40. Vasiliy
An adorable growl pierces the air as another shot goes wide, just barely missing the target in the distance.
“This is a misogynistic target,” Octavia announces to the small indoor booth. Then she smacks the button on the wall, and the levers creak as the unmarred platform swings forward.
“You can do better than that.” I lean against the wall with amusement. She’s actually gotten quite good at target practice. I would never admit it out loud, but that cousin of hers is a good teacher. Not as good as me, obviously.
“I know that,” she snaps, huffing a breath as she reloads her chamber.
“I think you are improving very quickly, Ms. Siderov.”
My body goes rigid at the words.
“Thanks, Dmitri,” Octavia responds in a tone that’s way too nice for my liking. Especially after the fight night incident. I stand up straight from my slunk position and turn, squaring up with the little soldier.
“Aren’t you supposed to be guarding from a distance?” I ask, taking deep pleasure in the fact that I have to look down to meet the little shit-weasel in his eyes.
The boy’s been following Octavia around with pathetic heart eyes for weeks, but it’s gotten worse after I doled out his punishment for touching her that night.
In fact, I’ve nearly killed him for the offense several times.
It’s amazing that some people just go about their lives, not knowing how close they are to their own demise.
“I don’t answer to you. My assignment is limited to keeping Ms. Siderov safe, and that’s precisely what I’m doing.” He narrows his gaze, injecting vitriol he never lets Octavia see.
One suicidal fuck, that’s what he is.
“I’ve been keeping Ms. Clarke safe since before your balls dropped.”
“Vas,” Octavia protests behind me.
I look down at him, allowing my lips to slide into a cruel smile. His brows pinch down in irritation.
“Dmitri, could you wait outside, please?” Octavia finally says with a sigh, ending the standoff.
“But—I’m supposed to…” he starts, looking past me to my girl. I should break off an arm for that offense alone.
“I’ll be fine. Wait outside,” she repeats, this time with a hardened edge to her voice.
I lift my hand in a teasing wave as he turns.
“Vas!”
My hand drops immediately, burned by her boring maturity.
Finally, the guy opens the booth door and slips through. I practically glow with victory as it clicks shut behind him. But then I’m shoved into the wall.
“Why are you acting like this?” she asks, glaring up at me.
“That guy wants to fuck you.”
She gasps at my crude words, pulling her hand from my chest. I immediately miss the contact.
“He does not!”
“Yes. He does,” I say slowly. “And he needs to learn his place. Which is preferably on his knees with a chain around his neck.”
I don’t think Octavia notices the way her father’s soldiers gaze at her, or how the men practically drool when she walks down the halls. It’s irritating, but ultimately unsurprising. She’s absolutely perfect, after all. Who wouldn’t sell their soul to exist in her shadow?
“He works for Dad, Vas. That’s the only reason he’s here. No need to send him running out the door with his tail between his legs.”
I smirk. “Actually, I think you were the one to send him on his way. Probably saved his life, too, because I’d have maimed the kid if he flashed those desperate eyes your way one more time.”
“You are being ridiculous,” she seethes, unloading her handgun and setting the cartridge on the side table. The sight of her handling the weapon does something incredibly inappropriate to my system. Huh. New kink unlocked?
“Believe what you want. I’ll be here to scare off every one of them into a mandatory fifteen-foot radius.”
“You have nothing to worry about.”
Ha. Sure.
I step forward, crowding her space. “I have everything to worry about. There isn’t a single person in this world who wouldn’t kill for the opportunity to stand by your side.”
“No,” she says, stepping forward until we’re face to face. “You have nothing to worry about because I don’t want any of them. The only person I want that stuff with is you.”
My blood heats.
“And what stuff are you talking about?” I ask, bringing my hand up to push back her soft, red hair.
Her breaths grow faster. Heavier. Then her tongue swipes out, mindlessly wetting her lips. It might be the hottest thing I’ve seen in my entire life.
“Don’t,” I whisper, failing to avert my gaze.
“Why not?”
I pull a hand over my face and take a step back. “Because we agreed to go slow, and you deserve someone who honors that request.”
A finger taps my jaw, brushing the freshly shaven skin with a reverence that sends my heart into overdrive. “We did slow, Vas,” she says softly. “I’m tired of slow. You can’t just keep kissing me like you do, leaving me drenched and on edge for hours.”
“Octavia,” I hedge, trying to reel myself in.
“Do you want me too?” she asks suddenly, pulling back just enough to trap me with those earnest eyes. “It’s okay if you don’t, you know. I’ll take you in any form I can get, so if I’m doing something that will ruin what we have, please, stop me.”
My chest burns, somewhere between a laugh and an ache. This has got to be some kind of trial of my soul, right? Do you want me? How could she even ask such a ridiculous question? How does she think anyone could resist free-falling into the sickening pull of her gravity?
“I could live through many tragedies, moya zlaya.” I clear my scratchy throat. “But I don’t think I could survive your regret. I want you more than I’ve ever wanted anything, and I’ll wait as long as you need. Even if that leaves me trailing after you at arm’s length for the rest of our years.”
Her lashes flash shut in a slow blink. When they open again, they contain so much trust and desire that my body physically hurts beneath the intensity.
She breaks contact to glance behind her, where a small security camera is mounted in the upper corner of the enclosed booth.
I move like a live wire, pushing her a few steps backward before reaching up and wrapping my fingers around the recording device. It tears off the wall with a crack.
Then her lips crash against mine, and the remnants of the camera topple from my fingers. I drink in her kiss like a man dying of thirst, trying to keep up with the collision of teeth and lips and tongue.
I drop my grip to her waist, hands curving over the round expanse of her ass and lifting her into my arms. Her legs immediately wrap around my waist like a vise, and my dick hardens painfully, nestled in that perfect place between her thighs.
It feels like coming home. Real home. A place I never really saw.
Before I know it, the hem of my tight long-sleeved shirt is being tugged up my chest. Nails scratch my skin. The edge of pain causes my last coherent thoughts to scatter.
With two steps, I carry her over to the door that just clicked shut a few minutes before, pressing her body against the flat surface. Her thighs squeeze around my waist. I veer off to the corner of her mouth, biting and sucking as I make my way down her cheek and the smooth expanse of her throat.
A low moan vibrates into my lips, causing a bead of precum to leak from the head of my cock. She arches her perky tits into my chest in a needy movement that almost sends me toppling to my knees. Oh my God.
Perfect.
She’s perfect.
“Are you soaked for me?” I breathe against her throat. When she doesn’t answer, I nip the skin of her collarbone, inciting a high whine and a shaky nod. Then her heels dig into my ass, using me as an anchor to roll her hot pussy against.
“Please, Vas, I need…” she trails off, finding a spot to grind against to bring some relief.
“Do you need more, zlaya?” I tug up the hem of her tank top, exposing her tits to the air. Two pretty handfuls, each tipped with pretty pink nipples hardened into points. I haven’t been able to stop thinking about these since the last time I felt them.
My mouth closes over one of her breasts, and I’m instantly rewarded by a loud cry from her lips.
“So fucking needy,” I murmur, switching my attention to her other breast. “I love hearing you moan for me.”
I retreat just long enough to wrench the neck of her shirt over her head, and then the garment joins mine on the floor, and I gain back access to sweet heaven between her breasts.
“Vas,” she whispers, arching into my mouth, feeding me the best meal I’ve ever had.
“Does that feel good?” I release her nipple with a wet suck, wedging one hand between our pressed bodies to the button on her pants. “Tell me you want more.”
Something between a breath and a cry leaves her lips, and I already know the sound will be seared into my brain for eternity.
“Use your words, or everything stops.”
Calm down, Vasiliy. Jesus.
She grinds harder against the stiff outline of my cock. “More. Please.”
The soft word snaps the final remnants of my restraint. I slide down her zipper and shove my knuckles under the thin fabric of her panties. My throat releases an audible groan at how slick and warm her pussy is for me already. I think I could come just from feeling her.
My thumb circles her clit, causing her to buck against the door and cry out louder. I snake around the back of her neck, guiding her lips to my shoulder.
“Bite.”
Her blunt teeth bury themselves in my flesh just as I push a finger into her hot center, knuckle deep. My thumb keeps brushing tight little circles on her clit, giving her the pressure she needs.
The sweetest moan fills my ears.
Another finger works its way into her tight walls, joining the first. I brush her hair back with my other hand, pressing her teeth deeper into my skin to muffle her cry at the sensation.
“That’s right,” I whisper against her ear, thrusting my knuckles deeper. “Ride my fingers like a good girl.”
Her hips follow suit, riding my hand and rubbing her little clit against my thumb. It’s not long before her muscles line with tension, and she starts chasing the climb of her high. I keep my pace.
She’s everything.