Good Lord, she was going to rip it off one of these days.
The sound of voices registered over the sound of the dryer. Ass in the air as I sorted through the last of my clothes, I ignored whatever Geneva was up to.
“Now that’s one of the best views I’ve had all day.”
At the deep purr of Ogun’s voice, I abruptly stood upright and spun around. “Ogun!”
The intensity of his stare was sending my heart rate into overdrive.
“What are you doing here so early?” I glanced at my watch to see that it was actually much later than I’d realized.
Sasha was desperately trying to shove her face into his hand for his attention. The chuckle that rumbled out of him did crazy things to me. Studying his interaction with my huge puppy, I again appreciated his masculine beauty. The thought of not seeing him again sucked.
Those icy-blue eyes met mine. “You got that bag packed?”
“Ogun… I told you I didn’t think it was going to be a good idea.”
“And I told you it was.” His voice dropped down a notch. “Besides, I need to talk to you about a few things. Are you sure you want your roommate to hear them?”
Suspicion making my brow furrow, I gave him a side-eye. “What kind of things?”
For the longest time, he simply stared at me. It was unnerving and I began to fidget.
“How about the fact that Grishka Kalashnik is your dear old dad?”
I froze.
“How did you know that?”
“How I know isn’t as important as what I know. Now, unless you want to continue to discuss this here, I suggest you pack a bag.” His expression gave nothing away.
My nervousness about what he knew or which side he was on was less than the worry I had about pulling Geneva into my hot mess. Surely, if he was telling me to pack a bag, he didn’t intend to kill me. But what if he was supposed to take me to my father, or worse, Ivan?
It would be doubtful that my father would stoop to hiring Ogun’s club if he held such disdain for them. Yet, with my father, one never knew. He wasn’t above stooping to deplorable levels if it meant he got what he wanted. So using a club he looked down on wasn’t a long shot.
“Did my father hire you?” I asked in a whisper.
“No.”
Studying his eyes, I couldn’t see signs that he was lying, but he could be good at it too. Except, something in my guts said he wasn’t a liar.
“Okay.”
It might be something I wouldn’t live to regret, but I decided to trust him.
“Topless”—Breaking Benjamin
She quietly packed a bag. I was leaning against her dresser as she opened a drawer to get some underwear out. When she grabbed several conservative pairs, I glanced down and saw a few lacy numbers that she’d shuffled past. Picking them up, I held them out. “Pack these.”
“What? You can’t be serious.” She looked at me like I had a dick on my forehead.
“I most certainly can.”
Though she looked like she wanted to argue, she shot me a glare and shoved them in the bag she was packing. Once it was stuffed full, she paused.
“Am I still going to be able to take Sasha?” Worry flickered in her eyes but was quickly neutralized. Hearing her name, the naughty puppy ran at Kira and jumped up to shove her head in-between us.
“Why wouldn’t you be able to take your dog?” I asked in confusion. “Sit!” I told the dog and was pleased when she immediately obeyed.
“Because I don’t know where you’re taking me now, so I didn’t know if the option was still there to take her,” she replied with a slight quiver to her lower lip.
Realizing where her fear and worry was coming from, I had to set her mind at ease. “Relax, babe. We’re still going to my place. Pack whatever you need for her for a few days.” Honestly, I wanted to tell her to pack everything she owned because I didn’t ever want her to leave. But I thought that might freak her out a little.
The tenseness left her shoulders, and she seemed to chill out. She walked out of the room to the kitchen where she filled a giant plastic zipper bag with about five or six scoops of dog food. Then she bent over to pick up the dog bowls, and I damn near had to bite my fist at the sight of her perfect ass in the air again.
The entire time, Sasha trailed behind her. If she could talk, I knew she’d be asking why Mom was taking her bowls away. Kira stopped. “Can you occupy her?”
I cocked my head in confusion. She silently tapped on a bag of dog treats. Understanding dawning, I called the big puppy as I walked to her room. “Come, Sasha!”
She raced after me and happily bounced around at my feet once I got there.
Kira walked in carrying a shopping bag that I assumed had all of Sasha’s things.
“Ready?” I asked. She nodded and swallowed nervously. Maybe I should’ve put an end to her worry, but I didn’t want to discuss shit in front of her roommate.
She led Sasha out to my Jeep and I helped her hook Sasha up to the harness rig I had for Zaka. I’d moved it to the back seat so Kira could ride up front, but I wasn’t sure how Sasha would react to it.
I needn’t have worried, because she was simply happy to be going for a ride.
We arrived at my house without a lot of discussion. Likely because we both had a lot on our minds. Also because the wind didn’t allow for a lot of conversation without yelling.
Once we pulled into my garage, she faced me. “Tell me what’s going on. I can’t take this.”
“Let’s get inside and we’ll talk.” I reached up to push the button to close the garage door. Sasha was whining quietly in the back seat. Now that we’d stopped, her patience with the harness was running low. She’d need to get used to it, because she and Kira would be going places with me and Zaka.
At least, after we got the shit straightened out with her father. That had me wondering how I was going to tell her I’d agreed to kill her father or brother in place of her. Maybe she never needed to know that part.
Hell, I didn’t know if De Luca would go for that idea anyway. Then I might have a real shitshow on my hands.
Once inside, I had to deal with the chaos that was Zaka in his crate. I’d kenneled him up when I left because I knew Sasha would be coming back with us. It would be better to reintroduce them in a controlled manner.
“Hold on to her. We’ll take them into the backyard,” I said as I handed Kira her dog’s leash.
“Easy, boy. Settle,” I told him as he damn near shook the kennel apart. He immediately sat and impatiently waited. I opened the door, slipped the harness on him, and clipped the leash to it. “Zaka, heel. Outside.”
He followed me obediently out the back door. Kira followed at a distance, but I knew Zaka had spotted them the second I let him out. He’d probably smelled them on me and was already cataloging them in his mind. He adored Kira.
“Sit,” I told him. He followed my directions like a champ, and I was pretty sure it was because he was showing off for the ladies. I rolled my eyes, and a half-smile lifted my lips.
“Bring her over,” I said softly to Kira, speaking in calm tones. She brought Sasha closer, and I could feel Zaka quivering in anticipation. He was fairly social when it came to other dogs, but you never knew.
“Easy,” I said to him as he sniffed at Sasha. She jumped and darted to the side, but Kira got after her and kept a firm hand on her.
After a bit of letting them check each other out, I could sense they’d be okay. We gave them a loose leash first and they started to play. When there were no aggressive moves by either, we let them off the leash.
Kira laughed as they darted back and forth. They each had a turn tackling the other. Then Zaka showed her where the outdoor waterer was. They sloppily drank from the stainless steel basin I’d mounted under the spigot on my back patio.
“I think they’ll be okay to play,” I said and motioned for Kira to go inside.
After we got inside, I slid the inner door over the dog door so th
ey wouldn’t come flying in here to play and tear the house apart. Kira had taken a seat on one of the stools at my breakfast bar.
Knowing we needed to talk first, I told my surging dick to behave.
Unable to sit still due to the tension shifting through me, I paced. Finally, I decided it was probably like a Band-Aid—just rip it off.
“There’s no easy way to say this, Kira. You have a hit out on you.” I watched her closely to gauge her reaction.
Instead of the shocked look I expected, her entire body began to tremble. Not saying a word, she simply stared at me.
“Kira? Did you hear me?” I asked with narrowed eyes.
When her hazel eyes blinked, she inhaled shakily and exhaled on a rush. “Who?”
The fact that she didn’t start freaking out about what I’d told her was proof that she likely knew more about her father than I’d expected.
“At the moment that doesn’t matter,” I began, but she cut me off.
“You can’t just tell me that there’s a hit out on me like we’re discussing the chance of rain, then tell me it doesn’t matter who ordered it,” she snapped. Fuck, she was sexy when she was angry.
“Yes, I fucking can, because I have a way to fix it.” At my words, she instantly looked suspicious.
“How?”
“We announce that you’re my ol’ lady.” Pausing in my pacing, I crossed my arms, waiting to see what she had to say about it. I didn’t have long to wait.
“Your what?” She sat there with her mouth hanging open.
“My ol’ lady—my woman,” I said nonchalantly. Because it seemed the perfect solution to me.
“Are you insane? We barely know each other!” It was her turn to get up and pace. “You must be out of your damn mind.”
Snagging her arm as she passed, I pulled her against me. Initially, she tried to push away, but I wasn’t budging, and she finally gave up. Struggling, that was. She was pissed.
“I’m not crazy, I’m a Royal Bastard. That means something. With it comes a certain security for you when it comes to the person who wants you dead.”
“Is it Ivan?” she asked, and I was instantly on edge.
“Ivan who?” I asked hesitantly. Something told me I wasn’t going to like her answer to that question.
“Ivan Miloslavsky,” she reluctantly replied. My heart stopped.
“What the actual fuck would he want to kill you for?” I had to fight roaring it out. Miloslavsky was a sick fuck who was thick in the Russian human trafficking rings. Rumor had it he was closely tied to Vladimir Solonik, who the Tonopah chapter had shut down.
“Because I refused to marry him,” she said, and I damn near choked. The thought of her marrying anyone else sent a frisson of fury through me. The thought of it being Ivan Miloslavsky followed that fury with a cold chill.
“Does your father know what kind of shit Miloslavsky’s into?” Not that her father was much better. Which had me wondering if she knew what her father did for a living.
She gave a disgusted huff. “Of course he does. Which is why I can’t be anything to you, Ogun. It would slap a target so big on your back. Probably on your entire club. He probably already knows I’m with you right now.” She dropped her head to rest on my chest. She could likely feel the pounding of my heart.
“What are you talking about?” I asked with deadly calm.
“My father called me after our date. He knew about me being with you.” She lifted her head to look at me. The green in her hazel eyes was brilliant with the glisten of tears she held back.
“Fuck. You should’ve told me,” I muttered.
“I’d halfway convinced myself to blow you off if you asked me out again. Then you’d be safe. I haven’t talked to him in almost a year. Before that, I couldn’t tell you when it was. My father has been unhappy with me for years, though. He hated that I went to school to be a vet. He wanted me to marry to his advantage, and that didn’t include me working. A frivolous degree would’ve been okay, but what I did was ‘unnecessary,’ so he refused to pay for it. I thought when I refused to marry Ivan, he had written me off. Evidently not.”
“Is that why you’re going by Baranov instead of Kalashnik?” I asked her.
She nodded. “I legally changed my name to my mother’s maiden name after I turned eighteen. When I went away to college, I didn’t want the association of his last name. He’s… not a nice person.”
Snorting, I gave her an incredulous look. “That’s being generous.” Again, I wondered how much she knew.
Her jaw clenched and her nostrils flared as a single tear escaped. “Trust me. I’m fully aware. When I was fifteen years old, my virginity earned him a cool million.”
If I thought I was furious before, hearing her own father had sold her virginity made me want to decimate anything around me. It took everything I had to contain my rage. Still, the pots hanging in the kitchen rattled and the salt and pepper shakers flew to the floor and rolled before I reined myself in.
Kira shoved back and spun around to stare at the kitchen. “What the hell was that?”
Fuck.
“What was what?” I asked as if I had no clue.
“Don’t tell me you didn’t hear that? The pots are still swaying, for fuck’s sake!” Her arm swung out to motion toward the pots in question. “And the salt and pepper are on the floor!”
I’d learned the hard way not to have ones that were breakable. A scratching at the back door told me that Zaka had sensed my briefly out-of-control emotions.
“Earthquake?” I asked with a furrowed brow, praying she’d believe that crock of shit. She stepped back from me, and I immediately missed her warmth.
“Bullshit. Ogun, is your house haunted?” Her wide eyes were almost comical as she quickly jumped back into my arms as she scanned the house. I couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped out. “It’s not funny!”
“The house isn’t haunted,” I assured her with a grin. “Not exactly.” I wasn’t sure if she was ready to learn the depths of my abilities. Most people couldn’t handle it and chalked the shit my brothers and I could do up to stuff you saw in the movies. Fictional. Which was why we kept our shit carefully guarded. She was the first person I’d let it slip around that wasn’t family or club.
Well, the only one to live to tell about it anyway.
“Then what the hell was that?”
“If you go along with my plan, not only will I be able to keep you safe, I’ll tell you what that was about. Deal?”
She appeared to consider my request. Then she asked, “What exactly would I have to do to be your ol’ lady, and how long would we have to pretend to do it?”
I gripped her jaw firmly between my thumb and fingertips, ensuring she listened closely.
“This wouldn’t be temporary. You would wear my mark. You would be mine.”
She swallowed hard as I paused.
“Forever.”
“I Really Wish I Hated You”—Blink 182
“Ogun,” I tried to reason with him. “You can’t want to tie yourself to me simply because you think it will save me from something that may or may not happen. How do I know that the information you somehow acquired is accurate?”
“Because it was my club that was approached to do the job.”
If I wasn’t freaked out before, that did it. Fear seeped in around me, nearly smothering me. “Excuse me? Why in the hell would you be contacted for that?”
He heaved a heavy sigh. “That’s club business.”
“Club business?” I asked with a raised brow as I tried to push back out of his arms. Except he held me tight.
“Yeah. Club business. That means, for your safety, I can’t discuss it with you or anyone who isn’t a brother. It’s nothing personal.” His hand smoothed my hair and tried to comfort me.
“Hmm,” I said as I shook in his arms. Though I wasn’t ready to let it drop, I had a feeling I wasn’t getting anything else out of him. Not that I liked it, but I let it go for the moment. Sw
allowing down my fear, I asked, “What exactly does it mean to get your mark?”
He bit his lip, and I watched as his pupils nearly took over his eyes as his nostrils flared slightly. If I wasn’t mistaken, that hard rod pressing into me got significantly thicker.
“It means that you get tattooed.”
“I’ve never gotten a tattoo,” I admitted nervously. “I’ve always wanted one, but never knew what I wanted.”
“Oh, believe me, I noticed. The thought of my mark being the first ink on your silky skin is enough to make me want to bend you over the counter.” His voice was husky with need, and I seemed to feed on his building desire.
“I might not object to that,” I said in a breathy voice I barely recognized. The pulsing of my core increased as I visualized him following through with it. Anything to get me out of this nightmare I seemed to have stepped into with both feet.
He actually growled as he lifted me up and over his shoulder. I let out a surprised squeal.
“Ogun!” He ignored me. “Voodoo!” He smacked my ass, and I froze.
Before I knew it, he was setting me on the counter and his fingers were in the waistband of my pants. “Lift,” he ordered. Like a lost soul, I raised my ass as he tugged my pants and underwear down in one motion. The cool granite under me had me sucking in a startled breath.
Gripping the outside of my legs, he spread them and pressed a kiss to the sensitive skin of my inner thighs. With a sigh, I fell back to rest on my hands. He dropped to his knees, and his hot breath tickled across my wet slit.
In the back of my mind, I knew we still needed to talk about what he’d just told me, but with his hands and mouth strumming me like a guitar, I couldn’t collect my thoughts. When his lips latched on to my clit at the same time as he slipped two fingers into my dripping wet sheath, I fell further into the abyss.
“Oh God,” I gasped. He was relentless. It was both heaven and sweet torture. The sensation overload drove me to squeeze my legs together. Of course, he was having none of it and pushed them open with his shoulders. One hand continued to work its magic, stroking the spot that had me squirming and panting as the other splayed over my lower abdomen.
Voodoo (Royal Bastards MC: Ankeny IA) Page 9