The bed had been delightfully comfortable, and she probably would have slept for hours longer if a creaking sound hadn’t caught her attention. She sat up abruptly, clutching the coverlet to her bared chest. There had been no way to secure her shirt closed, and she wasn’t going to bare all voluntarily.
A scraping caught her attention, coming from near the door, and she cautiously eased out of bed to peek over the footboard. A tray sat on the floor near her door, and as she padded closer on bare feet, she saw a built-in hinged section at the bottom of the door, so things could be passed in and out of her room without opening the entire door. Disappointment welled when she realized it would be that much harder to escape. Her only chances would come when Alexei came to visit her, if he did. He still might forget all about her in this deep, dark hole.
She knelt by the tray, eyeing the food doubtfully. It looked good and smelled wonderful, but she was cautious. What if it was poisoned? That didn’t seem as likely as another possibility that occurred to her. She remembered reading somewhere that people sold into slavery were often forcibly addicted to drugs to make it easier to control them. Could they put something in her food? She didn’t know enough about drugs to be certain, but she decided not to take the chance.
Despite the rumbling in her stomach, she ignored the tray and went to the bathroom, settling for a drink from the faucet to fill her stomach instead. It was meager compensation, but was the safer option.
As she stripped off for a quick shower, she realized at least someone knew she was here and was remembering to feed her. She didn’t know if that boded well or not, because if she was forgotten, they wouldn’t hurt her. But if they forgot about her being there, she’d starve to death.
She might do that anyway, since she couldn’t be certain the food was safe. The warm shower did little to clear her mind, and she dried off in a hurry before putting on her slacks and torn shirt again. She got the idea of fastening the closures with dental floss as she was brushing her teeth, but there were no holes on the side where the buttons had been to thread the string through, and she had nothing sharp with which to make punctures.
Disgusted, she returned to her room, pleased to find the tray was already gone. That would make it less likely for her to give in to the temptation of eating.
In an effort to distract herself, she poked and prodded through the room in search of anything to do. There were a few books, all older than she was, and four of the five were in Russian. The fifth was a classic that had never been one of her favorites, but she sat down and tried to read, even as her mind churned with thoughts and fear.
Had anyone yet noticed she was missing? Tonya was expecting her to duck out of her life, and her sister was self-absorbed enough to be unlikely to notice Tara wasn’t in the apartment when she came home again—whenever that might be, and for however long, since Tonya was moving to her own place soon.
She couldn’t rely on coworkers to miss her, because she worked from home, where she ran a translation business online. Tara had always had a gift for languages, and she was fluent in Spanish and French, besides English, and there was never a shortage of jobs to keep her busy. She bit back a groan as she remembered the list waiting on her spreadsheet, along with the corresponding files saved on her laptop. If she didn’t get out of here soon, it would destroy her business and her reputation. It was another reason to hate Alexei Varnakov, as if she needed more.
Lunch came and went, and she disregarded that tray as well, still concerned about what might be hiding in the food or drink. By the time dinner rolled around, she was sick of the book she’d been trying to read, and her stomach was rumbling loud protests at her refusal to even glance at whatever smelled so good. She was thankful there was a salver atop so she wasn’t as tempted as she might have been if she had actually looked at the food.
Eventually, a hand lifted the door and reached in to retrieve the tray. She thought about trying to get the person’s attention, perhaps even ask them to let her out, but there was no point. Whoever it was worked for Alexei, and they were unlikely to turn against the mafia man and risk saving his prisoner.
The hours ticked by with excruciating slowness, and she held her breath every time she heard any sort of noise, figuring it would be Alexei coming for her. He didn’t come that night, and she was torn between relief and annoyance at being ignored. It was a stupid reaction, because she should be thankful that he seemed to have forgotten about her, but she couldn’t help being irked that he would just park her in this room and completely forget about her.
Sleep was harder to come by that night, and not because the bed was any less comfortable. It was still the best mattress she’d ever slept on, but hunger made it difficult to fall asleep, as did the expectation that the door might open at any point, even late into the night. It wasn’t until the first streaks of dawn were visible through the window that she finally managed to drop off, sleeping right through breakfast.
* * *
“Lyosha?”
He looked up at the sound of his diminutive, nodding to his bodyguard, Yuri. “Yes?”
“I don’t know if you care, but the bitch you brought home hasn’t touched her food in two days.”
Alexei froze in the process of typing a message on his computer, looking more closely at Yuri. Considering she had kicked him in the chest, he was unsurprised to find his man didn’t seem to care that she was on a hunger strike. Idiot woman. Not eating would do her no good. “Send eggs to her room. I’ll be there shortly.”
Yuri nodded, his expression blank as he turned and left the room.
Alexei finished sending the message to Vasile, deliberately omitting the signature from the bottom, while using his father’s email account. His uncle was not yet aware of Ivan’s decline in health, and Alexei was in no hurry to inform his uncle. As head of the East Coast, his uncle would be well within his rights to assign an outsider as Pakhan to their city, and Alexei wasn’t on board with that. He wanted to protect his father’s legacy, and he didn’t want to kowtow to someone who hadn’t earned his respect, and was simply higher in the hierarchy than him, so could be given authority over him. He didn’t like that thought at all.
Once finished, he pushed away from his desk and strode across the study, opening the door and taking the stairs two at a time. He couldn’t deny a rush of excitement at seeing his lisichka again, though he had been deliberately ignoring her. He was trying to temper his own reaction, and he was also trying to humble Tara, so she would learn her place quickly.
He hadn’t anticipated the stubborn woman deciding to go on a hunger strike, and that couldn’t be allowed to continue. She needed her strength for what he had in mind for her, and if he had to push the food down her throat himself, he would do so.
A tray awaited on the floor in front of the door, and he bent to lift it before pressing his hand to the biometric panel that opened the door. A moment later, he stepped inside without bothering to knock. Knocking would show respect she didn’t yet deserve.
She sat in a wingback chair near the balcony, though he had not yet unlocked the French doors for her to be able to use it. He didn’t trust her not to throw herself off. He didn’t think his little fox was suicidal by any means, but she was obviously foolish and a bit desperate, so she might hurl herself three stories down in an ill-prepared escape attempt.
She had been in the process of brushing her hair, and it was striking to see the long strands yielding to the gentle strokes as the silver-handled brush glided through her hair. His groin tightened, throbbing with need at the sight. He had the urge to wrap her long strands around his hand and stroke his cock with them. It was ridiculous to want to fuck every part of her, including her hair.
She wore a startled expression at his entry, and the brush trembled in her hand before she set it on the table beside the chair. She didn’t speak to him, and after a moment of looking at him, she deliberately glanced away. Her expression was a cool mask, but he could see by the slight quaver of her lips she wa
s nervous.
Good. She should be.
He didn’t have to fake any of his anger or annoyance when he slammed the tray onto the table beside her. “Eat.”
She still didn’t look at him, but her lips thinned, and her displeasure was obvious. “No.”
He growled in frustration. “You aren’t here to starve to death, lisichka.”
She shivered at the endearment, but she didn’t request he not use it. Instead, she managed to look almost at him, though still glancing more over his shoulder than at his face. It was an annoying gesture, one clearly designed to push his buttons.
“I’d rather starve than live here with you.”
Damn, she was infuriating. Moved by anger, he snatched up the salver covering the plate and tossed it with little regard for its landing. Fluffy scrambled eggs covered the plate, and though he had eaten his breakfast just a short time ago, they smelled good enough to pique his appetite as well. He saw her nose twitch, and he was aware of her shuddering breath before she deliberately looked away from the tray. So, his little fox was interested in food, but too stubborn to eat it. “Why would you want to starve? Do you really want to let those luscious curves waste away, lisichka?”
“Tara,” she said through gritted teeth. “I’m not touching the food or anything else you give me to drink. I don’t know what you put in it.”
He stared at her for a moment, his brain processing her words. Before he could stop himself, Alexei laughed. “You think I’m planning to poison you, Tara?”
She shrugged, still not looking at him or the food. “Either that, or maybe you’re planning to get me hooked on drugs or something so I’ll cooperate with you.”
He laughed again, stabbing a bite of eggs onto the fork as he lifted it toward her. “If I were going to do that, heroin would be the easiest way to control you, and that would be a needle, not your food. Now open that delectable mouth and eat.”
She kept her lips clamped stubbornly closed as he pressed the fork closer to her mouth, trying to shove the food between her lips. All he succeeded in doing was poking her with the tines, but only her slightly indrawn breath revealed any reaction even to that.
With a muttered curse, Alexei cupped her chin with one hand, applying pressure to her jaw until her mouth opened. She was shooting daggers at him with her eyes as he crammed a bite of eggs into her mouth and pulled the fork back, closing her mouth and putting his hand over her lips until she started chewing.
“Good. That wasn’t so bad, was it?”
He moved his hands to get another bite of food for her, and as soon as he did, she opened her mouth and spat masticated eggs on his chest and neck. Alexei wasn’t proud of it, but his first instinct was to slap her. His hand hovered in midair for a moment, but he reined in the impulse and grabbed a handful of her hair instead.
“Let go of me.” She squirmed against him, seeming impervious to the pain she must feel in her scalp as she tried to tug away from his viselike grip on her red strands.
“You are going to eat, Tara.” He dragged her up and out of the chair, forcing her face close to his cloth-covered chest. “Lick them off.”
She renewed her protests, struggling even more fiercely than she had been. It necessitated him dropping the fork and abandoning the tray. Keeping one hand in her hair, he used the other to restrain her lower body, holding her flush with his chest. “Eat, lisichka.”
She said something, though the proximity of her lips to his chest made the words incomprehensible. The feel of her lips moving against him, even in her anger and resistance, made his dick throb fiercely. She bit him then, her sharp teeth grazing the tender flesh of his chest.
Alexei swore he could genuinely see red from rage as he pushed Tara to her knees in front of him. He didn’t release his hold on her hair, but he held her with the one hand as he used the other to open his belt and unzip his jeans. “Something is going in that pretty mouth of yours, and if you don’t want food, you can swallow my dick.”
She glared up at him. “If that thing comes anywhere near me, I’ll bite it off.”
“You will pay dearly for any defiance. Open your mouth, Tara.” When she still refused, he tightened his free hand around her chin again, pressing against the sides of her jaws with his fingers until her mouth opened slightly. It was enough, and he was able to push two fingers between her lips.
He expected her to bite him, and she did. He cursed, but withstood the pain as he applied an equal measure by tugging sharply on her hair. She screamed, forcing her mouth open the rest of the way, and he made a fist, wedging a good portion of his fisted hand inside so she couldn’t close her lips again. “You’re going to suck me now, Tara. I’m done with your nonsense and playing games. You need to learn you belong to me. If you’re going to survive this, you need to learn your place. Now open your mouth voluntarily and take my cock inside, or I’ll do something you won’t like.”
She was glaring at him defiantly, and he dared withdraw his fist enough to allow her to talk. “Everything you’ve done to me is something I don’t like. You can’t do anything worse than try to make me suck your cock.”
He tipped his head slightly, giving her a considering look. “Perhaps not to you, lisichka. You’re all brave blustering, and perhaps you could withstand the most painful of tortures. However…”
She licked her lips, looking nervous. “However what?”
“Is your little sister as defiant and strong-willed as you?”
She sagged slightly, and genuine hatred shown from her eyes even as her lips parted. He hated that she was submitting under those circumstances, and he almost withdrew the threat. Almost. It would be weakness to do so, and Alexei was not a weak man. This was for her own good, because the sooner she got over her defiance, the sooner she would find her place here. His little fox needed to accept that her only alternative was to stay with him, and in his good graces. He couldn’t just let her go, because she would soon report the crime she had witnessed. He didn’t want to kill her, so he had to tame her. That meant doing whatever it took.
He lifted his shaft and pointed it toward her mouth, rubbing the head lightly across her lips. “No biting.” He punctuated the warning with the a light slap of his cock against her mouth. She jumped at the touch, and his abdomen curled with need as the blow reverberated through him.
He was ridiculously and embarrassingly close to coming just by having her mouth against him, not even open yet. He wouldn’t last long when his cock was between her plump lips, even if she was giving a lackluster performance, which he fully expected.
She opened her mouth the rest of the way, accepting him inside, though she made no attempt to hide her reluctance and her anger. Like a good little fox, she kept her teeth to herself, holding her mouth slack around him.
Still, she was defiant. He sighed, hating to force her to the breaking point, but reminding himself of all the reasons why he must. “I’m not doing the work here, Tara. You will give me the best blowjob of my life, or your little sister will pay for your failure.”
If her eyes could speak, she would be calling him a string of filthy names. He had no doubt of that as she shaped her mouth to him so the soft, slick contours of her cheeks fitted him like a glove. Her tongue teased the underside of his cockhead, zeroing in on the V that was so sensitive. She started with light flicks that soon had him weeping pre-cum and arching his hips mindlessly.
When she began to suck him in earnest, moving her head up and down, one of her hands going to the base of his shaft to cover the gap her mouth couldn’t quite encompass, he let his hand relax slightly in her hair, though he still held on to her. She might take it for a sign of dominance, but it was almost a necessity to keep him from collapsing to the floor under the onslaught of pleasure she was unleashing upon him.
As she sucked and licked him, he knew it wouldn’t take long. His balls were already tightening, and the warmth spreading from his stomach let him know he was seconds from exploding in her mouth. He could have been thoug
htful and given her the opportunity to jerk him off the rest of the way, or at least warn her that he was about to come, but this wasn’t about making his lover happy. It was about breaking her.
Neither of them spoke, not that she could have with her mouth full of dick, he thought with a rueful grin as his shaft hardened further, twitching at the same time as the first torrents of release spilled into her, making her choke. He held her against him, refusing to let her pull away until she had swallowed. The motion of her throat swallowing down his release coaxed more cum from him, and he spurted into her again. He made her sit like that for a moment, even after he was certain he was done coming, to remind her of her place.
Finally, he released her hair and let her scramble away from him. She pressed her back against the bed and glared up at him, her chest heaving with exertion.
Alexei braced himself for a verbal onslaught, but she just glared at him as she wiped her mouth. She didn’t speak, and she seemed a little shaken by the experience.
“Eat your food from now on, Tara.”
He started to turn and walk away, but froze and whipped back toward her. “How remiss of me.”
Her voice sounded almost composed, but there was a hint of shakiness to when she asked, “What?” The wariness in her tone was almost heartbreaking, but he stiffened his resolve and ignored the softness inside.
“I forgot you have to earn your clothes. I should have taken them last night, and here I am almost forgetting again.” He clicked his tongue at his own forgetfulness. “Take them off. Now.”
She shook her head, pressing her back more firmly into the side of the mattress as she stared at him with eyes that were bordering on pleading.
He forced himself not to look at them again, not wanting to read her desperation and respond to it. Alexei crossed his arms and glared down at her. “Either you take them off or I will. If I do, there’s no telling what I’ll also do to that delectable little body of yours, so I leave the choice with you, lisichka.”
MAFIA: Dark Romance Collection Page 26