“Wow,” she said. “It’s like a castle in the sky.”
He looked at her silhouette in the window as she looked at the estate below her. The setting sun was an indigo-to-pink wash all around her.
She turned to him, and the low lights from the room illuminated her face, her expression awed.
“This view helps put a beautiful ending on an awful night,” she admitted, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.
He wanted to freeze this moment in his mind. He didn’t know if they’d be together like this again.
“I’m glad you like it. The sunrises are pretty spectacular too.”
He moved to the kitchenette against the wall and filled the kettle.
“I’m going to make you some tea. Do you like chamomile?”
“Yes,” she replied and walked over to sit on the couch. “Do you have a blanket? Your modern couch is cold.”
“The last cushion by you lifts up. There’s a throw in there.”
She lifted the cushion and pulled out a gray blanket, wrapping it around herself. She curled up, facing the window to continue to watch the sunset.
The kettle whistled and he poured the water over the two tea bags in their mugs.
“When will you leave?” she asked, accepting her mug when he handed it to her. “To work on your gym?”
“In a couple months.”
He sat beside her, and she turned to face him, inching closer until her knee touched his where he’d lifted it onto the couch. His arm stretched out behind her, and she plucked at the fabric of his shirt while she sipped her tea.
“I should have told you everything today, not that it would have changed what happened tonight.”
“About what Yuki’s grooming me for?”
“Yuki wants to ruin her father. He hurt her and her mother years ago, and she’s determined to take from him the one thing that he loves. His company.”
“And how do I figure into that?”
“He buys women who are rare. Yuki’s mother was a distant relative of the Native American Indian, Cochise. You’re one of the last in the line of Kereks, an ancient people of Siberia.”
“And he’ll pay a lot to have sex with me,” she mused. “Is it so much it bankrupts his company?”
“No. Yuki arranges for photos and videos of your engagement and leaks them to the board of his company, getting them to fire him.”
Her fist clenched on his sleeve and her mouth dropped open.
“Seriously?”
“Seriously. And it would probably happen at our Chiang Mai estate, which she wants to move you to, probably sooner than later.”
“Was she going to tell me this on Sunday?” she asked, almost to herself.
“I’m not really sure how much of the plan she was going to tell you. But she needed to convince you to go to Thailand of your own free will. And probably would have pressured you to put off your first year of school.”
He watched the information sink in as she sipped her tea.
“What will happen with this whole Grisham thing?”
“He’ll be kicked out of Cavendish,” he said, checking his watch. “I should probably check in with the executive on that. How are you feeling?” he asked and rubbed her shoulder.
“I’m okay.”
“What do you want to do?”
“What do you mean?”
“You can stay here or I can take you to the medical center. Or back to your unit at the compound,” he said. It dawned on him that wherever she wanted to go tonight, he was going with her.
“Can I stay here? With you?” she asked, looking into her mug as she sipped her tea. She was taking an unusually long drink.
“Anya,” he said, drawing her eyes to him. She lowered her mug. “I’m never leaving you if I can help it.”
* * *
Dimi checked in with Cormier about Grisham who seemed to have a mild concussion. Then he updated Lorna, who activated the protocols to kick Grisham out of Cavendish.
Anya was in the bathroom while he made his calls. He’d already talked to Jones, and they’d followed protocol for this kind of occurrence, escorting the man off the property and nullifying all his credentials.
Then he’d texted Yuki, who’d taken it in stride.
Lorna mentioned one of our clients was a borderline sociopath. I forgot to follow up on that, she texted. As long as Saigo is okay. She is, isn’t she?
She’s shaken. She’s going to cancel her engagements for the weekend.
Yuki had been pissed about that too but accepted that Saigo needed time.
After all, he texted, she’s the jewel of your plan, right?
Yes, Yuki answered.
That pissed him off and reinforced that he’d been right to tell Anya what he knew. Shortly after her text, Anya walked out of the bedroom holding her phone.
“Yuki just asked if I could make our Sunday meeting,” she said, holding out her phone to show him. “Should I? Everything seemed so clear before, but now I don’t know.”
“Tell her you’ll be there.”
She typed the message into her phone and looked up at him.
“I’m nervous,” she admitted.
“That makes sense,” he replied and tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s also why I’m coming with you.”
She nodded, and her eyes glistened. She blinked rapidly and then turned away, her body tiny in his baggy clothes.
He put his hands on her shoulders, trying to absorb the vibration of her trembling through his fingers.
“I would tell you it’s okay to cry, but we’re Ukrainian,” he said. “We don’t cry and we rarely smile.”
She covered his hand with her own and then turned. She’d wiped away any lingering tears, but there was something else in her eyes.
She slid her hands up his chest to his neck and pulled his mouth down to hers.
25
Anya knew one thing—that she wanted to lose herself in Dimi tonight. Needed to lose herself in him. She was relieved when he didn’t resist her kiss but kissed her back. She lifted his hands to her waist and stretched her arms around his shoulders. He stood stiffly in front of her.
“Dimi,” she murmured against his mouth. “This isn’t going to work.”
“I know. I should leave you alone tonight. I can sleep on the couch.”
“No. I mean, this carefulness isn’t going to work.” He frowned, and she looped her hands behind his neck and jumped up to wrap her legs around his slim waist.
She pressed against him and put her lips against his ear.
“I need you to fuck me so good tonight that the letter G is erased from my brain, let alone the name Grisham.”
His response was perfect. He groaned and buried his hands in her hair to wrench it back and drive his tongue into her mouth.
Their tongues curled back and forth with each other, and she struggled to pull up his shirt, pulling hers up as well so she could be skin against skin.
Suddenly, she was falling through space, and she landed on the puffy comforter on his bed. In a flash, he was naked and lying beside her, pulling at her clothes until she was bare.
His hands ranged through her hair to her neck, down her back to her legs and up again, as if he was verifying every inch of her body. Replacing any memory of Grisham’s touch with his own.
Then he sat up on spread knees, his cock throbbing, as he pulled her to straddle him. He held her hips still, the head of him teasing her wet opening, making her whimper.
Their eyes locked, and the words were bubbling up from her chest to her throat. She had to swallow them down before they burst out and ruined everything.
Dimi didn’t believe in love. She didn’t either. Did she?
I love you. The emotion spilled out of her pores; she only had control over her vocal cords.
His eyes were fire, and he lowered her onto his shaft millimeter by millimeter, stretching her to her limit. She arched her back and leaned into him, moving her hips in tight circles so she coul
d experience every inch of him.
He fastened his mouth on her breast, sucking hard and then flicking his tongue over her nipple. When it hardened, he tweaked it with his lips and she moaned, long and low.
He moved her hips faster, driving into her. Then he leaned forward, and she fell on her back. He lifted her legs to his shoulders, fucking her hard. His hand slid to her back and his thumb found her clit, rubbing fast. He slowed his pace until she could catch up. It didn’t take long.
“I’m there, I’m there, oh,” she gasped, waves of her orgasm pouring over her. He pumped into her hard and fast, and the waves burst into color, her cry melting into his.
He lifted her up against him and then fell on his back, taking her with him. He reached for the edge of the comforter and pulled it over them.
* * *
Anya woke up to a hard, tattooed chest under her cheek. And a pool of drool under her mouth.
“Oh sorry,” she apologized, trying to wipe it away with her hand.
He was sitting upright against his pillows, looking straight ahead.
“Don’t worry about that,” he said. “We have bigger problems.”
A chill ran down her spine. Now what? She rolled over, thinking to look at her phone to check the time, but his arm stopped her.
“No,” he said. “What do you need?”
“To find out what time it is.”
“It’s two o’clock. Are you hungry?”
“No, I’m worried.”
That got him to look at her.
“Why?”
“Because you said we had bigger problems.”
“We do.” He went back to looking straight ahead, his brow furrowing.
“Is it about Yuki?” she asked, settling her head against his chest again. His abs distracted her. She put her hand on them and traced their lines.
“No.”
“Is it about Cavendish?”
“No,” he said and caught her hand.
“Is it about these amazing abs of yours? Because I’m running out of ideas about what it could be,” she asked, and since she couldn’t touch them anymore, she starting kissing and licking her way down them.
“Anya, please,” he hissed and grasped her by the shoulders to haul her on top of him. “This is serious.”
He looked pained… and scared.
“Dimi, what is it?” she murmured, putting a hand against his cheek. She’d bet he’d never been afraid of anything in his life, but he looked it now.
“Ya tebe lyubluy, Anya,” he replied, the words rumbling out of his gut and his face folding in on itself as if he was hurting. “I love you. And… nothing means anything if I don’t have you in my life.”
“Dimi, Dimi,” she whispered, both hands on his cheeks now, kissing him all over. “I was so scared earlier that I’d say the same words to you. I’ve never loved anyone in my life, and I never wanted to. Love makes people weak and stupid. And here I am, weak and stupid,” she finished on a laugh that became a sob.
He pulled her so tight against him she couldn’t breathe. He pressed his face into her neck and hair and breathed deeply. He slid down the pillows, his big body trembling under her.
“I love you, Dimi. Ya tebe lyubluy,” she whispered.
He rolled them to their sides, and he touched her face in wonder, his eyes moving over it as if to memorize every pore. He touched his thumbs to her cheeks to wipe her tears and gave her a small smile.
“You’re so weak you’re crying,” he murmured, and the smile flitted away as he raised her leg to wrap around his hip.
He pulled her close and eased himself into her, making her gasp.
“I love you,” he said, “and I will do whatever it takes to make your dream come true.”
She pulled him closer against her with her foot, watching his lips part and eyes darken.
“I feel the same, and I will do everything I can to make your dream come true.”
“I can open a gym here in Seattle.”
“And I can go to school in New York.”
His lips quirked, and he pulled himself all the way out until just the tip of his cock teased her then plunged back in deeply, strongly. She groaned in response.
“But you’ve already paid for school in Seattle,” he finished, the words smug.
She leveraged herself, pushing back on top of him. She threaded her fingers through his and held his hands against his pillow, raising herself and taking control of their lovemaking.
She rocked herself back and forth faster and faster, grinding her clit against him until they both came together, their shouts filling the bedroom.
She collapsed beside him, still holding one hand and playing with his fingers. He raised her hand and kissed every finger.
“My z vamy,” he said, “komanda.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “We’re a team.”
26
Dimi stood beside Anya near the far window of the manor office.
“Are you nervous?” he asked her, kissing her fingers and then laying her hands on his chest. He wondered if she could feel the joy that echoed with every heartbeat.
“A little, I guess. She’s powerful enough to make our lives hell.”
“Leave that part to me. It’s possible she’ll listen to reason though, and I won’t have to threaten.”
His phone chimed, and he gave her a quick kiss.
“That’s her,” he said, leading her to her chair.
“How do you know?”
“I added an alert for when her wristband activates the outer door lock.”
“Have I told you how your IT smarts turn me on?” she asked, flicking her tongue across her lips.
“Don’t give me a hard-on, please. We have a plan to execute.”
He stood to the side and behind her chair, looking ahead at the animated windows. Today, it was a spring morning with a few deer grazing in the far field.
The door behind them clicked and Yuki breezed in.
Today, she wore a bright red power suit with a black shirt and black men’s tie.
“Dimi, why are you here?”
“I asked him to come. I’m still a little shaky from the other night,” Anya said, following their script.
Yuki glanced from Anya to him and shrugged, looking down to tap on her desktop to bring the screen to life.
“I have an incredible engagement that could set a record for any engagement we’ve had. Our ultra-affluent client in Asia has finally made contact.”
“I quit,” Anya said, calmly without any shakiness in her voice.
“He’s located in… what did you say?” Yuki’s voice changed from controlled excitement to cold disbelief in a flash.
“I quit.”
“You can’t quit.”
“One of your clients assaulted me and was in the process of kidnapping me. I think your best move is to let me leave so you can find someone else for your ultra-affluent client.”
“He doesn’t want anyone else but you.”
“That’s a problem. But that’s not my problem.”
He was so proud of Anya’s firm voice he almost smiled. Especially since something black and evil had come to life in Yuki’s eyes.
“Here is your problem,” Yuki’s voice hissed. “When I have the chancellor expel you from university for engaging in prostitution. I have that power over you.”
“That’s not possible,” Anya replied, looking down to brush an imaginary fluff from her knee.
Yuki’s head tilted, a puzzled look flashing in her eyes and disappearing.
“It’s not a possibility; it’s the reality. Do you think we can’t create a deep-fake video of you in a thousand different positions with a thousand different men? Every one looking as real as those deer in the field seem to the average eye,” she said, strolling to the animated screen and crossing her arms smugly.
“You have nothing,” Anya said in a controlled voice. “Particularly no hold over me. At all.”
In a flash, Yuki was in front of An
ya, looking as if she wanted to lift her by her throat. In the next instant, Dimi had put his body in front of her, looking at Yuki with his own rage.
“I think not,” he said, his voice low and enunciating each word.
Yuki’s eyes flashed over him, an oily blackness coiling in them as if it could strike out at him. Is this the demon, passed from father to daughter?
“What are you saying, Dimitri?” she asked, her voice choked.
“There is no footage of Anya. I’ve erased it all. I’ve nullified everything in her records and made sure all signatures and paper copies of reports were destroyed. I have that power over you.”
The murkiness in her eyes faded, leaving sadness and confusion.
“Not you, Dimitri. You swore to help me.”
“I did help you. We all did. But Anya is not your path to revenge. Not anymore. You’ll have to find another way.”
Yuki turned and walked to the window.
“There is no other way,” she murmured, her arms wrapping around her waist.
“There’s always another way,” he said and held his hand out. He felt Anya’s hand slide into it.
“Goodbye, Yuki,” he said. “Good luck.”
Epilogue
“Punch harder, come on!” Dimi yelled, holding the bag while the teen hit it in a flurry of punches. He let him go until he ran out of breath and put his gloves on his thighs, panting. “Now, are you ready to learn the right way?” he asked him.
The kid looked up at him and pulled out his mouth guard.
“Yeah,” he wheezed.
“You need power in each punch, and you need to plan your hits. Nobody wins with a flurry unless it’s the last three seconds and your guy is already dazed on the mat.”
The phone in his back pocket bleeped, and he recognized Jones’s ringtone.
“Is that your lady?” Conrad asked, still pulling in deep breaths of air.
“Quit stalling. Get your feet in the right stance, and then move your upper body…” The phone cut him off again, and he knew this must be more than just a curious question. “Run through your warm up. I’ll be right back.”
Disciplined Page 22