by Belle Aurora
The cute blonde standing next to Anika peered over my head to see behind me, then smirked. Faith Lewis made a show, raising a single brow. “Like, I think you know him, Nastasia.”
My heart stuttered, and I spun around quickly, any appearance of cool officially gone.
Oh.
My stomach sank in disappointment. It wasn’t the person I wanted it to be, but when he jerked his chin in my direction, a slow smile tugged at my lips, and I lifted my hand in a demure greeting.
He strode toward me with three friends in tow, and the moment he got near enough, his face dipped close to mine and he kissed my cheek in a move that secretly stunned me. I put a quick hand to my stomach to ease the flutter.
This was strange. I wasn’t used to this. Guys were normally too scared to come within walking distance of me, and with my brothers burning holes into them with a simple stare, I didn’t even blame them. The familiarity in which he treated me was new. After a quick thought, I decided I liked it.
Okay, so he wasn’t Vik, but he still kept my belly warm, and my cheeks flushed. And until the moment Vik would realize the gift he had in me, I was a free agent. I begged myself to play it cool, but my fingers came up to brush the place he kissed me.
The moment he caught the move, his eyes crinkled in the corners. I should’ve been embarrassed, and maybe it was the beer, but I just couldn’t find the will to care.
Instead, I craned my neck up to look at him. “Tino.”
Santino Ricci took a small step closer. “Beautiful Nas.”
Anika’s eyes looked like they might just pop right out of her head, and I could have imagined it, but I swear she, Carla, and Faith grouped together and squee’d very, very quietly.
This caught the attention of the guys hovering behind him. One of them took a long look at Anika, and a slow grin formed. “How you doin’?”
He was tall, well-dressed, and looked at her like he was a hungry lion and she was the only bunny rabbit he wanted to eat.
Anika looked like she might choke on her own tongue. When she attempted to respond, all she managed to do was let out a little squeak.
Oh God, Ani.
She, like me, was not used to guys being so forward. All the boys at school knew we were off limits thanks to our brothers, which, understandably, left us a little awkward around guys our age.
Seclusion was the price you paid for being a mob princess.
Embarrassed, she blushed prettily, then dipped her chin to hide her smile. “Good.”
Distracted by the handsome man in front of me, I ignored them and grinned. “Aren’t you a little old to be attending high school parties?”
“Damn, girl. You’re mean.” His smile was sly as he placed a hand over his heart, rubbing at the make-believe ache. “Maybe I should just leave you to it.”
“No.” My hand shot out to his before I could stop myself. He looked down at my hand in his for a moment, then squeezed it gently. Now I was mortified. That did not stop my beer-loosened tongue from saying, “Don’t go.”
“Crap. Nas.” Anika grabbed my arm.
“Yeah,” I uttered vaguely as I stared up into Tino’s handsome face.
But the hand on my arm tugged at me. Her tone was sharper this time. “Nas.”
I spun on her, annoyed, and snapped, “What?”
She looked past me to the open doorway and responded evenly, “Your brothers are here.”
What the shit?
Fuck.
I was almost too scared to look.
Licking my lips, I feigned confidence I did not have as I turned in their direction, then immediately wished I hadn’t.
Lev stared down at the masculine hand holding mine while Sasha’s piercing gaze met my eyes squarely. When Lev’s hands fisted by his sides, my stomach flip-flopped.
Oh no.
I did not need my quirky brother to have a moment. Not now.
Please, God, not now.
It was bad enough having the reputation our family had. I was already labelled a misfit. My social status—or lack thereof—did not need this.
Thankfully, when Lev moved to stalk toward Tino, Sasha stopped him, speaking directly into his ear. Lev immediately calmed, losing the raging fire in his eyes, and my heartbeat steadied, thankful for Sasha’s interjection.
Strangely, my brothers didn’t start for me. Instead, they moved off to the side, keeping a distance while watching me with an eagle’s eye.
In a weird way, I was grateful. I didn’t know what they were doing there, but it seemed they weren’t going to embarrass me in front of the entire senior class.
Reminding me of the warm hand clasping mine, Tino spoke into my ear, “Your brothers?”
I faced him. “Yeah.”
Tino didn’t take his eyes off of them. “Are we good?”
My shrug was light. “I think so. I mean, you’re not a bloody heap at my feet, so I guess.”
Just as Tino smiled and tugged at my hand to pull me closer, Anika cussed, hiding her drink. And I internally sighed. Without even looking, I felt his penetrating gaze all over me, and when Tino peered over my head, puffing out a long breath, I smiled sadly.
We looked at each other woefully, knowing we would never have our chance.
Tino merely shook his head, then spoke through an exhale, “Maybe in another lifetime.”
When a strong hand slipped into my free one, grasping it tightly, I found myself slipping out of Tino’s hold and holding onto the intruder’s like a lifeline.
This wasn’t a choice. There was no choosing. No one could ever compete with the man radiating waves of anger and clutching at my hand like he owned me. Because he did.
Tino didn’t bother to hide his glare. “Viktor.”
But Vik didn’t bother with niceties. “Grab your shit, Ani. We’re leaving.”
Like me, Anika knew better than to argue in front of a crowd. With a huff of complaint, she pushed off the wall, gave her friends a small wave, and shot the guy she was talking to a dejected smile. With complete grace and elegance, she all but glided past me, and while she got away to safety, I was stuck here with the jerk who equally made me want to kill for him while also wanting to kill him.
The space around us changed. I knew something was coming. There was a tension in the air that felt suffocating, and it was building. I just didn’t know what it was building to.
That was when Vik opened his mouth. There was a rough quality to his voice. “If you know what’s good for you, Ricci, you’ll stay away from Nas.”
Ah. There it was.
I wished Tino was the type to back down. Alas, he was not. “Or what, Vik?”
Oh no. No.
A tiny part of me wanted to go over to Tino and slap my hand over his mouth. I would have if I didn’t know how weak it would make him appear.
Vik took a threatening step forward, releasing my hand, and the words shot out of his mouth like bullets from a gun. “Or I’ll put you down like the diseased animal you are.” He pulled up his shirt, and it didn’t take a genius to know that Vik had shown him his piece. “Don’t fuck with me, boy. You got hundreds of girls out here.”
My anger spiked. Yeah, I was mad, but sometimes when Vik spoke, he said things that made my insides do funny things.
His voice low and full of menace, Vik declared, “You can’t have her. She belongs to me.”
Simultaneously, my nipples tightened painfully as my core began to pulse.
Fuck me sideways.
Ugh. Why did that turn me on? What was wrong with me? I was a freak.
Also, why was the air so thick in here? My fingers came up to pull at the collar of my blouse. I was struggling to breathe in this bitch.
When I saw Tino struggle to keep his mouth shut, I saved him from doing something very stupid and stepped forward to slip my hand into Vik’s, holding it tightly while my other hand circled his wrist, pulling gently. “C’mon.”
But Vik wasn’t ready to leave. He looked Tino up and down, his darkened ga
ze holding a promise of violence if we didn’t get out of there soon.
“Vik.” I pressed my body into his arm, and when I regained his focus, he looked down at me. “I’m ready to go now.”
His expression softened, and he spoke quietly, “Okay, baby. Let’s go.”
I was a teenage girl in the arms of a beast, and I’ll be honest—as Vik walked me through the house with his hand gripping mine, peering at the people around us, daring them to say a fucking word, my chest expanded with an unnamed emotion that felt a little like pride.
This was new and exciting. I really shouldn’t have, but I liked this feeling.
My brothers provided a protective barrier around Anika as we made an exit, and when we approached our respective cars, Vik released my hand and shot Anika a look. She appeared puzzled for a moment but then lightly rolled her eyes and said almost robotically, “Are you still going to sleep over, Nas?” Which had never been the plan.
“Uh—”
Before I could say a single word, Vik pressed a button, unlocking the car. “Get in.”
My heart stopped, then started again with a boom. I hesitated, because my brothers weren’t dumb. They had to know what was going on. Vik wasn’t even making an attempt to hide it.
Imagine my stunned surprise when Sasha said, “Call me when you want to come home.”
“I—”
But I was once again rudely cut off by Vik. “No need. I have to come down for the meet tomorrow. I’ll drop her off then.”
Vik rounded the car and helped me in, shutting the door behind me, and for a moment, Ani and I were alone in the car.
“You didn’t have to do that.” My voice was barely a whisper.
Ani just looked out the window. “You make him happy, Nas.”
The words made my heart grow four whole sizes, but the way she said it made me feel awful. I tried not to take it personally. Of course, she felt weird about my odd non-relationship with her brother. It was a big secret to carry, but she did that for us without a word of complaint.
My insides felt jumpy when we arrived at the house, and while Ani let herself in through the front door, Vik took my hand and led me to the private entrance to his room at the side of the house. He placed me in front of him, reaching past me to unlock the door, and my heartbeat began to quicken.
I was nervous.
What was my problem? I’d been in the converted basement bedroom many times before.
But you’ve never slept there.
There was an energy vibrating around us, and as I led him down the steps on wobbling feet and into his space, my eyes were immediately drawn to the king-sized bed to the left.
I instantly wondered how it would feel to have his weight on me, to feel his bare skin on mine.
His room had a quietly masculine theme to it. The simple furniture was all dark woods, the sheets of his bed were black silk, and the plush sofa to the right was gunmetal-gray.
Vik placed his keys and piece into the first drawer of the nightstand, then he was in front of me. He looked me over and huffed out a soft breath. “You drive me crazy, you know that?”
The unmissable annoyance in his tone had me fighting a smile. My brows rose. “I never half-ass anything. You know that.”
Vik’s eyes lit with amusement. What a pair we were.
Quite suddenly, his expression turned serious, and he reached up to brush his knuckles lightly over my lips. “Do you?”
I closed my eyes, pressing a gentle kiss to the passing caress. “Do I what?”
“Do you belong to me?”
My eyes opened leisurely to find his intense gaze on me, unblinking.
God. He was killing me. A single look and I was slayed.
I could see it in his eyes; there was an urgency worn openly. He needed a response. He needed to hear the words. Ever obliging, I stepped into the warmth of his body and tilted my head up to peer into his eyes. “Forever and always.”
Yes, I was a teenager, but I also knew my own heart. I meant what I said.
There could only be forever with Vik.
One strong arm snaked around me as the other came up to rest at my nape. His fingers tangled in my hair, and I gasped lightly as he gently tugged my head to the side, exposing my neck to him. He moved at a leisurely pace, planting slow, hot kisses under the right side of my jaw.
And I forgot how to breathe.
Vik just had a way about him. The way he touched me made me feel worshipped, revered, as if he were kneeling at the altar of a goddess. Every kiss was a sinner’s prayer. The returning brush of my lips absolved him.
Abruptly, all the sensations flowing through me felt like an assault. My lungs tight, I took in a deep, shaking breath as my hands reached up to grasp the front of his shirt, desperately needing the support.
“Kiss me,” I breathed.
Vik looked at me then in the way I had always wanted him to.
Like a man who wanted a woman more than he wanted his next breath.
He dipped his face and held it close, his lips hovering a hairsbreadth from mine.
And I begged. “Please.”
The word glanced his lips, and he closed the connection. As his lips met mine, I smiled into the kiss, my soul creaking, then cracking before breaking wide open.
My body yielded, and it was a disaster.
One kiss from this man and my heart was no longer mine alone.
His arm tightened around me, pulling me impossibly close as he tilted his head before claiming my mouth deeply, hungrily.
It was one of those moments. Life-altering. I knew I would never be the same.
Feelings of warmth and safety washed over me, the taste of him addictive. These were no sweet kisses. They were pure, raw emotion in physical form.
I may have not been the smartest person, but I knew a kiss from Santino Ricci would pale in comparison. He could never do for me what Viktor Nikulin did. No other man could.
Vik noiselessly spun me and began walking. I permitted myself to be led, and when he lowered me to the bed, I found that what little reservations I had vanished. I didn’t need to wave a white flag to surrender myself to him completely.
His deft hands pulled at my blouse, then tugged at my jeans, leaving me in my black bra and unmatching purple panties. He did not undress himself as carefully as he had me. His black tee was ripped up and over his head, revealing a broad chest and tight stomach. When he kicked his shoes off, they flew in different directions, landing with a dull thud. I felt the insane urge to laugh as he struggled to undo his belt and throw off his jeans. But the moment my eyes raked over his strong, fit body, the mirth I felt was replaced with desire raking over me like licks of fire teasing my skin.
Vik crawled over me, wearing nothing but his dark-gray boxers. And they did nothing to hide his want. His eyes smiled as he lowered his face to mine. I lifted myself to meet him halfway, our mouths melding together in a dance I wasn’t sure I knew the steps to. But with Vik guiding me, I was a quick study.
Soon enough, what little we wore ended up on the floor, and when Vik kissed his way down my body to kiss me where I’d never been kissed before, my body flinched and jerked at all the new sensations. It was nice until I unexpectedly felt like my entire body was about to spontaneously combust. And when I reached a peak higher than I’d ever climbed before, I gripped the back of his head and pushed his mouth deeper into me, whimpering quietly.
No, no, no, no, no.
The electricity inside me built higher and higher, humming loudly, until the voltage was too much to handle. A fuse blew, and something inside of me exploded. My body shaking, my mouth opened in a silent scream as my eyes rolled into the back of my head.
Holy shiiit.
As I came down from a high I’d never experienced, my heart raced, and a long, weak moan escaped me as my body continued to jerk every few seconds.
It felt like being electrocuted in the best damn way.
Licking my lips, I still felt my heart pounding through my che
st and waited for my breathing to return to normal. Weak as a kitten, my body turned lax.
After Vik wiped his cheeks across my inner thighs, he crawled over and trapped me between his solid arms, searching my face. “Okay, baby?”
Limp as a wet noodle, I shot him a feeble smile. “Yeah.” But it felt incomplete. He ran gentle fingers across my jaw but stilled when I said, “I want to have sex.”
His expression was almost comical. I’d never seen a man look like he’d both won the lottery but was also scared of the winnings.
“Are you sure?”
When he didn’t make me beg, I loved him all the more.
Of course I was. I wanted nothing but honesty between us. My hand came up, and I cupped his lightly stubbled cheek. “I don’t want anyone else.”
He hesitated only a moment, but when his body covered mine, I felt like I’d won the lottery too, and Vik and I shared the prize. He was gentle, and we went slow. It was everything I ever wanted, and to share this act with Viktor Nikulin made it perfect.
It hurt. Oh God, it hurt. But I was so distracted by the scent of him, the feel of him, those intense kisses, that it hurt only momentarily before it started to feel good.
Really good.
And as his pace picked up, I lifted my hips in a way that felt natural, meeting him thrust for thrust. In awe, I watched his face contort, and when he lost control, his body rigid, pulling out and thrusting into the tight grip of his fist, releasing onto my stomach, I felt more powerful than I ever had in my entire being.
It was beautiful. Real.
Sure, it didn’t last very long, but it held a promise of better things to come.
This experience was one I would cherish forever. Vik did everything right. I allowed him to clean me up, and when he was done, he lay back down and pulled me into his side, gently stroking my back.
Admittedly, what he said afterward wasn’t very romantic but still pleased me. He tilted my chin and kissed me softly. “I’ll have to buy condoms.”
With that statement, he’d not only admitted he wasn’t sleeping with any other girls, but he also acknowledged we would be doing this again. He didn’t know it, but his non-flowery words were exactly what I needed to hear.
Happy as a clam, I tucked my face into the side of his chest and whispered, “I love you, Vik.”