36. Want
Chapter thirty-six
Want
‘Returning late’ was an understatement. Jolie sat on his bed, curled under the covers. Tae-Tae sat on her lap, sound asleep despite the TV being on with all the lights. She had gotten used to sleeping like this; it was the only comfort she had during her time as Vincent’s prisoner. But something was missing.
Helina.
Jolie had taken the photo of Helina from the living room and put it on the nightstand. It was a pathetic attempt to not feel like she was missing a piece of her soul, but she wanted more. She wanted videos. She wanted to hear her voice. Vincent had left her with nothing.
Jolie wanted to know what Adrik was doing to get her back. She never thought to question, because she pretended it wasn’t any of her business, but if she was going to stay in his life, it was her business. Jolie had no intention of just being a bed warmer. She planned to be very active in Adrik’s life, to the point of being annoying.
A knock came, and quickly, David, her servant, entered. He hung up Adrik’s suit, covered in a black encasing, on the back of his door. Two maids came in behind him, vacuuming and brushing lint from the couches. They worked quickly, trying to do so without causing much distraction, but Jolie watched them anyway. “Is Adrik coming back?”
“Yes,” David answered. “We received word he’ll be here in the next ten minutes. Could I bring your cat back to your room, ma’am?” Jolie didn’t want to let go, but Tae-Tae’s food and litter box were in her room. She reluctantly handed him over. After the maids cleaned the bathroom, they departed, and Jolie sat in the emptiness, now more nervous than ever.
She had come up with a plan to gain Adrik’s trust back. And one of those was simple. She was going to be herself. Adrik hadn’t really gotten to see all of who she was. There wasn’t a lot of time back when they first started dating. But if she could show him what she could bring to the table, how she could provide for him, she didn’t doubt she could fix them. As Tatianna had said, she would fight in a way she knew how. She would never be a killer or knowledgeable in mafia politics, so she couldn’t help Adrik in that way. But she had other strengths, and she was positive he needed them.
Jolie popped to her feet when the door opened. She darted into the living room, pausing as she saw Adrik. He had his head pressed against the door, a fist curling around the fabric of his suit. “Adrik?”
He snapped around, all levels of weakness draining from him, and he straightened his back. “I didn’t know you were here.”
She gave a soft smile. “I thought I could stay now. Since your father…” Her words drifted; she was sorry she even said them. It was another brick on him with all that’s been going on. Jolie felt silly for expecting their relationship troubles to have any precedence in his life.
“Are you okay? ”
“Fine,” he quipped, and walked past her.
She sighed at his disregard but pushed, nonetheless. “Did you eat? Are you hungry?”
The door shut to the bathroom.
Jolie thought the struggle between them was getting better, or maybe she was hoping for no more punishment. The way he acted in front of her parents made her believe she was forgiven, but she should have known better. He knew how to pretend. Only here in the bedroom was he allowed to be his real self.
But that wasn’t true, was it? He changed when he knew she was there. He still had walls around him, and she didn’t know if she could break through them.
I won’t know until I try.
If she kept allowing him to push her away, it would become normal. And she didn’t want it to be. She needed to reinforce the idea that he could pretend with everyone else but be genuine with her.
Jolie opened the door. His shirt had been discarded, leaving him only in black pants. She could see all his interlocking tattoos, beautiful against the muscle of his biceps, but underneath the ink were telling signs of injuries. Yellow skin peeked out from in between tattoos from healing welts. He had his hands on the counter and a bowed head. A necklace dangled, with a ring attached to it. “Leave, Jolie.”
She approached him slowly and rested a hand on his back. “What happened?”
He clenched his teeth and met her gaze in the mirror. “Get undressed.”
“What?”
“How do I know you don’t have a wire on? ”
Jolie knew what he was doing. It was a push tactic, a way to get her out of the room. But she was done with it. He was so used to manipulating; it was a natural reaction, but she was about to show him he wasn’t going to have his way anymore.
She took off her shirt. She was braless, and her breasts were exposed. She shoved her pants and panties down, stepping out of them. Then looked at him in the mirror, with a tight-knit smile.
Adrik met her gaze, showing her that nothing she exposed was what he wanted. “Get out.”
“Adrik—”
From his ankle, Adrik pulled out a butterfly knife, flicking it open in one smooth action before he had it against her throat. Her eyes were wide, but she kept her teeth clenched and her body still. “I told you once that lies to me were like knife wounds. So where do you want them?” He slid the tip along her collarbone, down between her breasts. A red trail awakened on her skin. Though her breathing increased, she stayed still, not pushing away or running. “You trust that I won’t cut you. Like I trusted you wouldn’t cut me.”
She swallowed hard, her body shivering. “I’m sorry.”
He scoffed at the word.
“Do it,” Jolie said suddenly. She latched onto his hand with both of hers, and his eyes widened. “Do it. Get your revenge.”
“You think it’s that easy? I cut you, and I forgive you? No, Jolie. That’s not equal justice, is it?”
“Then, what is?” Disappointment made her tear up. She wanted it to be over. She wanted them to go back to the way they were before. “Whatever you want from me, just take it. ”
Adrik glanced down. His blade between her breasts was a picture of perfection. Six weeks without enjoying her, and he was caught in a moment of lust he couldn’t fight against. “Whatever I want?” He dragged the edge of the knife to her nipple and bit his lip.
Jolie could feel the change in him, and she latched onto it. If sex was the only way to get to him, then she was going to use it. “Whatever you want,” she repeated, breathless.
Adrik dropped the knife and swept his arm around her waist, pulling her naked body against his as he kissed her. She gave into him instantly, her hands in his hair, her body curving into him. After the day he had, this was what he needed. The hit of cocaine he took before coming home was only now taking effect, but the amount of alcohol in his system made the world wobbly, and he braced one hand against the door while the other kept on her back, keeping her tight against him.
Adrik broke apart from her lips to bury his face against her breasts. He kissed and licked till he took her nipple between his teeth. Her breath hitched, and her body arched, nearly pushing him to his limit from such a little movement.
Adrik broke from her mouth and shifted her to the counter before he kneeled. She tried to hide herself, but as he kissed up her thighs, her hands drifted to the ledge, helping her balance. She leaned back, resting her legs over his shoulders. He pulled her pussy lips apart, exposing the nub of her clit. She had a beautiful cunt, newly shaved since their last encounter, leaving her pussy lips like a silk rose. He admired it, a finger tracing the line of her vagina. He teased the nub with his thumb before reaching out with the tip of his tongue, getting it wet. The hitch of her breath encouraged him to flick his tongue back and forth before retreating. He wanted to play with it more. His finger danced across her nub, and every buck of her hips told him she was enjoying it, despite how hard she tried to be quiet. She’d warm up soon enough, and her moans would fill this room.
Adrik looked up, her breasts heaving with every breath, her mouth open, her eyes closed. Her look of enjoyment was picturesque; another moment he’d capture if she’d let him videotape her. But he was sure she wasn’t quite ready for that kind of foreplay.
Adrik’s attention went back to her pussy. He slipped a finger inside. It was perfectly wet, and his finger came out with a shine of her juices. He pushed it in again and again, like he was making love to her, gently, slowly, only increasing in speed as the seconds ticked, and then he was pounding her with his hand.
He pulled the finger out and sucked on it, groaning. She tasted like sweet sugar. Adrik attacked her pussy with his tongue, the tip at first flicking over her nub. Then he flattened his tongue and ran up between her lips, like he was licking an ice cream cone. A deep, heavily suppressed moan vibrated down into her core. Her hand slipped into his hair, pushing him closer, telling him what she couldn’t say. He hurried his pace, shaking his head at a violent speed, and she came against his face, clenching his head between her shuddering thighs. She slipped a hand between them, forcing him to stop licking at her delicious juices as her pussy became too sensitive to touch, but he gripped her wrist, holding her back so he could finish. She jerked and bucked, pleading for him to stop.
Adrik stepped back, detaching every limb, if only to admire her from a distance. Jolie curled into herself, barely able to open her eyes to look at him as she panted. For months, he had dreamed of tasting her again. It relieved an ache in his chest that she was finally back in his hands. But there were differences he marked now from his memory. She was thinner than before, and her ribs and hip bones were more visible. Her breasts had also lost some fat to them.
Adrik hated the changes. He’d ensure she ate three times a day until she returned to her normal weight. He’d fix everything Vincent screwed up—even her sleeping with all the stupid lights on.
“Go lay down.”
He loved how she nodded and walked back to his room in a daze. She’d forget about her question and how she found him, and they could move on. Despite her efforts to get him to unload on her, he didn’t want to talk. There was no replacing his father, Alexei, and Gil, the three people he’d gone to with every problem. And he wasn’t about to try. Jolie would accept that he was only half of the man he was, and he’d accept that she could no longer be trusted.
It was a true mafia love story.