Chapter 43 – Vivian
L aurel did it.
Through sheer determination and unrelenting work, she forced her first venue to open on schedule. The first event was a glamorous charity ball, complete with a scrumptious buffet “picnic style” prepared by a Michelin star chef and his team with a formal dance. It was everything she hoped it would be, and the important guests lined up to book events in the space.
While she wasn’t recognized as the face of the business—not that she would want to be, because that poor employee was bombarded since the doors opened by admirers—we, her family, celebrated her in the backroom with pilfered plates of food.
I shimmied in my gown, pulling at the bodice that stretched over my hourglass figure.
A shadowy presence enveloped my back a second later. “Do you realize the momentous effort it takes to keep from ripping that off you?” Luka’s hot breath tickled my ear. “Since the moment I saw you in the damn thing, all I can think about is shredding it to pieces.”
“Control yourself, mister,” I said with mock seriousness. “We’re at a very formal event.”
“Fuck that. You’re my wife. The only thing holding me back is that you haven’t touched me—the whole damn evening.”
I was aware of that. Unable to keep the devious grin from my face, I smirked up at him. “Poor thing.”
“I’ll make you regret those words, darlin.”
My brow arched. “Is that a promise?”
“Yes,” Luka growled. “The moment you lay your sweet hand on me, I won’t be able to stop from taking you—hard.”
Gesturing to the family mingling in the private salon just off the main ballroom, I asked with feigned innocence, “With all these witnesses?”
“Vivian,” he ground out.
I felt everything he was suffering. Setting my plate of half-eaten food and the bubbly water on the side table, I turned. “Yes, Luka?”
“Have mercy,” he whispered.
“On both of us,” I promised.
And then, I reached out to trail the tip of my pointer finger across his throat.
Luka snapped.
My feet lifted off the floor, and he carried me from the room. The quick glances cast in our direction were forgotten seconds later as he crashed through a door to the lounge attached to one of the woman’s bathrooms on the other side of the building. Since it was in part of the venue not being used for the ball, there was little danger of being discovered. That didn’t stop Luka from barricading the door.
“Did I tell you how handsome you look tonight?” I grinned conspiratorially at him, knowing how much he hated suits, and the tux was three times worse.
Luka turned, hands planted on his hips. “Thank you. Now…on your knees. Hands on that chair.”
I mirrored his stance. “Make me.”
A short breath blew from his nostrils. That ever-present smile played on his lips. Luka closed the distance in two steps and grabbed the back of my neck, giving it a short tug. His hand snaked out at the same time he took a step forward. Fingers closed around my throat while he spun me around to look in the mirror.
“Look at you, pretty little girl, so strong and fierce.” That hard touch slid down my neck, tracing my pulse. He continued down the exposed expanse of my chest, stopping at the line of my dress. With a hard tug, he pulled the stiff material down.
The air sliced across my sensitive nipples, making me hiss.
“Ready to be a good girl and listen?” he murmured against the shell of my ear. This close, his body caged me. There was no escape. I could try, but I wasn’t running anywhere.
That didn’t mean I was going to give in so easily.
Because I knew he would never hurt me, I said in a flash of bravery, “No.”
The grin cutting across his face was nothing short of wicked. Luka tugged the bow at this throat, and the tie unraveled. Deft fingers played with the length of black material. In seconds, it was around my throat.
“I always knew you would look good in a collar,” he chuckled, a dark promise lacing his words.
I reached out to push him, but he easily caught my fingers in his. The kiss he placed on the inside of each wrist was a fiery brand. “Do I have to bind these too?”
“Yes,” I panted, body shaking in anticipation at the heady threat.
Luka laughed softly as he snapped his shiny black dress belt off. He effortlessly secured my wrists. The first sharp tug tested the bounds. The second sent me to my knees.
“Fuck—” he moaned. “You’re every bit as gorgeous kneeling as I imagined.”
I arched a brow. “Careful, I know where you keep your knives and I know where you sleep.”
Keeping hold of the belt, Luka reached out. When I didn’t flinch away, he rubbed his thumb over my bottom lip. “Let’s see if we can find something to silence that smart mouth of yours.”
No snappy comeback leapt to my defenses when he unzipped his pants and unleashed his beautiful cock. I wet my lips in anticipation; heat pooled between my legs. That had to be why when he commanded me to open, I instantly obeyed. I wanted him more than I wanted to continue the game where we pretended to be combative.
Eagerly, I leaned forward, running my tongue over his head. The skin was impossibly soft, and there was a slight saltiness about it that I instantly found myself addicted to.
“Saints! I love how this looks on you,” Luka murmured, tracing the makeshift collar at my throat.
Lips enclosing over the engorged head, I swallowed his length. A rough, masculine moan vibrated around me. It sent a shiver of delight down my spine to know it was me who made him sound like that.
I slid his hard cock in and out of my mouth, working him deeper into my throat. Mouth stretched wide, I relaxed my jaw to take all of him. A few more test strokes, long and lingering, and I just about had the fit of him right, when Luka lunged. He slid his touch around to tangle in my hair, holding it in an unforgiving grip. The way he held my hair made me immobile. I protested, but he only chuckled as he took charge.
Despite the loss of control, a thrill ran through my body at the dominant hold he had over me.
Sucking and swallowing with my throat.
Rubbing and stroking with my tongue.
My eyes fluttered closed and focused on keeping my jaw relaxed. Luka quickened his pace, pumping in and out. Each breath was cut off, every exhale shortened.
“Look at you, shifting and trying to rub your legs together,” Luka rasped, giving my bound hands a tug. “You need to come, don’t you, baby?”
I choked out a sound of assent.
“Hmm, we should do something about that.” He snapped his hips hard, and desperation prickled through me. “I like fucking your smart mouth. But….”
Luka withdrew so fast that I stumbled forward, choking on air. He used the forward momentum to yank me to the ground. At the last second, he flipped me so my back caught the floor. Looking up at him, I ached for relief.
But I wasn’t the only one burning with need.
Luka’s chest rose and fell, pulling ragged breaths into his lungs as his cock stood straight up. The taste of the hardness was still on my tongue, but now seeing it, the poor thing looked painful.
I never felt more powerful in my entire life. I did that. I made the beast writhe in agony.
I could also be the one to pull him out of it. Bunching the material of my gown, I spread my legs and offered him relief.
The monster pounced.
His hot tongue slid against my pussy. Pleasure bloomed over my skin. The hard breathing and taut, vibrating muscles were deceptive. He continued to lick with long, lazy strokes.
“Luka,” I whimpered.
Hands slid under my ass, squeezing and kneading the flesh. I moaned, tipping my hips to allow him better access.
“Luka,” I pleaded. “I need you.”
“I know,” he rasped. “But it isn’t fair if only you took a taste. I need one too.”
I squeezed my eyes closed, trying and failing to keep the orgasm away. “Luka!” I cried as the pleasure threatened to overwhelm me.
About to crash in the metaphorical waves, the touch was gone and the place empty.
I gasped, jackknifing off the ground. Hard hands gripped my shoulder and tugged the belt on my wrists to take me back down.
“Now where do you think you’re going, darlin?” he chuckled darkly.
“To find somewhere private and give myself the relief I need,” I cut back.
“Oh, no, you don’t,” he chuckled, settling between my legs. While he kept hold of the belt in one hand, the other fisted the back of my head.
No—
Cradled. Gently cradled my skull.
“Vivian? Eyes up here, baby,” Luka demanded, rocking into me. “I need to tell you something, and I need to know you’re listening.”
I let out a shuddering breath. “Yes.”
“Good,” he rasped. “Here’s the thing. You deserve the world. I can’t give it to you. But I can give you mine. My whole existence, every breath in my body. Because, darlin, you are my whole existence. My everything.”
His mouth crushed mine. The kiss was deep and strong, passionate and consuming.
I melted into him. The delirious rush started in one of us, spread into the other, before completing the loop and returning. A never-ending flow, we succumbed to the emotions and pull of the intimacy.
While our souls were fed with euphoria, our bodies moved desperately against one another. Luka thrust into me hard, not holding back as he had with my mouth. I met each and every stroke hungrily. I was famished. And only he could give me the relief I needed.
It didn’t take long to reach the elusive cliff.
Jump! My body screamed.
Not without him! My heart answered.
I pulled my legs higher, forcing him deeper. Stars sparkled across my vision. From somewhere in the background, I heard the roar of the beast.
The orgasm possessed every fiber of my being. Luka growled in Russian, but I couldn’t concentrate on the sound with the bursts of pleasure exploding through my body. Each nerve ending was its own firework, and the sparkles and pretty colors rained through me.
Luka snapped his hips hard, stilled, and groaned.
Weakened by the overwhelming waves of pleasure, I opened my eyes to slits. I had to see the monster coming undone. It was the most beautiful sight in the world.
How could I ever have hated him? Luka was everything.
It’s too soon to tell him that.
I smiled. We could wait to exchange those words.
Luka caught me looking. He tipped his head to the side and studied me. “What’s going on in that gorgeous head of yours?”
“Lots of things, and a whole lot of nothing,” I whispered, shifting my hips.
Luka groaned. “Stay. Let me clean you up.”
Too limp to move, I didn’t protest as he left. When he returned with a damp cloth and began to clean the mess, I sighed. The party was nice, but I wasn’t in the mood to be around other people tonight.
Luka untied my hands before helping me to stand. My reflection shifted in the mirror, and I looked. Something I shouldn’t have done. My makeup was smeared, and my hair hopelessly messed.
“Oh, jeeze,” I hissed.
The woman staring back at me looked thoroughly sexed. At least she seemed happy. That realization made me smile, because I was.
“You’d better fix your face, darlin. If the others see you this wild, I’m going to have to shoot them,” Luka drawled, swiping his thumb under my eyes where mascara smudged.
“You’re lucky the gown didn’t rip,” I countered, tugging the bodice back up. Tucking my breasts back into the stiff material proved difficult.
Luka shrugged. “That would just be an excuse to take you home and into bed.”
Despite the warm pleasure coursing through me, my core clenched greedily. “Maybe it could malfunction? Then we would have to go, right?” I asked breathlessly.
Luka threw his head back laughing. His arms wrapped around me, holding me in a tight embrace. I pressed into his chest and inhaled deeply. The rich scent of his cologne tickled my nose. I took another breath, trying to smell the scent underneath that was completely him.
His voice came out so low, I nearly missed what he said. “You make me feel things that I thought died.”
“What?” I stammered.
He pressed his lips into my hair. “The way I feel about you, I didn’t think I’d ever have these feelings again.”
A bolt of panic shot through me. Everything was going well, why did he have to add this other layer and complicate it? “You can’t love me, it’s too soon,” I protested, instantly regretting the words because they might hurt him.
And I never wanted to do that. No matter how obnoxious of a little shit he could be.
Thankfully, Luka didn’t seem fazed. He shook his head. “You make me feel fear, Vivian. The fear of something happening to you. It’s the most powerful emotion.”
The little ache swallowed the panic. Maybe I do want him to say the four-letter L word. “It’s not that powerful. You can squash it. Or ignore it. That’s what I do.”
“No, darlin, not this fear,” he murmured into my hair. “It sank its claws into me, and so long as we live, it’s going to have a hold over me.”
I reached up and cupped his cheek. “Well then, just hold onto me and we’ll jump despite it.”
The ghost of a smile returned to his lips, brightening as he watched me watch him.
Whatever he was going to say was cut short when the sound of gunfire whispered through the door.