Chapter 41 - Masha
By some miracle, Lilia’s distraction worked. Exactly thirty minutes from the time I hurried out of my room to get to Anatoli, a loud crash resounded from up at the house. I jumped, grabbing Anatoli’s hand. It sounded like my shy little sister actually blew something up.
We looked at each other, and I shoved open the door, peeking outside.
No one was out there since they believed I had gone in to tear Anatoli apart, not rescue him.
But no matter what Lilia did to keep them away, we didn’t have much time before someone realized I wasn’t running back to see what the commotion was.
We tore off around the shed and along the back wall until we found the little gate. Normally, there would be armed guards patrolling the perimeter, but by now, everyone was at the house. I thought I smelled smoke wafting down to us, but I didn’t dare pause to wonder what was going on.
“This way,” I said, tugging Anatoli down a path leading around back toward the street.
Despite the overgrown trail, we ran like the devil was after us, ignoring the sharp agave spears grabbing at our legs and loose rocks threatening to send us rolling down the hill.
For the first time, I was actually scared of my own family.
They’d be so pissed if they knew what I was up to, and while they wouldn’t hurt me, or at least not too much, they’d drop Anatoli in his tracks if they caught up to us.
We finally came back to the road where Lilia’s car waited, not too far from the front of the house, but out of sight behind the surrounding wall. It was unlocked, and the keys were in the ignition, and we tore up the road away from the house.
“I know a way to get back down into the city from this direction,” I said. “Remind me to get Lilia a hell of a Christmas present this year.”
“I’d like to meet this sister of yours,” he said.
I nodded, concentrating on the road, trying not to wonder if I’d get to see her at Christmas or if I’d still be considered a traitor by then.
I just drove away from Aleks’s house with no destination in mind, and we discussed where to go.
The place in the desert was out since it was decimated after the Collective’s attack.
Anatoli’s face needed mending, and I imagined he might be more injured than he was letting on, so as soon as we were a little bit south of LA, I pulled into the first anonymous motel off the highway.
Thankfully, I had some cash on me, and there was some more in the center console, so I was able to check in without handing over a credit card that could be tracked.
The place wasn’t quite as seedy as the room in Mexico, and the room was cheerfully decorated, as if someone around twenty or thirty years ago had tried to fix it up.
I hurried around to help Anatoli out of the car and into the room, and he scoffed at me, waving away my outstretched arm. Then he gave me a long look and seemed to rethink his stance, all of a sudden acting like a giant baby and letting me heave his arm over my shoulder.
The motel office let me borrow their first aid kit, which was well stocked, and once I had Anatoli in the room, I pointed toward the bed and told him to get his shirt off. The lascivious look he gave me told me he couldn’t be too hurt.
The fresh bruise blooming under one eye pissed me off, and when I began feeling around in his hair, I found a welt that was crusty with old blood on the back of his head.
His back was a mess of bruises where Dan and Aleks’s guys had been kneeling on him.
I hissed angrily as I poured a generous amount of alcohol on a cloth to start cleaning him up.
“Now do you believe I’m on your side?” I asked. It had cut like a knife when he thought I’d come into the shed to torture him again.
He grimaced. “I admit I have trust issues where you’re concerned. It doesn’t change anything, though.”
“I always believed you’d find me,” I said, then realized he had a lot more reasons not to trust me. All these cuts and bruises I was now tending were nothing compared to what I’d done to him. I sucked in a breath and had to sit down hard on the bed beside him.
“I wanted to believe in you over your cousin,” he said. “I wanted it more than I ever wanted anything. But…”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, fighting tears. Remorse sucked; it sucked so much. It felt like I might not survive if he didn’t forgive me.
He turned, gripping my arms and waiting for me to look up at him. “I’m sorry, too,” he said.
“For what?” I asked, stunned at his clear gray eyes that wouldn’t let me look away.
“Kidnapping you, forcing you to marry me, threatening to torture you… I could probably go on.”
“Nothing I didn’t deserve,” I said.
He shook his head. “Don’t let me hear you say that again. I could say I deserved what I got for attacking your family.”
Now it was my turn to twist my head back and forth, with such force my hair slapped my cheeks. “No. Don’t you say it, either.” I leaned forward to rest my forehead on his shoulder. “I don’t think I can get past what I did.”
“You did your job, and damn well.” He tipped my chin up and smiled ruefully at me. “But I admit I’m happier with you on my side.”
“I am on your side,” I said, my heart starting to feel like it might burst. Would he really be able to let it all go?
“Why?’ he asked, his smile taking on a teasing tilt. “Why are you on my side?” When I grumbled, he leaned close, our noses brushing. “Go on and say it.”
“Because I’m yours,” I said.
“Damn straight. You’re all I need, too.”
“I guess that’s good since I’m all you’ve got.”
He shook his head, still smiling, but not as hard as I was. I felt a thousand pounds lighter. “We’ve still got Yury,” he said, reminding me of his pilot. “In fact, I should have him come pick up your sister’s car and leave it somewhere to throw off the trail.”
“It can wait,” I said, pulling myself close and sliding my hands over his shoulders. “Don’t you think? For a few minutes?”
His lips brushed against mine, his warm breath tickling my cheek. His fingers tightened on my arms. “How about a bit longer than a few minutes.”
I opened my mouth to his kiss, not just eager but ravenous.
He’d been teasing me for a week, bringing me to the highest heights, but still believing I needed more recovery time from my injuries before he’d give me what I really craved.
Our tongues tangled together, my blood racing and hands roaming, and when I pressed hard against his chest to feel his heart thudding as wildly as mine, I stopped and pulled back.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked. “You should probably rest.”
The concern was real, but the mischief was stronger. He saw right through me and yanked me onto his lap. “What do you think?” he growled.
I wriggled on his stiff shaft, making his eyes roll back in his head. Maybe mine, too. “Yes, but I didn’t get a chance to really look at your back,” I said, hardly able to keep up the ruse.
The next thing I knew, I was on my back, his big body on mine, caged in by his muscular arms. I smiled up at him, then sighed as he kissed his way down my neck. He rumbled when he got to the neckline of my shirt, sat up, and ripped it clean down the middle.
“Well, now I’m stuck here,” I said. “I have nothing else to wear.”
“Yury can stop and buy some things,” he said. “But until then, yes, you’re right where I want you.”
“Right where I want to be,” I replied.
His tongue traced along the top edges of my bra, and since it clasped in the front, it didn’t get torn up, just opened and pushed aside. I arched my back when he gently scraped his teeth over my nipples, his hand moving down my side.
“Maybe just let me get the jeans off,” I said. This wasn’t the kind of place to have complimentary bathrobes, and while I wanted to be naked as quickly as possible, I didn’t relish the idea of sitting around wrapped in a towel until Yury showed up with more clothes.
Anatoli laughed and rose up to his knees, his eyes locked on mine as he undid the button and slowly lowered the zipper. Tugging the jeans down my legs, he tossed them and began working his way up, kissing and stroking until he reached my panties.
His finger slid under the edge, sinking into my wet heat.
“Soaked,” he said, full of self-satisfaction. “God, I love my little girl’s juicy pussy.”
“Good enough to eat?” I moaned, gasping when his tongue plunged deep inside me.
He lapped at my clit and spread my legs wide, his big hands clasped on my trembling thighs. I reached for his hair, remembering the head wound at the last second and pulling away, gripping his shoulders instead.
“I love this,” I sighed, my hips moving along with the rhythm of his mouth. “I love…” I let the last word trail off.
Did he pause just slightly, waiting to hear the rest?
I soon forgot, lost in the sensations he was dragging out of me.
My arms and legs were weak, my head heavy as I tossed it back and forth on the pillow.
He was so masterful; the feelings were so exquisite.
I wanted this to last forever; at the same time, I was greedy for more.
He pushed his tongue deep again, found the spot that had my moans growing louder and my fingernails gripping harder into his firm flesh. I called out his name and shook, everything so much more intense because I loved him.
And he loved me. I would have bet my entire life on it, even without hearing the words.
I shuddered, let my arms fall to my sides as my legs squeezed tight around his head. He kept going until he had to lift his head and gasp for breath, his face shiny. I grabbed his hair and yanked him up to kiss him hard enough to taste a drop of blood from one of our lips.
“Don’t you dare be gentle,” I said, my legs now wrapping around his hips to bring his pulsing cock close.
His answer was a low growl as he rammed every thick, hard inch inside me, his forehead buried in the crook of my neck. He said my name, the muffled sound vibrating against my shoulder, his lips moving on my throat, his cock pounding and pounding.
“Hurry, hurry,” I gasped.
He had been waiting so long, being so patient as he gave me time to heal. Teasing me with earthshattering orgasms but refusing me his big, gorgeous cock. Now my very own beast was finally unleashed. Mine, all mine. Just like I was his.
His eyes were wild as he rose up and knifed his fingers into my hair, kissing me hard as he rammed so deep I shifted on the bed, my head slamming into the headboard. He placed his palm at the top of my head, never slowing down.
I screamed into his mouth just as he threw his head back and roared, finally falling onto me in a sweaty heap. With his heart crashing against mine, he tugged me down so I wasn’t so pretzeled against the headboard, and we burst into weak laughter as we clung onto each other through the aftershocks.
“You don’t even know how much I’ve been wanting you,” he said.
“Serves you right for being so sweet.”
“I’m never sweet,” he rumbled.
I only smiled and closed my eyes, still trying to catch my breath. The steady thrum of traffic passing by outside made me feel sleepy, and when he rolled over and tucked his arm under my head, I curled up next to him, utterly content.
The only thing that would have made things better was if my family hadn’t still considered him their worst enemy. Or me a traitor now that I’d helped him escape. I had to believe that all that would change someday, but when? I snuggled closer, holding on tight. Anatoli was worth it.
“It’ll all work out,” he said, sensing the direction of my thoughts.
“It’s already perfect,” I said, silently pleading with him not to call me out on the little lie.
Several sharp thuds on the door had us both jerking upright. Heavy fists knocked again, along with the sound of scuffling feet. More than one person. But we were in the middle of nowhere, how could my family have found me so soon?
“Damn it,” Anatoli hissed. “I should have messaged Yury to get the car.”
He looked like he wanted to punch a wall, between a rock and a hard place. He couldn’t kill anyone in my family, but he wouldn’t let them take me. I could read it all on his face and reached for his hand.
I grabbed his shirt and tugged it on, then jumped up to get my jeans. I waved for him to hide in the bathroom. “I’ll deal with them,” I said.
“Like hell you will,” he said. Refusing to hide or cower, he went to the door in my place, only a blanket slung around his hips, and threw open the door.
A burst of childish laughter rang out as the sound of flip-flops slapped down the walkway outside the room. Just a bunch of rowdy kids with nothing else to do in this dead-end neighborhood. I sank back onto the bed, my hand on my chest, and let out a tense laugh.
Anatoli slammed the door, not finding it funny. He looked around the room as if seeing where we were for the first time.
“No more of this,” he said. “No more running and hiding.”
“It’s fine,” I said, but he shook his head, giving me a look that was more suited to when he first captured me. It was a look I wasn’t about to argue with.
“It’s not fine. I’m not letting you be an outcast from your family. I’m ending this.”
I reeled back from his words, spit out with the force of bullets, frozen under the weight of his hard stare.