So at her gentle prodding, I dive into an explanation of my home life, how I’ve had to raise my little sisters pretty much all on my own, how I have struggled to survive for eight years. She listens intently and patiently, seeming to fully engage with even the darkest details I reveal. Not even once do I feel like she’s judging me negatively; in fact, her responses are so supportive and understanding that for the first time I feel a little less alone in the world, less ashamed of who I am and what I come from.
“My goodness,” Cassie says, shaking her head as we walk into a little boutique. “You have been through so much. You must be a very strong person. Actually, we have a lot in common, you and I. My father… he sold me, too. That kind of betrayal is difficult to put aside, I will admit. Your pain is still fresh, I can tell. But I can assure you that it will get better. Those old wounds don’t hurt me like they used to. Especially with a man like Andrei by my side.”
There’s a strength in her voice when she says her husband’s name that tells me their love is pure and powerful. “Your husband... you met him the same way Konstantin found me?”
Cassie nods, perusing a shelf of gauzy pale pink blouses I would never wear, but would look amazing on her. “Much the same, yes. And at first, I was terribly embarrassed. Hurt. But now I can say with confidence that it was the best thing to ever happen to me. The only problem was how much I missed my little brother. I know you can relate to that.”
I feel a twinge of heartache, my sisters’ faces popping into my mind’s eye.
Cassie reaches out and places a soft hand on my shoulder. “Just tell Konstantin what you’re feeling. I don’t know him very well, but I can tell you that a friend of Andrei’s is a good man. You can trust him. These men in the Bratva — many of them come from terribly dark places, lonely and cold. Their brothers in arms are the only family they know. Forgive them their trespasses, if you can manage. Sometimes when I used to look back in horror on the things my Andrei did years and years ago, I reminded myself that you do things for family you would never do otherwise.”
“That is definitely true,” I agree, thinking back to the times I used my body, my sex appeal, just to get necessities for my family. I used those filthy guys, and they used me. But if I were dumped into the same situation, I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
Cassie and I spend the rest of the sunny afternoon going through the shops, sharing stories about our childhoods, bonding over how bizarre our lives have been. Considering Cassie just on face value, I never would have expected the two of us to have anything in common. Looks-wise, we are about as opposite as two girls can be. Her style is frilly and floaty, while mine is a lot closer to punk rock or grunge. But we get along wonderfully, and by the time late afternoon is rolling around, I am sad to see her go. But Max is getting cranky, and it’s time for him to go home and take a nap.
“This was so much fun,” Cassie says earnestly, and I agree with her. I never knew how cathartic it could be to confide in someone who truly seems to understand. “Are you sure you don’t want me to drive you back home? It really wouldn’t be any trouble at all,” she offers.
“No, no. It’s fine. I actually kind of miss getting to take public transportation, believe it or not,” I tell her with a laugh. And it’s true; after years of being so independent and self-reliant, it feels strange to have anyone cart me around like a small child. I can find my own way home.
“Well, then, I won’t take that away from you,” she says with a wink. “Hope to see you soon! And I know Max will be dying to see you again, too. He seems to really like you.”
The angelic, chubby-cheeked toddler is nodding off in his bright red car seat, a toy truck clutched on his lap. I feel a surge of vaguely maternal fondness wash over me. It may just be due to how long I spent being a surrogate parent to my sisters, but I do really love children. Their innocence and complete lack of guile is refreshing in comparison to the darkness I know lurks around every corner.
“Yeah, you’ll definitely see me again,” I assure her, smiling. We say our goodbyes and I hail a cab, spending the whole drive home thinking about how much better I feel now. I can’t help but wonder if Konstantin did this on purpose to make me feel less afraid of him or something. Either way, I feel indebted to him for giving me this breath of fresh air. He trusts me enough to hand me a thick stack of hundred-dollar bills and set me loose on the city. For all he knows, I could be halfway back to Jersey by now.
But something is pulling me back home… to my new home. My eclectic, over-the-top castle in the sky with my sweet, powerful beast of a housemate.
When I arrive home, I see that his car is in the driveway. I walk into the house and up the stairs, heading for my bedroom. Then, I stop suddenly in the hallway, looking over at the door to Konstantin’s chambers. Something in my stomach twists, my heart skipping a beat. Almost as though in a trance, I walk over and open the door to find him seated at a massive, glossy mahogany desk, bent over a stack of papers and maps. He looks over in surprise.
“I didn’t expect you home so soon,” he says, and I hear the true meaning in his words: I didn’t expect you to come home at all.
“I guess I just missed you or something,” I answer, shrugging. But it’s more than that.
I want to be here.
I want to be with him, whatever that means.
He stands up just as I walk over to him, his full imposing height towering over me. There is a tense pause as we simply size each other up, searching each other’s eyes for answers to questions neither of us dare to ask.
And before any words can arise to spoil the moment, we lean into each other, our lips meeting in a passionate kiss. His arms wrap around me and pull me close, his fingers wrapping in my hair, tossing my black hat down onto the desk as he walks me backward to the bed. With one effortless motion, he scoops me up and cradles me back onto the bed, kissing a delicate line down my jaw, nipping lightly at my neck at first, then sucking harder to leave rosy little marks.
Feeling both terrified and electrified, I peel off my clothes with shaking hands while he wordlessly does the same. When he stands before me, utterly naked and rippling with powerful musculature, I almost want to recoil in fear. This is a man who could easily snap me in half.
But the softness, the pure adoration and wonder in his eyes, assures me he never would.
Konstantin leans down over me and brushes the hair back from my face, his thumb tracing loving circles on the apple of my cheek. He kisses me deeply, his other hand trailing down to stroke my clit. I whimper into his mouth and roll my hips involuntarily, spurring him to lift me up and place me on his lap as he sits back against the pillows. His hard, massive length rubs tantalizingly against my wet slit, making me want him even more. His hands caress my breasts, my hips, my ass, while his lips kiss and suck the tender flesh of my neck. Shivers of pleasure travel down my spine, and before long I can’t wait anymore.
“I need you… now,” I murmur. “But I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“I will guide you,” he says softly, his thumb tracing across my full lower lip.
He reaches down and lifts me up slightly, positioning the head of his shaft at my slick opening. He nods, signaling me to lower myself onto him.
With one smooth, mind-blowing movement, I let him spear me, my legs straddling him. Suddenly, every ounce of self-consciousness dissipates, leaving only a single-minded desire to feel closer to Konstantin, to feel him fill me up entirely.
We quickly find a steady rhythm, his hands holding me in place as I ride him. Even though I’m in control, it feels more like a shared effort, like we have one shared mind, one mutual mission to reach that most glorious pinnacle of bliss. His lips fall open as I bounce up and down, swiveling my hips forward and backward, feeling him strike that place deep inside that makes me see stars, again and again, until we’re both crying out. I grab hold of his shoulders in desperation, trying to brace myself, and he places his hands on my hips, holding me still while he thrusts up
into me. I am distantly amazed at his overpowering strength and stamina.
His rhythm becomes more and more erratic and frantic, until finally a wave of intense pleasure seizes my whole body. I collapse onto his chest just as he thrusts upward one more time, filling my cunt with his hot, thick honey. We lie together, panting, breathing in each other’s scent, for hours, without speaking — almost as though we’re both petrified that uttering a single word might shatter the damn near magical stillness of our tiny world.
15
Konstantin
“Relax your shoulders.”
“They’re relaxed.”
“Loosen them more, you should feel the weight of your arms.”
“Okay.”
“How does it feel in your hand?”
“Heavy.”
“Good. Use its weight, feel comfortable wielding it.”
“I’ve got it.”
“Shoulders relaxed. Now.”
In a flash, Rosie whirls around on her heels and hurls the knife in her hand at the target I’ve set up in the back of the manor, the blade sailing towards the cutout of a man just as I’d taught her to throw it. Her eyes are on the target, but before she can see whether it strikes true or not, I decide to put more of her training to the test.
My hand wraps around her wrist, jerking her back towards me, and to my delight, I feel her twist out of my grip as fluidly as though she were made of pure water, slipping away and facing me before her knee flies up to my side to strike me, and my arm comes down to parry it out of the way effortlessly, but another blow comes in from her fist to my torso.
We trade blows and blocks as we begin to spar, and I can see the training of the past couple of weeks really coming out in her. Despite how she tenses when my eyes are on her, when it comes down to the action, she keeps her body loose and quick, and when she comes in with a blow, her laterals are tight while her shoulder relaxes, and I can feel real force behind the strike when she manages to land one.
She uses our height difference to her advantage. I’m fast, and it’s not truly fair for training purposes that I can keep up with her so easily, but then again, a real fight will never be fair, so I see it as an added boon that she has me to train with. Her legwork is impeccable, and if I weren’t so ready to anticipate the very moves I’d taught her, she’d have me tumbling to the ground in a matter of moments.
I come in with a strike to her gut, but she whirls around it, using my own arm as a point of stability to push herself around me, and to my genuine surprise, I feel a weight lift from my side as she grabs my own knife from its sheath, drawing it out and putting the blade to my back, forcing me to put my hands up, and the commotion settles, leaving us with the sound of our breathing in the morning air as a smile spreads across my face.
“You learn quickly,” I say, glancing back at her. The next moment, my leg sweeps behind me, and she yelps as she starts to fall to the ground. I catch her fall with one arm under her back while wrenching the knife loose from her grip with the other, putting the knife to her, and it’s her turn to turn her head up, smirking at me.
“Alright, point taken,” she says, and I help her to her feet, putting my knife away and dusting myself off.
“When you pin someone with a knife like that, it helps to keep the weapon in view,” I explain. “An enemy is less willing to take risks like that when the threat is visible.”
“You just knew I wouldn’t really stick a knife in your back,” she retorts, crossing her arms with a playful smile.
“Do you think that changes anything?” I reply, arching an eyebrow, but before she can respond, I nod my head towards the target she’d thrown the knife at earlier.
The hilt sticks out of the target’s neck, bobbing in the wind. Rosie smiles, and the smile splits into a grin before she can help it.
The shooting range I’ve set up for her has been going in similar fashion. The first few days, my pistol sat uncomfortably in her hand.
“I don’t like the way this thing feels,” she’d said, testing the gun’s weight.
“You shouldn’t,” I’d said. “They’re wicked devices. But you must learn to use one, if you mean to defend yourself in every way possible.”
And she proved to me that she was capable of doing just that. She’s a natural shooter, and the precise clusters of bullet holes in the targets I set up for her are testaments to that.
“You know,” I say as I walk with her to the target to retrieve her knife, “I don’t think I taught you how to use my own blade against me like that. You’re getting creative. This is good.”
“I thought it might be a little dangerous to test those reflexes of yours,” she admits, and I can almost see the playful smile on her face behind me, “but I figured it would be worth the risk to see how you’d counter it. Gotta be ready for those things in real life, isn’t that what you keep saying?”
A small smile forms on my face as I take the hilt of the knife and yank it out of the dummy, tossing it up into the air and catching it by the blade as it falls, flipping it over as she steps closer to me, eyeing the knife. Instinctively, I wrap a hand around her waist and draw her closer, surprising her, but she wraps her hands around my torso as well, her hands exploring my muscles as I feel her desire starting to awaken.
“You’ve learned so much, very quickly,” I say in a low tone, looking down at her, and she bites her lip a moment before speaking.
“I’ve got quite a teacher,” she says.
“There’s still so much I want to show you,” I reply, my hand sliding around to her ass, and she gasps as I give it a squeeze. “But I need to know that you trust me.”
“I trust you enough to grab a knife from your side,” she teases, and for the first time in a long time, my teeth flash in a grin.
I descend upon her, my lips pressing into hers, and her eyes close as I pick her up and carry her back inside. Her hands begin moving about my sides and my back so voraciously, her hips pressing up needfully, that I hardly think we’ll make it to the bedroom. So once we’re inside the manor, past the kitchen, and into the main hallway, I sit her down on one of the large, spacious couches, letting her limbs sprawl out on it as her eyes flutter open to look up at me.
The desire in them fans the fire within me as I strip my shirt off slowly, and her eyes rove up and down my body, taking in everything that I am.
“Get a good look, zvyozdochka,” I say in a low tone, reaching into my pocket, my fingers brushing against the silk fabric I’d had stored away there before I pull out the long, black cloth that she eyes, her cheeks reddening a bit. “For now, you’re going to be relying on your other senses.”
She nods cautiously, and she does not resist as I step around her and bring the blindfold over her eyes, tying it gently behind that soft black hair of hers, and I let my hands slide down her neck, then down to the edge of her shirt, which she lets me pull up over her head, exposing her sports bra, and I remove that as well, leaving her chest bare before me, lying on the couch like prey.
I put a knee on the couch, looming over her as she turns her head, her chest rising and falling as she breathes, cheeks flushing with color as she feels me near.
“Did you enjoy grabbing my knife, Rosie?” I whisper into her ear as my hand goes to my side, and I let the blade audibly scrape against the holster as I draw my knife, and she takes in a breath sharply before she gives a slight nod. One of my hands takes her smaller one, then the other hand, and I push them to the arm of the couch over her head, holding her chest and stomach exposed before me.
Bringing the blade to her bare skin, I let the cool metal touch her stomach, and she gasps, her hands clenching. “Don’t move,” I whisper as I start to trace the dagger up to her breasts and around her chest. “Do you trust me, Rosie?”
“With my life,” she breathes, and there’s no fear in her voice that doesn’t thrill her in my grasp, her hips squirming even as she does her best to keep her torso still.
“Good,” I say as I bring the
knife up to her neck, the point of the blade upside-down as I let it play across the sensitive skin, her usually pale face flushed bright red. “You’ve come so far, but if I am to train you, we need to be able to rely on each other entirely.” I bring the blade lower on her body, tracing around her side and getting closer to the opening of her pants, and with a flick of my fingers, I open the front of her jeans and wiggle them down off of her. She doesn’t wear anything under them, and her warm lips sit exposed before me. Slowly, I bring the knife around her pelvis, drawing the tip close to that most sensitive spot, but never touching it.
As the knife plays across her inner thigh, she manages to speak through the quickening breaths. “And do you trust me, Konstantin? Can you rely on me?”
I pause in my knife’s path, then pick the blade up and slowly place it in her hand, guiding her hand to hold the thing against my bare chest as I smile down on her blindfolded face. Slowly, so slowly, she guides the dagger around my muscles, moving as expertly as I did without a blindfold, and so gently I can hardly feel a thing on me, save for the ripple of electricity I feel when it grazes near my nipple. “More than I thought I’d ever trust another human, Rosie.”
After that, she lets the knife drop to the side of the couch, and I descend upon her again, pressing my lips into hers as I grind my stiff cock against her. The moment she feels my hardness, she starts pressing herself up to me in desire.
My mouth goes to her chest, and she lets out a yelp as my teeth graze her stiffening nipples, their hardness obeying my motions as I use my tongue to awaken them. Her shoulders and head roll back as I ravish her, my hands greedily holding onto her hips as I attack her nipples. My cock is threatening to burst from my pants as I grind against her, her thigh pressing up against it. I feel her rubbing it, daring me to go farther, to push her harder, and I grin even as my teeth brush up and down her nipples.
Hitman - the Series: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance Collection (Alexis Abbott's Hitmen #0) Page 104