Her sex rubbed against the denim, making her fully alert and aroused. Her nipples rubbed against her shirt pressed to his chest.
“Mmm hmm. Remember that part about me being a Dom?”
“Yeah.” Her voice was breathy.
“Well, I exercise that position fully. You want my cock? You’ll have it on my terms. Not yours. You try to manipulate me in any way, you’ll find yourself waiting longer.”
She gulped past the knot in her throat.
He meant what he said. And damn if it wasn’t hot.
“You want coffee?” he asked, still holding her against him, his fingers now stroking the sensitive skin so close to her sex. He knew exactly what he was doing.
“Yeah.”
He slowly eased her away, his fingers releasing her butt cheek and untangling from her thick hair. When he spun around to fill her a mug, she stared at his ass. His fucking hot, fine ass.
The coffee he handed her was perfect. Just how she liked it, cream and sugar. The first sip made her moan.
“Woman, get your ass in the shower. Do not stand in the kitchen wearing nearly nothing moaning over coffee.” He pointed at the hallway.
“Mmm. What will you do about it?”
“Oh, you’re gonna add sass now too?”
“Maybe…” If it seemed beneficial to her cause.
“You want to have sex in this decade?” He lifted a brow.
She spun around and left the room.
Dammit.
∙•∙
Ivan watched her behind as it disappeared, his cock pleading with him to speed things up a bit. Her soft white cheeks peeking out from her panties made him harder than a rock. But he let her go. And he would do so for days. She thought he was going to fuck her and get it over with? He chuckled.
Hell no.
He could tell by her attitude she didn’t expect to enjoy it, either.
And his cock wasn’t going anywhere near her pussy until he was certain she would not only enjoy it but lose her mind with the earth moving beneath her.
When he claimed her, he didn’t want there to be any doubt she was fully his in every sense of the word. Forever. Alena wasn’t a temporary fix to a localized itch. She was his forever. And she needed to know that before he slid inside her.
He had a lot to do today. In the two months he’d been in Chicago, he hadn’t worked a single day. Granted, he’d arrived just as the shit hit the fan. So he’d had his hands full working out and fighting. He was also in a slump, having lost last Friday, which did nothing to pay the rent.
He had some savings squirrelled away that he used for expenses, but it wouldn’t last forever. And he gave every extra cent he had to Abram to chip away at the money they owed him for Alena’s passage to the US.
He still hadn’t asked what the total was. And he was afraid to, but he’d known from the moment his boots moved from Vegas to Chicago that Alena was as much his responsibility as Mikhail’s. Perhaps more.
He couldn’t explain it, but in his heart, she had been his from the day he arrived. Maybe he hadn’t admitted it to himself. But there was no fighting it now.
Today he was starting a job, however. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. Abram needed him to teach some new guys at the gym. Young guys. Some of them barely adults.
There were few rules in the underground circuit, but all the players had to be eighteen.
Ivan was certainly qualified. He’d been successfully fighting for almost twelve years. As soon as Yenin brought him and the other guys over from Russia, he trained them to do two things—fight and work construction.
Ivan was good at both. Better than.
But with things as fucked up as they’d gotten with Yenin, and Ivan and the rest of the guys knowing what they now knew, he realized part of his ability wasn’t earned.
He’d been injected with some sort of experimental drugs as a young child living in an orphanage in Russia. He hated to think about it most days, but the reality was he was fitter, stronger, and less prone to illness. And he healed faster than regular people.
It unnerved him. It unnerved all of them. Including Haley, who had been snatched off the streets and injected with the same thing. And Katie, who spent her free time trying to figure out what they were all given. And Belinda, who insisted on digging deeper into the story for Chicago Multimedia. She was a journalist first. They all hoped it didn’t get her killed.
But what got under Ivan’s skin more than anything was what happened to Alena. Mikhail hid her as a small child, so she didn’t receive the injections. Why then was she kidnapped a year and a half ago and held in a remote facility in Siberia? Was it related to the current problem?
She didn’t receive any experimental drugs there. At least none that Katie or the FBI could detect in her blood. So why had they held her?
And were they looking for her?
Alena spent the first six months in Chicago essentially in complete lockdown, sharing an apartment with her brother, Dmitry, and Dmitry’s girlfriend, Lauren. Lauren had been a godsend, teaching Alena perfect English, which kept both of them sane.
Yenin salivated for Lauren. He’d dated her, but when she left his abusive ass, he didn’t take no for an answer. Even while he was in the slammer for six months, he had guys following her, hunting her down. But Dmitry was sharper. He rescued her, let Yenin’s people believe she was dead. And hid her.
Alena’s arrival in the US made them all nervous, fearing Yenin might seek retribution and set his sights on Mikhail’s sister.
But Alena was restless. She had been for months. Ivan couldn’t blame her. Not a bit. But he also wanted her alive.
After much discussion, most of it heated, all of it without her knowledge, he and Mikhail and the other guys had agreed it would be safe enough for her to work for Katie at the clinic. She was no secret to Yenin. And the FBI was on every one of their tails.
Today was no different from any other day. Alena would go to the clinic. Ivan would go to the gym. He would add training younger guys to his list of things to do, but that was about it.
Why did he have a sense of foreboding, then?
He rubbed the back of his neck and glanced around the room before shoving off the counter and heading to get his own shower. As he stepped into the hall bath, he listened to the water running in Alena’s bathroom, its wall backing up to his, the plumbing running between them.
He prayed he was making the right decision in not taking her virginity yet. It was a calculated decision on his part to ensure she was both fully ready and positive it was what she wanted. He also wanted to change her way of thinking with regard to having sex with him. He didn’t take it lightly, and it was never going to be routine, as she seemed to think.
If his woman ever thought of sex as a chore that needed to be accomplished by the end of the day, he would know he’d failed completely.
He flipped on the shower to let it heat up, wondering what she was doing in there. If she was crying like he’d heard her do yesterday, it would break him in half. If she was masturbating… God he would love to see that. And he intended to.
Some guys did not let their women touch themselves without permission. They liked the control. They preferred to watch. And they probably believed if a woman had an orgasm while they weren’t present, she somehow used up a finite quota of them.
Ivan didn’t see it that way. In his experience, if a woman got off while he wasn’t with her, it made her that much hornier when he got his hands on her later. There was no rule that said a woman could only come once a day or even a few times. Orgasms weren’t finite. And he prided himself on ensuring his women knew it.
Alena would be no different. If she wanted to finger herself in the shower to avoid detection under the running water, it simply made his cock harder visualizing it.
He cringed when she mentioned not having a vibrator, however. That was cruel, and he should have thought of it sooner. Just because she was a virgin didn’t mean she didn’t find o
ther ways to get off. She wasn’t a child.
On the flip side, there wouldn’t have been a way to broach the subject and get her one before today without completely embarrassing her, so maybe he was beating himself up for no reason. By the end of the day, that woman would have several to choose from. He would make that happen somehow between training and his own workout.
As he stepped under the spray of water, he closed his eyes. He was tense. Something was still crawling up his spine. He tried to shrug it off. It probably had to do with his new relationship with Alena. Since he’d let her know how he felt, his chest squeezed tighter. He cared more. The further he fell in with her, the worse it would be if anything happened to her.
Was that it? Maybe, but he wouldn’t have taken any assault on Alena lying down before or after yesterday’s change in relationship status.
He ignored the nagging pulse of his dick while he showered. He’d gotten off last night after tucking his woman into bed. He could and would deny the small head this morning. Unlike women, his orgasms were finite. He had more stamina than most men perhaps, but he still couldn’t perform back to back to back like a woman.
Like Alena would.
He was looking forward to demonstrating that fact and proving it to her.
Every day.
But not today. Not yet.
He stepped from the shower, toweled off, and slid into clean jeans and a T-shirt. When he exited the bathroom, he found Alena bent over a bowl of cereal at the table.
Her blonde hair hung in long, damp ringlets down her back. Her makeup was subtle but perfect. He always knew when she wore it because her eyelashes and eyebrows were so pale they didn’t exist until she colored them.
She had on scrubs, her new daily outfit since she’d started volunteering for Katie. He secretly hated them. They made him cringe. They were loose and ill-fitting and did nothing for him. On the other hand, they also did nothing for anyone else who saw her, so perhaps they were a fantastic idea. They might keep men from ogling her all day at the clinic.
Long shot, given she was drop-dead gorgeous wearing the drab clothes, but he could pretend.
She glanced up at him, wiping her mouth on a napkin. “Can you drop me off a little early? I have a lot of filing to do today, and I promised Katie it would get done.”
He smirked as he passed her. The woman didn’t have too much filing. She had a bad case of nervous tension.
He couldn’t blame her. After all, he was the cause, but he didn’t like her feeling uneasy around him, either.
After refilling his coffee cup, he turned to find her loading her dishes in the dishwasher. She didn’t meet his gaze. When she turned around as if to flee the kitchen, he set his mug down and snaked out an arm to haul her back against his front.
She was stiff. He intended to fix that.
He tucked her head against his shoulder and leaned down to whisper in her ear, one hand holding her beneath her breasts, the other flat on her neck. “You pissed at me?” He knew she wasn’t.
“No.” She flinched.
“Then why won’t you meet my gaze?”
She shrugged.
“Embarrassed?”
“More like humiliated.” It seemed like she spat those words out without thinking because she immediately sucked in a sharp breath and held it.
“Babe…” He moaned. “I don’t want you uncomfortable around me.” It was going to take some time to break through her shy nature and show her she didn’t need to be self-conscious around him. She’d put herself way out on a limb to drop her towel yesterday. Way. Out. There.
“It’s awkward, Ivan. I’ve placed all my cards on the table. Played every hand I have. And you’ve all but turned me down. I get it. If you’re having second thoughts, I totally understand. But what you have to understand is it’s going to take me some time to meet your gaze without feeling a little weird.”
“Where did you get the idea I was turning you down?”
“Come on, Ivan,” she groaned. “You think I’m buying this nonsense about you wanting to wait to have sex until I’m ready? ’Cause I’m not. I get it if you’re not into me. But be man enough to admit it. Why drag this out for days just because you don’t want to hurt my feelings?”
He chuckled, unable to stop himself, his body vibrating against her back until she stiffened in his arms.
She shoved at him to get away. “You think I’m funny now too?”
Oh, Lord, she was feisty. He would never know what he was going to get with her from one minute to the next. His life was bound to be full of surprises. Sassy. Antagonistic. And now disbelieving.
“Alena, I’m not laughing at you. I’m laughing with you,” he told her, not for the first time.
“I believe you’ve already used that line, and I’m not buying it today, either.” She shoved on his arm, trying to free herself from the grip he had under her breasts. “Let me go, Ivan. You’ve humiliated me enough for today. I’d like to get to the clinic.”
“No, babe. Not yet.”
“So, what? Now I’m your prisoner? That won’t get a rise out of me, Ivan. I’m a pro at prison sentences.”
Ivan flinched at that comment. And then he released her, but only to spin them both around and then turn her so her ass was against the cabinets. He set his hands on the edge of the counter, pinning her. “Look at me.”
She stared at his chest instead.
“Alena, look at me.”
She sighed. “I’d rather not.”
“I see that, but unless you want to stand here all day and miss work, you’ll look at me. We aren’t leaving this apartment until I set you straight on a few things.”
She lifted her gaze, jerking it up, her eyes blazing with fury. “I’m super straight, Ivan. Extra super straight. You’ve done nothing but set me straight for twenty-four hours. Thanks for the orgasm last night. It was amazing. But you don’t have to pretend you’re into me to spare my feelings. I’m a big girl. I’ll get over you.”
“Who’s pretending?”
“You are.” She dropped her gaze toward the floor between them again.
He sighed, wishing for a moment she wasn’t so insecure, but also knowing she wouldn’t be his Alena if she was confident and knew everything there was to know about herself. Her innocence was half the reason he found her so attractive. He hoped she always maintained a certain level of that innocence.
“Listen to me. I know you’re embarrassed. I understand. But don’t be. And I don’t mind telling you every single day—six times, if necessary—how fucking sexy you are and how much I’m into you. Still not going to take you to bed flippantly just to fulfill an itch, though.
“Let me slow this train down. We have our entire lives. Just because I haven’t made love to you doesn’t mean I don’t want to. I do.” He pressed his erection into her belly.
She gasped.
“Yeah. That’s how I am all the time I’m around you, and usually when I’m not. How many erect cocks have you seen in your life?”
She didn’t respond.
“Yeah. I’m gonna go with none. So, please oblige me when I say I don’t want to whip it out and ram you into tomorrow without some thought and a little foreplay.”
She stiffened further in his grasp.
He reached up to lift her chin so he could meet her gaze again. “You mean more to me than a quick fuck, Alena. Way more. Trust me. Please.”
She searched his eyes, probably wondering how serious he was.
“Or continue to test me.” He shrugged. “Makes no difference. If you’re testing me to see if I’ll grow weary of the game and stop playing, you’ll find out you’re wrong. I’ll still be here. Every. Single. Day.”
A tear formed in the corner of her eye. And it wasn’t the first one she’d shed in the last day. “The waiting makes me nervous.”
He pulled her against his chest and hugged her tight, setting his chin on the top of her head. “I know, hon. I know. But you have it all confused in your head. And I
don’t like it messed up like that. I want you to see it my way.”
“What way, Ivan? It’s just sex. People do it for more ridiculous reasons every day of the week. Why do we have to be different? I want to know what it feels like. I’m asking you to be the one to do it. I want to get it over with. It’s consuming me with anticipation. I’m not asking you to marry me or make some sort of declaration of undying love. I’m asking you to put an end to the torment. If you don’t want to do it, just say so. I’m sure I can find someone else.” She leaned back and shrugged, meeting his gaze, her chin on his chest. “It’s just sex,” she repeated.
He stared at her, his world halting for a moment while the Earth stopped spinning. His lungs ached. His chest got tight.
He shook his head, dragging in a breath. “No. Alena, no. It’s not just sex. Sure, maybe for some people in some situations. But not you. Not for me. Not for me with you.
“This is way more than just sex. I know it in my soul. That’s why I’m not willing to rush forward and mess it up. You mean more to me than any woman I’ve ever met. And I never ever want to have you look back on anything between us with regret.
“I want it to be perfect. And it will be. I’m not even going to address the concept of you finding someone else. It’s absurd. And I know you don’t mean it. You’re hurt and embarrassed, but it’s unfounded.”
A tear fell down her face. She swallowed. And then she nodded. “Okay, Ivan. I believe you.” Her shoulders sagged, and then she curled her body into his, setting her cheek on his chest. “Okay,” she repeated, whispering against his pecs.
The tightness in his chest released, and he hugged her fiercely. “That’s my girl. Patience. Trust me.”
“Okay,” she muttered a third time.
They stayed like that several minutes, him holding her tight, her holding him tighter. He gave her that. He would give her anything. Everything. The world. He just wanted her to feel safe, loved. Worshipped. Adored. And he would give her all of that. One day. Soon.
Chapter Nine
Thrust Page 8