"You bring your other women here," she said.
"Da," he confirmed, unnecessarily.
She decided if the place weren't attached to other people's homes she would burn it to the ground. She might anyway, depending on how much he pissed her off in the next little while.
"You don't take women back to the house, do you?" she asked a little hesitantly, wondering if she really wanted to get in this deep with him.
"Nyet," he answered immediately, and then gave her the answer she was most afraid of, "Only you, Jane."
She sighed heavily and, placing her hands on her hips, turned slowly on the spot taking in every inch of the luxury apartment, with its gorgeous views and prominent bed. "Okay, Vlad," she said, "point taken, we can leave now."
"I don't think so," he said coldly and took a menacing step toward her, reaching for the cuff links on his expensive suit. She watched, mesmerized, as he removed them one at a time and thought about how incongruous it was that he had so carelessly shot her ex-partner with the ease that he would order a meal in a restaurant, while wearing a $10,000 suit. She would have laughed at the absurdity of the thought, but she was fairly certain he wouldn't take her sentiments kindly.
"I want to go home Vlad. Now," she insisted, crossing her arms tightly over her chest.
He unbuttoned his shirt and pulled off both the shirt and the jacket, draping them over the back of a chair that was pushed up against the marble kitchen island. "No Jane," he said, his voice low, the accent becoming more pronounced as he stalked toward her. "You want to be treated like a whore."
He stopped in front of her, his naked chest displaying the stark array of tattoos. The temple with its base of skulls looked more sinister than ever to her, reminding her that he wasn't a pretend bad guy. He was the real thing. And she constantly mocked and defied him. She was only alive because something about her caught his attention to the point of obsession. She tilted her chin and glared up into his dark, soulless eyes, daring him to do his worst.
His lips pulled back in a thin, feral grin. He spread his arms wide, "This is where I bring my whores, where I fuck and suck and then leave. Sometimes if they are good I will leave jewels and money. They like that, you know. Will you like that, Jane?" he asked.
She turned her head away in disgust, but he took hold of her chin and forced her to look up at him. She was reminded sharply of the ruthlessly determined man he had been when he'd first approached her in her tiny little apartment all those months ago and asked her to become his mistress. She wondered if he would have installed her here in this expensive, meaningless apartment. Her eyes filled with tears.
Vlad ignored her distress. Pitilessly, he spoke, "You have thrown my kindness in my face with your carelessly spoken words. You believe you are an ill treated mistress, Jane? I will show you what it feels like to be treated like a whore, to be here for one purpose only. You will satisfy me and expect nothing in return, except perhaps an expensive toy."
Anger washed over her, drying up her tears. "Fuck you, Vlad!" she snapped, raising a knee toward his groin.
He grabbed her knee and yanked it up past his hip, taking her completely off balance and throwing her backwards. Jane tumbled back and landed on the bed with a short scream. She came up fighting with a swiftness that would have taken anyone else off guard, but Vlad was used to her quick thinking and even quicker temper. He grabbed her fists and, holding them in one large hand, pulled them over her head and pinned them against the mattress. He straddled her body and held her down until she realized there was no point in struggling.
"You fucking criminal," she snarled up at him. "I hate you for this!"
Vlad leaned down, stretching full length across her body, carefully placing his heavy limbs over hers so she wouldn't be able to renew her attack. Her hair had fallen across her face and several strands had stuck to her lips. He traced her lips and gently pulled the hairs away, tucking them behind her ear. He leaned over her, trailing his lips across her cheek and pressing his nose into the space between her neck and ear.
He spoke softly in her ear, his hot breath drawing a shiver from her. "What do you hate more, Jane? That I brought you here?" he asked, lifting his body enough to force his hand down her front. When he reached her jeans he made short work of the snap and buttons. She gasped when, without preliminaries, he shoved his hand into her panties and pressed one long finger deep into her wet pussy. "Or do you hate how much you want me, no matter how badly you think you are being treated?"
"Oh God," Jane moaned, tossing her head restlessly against the bed, unconsciously trying to get away from his words.
"I think," he said, his voice going cold once more, "You don't know what to hate anymore so you choose to fight with me instead of yourself."
He sat up, releasing her hands. She brought them down immediately. He gave her a stern look that told her if she started fighting him again there would be swift and brutal retaliation.
"Vlad," she cried out when he began yanking her clothes off with little care for her comfort.
Jane felt cold and exposed with each lost item. She crossed her arms over her chest, but he wasn't having it. When he'd divested himself of his pants, he grabbed her legs and pulled her back down the bed until she was laying flat underneath him again. He took her wrists in his hands and pulled them away from her chest, exposing her puckered nipples. Jane turned her head to the side so she didn't have to look up at the blazingly angry eyes above her and so he wouldn't see her aching vulnerability.
"Look at me!" he snapped, his coldness beginning to give way to anger.
Jane turned her head and looked up at him, gritting her teeth. The magnificent body that could take her to heaven called to her, but the strange combination of cold fury within him repelled her too. He stared down at her and began guiding her legs apart with his knee. Helplessly, she reached up and clutched his forearms where they were braced on the bed next to her shoulders. She dug her nails in and bit her lip to keep the whimper of fear from escaping. He'd never treated her like this before. She found she was very much afraid of this side of Vlad.
"Are you my whore, Jane?" he asked, watching the flickering emotions cross her features.
She stared up at him. She knew what he wanted from her, but she hated the thought of giving into his demands. He slid his thigh across her pussy, stimulating her clit with the hair on his leg and drawing a gasp from her. Jane wiggled against him. She was turned on, like she always was with Vlad, but she didn’t want to be taken this way. Not in this bed, not in this place.
“Vlad…” she said, ready to give him what he wanted if he would take them away, back home where they belonged. But it was too late. He spread her legs and thrust into her, swallowing her sharp cry with a devouring kiss.
She whimpered against his lips as he reached down and wrapped her legs around his waist and pulled her up so she was sitting in his lap. Jane sat on him, her body stiffly taking his cock into hers though the fit was tight. Her eyes were closed and she wound her arms around his neck for balance. She bit her lip to stifle a sob as he lifted her hips and began forcing her up and down on his cock. He wasn’t gentle, but he wasn’t brutal either. He was just… using her for his own pleasure. She could feel him swelling within her, close to coming.
“Open your eyes, look at me Jane,” he said huskily, his voice strained.
Jane opened her eyes, blinking away the tears that threatened to fall. He reached up and wrapped long fingers around her neck and brought her face close to his. “Are you my whore, Jane?” he asked softly.
She shook her head. With a sob she shook her head and said, “No, I’m not.”
“No, you’re not,” he repeated shifting her in his lap so she was closer to him until her chest was pressed against his. “Never forget your place.”
Jane wanted to scream at him that she didn’t know her place, but she didn’t think she could take any further punishment. Instead, she dropped her face into the strong, smooth place between his neck and should
er and inhaled his masculine scent while he came within her body, shuddering and holding her tight in his arms.
When he finished, he eased her back and laid her gently on the bed, brushing her hair gently away from her face. He pulled a blanket over her body before standing. “I’m going to shower, we can leave after.”
Jane nodded, afraid that if she spoke she would start crying and beg him to never ever treat her like that again. She knew she was partly to blame. But she also knew that she was unlikely to ever reconcile herself to Vlad’s lifestyle. She would never stop fighting him, and he, in turn, would never stop hurting her. Though her feelings for him were becoming more mixed up by the day, she knew she had to find a way to get out before she got in any deeper. The only way to leave a man as powerful as Vlad was to go with her original plan. Bury the mob boss.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Jane grinned happily as she sat crosslegged on the floor of Vlad’s study in front of his open safe with a pile of VERY incriminating papers piled in her lap. She could hardly believe the code she’d managed to oversee while being forced to trail Vlad everywhere he went actually worked and that her Russian lover felt comfortable enough leaving work in there with his ex-cop girlfriend staying in the same house.
Well, he certainly had made spying on his criminal enterprise a whole lot easier the past few days. After the whole kicking-him-in-the-junk and beating-him-up-with-a-toilet-chip incident, followed by the sneaking out of his fortress to confront an attempted murderer by herself snafu, Vlad hadn’t been feeling too trusting of Jane. So he’d decided she was to be babysat by Boris at all times. And when not with Boris, she was to be accompanied by Vlad. She wasn’t even allowed to pee alone for those few days after she’d confronted Gruber. But the one thing Vladimir Stinikov, impenetrable Russian-American mob boss is guilty of is over-estimating himself when it comes to Jane.
He really needed to spend more time with her while she was on the job. She was actually a really good detective. Most men, especially in power positions, tended to dismiss her capabilities because of her diminutive size. She would be happy to show him why underestimating her was a bad idea. In case he hadn’t learned that lesson well enough in the bunker.
“So, after all this time you never stopped looking."
At the sound of Vlad's deep voice from the open door of the office, Jane gasped and scrambled to her feet scattering papers over the expensive rug. She clutched several of the files in stiff fingers. He wore only the pair of jeans he had discarded last night before coming to bed. The tattoos covering his entire upper body looked more stark and intimidating than ever. His eyes were glacial as they swept her form standing over the incriminating files. She saw none of the usual possessive lust that she had come to expect from him. He looked cold and dangerous. Much the way he had looked after putting two bullets in Gruber.
She shivered, remembering his cold punishment after. The files dropped from her fingers and slid to her feet. In her haste to leave the bedroom they shared quietly without waking him, she had donned only her short silk robe. She wished it were several inches longer and she were several inches taller.
Defiantly, she tilted her chin up and replied, "Of course not. Why would I stop when you installed me in your mansion and gave me access to your life? You made it easy to get what I needed."
Though he didn't move a muscle she could feel the tension radiating from him. He was stopping himself from reaching for her. Most likely knowing if he put hands on her now he would do irreparable harm.
Jane shivered. "What are you going to do?”
He stared hard at her as if trying to decipher her expression. "I had hoped you would soften toward me. That the cop in you would die away until you could take your place at my side willingly. I see now, that's not going to happen."
She licked her lips and tried to keep her eyes from dropping away from the deadly promise in his.
"I can't allow you to divulge what you have found out and it is clear I can no longer trust you."
Oh god, he was going to kill her. She wanted to be strong, she didn't want to beg for her life, but when faced with the possibility that she would soon die she had no other choice. "You promised Vladimir. Does your promise mean so little? Does what we have together mean so little?"
He frowned, taking in her words. "It is you who should be examining what we have together. You have enjoyed my bed and accepted my protection. Yet you still dig for clues in a wish to expose me."
Vlad stalked forward causing Jane to flinch and hurriedly back away. He stopped abruptly. "You think I would hurt you?"
"Is... isn't that what you intend?” she asked, her body shivering uncontrollably. “You said I can't be trusted. You'll have to kill me."
He laughed mirthlessly, but somehow managed to look chillingly angry at the same time. "That is one option. Though I admit I am loath to see that gorgeous little body of yours posed lifelessly. Much as it would be easier to dispose of you right now, I find I don't have a taste for it."
Jane's chest was starting to hurt from holding her breath. "What else is there?"
He stared at her with a disturbing gleam in his eyes. "As I cannot give you access to my life as a lover, I will have to take steps to bind you more tightly to me."
"What are you going to do?"
"Something I've been planning for awhile. I had intended to give you more time in hopes you would come to me on your own. Now I see that in typical Jane fashion, your persistent spirit has made that impossible."
"I don't understand?" she gasped, attempting to dart past him so she could have more space. His presence filled up the room until she felt she might suffocate. He reached out and took her wrist in a firm hold and forced her back to his side.
"I think you do understand, Jane."
She shook her head vehemently in denial.
"You will become my wife."
"No," she gasped in immediate response.
Though he looked annoyed at her denial, his dry tones were amused, "So eager, malysh. I am flattered." He drew her in toward the heat of his body as he spoke. "You have enjoyed my bed these past weeks and you will continue to do so as my wife. You will not be disappointed, I assure you."
"It takes more than sex to make a marriage, Vladimir," she snapped.
He chuckled and took her chin in his hand, tracing his crooked finger across her lips. "You only say my name like that when you are annoyed, Jane. And yet I love to hear it. Perhaps it is the sadist in me. I will enjoy our wedding night, I think, more than any other night I have spent in your arms. I will teach you what it is to be my wife."
"No," she whispered.
She shivered and whimpered when his fingers tightened to an almost painful degree. "You will belong to me, Jane," he said harshly and then crushed her lips beneath his before she could utter another denial.
The kiss was a punishment as much as it was a seal of his promise. Despite the pain of his hard lips crushing hers and forcing her head back, an eager response flared to life in her. The passion she felt in Vlad's arms was so raw and uninhibited it couldn't be denied. Despite a couple of limited sexual encounters in her past, her body hadn't properly woken up until Vladimir Sitnokov had stormed into her life.
When her small hands gripped his biceps and she tried to pull him harder against her he changed the tempo of his kiss with a tortured groan. He softened the pressure of his lips against hers and thrust his tongue into her mouth. She accepted him wholeheartedly and revelled in the possessive swipes of his tongue against the delicate tissues within. His hands made short work of the knot on her robe and soon she found herself pushed up on top of her desk naked to his hungry gaze. His eyes gleamed like a predator's as he broke off his kiss and leaned back to look down at her.
His eyes traced over her swollen lips and small curvy body sprawled over his desk. “Ah, so tempting," he groaned. "But it is our wedding day and although we have known each other, I will wait until tonight to take you as my bride."
Jane wanted
to tease him for being old fashioned, but the look in his eyes stopped her breath. He looked like he wanted to devour her whole and never let her go. Nothing in her life had prepared her for the depth of possessiveness the terrifying mob boss forced on her. He looked at her in a way she had never before experienced. She didn't know if she could live with him the way he intended her too. But she did know he would never willingly let her go.
With a gentleness oddly unfamiliar to him, he pulled the sides of her silken robe together and knotted it, then pulled her off the desk and set her on her feet. Gesturing toward the papers littering the rug of his office, he said, "For now we shall forget this. This morning we prepare for our wedding. This afternoon it will be done and tonight I will remind you of the obedience I expect."
Though she wanted to snort and tell him off, Jane didn't argue. She sensed an implacable hardness in him that wouldn't be moved. There was a reason he was in the position he was, running one of the biggest crime syndicates in the western hemisphere. Though she had gotten under his skin, she was under no illusion that he could and would make her suffer if she truly crossed him.
"Jane," he said her name softly as she all but ran for the door after he let her up.
She paused and looked back at him.
"Don't ever try to run from me. I will always come for you."
CHAPTER TWENTYONE
Jane stared defiantly at Vlad, daring him to say something. He eyed her outfit of black skinny jeans and black T-shirt with the caption "private dick" emblazoned on it with faint distaste. In concession to her wedding day, she had brushed her straight dark hair and added a light layer of make-up, including blue eye shadow, which brought out the angry sparkle in her eyes, and nude lipstick. She also added a silver skull ring to her middle finger.
Vlad looked his usual detached sexy in an even-more-expensive-than-usual dark grey suit with a blue silk tie. "I told Boris to take you shopping this morning," he said, cold anger evident in his voice. "Yet this is what you wear."
Savage Vendetta (Fire & Vice Book 4) Page 15