Get your hands off her : part III

Andreas’s POV

“What the fuck!” Eliana snapped loudly, quickly wrapping the bedding around her exposed body.

“I was looking for the bathroom.” Tessa’s rushed out as her widened eyes caught mine. What the fuck, she mouthed to me, like I had just ruined some grand plan of hers, before turning to someone beside her trying to block the door frame.

Oh my God that couldn’t possibly be-

And with that, mirella came into view, eyes widening as they met mine. her brows furrowed in hurt, her mouth opened but she formed no words, her eyes darted between i and eliana, Then settling on me. My heart fucking raged at the sight, she wasn’t supposed to see this. I quickly tried to reach out to her. her chin trembled as she took a step back, slowly shaking her head. before spinning away, Tessa hot on her trail but not before giving me a very disapproving look.

“Oh my God, the manners of people these days, do they just barge in anywhere? And that mannerless bitch, standing there like some main character.” Eliana raved on referring to mirella.

I snapped towards her in no time my hand firmly gripped her jaw, hard.

“Don’t you ever, and I mean ever, in you Goddamn pathetic life, refer to that woman like you just did right now, am I fucking clear.” I said in a low, deadly tone. She quickly nods, her eyes filled with fear at my reaction.

I don’t have time to deal with this right now, i need to find mirella.

I roughly let go of her jaw, tidied up my clothes, and went in search of my succubus, leaving Eliana wrapped in her blanket still in a state of shock.

she couldn’t have gone far, and Tessa was with her, that gave me a bit of relief.

Fuck. Why did she have to see me that way, I know we aren’t together or anything but somehow I felt like I had betrayed her, hurt her. And that was the last thing I wanted to do. Infact it was something I never wanted to do unless it was in bed. Damn it Andreas, focus.

The bass from the party downstairs shook the floor under my feet as I went searching for her. People were laughing, drinking, bumping into me, but all I could think about was the look on her face upstairs.

I shouldn’t have slept with Eliana.

That part was easy to admit.

But knowing she walked in on it?

That was something else entirely.

But when I finally spotted her, she wasn’t alone.

My body went cold.

She was standing in the shadowed corner of the patio, half-hidden by a group of drunk partygoers dancing near the pool. And the man blocking her escape path?

Fucking, Nikolai Marceli.

How the hell did he even get in here?

I specifically made sure he wouldn’t be able to.

Someone was getting fired tonight

And where the hell was Tessa.

He stood too close to her, close enough that I could see the tension in Mirella’s shoulders from across the patio. She had her arms crossed, chin down, gaze fixed on the ground as if trying to shrink away from him. But he was leaning in, smirking, words spilling out of him with the kind of venom only a man who’d once owned someone believed he still had the right to use.

I moved before the thought fully formed, shoving past two drunk idiots who stumbled into my path. Rage pulsed through my veins, sharp and alive.

His voice reached me before I reached them.

“…I see you’re determined to be a stalker, Mirella. Look at you, pathetic, I mean even for you.”

My jaw clenched so hard it hurt.

Mirella flinched at his words, just slightly. But she straightened after, like she refused to give him the satisfaction of bending. When she finally lifted her face, her throat bobbed with a swallow, eyes bright with anger or pain, I couldn’t tell, but she held her ground.

“For once, Nikolai, just walk away, leave me alone.” she whispered.

A whisper, but it cracked something inside me.

Nikolai chuckled, loud enough to draw glances. “Oh, come on. I just want to talk. It's not like you’re busy. What, anxious to get back to your new owner?”

Her breath hitched. She pressed her lips together to stop whatever emotion tried climbing out.

He was mocking her. Ridiculing her. After all he’s ass hole self did, damn I am disgusted to be the same gender as this idiot.

My vision tunneled.

I didn’t remember reaching them. I only realized I’d arrived when Nikolai’s head snapped toward me and the crowd’s laughter dimmed like someone had turned the volume down.

“And you are?” he questioned with a smirk that made me want to rearrange his face.

Realization dawned on him as he continues. “Oh you’re the one hosting stray little—”

“Finish that sentence.” My voice came out low. Controlled. Too calm.

Mirella’s eyes darted between us, wide, uncertain. She looked like she wanted to speak, but also like she wanted the ground to swallow.

Nikolai scoffed. “Relax. I was just telling my little”

“I said,” I repeated, stepping forward, “finish the sentence.”

He lifted his brows mockingly, a look of confusion in his eyes, then something like simmering rage settled on his face as he turned to mirella. “So you really are his little slut huh, what? Whoring yourself around with a baby inside you? Wow I thought low of you but never this low, you low down fil”

I moved before he finished.

My hand clamped around his collar, slamming him back against the stucco wall so hard the picture frame beside him rattled. The music from inside drowned under the blood pounding in my ears.

“Andreas!” Mirella hissed, grabbing my arm, trying to pull me back. “Stop,”

“Let go, Mirella,” I said tightly without looking at her.

“No.” She tugged harder, breath shaky. “You’re making a scene.”

“I don’t give a fuck!,” I snapped, my grip tightening. “He needs to learn a lesson.”

Nikolai laughed breathlessly, even pinned. “Protecting your little whore I see, but remember she’ll always be mine, have you experienced how hard she cums when you lick,”

I wasted no time in introducing my fist to his face then My forearm cut across his chest, pushing him harder into the wall. “You don’t talk about her. You don’t look at her. You don’t come near her, you don’t own her.”

Silence snapped tight between us.

And when I finally released him, he stumbled forward, straightening his wrinkled shirt with an arrogant tilt of his chin as he examined the growing bruise in his face.

“Whatever,” he muttered. “You can have her, and that little bastard in her belly.”

Before I could grab him again, Mirella stepped between us, her hand pressed against my chest, not forcefully, but enough to stop me.

Her touch burned through my shirt.

“Go, get out.” she said to Nikolai, voice steady but trembling at the edges.

He rolled his eyes, muttered something under his breath, and walked off, disappearing into the crowd.

We stood there, the music from inside vibrating through the air, the pool lights casting blue shadows across her face. She didn’t look at me. She stared at the floor, fingers curling and uncurling like she was trying not to break.

I took a slow breath. “Mirella—”

“Don’t,” she whispered.

Her voice wasn’t angry.

It was worse than angry.

It was tired.

“Mirella,” I tried again, softer this time. “Look at me. Please”

I needed her to talk to me, she’d been avoiding me for days after our conversations and I’d be lying if I said that didn’t mess with me.

She lifted her head, and the sight cracked me open. Her eyes were glossy, her nose pink, her expression a strained attempt at being strong.

“You don’t get to play the protector, I don’t know what I was thinking,” she said quietly. No yelling. No theatrics. Just hurt, plain and simple. “You don’t get to act like you care.”

The words hit harder than any punch.

My throat tightened. “You think I don’t care? That couldn’t be more far from the truth”

“I think you don’t know what you want,” she said. “And I think I’m tired of being the one who takes the heat of it, from you. From him.” She says referring to Nikolai.

Her voice broke on the last word.

That was all it took.

I stepped closer, unable to stop myself. “You shouldn’t have seen that. I know that. I know I fucked up.”

She shook her head. “You don’t need to explain yourself to me, It doesn’t matter. We’re nothing, remember? I’m not your type”

The way she said it… like she was reminding herself more than me.

I exhaled slowly. “You shouldn’t believe everything I say, Tesoro.”

“What I believe,” she said, swallowing hard, “is that you make everything complicated. And I can’t handle complicated right now.”

She wrapped her arms around herself like she was cold, though the night air was warm.

My chest ached. Why do I feel this way, why do I care?

I asked quietly. “You think I wanted you hurt?”

“You don’t want me at all, Andreas” she whispered.

I flinched.

She didn’t wait for my answer. She tried to step back, but I caught her wrist gently, not forcefully, just enough for her to pause.

“Mirella,”

She looked away.

I stepped closer. “what he said to you? What he implied? That will never fucking happen again.”

She sucked in a breath, chest trembling.

“I’m not yours to defend, Andreas.” she said.

“Maybe not,” I whispered. “Doesn’t mean I’ll stand there and watch him tear you down.”

Her eyes met mine then.

God, those eyes. Wounded, fierce, confused… and something else I didn’t dare name. Of Fuck it. Beautiful.

The tension between us stretched taut, humming with everything unsaid. Her breath brushed my lips when she inhaled. She didn’t step away. Neither did I.

I could feel my heartbeat pounding against my ribs.

She blinked slowly. “You shouldn’t look at me like that.”

“Like what?”

“Like you want to kiss me.”

My jaw tightened. “Maybe I do.”

Her lips parted, a shaky exhale escaping.

“Andreas…” she warned softly.

“I’m not going to kiss you,” I said, voice rough. “Not like this. But trust, when I do, i won’t be gentle and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to stop.”

She looked away again, breathing uneven.

I released her wrist gently. “Let me take you home.”

She hesitated.

“What about Tessa, I lost her in the crowd when Nikolai… cornered me.”

So that’s why she wasn’t here.

“Don’t worry, I’ll text her.”

Then she nodded, barely.

And it was enough.

I placed my hand at the small of her back, guiding her through the crowd while every muscle in me stayed alert, protective, tense.

Not because she needed it.

But because I couldn’t help it.

Because somewhere between fury and lust , something else crawled and curled up my spine.

Guilt.