by Ivy Clyde
My hand dug inside the waistband of her panties and felt her warm arousal on my skin. My fingers slipped through her slippery slit, telling me she was ready for me.
I couldn’t control my need anymore. It ached too much to deny the treat she was offering up to me. I couldn’t leave her now and let her think she’d won over me. No one was winning tonight.
With a sudden move, I pulled away her panties and tore them off. The elastic waistband broke against her skin, making her gasp against the abrupt sting but the pitiful scrap of fabric fluttered down her legs to fall on the floor. At the same time, Skye’s fingers fumbled with the button on my jeans, eager to get to me as well.
I smashed my mouth to hers, kissing her hard and deep. A groan escaped me as she finally managed to unhook my jeans and release my hardened length. Her small hand was cold against my heated flesh as she wrapped her fingers around my thick girth.
Her movements seemed to stop there as she awkwardly felt my length. Capturing her hand in my mine, I moved it up and down my hardened cock so she could pump me. She did so hesitatingly at first but once she realized I was hardening even further in her grasp, she quickened the pace.
My little bird was still too inexperienced. The knowledge sent a wave of possessiveness coursing through me as I vowed to teach her how to pleasure me. The feel of her soft skin against my rigid rod made my head swim with pleasure. My balls hardened painfully. There was no way I’d last much longer. I had to get inside her.
Moving her fingers away from my cock, I bent at the knees, positioning myself at her slick entrance. Her hands moved to cling to my shoulders as I angled my hips and plunged inside her with one hard, satisfying thrust.
She was still amazingly tight, only taking me halfway through. Pulling out, I thrust in once more. My groan mingled with the sound of her whimpering moan as I buried myself in her hot, pulsing core.
I used the wall behind her to hold her upright as I thrust inside her. Grunts escaped me as I let my emotions of anger and aching need take control.
Her fingers dug into my shoulders as she took my thrusts. Her moans propelled me to go faster and harder. My ass muscles bunched, my shoulders went rigid as my mouth closed over the swell of her breasts.
This was no lovemaking.
She was pushed against the wall with her skirt pushed up to her stomach while my pants hung around my knees as I plunged inside her with short, powerful thrusts.
My mouth moved against her neck and bit her hard enough to make it bruise. Skye cried out, her nails digging into my shoulders. My tongue darted out, soothing the reddened flesh as her body melted against mine. She came, pulsing and clenching around my hardened cock pistoning inside her.
I grit my teeth against her impossible tightness but couldn’t stop thrusting inside her. My own pleasure was close. She felt amazingly good, her walls clamping tight around me. I wanted to simultaneously make the moment last forever while desperately wanting to reach climax.
Everything inside me coiled into that moment of pleasure, ready to explode. Skye’s moans grew louder as her body prepared to come again.
“Fuck! I’m about to come,” I hissed through clenched teeth. Part of me was aware we weren’t using any protection. I knew it would be smarter to pull out now. Not fucking her would have been the smarter move, my mind berated and suddenly, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
I gave in.
Holding her tight against me, I shattered, filling her up with burst after burst of my seeds. My mind swam with pleasure, my eyes rolling in their sockets as she pulsed and throbbed around me, her body shuddering against mine. Her ragged breaths joined mine.
I leaned back to look at her.
Her lips were swollen from my kisses and her cheeks were stained a deep crimson. Her eyes were glassy with lust as they stared into mine.
My arms came to wrap around her waist tightly as I felt her knees wobble. She was completely wiped out. Bending down, I swept her up in my arms. My cock began hardening once more as her naked, soft body pressed against mine but I willed it to cool down. Even though I wanted to take her one more time, tonight wasn’t the time to do so.
She seemed too exhausted.
Her body sank on the bed just as I laid her there.
I was about to leave her there when her hand came to grasp around my wrist. “Stay,” she whispered. There was an open vulnerability in her eyes that I couldn’t ignore.
I should have left to avoid complicating the matter but something deep inside me was crumbling, willingly giving in to the whims of this naïve, young woman.
I climbed onto the bed beside her and pulled the blanket over our bodies. Skye turned toward me, nestling against my chest with a satisfied hum. The mistake had been made. I’d given in to my emotions and desire. What did anything else matter now? I wrapped an arm around her and drew her close against me.
26
Skye
I woke up to the sound of loud mutterings. Sunlight streamed through the windows as I slowly sat up and watched Olga, the housemaid, move to the far corner of the room to place the breakfast tray on a coffee table. She spoke mostly Russian but there was enough English mixed in to tell me she was complaining about how lazy I was and that not everyone had the luxury to sleep till noon.
My gaze went to the ornamental clock on the opposite wall. It was barely ten A.M.
Olga’s beady eyes took in the state of my clothes. The front of my shirt was wide open and my hair a mess. I was glad she couldn’t see what was under the sheets pulled around my thighs. She grumbled and shook her head at me darkly. I waited for her to leave before climbing off the bed.
“Mr. Ivanov wishes to see you in an hour,” she threw over her shoulder in heavily accented English, walking toward the door. “Don’t make him wait.” With that, she left.
A heavy sigh escaped me. Pushing the strands of hair falling over my face, I climbed out of bed. My body was sore, taking my mind to the events of last night.
It was hard to believe I’d had sex two nights in a row. Christian pounced on me as soon as I got back home, pushing me against the wall and …
I wish I could say he forced me. In the beginning, it did feel that way but once I was pushed against the wall, his hand gliding to my most intimate spot, I’d let go of all resistance. My traitorous body was quite happy to be pressed against him with his hot mouth at my throat.
Sex with Christian had been the polar opposite the way it had been with Andrei.
“This is so messed up,” I groaned, covering my face in my hands. There was no time to waste. Nikolai wanted to see me, probably to hear about my week at Knightswood. However, there were far more important things to tell him. The sound of the ticking clock had me climbing out of bed and hurrying into the bathroom.
At least, Olga didn’t see Christian in bed with me, I thought, stripping out of my crumpled uniform.
Entering the glass stall, I turned on the shower. As the jets of hot, steamy water cascaded down on my sore body, my mind went back to thinking about what I’d learned in the past two days. With Andrei by my side the whole day yesterday, I barely got time to consider everything he’d told me. The most disturbing of it was finding out Dimitri had carried out Maria’s death sentence.
A cold shiver ran through me despite the hot water on my skin.
I’d begun to change my mind about Dimitri since that night he lost the race to Andrei. From the way he’d spoken, I thought he really cared about me. A sliver of warmth had touched me back then, but had it just been a show to gain my trust? He’d been cold-blooded enough to kill the girl he grew up with, the girl he was about to marry. I wished I could heed Andrei’s warning and stay away from him but my job wouldn’t let me do that.
Switching off the shower, I walked out and donned a robe around me. Just then, a thought crossed my mind. Did Nikolai and Christian know that it had been Dimitri who killed Maria? They said it had been their enemies who killed her. Were they keeping the fact from me so I wouldn’t be sc
ared to approach him?
I hurried into the room and threw open the wardrobe to pick something to wear. Choosing a lavender wrap dress, I wore it quickly, proceeding to move toward the dresser and comb out the tangles out of my damp hair.
Excitement and anxiety swirled inside me.
Christian had seemed reluctant to stay by my side last night. This morning, he left without a word. While it was good he left before Olga came in, it left me with a bitter feeling of being unwanted. Christian’s behavior toward me ranged from hot to cold. It was always hard to understand him.
I ate a few spoonfuls of porridge and the toast Olga left me. While I was still too hungry for more, my desperation to talk to both Nikolai and Christian overrode everything. The only reason I was bothering to eat right now was to avoid taking the morning-after pill in an empty stomach. I made a mental note to get on the right pills as soon as possible. These pills were expensive and even though Andrei bought me a whole box of them, I didn’t want to depend on these emergency contraceptives.
Walking out of the room, I approached one of the stone-faced men guarding the corridor.
“Could you please escort me to Mr. Nikolai’s office?” I asked.
The man’s expression remained the same even as he gave me a nod.
He took me through a different network of corridors than I’d seen before. At this rate, I would never find my way around the house.
The guard knocked on the office door. Once Nikolai’s grunt sounded, he pushed the door open to let me inside.
I walked in, taking in the man who was seated in the far corner with his elbows resting on the table. Nikolai was dressed in one of his usual impeccable suits. His pale silver eyes were piercing as he met my gaze, locking me in place.
My heart raced in my chest. It was like looking into the eyes of a predator. I wanted to tear my eyes away from him but couldn’t.
“It’s only been a week and you managed to enter the Romanoff home,” he said with a slight tilt to his lips. “Good job, Miss Wilson.”
I let my gaze stray toward Christian who stood beside him. His expression was schooled to be neutral. There was nothing that suggested he’d held me against the wall and thrust inside me until we were both shuddering with the force of our arousals. My chest tightened as I looked back at Nikolai.
“Did you know Dimitri shot Maria?” I asked, voicing the first question in my mind.
Only the slight widening of his eyes was any indication to the surprise he felt.
“Andrei already told you about that.”
“Yes. He wants me to stay away from Dimitri.”
“You don’t have to do anything he asks of you,” said Christian. “You only have to follow our orders.”
“So, I have to keep getting close to Dimitri even if there’s a chance he might kill me too? He is already suspicious of me. He thinks I am at the academy because you sent me there. The only thing that’s keeping him away is that he still doesn’t see a motive behind your moves.”
“That’s good,” said Nikolai. “You’ve gotten close enough to both of them to know what they’re up to. Keep up your act. Besides, what else did you find?”
For a moment, I balked. They had absolutely no concern about me following a guy who shot someone who looked exactly liked me.
“Skye?” urged Nikolai, bringing me back from my angry thoughts.
I swallowed the curses hovering on my lips. “I searched Andrei’s room for the file you’d mentioned. I didn’t see any hard copies of it there.”
“He trusts you enough to leave you alone in his bedroom?” asked Christian, his eyebrows raised high. His tone of utter disbelief rubbed me the wrong way. A sneering grin lifted the corner of his mouth. “He’s the worst leader the Romanoffs could have. His people should shoot themselves in the head.”
“Shut up.” The words came out in a low hiss from my lips.
“Did you get access to his phone or laptop?” asked Nikolai, ignoring my jibe at his nephew.
“No. I didn’t get a chance to get to them.”
“That’s fine for now,” he said with a nod. “It’s only been a week and you’ve infiltrated the Romanoff home.” He paused for a moment, his gaze turning thoughtful. “How about Egor? Did you get a chance to see him while you were there?”
The image of the crazy, violent man rose up in my mind. “I saw him. There’s something you need to know.”
“What is it?” Nikolai leaned forward on the desk, placing his full attention on me.
“Andrei asked his brother who did that to him and he started shouting ‘It was the Volkovs’. On the surface, it looked like he was answering his brother but it seemed like a trigger. Any time he is stressed or is asked about the incident that killed his family, he chants it like a mantra.”
“That’s why Andrei believes the Volkovs attacked his family,” said Christian, turning to look at Nikolai. Glancing toward me, he added, “You’re quite impressive, Skye.” His tone was harsh. He didn’t sound impressed at all.
“There’s one other thing,” I said, remembering the conversation between Andrei and Dimitri at the racecourse.
“Tell me,” said Nikolai.
“The first time I met Dimitri, he was running away from people intent on killing him. He’d been shot and bleeding but lucid enough,” I said, thinking of the way he’d recognized me as Maria. Arranging my thoughts, I continued. “A few days ago, he accused Andrei of sending his men to attack him that day. Andrei denied doing any such thing but Dimitri told me he’d seen the marks of the Romanoff family on the men who shot him.”
“The enemy is hidden among the Romanoffs,” said Nikolai bringing the tips of his fingers together. “I am certain of it but you need to bring me the proof.” His gaze was no longer focused on me.
“Are you sure you’re not making all this up?” asked Christian, narrowing his jewel-like eyes at me.
“You’re a jerk,” I bit out.
“You still need to infiltrate the Volkovs too, Skye,” said Nikolai, ignoring the skirmish happening between me and his nephew. “I need to be absolutely sure where to direct my investigations.”
I swallowed. Just thinking of Dimitri made my insides grow cold. “I will try,” I said, unwilling to say no to a direct order.
“And find an opportunity to get inside Egor’s room and search it thoroughly,” said Nikolai, fixing me with a sharp gaze. “If you must know, I was present on the scene when Maria was shot to death.”
“What? Why didn’t you tell me before?”
“I didn’t want to scare you.”
I frowned. “I am scared now. Can I back away from Dimitri?”
“No.” He waited for me to say something but I kept silent, grinding my teeth together. No matter how much I hated it, I’d have to let Dimitri get close to me. “Here’s another clue for you,” said Nikolai when I continued to stay quiet. “Egor was the most enthusiastic person about the whole incident. He brought Maria to the firing squad himself. Didn’t blink an eye even as his brother shouted and begged for him to stop. It was as though he wanted to get rid of her as fast as possible.”
“He attacked me as soon as he saw me,” I said, thinking of Egor’s insane behavior. “You think he had bad intentions toward her?”
Nikolai nodded. “I believe so. No one was convinced Maria was capable of stealing from us but Egor insisted the punishment be carried out because all evidence pointed toward her. I believe there is more to it. It’s very important you search out his room and his old office.”
“I’ll do that the next time I go over to Andrei’s,” I said.
“It’s really useful being a girl, isn’t it?” asked Christian, his gaze turning icy. “Get into a guy’s pants and he’s an open book for you.”
My cheeks heated as understanding descended in Nikolai’s gaze. “You’re that close to Andrei Romanoff now?”
“It’s…it’s none of anyone’s business,” I muttered, throwing angry glares at Christian. I didn’t understand why
he was being so aggressive toward me. Didn’t we bond last night or was he just using me to get laid?
A chuckle escaped Nikolai, taking both me and Christian by surprise. We stared at the sudden change in his demeanor. Gosh! Nikolai was beautiful when he let the light shine in his gorgeous silver eyes. “I was so right about using you for this job.”
Was everyone going to think of me as some kind of loose slutty woman who used sex to sleep with her targets? It sounded very spy-movie’ish in my head and I wished I was that cool but my feelings for Andrei had been genuine. I really had wanted someone as warm and kind as him to be my first. Whatever happened between us wasn’t planned. It had just happened. Exactly, like it happened with Christian last night.
The contemptuous grin on Christian’s face sent anger shooting through me. He was trying to turn me into a slut before his uncle. For a moment, I wondered whether he was doing it for his own benefit. Perhaps, he didn’t want to be seen as attached to me. Either way, he was pissing me off.
“Is it okay if I went back to school today?” I asked even if it was Sunday.
“Up to you,” said Nikolai, leaning against the back of his chair.
I gave him a nod. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll be leaving right away.”
“Go ahead,” he said, turning back to the computer on his desk.
I turned around and walked across the room to reach the door. There was no way I was staying behind for Christian to keep insulting and bullying me. It was better to go back to school and tackle some of those assignments the teachers had set me.
27
Skye
Even though Nikolai ordered me to get close to Dimitri, I avoided him completely, making sure to reach our common English and Math classes earlier and hiding among the rest of the students. The sheer number of kids in these classes kept me from view. An additional gain from all this sneaking around was to keep away from Christian as well.
He hadn’t called me or tried to approach me since that night. My heart squeezed painfully every time I thought about it. Even if he didn’t want something serious between us, he could at least tell me what was on his mind instead of treating me like I wasn’t even worth an explanation.