Chapter 18
NATALIA
Maybe I’m being a brat right now, but I feel like Leks is being unfair. I wasn’t breaking a single rule.
So a creep decided to touch my ass. Big deal. It made my skin crawl, but it had nothing to do with my game with Yuri.
I was playing a game of chess, for God’s sake. What could be more innocent?
My bedroom isn’t small by any means, but standing with him in this space makes him inescapable. There’s nowhere I could go that I wouldn’t be able to feel his presence or drown in his masculine scent.
And Leks has no intention of letting me get far, right now. He’s so close that I have to tilt my chin up to look at him.
“You’re not going back there.”
“What happens if I do?”
His face darkens. “You don’t want to find out.”
I am more sure with every passing second that Leks doesn’t want to harm me…but he’s not a man who makes empty threats. Something in me, though, can’t resist testing him.
I make a move for the door.
An immovable, solid, wall of muscle blocks my path.
I forgot he moves like lightning when he wants to.
He throws me down on the bed and pins my wrists on either side of my head.
The powerful flex of his grip against my wrists and the unreadable darkness in his eyes all tell me that this is serious.
“Don’t ever disobey me like that again, wife.” His face is inches from mine and it makes my heart pound wildly.
“Those men are not your father’s fucking well-paid guards, Natalia. They don’t play by the same rules that you do. They will eat you alive.”
I’m still irritated that he didn’t let me finish the game. I was about to beat Yuri and win a good amount of cash for doing so.
“If I can’t play that game, you have to offer me an alternative.”
“An alternative?” I like when I surprise Leks like this, and he looks at me as though I’m a particularly interesting puzzle to solve.
“Something to do tonight. Something fun.”
A flicker of his face tells me that statement didn’t come out as innocently as I meant it.
“I’ll play chess against you,” he offers.
I shake my head.
“No deal. I already have a chess buddy.”
His face darkens at that, but he makes another offer.
“Scrabble.” I shake my head. “Pictionary.” I shake my head. “I think one of the guys has an Xbox?” I wrinkle my nose. I’ve never liked video games.
“I’ll get you a newspaper and we can do the fucking crossword?”
I shake my head and he lets out a sigh that sounds more like a growl, his breath tickling my skin. Awareness rushes over my whole body.
“I don’t know, Natalia, what do you want?”
What do I want?
The answer certainly should not be the man who killed my brothers. The man who forced his way into my life without giving me a thing in return.
Leks has already taken so much from me — so why do I want him to take even more?
I don’t say a thing, silently meeting Leks’s midnight blue eyes until that gleam of possessiveness shifts into the desire we both know is there.
I flex my wrists under his hands and stare at his mouth, the rough layer of stubble surrounding it, willing him to give me what I want. I could ask, sure, but I want Leks to figure it out. For some reason, I feel like he’s one of the few people who understands me.
The air gets thick between us. He looks at me intently, as though waiting for me to take back the invitation.
“Fine.” It’s an admission, the sound of him relenting to me.
Leks’s hands tighten around my wrists. He bends down to press a kiss to my cheek for the briefest of seconds. His lips ghost over my cheek, barely touching my skin, and my blood pounds through my veins.
Where his lips meet my skin for the briefest moment, heat pools at the surface of my skin, ready for more.
In less than a second, it’s over, leaving me craving his mouth.
I imagine his lips ghosting over other parts of my skin and the rush surging through my veins confirms that I do want Leks. More than I’ve ever wanted anyone.
My eyelids feel heavy, my body aching with need for him.
I shake my head from side to side in rejection of his offer, watching a hooded expression that mirrors my own dropping over Leks’s eyes as he looks down at me.
“That doesn’t count. It has to be a proper kiss,” I breathe, craving the feeling of his mouth so much that if I don’t get it I might burst.
He exhales roughly, his face still close to mine, and releases one of my hands to brush his thumb along my jawline thoughtfully.
“If I recall correctly, the last time I kissed you properly, you bit me.”
A blush creeps up my neck. “You deserved it.”
Leks chuckles.
“One proper kiss, Natalia. One kiss and you won’t go back to finish that game with Yuri.”
“One kiss,” I agree.
I’m aware of everything.
His slow, careful, descent towards my mouth.
The deep breath he releases before he closes his lips over mine.
The way his heavy hand stays on my wrist, holding me in place, while his other hand tangles through my hair and cups the back of my neck.
“Just one,” he mutters under his breath. I don’t know if he’s warning himself or me.
Because when his lips meet mine, I know that I’m never going to get enough of this. I open my mouth to gasp with pleasure as the kiss deepens, his tongue sweeping through my mouth as though he’s tasting me.
His stubble scratches against my skin, the burn only heightening my desire. I can taste him everywhere.
Oxygen is a precious resource. I try to save it so that I don’t have to break away from him, so that I don’t have to end this. I kiss him until my lips get weak and tremble enough that I can’t keep going.
I don’t want it to be over but at the same time, I can’t do it anymore.
Regretfully, I pull away from him and suck in a breath.
It’s over.
“Natalia, were you holding your breath?”
“You said one kiss. That was one kiss,” I splutter.
Leks doesn’t pull back or let me go. He leans forward, lips hot on my skin, and presses a line of kisses along my jaw. It does not help with my breathing. The sensation makes my breath catch in my throat.
He brings his mouth to the hollow under my jaw and laughs to himself as his lips feel my racing pulse, my shaking gasps.
“How’s that for one kiss?” he murmurs.
“I think I need another one.”
When I’ve finally got my breath back, I capture his lips with mine again and can’t suppress a moan.
I think I’m addicted to his taste. The strong, clean scent of cedar and soap.
This time I rake my free hand through his coarse, dark hair as his tongue tangles with mine and his rough lips sweep over my mouth.
An empty, aching need opens up at the base of my stomach and I lift my hips to him. Is he hard? How would I know?
Then his radio starts blaring with rough, urgent Russian.
He lets out a groan, fumbling for his belt.
“What the fuck?” he hisses under his breath. He sounds more annoyed than I expected.
I feel like I’m floating on a cloud right now from our kiss. Leks’s voice is rough with urgency. On a different planet to my blissful pleasure. He sounds like he needs something.
“I’m busy, this had better be important.”
He releases my wrist and I rotate it in surprise. I hadn’t minded being pinned down to the bed by Leks. In fact, I’d liked it.
I’m confused by the contrast between the orders and question he’s impatiently barking into the radio and the tenderness of his touch.
Between messages, he presses his lips back to mine, kissing me so hard that my lips tingle, then reluctantly pulls away as the next message comes through.
His eyes drip with molten heat as he looks at me. “We’ll continue this later. Drug bust down the other end of the port.”
Even as he presses another kiss to my cheek — a filthy, proper kiss this time — his voice still sounds clipped, annoyed. He stands up, attaching his radio back to his belt, and I become aware of why he’s acting irritated.
It’s hard to miss, now that he’s standing up. His black suit pants are straining in the crotch, the fabric tenting over a huge bulge in his pants.
I think Aleksandr has a hard-on.