Chapter 26
IRIS
Midnight hits, and Nikolai calls it.
“We need to be sharp tomorrow.” He stands, pulling Sofia with him. “Get some sleep.”
Dmitri nods. “Early start. Be ready by seven.”
The group disperses gradually—couples peeling off to separate rooms, the rest of us fading into the compound’s quiet corridors. Alexi’s hand finds my lower back, a silent question and a statement all at once.
Come on,” he says, guiding me toward the east wing.
His room is sparse compared to the penthouse—a bed, a desk, windows overlooking dark woods that seem to stretch endlessly into nothing. He closes the door behind us and stands there for a moment, just breathing, like he needs to confirm I’m real.
“You came for me.” The words escape before I can stop them. “You walked into a federal facility with guns blazing.”
“Of course I did.”
“You could have died.” My voice cracks. “Morrison could have killed you. His men could have—”
“But they didn’t.” He moves closer, unhurried, like he has all the time in the world when we both know he doesn’t.
“That’s not the point.” I pace the small space. “You risked everything. Your brothers. Your family. For me.”
“Iris—”
“I’m just some hacker who breached your systems and brought nothing but chaos into your life. The government’s hunting me. Sentinel wants me dead. I’m a liability wrapped in—”
He crosses the room and cups my face in both hands, forcing me to meet his eyes,
“You think that’s what you are to me?”
“I don’t know what I am to you.” The admission comes out small. Vulnerable. “I don’t know what this is.”
His thumb traces my cheekbone, gentle despite the intensity burning through his gaze.
“You’re the first thing I think about when I wake up. The last thing before I sleep.” His voice drops lower. Rougher. “You’re the chaos I choose. The only variable that ever made sense to me.”
My breath catches.
“I’ve spent my whole life in control. Everything in its place, every line optimized, every function serving a purpose.
” He leans his forehead against mine, and I can feel him trembling slightly—this man who never trembles.
“Then you walked into my world and shattered every pattern I’d built.
Made me feel alive for the first time in years. ”
“Alexi—”
“You’re not a liability.” His hands slide into my hair, anchoring me. ”You’re the only thing that makes sense in all this madness.” His hands slide into my hair. “You’re my world, detka. The only equation worth spending my life on.”
Tears burn my eyes. “That’s terrifyingly poetic for a hacker.”
“I’m full of surprises.” He kisses me then, slow and deep, and it feels like a promise.
I kiss him back, pouring everything into it—the fear, the relief, the overwhelming gratitude that he’s alive and here and choosing me. He responds with equal intensity, backing me toward the bed, his hands already mapping the familiar curves of my body.
“We should sleep,” I whisper against his mouth.
“We will. Eventually.”
His lips find my neck, my collarbone, carefully avoiding the bandaged wound on my shoulder. He moves with deliberate tenderness, even as the urgency builds between us like a storm.
“Tomorrow, we face the government,” he murmurs, and I can hear the weight in his voice. “Tonight, I just want you.” He pulls back to look at me. “Just this.”
His hands remove my clothes with care—shirt over my head, jeans peeled down my legs, each touch tender despite the possession burning in his eyes. I help him out of his own clothing, needing skin against skin, needing to feel his heartbeat against mine.
“I thought I lost you,” he says, his voice breaking as he settles me back onto the bed. “When that beacon went dead—”
“I’m here.” I pull him down to me. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere. “
He positions himself between my thighs, and there’s no teasing, no game—just urgency and need and the weight of everything we’ve survived to get here.
“Mine,” he growls, the word fierce and possessive as he slides inside me. “You’re fucking mine, Iris.”
“Yes.” I arch my back, wanting him deeper. “Yes.”
His mouth claims mine. Tongue demanding entry. Hands mapping every inch of exposed skin like he’s trying to imprint it into his memory.
“Look at me.”
My eyes lock with his as he fucks me hard and rough.
“Fuck.” The curse tears from my throat. “Alexi—”
“Feel that?” He withdraws almost completely, then slams back in. “That’s me claiming every inch of you.”
“Yes.” My nails dig into his shoulders. “Harder.”
He sets a brutal pace. Each thrust drives deeper. Harder. Demanding everything.
“You scared the shit out of me.” His hand wraps around my throat. Applying just enough pressure. “Never do that again.”
“Then keep me safe,” I breathe.
“I will.” His teeth graze my ear. “I’ll keep you safe, but I’ll also fuck you until you can’t remember anything but my name.”
My body responds, clenching around him, drawing him deeper. The angle shifts, hitting that perfect spot that makes stars bloom behind my eyes.
“That’s it, detka.” His rhythm becomes punishing. “Take everything I give you.”
“More.”
“Greedy girl.” But he obliges, shifting the angle to hit that perfect spot.
The pleasure builds, coiling tight in my core.
“You’re so fucking perfect.” His voice is rough and strained. “Made for me. Only me.”
“Yes.” The word comes out breathless. Desperate. “Only you.”
“Say my name.”
“Alexi.”
“Louder.”
“Alexi.” It becomes a chant. A prayer. “Alexi. Alexi.”
His hand slides between us. Fingers finding my clit. Circling with precise pressure.
The combination pushes me over the edge. My orgasm crashes through me. Body arching. Trembling.
He pulls out and flips me onto my hands and knees.
“I want your ass, detka.”
My body tenses. “I’ve never—”
“Don’t worry.” He reaches for the nightstand and pulls out a bottle of lube. “I’ll go slow and ease you into it.”
His hand runs down my spine. Soothing, patient.
“Trust me?”
I nod, unable to form words.
From another drawer, he retrieves a slender, tapered dildo.
“We’ll start with this.” He uncaps the lube. The sound of it coating his fingers fills the quiet room. “Relax for me.”
His slick finger circles my ass, applying gentle pressure.
“Breathe.”
I do, forcing myself to let go of the tension.
He slides one finger inside, so slowly that I barely feel the intrusion at first.
“Fuck.” The sensation is foreign, but not unpleasant.
“Good girl.” He works the finger deeper. Establishing a rhythm. “How does that feel?”
“Strange. But good.”
He adds a second finger, stretching me carefully.
My back arches involuntarily as I moan deeply.
“That’s it.” His free hand grips my hip to steady me. “You’re doing so well.”
He continues working me open. Patient. Methodical. Until I’m pushing back against his fingers.
“Ready for more?” he asks.
“Yes.”
The dildo replaces his fingers; the cool silicone pressing against stretched muscle.
“Tell me if it’s too much.” He eases it inside, inch by careful inch.
The fullness makes me gasp, as I fist my hands into the sheets.
“Alexi—”
“I’ve got you.” He starts a slow thrust, shallow at first. “Just feel it.”
He increases the depth gradually, and each movement is deliberate.
Pleasure builds unexpectedly, completely at odds with anything I’ve experienced before.
“Oh god.” My hips move with him. “Don’t stop.”
“Look at you.” His voice is thick with arousal. “Taking it so perfectly.”
The dildo slides deeper, hitting nerves in my anal passage I didn’t know existed.
I arch harder, moaning without restraint.
“You love this.” It’s not a question, but a statement. “Love having your ass filled.”
“Yes.” The word comes out broken and desperate. “Fuck yes.”
He establishes a steady rhythm. One hand is sliding the toy in and out of my ass, while the other is reaching around to stroke my clit.
The dual stimulation drives me wild. My body is trembling and responding to every thrust.
“You’re so fucking beautiful like this.” His fingers speed up. Circling faster. “Completely undone for me.”
The toy drives deeper, and each thrust sends shockwaves through my body.
I push back against it, meeting every movement, craving more.
“Please.” The word tears from my throat. “Alexi, please.”
“Please, what?” He adjusts the angle.
“More. Harder. I need—” My thoughts scatter.
He obliges. Thrusting the dildo in harder and faster, while his fingers rub my clit with ruthless circles.
“God, I’ve never—” My good arm shakes so much it can barely continue to hold myself up. “This is so fucking hot.”
“You like having your ass fucked?”
“Yes,” I declare without hesitation. “I love it.”
He removes the toy, and the sudden emptiness makes me whimper.
“Don’t worry, detka.” I detect the sound of lube being applied. “Going to give you something much better.”
His hands grip my hips, and the warm head of his cock enters just a quarter of an inch.
“Going to put my cock in your ass.” His voice drops. “Breed this perfect hole and fill you so full of my cum that you’ll feel me for days.”
My core clenches. Desperate. Aching.
“Please.” I push back to take him. “Please fuck my ass.”
“Such a good girl.” He pushes forward slowly, breaching the tight ring of muscle. “Begging so prettily.”
The stretch burns, and it’s so much thicker, hotter than the toy.
“Breathe.” His hands soothe circles on my lower back. “Relax for me.”
I force my body to release the tension, allowing him to sink deeper.
“That’s it.” He withdraws slightly only to push back in, gaining another inch in depth. “Taking my cock so well.”
The burn transforms quickly into pleasure, edged with perfect pain.
“More.” My fingers dig into the sheets. “Give me everything.”
He slides deeper with slow and controlled strokes until he’s fully seated inside me.
“Fuck.” The curse explodes from him. “So tight. So perfect.”
I can only moan in response. Too full. Too overwhelmed to form words.
He starts moving, his thrusts shallow as I adjust to his size.
“Please.” I rock back against him. “Breed my ass. Fill me up.”
“Christ, Iris.” His control fractures as his thrusts grow harder. Deeper. “You’re going to destroy me.”
“Do it.” I push back harder, meeting every stroke. “Give me your cum and fill my ass until it’s dripping out of me.”
His control shatters completely, as his thrusts turn punishing.
“Going to breed this virgin ass.” His fingers dig into my hips so hard that I’m sure they’ll bruise. “Pump you so full of cum that you’ll leak for days.”
“Yes.” I can barely get the word out. Each stroke drives the air from my lungs. “Please.”
“Mine.” He pulls almost all the way out, only to slam back in harder. “This ass is fucking mine.”
“Yours.” My body trembles under the assault. “All yours.”
His hand wraps in my hair, yanking my head back.
“Say it again.”
“I’m yours.” Tears stream down my face as pleasure and pain blur together so seamlessly. “Only yours.”
“Damn right.” His rhythm becomes frantic. “Going to mark every inch of you. Inside and out.”
His other hand reaches around to my clit as he plays with it mercilessly.
The combination pushes me higher, and pleasure coils tight in my core.
“Come for me.” His voice is a barely human growl. “Come with my cock in your ass.”
“Alexi—” His name breaks on my lips.
“Now, detka.” His fingers speed up, making the pressure within build to unbearable levels. “Come right fucking now.”
My orgasm detonates. Wave after wave of devastating pleasure.
The muscles in my pussy clench and release violently. Fluid gushes from between my thighs, soaking the sheets beneath us.
“Fuck.” The word rips from his throat. “You’re squirting.”
He pounds harder, chasing his own release.
“Going to breed this perfect ass.” His rhythm turns erratic. “Fill you up. Make you mine.”
“Yes.” I’m still coming, flying high from the insurmountable pleasure. “Please.”
He buries himself deep and holds himself there as a growl tears from his chest. It’s primal, possessive, and completely fucking animal.
“Mine.” The word is savage. Broken. “Fucking mine.”
Heat floods my ass, and my pleasure spikes knowing he’s pumping his cum into me.
He stays buried, grinding deeper longer after he’s finished, making sure every drop stays inside.
“Take it all.” Another growl as his hips jerk with aftershocks. “Every fucking drop.”
I collapse forward, unable to hold myself up anymore on one arm, my shoulder wound throbbing from the strain.
He comes down with me. Still inside. Still pulsing.
“Never letting you go.” His teeth find my good shoulder, biting hard enough to leave a mark. “Never.”
He pulls out slowly, and his cum immediately leaks from my stretched hole.
“Stay right there.”
He disappears into the bathroom, but soon returns with a warm washcloth. His touch is gentle as he cleans me.
“How do you feel?” He asks.
“Wrecked.” My voice is hoarse. “In the best possible way.”
He tosses the cloth aside, pulling me into his arms, but careful not to touch my shoulder wound.
I curl against his chest, hearing his heartbeat slow beneath my ear.
This man. This brilliant, chaotic, dangerous man.
He walked into a federal facility with guns blazing and killed Morrison without hesitation. He chose me over safety, logic, everything.
My fingers trace the planes of his tattooed chest. Memorizing every ridge. Every scar.
How did this happen? How did I fall for the man I set out to destroy?
For years, I hated the Ivanov name. I blamed them for my parents’ death and spent months planning their downfall.
Now I’m lying in Alexi Ivanov’s arms. Completely his. Utterly claimed.
The irony would be funny if it weren’t so terrifying.
“What are you thinking?” He asks.
“That I’m in love with you.” The words slip out. Unplanned. Unguarded.
His hand stills. “Say that again.”
“I’m in love with you.” I lift my head to meet those intense green eyes. “Which is probably the most dangerous thing I could admit right now.”
His smile is devastating. “Dangerous how?”
“Because tomorrow we’re walking into a federal building.” My throat tightens. “Because Sentinel is still out there, and even though Morrison might be dead, Project Nightshade isn’t.”
“We’ll handle it.”
“You can’t know that.”
“I know I’m not losing you.” His arms tighten around me. “Not to the government. Not to Sentinel. Not to anyone.”
I want to believe him and trust that love and intelligence can protect us from what’s coming.
But I’ve seen what power does, and how easily it crushes people like us.
My parents trusted their precautions too and believed they were untouchable.
Until they weren’t.
“Alexi—”
“Sleep, detka.” He kisses my forehead. “We face tomorrow together. Right now, just sleep.”
I close my eyes and allow his warmth to surround me like a comfort blanket.
But sleep won’t come, not even with dawn approaching.
His breathing evens out. Deep. Steady.
I stay awake, watching the darkness beyond the window, and memorize this moment and the peace that has always eluded me.
Because tomorrow, everything changes.