Chapter 12 - Katerina
He lifts me against his taut, muscular body, and my heart races even faster as I press my lips against his and he carries me away from the front room into a more private area.
I can’t believe I’m not stopping him. But I can’t. I can’t stop this. I’m so desperate to have him inside me, to feel him again.
I’ve been fighting this for weeks. Actually, since the night we spent together.
And for what? Why shouldn’t I give in to the temptation that he teases me with on a daily basis?
His charm. That smile. The devilish glances.
His sweetness. His tenderness. His rolling laughter makes my heart spin.
His fucking hot body. His broad hands and long fingers, and how gently he pushes me over the edge with one touch.
I groan as he sets me down with my ass on the edge of a workbench and my legs pushed apart. Yulian runs his hands up my legs, over my hips, pushing my dress out of the way and thrusting himself against me.
I let my teeth drag over his lip, and he growls, reaching up to grab a handful of my hair. He tugs my head back and grazes his teeth over my neck. I shiver in delight as pleasure shoots through me.
“You can do whatever you want,” I whisper, my heart racing.
“Oh, darling, I plan to,” he whispers darkly, his breath hot against my ear.
My body tingles with fear and excitement as he shoves my legs wider apart and hooks his finger beneath my panties.
I squeal in fright when he rips them from my body, tearing them away easily.
My nails dig through his shirt into his skin, and he groans as pleasure mixes with pain.
Yulian leans over me, grabbing something behind me. Then he pushes my hands behind my back and begins to bind my wrists with strips of fabric that were lying on my desk.
I gasp in shock. “Wait,” I stammer, trying to wiggle my wrists free.
He laughs, wicked and sexy, and shakes his head. “No, darling, you said I could do anything I want.”
With my hands bound tightly behind my back, I feel vulnerable, but more turned on than ever before.
He wraps his fingers around my ankle and pulls one of my feet up onto the table, resting the heel of my sneaker on the edge.
I’m so exposed, my pussy spread open for him.
He reaches out and grabs me around the throat, pulling me towards his lips and pressing his mouth over mine as he tugs his jeans open.
I feel him free his cock.
It pushes against me, between my legs, making me desperate for him.
He takes it in his hand and rubs the tip of his throbbing cock over my pussy, teasing me, spreading my wetness over himself. I can’t take it anymore, and I try to rock forward, to push him into me.
He laughs darkly.
“Is this what you want, kitten?” he asks, pushing the tip of his cock into my pussy. I can barely breathe; it feels so incredible.
“Yes,” I gasp.
I think he was trying to tease me, to show me how in control he was. But when I look at his face, I see he is slipping over the edge.
His fingers tighten around my throat, and I smile, biting my lip as I watch him lose himself.
He thrusts deeper into me, his eyes flaring, his jaw clenching as his cock buries all the way inside me and my pussy pulses around him.
Yulian doesn’t move. He lets himself throb inside me. Each minute flicker of his cock sends a ripple through me and makes me wetter than before.
When he does slowly pull back, I’m struggling to breathe.
He shoves forward again, slamming into me, spreading my pussy open and filling me up.
Yulian loses control in that moment. One hand tightens around my throat and his other around my waist. His fingers dig into my skin as he begins to fuck me with savage force.
Over and over again, his cock penetrates me, pushing deep inside me, a dance of pleasure and desire.
A wildness that is spilling from both of us as I moan and gasp with each thrust.
He tugs me closer to the edge of the desk, grinding himself into me. Each rocking movement rubs the base of his cock against my clit, and it’s making me lose my mind.
“Eyes open, Kitten. I want to see those beautiful turquoise pools when you come. I want to watch you lose yourself with my cock inside you.” His voice is so commanding, so intimidating, that I don’t dare disobey him.
He grinds harder, moving from side to side, rubbing himself over me while his cock moves inside me.
I can’t take it anymore.
It’s too much. It’s too intense.
My body spasms as bolts of lightning shoot through me. Wave after wave, the orgasm steals my breath and my thoughts. It leaves me gasping and glittering with perspiration.
Yulian watches me with dark eyes, locked onto me.
When my orgasm ends, his begins, and he fucks me hard until it’s over.
Before he pulls out of me, he kisses me. The kiss is what makes me question everything. But I deny it. Tuck the thought away. Pretend I’ve misunderstood.
This is just sex. Nothing else. Nothing more. It was a passionate encounter. An unrestrained moment of pleasure.
Just sex.
Shaken by the kiss and how incredible it was to be with him, I slide off the edge of the workbench and giggle nervously as I straighten my dress. “I should get back to work,” I say, redirecting the entire moment to avoid the awkwardness that he doesn’t seem aware of.
“Go for it. I’m going to be working on a few things here, then I’ll give you a ride home later. We can stop and grab takeout on the way,” he smiles, tugging his pants closed.
Dammit, he’s sexy. His hair is tousled, wild and messy. His face is glowing, and that smile…fuck…that smile is incredible.
To my surprise, once he’s dressed and straightened out, he steps close to me and kisses me again. He doesn’t say anything when he smiles at me afterwards, but his eyes are speaking to me. I can’t help smiling, too.
It was just sex, Katerina. He’s in the afterglow of how good it was. You are, too. That’s all.
***
It took me a week to make his suit. And holy shit, it looks so damn good on him, I want to scream when we walk into the gala, and he’s wearing my design.
I made myself a dress to complement his suit. It’s a tight-fitting design in black with neon orange edging and grey geometric panels around my waist. I feel sexy, bold, and high fashion.
Yulian has his head held high and a confident smile on his face. I notice how many people are looking at us. He has this way of acting like he doesn’t notice, even though I know he sees everything with those sharp eyes.
“Wow, bro, that’s one hell of a suit. Fuck me, it looks good,” Arkady walks over us, taking in the sight of his brother.
“Katerina designed it. It’s fucking great, hey?” he says proudly, pulling me close.
“Are you serious? You made this?” Arkady stammers.
“She made it, but she’s designing under the name Kat Lake. So if anyone asks, that’s brand,” Yulian says.
A woman steps to Arkady’s side and slips her arm through his.
Arkady grins and pulls her closer, wrapping his arm around her waist instead. “This is Tania. I’m sure you two have met, though,” he says.
“I don’t believe we have,” I shake my head in confusion.
Tania grins, holding her hand out to me, “Tania Krolik, your cousin.”
“Oh my goodness, Tania. Wow. I mean, obviously, I knew you existed, but it’s like you were ghosted from the family before we moved here.”
“Well,” she giggles, “I did marry an Andreev. So, yes, I was ghosted. One hundred percent.”
“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean…” My cheeks flush red.
“No, sweetie, I have zero regrets. I’ve never been happier in my life.”
I bite my lip and glance at Yulian, who chuckles at me, seeing how I put my foot in my mouth. Luckily, Tania is lovely, and she brushes it off with grace.
I can’t believe I didn’t know she was married to Arkady. My brothers never told me about her. I only knew I had a cousin and that she’d been disowned for some reason. This is such a surprise to me.
“Does my brother know?” I ask, knitting my brows.
“Artur knows. I guess he’s embarrassed to admit he’s related to me, so it’s easier not to talk about me at all,” she shrugs.
“He’s a moron. He should have told me. Especially when we moved here.”
“I never got along with Boris. He and Artur were much closer than we ever were. Boris was a difficult man, and I wish he hadn’t been the one to feed Artur information about how this city works.
It was tainted with his own agenda. But anyway, enough about that.
Your dress looks amazing. Did I just hear Arkady say that you designed the suit? Then you designed the dress, as well?”
As we move through the party, my designs catch a lot of attention, and Yulian doesn’t miss an opportunity to brag about my brand to the people he knows without using my real name. I’m glowing with pride by the time he introduces me to one of the Dubrovs. At first, I’m shocked when I hear the name.
I’ve learned of the Dubrovs. They are incredibly powerful. A family you do not cross, under any circumstances. But here they are, friendly with the Andreevs, treating them like brothers.
How can that be?
The Dubrov empire is one of the more impressive ones I’ve ever heard of.
And they’re good people. I know my brother was really eager to try and meet up with one of the Dubrov brothers to try and barter an alliance, even if it started out as something small.
He was saying how they were the key to the city.
My uncle was going around telling everyone that the Andreevs are backstabbers and betrayers, that they play dirty and kill innocent people—if that were true, there is no way that the Dubrovs would interact with them at all.
But they’re treating them like family. That speaks so much to their character.
Again, I see proof that my uncle was the liar in this whole mess.
My brothers have it all wrong.
They were fed bad information. They had no reason to question it because they trusted Boris. But they were lied to.
With Yulian’s arm around my waist, I watch him and two of the Dubrov brothers laugh together, talking about some incident that happened at one of their dinners. They look like old friends.
With a smile on my face, I glance around the rest of the gala, taking in the energy, the atmosphere, and feeling happy. Genuinely happy.
That is, until I catch a glimpse of my brother, Abram, pushing his way through the crowd.
My heart turns cold. My blood turns to ice. My mouth drops open as I stare in disbelief.
“Fuck,” I whisper under my breath. This is so bad. So bad.
Do they know I’m here? What are they doing here? I have to hide. I have to stay out of sight.
Shit.
“Yulian, I’m just going to get some fresh air for a second. I won’t be long. Do you want another drink from the bar?” I say, tugging his arm to get his attention.
“I’ll come with you…”
“No, don’t be silly. I also need to pee. I won’t be long at all. I just want to take a break from the noise.”
“You sure? I don’t mind coming with you,” he scowls, unhappy to have me moving away from him. I wonder if he’s worried I’ll try and escape? That doesn’t make sense, though, because if I wanted to escape, I could have done it a thousand times already.
Why haven’t I?
The realization that I’ve honored my agreement not to attempt any more escapes makes my stomach knot a little tighter. I nervously search for my brother again, trying to act calm.
“I’ll be right back,” I smile, then stand on my tiptoes and kiss Yulian on the cheek. It’s such a simple gesture, but it spreads a wide smile across his face that makes my stomach flutter.
I hurry away from him, keeping my head low to try and avoid being seen by Abram.
But as I round the corner near the bar, he’s right there.
Abram’s eyes go wide when he sees me, anger flashing across his face, his jaw clenched tight. “So, the rumors were true?” he hisses quietly.
Abram grabs my arm and tugs me towards a corner of the room where he can speak to me more privately. “What are you doing here?” he snarls.
“I’m…I’m getting a drink.” My heart is racing so fast I feel dizzy.
“You know that’s not what I meant, Katerina. Why are you here, hanging out with the Andreevs? We’ve been searching for you everywhere. We heard a rumor that you were seen with one of the brothers, but we thought it could never be true. Yet here you are…”
He spits his words like an accusation. Like I’ve committed a crime. I understand that in his eyes, this is a crime. A crime against the family.
“It’s not what it looks like,” I stammer, unsure how to explain.
“So, you’ve been kidnapped? You’re being held against your will? Are you in danger?” he asks, glancing around, his hand sliding to the concealed Glock at his hip.
“No, it’s…no, they aren’t bad people, Abram. Yulian is kind and…”
“Kind? Are you fucking kidding me? Have they brainwashed you?” he snarls, grabbing my shoulders and giving me a little shake.
“Stop that,” I snap, pushing his hands away. The last thing I want to do is cause a scene.
Abram is scouting the venue again. I can see him plotting, looking for a way to get me out. But there are guards everywhere, literally at every corner and every exit.
“Fuck,” he huffs, shaking his head.
He turns to me with a warning in his eyes. “Get yourself home, Katerina, before Artur finds out about this. Get home, if you want to show where your loyalty truly lies, and not betray your entire family….”
He glares at me, his eyes cold and full of accusation. Then he spins away and storms out of the party, leaving me with a heavy sinking pit of regret flooding my body.
That didn’t go well at all.
I should have planned better for it. I should have thought of something to say.
I fumbled and made things worse, and now my brother thinks I’m betraying my own family.
How can I get them to understand that it was Boris who betrayed us all?
With a heavy heart, I make my way back to Yulian, not mentioning that I saw my brother or what he said. I smile and try to enjoy the rest of the party, but it’s impossible. My thoughts are clouded with worry.