Savage Vendetta (Fire & Vice Book 4)

by Nikita Slater

  "I didn't say that," Vlad replied, amused.

  Jane was wearing faded blue jeans with strategic tears near the thighs and knees, a loose plaid shirt rolled up to her elbows over a low cut black top and flat shoes that she usually wore indoors for comfort. He was thankful she wasn't wearing her favourite pair of biker boots to the dining table. He was also pleased to see that her enforced inactivity while she recovered from her wounds had added some thickness to her compact curves. He'd never liked the way she had exercised herself into nothingness in order to keep up with her male counterparts on the police force.

  He approached her and leaned down to kiss her. Jane obediently lifted her face to receive his kiss, having learned the hard way that resisting the simple domestic act would lead to a painful retaliation. Vlad was too smart to believe she was in any way becoming trained to his preferences. No, the raven haired beauty was simply choosing her wars and a light caress of his lips across her own was not a battle she chose to fight. Jane was calculating that way. Much like Vlad himself.

  Vlad feared that Jane had learned his tough lessons all too well since their encounter the week before. He guided her around the table and she sat with a docility that almost concerned him. Either she was biding her time or she was truly feeling low. Rather than sit across the large table from her, as was their usual arrangement, Vlad pulled up a chair and sat right next to her. Her brown eyes lifted to his in question.

  "You are quiet this evening," he said. "What is in your head?"

  She frowned and dropped her gaze, "I thought you wanted an obedient wife, Vlad."

  He smiled wryly. "Obedient, yes. But when my little Jane is too silent, I fear she is plotting where to thrust the knife she has hidden away under our bed. Which leads me to believe that I will either have to sleep with one eye open or exhaust my wife to the point where she won't have the energy to attack me."

  Jane didn't smile in return. "You teach a painful lesson, Vlad. You've shown me clearly I'm no match for your strength or skills."

  "Not too painful, malysh," he murmured, reaching out to caress her jaw. "I made sure that you enjoyed it as much as I did."

  Her eyes were accusing. "But you don't give me a choice. You've never given me a choice, not since the first moment we met each other. You probably always had this outcome in mind."

  He shrugged, not denying her accusation. Though his plans with regard to Jane were not always clear, the inevitability that she should become a part of his life was. "Where is this leading Jane? Much as you push me, I have not broken you to my hand. Why this self-pity?”

  Her eyes flared in anger. She seemed to struggle with her words, but finally blurted out, "Why me?"

  "What do you mean?" he asked, leaning back in his chair. His eyes followed her expressions, taking in the frustration and anger evident within.

  "Why did you marry me, Vlad?" she asked, her voice almost pleading. "Was it because of my past? Because I can easily disappear from the world and have no one notice?"

  He swore. "Don't be ridiculous, Jane. There is at least one person who would notice if you disappeared. The bounty hunter calls here at least daily wanting to speak with you. I believe the only reason he hasn't launched a full-scale war is because he was apprised of our nuptials and is reluctant to step between man and wife. An attitude that may keep him alive a little longer."

  "Mack," she breathed.

  Annoyed at the way his woman spoke another man's name, "Hudson, yes. If you value his life I suggest you wipe that look of hope off your face."

  She shot him a disgusted look. "It's just like you to threaten someone I know. You want to isolate me, don't you? You probably love that I come from a community that swears off modern technology and isolates their children from the evils of the world. Too bad for you I'm far from that naive little girl that left at sixteen and never looked back. You were probably hoping for an obedient little wife with an Amish upbringing. I'm sorry to disappoint you."

  So they were getting to the crux of Jane's problem. Her family. Vlad sent her a dark look, "If I wanted a virginal little Amish wife, I would go find one. You are in no way obedient, Jane, so please don't intimate that it is your background that makes me want you. I want you for all that makes you who you are."

  "Very romantic, Vlad," she said sarcastically. "You were probably sorry I wasn't a virgin. I know I'm far from the ideal wife for a man in your position."

  "Goddamit, Jane," Vlad snarled, hitting the table with his fist and causing dinnerware to jump. His ring flashed in the light. “Stop creating problems between us as a way to reconcile your past and present. I was never under the illusion that you would be a virgin at the age of thirty-one. I don't particularly wish to discuss your past liaisons, but I would be a hypocrite if I insisted you come to me untouched. Now tell me what the hell this is all about before I lose patience."

  She sat back, her shoulders slumping. She covered her eyes for a moment with a hand. Finally she looked up at him and said, "I don't know, Vlad."

  He placed a hand on her shoulder and trailed idle fingers down her neck, enjoying the shiver she couldn’t suppress. "I think I do," he said. "You haven't thought of them in years. Now you are a married woman and feeling lost in a new situation. You have no mother to consult with."

  She snorted and batted his hand away, “I never had a mother to ‘consult’ with. My mother is one of the toughest creatures her God ever spit out – both pious and unbending.”

  “And your father?” he asked.

  She shrugged. “My father is softer than mother, but no less god-fearing. They turned away from me when I made the choice to leave. Though he cared, it was made clear I wouldn’t be welcomed back.”

  “That was many years ago, Jane. Is it not possible they have thought of you, wondered about the daughter they lost? Is it impossible that they perhaps regret the loss? You were not shunned, malysh. You can go back,” he said, catching her eyes and holding her prisoner in his gaze.

  “You want me to go back?” she asked incredulously.

  He smiled darkly. “Not particularly. As you argued earlier, I would much prefer my Jane to be completely unattached and without the cumbersome headache that is family. I would have you to myself completely if I could.”

  “Now that I can believe,” she replied, her lips twitching in a sarcastic smile.

  “But,” he said before she could speak again, “You have never before resolved your familial issues and I see your restlessness now. I believe it is time for you to go and explore that connection. Decide with the logic of an adult rather than the hurt passions of a child if you wish to completely sever the connection.”

  She raised an eyebrow and leaned back in her chair, studying her husband with more than usual scrutiny. “Why would I want to do that? Why are you trying so hard to convince me to go see my family? They’re 300 miles away, in another state. That seems like the opposite of where you’d normally want me to be, which is right at your side where you can see me at all times.”

  As always, her shrewd mind had eclipsed his ability to maneuver her as tidily as he had hoped. He sighed and scrubbed a hand over his head, flexing his forearms against the rolled up cuffs of his shirt. The dark brown hair, shot with silver, was getting too long for his liking. He tended to prefer it shorter. “I need you out of the way,” he told her truthfully. “And I would prefer it to be in a place where you can be safe as well as have a modicum of freedom. Truthfully, if you don’t go I’ll have to find some other place for you that is more prison-like and we both know how you felt about that the last time I tried.”

  She frowned at him, “Why do you need me out of the way? Are you going to do something I would object to?”

  “Probably,” he answered. “There are rumblings from some of the lesser crews inhabiting this city of a potential shift in power among the Russians. As this directly involves me I will have to move swiftly and brutally quash this rumour. You see?”

  She stared at him and shivered. He knew he looked h
ard and implacable. She insisted on knowing and he wanted to be truthful with his wife. Finally she nodded and said, “You aren’t comfortable doing this if I’m not safely hidden away.”

  Vlad was surprised. Though a smart and intuitive woman, she rarely placed enough value on herself to see the whole truth. But this time she had. She was beginning to learn what she meant to him. “Yes, Jane, you understand. I will not wage this war with the full effectiveness required if I am concerned that you might be caught in the crossfire. Once you are away, I can hunt down the source of this rumour and deal with it.”

  Her eyes dropped away from his. She knew how he would ensure his continued reign in the city. He never tried to hide his true self from her. He wanted her to know what kind of a monster could rise to his current position. But he was also pleased that she was tentatively taking steps to walk at his side. Even if it meant accepting him grudgingly as the Boss.

  “But why my parents?” she asked, almost pleadingly. “Can’t I go on a vacation somewhere? I always wanted to see the Hoover dam.”

  “Aside from the Hoover dam being far too close to some of my Vegas associates, I have other reasons for wanting you to go to your family. As I said, I think it’s time you confronted your past. View your family in the eyes of an adult. The community is also cut off from technologies that might allow you to be tracked, making it the ideal place to keep you hidden,” he picked up her hand, where it lay on her lap and traced his thumb over the tiny crystal skull she’d had reapplied to her pointer fingernail while she had been recovering. “I have another reason, malysh. Your younger sister.”

  “My sister,” she breathed, pain momentarily crumpling her features before she could compose herself. “I barely knew her. She was five when I left. She wouldn’t even recognize me anymore.”

  “Perhaps that is so,” he said gently, “but I have investigated this community and discovered that her Rumspringa approaches. She is to be married, but first she must have her year of freedom before being baptized by the Amish church.”

  Jane’s fingers unconsciously squeezed his. He thought perhaps she might be angry at his investigation and interference, but she was too caught up in thoughts of her sister to be upset with him. She looked faintly confused, “Why is her Rumpringa coming so late? Mine happened when I was fifteen. Most choose to do theirs in their teens. It’s almost unheard of for a girl to leave the community at twenty-one unless she leaves for good. Like I did.”

  “Can you think of no reason why she would choose to stay longer with her family?” he asked, leading her toward the obvious answer.

  “Me,” she supplied.

  He nodded. “It is likely she didn’t want to abandon her parents who had no other children. From all accounts she is much more timid than you were and obedient to the will of her mother. She probably didn’t even dream of experiencing life outside the community. Not like you did. Now she has no choice if she is to be married.”

  “Married,” Jane breathed, her eyes far away.

  “Yes, her husband has been chosen,” he said. “I think you should go see your sister, perhaps give her some of the valuable experience you have indulged in. Help her to see a different life. I think if you choose not to go, you will always wonder about your family… about Lucy.”

  “Lucy,” she repeated, tears springing to her eyes.

  He smiled. “I have heard she looks like you, only taller, with lighter hair.”

  “Alright,” she said looking at him and smiling. “I’ll go. Likely I’ll be tossed out on my ass, but I think you’re right. I need to go see Lucy for myself. And if you’ll be less distracted and safer with me away from the city, I’ll go.”

  He chuckled, his eyes glowing much warmer than usual. “You almost sound as if you care, my love. If you are not more careful I will start to suspect you of coming around to domestic life.”

  “Not likely,” she snorted, and then squealed when he stood abruptly, shoving his chair back. She tried to climb quickly out of her chair and run from him, but he was on top of her before she made it two steps, “Vlad!”

  “Since it appears our food isn’t coming any time soon, I will take you upstairs for another lesson in domestic bliss,” he swung her around in his arms and swept her off her feet.

  She clung to him laughing wildly, “I noticed our food seems to come later and later in the evenings.”

  “I think we’ve upset the staff with our recent dining room shenanigans,” he said, striding rapidly up the wide staircase with her held firmly in his arms.

  “Vlad, no!” she gasped, a delightful shade of pink flushing across her delicate features. “Do you really think they saw us the other day?”

  “I have no doubt,” he said cheerfully, kicking the bedroom door open and tossing her on the bed, enjoying the abandoned sprawl she ended up in. “There is an open archway, in which anyone can wander through and back out discreetly.”

  “Fuck, Vlad!” she gasped, giggling as he pulled off her flat shoes and tossed them over his shoulder. Next, he unzipped her jeans and began tugging them over her legs. “I’ll never be able to look at those people again, let alone discuss meals with them.”

  “Do you wish me to replace the staff?” he asked, yanking her shirt over her head.

  “No!” she said quickly. “Don’t you dare!”

  “It is better than having them killed, do you not think so, love?” he asked seriously, pulling her legs wide and kneeling between her spread thighs.

  “Vlad! That’s horrible, don’t say things like that!”

  He chuckled. “Then I will leave their fate in your hands. Now I have much more pleasurable things in mind than the future of our domestic staff.”

  Vlad proceeded to lick and eat her through several screaming orgasms until she begged him to fuck her. Happy to comply, Vlad quickly divested himself of his own clothes and dragging his wife to the edge of the bed and fed his long, hard cock into her tight, dripping pussy until she was screaming for another release.

  As they were floating down from their mutual orgasmic highs, Vlad’s fingers gently sifted through the soft halo of hair surrounding her head. He said, “I think with your lung power, it doesn’t matter where in the house we make love, any within this structure will know exactly what we’re doing.”

  She rolled against him and pinched his nipple hard until he grabbed her fingers in a crushing grip. Her breath was still coming out in pants when she replied, “Maybe they’ll think the big, bad, merciless Boss is up here beating his woman into submission.”

  “Hmmm, that would be better for my reputation.”

  They both laughed. A few minutes later they agreed they were once more hungry for food and should head back to the dining room where the frightened staff might have left food and run away. As Jane was tugging on her black jeans she asked, “Who are you planning on sending with me?”

  “Boris.” One of the few men he would trust with his precious possession. Boris would lay down his life for Sitnikov and in turn for Sitnokov’s woman.

  “No,” she said, shaking her head.

  His head came up, his eyes darkening. She was pulling her black, lacy bra into place. He halted her, shackling her wrist. “Jane,” he said her name warningly.

  She continued to shake her head, bringing her other hand up to gently trace the scar that ran down his jaw and bisected some of his older tattoos. “No, I’m sorry Vlad. I won’t leave you without Boris. You need him. I can trust him to protect you with his life, he won’t let anything happen to you while I’m gone. You need your right hand by your side. I won’t go if you plan on sending him away when you need him.”

  Her words echoed his thoughts on Boris’ loyalty. Something expanded in his chest, an aching feeling, like his lungs couldn’t draw enough air. Jane was beginning to care for him. He realized, quite suddenly, that he wanted more from her than her body and her obedience. Now that she was giving him a taste of the feelings she was capable of having for him, he wanted more. He wanted everything sh
e had to give.

  But he couldn’t and wouldn’t let her mess with his emotions to the point that he made bad decisions in regards to her care. He captured her other wrist and brought both of her hands up to his chest, forcing her body much closer to his. He could feel the heat of her body, could see the beat of her heart in the pulse point at the base of her throat.

  “Do not try to play me, Jane. You will abide by my decisions. If I say you will go, then you will have no other choice but to go with the person of my choosing.”

  Her eyes grew stormy. “Why do you always have to be so bloody dominating, Vlad. I’m a grown woman, capable of making my own decisions. I’m telling you, I won’t leave the city with Boris. If you want me to leave, then he stays here, with you.”

  Vlad gripped her jaw, tempted to shake her. He had never felt such extreme emotions with anyone in his life. One moment he wanted to fuck her senseless and the next he wanted to beat her. He suspected it would always be this way with her, which worried him. He couldn’t allow such unpredictability in his organization – it would result in more than rumours if he looked weak in his own home. As his wife, Jane would have to settle down or their future would not be one of domestic happiness.

  “Are you trying to piss me off, Jane?” he asked, his voice deadly quiet.

  She sighed. “Not this time, Vlad.”

  “Then you will listen to me and not argue so much.”

  She opened her mouth so he placed a palm over her lips. “Ah, no fighting me Jane.”

  She bit him, chomping down on the edge of his thumb. Not hard enough to break skin but enough that there would be small marks where her teeth had sunk in. “Ouch, you little brat.”

  He moved his hand to inspect the damage, giving her a chance to speak. “Just listen to me, Vlad. I have an idea.”

  “And you think biting me is a good way to get me to listen?”