by Crimson Syn
She looked up at me and tenderly cupped my cheek. “What are you thinking about?”
“You,” I stated simply.
She smiled. “You’re wonderful, you know that?”
I smirked and turned my cheek into the warmth of her palm, kissing it softly. “I doubt that very much, but I’ll take your word for it.”
"You are. I've never met a man quite like you, Maxwell Cunningham. No one has ever cared enough to protect me. Usually, men use me for their own gain or want me for sex which never turns out well for them. But no one has ever cared. Not like you."
“Well then, Victoria Petrov, you don’t know me very well at all.”
“Oh?” Her eyes widened, and I chuckled.
“See, because, I also want to gain something from you.”
Her eyes glimmered with uncertainty as she bit her lip. “Is that so,” she whispered.
I nodded and leaned in on her. “Your heart,” I whispered, and she gave me the brightest of smiles, one that finally reached her eyes. I gave her a lopsided grin, “And sex. Lots and lots of sex.”
She threw her head back and laughed heartily as I lifted her off the stool and walked us toward the upstairs bedroom.
“What about the food you promised me?”
“I’ll feed you in just a bit, Sweetheart. But first I need to have my treat.”
She giggled as she rolled her eyes. “You and your treats.”
I plopped her down onto the soft bed and followed her down, nuzzling her neck. “They’re the best kind of treats.”
“But I’m starving,” she gave out a tiny squeal as I nipped at her shoulder.
“Mmhmm, so am I,” I growled nipping at her earlobe and gaining a sweet moan from her.
“I suppose I can wait a bit,” she breathed, tilting her head and giving me full access to the slope of her neck as I layered kiss upon kiss along her soft skin. My hand swept down, lingering along the seam of her leggings.
“Max,” she breathed as her hips elevated, her body begging for my touch.
“Tell me what you want, Beautiful. I want to hear it coming from these pretty lips. My lips,” I bit down on one of that swollen bottom lip and she groaned needily.
“I want your hands on me,” she sighed as she dragged my hand along the soft flesh of her tummy.
I growled into her mouth as I settled myself between her legs. She squirmed beneath me as I pressed my hard length along her soaked center. She mewled and writhed against me, her breathy sighs driving me to new heights. I wanted to rip the thin material off her and take her raw, forgetting everything. But at the same time, this urge to show every inch of her body how much I loved her overtook me, and I took my time kissing and caressing her. Sliding my hands up under her shirt and finding her nipples, flicking at them and pinching them softly until they were hard little peaks I could fondle.
“Max, please,” she urged me as her hips met my thrusts, dry humping her through the inconveniently annoying material of our clothes.
“I need you, Max,” she sobbed, and tears suddenly ran down her cheeks.
I looked down at her and her eyes met mine, a look of need outlining her features. I growled and swept the elastic material of her pants up until they hooked onto her ankles, holding her legs captive for me. She struggled, but I simply pushed her thighs back and exposing her soaking wet slit. I hummed hungrily and dipped my head down, slowly dragging my tongue up her center.
She whimpered and moaned, trying to spread her thighs for me but her pants restricted her movements. I chuckled and wriggled my tongue along her hot crevice, her sweet honey coating my tongue.
“Max!” She cried out my name as my tongue curled around her tiny hardened flesh. “Oh my God,” her arms floundered around her until she finally gripped onto a pillow. My head was trapped between her thighs as she tried as best she could to hump up at me.
“Mmmm, such a needy little girl, “I slapped at her cunt before closing my lips around her clit and sucking her in. Her scream of pleasure was laced in a deep moan that made my cock throb for her.
“Fuck me, Maxwell. God, please fuck me.”
Her needy whines made me give up my control. Shoving my jeans down, my cock leaped out, hard and sticky with my cum. A milky drop spilled out onto her pretty pussy lips and I groaned as I dragged it along her slick slit.
“My, God! Yes!” She cried out as I tapped at her mound, teasing her.
I grabbed at her ankle and yanked both shoe and pant leg off opening her wide for me. I positioned myself at her entrance and we both moaned deeply as I entered her. Her fists turned white as she held on tightly to the pillow while my hard length found it’s home, sheathed in her wet core.
"Yes, Max. Just like that. God, you feel so good. You feel so good, baby."
I leaned over her, my muscles flexing as I started to slowly drag my cock in and out of her. Every time I slammed back in she cried out for me, her nails running across my shoulders as those pretty tits bounced beneath me.
“Fuck, baby. Fuck!” I growled as sweat covered my brow. My body fully lighting up as her pussy contracted around me. God, if this was what heaven felt like then I was definitely willing to die for this woman.
I felt her run her hands up my neck and she forced me to look at her. My hips slammed into her in rough sweeps that shook her completely. She shut her eyes and bowed back as my cock drove into her. After a few minutes, her eyes met mine and she whispered softly, a phrase that made me slow down.
“Say it again?” I demanded.
“I love you,” she moaned as my cock slid into her.
“Again,” I demanded.
“I love you!” She shouted as she came all over me. Her lips parted, that deep flush running down to the tips of her pretty nipples. Her body shuddered in ecstasy and all I could do was watch her come undone, moaning my name as the orgasm shattered her.
I wanted for this feeling to go one forever and I held back as I prolonged the pleasure for her. My heart seemed to beat erratically as I continued to make love to her. She wrapped herself around me and I lifted her into my arms, setting her on my knees as I fucked up at her. My hands engulfed her ass as she fucked me, dropping down onto my member hotly, kissing me everywhere as she forced my cum to shoot out of my cock and deep inside of her.
I slammed her back down onto the mattress fucking into her as my cock pumped her full. A greedy groan escaped my lips as the orgasm tore through me. I slumped down over her, careful not to suffocate her. She slowly stroked my back, murmuring loving words into my ear and nipping at my shoulder.
“I love you,” I blurted out.
She giggled. “Okay.”
“I do. I am fucking in love with you, Beautiful. I love you so fucking hard it hurts and I’m sorry. I’m so bloody sorry. I should have never doubted you. But I’m here, love. I’m here for you. I’ll never leave you.”
She hooked her leg along my hip and flipped us over so that I was lying on my back. Her hair flowed around us as she kissed me. Her soft lips caressing my cheeks and lips and all I could do was lie there and receive her love. It was one of the happiest moments of my dull, lonely life.
14
VICTORIA
M y eyes shot open as the noise unsettled my nerves. I looked over at Maxwell who was also sitting up in bed, his eyes wide, his body tense and on full alert. The noise had unsettled us both and I hated that it had interrupted his peaceful rest. I placed my hand over his and when he looked over at me his eyes were filled with concern.
“Stay here,” he whispered as he slowly got up. He threw on his jeans and a t-shirt and grabbing his gun and shoes he made his way to the door.
I quickly slid out of bed and threw on the leggings I’d bought and his t-shirt, tying it in the back since it fell to mid-thigh. I finished putting on my sneakers when I turned to him and noticed him scowling at me.
“I told you to stay here,” he whispered.
“There’s no way I’m leaving you,” I replied. I was being full
on defiant but there was no way I was leaving him alone.
He closed his eyes and looked down at his feet. "Why are you so goddamn stubborn. I'm just going to make my rounds around the house. Stay here, it's safe up here. If anything happens you go out that door, he pointed at the balcony door, it leads out to the woods."
I reached out and grabbed his hand, my eyes pleading with him. A sense of panic running through me. “Max,” I squeezed his hand and he leaned down and kissed my forehead.
“Everything will be alright, Beautiful.”
I watched as he disappeared down the hallway and I closed the door behind him, pacing the bedroom. I kept wringing my hands nervously. After a few minutes another noise caught my attention, and as I looked up a shadowed form was entering through that damned balcony door.
I screamed in fear as I saw the gun in his hand. My instincts made me turn and yanking the door open, I ran. A hand grabbed at the knot on the back of my shirt and I tumbled down the stairs, the intruder hot on my tracks. I screamed again as I flung anything I could in his path. He was a big man, wide shoulders, at least six-foot-five. He could easily overpower me even with my training. I was small and agile though, and I used that to my advantage.
I ran at him, twirling my legs around him and landing on his back, clawing at him any way I could. He grunted and swung me around, he stumbled back and I slammed against the wall smashing me up against it, my breath whooshing out of me. I cried out as he swung around and grabbed me, holding my arms back. I fought him, kicking at him, biting him but it was no use. He was overpowering.
“Stay still!” He yelled out, a thick Russian accent emanating through the black mask.
I bit down on his bicep and he yelled out. “Bitch!”
I struggled against him, but he turned me around, holding my arms down as he squeezed me back into his chest. My self-defense training kicked in and I kicked up, trying to break his hold. He swung us around and since I couldn’t get out of it I did the next best thing. I stomped hard on his foot taking him off guard and then I kicked up hard, meeting with his balls.
He cried out, loosening his grip on me and giving me a chance to react. I lifted my arms and broke free. Stumbling forward he cursed in Russian as he nearly fell to his knees. But he was fast and he wasn’t going to let me go. I ran towards the kitchen, swinging a kitchen stool at him. The motherfucker dodged it and came after me, fury set in his gaze.
As I went to reach for a kitchen knife he grabbed at my wrist whirling me around. I screamed again hoping Max would hear me and come running, but as I scrambled across the counter fighting this massive giant, he dragged me back and wrestled me to the ground. I kicked, I scratched, I screamed until finally he reached back and punched me. He punched me so hard I went numb, an overwhelming darkness nearly overtaking me.
I looked up at him and in my stupor, I managed to still try and struggle away, but it was no use. He reached back and punched me again and this time I lost it. My eyes fluttered closed and that darkness engulfed me. The last thought on my mind was of Max.
M y eyes fluttered open, my lids heavy, my face and lip pounding.
“She’s waking up, boss.”
I felt someone roughly tap at my cheeks and I shook my head away. My eyes flew open and I was staring at a man with a very familiar set of dark eyes. Startled I pressed back into the chair I was currently seated in.
“Hello, moya lyubimaya doch’.” My lovely daughter. “I’ve waited so long to finally meet you.”
I saw the resemblance almost instantly. This was Anatoli Petrov. “Father?” I croaked, tears getting logged in my throat.
“You are just as lovely as your mother, milaya devushka.”
I suddenly wanted to hurt him, to slap him, but when I went to move I realized I had been tied down into the chair. Both my wrists and my ankles were secured against the wooden legs and armrests with a thick rope that bit into my skin every time I moved.
“No, no. Don’t move my dear. Everything will be alright if you just sit still.”
He shifted to the left and I noticed there was a man seated before me, a black bag over his head. “Wh-what? Who is that?”
I looked from the man to Anatoli, fear running through me. “Who is that!” I cried out, thinking only the worst.
“Did you honestly think that I would take a beating only to convince you, devushka,” he whispered in my ear as he moved around me towards the back of my chair.
Tears ran down my cheeks and I held back an angry sob.
“Oh, how sweet! You hear that boys, my milaya doch’ was concerned about me.”
He chuckled cynically and the sound grated on my nerves. How could I have ever trusted a man like him, a man who abandoned me so young? A man who was barely aware of my existence. And if it wasn't him, then who was behind that mask.
“You want to know who it is, don’t you,” he sneered in my ear.
I was afraid to breathe a word as the fear coiled inside of me.
He walked toward the chair and he rounded it as his dark eyes bore into me. "Why don't you say hello to our malyshka, Nick?”
“Nick!” I cried out as his face appeared, a bloodied mess, his eyes swollen shut, his lip busted. He looked like he’d been tortured for days.
"Since your heart is so sensitive and you just don't listen, Victoria, this was the only way."
“Nick!” I cried out as Anatoli stood before him and took a swing at him. His grunt echoed in the vast emptiness and he hunched over, spitting out blood.”
"Don't listen to him, my sweet girl. Don't give him anything."
Anatoli hit him again and his head lolled back at a weird angle.
“You’re a piece of shit!” I cried out struggling against the restraints that bit into my flesh. He turned to me and the vicious way he regarded me had me shaking. He backhanded me, busting my lip open, but the taste of copper only foiled my anger and I spit blood at him. He grabbed me by the hair and forced me to look into his eyes.
“You look just like your mother. Just as defiant. I can see her fire in your eyes.”
“You’re going to die,” I sneered at him.
“Kill him.” He commanded, and I screamed out.
“No! No, please. I’ll give you what you want just don’t hurt him.”
The old man was on his last thread, he wouldn’t last long. I loved Nick, he was the only Father I knew, and I couldn’t let them hurt him. It had been him from the very beginning. I thought he had just forgotten about me. The beaten man in the chair had been Nick all along, and he’d been placed there by my Father.
“Where are the blueprints?”
"I looked up at my so-called father with disdain. "You're an evil man," I sneered.
He nodded. "I've been called worst things by my enemies. Now, where are the fucking blueprints?" He roared making me flinch.
“I don’t have them here with me!” I yelled back.
He gripped my throat and tightened his fingers around me. “Don’t play with me, Victoria. I will kill you.”
“If you kill him, I’ll never tell you.”
“Blyad’!” He cursed and backhanded me again. I didn’t mind it, the sting made me feel alive, it gave me courage. His frustration gave me satisfaction.
“I don’t have time for fucking games. When I return, you will tell me what I want to know or he dies.”
He shouted out orders to his men in Russian. I heard a heavy metal door slam and suddenly I was left alone with a wounded Nick. I would never have thought that such a tough, strong man could be brought down to his knees like this.
“Nick,” I whispered.
“Sweet girl. Why did you do it?”
“They lied to me. He lied to me. They told me it was my father. I never imagined it would be you in his place. I’m sorry, Nick. I’m so sorry.”
“No, my sweet girl. You know I would do anything for you. Don’t be sorry. This was bound to happen sooner than later. I spent years teaching you how to fend for yourself, how to surviv
e. I want you to survive now, Victoria. I want you to fight. Fight for whom you love, fight for yourself. Forget about me. I’m an old man who has lived to see many things and has fought his own demons. This is my last one, bird. This is it for me. Your father warned me that if I ever lost track of you he’d kill me. I let you fly my bird. This is on me.”
“Uncle Nick,” I sobbed feeling helpless and afraid. “I’ll get us out of this.”
“I have no out, Victoria. I’ve accepted my fate. It’s alright, there’s nothing either of us can do. I came here to die.”
“It doesn’t have to be this way!” I cried out, my voice echoing in the dead space.
“I ask one thing of you, bird.”
I shook my head. “No.”
“You won’t appease an old man?”
I sobbed my tears falling onto my lap. "I'll do anything for you, Uncle Nick. You don't have to ask."
He nodded. “Good,” he muttered. “Because what I want is for you never to give them what they want.”
“But they’ll kill you!”
“Who the fuck cares about a worthless piece of shit like me? I’m a gambler, a thief, a fucking bastard who sealed my fate when I went against your father’s wishes.”
“Please, Nick,” I begged him, but it was no use. He was determined to die to protect this information and all I could do was listen to his dying wish.
“If you give them what they want they’ll destroy what you love most, they’ll use you until your light dies, my bird. Such a bright light that you have. So, don’t give in. Fight, my girl. Fight how I taught you to fight. Fight for your life.”
I sat there in silence as I let Nick speak about his past, about my father’s dealings, and about me. My body was worn out and his voice quickly lulled me into a deep sleep like it did when I was a child. Max’s bright blue eyes flashed through my mind and somehow the reminder of him gave me courage.
15
MAXWELL
I ran towards the cabin as her scream rattled every nerve in my body, shock and worry triggering my adrenaline. I slammed through the door and signs of a struggle swept throughout the space. The furniture was in complete disarray, a chair was flipped to the side, one of the stools was thrown and now lay on its side in the middle of the living room. I stared down at it and I could feel the emptiness encompassing the room.