by S. C. Daiko
With heavy steps I went to the living room to watch some TV, but my mind wasn’t on it and I came upstairs early.
The Beast might be giving me the cold-shoulder for whatever reason, but it’s not fair for him to ignore his son.
Hot tears roll from my eyes. I clutch at myself under the bed sheet, then sniff and wipe my nose.
I miss Gleb so much.
Finally, I hear his footsteps crossing the floor. I squeeze my eyes shut and pretend to be asleep.
The mattress dips as he sits next to me. “Wake up, Eva.” He switches on the light.
I open my eyes. “What time is it?”
“Midnight.” He checks his watch.
I blink at him. “Where have you been?”
“At work. You know I run a night club and other businesses. I’ve had a lot of shit to attend to.” He brushes the hair back from my face. “How was your day?”
“I went shopping,” I admit.
“I heard.” His voice is stern, and my stomach flutters. “Why did you try to give Dmitry the slip?”
There’s no alternative; I’ve got to come clean. Taking shaky breaths, I tell Gleb about Natasha’s note. How I didn’t think it a risk to meet her in a public place.
He grabs my shoulders and squeezes hard. “Jesus, Eva. You have no idea. That woman is fucking crazy.”
“Crazy?” I stutter.
My jaw drops as he tells me through gritted teeth how it was she who cut the intruder detection wire at his place in Colorado, how she was sneaking around on the pretext of contacting me, how she spun him a line about working for the Russians.
“She isn’t working for them?” I shake my head, unable to take in the implications.
“I’ve been trying to touch base with my friend in Moscow the past several days. Eventually got hold of him a short while ago. He says the only Natasha he remembers is someone we met when we were at Harvard.” Gleb’s eyes lock with mine. “She was a girl we both shared a couple of times, a freshman whereas we were grad students.”
My jaw drops again. “Is she the same woman?”
He creases his brow. “I can’t be sure. It was too long ago. The Natasha we knew then had dark hair. Vadim’s bitch’s real name might not even be Natasha.”
“Natasha is a fake blonde,” I point out. “She could be the girl you once knew. But why would she be putting herself through all of this trouble if she just wanted to hook up with you again?”
“It doesn’t make sense,” he says gruffly. “What does make sense, Eva, is for you to stay away from her.”
My nostrils flare. “You shouldn’t have lied to me. If I’d known she was the intruder, I would never have considered going to meet her.” My lips curl. “Even if she does know about Kir.”
Gleb doesn’t say a word. He glares at me and gets up from the bed. Turning his back, he undresses. I stare at his broad shoulders tapering to a slim waist. His buttocks are beautiful, strong and sturdy with dimples at the sides. My stomach flutters.
He lowers himself back down on the mattress and blows out a noisy breath. “You deliberately disobeyed me, Kiska. I had my reasons for keeping you in the dark. Yours and Kir’s safety is paramount.”
“I’m not a child.” I steady my tone. “I’m the mother of your son. I know we’re only living together temporarily, but I think you owe it to me to be honest.”
“And you owe it to me to follow my rules.” His eyes blaze. He reaches over and pulls me into his lap. “I need to fuck you, Elousha. Bury myself deep inside you.”
Despite everything, I’m immediately wet for him. I should stand up to him, insist that we talk more before fucking, but I want him so desperately. “Promise you’ll never lie to me again.”
“Quid pro quo,” he grunts. “You must promise to always follow my rules.”
“Yes, Boss,” I quip.
A laugh bubbles up from deep in his chest as he flips me over.
Goosebumps lift across my skin.
Chapter Fifty-One
Gleb
“Goddamn it, Kiska.” My hand shoots to her ass cheek, the sound of the slap echoing. “You drive me fucking insane.”
She hisses.
Waves of glossy dark-brown hair tumble down her shoulders. My cock presses into her stomach I’m so fucking hard for her. My hand slips between her thighs and wetness soaks my fingers. “Never. Ever. Break. My. Rules.”
“I won’t,” her voice is heavy with lust.
I release her pussy and land another solid smack to her ass. “You have no idea the danger you put yourself in.” Heat saturates my palm.
She writhes against me, against my authority and against the force of my hand.
The little minx.
I grind my dick against her and bring down another blow. “Submit to me. Tell me you’ll obey.”
“I’ll obey. Just don’t lie to me,” she pants.
I dip a finger to her pussy lips. She’s so fucking aroused, her wetness is pouring out of her. I trail my finger up to her puckered hole, drawing lazy circles around it.
So sweet.
So tight.
So ... mine.
“Ever tried anal, Elousha?” I can’t resist asking.
She turns and stares at me. “No. Never.” A beat. “Is that what you want?”
I nod. “If we do this, it will be entirely consensual. You only have to say the word, stop, and I’ll stop.”
She doesn’t hesitate. “I’ll do it for you, Gleb.”
“You’ll let me take your virgin ass?” Surprised, I turn her in my lap and gaze into her golden eyes. “I’m warning you. It will hurt.”
“I can take it,” she says with false bravado.
“If, at any time, I push you beyond your limits, remember you are in control.”
Her smile melts me. “You mean I can call the shots?”
“Absolutely,” I smirk. “But only in this instance.”
She drops her eyes. “Let’s do it.”
I stretch her out on the bed. “Lie back, hold your knees up for me and lift your bottom.” I reach for the tube of lubricant in my nightstand. I squeeze the cool gel in the palm of my hand before working it between her ass cheeks. She tenses as my finger slides into her. “Relax.”
I apply more lube, bending my elbow at just the right angle to go deeper. I add another finger and her hole tightens around it. Then her muscles relax, and she lets out a strangled sound, shuddering and pressing her butt against my fingers.
“Good girl. I need to stretch you, so you’ll take my dick.”
One hand reaching around to the small of her back, I slide three lubricant covered fingers inside her. She releases a broken wail as I move them gently back and forth. “Fuck...”
“You want me to stop?”
“God, no...”
“Are you ready for my cock?”
“I think so...”
She lifts her ass up off the bed, and wetness trickles from her pussy.
“Tell me, Kiska. Tell me you want it.”
“I want it, Gleb.”
I sit back on my haunches, between her thighs. She reaches for the lube, discarded on the sheet next to her, and passes it to me. I slather the gel on my shaft and remove my piercing. Looping my hands under her knees, I spread her legs wide. Then I shuffle my body until my cock is lined up at her hole.
“Clutch the back of your knees and tilt your pelvis, Eva.”
Resting my weight on my elbows, I push the tip of my dick against her ass, and ease slowly in.
She gives a sharp cry.
The ring of muscle and walls of sensitive tissues flex and stretch. She feels like silk with a grip of steel. I grit my teeth between parted lips.
Fucking tight and hot.
Too goddamn tight.
So tight it hurts like a bitch.
The pulse in my cock beats. I swallow, blink, and force myself to breathe.
She stares at me, a flicker of agony fluttering over her face.
“Kiska ...” I w
hisper.
She groans, air rushing from her nose, her eyes screwed shut. Suddenly, she removes her hands from her knees and clutches them to my chest.
I bend and shush a low sound in her ear. Her face angles into my neck with a moan of pain that goes straight to my heart.
“You alright?”
“No. Jesus Christ.” She huffs out an aching breath. “Out, I want it out.”
“Okay, okay.”
Her muscles ripple around my cock as I start to withdraw; I bite the inside of my cheek to distract myself from the sweet burning sensation.
Fucking hell, she’s still tighter than a vise and hotter than Hades.
Her breath catches on a shaky sigh; I feel a slight relaxation in her. She unclenches her fists and presses them against my pecs.
“Wait.” Her voice is raw. “Just ... oh God, do it again.”
I swallow hard. “I didn’t do anything.”
“This ... I... I don’t know ... this, Gleb.”
I have no clue what she wants. I press a kiss to her brow, smoothing the hair from her face with one hand, waiting for the turmoil inside me to subside.
She rocks her ass once more. Again, her teeth clench, air hisses, and her fists ball. But when she pushes up onto me... Oh, fuck, when she pushes her tightness onto my shaft, heat licks across my skin like flames.
“This,” she says again.
I nod, my throat dry.
Resting my weight on my knees, I untangle her curled fingers from my chest and weave them with my own. Pressing soft kisses to the insides of her wrists, I wait for her muscles to stretch and open completely around my cock.
She pants against my neck, her nails digging into the skin of my hands as she makes guttural sounds, her flexible dancer’s body driving me wild.
“This,” I echo, my balls tightening.
Her mouth brushes over my cheek, searching out my mouth. Bright eyes with darkened, widened pupils meet my own. Her lips curl back with another low groan. God, she’s so fucking beautiful.
I kiss her shoulder, her neck, and whisper, “You’re doing brilliantly, Kiska. I’m fucking proud of you.”
I wrap her hair around my fist and grind slowly into her. She smiles and pushes back at me, more confidently now. I reach down to rub her clit and carry on rubbing as I slam against her, thrusting in and out, making her lovely body rock.
“Fuck,” her breath hitches.
She shakes like a leaf beneath my hands, and a long, sobbing moan escapes from deep within her. Her ass grabs at me, and the pressure is incredible. My cock is about to be incinerated.
Sudden, wracking tremors tear through her as she sobs her release. “Oh, God, Gleb...”
I let her breathe. Press my cheek to hers as her breathing returns to normal, my dick still sliding in and out, my balls on the verge of blowing. I judder as they go. The ripples cascade right through me; I pump my seed into her divine asshole, my shaft still twitching as I come down from my high.
I pull out all the way, and she groans. Groans again as I lean back on my elbows. “Ya lyublyu tebya,” I say it at last. The confession exits from my mouth soft and torn, almost like an admission forced from a ripped-open heart.
Her eyes glow with unconcealed happiness. “I love you too, Gleb. I love you so much.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Eva
The Beast loves me, the words are on replay in my head, almost drowning out the sound of Katy Perry’s Roar playing on the music system as I twist, bend and flex through my Pilates workout. I stare at myself in the mirror lining the far wall; my cheeks are glowing and I’m grinning from ear to ear.
Last night was incredible. After he withdrew from me, Gleb and I took a shower together. He held me so gently, as if I might break, cleaning me up and patting me dry. Never in a million years would I ever have imagined I’d enjoy anal, but I freaking loved it. Gleb filled me so deeply I’d felt euphoric. The way pleasure radiated through my entire body; it was like I was being pulled inside out. When he told me he loved me, I couldn’t stop smiling. A sense of weightlessness came over me; if he hadn’t been holding me I’d have floated up off the bed and hovered below the ceiling.
I still haven’t come down from the high I’m so intoxicated.
Intoxicated with Gleb.
Still smiling like an idiot, I launch into the dance routine I’ve been practicing the past several days. Except, out of the blue, the sensible voice in my head pipes up, don’t let yourself get completely carried away! Before we’d fallen asleep I’d whispered to Gleb that I wanted more answers; he’d said he was tired, that it would spoil the moment, but he promised he’d try and come home early today, so we can talk.
Again, he swore he’d tell me the truth, that there’d be no more lies, and I believe him. He made me repeat I would always stick to his rule not to go anywhere without one of his boyeviks. At least until this horrible business with Vadim is resolved, a situation now made even more complicated by Natasha.
My insides quiver. That woman is freaking crazy, for sure. She must be, to have shown up in Colorado on the pretext of talking to me. I raise my arms in an arabesque, but my movements become less fluid as I remember the way she grabbed my hair and scratched my scalp the first time I met her. My legs suddenly feel shaky. It scares me that she knows about Kir; I wouldn’t have tried to meet her yesterday if she hadn’t mentioned him.
I rub at the back of my neck to relieve the tightness in my shoulders. The sound of my baby’s laughter rises from the yard and echoes through the open window. I’ve had enough time on my own, I decide. I’ll go give Mama a hand.
“Would you like a coffee?” Mama asks as I flop down next to her on the bench. Kir is in his toddler car again, he loves it so much, and Alik, the new boyevik is pushing him up and down the paved path that runs down the middle of the lawn.
I watch them until Mama returns with two steaming mugs. “So,” she says, “how are things with Gleb?”
Mama has never pressed me for information about my relationship with the Beast. She’s accepted that Kir and I are here for our safety. Gleb treats her kindly and I know she respects him. My head turns to face her, and I feel my cheeks color. Even though he still hasn’t given me all the answers I want from him, I decide to tell Mama what’s in my heart. “He said he loves me, and I told him I love him too.”
Mama’s smile would light up the universe. “I’m so happy for you, my dear. I know we sold you to him, and that was wrong of us.” She puts her cup down and strokes my hand. “He’s the father of your son ... you and him loving each other is what’s right.”
I squeeze Mama’s fingers. “I’d love him even if he weren’t Kir’s papa,” I sigh, remembering how much I hated him only a couple of months ago. “He’s a beast sometimes,” I whisper, “but underneath his tough exterior he’s caring and...”
I don’t finish what I was about to say. My gaze rises from where Mama’s hand and mine are joined. There’s an empty space on the path where my baby should be.
Where have Kir and Alik gone?
My heart stutters, then settles down when I spot them near a gate at the far end of the yard, a gate opening onto woodland at the back of the estate.
I narrow my eyes and squint. Shit, why is Alik unbuckling Kir from his toddler car and lifting him? In a heartbeat, I’ve dropped my coffee and I’m on my feet running toward them, Mama puffing out breaths alongside me. “What are you doing, Alik?”
Balancing a screaming Kir on his hip, he draws his gun and points it at me.
Fuck!
My breath catches in my throat.
My mouth goes dry.
My stomach freaking lurches.
“What does it look like I’m doing?” Alik snarls. “There’s someone who’s offered me a lot of money for your son. More money than Mr. Sokolov pays me.”
I don’t think. I don’t even breathe. All I know is I need to stop the bastard from taking my baby. I bare my teeth and launch myself at him, knocking the weapon fro
m his hand.
The gun lands by my feet, but I don’t grab it. I wrestle Kir from Alik’s arms instead, biting and scratching the boyevik until he lets go. Then, holding Kir to my chest, I run. Run like the hounds of hell are snapping at my ankles. It’s only when I reach the back door that I turn and stare.
Fuck, Alik has seized hold of Mama.
Ice replaces the blood in my veins.
He’s pointing the gun at her head.
Gleb
My cellphone rings. Dmitry. Why the hell is he calling? He never calls me... I pick up right away and listen in disbelief. After a failed attempt at kidnapping Kir, Alik has gone and fucking abducted Ludmila. He held her hostage, so he could make his getaway, and now he’s fucking taken her with him.
A sheen of cold sweat breaks out on my forehead. Jesus, fuck, I didn’t see that coming. “Pass Eva on to me,” I bark.
She’s crying so hard she’s almost incoherent. “Please,” she sobs, “Gleb, please do something.”
“God, Kiska, “ I’m about to rebuke her for putting her life at risk. But now is not the time. “Is Kir alright?”
“He’s scared,” she wails.
“Listen, Elousha. You need to calm down or you’ll make him even more frightened.” I pause, gather my thoughts. “I love you. I’ll be home asap. Pass Dmitry back to me, please.”
I tell Eva’s bodyguard not to let her out of his sight. “Sorry for what happened, Boss. I was in the house with Olga,” he says in a worried tone.
He was supposed to stick to my kitten like glue. And I’ll make sure he understands that as soon as I see him. A vein pulses in my neck. I disconnect the call and put through another one to Yuri to meet me in the underground garage.
Just as I step out of my office, my cell rings again.
Unknown number.
What the fuck?
“It’s Natasha,” the caller says. “Your boyevik Alik is here at Vadim’s estate with Eva’s mother. Come with your men and I’ll sneak out, wait by the side entrance and let you in.”