by Bella Rose
Chapter Thirteen
Anya
Daisy’s breathing was steady and even beside me, but I couldn’t sleep. I kept running through that last conversation with Vasily. I won’t be far. What did he mean by that? It wasn’t the sort of thing a man says to a girlfriend or a wife, was it? It was more as though he considered me his property. As if he would never be far away from me now that he had claimed me as his own.
The thought sent a chill down my spine. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t even continue to lie here when I was so confused about everything that was going on. Maybe if I got up and got a drink of water, I could finally settle.
I sat up and threw my legs over the side of Daisy’s queen-sized bed. She rolled over in her sleep. I held my breath, waiting. I didn’t want to explain to her that I couldn’t sleep. I didn’t want to explain anything else at all. It was all so confusing. Finally I heard her sigh, and I carefully stood up. Fortunately her floors are carpeted so I didn’t make a lot of noise heading down the hall to the kitchen.
I groped in the cabinet for a glass. Standing at the sink, I filled it with cool clear water. The liquid felt amazing on my parched throat. I closed my eyes and carefully set the glass down. If I broke the thing I’d be sure to wake up Daisy.
The kitchen curtains were drawn back, giving a view of the little alley out back and Daisy’s tiny garden. I don’t know how long I was actually staring at him before I truly noticed what it was I was seeing.
Vasily.
Oh my God! He was standing on the other side of the alley in the inky shadows beside someone’s garbage cans. His arms were crossed, and he looked utterly relaxed. What was he doing there? Why would he station himself out there with no invitation or reason to do so? This went beyond stalker, didn’t it?
My brain kept throwing a possibility at me, but I didn’t want to consider it. That was too much. Surely my father would not really send a man to seduce me as an excuse to hang about and protect me from real or imaginary threats. So far the biggest threat in my mind was Vasily!
A wave of self-righteous indignation ripped through me. How dare he just stand around my friend’s house spying? It was so wrong! I’d told him to go, and I had meant it. So maybe he needed a reminder.
I carefully turned the knob on the back door and stepped out onto Daisy’s rear porch. I didn’t have to call out for Vasily to know that I had spotted him. The man had seen me the minute I entered the kitchen. I knew it even though I didn’t know how I knew it. Something in his stance changed. He went from watchdog to something sexually explicit. Then he sauntered toward me as if he had all the time in the world and nothing to do with it.
“What the hell?” I snarled, trying to keep my voice low. “I told you to leave me alone!”
“I can’t do that.” The words were so simple. How could I argue with his response? He hadn’t left me anything to go on.
“What is wrong with you?” I reached out and poked his chest.
He was so close. I could feel the heat coming off him in waves. It occurred to me—belatedly I might add—that I was only wearing the thin shirt that I sleep in. The thing goes all the way to my knees, but it did nothing to hide the fact that my nipples were tightening into hard little points while I stood there talking to him. The air was cold on my bare legs, and my toes were cold. I didn’t care though. I couldn’t even bring myself to pay attention to anything but the delicious warmth I felt coming from him, or the masculine scent of his skin. I could actually smell the spice of him. It was his essence, and it was making me hot and achy between my legs.
I might have started out angry, but right now the only word that came to my mind was horny. I was horny and I needed this man to make that go away right now.
“Why?” I asked hoarsely. “Why can’t you?”
He leaned in very close. I could feel his lips brush my cheek when he spoke. “Because my entire goal is to keep you safe. I cannot do that if I am miles away. So whether you want me here or not, or whether you know I am here or not, I’m going to make sure that you are not in danger even when you try to prevent me from doing so.”
“I’m not in danger,” I said quickly. “It’s all over. Those men haven’t been back.”
“They haven’t been back because I issued them a challenge and they are trying to decide how to respond,” he told me in a low voice filled with venom and promise. “They will be back. And when they are, I will be ready.”
I should not have found that little declaration to be a turn-on, but my hormones seemed to be in the On position and I could not get them to turn off. Then he put his hands on my upper arms. He leaned in close and brushed his lips over mine.
I should have bit him or pulled away or something, but I could not. So the only thing I managed was to kiss him back.
Vasily
Her words had gone from angry to aroused several minutes ago. I could not decide if she realized this, and even worse I could not decide if I cared. I wanted her. Here. Now. Without preamble and without apology.
So I kissed her until she melted against my body. Her thin cotton shirt was no barrier at all. I could feel every curve through the fabric. I put my palms on her sides and spun her around so that her back was pressed against my front. The long ridge of my cock fit perfectly in the crevice of her ass. I groaned at the contact. It felt so damn good. She wiggled a little. I put one hand on her belly to keep her flush against me, and the other hand I wrapped around her throat.
She froze when I gave her neck a light squeeze. I was so careful. Did she realize just how careful I was being? I would never hurt her. Surely she must know that. The urge to dominate her was not about taking away her will. It was about making her stronger.
“I’m going to fuck you,” I whispered in her ear. “You’re going to grab that railing and bend over. Put that pretty ass in the air, and I’m going to slam my cock so hard into your soft pussy that you’re going to want to scream.”
She was breathing hard. Her breasts rose and fell quickly, her nipples diamond hard as they pressed against her shirt. I felt her response bubbling up through her throat, but I tightened my hold and she went silent.
“Good girl,” I murmured.
Then I bent her over hard. I folded her in half and pushed her up against that railing. There were people awake in those other houses. I had seen them in their windows. But I didn’t care what they saw. If they happened to glance our way and saw me marking Anya as my woman, it would excite me. I’d fuck this woman in front of the whole world if I thought it would prove that she was mine.
Her ass was round in my hands. I saw her knuckles whiten as she gripped the railing. The moon was bright and the air was clear, and I was glad for the sight of this woman outlined by moonshine. I spread her feet further, the position making her point her pretty ass just a little higher.
I could hardly get my cock out fast enough. My balls were tight and hot between my legs. I had a feeling I would barely last a second before spilling my seed inside Anya’s welcoming body. With that in mind, I gently inserted two fingers into her wet opening. She moaned a bit, wriggling her butt and squeezing my fingers with her inner muscles. She was so hot. I’d never met a woman who turned me on more than this one.
I fucked her with my hand. The wet sound of my fingers sliding in and out of her channel filled the night. She got tighter and hotter. Her back arched harder, and she began to pant. Then I leaned down and set my teeth to the warm flesh of her right ass cheek. I bit down hard and felt her explode into orgasm.
“That’s right, sweet girl,” I crooned. “Come all over me. Get nice and wet for my cock.”
She was whimpering and saying something incoherent. It didn’t matter. I fit the head of my cock to her pussy and penetrated her in one long thrust. I grabbed those curvy hips and held her still while I rutted like the beast I was. In and out, hard and fast, as deep as I could go until I felt myself get so close to the heavens I thought I might fly.
This was living. This was the purpos
e. I would die for this pussy. I would die for this woman. And as I fucked her until I felt her getting ready to come once again, I knew that I had to make her understand.
“Come again,” I ordered. “Now. Give me what I want.”
The slow melting of her pussy around my cock was the most exquisite sensation I’ve ever experienced. Nothing else would ever compare. I felt every ridge, every striated muscle surface, and the trembling of her body as she did what she was told. It was a powerful orgasm that left her gasping for air.
For me it was like a massage. Each undulating contraction of muscles rippled over the surface of my cock until I felt myself unable to hold back any longer. I convulsed. I grabbed her around the waist, held her frozen in my arms, and poured my seed into her body. I ground myself against her. I spread my scent on her body and filled her with my cum. This was mine and nothing would ever tell me otherwise.
Chapter Fourteen
Anya
There had to be more to Vasily’s presence in my life than mere coincidence. I had to know why he had appeared so suddenly and at the perfect moment. I didn’t believe in coincidence. And I had a bad feeling that only one person could answer the questions I needed answers to. Unfortunately that man was my father. If anyone had a reason and a past history of meddling in my life, it was him.
I parked my tiny car in his expansive driveway, wedging it between two massive black SUVs. The place appeared to be packed. There were Russian scumbags everywhere. I saw my favorite jerk, Antonin, right away. He was lounging on the front steps with two other men. They all had cheroots in their hand and looked like thought they were God’s gift to humanity at large.
Marching right up the front steps, I nudged my way past the first two men and reached for the door.
“Excuse me?” Antonin’s voice was so snotty I wanted to cram my keys up his nose. “You opted out, remember? That doesn’t mean you can just stroll back in here whenever you choose. You’re not family anymore. You need to make an appointment.”
“I’m not family anymore?” I could feel my mouth pop open despite my best intentions to hang on to my composure. “How about you were never family, hmm? So why don’t you move your orphan ass out of my way?”
If my boldness surprised me, it shocked the shit out of Antonin and his cronies. All three men looked at me with more than a little interest. But I was too damn mad to care what they thought. Yes. I used a profanity, and I poked at the fact that my father only imported orphans from Moscow to be his soldiers. A lot of Russian mafiya families did the same thing.
“Meow.” Antonin actually had the brass to make a little claw with his right hand and mock me like a little kid. It’s possible that his emotional maturity level was lower than my students.
“Are you kidding me right now?” I snarled. “Move. Your. Ass. Or I’m going to text my father and tell him what you’re doing out here. Then we’ll see who is family and who is not. Right?”
I’d hit a nerve. That much was obvious right off. The look in Antonin’s eyes could have frozen a river of lava. “Fine. Then go on in and make yourself at home.”
“Oh, I will.” I shoved the front door open and flounced right by the jerk.
How dare he insinuate that I wasn’t family anymore! Yes. I had taken a step back from this life a long time ago. Why wouldn’t I? Any child—especially a girl—would have nothing to gain by hanging around. Wasn’t it natural for a child to make their own life doing their own thing?
The house was just as crowded as the driveway. What was going on? I dodged several little knots of men having discussions in low tones. Their Russian was thick and fast, the accents pronounced. Were these my father’s soldiers? Why would he call together what appeared to be every man in the ranks?
Not that it was any business of mine. I kept telling myself that over and over again as I ducked through the foyer toward the sweeping second-floor staircase. Most of these guys looked pretty young. How many orphans had my father brought over to the US anyway? At some point didn’t they stop issuing visas and allowing them to become citizens? Were the Romanovs trying to start a mail-order husband service or something? Whew!
I trotted up the carpeted steps, remembering so many other times I’d gone up and down this staircase. I’d stomped up here, stomped down, I’d run, I’d crawled, and I’d even ridden the big ornate banister more than once. This was the place I’d grown up. It had been home for a really long time. But now I wanted something else. I wanted a different life. I didn’t want everyone in my life speaking Russian day in and day out. I wanted my job and my tiny house and my quaint neighborhood and my trips to the library.
At the top of the steps I was surprised to see that the place was pretty much empty. Weird. I would have thought that a crowded first floor would mean an equally crowded second floor as people waited to be admitted to my father’s office. But there was nobody there by his door.
I walked closer. There were voices inside. I recognized my father’s deep rasp immediately. He’d been drinking. At least that’s what the cadence of his voice suggested. The other voice though. I tried to place it. The cadence and timbre were familiar, but I didn’t know the speaker. Maybe my father was having a meeting with someone new, a contact or an informant. Or maybe he was hiring an assassin to do some of his dirty work. Sometimes I had a really hard time with my father’s business. It just wasn’t right. Killing people because they pissed you off was wrong in so many ways.
Sucking in a deep breath, I knocked on my father’s door.
“Who is it?” he called out.
I pressed my ear to the wood and tried to hear his companion. “It’s Anya. Can I come in? I have to ask you something.”
“Of course, child.” There was a pause. I kept pressing my ear to the door, but I didn’t hear anything but the sound of someone moving around. Then the footsteps grew closer, and I leaped back just in time. My father threw open the door. “Please come in.”
“Thank you,” I said quickly. Hopefully he wouldn’t realize that I’d just been eavesdropping, not that I could make out any actual words, but still.
Vasily
So it had come to this. I was hiding in a closet in Boris’s office because he insisted that Anya not be told I had been sent to protect her. It was crap. A big heavy load of ridiculous crap! I sighed and tried not to breathe in the scent of moldy old coats. What did Boris keep in here anyway? The place was in dire need of a good cleaning. And why was I even thinking about that anyway? I was supposed to be a feared assassin of the Romanov crime family. I wasn’t supposed to be thinking about this house that I was about to inherit with its too many years of clutter and no proper upkeep.
“Father.” I heard Anya enter the office.
By pushing the door open just a crack, I could also see just a sliver of what was going on. By this I meant her knee and most of Boris’s face became visible.
“Were you in here with somebody?” she asked. I saw her move as though she were casting a good long look around the room. “I thought I heard you talking to someone.”
“Nobody,” Boris said, waving his hand. He was already pouring himself another glass of vodka. “I was talking on the phone. That is all.”
“What’s going on downstairs?” Anya asked next. “It’s like every one of your men is down there whispering behind their hands.”
Anya was no dummy. Didn’t Boris realize that she was going to know that something unusual was going on? Today was the day Boris announced the succession to his men. It promised to be tense as hell. Especially since Antonin still wasn’t on board with the idea of me leading the Romanov family.
“I have a big announcement to make to the men, that is all.” Boris threw back the drink. I wondered suddenly when he had started drinking so much. Had he always? I remembered that he had always seemed to have a bottle of vodka at his side, but I had never thought anything of it before.
“Father, did you send a man to look out for me? Did you send a bodyguard?”
Anya
’s question was abrupt, and it had the desired effect. Boris coughed on his drink and had to take another big sip just to get the first one down the pipes. I wondered if he had expected this, and why he wouldn’t have. Anya had grown up in this family. Whether she had chosen the life or not, she had to have absorbed some of the habits. And one of those should have been suspicion—of damn near everything and everybody.
“Why would you say that, child?” Boris slammed back another drink. “I would never lie to you.”
“You always lie to me!” Anya retorted.
The note of exasperation in her voice made me smile. Then a dust mote tickled my nose, and all of a sudden I was trying like hell not to sneeze. That would have made things a thousand times worse.
“So you didn’t send Vasily?”
“You met a man named Vasily?” Boris sounded politely interested. “Is he a nice man?”
That noise she made was so damned adorable, and yet I could hear the complete disbelief in her voice. “Papa, please don’t bullshit me. If I find out that you’re lying to me, and Vasily is your man, I will cut off his balls.”
“Harsh,” Boris commented. “But not my problem since it is not my balls you are threatening.”
The man had a point, although I didn’t appreciate being thrown under the bus like this.
“Fine.” She stood up. “Then I’m going home, and I better not see Vasily again.”
“What Vasily are you talking about?” Boris slurred. God the man was drunk! “I have three Vasilys I think. No. Four. That name is like Dimitri in Russia. They are all called Dimitri or Vasily or Sasha.”
“Bye, Papa.” I heard the door click, and she was gone.
I shoved my way out of the closet and stood before Boris’s desk, glowering down at him. Not that it did me a bit of good to be angry or indignant. The man was piss drunk. He only laughed at me, pointing and managing to bob and weave in his chair as though he were about to pass out.