Chapter 26 – Isabella
T here was a worn path across the rug. Multiple times I reached for my phone only to throw it back on the duvet. What would I text my fiancé? That he was in danger? There was no clear way to communicate that without revealing threads that needed to stay secret.
A little after midnight, there was a tremendous bumbling in the hall. I turned off the lights in my room, messed my hair, and raced to the door, cracking it open. Both Gio and Alonzo stumbled toward their bedrooms. There was no sign of blood. Eagerly, I counted. Alonzo had all his fingers! My brother clutched his stomach; my fiancé cupped his mouth. Relief, sweet and light, rushed through me.
The poison worked.
Rubbing my eyes, I hurried out and faked a gasp. “What’s the noise—Madonna Mia! What’s happened?”
Gio shook his head but then groaned. “Oh, cazzo!”
He rushed to his room, the door slamming behind him.
“We got sick,” Alonzo hiccupped. “Tullio’s new bodyguard brought us home.”
Worry niggled at the back of my spine. I glanced past him but didn’t see any monstrous shape looming in the distance. The telltale awareness that I felt in the presence of my spectre was also absent. Maybe he wasn’t the bodyguard Alonzo meant.
“What can I do?” I asked, brushing off the worry that the Russian was going to spring out and maul my fiancé.
“Nothing, just go back to bed.” He hiccupped violently.
I moved to help him, but Alonzo disappeared into his room, the one next to mine, and the lock fell in place. I turned to Gio’s room, which was likewise locked. Retching sounded through the space. While there was a touch of remorse in the back of my mind, I couldn’t bring myself to feel truly horrid. The poison was mild and would have no lingering effects. I planned to dose them again, should they find themselves in dangerous positions.
But I would also make a habit of inflicting distress on other members at random so it didn’t seem like the two boys who were precious to me were the only victims.
Trailing back to my room, I sighed with relief. Alonzo had his fingers, the boys were safe, and—
Darkness prickled across my skin. The awareness flared, the survival instinct strong.
I wasn’t alone.
Pulling the cord for the lamp on my desk, light pooled over the monster sitting in my reading chair. Ilya watched me in silence. His arms draped over the sides of the chair, body relaxed casually into the seat. But the at-ease posture was at odds with the sharp look in his silver-grey eyes.
The ball’s in my court. I was supposed to offer a reward. Something more than a kiss. I swallowed past the knot of excitement in my chest . I shouldn’t be excited about this. But in the time spent pacing, imagining the things I could do, it came down to this moment. There was unfinished business, and it was clear he was waiting for me to make the next moves.
“Thank you for delivering them safely to the house,” I whispered and threw the lock on the door.
Well, the spectre wouldn’t find me lacking in gratitude. When he’d left, he’d dared me to spare my fiancé from harm. I gripped the hem of my sleeper shirt and pulled it over my head. I wanted this. I wanted this so damn badly, it hurt. So what if I had to use the pretense of thanking him to have it? I would get what I wanted, what I spent my nights dreaming of.
I would taste freedom once more, if only for a moment, and during that moment, I would take exactly what I craved.
Standing before him in only my black cotton bikini briefs, I didn’t feel exposed. Admired, appreciated—words like those came to mind. The spectre tipped his head to the side. It was a predatorial move, assessing every detail.
I took a few steps forward, severing my gaze from his. If he was going to watch, I would watch back. His hands were no longer resting on the arms of the chair but digging into the upholstery. The knuckles were white.
Pausing a handful of paces before him, I ran the tip of my finger against the elastic of the panties.
A ragged breath exhaled from his lungs.
Biting back my smirk, I made a show of shimmying from the panties. He might be a beast, prowling through the dark, but dammit, I wasn’t prey.
I closed the distance and fell to my knees.
It was a submissive position. But why was there a rush of power singing through my veins? Was it the sudden tightening of every muscle in the monster’s frame? Was it the knowledge that I held the true power right now? I wet my lips and reached out.
Ilya’s hand shot forward. He captured my wrists, wrapping his powerful fingers around them. “What are you doing?”
“Offering you a reward for sparing the life of my friend,” I ground out, refusing the adjective beloved that had been used earlier. It didn’t fit, and it would only complicate this power struggle to throw it back in this man’s face.
A muscle in the spectre’s jaw tightened.
I waited for him to make his decision.
Slowly, he released me.
I unzipped his black canvas pants and released his cock from the briefs beneath. My mouth actually watered.
Bracing my hands on his thighs, I drew my tongue in one long lick from top to bottom. The moan that escaped my lips wasn’t forced. Oh, he was huge—I missed this. I had to leave Chicago before I could enjoy this beautiful cock properly, before I could do all the sinfully wonderful things with the man I chose to be mine.
I chose well. Just look at him!
Bending forward, I lazily swirled my tongue over the tip, enjoying the salty bead of precum that seeped out.
And then I sat back on my haunches. “Alright, phantom. Do your worst.”
Ilya narrowed his eyes.
I scooted back, rose to be straight on my knees, and ran my tongue around my lips. I would be just tall enough for this to work.
“Fuck my face,” I breathed.
It was scandalous. One of the dirtiest things that I ever said in the twenty-three years of my life. But it felt ssooo right.
A rough laugh barked from the spectre’s chest. “You don’t know what you’re asking, rusalka.”
I shrugged. “Why don’t you show me exactly what you’re capable of?”
There was a heartbeat before he moved. Rising to his full height, monster cock swinging straight from his hips, he was nothing short of imposing.
His hand slid through my hair, tight hold keeping me in place. The soft head of his cock nudged my lips. “Last chance to back out.”
There wasn’t enough air in my lungs to speak above a whisper. “Never.”
He slid past my lips, invading my mouth. One heartbeat; that was all the time he allowed me to adjust to his size.
And then he slid in and out. He pushed deep, invading my throat. I did my best to swallow him. His groan was desperate. It made the coals burning deep in my belly burn hotter.
Ilya took my mouth hard.
There was no mercy in this. I would have been mad if there was.
I was a mess. Tears leaked from my eyes. Each inhale was a desperate gasp to gather air in my lungs before he cut off my ability to breathe again. They weren’t the only parts of me affected. The burn in my core was now a desperate ache between my legs. I didn’t dare reach and touch, I could only hold onto his thighs, bracing myself against his powerful thrusts.
But the frantic beat of my pulse in my wet slit screamed at me. It was pleasure and sweet torment wrapped in one.
“Fuck, beautiful, you’re doing so well,” Ilya moaned. “I don’t want to know how many you’ve practiced on to be this good.”
With what little air was in my lungs, I let out a fuming growl. How dare he!
Ilya stilled for a fraction of a second before working his cock in slow, punishingly deep thrusts that didn’t allow me to breathe at all. “You’re insinuating that you haven’t been doing this to other men?”
I shook my head, teeth grazing against his delicate skin.
His voice grew even more rough. “Fuck, babe. That’s….”
A shudder rocked his body. His strangled cry accompanied the hot, salty release that shot straight down my throat. I struggled to swallow, desperate for every drop. With a final twitch of his shaft, he loosened the hold on my hair.