by Roxie Rivera
Her elegantly shaped brows arched. "Anything?"
"Anything."
She pushed up onto one palm and gazed down at him. For a long, unnerving stretch of seconds, she studied him. He couldn't read her face. The shadows in their dark bedroom hid her expressive eyes. The corners of her mouth twitched. He spotted her soft pink tongue flick out against her lower lip. It was a sight that aroused him as he thought of all the other ways he would enjoy seeing that pink of tongue of hers.
"Vee?"
As if gathering her courage, she breathed in deeply. "I want you flat on your back. Put your hands behind your head and keep them there."
"What?" He blinked with surprise at her order. When had she grown so empowered? Why did he find the thought of his sweet, innocent Vee taking charge so damned exhilarating?
"You heard me." She traced the tattoo of Orthodox wedding crowns with their names and wedding date inscribed underneath. "You said you would do anything for me. I want this." She circled his nipple and then pinched it with enough of a bite that he hissed. "On your back. Hands behind your head."
God help him, but his cock went rock-hard. The stiff length of it tented the towel still twisted around his waist. Vivian moved into a kneeling position next to his hips. She waited for him to comply with her instruction. He didn't move immediately. "Where did you learn this?"
"I spent a very illuminating afternoon and evening with Niels."
Remembering those sensual photos, Nikolai burned with jealousy. What had Niels taught her and how? "If he touched you—"
"I know, I know," Vivian said with a dramatic huff and a roll of her eyes. "You'll cut off his fingers and break his legs." With a sinful smile that promised a romp he would never forget, Vivian gave his shoulder a hard push that forced him onto his back. "But later." She lifted one leg at a decadently slow pace and straddled his upper thighs. "Right now, it's my turn to play."
His breathing turned hard and fast. "Solnyshka."
Grasping his hands, she interlaced their fingers and brought his arms up and over his head. She pinned him to the mattress and teased her mouth against his. He tried to kiss her but she denied him. "No."
A pounding thrum of need pulsed through his body. Astounded by this change in his wife, he asked, "What happened to you while I was away?"
She leaned down and nipped his lower lip. The sting of it sent a shockwave through his chest and stomach. "I've finally learned my place."
Nikolai had feared those words would come back to haunt him. He had a sneaking suspicion he was about to do his full penance.
Chapter Twenty
You can do this.
Still awash in the exalted relief of seeing Nikolai in the flesh and unharmed, I straddled his upper thighs and held him in place by trapping his hands overhead. I looked him over for signs of fresh wounds or scars but found none. I still hadn't asked him where he had been for the last five days.
Over dinner, Niels had finally let slip that he had been tracking Nikolai's movements across Europe. The sneaky Dane wouldn't tell me why all this cloak-and-dagger nonsense had been necessary, but he had promised that Nikolai would be returned to me before sunrise, whole and unharmed.
And now here he was, flat on his back beneath me and staring up at me with bewilderment.
I witnessed the briefest flash of panic in his pale eyes, and I smiled encouragingly. After the horrible abuse he had survived as a child, I had to be extremely careful with him. There was a reason he always liked to be in control—in the bedroom and outside of it. It was a defense mechanism for him and a way to ensure that he would never be harmed again.
Nuzzling our noses together, I whispered, "I won't hurt you."
Nikolai's jaw tensed. He swallowed. "I know."
"I just want to make you feel good." I kissed his left cheek and then the right. "I want to make you remember all the reasons you love me." I tenderly claimed his mouth. "And all the reasons you want me."
"I don't need a reminder. I've never forgotten." Nikolai bucked beneath me, forcing the hard length of his erection between my thighs. The plush softness of the towel rubbed against my inner legs. The head of his cock escaped the towel and prodded the bare lips of my sex. He growled at the contact. "Let me have you, Vee. I need to be inside you."
I squeezed my knees on either side of his body, halting his attempts to fuck up into me, and wagged my head. "No."
"Vee." He groaned with need and tried to lift up to kiss me. "Yes."
"No." I evaded his searching mouth. "There are three rules to this game. You keep your hands up here. You hold still. You don't touch me."
"Vivian," he breathed my name on a loud huff. "I can't. It's been too long."
"You can." I flicked my tongue against his lips. "You will."
"If I don't?"
"I go to the guest room next door and lock myself inside." I remembered the advice Niels had given me after dinner while we shared a rather interesting discussion about men and sex. "Tonight, we start this game all over again."
His eyes narrowed. "Was this Niels' idea?"
"Actually," I dotted kisses along his jaw, "this started off as Yuri's idea."
"Yuri?" He seemed shock. "Why?"
"He heard about our blowup in the kitchen. He told me that I should help you remember your place." I pressed my lips to the dagger tattooed on the side of his neck. "He said you should come home every night, drop to your knees and kiss my feet in gratitude."
My amused smile died when I met Nikolai's dark and serious gaze. His impassive, unreadable face worried me. Have I gone too far?
"He's right." Nikolai relaxed his tense body. "I'm the luckiest fucking man on the planet that a girl like you would ever agree to tie herself to me." He gulped, looking suddenly anxious, and confessed, "I think I take you for granted sometimes. I shouldn't do that." He closed his eyes. "It's hard for me, solnyshka. I don't know what normal looks like. I don't have married parents to emulate. I'm stumbling around in the dark."
The last of that cold, icy wall that I had erected in bitterness and anger melted. "I feel the same way. I look at Dimitri and Benny for guidance. They seem to have it together."
"Yes. Dimitri is a good husband and a wonderful father." Nikolai complimented his friend in a glum tone. "He's always been better at that sort of thing. Ivan, too," he added. "I see the way he is with Erin. It's easy between them."
"I think they work really hard to make it look that easy. Please don't feel badly about that, Kolya. You and me? God, we're all sorts of twisted and broken." I leaned down and kissed him, long and deep and loving. "We just have to keep trying."
"I'll try," he promised. "I'll try so fucking hard for you."
"Right now, I want you to try to hold still and keep your hands to yourself."
He swallowed and nodded. "I'll try."
I grasped his wrists and tucked his hands behind his head. Once they were secured and out of the way, I started at the very top of his forehead and began peppering kisses down his body. Nikolai shuddered beneath me. I let my lips hover on more erogenous zones and skimmed them lightly over the areas that weren't as sensitive.
When I got to his navel, I dragged my tongue straight down to the thatch of curls that crowned his cock but no farther. I deliberately avoided going anywhere near his erection and kissed his thighs instead. I even dotted kisses on the stars adorning his knees and the tops of his feet.
"Vee," he said with a guttural groan. "Let me touch you."
"Not yet." I smiled impishly while I kneaded the tight muscles in his thighs. I grabbed the towel and applied pressure to his hip so that he would lift his backside. I tugged free the towel and tossed it onto the floor. "It's still my turn to have fun."
"I can make this fun for you."
I put a finger against his lips. "Sh. Patience."
Wanting to really drive him crazy, I turned toward his feet and straddled his chest. I spread my thighs wide open so he could see all of me and then licked his cock from the thick base
to the throbbing tip.
"Fuck, Vee!" He inhaled a shaky breath. "You're killing me."
Deciding I liked the sound of him groaning for me, I continued to swipe the rigid length of him with my tongue. I swirled it around the blunt crown and slowly sucked him between my lips. Nikolai's legs tensed as I teased my mouth down his shaft. He was so excited that he was already leaking pre-cum. I lapped at the slick sweetness and sucked him harder.
When I cupped his sac and worked my mouth up and down his cock, Nikolai pumped his hips. I planted both hands on them and pushed them back down. I didn't take my mouth off him. I wasn't that mean. Bobbing up and down, moving fast then slow, shallow then deep, I tormented him with my mouth. His toes curled, and his body strained beneath me. He wanted to come—but I wasn't ready.
I climbed off him and kissed his chest and neck. Lifting his head, he sought a kiss that I let him have. He plundered my mouth, stabbing his tongue between my lips and even sucking on the tip of it. Nikolai's erotic kisses made my belly tremble and my thighs quiver.
Straddling his thighs and facing him, I kept his cock trapped between my legs. His burning gaze roamed my body as I pulled off the negligee and dropped it on the floor. He zeroed in on my heavier, fuller breasts. I cupped them and started to play with my nipples the same way he liked to toy with them. I pinched and rubbed them until the peaks were bright red and stiff.
My clitoris throbbed now. Feeling more emboldened, I placed two fingers against his mouth. "Lick them."
He obliged, flicking his tongue over my skin and sucking my digits between his lips. I dragged my fingers away from his mouth and slid them between my thighs. I leaned back on my heels, opening my legs wider and showing him my pussy. I wanted him to see everything.
"Vivian." He breathed my name as I swirled my wet fingertips around my clitoris and then dipped them into my entrance. Slick and creamy, my channel was dripping for his cock and aching with emptiness. His hard shaft jutted against my bottom, and I rocked back against it, giving him just enough stimulation to make him hiss. I fingered myself slowly. This wasn't about getting off. This was about driving Nikolai crazy. This was about showing him what he had missed.
"Come up here," he urged in a silken voice. "You said I can't touch you with my hands, but you didn't say my tongue was off limits."
I blinked with shock. "You want me to…?"
"Yes. I want you to get up here right now. I'll play your game, but I want a taste of your sweet cunt in return for my cooperation."
Heat streaked through my belly. My pussy pulsed around my fingers. It was an illicit request, but I couldn't find a reason to say no. Very carefully, I inched my way up the bed until I had my knees planted on either side of his head. I didn't say a word when he moved his arms out of the way and offered his hands to me.
Grasping them, I interlaced our fingers and leaned forward. I had never felt so open and exposed to him. Nikolai's tongue swiped my slit, starting right down at my opening and not stopping until he touched my clitoris. He lapped at the little bundle of nerves and suckled it with leisurely tugs. I didn't know if it was because we had been separated for so long or if it was simply the new and scandalous position, but I was already hovering on the edge of a release. Every flick of his tongue sent pleasurable shocks from my belly to my chest. I panted and shuddered and tried to hold off on coming.
But it was a futile attempt. Nikolai's tongue fluttered over that little pearl, and I lost it. I came hard, grinding against his mouth and crying out his name as the bursts of ecstasy lit up my belly and burned through my chest.
Shaking with aftershocks, I crawled off of him. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and dared me to tell him not to move. He must have known that part of our game was over. Whatever lesson I had been trying to teach him no longer mattered. I wanted him. I wanted him inside me so badly I hurt.
He grabbed me and hauled me on top of him. He was a bit rough and impatient as he pushed me down toward his cock. Gripping my bottom in his hands, he lifted me into the right position and thrust up into my slick heat. He eased into my pussy with those first few strokes and gave me a chance to acclimate to having his shaft stretching and filling me.
Tangling his hand in my hair, he sat up and crushed our mouths together. The erotic musk of my scent invaded my senses. Nikolai did the same wicked things with his tongue that he had just done between my thighs. "Solnyshka."
He fell back against the pillows, and I took control of our coupling and started swiveling my hips. He caressed my body, his hot palms gliding along my ribs and backside before curving back up to my breasts. He treated them gently and used his thumbs to stimulate my nipples.
Every graze of his thumb sent a frisson of sheer delight straight down to my clitoris. The connection between the two erogenous zones seemed to grow stronger as my pregnancy progressed. I shuddered to think what he would be able to do to me with his fingers and mouth in a few months.
Hands planted on the stars that adorned his chest, I rode him harder and faster. Soon we were both covered in a fine sheen of sweat. Nikolai's finely honed abdomen rippled. He gazed up at me adoringly. His hands worshipped me. How I had ever doubted that this man loved me and only me I would never understand.
That familiar tightness started to coil in my belly like a taut wire. I shifted forward a little, making sure my clitoris rubbed against his body with every stroke. He grasped my bottom in both hands now and thrust up into me. "Come on, baby. That's it," he urged. "Let me feel you come."
One of his hands moved to my chest as I rocked faster. His fingers glided toward my neck, and he pushed my head back, baring my throat. I couldn’t help it. The feel of his hand on my neck drove me crazy. I cried out with wild abandon as the first fluttering pulses took my breath away. "Oh! Ah!"
With one hand on my neck and the other gripping my bottom, he thrust up into me at such a fast pace that the bed started to shake. I thought he would come with me, but Nikolai marshaled his control and clamped down on his orgasm. When I sagged forward and collapsed on top of him, he embraced me lovingly and kissed my cheek and temple. "Oh, God," I panted. "That was intense."
He laughed darkly and carefully shifted me off of him. "We're just getting started."
Flat on my back, I didn't have to wonder what he had in mind for very long. He dropped down on his stomach, grabbed the backs of my thighs and shoved my knees toward my chest. A second later, he buried his face between my legs. "Kolya!"
He hummed hungrily and feasted on my sensitive flesh. I clawed at the bedding and pillows, desperate for something to hold onto as he attacked my still throbbing clitoris. It felt so good I thought I might die from the sheer pleasure of it.
Just when I started to climb toward another climax, he dragged his mouth away from me and moved to a kneeling position. He plunged into me on one thrust, burying his cock right up to his balls, and held still. He exhaled roughly and then started to move slowly, deeply. His carefully timed thrusts were designed to keep us both on edge for as long as possible. He was drawing this out, torturing us with the sensual wonder of it, and teasing us both with the promise of orgasms that would leave us trembling and limp.
He claimed my mouth with erotically charged kisses, and I wound my arms around his shoulders, pulling him in tight and holding him close. I couldn’t get enough of him. I wanted to feel his heat radiating through me. I wanted to get drunk off his smell and taste. I never wanted him out of my sight again.
Nikolai lifted my right leg until my calf rested on his shoulder. The new angle of penetration made us both gasp and groan. He kissed my leg before leaning down to capture my mouth. His lips moved to my neck. He nipped playfully at my skin, then took both of my hands and trapped them overhead.
"I love you, Vivian." He thrust into me with more force. "I love you." He thrust into me again. "I love you."
Lost in his smoldering gaze, I surrendered to the building inferno between us. He punctuated every thrust with those three words. It was as if h
e were weaving some sort of spell, using his declaration of love and the powerful, sensual energy of our lovemaking to bind us together for eternity. We came together with that promise between us. Eyes locked, mouths mating, we clutched and rocked until the last waves of pleasure faded.
Nikolai dropped onto his back and draped his arm across his eyes. I slipped out of bed and ducked into the bathroom before returning. I rolled onto my side, and he spooned up against me. He whispered sweetly into my ear before lovingly kissing my cheek. I held tight to the arms wrapped around me and smiled. We had a lot of work ahead of us, but I wasn’t afraid to tackle it. Neither was he.
"It feels good to be home," he murmured tenderly.
Home? Me. I was his home. I was his sanctuary.
Closing my eyes, I melted into his loving embrace. "Yes, it does."
Chapter Twenty-One
"Ty takaya krasivaya."
I lowered the mascara wand I had been using to dab at my eyelashes and smiled at Nikolai's reflection in the bathroom mirror. He leaned against the frame of the door and watched me with eyes aflame with love and desire. We had spent the entire day hiding out in the guest suite at Niels' estate, but now it was time to go out and face the world—together. "Thank you."
"I have a gift for you." He pushed off the door frame and sauntered toward me.
I instantly recognized the colors and logo of the bag he placed on the counter. It belonged to the jewelry store owned by Kazimir Abramov. His daughter Zoya was the finest jewelry designer in Houston.
"Go head." He gestured to the bag. "Open it."
I set aside my mascara and plucked the golden tissue paper from the Prussian blue bag. I reached in and withdrew the jewelry boxes. Heart racing with excitement, I opened the long, thin box and gasped. "Kolya!"
"I wanted you to have something special for tonight. Zoya amazed me with this one."