Chapter 23 #2
I’m barely able to stand on my own two feet when I float back to earth after the most devastating orgasm of my life.
Damn, what this man is capable of with his mouth alone is mind-boggling.
I never in my life imagined I would bend over and do that for any man …
present myself in such a vulnerable way.
Having his eyes on the most intimate parts of me, soon followed by his fingers and his tongue, was such a potent turn-on.
Daniil helps me up, and I sag against his chest. His fingers delve lower, between my thighs, avoiding touching my too sensitive clit. He’s feeling the wetness that’s currently dripping down my leg into a filthy puddle.
He kisses my forehead. “Such a dirty girl. Look at the mess you’ve made.
” He brings his glistening fingers up for me to admire.
“Taste yourself,” he insists. Despite my earlier orgasm, I’m still crazy turned-on, loving the little games that we play together.
“Go clean yourself up in the pool.” He slaps my ass as a way to get me moving, and I huff in response, my hands landing on my hips.
“Only if you come in with me.”
He chuckles at my demand. “I’m the one who makes the rules when we fuck.”
Fuck, the word sounds so baseless, especially in the context of marriage. I stand on my tiptoes and nip at his jawline before I whisper in his ear, “We’re not fucking right now, we’re talking.”
“And whose fault is that?” He smiles down at me, his arms still holding me close. Despite his dirty talk, I feel protected; like someone is looking after me for once.
But it’s not a feeling I can allow myself to get used to.
“It’s your choice.” I push off his chest and saunter towards the dark water.
“You can join me, or you can watch me from the deck.” I sink into the water, releasing a happy little sigh as I float weightless in the pool.
It’s fall, and the air has a definitive chill to it, but the water is warm like a bath.
“I think you’d have a lot more fun in here. ”
I give a few lazy backstrokes, allowing my dusky nipples to peek out of the water.
With a cocky smile, he unbuttons his ever-present white dress shirt.
I’ve certainly spent time appreciating Daniil’s form before but watching him undress, I’m taken aback by his raw masculinity.
His shoulders are so broad, every muscle bunched and defined as he abandons his shirt on a lounger, revealing impeccably defined abs.
Strong and lean, he’s covered in ink, and I take my time, shamelessly staring as he reaches for his belt, snaking it through the loops.
He drops his pants to reveal muscular thighs with a smattering of light hair.
I already knew what he was packing between his legs but seeing his body like this is addicting.
Catching my slack-jawed expression, he smirks. “Like what you see?”
There’s no point in denying it, so I just give him a sly smile. “Yeah, it’s alright.”
He wades into the pool, his eyes on me the whole time. I continue with my lazy backstrokes, teasing him with the bounce of my breasts above the waterline. He’s standing in the shallow end, definitely paying attention to my little show.
“Get your ass over here,” he growls. His voice is intense and demanding, but I don’t want to play by his rules.
“Make me.”
“Oh, printsessa.” He pushes off from the floor of the pool, fast as lightning. “There’s nothing I would enjoy more.”
He’s feral now, like a beast stalking its prey.
My response is instinctual, like any innocent being hunted, I swim the other way.
But he’s fast. His powerful strokes cause water to slosh over the edge of the pool.
I make it to the ledge and am hauling myself out of the water, when one giant hand wraps around my ankle and pulls.
“Get off me.” I thrash in his grasp, fighting as if my life depended on it.
“Make me.” He throws my bratty words back in my face.
I’m fighting in earnest, kicking and bucking in an attempt to escape his grasp.
He waits for me to tire myself out, his hand still gripped tight around my ankle, and then, like a creature from the Black Lagoon, he gives one firm yank, and I’m submerged.
When I break above the surface of the water, his rock-hard body crowds my much smaller form against the ledge.
“You shouldn’t have run.” His words ghost over my ear. “I’ll always chase you. Never forget that.” He doesn’t give me time to respond. In one unforgiving thrust, he’s inside of me. My pussy wraps around his cock, his front pressing tight to my back.
“Hold on sweetheart,” he rasps in my ear.
“I need to look at what’s mine when I blast my cum inside of you.
” He pulls out long enough to turn me around, my arms coming around his shoulders and my legs wrapping around his waist. If it wasn’t for his tight grip on the ledge, we’d both sink to the bottom of this pool. But he’s got us.
I don’t know why, but I also need that face-to-face connection.
His tongue enters my mouth at the same time his cock thrusts up inside of me.
I’m so full of him, my senses overwhelmed by his taste, his smell, everything about him.
His fingers dance over my clit as he fucks me like it might be our last time together.
He doesn’t go easy on me. Biting my ear, sucking on my throat, tweaking my nipples.
I moan and thrash in his arms, crying out as the orgasm sears through my body.
The sensation is so strong it’s almost violent, like shock waves moving through my core.
Daniil joins me soon after, grunting as he pulses inside of me. Then, as if sharing a secret with me, he whispers in my ear, “You’re going to be my ruin, printsessa.”
My stomach dips. “What do you mean?” I ask, hesitantly.
“This pussy, these tits, this ass,” he rasps, still fully seated inside of me. “You are fucking made for me. I’ll never get enough.” Relief fills me. He’s just referring to sex.
When he sees that I don’t yet have control over my limbs, he lifts me out of the pool, then hops out after me. In one quick move, he has me thrown over his shoulder.
“Daniil, put me down! What are you doing?” But he doesn’t stop. Doesn’t even respond as he carries me to the poolside hot tub nestled in a rock grotto with a cascading waterfall overhead. “Damn, this is nice,” I exclaim as I lower in, the hot swirling water soothing my muscles.
“Andrei had it installed after he married Georgia. I don’t want to think of all the shenanigans that have gone down here.”
“Gross!” My eyes pop open, and I nearly bolt from the water, but I catch the naughty gleam in his eyes, as he breaks out in laughter, I flick water his way. “Hijo de puta,” I hiss.
“Mm, I love it when you speak Spanish. How come I only ever hear you speaking it to Eris?”
“I’m more comfortable speaking English. My Dad was American, didn’t speak any Spanish, so it’s the language we mostly spoke in our household.”
“And your uncle?”
I groan. “A mix, I suppose. English when we were in the States, Spanish when we were in Colombia. But that was me mostly talking with the staff. My uncle and Jorge were always busy doing whatever it is that they do.”
He cocks an eyebrow at me. “Do you know what they do?”
“I know the basics. They produce and sell drugs.” I shrug, sinking deeper into the bubbling water. I’m quiet for a minute, gathering courage to ask the question I don’t really want to know, but have to ask. “What are the Kozlovs involved in?”
Daniil shifts uncomfortably. My words fill up the cavernous space, and the question hangs between us like an anvil.
“I trust you, but this is not something that we can ever discuss.” Something squeezes in my chest at the word trust. Such a loaded word between us.
His fingers brush over my chin, and then continue upwards, tracing my cheek up to my brows.
Studying my face in a way he hasn’t done before.
“I can tell you this. We don’t deal in the flesh trade. ”
“You mean prostitution?”
He nods. “Not just that. Any human trafficking. We won’t touch it.”
“Drugs?”
He looks towards the cascading water falling directly in front of us like a privacy screen. “Not directly. We control major supply routes to the East Coast. That’s one of the things that makes us so powerful.” I open my mouth to ask another question, but he shakes his head. “Why so many questions?”
“Don’t I have a right to know, as your wife,” I say, putting emphasis on the last word. “My uncle treated me like a child. I had no say over my life, my future. I can’t do that again,” I warn him. “What’s the real reason we moved here?”
“There are threats above and beyond the usual,” he admits. “I can’t share details, but I don’t want you worrying about it. You’ll be safe here.”
Safety. Such a false promise. Because if Daniil ever discovered what I am really after, he’d be the person I’d need protection from.
But living here is the opportunity I’ve been waiting for. The Kozlovs conduct at least some of their business from the estate. This might be my one real chance to give the feds something they can use before they lose interest in me, my case, and my family’s death.
“Does it have to do with my uncle?” I ask.
Daniil has said suspiciously little about working with the Zegas, even though I know he must be interacting with Jorge and other high-ranking cartel members regularly.
He hates Jorge, that much is clear, and maybe it has something to do with me.
A thought that creates a satisfied ripple over my skin.
His gaze cuts to mine, as he sinks deeper into the bubbling water. “What makes you say that?”
Because my uncle is the slimiest two-faced bastard I’ve had the misfortune of knowing. But if I reveal such hatred for my uncle, it opens the door for questions I’m not willing to answer.
“I don’t know,” I say. In an attempt at distraction, I stretch, allowing my breasts to float above the water. “You told me you’re working with Jorge, and you did pull a gun on him at our wedding.” I grin at the memory.
A hiss of air escapes between his lips. “We’re working through our differences.” But I notice the way his jaw tightens, and I file away this information for later.
“And what about your safety?”
His laugh is cold and hard. “My life is always in danger. Nothing’s really changed.”
Unease blooms somewhere deep inside, and I don’t like it. I’m getting lost in Daniil, consumed by these moments of connection between us, and if I let that happen, all will be lost.
Because in the end, he’d betray me too. Bratva business above everything else, that’s always the way. I tell myself he’s different from my uncle, but how could he be? He was born and raised in the brotherhood, and it’s no fucking different than any other organized crime family.
I rise from the water, steam curling around me like tendrils of smoke. “I’m beat,” I say. “Let’s go upstairs.”
He stands, pulling me against him, allowing our naked bodies to slide together. Despite the warmth clinging to my skin, all I feel is the icy burn of my betrayal.