Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
NATHANIEL
M y ass had no sooner hit the leather seat when Savannah marched into my office. Unlike my father, who I wanted to shoot, her furious expression only made me want to bend her over my desk.
She stopped just behind my guest chairs, cocked a hip, and crossed her arms. Her eyes were sparkling with anger, and I had no idea what I’d done to incur her wrath, but I liked it. She looked at the water glass on my desk with a red lipstick stain, and I immediately saw what was behind the anger. Little sparks of jealousy were dancing in her icy blue depths. I liked this.
“Are you going to say something or just stand there silently fuming at me,” I asked and leaned back.
Savannah gripped the backs of the two chairs, her fingers digging into the leather, and fuck me, it was hot. She leaned forward just enough that her long hair fell over her shoulders, framing her face, and all I could picture was wrapping it in my hand.
“So, let me get this straight. You don’t have time to talk to me about anything important, like your son, but you manage to make time for some other woman? You dragged me away from my life for what? So that you could flex your power over me? Prove that you hold all the cards. And for what? We haven’t even chosen a school for Cutter to go to, and yet you seem to have time for everyone else.”
I cocked my eyebrow at her, but she only narrowed her eyes into a steely glare. “Savannah, you aren’t jealous, are you?”
“Jealous? No, why would I be jealous,” she asked, but she couldn’t hide her true feelings. Her thoughts were laid bare in her eyes and thick in her tone. “I want to know what the hell is going on. You made a point of storming into my life, and yes, you saved us from being killed, but you didn’t have to force me to marry you. You didn’t have to lock Cutter and me up in this museum of a home.” What was pissing me off was the way she talked about being here with me like it was a life sentence. “Tell me what the hell you want, Nathan. We’ll figure it out, but I will not put up with some other woman in your life. I don’t care if she is a princess,” she growled, and my cock stood at attention.
There was the mention of a princess again. She’d said that before, and I still had no idea what the hell she was talking about.
“Well, maybe I wouldn’t keep you locked up if you’d chosen to be honest with me in the first place.”
“Really? Maybe you should be asking why I didn’t come running to you instead of immediately hating me.”
“I already told you I don’t hate you. But you’re right, I want to know. So, Savannah, why did you keep my son hidden from me?”
She turned around and marched to the door before slamming it closed. Fuck could she get any hotter? I stood and had to adjust myself before she turned around.
“Alright, let’s do this. You want to know why I didn’t contact you, Nathan. Here it is. First, we swore that unless it was an emergency, we would sever all contact forever. Second, was your father. I knew he wanted me dead and I didn’t know what you would do or even could do to stop him. Yes, we had an amazing time together, and I could only hope that you cared for me enough that you wouldn’t take my son and shoot me in the head at his order. But I really didn’t know.”
So far, she had valid reasons, and I didn’t like that. It was easy to be angry with her when I thought she didn’t care or was being manipulative.
“I pulled up your number so many times to call you and just couldn’t. After Cutter was born, I left for Italy. We were there a year when he got really sick and had to be hospitalized. I almost lost him. I decided then that you needed to know. That it was time for me to tell you regardless of the consequences so you could meet your son.”
“So why didn’t you?”
She marched for the desk, pulled out her phone, and held it out to me. “That’s why.”
Taking her phone, I stared at the image of the engagement announcement between me and one of the women that my father had arranged for me to marry. Veronica and I were heading into Le Cache for something to eat with the caption, ‘The happy couple out for date night.’
“I couldn’t,” she said. I looked at her and caught her wiping away a tear. “I just couldn’t. The only thing I could picture was you marrying some other woman and taking Cutter from me. I kept tabs on the engagement, and then suddenly, there was a different girl and then another. The latest one was three weeks ago. You go through fiancés like underwear.”
“Quite the little FBI stalker you are. I like it,” I teased, and I swear she snarled.
“I deleted your number from my phone and made that image my screen saver to remind me why I wasn’t calling you. My plan was to wait until Cutter was old enough to decide if he wanted to meet you, and I’d let you know then. Right or wrong, I stick by my decision. No one is cutting me out of my son’s life, and if you try….” Savannah stalked me around my desk, her body poised to attack as she clenched her hands into fists. “I don’t care who you are, Nathaniel. I will tear you limb from limb, and if that woman thinks she’s going to take my place, I will bury her. Do you hear me?”
“Oh, I hear you.” I was trying hard not to smirk but failed miserably as she stepped into my personal space, the air sizzling with anger and desire.
“I can’t believe I let you make me the other woman. What the fuck was I thinking? I wasn’t thinking, obviously.” She grabbed the ring I’d given her and yanked it off, slamming it down. “I will not live as your whore.”
I swiped the ring off the desk, grabbed Savannah, and whipped her around so her back was pushed up against my bookcase.
“You’re mine, Savannah,” I growled. “You’ll live as my wife, and unless this ring is cut off your finger, you never remove it.”
Her dark glare was accentuated by the shimmer of tears in her eyes, her hand remaining clenched shut. “No, give it to whoever it is that you’re engaged to this week instead.”
My hands tightened on her arms. “There is only one woman in my life…you. You’re my wife. Now put the ring on,” I growled, hating that she’d removed it at all. It was a piece of metal and gemstone, but it meant far more to me.
“But the reports said?—”
“Fuck the news.” I wrapped my hand around her throat, my lips hovering over hers as our eyes locked in a standoff. “You’re my wife. My only wife, forever. Now put the ring on, or I’ll have it tattooed on your finger so you can never take it off. Don’t fucking test me, Savannah. I swear I’ll do it.” She didn’t move and continued to scowl at me. I had to give her credit. I’d seen some of the worst that the streets had to offer back down from me, but not her.
I took a steadying breath, Goran’s words swimming in my mind about trying a new tactic. Releasing her throat, I gripped the bookcase on either side of her head.
“Okay, look. You’re right. We need to talk. I don’t want there to be all this anger between us either, but fuck I want to kiss you so badly when you’re like this.” Before she could argue, I dropped my lips to hers and groaned as she opened for me. I sucked in a sharp breath and held still as her teeth latched onto my bottom lip.
“I will kill her,” she seethed, not letting go. This really shouldn’t be so erotic, but the nip of pain and jealousy swimming in her blue eyes was liquid cocaine straight into my veins.
If there had ever been a doubt that Savannah was made for me, it was wiped from my mind with those four little words. My sweet strawberry had a volatile green streak, and I was eating it up like candy.
“Cassandra is my personal assistant. I’ve never fucked her, and I don’t want to,” I said, and she let go. “Naughty girl,” I scolded, secretly loving it. I pressed her harder into the bookcase with my body. Savannah didn’t fight me now. I knew she could. We would end up in a heated throwdown if she seriously wanted to get away, and there was something in that knowledge that made this sweeter.
“And what about your fiancé? Explain that.”
“What about her,” I asked, purposely keeping the fire raging in her eyes.
“She goes, or I do.”
“Where do you think you’re going to go that’s safe? My entire family would be looking for you, not to mention there’s still a hit out on you and our son.”
“I would make it work. I’m not useless. I know how to disappear, and I have friends who would help me.” That information sent fear racing down my spine. I didn’t doubt that she did and knew people who could help her. “I will not be made into a joke, Nathan. I’m the only one in your bed from now on,” she said.
“What if it’s not my bed,” I asked, unable to help myself.
“Fuck you,” she hissed, and I grunted as her fist connected with my jaw, jerking it to the side. She ducked under my arm and marched for the door. I rubbed my jaw, my cock harder than it had ever been.
Following her, I watched the sway of her ass with the summery dress accentuating the movement. Reaching Savannah before she touched the door handle, I grabbed her wrist and whipped her around.
“Let go of me,” Savannah seethed and pulled on her arm. With a quick tug, I picked her up and tossed her over my shoulder.
“Put me down, you asshole. Why did I sleep with you again? I hate you,” she growled. Sliding my hand under the dress, I cupped that sensual ass and squeezed. “I swear I’m going to kill you,” she said, and I smiled.
I sat her on the edge of my desk, trapping her with my arms. “I love your dirty talk, Kisa. But before you try to kill me, you should know that I don’t have a fiancé.” There was something seriously wrong with me because the angrier she got, the more I wanted her. The unhealthy level of obsession running through my body would have anyone else committed. She made my blood sing, my heart beat with purpose, and my soul feel whole. No matter the anger that lingered, only an idiot would toss that away.
“What,” she asked, her tone losing some of the heat.
“You heard me. I don’t have a fiancé. They were all a ploy of my father’s to try and force me to choose a woman he felt would better the family holdings. He thought he could push me around, embarrass, or strong-arm me into doing what he wanted.”
“Why didn’t you just say that?”
“Because watching you get all fired up does something to me. Fuck, I want you,” I said, and this time when I kissed Savannah, she deepened the kiss. Our lips moved in sync and with the same desperation. I was near rabid with need. Savannah wrapped her arms around my neck and moaned as I pulled her closer to the edge of the desk, my fingers pressing into her hips.
“Where’s Cutter,” I asked, breaking the kiss. Nipping along her jaw and down the side of her neck until I reached the spot I’d already started to mark. Now that I’d said the words out loud, I couldn’t get the idea out of my mind. I was going to tattoo her with my name, and the only question was where.
“He’s with your mom. She came over for a visit and offered to look after Cutter for me. I think she could tell I was quietly seething.”
I smirked. “I like you seething with jealousy.”
“I wouldn’t play that card again anytime soon. I do know how to use a gun.”
I scoffed and then smiled. “I’m sure I can find other ways to piss you off.”
The corner of Savannah’s mouth turned up, and I kissed her, taking her taste deep into my body. Not that I needed the reminder. The way her essence stuck to me while we were separated was not normal and probably unhealthy, but I didn’t care.
As I slipped my hand under the hem of her dress, my fingers caressed her soft skin all the way up to my prize. Savannah spread her legs a little wider for my wandering hand and moaned as my thumb rubbed over her underwear. They were already damp, just further proof that we were both fucking crazy.
“No more underwear,” I said, and her eyebrows shot up. “I want easy access to my wife from now on. No more underwear. That’s an order.”
“I’ve never been great with following orders. What happens if I don’t abide by your rule,” she asked, wiggling against my thumb, making my cock throb.
“Then I’ll lay you over my lap and tan your sexy ass until you cry and beg me to stop.” My thumb pushed the material aside and glided into her, making her moan. “If you do it again, then I will fuck you in front of my guards.” She sucked in a deep breath and laid back on her arms. Her stare was a mix of challenge and desire. I pumped my thumb a little faster, but I needed to be inside of her. I couldn’t hold off any longer. Tugging on her hand, she slipped off the desk and followed me to my chair. “If you continue to misbehave, then I’ll buy you a ruby collar, lock it on your neck, and won’t let you out of it or allow you to come until you learn your lesson.” I released my cock from my pants and sat down. “Come here.” I loved how she made a show of taking off her underwear and holding it out to me. Grabbing them like the prize they were, I held her panties to my face and shuddered as her scent filled me. I tucked them into my jacket, keeping them for later.
Savannah straddled the chair, and her pussy brushed the tip of my cock. That alone made my eyes want to roll back into my head. Her fingers wrapped around my shaft, and she was teasing her clit when my phone rang.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” I looked at the time. I had a meeting with one of my suppliers. “I need to take that,” I said, snatching my phone off the desk.
“No one is stopping you,” she said and slowly sat down, my cock filling her inch by inch.
“You’re going to kill me, woman,” I said, biting back a groan as I hit answer.
“Travino, thank you for agreeing to this call,” I said, and then bit my tongue to keep from groaning as Savannah started to bounce on my lap. Each little movement stole my breath. Her pussy gripped me tight, enhancing the feel of my cock rings, and the sensations sent shooting through my body.
“Yes, of course. I’m always happy to speak to you, Nathaniel. But I’m not sure there is anything we can do about the price,” he said and then started into a long prattle of why. I was trying hard to listen but failing miserably as Savannah picked up the pace and tugged the front of her dress down, exposing her beautiful tits.
“Oh, yes,” I said. Luckily, it was an appropriate moment to speak. Travino continued talking, and I couldn’t resist any longer. I grabbed one luscious tit and sucked the nipple into my mouth. I watched Savannah as she bit her lip to keep quiet.
“I just don’t think it will be possible to negotiate a better price,” he finished.
“What if I double the order each time? I can move the product, but I need it at the price I put on the proposal.”
Savannah rotated her hips, and my eyes rolled back in my head as her pussy massaged my cock. Her fingers worked at the little buttons on my dress shirt, and she softly moaned as the material opened enough for her to slip her hands inside.
My devious wife was pushing my resolve as she nipped and sucked on the side of my neck. Her breath was hot against my skin but not as hot as the words that she whispered in my ear.
“I want you to fuck me hard,” she said, and I licked my lips, trying to focus on Travino. “I want to be your good girl as you make me scream and come all over your cock.” Fuck me. She was trying to kill me. My balls tightened, and I pulled her forward. Now, I was able to pound up into her faster, and she whimpered in my ear. My body shuddered at the sound.
“Alright, Nathaniel. I will allow the price for double the order, but it has to be for the same number of orders per year.”
“I wouldn’t think of double-crossing you by ordering less, Mr. Travino,” I said but smiled. I would have if he hadn’t said anything. “I’ll have the paperwork drawn up and sent over to your office.”
“There was something else I wanted to discuss with you,” he said, and just then, Savannah’s body tensed, and her nails dug into my shoulders as she laid her head back in a silent scream. Her strong muscles tightened like a fist around my cock as she came, and that was all I could take.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Travino. I have a very pressing matter I need to attend to. I’ll be in touch next week.” I hit End and tossed the phone. “Fuck,” I growled. Picking Savannah up, I sat her on the edge of the desk and lost myself in the feel of her. Pens rolled off the sides, and a moment later, my small lamp crashed to the floor as I pounded into my sexy wife. She was moaning and gripping the edge of the heavy desk as it moved a little with each thrust.
“Come for me again. I want to watch you,” I growled. Savannah furiously rubbed at her clit, and I knew she was close. “That’s it, Kisa. Come for me. Now.” My teeth clenched as I held off my climax.
“Nathan, yes!” Savannah arched off the desk, pressing her tits into the air as she came again.
“Fuck!” That was the only word I could get out before my body was gripped with an orgasm so powerful it stole all other words and the air from my chest. Even my heart seemed to stop as my cock unloaded deep inside her pussy. My legs shook as I thrust a few more times. Gripping her ass, I stumbled back and sat down with Savannah on my lap and my cock still inside of her.
We were both panting hard, and her head was on my shoulder. I closed my eyes and just soaked in her quiet breathing and how she still clung to me like I was her world.
“I don’t know if I can ever get over you choosing to exclude me from my son’s life, but I love you, Savannah.” She lifted her head and stared into my eyes, tears glistening in hers.
“You mean that?”
I smoothed back some of the wild strands of hair from her face. “I don’t say anything I don’t mean.” My lip curved up.
“I fell in love with you while we were snowed in at your resort, and my heart has never recovered.”
Kissing her, I dined on the sweetness of her lips. “It kills me that you didn’t come to me. I get it, logically, but…you can’t do that again.”
“I can’t run away with your secret baby?”
“Funny. You can’t run for any reason and don’t hide things from me, Savannah. I won’t tolerate it,” I said, and the fire that was always simmering under the surface with her reemerged. “Tolerate may not be the right word. Just no fucking secrets.” Savannah tilted her head back as I gently wrapped my fingers around her delicate throat and admired how my hand looked. The Mikhailov insignia ring and my wedding band shone in the light. “Secrets lead to lies, lies lead to anger, and anger leads to shallow graves.” My emotions were erratic and volatile when it came to her. “I will protect you and Cutter with my life. But don’t make me regret it.” I tightened my grip, and the fire was still in her eyes, but so was passion. We were toxic and yet made for one another.
A stray tear slipped from her eye, leaving a glistening trail down her cheek, and I licked the little droplet up before it could fall from her chin.
“I won’t run, and I won’t lie, but I can’t be your prisoner, Nathan. I’ll wither and die like that, and it will only breed animosity. It’s not healthy for anyone, but especially Cutter. If we are raising him together, he needs the best of us, not the worst, and frankly, he deserves it.”
“I guess we need to trust each other. That won’t be easy, Savannah,” I said, removing my hand from her throat, only to grip her ass so she didn’t move yet. If it were humanly possible, I’d stay inside of her like this all day.
“Probably not.”
“Fine, you are free to leave whenever you wish, but there are conditions for your and Cutter’s safety.”
“I can agree to safety rules. I’m not an idiot who plans on becoming a damsel in distress,” she said, and there was nothing in this world that would ever make me think she’d turn into that.
“I could go for chasing you through the house, though,” I teased, and the warmth of the smile she gave me lit up the entire room. “Fuck, you’re so beautiful.”
“Do you want to try again,” she asked, and I chuckled.
“I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I don’t think I can stand, let alone fuck you again right now. Give me fifteen minutes.”
Her smile widened as she shook her head. “No, I mean another child. I might be completely insane in offering this, but….” I sucked in a deep breath as I waited for her to finish. “I want us to have another baby so you can be part of everything from the very beginning. I refuse to apologize for choosing what I thought was right and the safest option for me and our son, so don’t think this is me groveling for forgiveness.”
“Oh, I’ll make you grovel, but not for forgiveness,” I growled at her, and she blushed, wiggling on my lap.
“Focus, Mikhailov,” she said, making me smile. My heart pounded like a steady drum in my chest. “I would love for Cutter to have a younger sibling, but I figured it wasn’t in the cards. In the last few days, I’ve resigned myself to the fact that I’m now married into the mafia. Don’t get me started on how that’s screwing with my head, but the point is, I am all in with you and our family. I don’t do anything by half-measures. I want you to experience everything you missed with Cutter. Right from the moment we find out I’m pregnant, hearing the heartbeat, the birth, and the first steps. I can see what missing all of that means to you. So, let’s rectify it.” I stupidly just blinked at her, and her cheeks turned from pink to a vibrant red. “I mean, we don’t have to. I just thought….”
Words eluded me, but I cupped her cheeks and kissed her, pouring what was in my mind and heart into it. We gasped for air when we finally came up to breathe.
“Yes, I want all of that,” I said. Savannah smiled, and I kissed her again. “Fuck, I hate to ruin this moment, but we have a date tonight, and you’re not going to like it very much.”
“Then don’t tell me yet,” she said so softly it was almost a purr. She looked at the fancy clock on the wall. “Your mom said she could look after Cutter until one. That means we have an hour. Any ideas of what we could do with that hour, husband?”
“Say it again,” I ordered.
Savannah smiled. “Husband,” she whispered, and I shivered.
“Oh, I have one or two ideas.”