he could kill me without laying a single finger on me.

He turned his attention to the mirror, brushing his hair. I didn't miss the hiss that escaped his lips and he raised his arms to reach the back of his head. I reached out and snatched the brush from his hand.
"What are you doing-"
"Sit on the bed. I'll brush your hair for you. I can't reach your head from here."
"I can do it myself."
"Just sit. I let you do my hair once too."

He sighed but complied as he seated himself on the edge of the bed. I crawled on top of the bed, positioning myself behind him. I combed my fingers through his hair, only because I wanted to know what I was working with. I didn't want to brush with too much force if he had fine hair.

I felt the slickness of diaphoresis on his scalp on my finger tips, he was in pain, I could tell. His body was not doing too great. God, I was going to die if I kept wallowing in guilt every few seconds.
His hair were silken straight. That's why his bangs would lay obediently on his forehead on most days unlike mine. "Did you dye your hair black?" I asked, carefully sweeping the brush down his length.

He shuddered all of a sudden.
"No, I don't need to dye them yet. What? Do you think I'm forty or something?"
"Nothing like that," I smiled at his offence, "you just happen to have the darkest shade of black I've ever seen on anyone before."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"Of course not. I think they look beautiful," I replied, in all honesty. His hair colour contrasted compellingly with his pale complexion, only adding to his other worldly beauty. I wouldn't even be surprised if he some day found out he was a long lost prince who just happened to somehow get caught up in such a mess. I sneaked a glance of him through the mirror, he was looking right at me, a benign smile playing on his lips. I blinked furiously, pretending something had gotten in my eyes and I was searching for it in the mirror.

With hair, always start at the bottom, that's what Mom had always told me. She had been a hair dresser before she got married and quit for good. I tugged gently at the tangles that reached his neck. He twitched again.

"What...what are you even doing back there ?" His voice came out weak and fluctuating.
"Nothing! I'm literally just-" my mouth stopped, curling into a roguish smile as I realised.
"Oh why? Is someone ticklish?" I whispered against his neck, earning me what was a mixture of laughter and whimpering. Something I thought I'd never hear from him.

"Luna, I'm not ticklish, just get off my back," he gasped.
"I won't until you admit that you are," I whispered against his ear this time while I dragged my nails gently against his nape causing him to jerk upright as he bit down on his mouth to suppress his laughter.
I giggled at the sight of his ear dyeing pink where my mouth had once been.

Before I could concoct  another way to bait him, I found myself on the bed on my back, my wrists pinned above my head and my lower body completely immobile. Mikhail towered me, his legs securing mine so I couldn't writhe my way out. My poor heart pounded so hard, I felt my ribs would crack. Blood rushed to my head and I felt like I was being choked by some unseen force.

"I told you to stop, didn't I sweetheart?"he dragged the knuckles of his free hand from my jaw to my neck, pressing it against my jugular, "two can play this game."
I couldn't form anything coherent from my mouth that was now parched.

"What's wrong? Not having fun anymore? Your little heart's working so fast, so hard," he knelt down until his lips grazed my temple. It was my turn to get tickled by his hair on my face. His fingers had snaked around my neck, his thumb squeezing my other jugular. He was relishing the throbbing of my racing pulse. God, this was probably turning him on.

The worst part was, I felt my core tighten and my panties growing slicker by the second. I was fucking turned on.
Something poked against my abdomen.
We both knew what it was. I expected him to get off, but he didn't.
We'd always withdraw when things would get this intense. Fucking get off already. That's what I wanted to say, but my body had decided otherwise.

I felt him press down on my abdomen with his own, hard , until a soft moan escaped my lips. His forehead was pressed against mine, our lips almost touching.
"Luna, god....you're such a fucking nuisance," he released my throat and tilted my chin up, forcing me to meet his dark, lustful gaze that burned itself into me while his thumb caressed my lips in slow, lazy circles."Such a bewitching nuisance," his voice softened as he spoke against my mouth, "One that eats away at my fucking heart and soul."
"Mikhail..." I whimpered as I received another harsh thrust to my pelvis.

"Tell me," he gasped, as if he too had ran out of breath and words like I had, "tell me to fucking stop right now, and I will."
"Please, tell me to stop right now. Or I'll fucking ruin you," his eyes closed and his brows knotted, like he was already repenting for what he was about to do to me if I didn't stop him.
"After I'm done with you, you won't even be able to carry that smart fucking ass of yours out of this goddamn apartment on your own."

Was this a threat to back me off or something to make me want him even more? I couldn't tell anymore. I felt like all the blood had rushed up to my face and the remaining to my core_and the rest of my organs were left with nothing but butterflies.

"Stop me Luna, this is the last time I'll ask," he pleaded. His breath smelt sweet, no_it wasn't peppermint or anything dental scented. It was just him. Or maybe it was just my hormones beguiling me.

A knock on door snipped off whatever tension that had been growing between us_around us_like vines that had injected aphrodisiac venom into our veins. A growl escaped through his bared teeth as he got off me just as fast as he had came onto me.

He did his buttons as he stormed out of the room.
"Who is it?!" I heard him bawl at whoever was on the other side of the main door from the living room.
"Woah, relax, I forgot my phone on your sofa. Did I happen to interrupt something?" Damien called out. I personally couldn't tell if I was mad at him for interrupting us, or relieved.
"No you-"
That was all it took to start another chain of bickering between them. They behaved more like teenage brothers than adult friends in my opinion.

I sat up straight, composing my dress and hair. I rubbed my hand over my chest, as if to tell my heart that it was over, that it could stop galloping in my ears.

I gave my face into my hands as the events that just transpired began hitting me like a truck. My toes curled and thighs shut tight, squirming, as if trying to protect my chastity that was always on the line around him.