"The shower is all yours."

The unexpected sound of Nikolas' voice directly behind her made Gia start violently. She gasped and then visibly steadied herself. "You scared me," she explained quickly. "I didn't hear you come into the room."

In silence Nikolas stared at her. He seemed unmindful of the fact that he stood completely naked and dripping wet in the middle of the chilly bedroom.

"Did you laugh about the fool you left at home?"

Gia's eyes widened. "Nikolas, what are you talking about?"

Nikolas' hands shot out and he painfully grabbed his fiancee' by her upper arms. "Did he give you a story to cover for the time you were with him?"

"What are you talking about? Nikolas, you're hurting me." Gia attempted to stand her ground, but Nikolas had become almost unhumanly muscled during his time in Statesville Prison for a crime he hadn't committed. He moved her back toward the bed without effort.

Nikolas smothered Gia's panicked cry by clamping his hand over her mouth. He pushed her down onto the bed and held her body motionless with the weight of his own. "Tell me," he reached between them and thrust several fingers into Gia's warmth. His actions held no tenderness and Gia stiffened in pain. Nikolas withdrew his fingers and smeared their wetness over Gia's face. "Is this his that you're wearing now?"

The sight of tears seeping from Gia's eyes made something inside Nikolas snap. The darkness he had managed to beat back during his bleak prison days sprang free. The ghosts of unspeakable atrocities heaped upon him by the other inmates howled loudly in his ears. "It is too late for tears," he whispered even as tears began to fall from his own eyes. "Too late."

Nikolas' muscled thighs pushed Gia's legs apart and proceeded to take what she would not willingly give.

First in the Prison Time series:
Darkness Falls, Dispensation of Mercy, A Mistake of Tragic Proportions,
Misplaced Trust, Shaded Corners, and A Legacy Denied