Yuri’s expression was now clear of confusion, and he nodded, his face grim. “I can promise you she won’t be allowed to escape.”
“No, I’m sure she won’t.” Alexei wondered if he was moving too quickly, and if he was setting himself up for disillusionment by allowing her the chance to escape tomorrow. Part of him cautioned not to be bitterly disappointed if she did try to get away, because it was still so early in their relationship, and she was just now starting to accept that she had no other place to go, and no other role in life besides what he gave her.
It would be natural for her to try to escape, and even the most domesticated animal must occasionally chafe at the yoke of ownership. Still, he knew he would be disappointed if she tried to escape, and overjoyed if she didn’t.
As he left his man to go up to his lover’s room, he tried to shove what he was feeling deep down. Emotions made him weak, and his little fox was having too much of an effect on his emotions, determining how he felt at any given moment. It would be wiser to leave her alone tonight, to allow distance between them, but he still bypassed his own room to walk to hers.
When he let himself in to the black room, where they held prisoners of status who weren’t trustworthy enough to be free, but weren’t so untrustworthy as to be subjected to the degradation of the basement cells, he was surprised to find Tara waiting for him wearing a candy-pink baby doll nightie. She looked sweet and innocent, and incredibly seductive. His cock tightened in response, and he decided not to fret about his emotional investment in Tara at the moment. Tomorrow would be soon enough to worry about that.
“Do you like it?” She asked the question shyly, not quite meeting his eyes. She was either embarrassed or nonplussed by playing dress-up for him.
“I like it very much.” He felt a bit like a big cat stalking prey as he strode toward her, his hands burning with the need to touch her skin. The straps were some sort of lacy material and yielded easily when he pushed them down her shoulders. He didn’t want to be rough with her, but seeing her so vulnerable and sweet made him feel like the big bad wolf, ready to devour Little Red.
She was sweet and pliant against him as he removed the nightie with more force than necessary, feeling the urgent need to see all of her, to touch and taste her. The sweetness inside her drew him, and it hadn’t just been an illusion created by the practically virginal lingerie meant to seduce his senses. It was the woman herself, and he couldn’t deny she was sweet and tasty. He wanted to devour her, and somehow the kisses he peppered on her face changed to bites as he moved down her body.
She whimpered when his teeth raked across her chest, but her hands curled in his hair, anchoring him against her. Clearly, his little fox liked this wild side too. It was a good thing, because he didn’t think he could rein in the animal inside at the moment.
He pulled away from her just long enough to start undressing, and his sweet lover morphed in front of him, turning to an urgent thing as well when she helped strip him, working on his pants as he unfastened the buttons of his shirt and slipped it off along with the tie. It was a joint venture, soon leaving him completely bare.
With a growl, he picked her up, sliding his cock into her dripping pussy as they stood there in the middle of the room. Her thighs locked around his waist, and her nails dug into his back as she held on to him and rode him, while his hands cupped her buttocks, and his arms kept her against him.
As he thrust in and out of her, he couldn’t help biting, moved to taste her on a deeper level. He was a snapping wolf as his teeth raked over her flesh, sometimes biting hard enough to leave imprints. She cried out each time he bit her, but it seemed to be a sound of pleasure rather than pain, which only spurred him on.
Her fingernails dug into his back surely hard enough to draw blood as she pressed her pelvis against his, her pussy squeezing him tightly enough to almost hurt as she came with a small sob. Her pleasure increased his own, but he was still hard and unable to let loose just yet.
It broke his paralysis enough to at least move to the bed, laying her down on it as he followed with her, keeping their bodies joined. He was as deeply inside her as he could get, and the new position allowed even more access to both her cunt and her breasts.
He had to bend his back at an awkward angle, but he didn’t even notice the discomfort as he pushed in and out of her, while he bit the sensitive flesh of her sweetly rounded breasts. She screamed when he clamped his teeth around her nipple, biting harder than he’d planned, but at the same time her sheath tightened around him again, and he knew the dart of pain had been what had sent her flying over the edge to another climax.
Her fingernails were now digging into his ass, urging him to go harder and deeper, and he complied. Alexei lost himself in the rhythm of pounding his lisichka, determined to claim her cunt, to force its shape to conform to him and only him for the rest of her life. It was a strange and primitive thought, but it was the final thing that sent him careening into an orgasm, torrents of his seed pumping into her in hot waves as he bit her once more before suckling the nipple more tenderly.
Afterward, they lay together in the dark, breathing heavily without speaking for a long time. “Are you all right?” he finally asked when he realized she was trembling in his arms.
“I’m fine. It was just so intense. Like this huge adrenaline rush, and now I’m crashing. If I were diabetic, I guess this is how it would feel if my blood sugar dropped.” There was a hint of amusement in her tone, along with perhaps a note of discomfort. The question was, was the discomfort from physical pain, or just the shattering intensity of their encounter?
“You’re sure I didn’t hurt you?” He lightly outlined a bite mark he could feel on her breast.
It was too dark to see much, but he could feel her shaking her head against his neck, her hair teasing his skin. “No. I mean yes, you hurt me, but I liked it.” She sounded appalled at the realization, even as her voice took on a smoky edge. “I picked that négligée with the intent of being sweetly seductive, planning to thank you for loosening up the restrictions today. You gave me clothes and a touch of freedom, and I wanted to show my gratitude. I planned to be soft and sweet.”
“You were sweet.” He licked her neck for emphasis. “And soft.” He squeezed her breast gently as his cock twitched inside her, already starting to harden again.
“I meant my attitude. I wanted to show you that I could be something besides adversarial, so you wouldn’t regret giving me a bit of freedom.”
“I won’t regret it as long as you don’t take advantage of it. Be trustworthy, and you have my trust.”
“You’re asking a lot of me, Alexei. I’m supposed to earn your trust, but I’m not sure I can trust you.”
Anger stirred to life, and he grasped a handful of her hair to drag her head back, revealing the vulnerable arch of her throat in the dimness. “What is it you don’t trust me not to do? Do you think I’ll rip your throat out with my teeth?” He uttered the suggestion before finding the carotid artery with his tongue, both aroused and alarmed by how quickly it was beating underneath her skin. He nipped lightly in the spot, careful not to hurt her despite his rough words and mannerisms.
She simply moaned, clearly unafraid. “I don’t think you’ll do that, but I know you could kill me at any point. It’s a difficult situation for me, Alexei. I’m only alive as long as I stay in your good graces. Surely you can understand why this is complicated for me?”
He surged inside her again as his cock reached full hardness, clamping his arms around her and dragging her close to him. “It’s a difficult situation for both of us, but I promise I will not hurt you as long as you don’t give me any reason to.”
She snorted, even as her thighs clamped around him, and she started to thrust against him. “That’s not exactly reassuring, Alexei.”
“Lyosha.”
“What?”
“When we’re like this, lisichka, call me Lyosha. It’s a nickname only used by those closest to me.” He withdre
w slowly before slamming his cock back into her tight pussy. “I’d say we’re very close in moments like these.”
“Lyosha, will you fuck me?”
“I already am.” He thrust into her as hard as he could, but she was doing the same to him, digging her fingernails into his buttocks to drag him nearer, while circling her hips in little motions that were teasing the head of his cock, making him lose all sense of control. He turned to a mindless animal writhing with her, but she was screaming in satisfaction, her pace just as frantic and rapid as his own. They came at almost the same time, and the orgasm served to calm the beast inside him once more.
This time, he kissed her gently, their lips molding and massaging each other with languid tenderness, in no hurry to split apart, and no longer feeling the desperate urge to consume each other. Holding her against him in the dark, Alexei was certain he would never have enough of his little fox.
She wouldn’t have to worry about remaining in his good graces. Even when he was enraged with her, and that was sure to happen upon occasion, he was absolutely certain he would never hurt her, and he would certainly never let her go.
Still, a hint of self-preservation had him keeping that information to himself. Tara didn’t need to know what kind of knot she’d tied him into, or how much control she wielded over him. That sort of thing made a man vulnerable, and he couldn’t afford weakness, even in the tempting form of the woman curled against him, pressing gentle kisses to his neck before her lips parted, and she started to snore softly.
Chapter Five
The doctor’s waiting room was busy, but she had been expecting that once Alexei had quietly told her this morning that his father was visiting a renowned specialist whose focus was Alzheimer’s research and treatment. Tara wished she had her e-reader available, but she settled for the selection of magazines spread before her, narrowing it down to a choice between “Field & Stream” or “Woman’s Day.” Both sounded equally boring for different reasons, but she finally opted for the “Woman’s Day” magazine.
Finally, about forty minutes past Ivan’s actual appointment, a nurse in purple scrubs called them back. They followed the harried woman through the maze of the back office, and she was surprised when Yuri and Stepan waited in the lobby rather than accompany them.
As the nurse led them to an exam room, she was even more surprised to find there was an exit down the hallway. She didn’t know for certain that it led out of the large medical building, but it certainly led out of this office. All she had to do was sneak out the exit and make her way through the building. There was a security desk in the entrance that she had noted with interest when they had first entered the multi-office building. If she could make her way back there, the guards were armed, and they would be able to help her.
Obviously, Ivan couldn’t have any idea what was going through her head, but he clung to her hand in a helpless fashion and gave her a smile as she walked with him into the room, helping him sit on the exam table. “Thank you, Valentina.”
She patted his cheek. “I’m Tara, Ivan.”
His expression cleared slightly, but he was still obviously confused. “Of course you are. You’re Alexei’s wife.”
She was appalled at the thrill that shot through her at the sound of that. Of course she wasn’t his wife, and she had no desire to be. She might be caught in his sexual thrall, and she might care a great deal about his father already, but she was in no way planning to make this a permanent solution or accept her fate as his lyubnovik. “I’m just his friend, Ivan.”
The old man chuckled, and his gaze was sharper for a moment. “You’re not just his friend. I get confused sometimes, but I still know some things. My son is crazy about you. If you aren’t his wife yet, you will be.”
She shivered at the words, thinking they sounded oddly prophetic—and oddly appealing. It should be the last thing she should ever want. Marrying a man like Alexei was tantamount to accepting his lifestyle. It meant a lifetime commitment, growing old together, and having children.
Tara couldn’t imagine bringing children into such a relationship, or having their father be in such a dangerous profession. She was thankful that her NuvaRing was still in place and wouldn’t need to be changed for at least another week. Before then, she would have to arrange for Alexei to get her refill, because she wasn’t going to let her birth control lapse.
Or she could simply try to escape right now. It was a good opportunity. The bodyguards weren’t around, at least not in the immediate area, and she could just slip out when the doctor came in. Hell, she could leave right now with the excuse of going to the bathroom, which had been just a couple of doors before this room. All she had to do was go right instead of left when she exited into the hallway, and she’d be at the door marked “Exit” in less than ten steps.
Her stomach fluttered with excitement and a hint of apprehension at the thought, and she took a step back from Ivan. “I’m going to pop in to the lavatory.”
His expression clouded, and he gripped her hands. “Please don’t leave me alone in here, Valentina. I don’t know what these people have planned. They might torture me for information, and I need to be strong for you and your mother.”
His confusion was heartbreaking, and she wasn’t strong enough to withstand the pleading in his gaze. She squeezed his hand and forced a smile. “I’m here for you, Ivan. You don’t have to be afraid of the doctor. No one’s going to torture you, okay? I won’t leave you though.”
She tried to convince herself that she would still have an opening once the doctor came in, as long as Ivan settled down and wasn’t afraid, but as she sat in the chair near the exam table, still holding the older man’s wrinkled hand, she suspected she was fooling herself.
She couldn’t bring herself to walk away from his suffering or leave the confused older man trapped in his current state, fearful of everyone. For whatever motivation, he had latched on to her, whether he thought it was because she was his daughter or for some other reason, and it didn’t sit well with her to abandon him, even to save herself.
She was feeling like a fool, calling herself weak and several other names that did nothing to make her leave the chair, when the doctor finally joined them. Dr. Ting was a short Asian man with a gleaming bald head and large glasses. He had a kind smile and kind eyes, but it was obvious Ivan was still afraid.
It was heartbreaking to see the larger older man—who would have surely been capable of breaking the doctor in two when he was the picture of health—cowering backward on the table and clinging tightly to her hand. She just didn’t have it in her to leave him alone and vulnerable, so she remained at his side, speaking soothingly to him and helping ease his fear as the doctor examined him.
After it was over, she held the paper of instructions and notes for Alexei that Dr. Ting had given her, her other hand through Ivan’s arm as she led him from the exam room. In the hallway, her gaze darted briefly to the right, settling longingly on the “Exit” sign, but she found herself falling in step with Ivan when he turned to the left. Freedom was only a few feet away, but might as well have been miles, and she let go of the possibility of attaining it that day with a regretful sigh as she escorted him back to the waiting room.
She was surprised to find only Stepan waiting for them, and she looked around. “Where’s Yuri?”
The guard wore a peculiar expression on his handsome face, but he shrugged and sounded uninterested when he said, “He had to hit the head.”
She nodded, understanding his words, though he had a thick Russian accent. They sat together without speaking until Yuri came in to the waiting room a few minutes later. His gaze homed in on her, and he looked puzzled, or perhaps surprised, but he didn’t say anything as he nodded his head at Stepan, who gestured they should rise and precede him from the waiting room.
* * *
After dinner that evening, she followed Alexei into his office, holding the paper from the doctor in her hand. “Dr. Ting wanted me to give you this. It’s
his notes and observations, along with instructions on how to alter your father’s medication. He said the Aricept dose needs to be increased, and he’s recommending a few alternative treatments to add to the regimen, hoping it will slow your father’s decline.”
Alexei took the paper, reading it with little expression before nodding and sliding the sheet into the top desk drawer. “Thank you for taking him today, and for getting this information.”
“I had nothing else to do.” She grinned before shrugging. “I was happy to help him. I like your father. He’s a sweet man.” Alexei burst out laughing, making her frown at him. “What?”
He smiled, though it was a bit grim, obviously tinged with sadness or something more. “Until he started getting symptoms of Alzheimer’s, my father was the farthest from a nice man that you could ever meet. He was a ruthless bastard, and though I loved him and never doubted he loved us, I saw him do horrible things. He’s definitely quite different than he used to be, and I’m sure he would be horrified now if he ever remembered the things he had done or sanctioned during his term as Pakhan of our city.”
Her stomach jolted, and she blinked, but finally sighed. “Yeah, I guess I probably knew that, but to be honest, I didn’t think much about it. He’s clearly not that man anymore. Perhaps I would have hated that Ivan Varnakov, but this version is a nice, sweet old man, and his confusion is heartbreaking. He makes me feel protective, and I can’t hold his past against him when he doesn’t even remember most of it, can I? Especially since it didn’t affect me directly.”
There was an unreadable expression on his face before he finally nodded. He bent down behind his desk for a moment, and she had the strangest thought that perhaps he was down there blinking away tears. It was a dumb idea, quickly disproven when he sat up again holding something familiar.
MAFIA: Dark Romance Collection Page 31