by K. J. Dahlen
Pepper shook her head. “No, not since I came to live with Paul and Marie anyway. I don’t remember anything that happened before then.”
“When you were found, did you have any injuries?”
Pepper nodded. “I don’t remember how long before the police found me, but I did have a small head wound along with several bruises all over my body. The police took me to the hospital just to check me out.”
“And you’ve never remembered anything at all about that time in your life?”
Pepper shook her head. “Sometimes, I feel close to remembering but it never comes all the way through my brain.”
Mikial hated to but he loosened his hold. Pepper tried to tighten her hold but he dragged her arms down away from him. He gazed into her eyes. “I shouldn’t be in your bedroom right now.”
“Why not?” she whispered.
“Because it’s the middle of the night and it wouldn’t look right.”
“I don’t care what anyone thinks,” she argued.
“I still think I should go.”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her lips to his. “Please don’t leave me.”
Mikial felt a zing flash through him. With the touch of her soft lips on his, he could feel his body come alive. When her arms tightened around his neck his cock got hard as steel. He tried to pull himself free but couldn’t. Then he didn’t try at all. Instead, his arms came around her and his lips crushed hers. He tried to hold out and just kiss her but she wouldn’t release him.
When her mouth opened and their tongues touched, his hands roamed over her body. She leaned into his touch and when his hands went under her t-shirt to touch her bare skin, she groaned. Then his hands brought the shirt up and over her head and his lips kissed their way down her neck to her chest.
Pepper moaned as his tongue licked around her nipple. Then when his teeth closed in and he sucked her nipple into his mouth, she arched her back and held his head to her.
Mikial’s hands slipped down her body to her waist. He could feel her shivers at his touch but he loved the feeling of her skin. It was soft and smooth. When his fingers dipped below her pantie line, he could feel her heat. Her skin was moist and the closer he got to her core, the more heat he felt.
When he lifted his lips to her mouth and thrust his tongue into her mouth, his fingers slipped inside her. Her core was wet and hot and his fingers slipped in and out easily.
Breaking the kiss, she whispered, “I need more.”
Mikial groaned. “I can’t give you more.”
“Why not?” she whined. “Don’t you want me?”
“I do want you but it wouldn’t be right.”
Pepper arched her hips. “It feels right to me.”
“Honey, don’t do that unless you want to be fucked good and hard,” he warned.
She arched her hips again. “Please…” she begged. “ I know we only met today for the first time but I felt like you already cared about me. Please, I want you so badly.”
Mikial paused long enough to lift her face to his. “If we do this, this is me claiming you. I don’t do one night stands, once I take your body you belong to me. You are mine to protect, mine to take care of. Do you understand that?”
She leaned toward him and before she pressed her lips to his she whispered, “Then claim me. I need you so much, claim me. Claim me now.”
Mikial groaned as he thrust his tongue deeper into her mouth. His fingers sank deeper inside her. She was tight and wet… the combination made his cock even harder. He left her eager body long enough to strip his clothes off, then he ripped her underwear off and settled himself in the cradle of her hips.
He rubbed her core with his cock several times then opened her legs and thrust his cock deep inside her. Then he held himself very still. “Pepper, what the fuck?”
Pepper gasped at the brief sudden pain. Wrapping her legs around his hips, she arched her back, “Please don’t stop, I need this, I need you.”
Mikial felt her core tighten and the feeling sent his cock into overdrive. His lips suckled her neck and his hips began rocking in and out of her core. He felt the jump of her pulse and the tightening of her pussy as his thrusts got deeper and faster.
Her fingers clawed his shoulders as he wrapped his arms around her legs and pulled them away from her body. When he pumped inside her, it felt like he went deeper. His thrusts became harder and faster.
“Yes,” she murmured, as her release kept getting closer and closer until she cried out his name and locked her ankles around his back. Her body shattered in release and all she could do was hang on to him.
His mouth covered hers as he thrust one, two three more times inside her and on the third thrust, he buried himself deep and let go. His hot cum shot up into her and he groaned loudly.
He finally moved over to her side and held her close. Sweat cooled on his skin and he leaned forward to nibble on the back of her neck. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he whispered in her ear.
She shrugged. “Because I wanted you,” she whispered back. “I had a feeling if you knew, you wouldn’t have slept with me.”
Mikial tightened his hold. “I still would have slept with you but I could have been gentler.”
“Maybe I didn’t want gentle, maybe I wanted you just the way you were.”
Mikial groaned and bit down on her earlobe. “You belong to me now.”
Pepper shivered. “Does that mean I can keep you?”
Mikial chuckled. “No it means I get to keep you, sweet thing.”
“Works for me,” she whispered as she turned in his arms and kissed him. Looking him in the eyes she asked, “So can we do that again?”
Mikial leaned toward her and crushed his mouth to hers. When he broke the kiss he told her, “Oh yeah, we can do that again.” And then he proceeded to show her that th
It was midnight when the door to his apartment opened. Yuri had been waiting for the two men to join him.
Barshan and Roman came in.
Yuri poured all three of them a drink and passed them out. “Did you find her?”
Barshan nodded. “We did. She’s with Mikial and Pepper at a safe house.”
Yuri tightened his jaw. “Why isn’t she here?”
“She refused to come here,” Barshan replied.
“This is her home.” Yuri growled as his fingers tightened on the glass he held in his hand.
Barshan shrugged. “She told us if we made her come back here, she would find a way to escape, and no one would find her, not you, not her father. We didn’t want her to run. She’s really upset right now.”
Yuri closed his eyes as pain exploded in his chest. “Tell me she’s okay at least?” he whispered.
Barshan took a swig of his vodka. “Yeah boss, she’s fine, just not in a good place in her head right now.”
“And safe? Is she safe?” Yuri stared at them.
Barshan nodded. “Yeah, she’s with Mikial and Sazon under guard. They will stay under guard until we know what’s going on.”
Yuri slammed his drink down and walked over to the coffee table. He picked up a photo and handed it off to Barshan. “One of the outside cameras caught this. When security ran his likeness through facial recognition, we found out his name is Oscar Mann. He’s a low-grade stalker type thug. We don’t yet know who he works for but we’re looking for him.”
The photo showed a man’s face staring at the door of the gallery. Pictures below this one showed the sequence of events. They saw Oscar raise a gun and shots fired as well as the glass shattering. The last photo showed a satisfied Mann walking away.
“So this was a warning?” Roman asked as he flipped through the photos. “It wasn’t an actual attempt on her life?”
Yuri nodded. “But who was the warning for? Pepper or Raven? That’s what we need to find out.” He went back over to the bar and poured another drink. “What do we know about this woman, Pepper?”
Barshan shrugged. “Not a great deal. She claims not to kn
ow the artist but she says the painting of the child in the exhibit is her. She showed Mikial and Raven the birthmark on her wrist that matches the painting. She also claims she was found on the streets by the police as a child. We did verify that. Roman and I will talk to the police officer that took her home with him as a child. She claims not to be able to remember anything of her life before she was found by the cops and we’ll check that out as well.”
Yuri nodded. “Is there anything else I should know?”
Barshan hesitated then said no.
Yuri glared at him. “What aren’t you telling me?”
Barshan shrugged then told him, “I’m reminded of something that happened earlier when this woman Pepper was walking up to the gallery. Leon Knight and his family were standing outside with us and we were just about to go inside when Leon saw her approach the gallery. He looked like he’d been struck. He got pale and began to sweat then he almost got sick. She paused to stare at him as well then she turned around and went to the coffee shop down the street. I thought it was strange and Mikial motioned for me to follow her. She went inside and got a cup of coffee. She didn’t seem upset or confused.”
“What was she then?” Yuri prompted.
Barshan shrugged. “She seemed unsure of something.”
“Unsure of what?”
“She told us it was her roommate who told her about the painting and when she saw Leon standing there, she seemed unsure about even going inside. At first, she told us she thought she knew him but she couldn’t remember where she knew him from, then Raven talked her into seeing the painting. Mikial admitted the painting was she as a child then the questions started. Questions no one had answers for.”
“Is that the painting she left the gallery with?” Yuri asked.
Barshan nodded. “We do know where it is and before we open the gallery again, it will be back on display.”
Yuri shook his head. “I’m not worried about that part. I’m more concerned with who and why someone would be after her.”
Roman cleared his throat and looked down at his drink.
Yuri turned to his friend. “What?”
“Mikial mentioned she was staring at the picture of the artist when the first shot shattered the windows.”
“And?”
“I went back to the gallery and I looked at the picture we have on display.” Roman paused a second then added, “Pepper and the artist share the same color and shape of the eyes. Also the hair color may be different but they have the same curly hair too.”
Yuri pondered that information for a moment then asked, “Do you think Pepper is related to Jessie Carter?”
Roman shrugged. “She was found the day after Carter died in a fire over in Chalmette.”
“How did she get here, in New Orleans?”
“Nobody seems to know that,” Roman answered.
“Do some research and let me know what you find.” Yuri told them. Then he glared at Barshan. “And keep an eye on Raven. Keep her safe and here in town.”
“Of course. She’ll be protected.” Roman nodded.
“Both her and the baby.” Yuri stressed. “Keep them both safe.”
Roman glanced over at Barshan and nodded. “We’ll keep them both safe.”
“Make sure no harm comes to either of them,” Yuri repeated.
“Of course.” Barshan nodded as if Yuri’s order was never in question.
Yuri wanted to say more but didn’t know how to express himself. Instead, he poured another drink and went to his bedroom. Closing the door behind him, he left the others standing there in his living room.
Yuri sat down on the bed and stared at Raven’s side. He hated the fact it was empty. He missed her. When he thought about what happened this morning he remembered how excited she looked when she told him about the baby. She was both excited and scared. Then after his reaction all she was…was pissed.
Then he remembered she had no clue about his medical condition. When he remembered what Sazon told him about the so called doctor he’d see back then he had to give the man points for his reasoning. Lev Garinoc wasn’t much good for too much more than closing an open wound, even back then he never had a medical degree and he liked to drink more than anything else. Was he wrong about Yuri not being able to have a child?
Was Raven really going to have his baby? His son or daughter? Why did his heart hurt so much at the moment? Yuri laid back on the bed and reached for the pillow Raven used the night before. Bringing it to his nose, he could still smell her scent in the fabric of the pillowcase.
Closing his eyes, he crushed the pillow to his chest. He wanted her back. He wanted her within his reach. He wanted to feel her body as he made love to her. He wanted to hear her laughter or even her scolding him for something insane. He just wanted her back.
Chapter Five
In the middle of the night, Leon woke up to his phone ringing. The ring tone told him who was calling and he really didn’t want to answer the call. He looked over at his wife and found her still asleep. He realized then that she’d taken a sleeping pill and she wouldn’t wake up until morning, but he got out of bed and went to his office anyway. He didn’t want anyone to overhear this call.
“Hello.”
“What the hell did you do?” The voice on the other end had a slight accent to it. The accent was fading but still there, much to the owner’s disgust. Timothy Flynn didn’t want anyone to know he had ties to the Irish mob, even though he wasn’t part of the organization he still had ties associated with it.
“What are you talking about?” Leon growled. “I haven’t done anything.”
“You hired Oscar Mann to pressure a man like Mikial Bannonkov? Are you completely insane?”
Leon closed his eyes and rode out the storm Timothy’s words invoked. “I didn’t hire Oscar to pressure Mikial,” he explained. “I asked him to watch someone. He took it on himself to shoot out the glass of the gallery.”
“Did he also take it upon himself to rob the place?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I heard through the grapevine that several of the paintings are missing. That they were missing before Mikial or the police could put security in place.”
“Damn,” Leon swore under his breath. “Did you know which paintings are missing?”
“Does it matter?” Timothy scoffed. “This could not be a good thing, you moron. If they start investigating you and they find out about our little partnership that could be something neither of us wants.”
“Why would they investigate me? I was nowhere near the place when it got shot up. Which paintings are missing? Is the one of the child still there?”
“Neither are there but word on the street is your man Oscar can’t handle his pain, if they get their hands on him he might give up everything. And why are you so worried about that one painting?”
“Don’t worry. You’re safe he doesn’t know about you at all,” Leon assured the other man. Clearing his throat he added, “That painting is the focus of the exhibition and her finest work.”
“Like I care about a fuckin painting. I don’t care what your man knows or doesn’t know about me but he does know about you and you wouldn’t be able to handle the pressure of an interrogation either. Not from these men.”
“What the hell does that mean? They are simply men from Russia who took a chance and now own a piece of their American dream.”
Timothy chuckled. “Man don’t you even know who you’re dealing with, do you? You really are an idiotic moron, aren’t you? These men are Russian mob.”
“Russian mob? You bastard, what have you gotten me into here?” Leon yelled. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me this before I approached them? Are you trying to get me killed?”
“It was supposed to be a simple business deal. All you were supposed to do was get me an outlet in the Import business,” Timothy explained. “Not a shootout.”
“I’ve been trying to get an in there for both of us. I thought if I could ge
t to be the attorney for these guys, I could use that as a way to get your shipments through without them being the wiser. I’ve been asking Mikial about it every day but he hasn’t given me his answer yet.
“What do we do now?” Leon asked. “This has become a clusterfuck of epic proportions.”
“You can do what you want. I’m not going to do anything but dig in and stay out of the way,” Timothy told him. “But word of advice, get your man Oscar out of town before Yuri Anatoly or his men find him. If he leads them to you, don’t you dare tell them about me or I’ll kill you myself.”
Leon listened as Timothy ended the call. His stomach erupted and he felt his blood pressure skyrocketing. Dialing another number, he waited until Oscar answered before giving him the order, “Abort the mission. You idiot, you’re dealing with the Russian mob.”
Oscar chuckled. “You’re just figuring that out now? You are an idiot. I knew that even if you didn’t.”
“And you decided to shoot up the gallery anyway?”
“Yup, I wanted to shake things up a bit,” Oscar snickered. “This is gonna be fun. I want to see exactly what they will do next.”
“Are you crazy?” Leon exclaimed. “They will kill you if they find you.”
“They will have to find me first, won’t they? I can hide very well, but can you?” the other man chided. “What? Are you afraid they’ll find out about your little secrets?”
Leon hesitated. “What secrets do I have to hide?”
“How about the fact that eighteen years ago you were responsible for a woman’s death? That it was your hand that started the fire she was burned in? How about the fact that it was you who ordered her attorney run off the road?” Oscar chuckled. “You, my friend have many secrets to hide.”
“How the hell did you f-find out?” Leon sputtered.
“That is my secret to hide.” Oscar hung up.
Pepper woke just as day was breaking. She could see the light brightening the sky as it peeked around the shades covering the windows. She felt the heat coming from behind her. Mikial was spooning her back. His arm was around her waist and his hand was cupping her breast. She smiled slightly and wiggled her body back.