Where the Sun Hides (Seasons of Betrayal #1)

by Bethany-Kris

  He could see it in her face just then, her fear as different ideas went through her head as to what might have happened to him as punishment, but as he remembered, he wasn’t the one to suffer for it.

  “Vasily made sure that the right people were arrested, but that dealer wasn’t appeased. He wanted someone’s fucking blood for what happened. He may be a bastard, but my father was never going to turn me over, even to teach me a lesson. To him, they weren’t important enough to seek favor with, but because he owed a boon to their supplier, he compromised. Instead of me, he gave them my friend—even forced me to stick around and watch as they took him away.”

  He met Violet’s gaze, letting her see the guilt in his own. “Because of me, two people lost their lives—one of which I care for like a brother. So these friends of yours, the ones that want to blame you for their own shit, cut them off while you can. Sometimes the consequences are much worse.”

  “Kaz …”

  His name, soft on her lips, was almost enough to make him smile. “You don’t deserve bad friends, Violet. You deserve better than that.”

  The silence stretched between them, a heartbeat, even longer. Kaz was almost afraid that she wasn’t going to reply, and was probably thinking exactly what he’d thought of himself since that day.

  But instead, she moved toward him, her hands sliding around the front of his shirt and gripping the material. “Even with what you said, it’s still not your fault. Now, I have a question for you.”

  “Ask.”

  “Is story time over?”

  Violet let her hands travel a little lower on Kaz’s body until she could feel the jump of his abdominal muscles against her touch. “Well, is it over?”

  Kaz offered her one of his grins, sexy and sly. “It can be if you want it to be.”

  “For now.”

  “Oh?”

  “I reserve the right to revisit this at a later time,” Violet explained, tipping her chin up and teasing him with a smile.

  Her words came out light, but she was serious, too. She wanted to know more about him—his past, why he chose the road he did, and how he got where he was now. All of those things fascinated her because they made up Kazimir Markovic.

  He was far more than what everyone around her always said.

  Russian. Savage. Scum.

  There was a great deal more to the man behind the last name and the heritage he came from.

  Just like her.

  “Another time,” Kaz finally agreed.

  Violet reached up and stroked Kaz’s jaw with two fingers, feeling the light stubble scratch along her fingertips. The motion made his grin melt into a softer smile, and the sadness lingering in his gaze began to depart. When he spoke about his friend, and his own mistakes, he was so sad. She didn’t even think he realized how guilty he looked, like the weight of that one day wasn’t ever going to leave.

  She didn’t want him to be sad.

  Not when he was with her, anyway.

  “Come here,” Kaz demanded low.

  Violet felt his fingers hook into the neckline of her dress and he pulled. She leaned forward until his lips were brushing against hers softly. Once, twice, and the third time, his teeth dragged across her bottom lip.

  “There’s a saying,” Kaz began, letting his thumb sweep across her lax mouth.

  “Hmm?”

  “Once is a hookup, but twice makes a lover.”

  Violet’s gaze snapped to his. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”

  “You probably should, if we’re going to keep this up, no?”

  He had a point, but maybe Violet just wasn’t ready to quite go that way yet.

  “I didn’t actually come see you to fuck,” she admitted.

  Kaz laughed. “I’m not going to turn it down, Violet.”

  Yeah, she wouldn’t either.

  “Not my point,” she told him.

  His fingers glided over her lips again, a little firmer the second time. At the middle of her mouth, he pressed down, like he was asking her to open up. She did, parting her lips just enough for him to slide two fingers in. His teeth bit down on his lip as she sucked on his digits, letting her tongue roll around and flick at his fingertips.

  “Shit,” he muttered.

  Violet let him pull his fingers free from her mouth, but not without dragging her teeth along his skin as he did. “My point, Kaz, was that it really wasn’t my intention, but it’s not like I mind.”

  “Clearly.” He grabbed onto her waist tightly, making her sit a little more firmly on his groin. She could feel the length of his erection growing under her weight, and the sensation was enough to make her blood hot. “But you deflected what I said, and I’m not so much of an easily distracted man that I didn’t notice.”

  Violet was pretty sure she could distract him from it if she wanted. Shifting her hips and widening her legs a little more, the skirt of her dress drove up her thighs. Kaz helped that along by pushing the fabric up further until he was staring at white lace.

  “Still the same kind of delicate shit, I see,” he muttered.

  “I like this pair, too.”

  “I’m going to start ignoring that statement if you just like them all.”

  Fuck.

  Kaz lifted a finger and circled it at her chest.

  “What?” she asked.

  “Take it off. I want to see if the top matches the bottom.”

  “It does.”

  “Still want to see,” he said, entirely unfazed.

  Violet laughed when he nodded at her again, as if he were telling her to hurry the fuck up. She tugged the dress up after he had pulled down the zipper at the back, discarding the clothing to the floor in a heap.

  “Why do I have to be the one who’s always underdressed?” she asked.

  Kaz’s mouth lifted at the corner. “Because the longer I stay clothed, the better it’ll be for you, krasivaya.”

  She wisely chose not to push him on that, then.

  His fingertips traced a circle around her navel, leaving behind a slight sheen of wetness from her saliva on his fingers. Up his exploration went between the valley of her breasts, over the hollow of her throat, and then against her collarbones.

  The longer he touched her like that, soft, slow, and sweet, the harder it was to breathe.

  How did he manage that without barely doing anything at all?

  “It does match,” he mused, his caress falling back to the top of her breasts. He skimmed his digits under the lacy cups of the bra, lingering on her nipples until they were tight and hard under his fingers, and her breaths came out sharper with every swipe and pinch. “Do they always match?”

  “Yes, and I’m not a liar, Kaz.”

  He didn’t act like she’d said a thing.

  “Lift up,” he said, taking his hand away.

  Violet wanted it back. “What?”

  “Up, I said.”

  She lifted up from his waist, and sighed the very second his hands traveled from her sides around to her backside. His fingers slid under the lace boy-shorts, his fingernails dragging across her skin as he pulled her closer.

  Violet blinked, surprised when he fell down lower, moving his body beneath hers. His hands pushed against her ass again, making her hips tilt forward until she could feel every pulse of his warm breath hitting against the lace of her underwear.

  “There we are,” he murmured.

  Violet’s teeth cut into her lip as she hummed. “Better the longer your clothes stay on, huh?”

  Kaz flashed his teeth in a wicked smile. “So much better.”

  He lifted his head slightly, tipping his chin up, and instantly, Violet felt like she had to find purchase on something. He hadn’t even touched her, she was still covered by lace, but she just knew.

  And then when his mouth was on her, covering her pussy over the lace, she was glad she had grabbed the back of the couch, and let her other hand thread into his hair. His tongue lapped at the material of her panties, and his teeth scraped over
the same spot.

  Testing.

  Measured.

  Slow.

  A whine clawed its way out of her throat when she felt one of his hands move between her thighs. It wasn’t a heartbeat later before he’d swept the digit under her boy-shorts, his tongue lapped at her clit overtop the lace again, and bliss raced down her spine.

  “God,” she breathed, tilting her hips into his mouth with another lick. “What are you waiting for?”

  Kaz hummed a throaty sound against her body, his lips brushing against lace as he spoke. “Ask me.”

  “For what?”

  “You know what.”

  Violet wet her lips, and let her eyes flutter closed. “You want to play the tease, then?”

  “Not at all. I just want you to ask me for it, Violet. Ask for my mouth, my tongue, and my fingers. And I promise that you’ll get it all, and you’ll scream louder than you’ve ever done before.”

  Jesus.

  “Why do you make that sound so good?” she asked.

  Because it was fucking filthy.

  “Ask,” he repeated.

  She let out a hard breath when his finger slipped between her folds, smearing her arousal over her sex. Instantly, her eyes were back on him. He dragged that finger out from beneath the lace and up to his mouth. Hot all over, and burning up with every passing second, she watched his tongue strike out to taste her wetness.

  The throaty sound of approval that he let loose was sinful.

  “Please,” she whispered.

  “Not what I wanted.”

  Violet’s fingers tightened in his hair, but Kaz didn’t even react if it hurt him at all. “I want your mouth, and your fingers, and your tongue. I want you to eat me. I want to come.”

  Kaz’s lips split wide, his gray eyes dropping hers and going right back to her panties. “Now … that’s what I wanted.”

  Yeah, her too.

  Violet didn’t get the chance to prepare for what he did next, because she was far too focused on watching his mouth when it came dangerously close to her body again. His left hand slipped down between her thighs with his other one. She felt cool air kiss her folds as he yanked the lace to the side, and then hot breath washed over her center.

  The first flick of his tongue along the seam of her sex had her back straightening. The second made her shout. When his tongue stroked against her clit, and two fingers buried knuckle-deep into her pussy without warning, she was lost.

  Feeling. That’s all there was.

  Sensation.

  The roughness of his stubble against her sensitive skin. His tongue driving into her throbbing clit. Fingers curling on the thrust and widening on the withdrawl.

  Every time she sucked in a breath, his name followed it.

  Each nip of his teeth to her folds made her shake.

  “There,” she managed to say.

  Kaz’s head lifted, just enough for his gaze to find hers. His fingers worked faster, his tongue flicked harder.

  The coil twisted in her stomach, a pressure building at the base of her spine. She knew it was coming because the buildup left her weak and breathless long before the orgasm even crashed down.

  But when it did …

  When it did, she did exactly what he said she would.

  Screamed.

  So fucking loud.

  The darkness of the bedroom stared back at Violet as she blinked awake. For a second, it was unfamiliar, but the feeling didn’t last for long when a strong arm tightened around her waist, and pulled her into a warm, hard chest.

  “Doing it again,” she heard Kaz rumble behind her.

  “Doing what?”

  “Moving. You mumble, too, when you sleep.”

  Violet tilted her head when she felt his mouth skim the back of her neck, his fingers threading into her hair to keep it out of his way as he kissed her there, soft and insistent.

  “I don’t share a bed very often,” she admitted.

  Kaz chuckled. “Me, either.”

  That wasn’t why she woke up, however.

  The dreams—nightmares, more like it—were persistent little bastards that wouldn’t let up.

  His lips stopped moving against her neck.

  “Stop,” he whispered.

  Violet stilled. “Pardon?”

  “Tensing like that. Was it me?”

  “No,” she said quickly.

  “What, then?”

  “I’ve just … had a lot on my mind. I have dreams, and it’s stu—”

  “Not stupid,” he interjected before she could finish. “That might explain part of the mumbling.”

  Violet swallowed the lump growing in her throat, willing Kaz to drop whatever he was thinking about saying before he went any farther.

  He didn’t.

  “Carmine is your brother, yes?”

  Violet squeezed her eyes shut. “Yeah.”

  “And … Olly?”

  God.

  “His dog,” she confessed.

  Kaz cleared his throat, his hand skimming over her naked hip and down to her thigh. Grabbing there, he pulled her closer into him again until their bodies were molded together and her legs were tangled with his.

  “I wouldn’t usually let a woman stay in my bed after she’s mumbled another man’s name,” Kaz said.

  “My brother’s, you mean?”

  “No, I knew that’s who he was.”

  Violet pressed the heel of her palms to her eyes. She knew what he was getting around to saying. “Can you just … not do this right now?”

  “If that’s what you want, sweetheart.”

  The endearment rolled off his tongue far too easily for it to be meant simply to placate her. It held too much affection, and strangely, it hurt a little.

  Before Violet could stop herself, she asked, “What else did I say?”

  Kaz sucked air in through his teeth. “Things.”

  “Well, thank you. That explains everything.”

  “I think you know exactly what you were mumbling on about in your sleep, so I don’t see why you need me to repeat it back to you, Violet.”

  She wiped at her eyes again with her palms, keeping the wetness at bay. It wasn’t the time and she didn’t want to cry, anyway.

  “I fucked up,” she said. “Went beyond where I was supposed to.”

  She could feel Kaz’s frown press to the back of her neck. “And you’re dreaming of it.”

  It wasn’t even a question.

  “A couple times.”

  Kaz sighed. “I’m sorry.”

  That was not what she expected him to say, but she shouldn’t be too shocked. The man continued to surprise her.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Violet said. “It’ll stop eventually.”

  “It will,” he agreed.

  She could hear the “but” he left unsaid.

  “What, Kaz?”

  “But it bothers me to feel you twisting and turning, and going on like you were. Especially right now.”

  “It always seems to be there when I sleep,” she said. “And I just want to … sleep. Not dream. Sleep.”

  Suddenly, Violet found herself spun around in the bed, facing Kaz. He grabbed hold of her wrists, tugging her up onto him wordlessly. Her thighs opened around his waist as her hands rested to his pecs.

  “Sleep,” he repeated.

  In the dark, she could only make out the outline of his toned form and just a hint of his profile. Hair that she’d been pulling on earlier in the night was smoothed slightly, like he’d run his fingers back through it.

  “I’d like to,” she said.

  “Maybe your brain just isn’t tired enough to shut off completely,” Kaz suggested.

  He could feel the tremor rush through her at his words, her hips shifting just enough to remind him he had her exactly where he wanted her. Kaz could tell from the restlessness that had suddenly taken her over that she knew what he was implying, but in case she didn’t …

  “Sometimes it just takes a certain amount of exhaus
tion a person needs to pass out,” Kaz commented, sweeping his hand up her stomach to palm her breast. A thrill shot through him at the way her back arched and he could almost see her lips part in the dull light of the moon. “Is that what you need, Violet?”

  Wrapping his hand in her hair, he tugged on the strands as he sat up, keeping her steady.

  He forced her gaze on him, could see the naked hunger he felt reflected back in her eyes. “Do you want me to exhaust you?”

  She let out a soft moan, but didn’t actually answer his question, merely nodded as though that would be enough for him. No, he wanted to hear it vocalized. He needed to hear her. He fucking thrived in the noises he forced out of her.

  “No, you know what I want to hear. Don’t make me ask again,” he said, punctuating his words with a slap on her ass. Not hard enough to hurt, he’d never hurt her that way, but enough to make her nails dig into the skin of his chest. “You have about a second before I make the decision for you, Violet.”

  She tried to hide it from him, turning her face away, but Kaz caught it before she did. He saw just the tiniest hint of a defiant smile, and that was all he needed.

  Fine, if that’s how she wanted it.

  He shifted their positions, flipping her onto her stomach, then bringing her up to her knees. A flush swept its way down her body before his hand followed the same descent. She might not have said the words, but her body did—the way she arched into his touch, the way her fingers clutched at his sheets, and how even as her face was pressed against the pillows, he could still hear the anticipation in each breath she took.

  “You know,” he said conversationally, “we’re going to have to work on this. When I ask something, I want an answer. Simple. But if you want, I can teach you. Right here, right now.”

  Maybe she was still playing at defiance.

  Maybe she was overwhelmed by it all.

  But either way, the game was starting.

  He traced his fingers up her spine, feeling each groove before he reached the nape of her neck and her hair there. Wrapping the strands around his fist, he pulled, turning her face so that she was facing the windows, but he had a clear view of her face.

  “What was my question, Violet?” he asked, letting his other hand rest on the curve of her backside. “And to give you a bit of incentive …” He lifted and brought his hand down fast, and hard, eliciting a cry from her that made his blood run hot. “Now answer me—me fucking you depends on it.”