Chapter 43 – VALENTINA
Forty-Three
VALENTINA
REMI: Aunt Leni confirmed there’s no contract. None with your name or AJ’s. Whoever they were, they were rogue.
ME: Balterra has ties to Ares, then.
REMI: Seems like it. Whatever this was might’ve died with those three. We won’t know until we question Casper.
ME: Yeah. Maksim says he’ll handle him tomorrow.
The typing bubbles appear and vanish once before her next message comes through.
REMI: Val, I’m happy you told everyone. You deserve to be happy. I love you, pendeja.
Sweet, but it also feels suspiciously like she’s trying to get rid of me.
ME: Are you with Kuroda?
REMI: What? You think you’re the only one who can get folded over a car?
I snort and make a mental note to add that particular position to my to-do list.
ME: Stay safe.
With a laugh, I toss my phone onto the sofa and go looking for Maksim.
The shower shut off almost fifteen minutes ago, yet he’s still in the bathroom.
He hasn’t said much since we got back to his place.
He’s shaken by the ambush, by the threat of a blood oath looming over my head, by everything.
..and maybe a little overwhelmed that our relationship is suddenly out in the open.
With everyone, including my dad. Before he and I even had the chance to sit down and define what we are.
Even so…
Knowing we’re done hiding, done sneaking around like we’re doing something wrong…it makes me feel weightless.
I step into the ensuite and find him standing in front of the mirror, face covered in shaving cream, and a straight razor in one hand. But it isn’t the glint of the blade that grabs my attention. It’s the fresh ink on his skin.
“Maksim.” I say his name softly, careful not to startle him while he’s got the blade to his throat. His eyes meet mine in the reflection, and instantly, the hard edges fall away.
“That’s new,” I say, stepping beside him, my heart fluttering as I take in the beautiful black artistry. One I’d know anywhere. I glance back up at him. “Remi did this?”
He nods. “She did. I meant to show you today, but after everything that happened, it kind of fell to the wayside.”
“They’re hummingbirds,” I murmur. “For me?”
“Always for you.”
“It’s beautiful.”
Maksim smiles and leans in like he wants a kiss but stops when he remembers the shaving cream on his face.
“I don’t mind,” I giggle, and lift my hand to cover his, the one holding the razor.
“Can I?”
I know what I’m asking. It’s not just about shaving, it’s about control, surrender, and trust—something that has never come easy to him.
“Do it,” he says, angling his jaw and offering me his throat without hesitation.
The butterflies in my stomach take off like sparks. I curl my hand around his chin and tilt his face just right. The first slow drag whispers across his skin, clean and careful, and his breath catches, not from fear, but…something else.
I can feel his eyes on me, watching my reflection in the mirror. Watching every move I make like he’s trying to memorize every detail.
This moment seems small, but we both know better. After everything tonight, this is another step, another piece of trust laid down between us, fitting into place.
Those three words sit on my tongue, aching to be spoken, but I swallow them down. He’s not ready. And I want him to be when he hears them.
“They won’t touch you,” he finally says as I stop to wipe the blade clean. His voice is lethal. “I don’t care if I have to take on the whole goddamn organization. No one touches you.”
I kiss him, not caring about the shaving cream smearing across my lips. “Aunt Leni said there’s nothing on the books with our names on it. No contracts. These people were rogue but somehow tied to Balterra.”
His thumb drags along my cheek, gentle compared to the storm in his eyes, and his jaw flexes. “That’s not enough for me. Maybe that bastard Casper has more intel.”
The bitter sting of betrayal claws up my throat, and I feel it rise behind my eyes.
“Don’t.” Maksim cups the back of my neck, pulling me in until his forehead rests against mine. “Don’t you shed a single tear for him. He doesn’t deserve your sadness.” His voice drops to a cold whisper. “And I’ll make sure he understands just how badly he fucked up.”
I say nothing and nod, tipping his chin again, needing the distraction.
Another clean stroke. And another. One more. Then—shit.
A small drop of blood wells at the edge of his jaw.
“Fuck, I’m sorry.” The razor clatters against the counter as I grab a towel and try to blot it. “I didn’t mean—”
“That the best you got?”
Before I can blink, his arm hooks around my waist. The world tilts upside down, and then I’m over his shoulder. The slap he lands on my ass is brutally perfect, ripping the breath from my lungs.
“You draw blood,” he growls, “you pay for it.”
“That was barely a nick!” I’m laughing, breathless, clinging to him as he stalks us into the bedroom.
“Then you should have slit my throat if you didn’t want to be handled.”
He drops me on the bed, and I bounce.
“Joke’s on you, Ruso.” I lean back on my elbows, thighs falling open. “That’s exactly what I want. Your hands on me, in me…everywhere.”
Maksim grins wickedly and lets the towel fall to the floor. I’m naked soon after. He crawls up my body with torturous patience, dragging his mouth along my stomach, up my ribs…purposefully ignoring my pussy, where I’m throbbing for him most.
“Turn around,” he orders, the grin he wore just seconds ago wiped from his face. “And hold on to that headboard.”
I run my tongue along the edge of my teeth and arch a brow. “Am I being punished?”
“Now.”
My knuckles whiten when I grip the edge of the dark wood, propped on my knees, Maksim behind me. His fingers skim my ass cheeks, my back, and down my inner thighs. He’s teasing me, leaving a trail of flames with each stroke.
“Are you going to touch me, really touch me, or do I have to make myself scream?”
He chuckles, tone laced in warning. His palm slides down my back again, agonizingly slow.
Then—crack.
I jolt forward, a sharp cry ripping out of me. The sting spreads across my skin, fiery and delicious.
“Now, you're going to count,” he says, voice calm as the command threads through every syllable.
Fuck, yes.
My lips part, trembling. “One.”
He does it again, harder.
“Two,” I gasp, the word barely holding shape.
“Do you know why?” he asks, hand resting on the curve of my ass, soothing the burn he just left.
I glance over my shoulder, my breath shallow. “Because I mouthed off?”
“Because you think you’ve got me, Kolibri. Got me figured out. Got me wrapped around that pretty little finger.”
His teeth ghost my shoulder, cock pressed against my back.
“Don’t I?”
The next slap lands lower, right where I’m already aching. I moan into the crook of my elbow and shamelessly arch my body to meet his hand.
“Three,” I pant. “Maksim…”
The tips of his fingers swat my clit, and I nearly fold. “F-four.”
“Good girl.” He rubs over the sting, tracing slow circles that turn the pain into molten pleasure. “Now spread wider.”
I obey without thinking. The bed creaks as he kneels behind me, the head of his cock sliding along my slit. He doesn’t enter, just drags it back and forth until I’m panting, rocking against him.
“You bastard…”
“You can push me, baby.” His fingers dig into my hips, then around, dipping inside. “But you like it when I push back, don’t you?”
I nod lazily, eyes hooded.
Maksim grabs my throat, pulling me upright against his chest. “Words, Valentina. Say it right.”
All I want is to feel him break me open, feel his hands on every inch of me, tearing me apart, the way only he knows how.
“I do. Fuck…I do,” I choke out, voice shaking. “Please, Maksim. I need you.”
“That’s better.” He guides me back to the headboard, shoving me forward, hand still tight around my neck. “Bring that ass up.” Again, I eagerly obey, anticipating being full of him. “Just like that. You’re doing so good for me.”
Praise. Who knew I was the kind of girl who could nearly come just from the sound of him telling me I’m a good girl? And I’ll be that. I’ll be anything he wants me to be. His good girl. His little slut. Whatever he needs.
“I’m yours,” I whisper.
He thrusts in halfway and stops, the pressure bone deep, making my eyes roll back. I whimper, but he holds me there, pinned between his body and the bed.
“Say it again. Who do you belong to?”
“You…I’m yours, Maksim,” I repeat, my voice louder this time.
“Damn right you are. But you’re not going to move,” he growls. “Or I’ll start over, and we’ll go back to one.”
A shudder rips through me, warring with the urge for that sweet punishment and the need to be fucked. I nod.
“Good.”
He starts to move in slow, punishing strokes that border on cruel. Each thrust brings me closer, every withdrawal leaves me aching, empty, and so shamelessly desperate. God, I love it.
More.
The sound of skin meeting skin fills the room, and it’s like a fucking symphony. Rough, relentless…perfect.
“Still want to make yourself scream?” he murmurs against my ear.
I shake my head, a broken sound falling from my lips.
“I didn't think so,” he says, thrusting harder now, free hand slipping down to circle my clit. “Now scream for me.”
And I do. Loud, raw, and completely undone as my body clenches around him, everything spiraling until I can’t tell where the pain ends and my pleasure begins.
I collapse forward, my chest pressed to the sheets.
I’m still shaking, skin still humming where his hand left prints, mixing with the deep ache between my thighs.
I can't catch my breath. But to be honest, I don’t want to.
I want to live in this moment just a little longer, replaying every touch, every gasp, and every filthy word.
Maksim doesn’t pull out right away. He stays buried inside me, one hand on my hip, the other sliding up to the back of my neck. The possessive man from moments ago is gone. He's something else now. His touch softer.
“Breathe,” he murmurs. “In and out, Ptichka.”
I draw shaky breaths as he leans and presses a kiss to my cheek. The scrape of the stubble left unshaved, the heat of him...it’s all too much and still not enough all at once.
“You okay?” he asks with a tenderness to his voice that makes my eyes water.
“I think you broke me, Maxy,” I manage to say through short huffs, lips curving into a smile even though I can barely move.
He chuckles against my shoulder. “You’re still talking. You’ll live.”
I laugh and bite the corner of my lip as my eyes flutter open.
“Debatable.”
Maksim eases out of me slowly, and I hiss at the sensitivity. His hands find my waist, turning me to face him. Only now, when I look at that same dark gaze that unraveled me just moments ago, it’s tinted with something else.
Love?
I brush my thumb over the thin streak of leftover shaving cream on his jaw and smile. “No more hiding.”
He shakes his head, lips brushing my palm before pulling me against him. “No more.”
I lean back into his chest, breathing him in. The pillow smells like my shampoo now, and my smile deepens when I spot my hair tie and lip gloss on the nightstand. Maksim's made room for me here, in his home, his bed, his arms.
And maybe, finally, in his heart.