Chapter 18
He’s naked.
Not a stitch of clothing on his body. And there’s so much to see, I’m not sure where to look first.
No, that’s not right. I do. His shoulders. That’s a safe place to set my eyes. There’s nothing sexual about shoulders.
At least there wasn’t until I got a look at Lev’s shoulders. His arms, starting at the top all the way down to his wrists, are corded with muscle. And over that muscle he’s covered with dark tattoos. Swirling designs that make their way around skulls boasting various facial expressions.
I didn’t even know skulls could make faces, but these can. Some look like they’re screaming, while others look pensive. Almost lost in thought.
Across his broad, muscular chest is one large tattoo. It’s scripted and in Russian so I don’t know what it says, but it’s beautifully done. Rose vines weave in and out of the piece. My gaze travels lower, and heat courses up my neck, covering my face.
His cock hangs heavy between thick, muscular thighs. And now that I see it, I can’t seem to look away from it.
No wonder it hurt so much yesterday, I think the man was trying to impale me.
Lev the Impaler.
I don’t have time to decide if I’m witty or dumbfounded, because Lev climbs onto the bed with me. One knee, then the other, he prowls the massive king-sized bed until he’s hovering over my face again.
“Ready to admit you were wrong, little warrior?” He questions before he brushes his mouth across my nipple.
Heated shivers run straight to my middle. I squeeze my thighs together tighter.
“I wasn’t wrong.” Was I? What had I said that was wrong?
“No?” He leans down, brushing his thick, warm lips across my collarbone. “You don’t think you were wrong?”
My brain is on strike. I have no idea what he’s talking about.
And he realizes it when he lines up our gazes. His left eyebrow arches into a perfect little peak over his dark eye.
A smile tugs at the corner of his mouth.
“Spread your legs for me,” he orders, gliding his hand over my stomach then down further until his fingers wiggle between my thighs.
“I…this is a bad idea.”
He kisses me. At first it’s soft, yielding, but quickly, it becomes something more. Something intense and claiming. His tongue licks at my bottom lip until I open, just enough for him to slide it through.
Someone moans.
Oh, hell. It’s me. I’m moaning.
It’s his fingers. They’re doing that thing again, touching me.
When did I open my legs?
“You’re much better at obeying when I distract you,” he says, kissing my cheek.
He presses one knee inside my legs, spreading me wider so he can settle between them.
“So stop distracting me.” It’s supposed to be a command. But my voice is as weak as the rest of me when his fingers pull back the hood of my pussy and expose my clit to his attentions.
“This is a good distraction.” He presses the flat of his middle finger over my clit, rubbing it gently in circles.
He’s right. It’s the perfect distraction.
“You’re so expressive,” he says, and my eyes fly open.
When had I closed them? I need to get better at being on my guard around him. He’s plowing through my defenses too easily today.
“So pretty,” he whispers, easing two fingers into my pussy.
Still tender from last night, I tense and push against his shoulders.
“Shhh, it’s okay. It will get better in a second.” He curls his fingers, hitting a magical button deep inside me that sends a tsunami of arousal through my body. “See, better.”
“Yes.” I nod. “Much better.”
He chuckles, dipping his head down and nudging my nipple with the tip of his tongue.
Another sound escapes me as he drags his teeth over the distended peak.
“You like pain mixed with the pleasure,” he says as he bites down over my breast.
I arch my back, hissing with the pain and moaning with the pleasure that courses through my muscles at the same time. It should be impossible to feel so much from such a small bit of sensation.
“Hmmm, your pussy’s so wet for me.” He licks my nipple. “Bend your legs, Max. Hook them on my hips so when I sink into you, you can pull me in.”
“I don’t know.”
He holds himself up on his forearms. “You don’t know?”
A dark swirl of amusement takes over his eyes.
“Do it because I told you to.” His voice is a thrall all on its own when he talks this way. “Do it because deep down you want to obey me. You want me to take control.” He kisses my cheek, my chin. “Do it because if you don’t, you’ll spend the rest of the day wishing you had.”
Damn him.
The head of his dick presses at my entrance. He fists his shaft, maneuvering his cock through my slippery folds, gathering all of my arousal and coating himself with it.
“Last chance, Max.” He pushes the tip of his dick inside me, holding steady as my body begins to soften and stretch around him.
Grabbing my wrists, he pulls them over my head, pinning me down and lining up our gazes.
“Are you going to be a good girl?” The way he asks, the sultry, deep satiny sound of his voice trails over my skin, warming and caressing every inch of me, leaves me drowning in my need for more of him.
“You can say it,” he pushes his cock past my entrance, but not enough, not nearly enough. “Tell me, you’re going to be my good girl. You’re going to be my obedient, good, girl.” He enunciates each word with a small pulse of his cock, pushing forward slightly each time.
“Okay.” I agree with a nod.
“No, Maxine. Say it. I want to hear the words. I want you to say you’ll be my good, obedient girl.”
If I was on fire, he’d hold back the water until he got what he wanted. I may not know everything about him, but I know that much. He’s not going to give me anything until I do as he says.
And something inside me melts in response.
“Lev, please.” I arch my back, lifting my hips in an attempt to go around his order and take what I want.
But I should have known better.
Encompassing one hand around both of my wrists, he uses his free hand to slap my breast.
Hard. And then again.
“Do that again, and I’ll flip you over and spank your ass until it glows, then I’ll fuck you raw and leave you on the edge of an orgasm you’ll be denied.”
Why does that sound so fucking enticing?
“I’m sorry.” I twist my torso, trying to avoid the next slap, but he finds his mark anyway.
And more heat pools between my legs.
A knowing grin crosses his lips. The arrogant fool.
I’m not even sure which of us I’m insulting.
“I’ll be good.” I promise.
He pulses forward another inch. His jaw ticks. At least this is as frustratingly good for him as it is for me, too.
“All of it. Tell me all of it,” he commands.
“I’ll be a good girl, a good, obedient girl.” I bite down on my lower lip. “Please, Lev, fuck me. Please.”
Pleasure…pure, unfiltered pleasure explodes in his expression, and I don’t think I’ve ever been more attracted to a man in my entire life.
He bites down into his bottom lip and plows forward, completely embedding his cock inside me. I cry out. The pain is sudden, but not as bad as the last time. I’m just tender. And full. So fucking full.
“I’m not going to hold back, Max.” He leans onto my wrists. “You’ve tried my patience. I have none left.”
I nod. “Yes. Don’t hold back.”
I hook my ankles around his waist, just like he ordered me. Pulling him into me.
He sighs, a soft sound full of approval just before a grunt of arousal. “Good girl.”
Slowly, he drags his hips back, nearly leaving me all together, but at the last moment, he plows forward and doesn’t relent.
He kisses me, bites my lip, licks the spot.
I’m lost in the feelings, the sensations that continue to bombard me. His fingers swirl around my clit, then press down through the hood onto my clit.
“Oh…oh…” I can’t get enough air.
My heart is racing, my lungs burn, and a thin sheen of sweat covers my skin. It’s too much but at the same time I want more, so much more. And when I think I’m going to go without, he shifts his hips, and I’m thrown again into a deep pit of sweet pleasureful pain.
“Fuck, baby.” He shifts again, twisting as he drives into me. “Fuck.”
He bites down on my shoulder.
“Fuck, so tight. So sweet.” He sucks my earlobe into his mouth. “So good, so fucking good.”
“Lev…I’m...” Before I can even put the words in the right order my orgasm rips through me.
And I scream. I scream his name over and over again while I’m torn apart by the waves of pleasure.
“So good. So good.” He grunts as he thrusts into me, driving me through my release.
I’m panting and sweating and so lost in a fog of pleasure, my legs drop from around his waist.
“Open your legs, that’s it…that’s a good…oh fuck…yes. So good.” He throws his head back again, this time arching his back as he thrusts into me once, twice, then stills.
An animalistic roar fills the room as his own orgasm tears into him. His muscles strain. His fingers tighten around my wrists as he fills me.
Again.
Again, we didn’t use any protection. But my mind is too busy floating in the aftermath to do much other than acknowledge the fact.
Soft kisses pepper against my cheek and chin, then brush across my mouth.
“Are you all right? I was too rough.”
Lev is crooning over me like a wet nurse, wiping my cheek with his hand.
“I’m fine.” I sigh. So much better than fine. There isn’t a word created that can express how utterly satisfied I am at this moment.
“Stay put.” He orders, and again he slips from the bed and goes into the bathroom.
Maybe we should put a few towels in the nightstand, so he doesn’t have to keep running off.
No, what the hell am I thinking. This cannot become a habit; we have to stop. I roll off the bed, snatching up my clothing from the floor. I’m hopping into my jeans when Lev returns from the bathroom, washcloth in hand.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Getting dressed,” I say as I yank my shirt over my head.
“I told you to stay put.”
“Yes. I know.” I find my shoes, a pair of slides I wear for around the house and slip my feet into them. “But I have to make a few phone calls.”
“Who are you calling?”
I turn to face him as I rush my hands through my hair. “My brothers for starters. And then Vivienne. And then my boss.”
He drops the washcloth on the dresser and grabs for his own clothes that are pooled on the floor.
“Your brothers aren’t going to answer you. Vee is probably busy, and why would you call your boss?”
“I’m supposed to work on Monday. I need to talk to him about my schedule—maybe I can get his niece to cover at least the mornings. It’s going to be harder for me to get there from here.” I sigh. “If I stay here.”
Calmly, he walks over to me, sliding his hands on either side of my face until he’s holding me steady. He inhales so deeply, I think he’s sucking all the air from the room. After a count of maybe ten, he lets out his breath then brings his gaze back to mine.
“Ivan is going to leave tomorrow afternoon. We’ll go over in the morning so you can talk with Vee,” his voice is firm but soft. This might be his attempt at a compromise.
“And work?” Might as well press my luck.
His jaw ticks, and I’m a little worried his teeth might actually crack if this keeps up.
“We’ll talk about work later.”
“Why later?”
“Because if we talk about it now, you’ll argue with me. You’ll say something that will earn you a trip over my knee.”
“You can’t keep saying things like that.”
“Because you like it?” His eyebrows raise.
“No!” I’m such a fucking liar.
“We’ll talk about that later, too.”
“About what?”
“Are you having trouble keeping up with me?” He cocks his head.
“No, but you keep saying we’ll talk about things later.”
“The list is getting a little long.” He nods. “I might need to start writing things down.”
“Are you…are you trying to be funny?”
“No.” He breaths out again. “I’m trying not fight with you. So I’m being accommodating. We’ll discuss work later. We’ll see Vee and Ivan tomorrow morning. And in the meantime, you stay out of trouble.”
“I think I can manage that.” It’s the least I can do, really.
“Good.”
“Can I ask a question, though?”
“One.” He releases me and folds his arms over his chest like he’s armored up for a battle.
“Why are you doing all this? I mean…keeping me here. Doing what we just did. You hate me.”
He drops his hands to his sides.
“I’m never said I hated you, Max. You’ve always just assumed it.”
With that, he walks out of the room. Leaving me with more questions and confusion.
My phone dances from where I left it on table in the sitting room, so I hurry in to grab it. Just a social media notification, so I swipe it away.
The vacuum cleaner leans against the wall where Lev placed it. Grabbing it, I hit the power button and get back to work. If I’m going to be staying here, the least I can do is be useful.
Before I can even start where I left off, the door to suite opens and Lev walks back in. He grabs the vacuum from my hands and turns it off.
“No more cleaning. And stay out of trouble.” He turns on his heel and stalks from the room, slamming the door behind him.