by Rose, Bella
“Cosmos!”
Veronika jumped at the sound of Charley’s voice and whirled around. Charley gave her a puzzled look. “What? Russians love vodka. Right?”
“The cosmos are wonderful. You just scared me, that’s all.”
“Scared?” Charley put the drinks down on the table and bit her lip. “Veronika, I don’t really know what’s going on with your life. If you think this is a bad idea, we can go back. I don’t want to put your life in danger because I wanted you to have some fun.”
“It’s fine,” Veronika said with a smile as she downed her drink. “I’m fine. Kaz would tell me if he really thought I was in danger. So cheer up. We’re here. And we are going to dance and have some fun.” She scanned the crowd until she found what she was looking for. Tall. Dark. Sculpted. Piercing blue eyes.
Not Kaz, but close enough to fulfill a fantasy or two. “And I’m dancing with him.” She downed the rest of her drink, straightened her shoulders, and moved determinedly across the dance floor. Her target locked eyes with her and smiled like a predator as she neared. But he wasn’t the predator.
She was.
“You look like just my type,” she murmured as she got near him.
“And what’s your type?” he asked with a smile.
“Sexy. And unavailable.” She ran her hands up his arm and smiled at him. “Care to dance?”
“Who says I’m unavailable?” he asked as he let her tug him across the dance floor.
It didn’t matter. He was unavailable to her. He wasn’t Kaz. “All I need is tonight.” She turned to face away from him, and he put his arms around her. As they circled her, she let the music move through her. He pressed up against her and nuzzled her ear.
As their bodies moved against each other, she leaned back and felt the warmth of him. And for a moment, she let her imagination run wild. For a moment, she was dancing with Kaz.
“What’s your name, beauty?” he whispered in her ear.
She closed her eyes and turned to put her arms around him. “Just dance with me,” she replied. The music went on, and her fantasies ran more and more wild. Kaz would bend her down, press his lips to hers. He’d take her some place private, and he’d press his hands to her. Slide them down to the hem of her skirt. Under. Up. Until he was making her melt.
“Having fun?”
Her fantasy was getting good. Her dance partner almost sounded like him. Almost too much like him.
“Kaz!” Her eyes flew open, and she whirled around. He stood in the middle of the floor, glaring at her dance partner.
“Mine,” he growled. His eyes were nothing but violence and fury, and Veronika put herself between the two men.
“Kaz, stop. It’s just a dance. It’s not an assassination attempt. Back off.” She turned to look at the stranger, but he had his hands up and was already backing off. “Great. Look at that. You scared off my date.”
“You had a date?” Kaz asked as he crossed his arms. “What’s his name?”
“Okay, it’s not much of a date. But he was my dance partner. And I was having fun.” She rolled her eyes. “Look, I know you’re pissed. But you would have never let me go out and have fun.”
He reached out and grabbed her and pulled her closer. Before she could even take a breath, she was in his arms. “If you wanted to come out and dance, all you had to do was ask.” And just like that, they were swaying back and forth.
They were barely touching, but they were still dancing. Dancing. “You would have let me come out here if I had asked?”
“Absolutely not,” he said mildly. “Why did you choose him?”
Confused, she shook her head. “You wouldn’t have let me come but I could have asked? That makes no sense.”
He pulled her closer and pressed her to him. It took everything within her not to gasp. “Why did you choose him?” he asked softly in her ear.
Swallowing hard, she put her arms around him. If he could play games, so could she. “Why wouldn’t I choose him? He’s sexy as hell. And he wanted me.”
The muscles in his neck tensed, and she felt a thrill. She was getting to him. “So you’re looking for someone to want you?” he muttered. “You would risk your life for someone to worship you?”
“Worship me?” she chuckled and raised her chin to face him. “I want someone to touch me, Kaz. I am human. And I have needs.”
“So you’re risking your life for a quick fuck. Do you realize how hard that makes my job?” His hands inched down her back, and she shivered.
“Does it make anything else hard?” she whispered.
His eyes darkened. “Last year alone there were two attempts on your life. That’s just one year. You were lucky. Your detail may have been terrible at hiding, but they were very good at killing. But you don’t care about that. You’d rather know if you affect me.”
Two attempts on her life? She wanted to pull away, but that was the reaction that he wanted. He might have even been lying. Just to shock her. But she was better than that. She would be better than that. “Only two? I guess I need to work a little harder at being noticed.”
He laughed hoarsely. “Do you have any idea how absolutely furious I am with you right now?”
“There is nothing you can do. We’re in public in the middle of a crowded dance floor. It’s certainly not the time for you to yell at me.”
“But there are other ways to punish you,” he said darkly. And just like that, his hands were at the hem of her tank top. They inched under her shirt and were slowly creeping up.
His touch on her naked skin made her moan. The electric thrill raced through her, and she pressed herself against him. Against his body.
Against his erection.
He hissed, and she knew that she had him. Even if they never touched again, here, on this dance floor, he was hers. “What’s wrong, Kaz?” she moaned. “You seem uncomfortable.”
He grabbed her hand and pulled her off the dance floor. At the nearest cleared spot, he pressed her against the wall. Shielding her from anyone else who might be watching, he reached under her shirt again and caressed her skin. “You’re playing a dangerous game,” he muttered.
Veronika smiled and reached under his shirt. There was nothing but rippling muscles and warm skin underneath. He shivered under her touch and stepped closer. Without another word, he reached down and captured her lips.
A kiss. A second kiss. And this time, she was prepared. She wasn’t an inexperienced teenager. She was a woman who knew what she wanted. And God, she wanted Kazimir. Opening for him, she wrapped her hands around his head. Her fingers tangled in his hair and pulled him closer. Hot. Urgent. Desperate. She needed him like she’d needed no other.
Cupping his hands under her bottom, he lifted her, and she wrapped her legs around him. As her skirt rode up her thighs, there was nothing but a thin strip of lace between the ache between her legs and his jeans. She tried to get as close to him as possible. Closer. “More,” she whimpered. “Kaz.”
He paused and stared at her.
“Take me home, Kaz. Take me home.”
He stepped away, and if he hadn’t had his hands around her waist, she would have fallen. As it was, she managed to land on both feet, but her knees were weak, and she shook. “Kaz?” she whispered as she looked up.
His eyes were a fury of mixed emotions. Lust. Anger. Confusion. He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the crowd. Veronika stumbled against the other dancers as she tried to keep up, but she barely noticed. Her heart was racing.
When he flung open the doors, the cold air blasted against her, and she gasped. He didn’t slow. They moved across the parking lot until he flung open the door of his car and motioned for her to get in. Veronika couldn’t even begin to understand what was going on in his head as she slipped into the car. The spell had obviously been broken. Would he try again behind the privacy of closed doors?
“Talk to me,” she said softly.
“Shut up,” he muttered as he started the car. She watched him
nervously as he drove, but his eyes never left the road. What was going on in that head of his?
“I’m not a child, Kaz. You can’t just give me the cold shoulder. What happened back there…” Her voice trailed off, and he finally glanced at her.
“What happened back there was what? A spoiled little girl trying to get out of trouble? A desperate cry for attention? A woman who knows how to use her sexuality as a weapon?” he asked bitterly.
“Is that what you think of me?” she snapped. “I didn’t ask for you to be here.”
“Good. Because I don’t want to be here.”
Veronika continued on as though she didn’t hear him. “And you being here really puts a damper on things. How can I be my own woman when I’m constantly watched? How can I break free from my father’s hold when he has someone reporting to him? How can I move on from you while you are sleeping on my couch?”
The last bit sort of tumbled out in anger, but once it was out there, she couldn’t take it back. The tension in the car thickened, and she saw no way out except to plow forward. “I chose him because he reminded me of you,” she said finally. “And for a moment, I could dance with you and not have to worry about what you were thinking.”
“Veronika,” he said softly as he cleared his throat.
“Don’t.” She turned her head as tears burned her eyes. “Just don’t say anything. Please.”
He quieted, and she stared out the window as the lights on the buildings blurred past. After all this time, she’d finally told him the truth about how she felt, and she knew he didn’t feel the same. She could see it in the way his whole body tensed. It would have been second nature to him to shatter her heart right then and there, but upsetting the boss’s daughter would be bad for business.
Her phone vibrated, and she looked down. Charley had seen her leave with Kaz and wanted to make sure she was okay.
Veronika sent her a text back to tell her to enjoy her night and not to worry. She had everything under control. It was far from the truth, but it would be too humiliating to tell the real story. She glanced up as they pulled up to the house. Before he could utter a word, she was opening the door and vaulting out. She wanted to be as far away from Kazimir as possible.
But he was faster than her. Before she even made it to the door, he grabbed her, spun her around, and pressed her up against the door. “I try to stay away for your own protection,” he hissed as his gaze fell to her mouth. “But you keep putting yourself out there, and it makes it that much harder to protect you.”
“You’re talented, Kaz. I’m sure you can protect me and satisfy me,” she said as she jutted her chin out.
He closed his eyes and rested his forehead on hers. As she splayed her fingers across his chest, she could feel his erratic heartbeat. In the cold air, she should have been shivering, but he was enough to warm her.
“If we do this, we don’t go back,” he said heatedly as he opened his eyes. “You have to be sure.”
Sure of what? She knew that she wanted him. She’d always wanted him. But he seemed to be asking something else from her. Surely he didn’t want anything more than tonight. She’d give him forever, but this was Kaz. Kaz didn’t do long-term relationships.
Still, she rose up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips to his. That was all she needed to do to break his resolve. With his lips locked to hers, he shoved the key in the door and opened it. She stumbled back, but he was already circling her waist with his arms, their hold on each other never broken.
There was no hesitation in his touch, and there was only eagerness in hers. As her heart hammered against her chest, she fought with his clothes so she could feel his skin beneath her hands. Before they’d been so close. She’d touched him, and she knew he had wanted her, but he didn’t give in. Things were different now. As he pressed her up against the back of the door and pulled her thighs up around his waist, she knew that he wouldn’t back down now. They’d come too far. If she went any longer without him, she’d go insane.
His hands moved under her shirt, and she shivered with delight. Up he went until he could rub the pads of his thumbs over the thin lace of her bra. Her nipples immediately hardened, and a gasp escaped her. Everywhere he touched sent electric pulses through her body. She was already wet and aching with need.
“Bedroom,” she managed to pant when his mouth finally left hers.
He wordlessly pushed them from the wall and hooked his arms around her as he started up the stairs. She shifted on his body, and suddenly, she had better access to him. Unable to stop, she rubbed herself helplessly up and down his hardness.
He drew in a ragged breath and stumbled. “You’re going to have to stop that, or I’m going to take you right here,” he muttered as he reached one hand out to the railing to steady himself.
“I can live with that,” she said as she jerked her pelvis again over him. He hissed and lowered her to the top of the stairs.
“You asked for it,” he muttered as he shoved her skirt up. Veronika heard the sound of his belt unbuckling in the darkness, and her toes curled in anticipation. There was no need for more foreplay. She’d never been hotter or more ready for anyone in her life.
He didn’t even both to take her panties off. Instead, he simply shoved the fabric aside and drove one finger inside her. As his thumb brushed up against her hardened clit, she stiffened her back and cried out hoarsely. “Kaz!”
“Just needed to make sure you were ready, baby,” he whispered in her ear before he removed his hand. Before she could even say anything, he buried his entire length inside her with one thrust. The pleasure was so intense that she dug her nails into his back and shouted his name as she fell apart around him.
Kaz stilled his body and waited for her to come down from her orgasm. When she finally opened her eyes, he was staring at her with the most intense look. “More,” she said softly, and just like that, he began to move.
Over and over again, he thrust his whole length inside her, bottoming out at her cervix. She could only moan and pant as he dragged his hardness over the sweet spot deep inside her. His eyes had darkened until they were almost pools of black, and he never broke eye contact with her. She knew he was watching her face to see what she liked and what turned her on.
And she liked it all.
A crease on his forehead appeared, and he began to moan with her. As she wrapped her legs around him and urged him on faster, she closed her eyes and lost herself in him. Her muscles clenched as the tension rose to an insurmountable height, and she knew that she would fall once again. As she opened her mouth and screamed his name, he swallowed her cries of ecstasy with a kiss and moaned as he trembled and jerked within her.
Finally, after a few moments, he pulled out of her. She rolled her head to the side and watched, afraid that he would just leave her here, but he gathered her up in his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
“Will you stay with me?” she whispered.
“I’m not done with you tonight,” he said as he gently laid her on the mattress. “That only scratched the surface of what I want to do with you.”
He gently slid her skirt and panties down her body, and when she lifted her head, she saw him settling between her legs. And then his lips were gently on her, and all reason escaped her. She was still raw from the two orgasms before, and he gave her time to recover as he lapped up their juices. Soft cries escaped her as his tongue skirted just around her clit. Slowly, he slid one finger inside her and then another.
“Kaz,” she moaned softly as she buried her hands in his hair. “Kazimir, please.”
“Please what, Princess? Tell me what you want,” he said as he lifted his head. God, could she still ask for more? After the two amazing orgasms that he’d just given her, could she even survive another?
His fingers opened her and teased her. Her toes curled as the tension began to build inside of her. Veronika squirmed under his touch and panted. “Don’t tease me.”
“That’s telling me what you don’t w
ant. Tell me what you do want. Tell me how to make you moan,” he demanded harshly.
“Lick me,” she cried. “Please, Kaz.”
With a low chuckle, he hooked her legs around his shoulder and placed a soft kiss on her sensitive skin. When he returned his attention between her legs, he was no longer playing around. He scraped at her clit with his teeth, and she nearly jumped out of her skin. Bordering pleasure and pain, the sensations that ricocheted through her were unlike anything she had ever felt before. Higher and higher she climbed as her cries of pleasure mingled with her cries of pain and shock. Kaz changed between lightly teasing her to sinking his teeth in her, between fondling her and roughly pounding his fingers in her. When she finally thought she would break, he moved from her legs and slid up her body.
To her surprise, his erection was heavy between her legs. “Again?” she asked as she stared at him.
“I can’t seem to get enough of you, Princess,” he said thickly. “Do you know how many times I’ve fantasized about you? When I hear you in the shower, it takes every ounce of control not to slip in behind you and finally slide my tongue over your nipples. When I see you sleeping, I just want to slide my fingers inside of you and try to make you come without waking you up. When you’re at the library, I have to stop myself from crawling under the desk and tasting you. I’ve fucked you every way imaginable in my head, and now that I have you, I just can’t stop.”
She arched as he pinched and pulled at her nipples. The smell of sex and sweat lingered in the air, and she had a feeling they were nowhere near finished. “But if you’re tired and want to stop, or if you’re sore, we can,” he said gently as he nibbled on her bottom lip.
Hooking one leg around him, she turned on her side so she could rub herself on him. “Fuck me, Kaz. Fuck me like every dream you’ve ever had. Because believe me, I’ve envisioned them all.”
With a low growl, he slid inside her and cupped her ass as he pulled her body close around him. Together, they undulated in a rhythm that left her breathless. In and out. In and out. Not even caring if Charley was home, her moans grew louder and louder.