Before the Sun

Chapter Thirteen- Little Deer

A bead of sweat crawls down the hot skin of Nikolai's forehead, the saltiness shining in the bolts of light filtering down from above. It catches in his eyebrow, his hand instinctively reaching to swipe away the liquid. My t-shirt has been disregarded in the corner of the room, thrown in a pile of damp fabric on the padded floor, leaving only the flimsy excuse of a sports bra clinging to my upper half.

"I think you've learnt enough for one day, what do you say?"

Nikolai enquires from before me. My hands are at my knees, body hunched over with anguish as I attempt to pour some oxygen into my overworked lungs. I hear a raspy chuckle fall from Nikolai, the sound of two sparring pads falling from his hands and connecting with the floor following. His footsteps retreat to a few metres away, exiting my attention span. I take the moments I have without him hounding me to breathe, tugging in buckets full of air before hurling them back out again. My ribs ache with an exhaustion so heavy, I wonder if they're slowly but surely disintegrating away.

My heart jolts when the sensation of a body behind mine reveals itself, two arms swiping around my frame. One hand cradles my neck, the other my shoulders, pinning my arms down in a straight jacket manner. The sudden movement startles me, a breath catching in my throat. Though, I know the man behind me. I know his cologne, his hands, I recognise it all too well for it to scare me.

"Let go of me, asshole."

I huff.

"As good as you are at sweet talking, I don't think a masked maniac is going to let you go just because you asked nicely, Sofia."

Nikolai muses, the smirk on his face evident in his tone. My eyes roll so far to the back of my head, I'm sure I see my brain, and Nikolai doesn't appreciate it, a light squeeze to my neck following. It cuts off the supply of oxygen to my lungs he is gifting me for a mere second, shocking me.

"That's all it'll take for someone to have you. One second and they've got control of your breathing."

Nikolai stresses, not removing his hold. My fingers claw at his hands, a futile attempt at removing his grip on me. However, I'm struggling to focus on the task at hand with his body so close to mine. His chest to my back. His hands on me. His voice at my ear. It's deep and husky, a gravel kicking up the end of his accented words. My head falls back into the curve of his neck, a shallow breath falling from my lips. His hands don't leave my frame, still.

My eyes find the lights above, the warmth burning smudges of light into my vision. I let my body loosen, relaxing into his frame like a puddle of butter. There's a too long moment of complete and utter silence, only the mellow repetitive sound of our tired breaths hitting the air. I feel his attention redirect from the mirror ahead of us, to the side of my face. His stare burns a million words into my skin, and it's only a short lived moment before I can't resist turning to meet those icy eyes of his. I blink one too many times, my sight trained only on his face as his switches between the dark oak of my eyes and the swell of my lips. He looks lost, completely and fully out of his depths. His arms loosen, muscles weakening around my shoulders. Staring, staring, staring. I watch the fight between himself and his conscious unfold behind the glossy exterior of his orbs. So, I take my opportunity. My body folds in two, hands wrapping around the expanse of Nikolai's forearms. The tank of a man comes hurling over my frame, crashing to the floor with a thud. Though there's not a shred of fat on this man, he's much heavier than I anticipated, the entirety of him taking me clattering over with him. A shriek is dragged from my lungs as a puff of air and groan falls from Nikolai's mouth at the connection of his back with the floor. A laugh is all I can mange as I stare at the scene below- below me. Oh god. In the humour of my ability in tackling Nikolai to the ground, I've failed to realise the position I have left myself in. Because I'm chest to chest with Nikolai, his hands are at my waist, and my legs are straddling his hips. I'd rather be caught naked in the middle of Times Square than open my mouth to speak in this very moment. Nikolai has this stupid grin splitting his face, wide with perfectly dazzling teeth popping from below perfectly pink lips. My mouth opens to speak, only a small squeak cowering past the seams. Nikolai doesn't give me much of a chance to speak, for he's curling his arms around my waist, flipping our position so I now reside beneath the bulk of his body. His hands rest either side of my face, two thick, defined arms caging me into his space.