28
We were not born to conform
T he gunshot and the woman's scream shattered the night's silence.
Romeo sought my gaze, and I simply watched the woman's body lying on the ground.
"Get out!" I burst out. Irene had her hands over her head. She had dropped to the ground as soon as she heard my shot. She tried to get up without losing sight of me.
"I almost died!" she yelled.
"You're lucky I'm a woman of my word. However, I have a volatile nature, so if I were you, I'd start running before I change my mind. Oh, and make sure you don't cross my path, or my husband's, or you won't live to tell the tale next time."
I lowered the weapon and fired a second bullet into her heel, shattering it instantly.
The redhead jumped, almost breaking her ankle. She turned tail and ran, limping.
"That footwear wasn't suitable for coming to the mountains," I admitted, holstering the gun on my belt.
R also put away his gun as he came up to me.
"Why didn't you let me go through with it?"
"You heard me, I gave my word."
"I would have done it," he replied without a hint of doubt. I knew it was true.
"It wasn't worth it when I had already achieved what I wanted."
"So you realize that I've been an idiot and it seems like they gave me a mafia license in a raffle?" I kept my composure because his reflection would have made me smile in another situation.
"We all have our flaws, and yours is that friendship blinds you and softens you."
I wasn't just saying it about the redhead, but also about my brother, whom R had no fucking idea was still alive. I didn't want to imagine what he would do to Yuri if he knew he had betrayed him.
"And yours?" he wanted to know.
"Just the opposite. Don't you see? If I could, I'd get rid of even my shadow."
"And where does that leave us?" My husband had approached cautiously.
I wish I knew because as much as I wanted to push him away, something inside me screamed not to.
"I'm not very sure. Lately, I'm unsure about anything," I confessed, exhausted. The emotional pressure was taking its toll.
"I've messed up what little was between us."
I offered him a sad smile. Deep down, I wasn't sure of that either.
Yes, the kiss upset me and the fact that he could even consider that, in some convoluted way, I might accept the redhead in my life, but from there to not wanting to see him at all...
I was also hiding things from him, and mine went much further than a tongue crossing.
I was conspiring behind his back to make him lose everything, even his life, his family, every bit of him.
Me, who prided myself on being straightforward, was going to stab him in the back in the worst way.
Romeo was a ruthless mobster, but he had a depth that many self-proclaimed good people would envy.
As we started to argue, before Irene arrived, I saw the truth reflected in his eyes.
I was no better than the redhead; she was also manipulating him for her benefit. But one of the two of us had to win the battle, and I knew it was mine when I made him choose, and he raised his weapon against Irene.
My husband would have shot without hesitation, he would have sacrificed her for me, because that was my will. Because he longed for my forgiveness above anything else.
I only needed that act of faith for a part of my soul to fracture. Would I be able to do the same and choose R over Yuri?
I looked into my husband's eyes, masking the truth that devoured my insides. I was a Koroleva; that’s how my family acted; I had no reason to feel bad about it. However, there was that annoying buzz.
I quelled the incendiary spark and sought a cold tone, so icy that it burned me inside.
"Don't torture yourself, you've known me for a few weeks, her for years. Plus, you just lost your friend, you're not in full capacity to make sound decisions. I would never allow a woman like her in our lives, make that clear."
"Are you excusing me?"
"I'm offering you a truce, just for today, don't get used to it, because I'm naturally a bitch and it's better you accept that."
"And what if I've already gotten used to it? What if I like everything you offer too much?"
I was back against the tree. He was almost on top of me and, to be honest, I missed his mouth, that mouth...
Damn it!
His eyes met mine, sliding over as his tongue would, with longing, with an infinite craving.
His broad hand reached the back of my neck and pushed the tips of his fingers up to the roots of my hair. I closed my eyes in pleasure. Deep down, I was hoping to receive a long, hot kiss that never came.
When I lifted my eyelids, Romeo was still gazing at me.
"What's wrong?"
"You've enchanted me."
"Are you calling me a witch?"
"By the way my broomstick is rising, I'd say I'm craving your magic dust." I let out a husky laugh.
"Are you suggesting we have sex in the woods? You just got out of the hospital, you need to recover."
A slight cough made us turn our heads. It was Aleksa appearing in the clearing.
"Sorry for the interruption, but the guys want to know if we're leaving now. It's getting late, some are expected at home and we still have the toast in Marbella."
Romeo stepped away, looking overwhelmed, with a promise in his gaze that made me long to get home and it definitely didn’t include any rest.
"We're heading out," he admitted, taking my hand.
I didn't resist intertwining my fingers with his, and when I got on the motorcycle with his erection pressing against my back, I knew the ride was going to feel very long.
He spent part of the journey caressing my stomach, provocatively. When we were halfway there, I heard him shout over the engine:
"Drive and don't get distracted."
I thought he said it because it had gotten dark and he was afraid I might lose control of the bike. What I didn't know was that he wasn't referring to that, exactly.
His right hand slipped again under the waistband of my pants. I couldn't let go of the handlebar, so I just gasped when he moved aside the lace fabric covering my sex and began to masturbate me.
I almost lost control.
"Shhh, love, I already told you not to get distracted, keep your eyes on the road and drive," he muttered, tracing circles on my clitoris.
As if that were easy!
I couldn't close my legs, and I didn't want to either. The tingling that was making me moan was the same that contracted my cervix, craving each pass of his fingers.
I had to concentrate. It would have been easier if my desire to rub myself wasn't so intense.
His left hand reached under the bottom of my top to pinch my nipple.
"Bastard!" I moaned. His husky laughter soon reverberated inside my helmet.
"I love messing with you, Nikita, but like this, feeling you become liquid and solid between my fingers. You make me as hard as no one else can. I can't stop thinking about wrapping myself in every inch of your skin."
"Do you want to make me into a jacket?" I joked, before howling as I felt the pressure of his long fingers trying to enter the warm opening between my legs.
"I'd rather lick you all over."
The vehicles coming up the other lane illuminated us with their lights. If they looked closely, they could see what my husband was doing to me, though I doubted anyone would be distracted enough to notice. Far from overwhelming me, the situation excited me. Doing forbidden things always spiked my libido.
"Come on, Romeo, you can't do this to me, we'll have an accident the moment I come, I won't be able to control myself."
"Then don't come..."
"Are you kidding me? It’s impossible to hold back with what you're doing."
"You can handle this and more, love."
"You wouldn't say the same if I were jerking you off while you're driving... Ah..."
Inside, he had managed to slide them in and was moving very carefully.
"I'd love to try that sometime," he challenged me.
I had no idea how much longer I could last, the only thing I was aware of was that I was on the edge of the abyss.
"I can't, Romeo, I can't..." I muttered helplessly. The motorcycle wobbled.
"Take that exit the sign is pointing to," he directed, "let's stop for a moment and we'll catch up with the others in no time."
"Are you sure?"
"Either that, or you hold on until we arrive, because I'm not stopping touching you."
We were the last ones, no one would notice our absence, and my husband was right, it was all a matter of giving it some gas.
"To hell with it!" I exclaimed.
I turned left and we entered a dimly lit dirt road. Romeo gave me no respite and continued to touch me with slow, torturous penetrations.
I was going to die of desire or get smashed against a tree.
To the right, there was a small wooded area. I entered it without hesitation. I didn't intend to go far, just wanted a bit of privacy to let go. We moved a few meters and R signaled me to park.
I stopped the bike, set the side stand so we wouldn't fall, and tried to stand up to get off. My husband prevented me.
"What are you doing?" I protested.
"Stay still, this is just a relief, I want you to come on my fingers and have your pussy in syrup until we get home." My husband thought I was a freaking pineapple, and I loved it. "I want you to desire me so much it hurts, to feel that unease I have every time I'm with you. Whether you like it or not, you've become the axis of my crazy world, one that only heats up when you're with me."
His words made me lift my hips and rub myself as I had been longing to. His thrusts became much deeper.
I removed my helmet, threw it to the ground, and practically tore his off because I needed that damn mouth indulging in mine.
I tilted my neck back and it didn't take much to entangle our tongues.
We craved each other greedily. Romeo savored every moan and provoked the next. It was torture, a sentence I didn't want to escape from, but how could I? How could I not fulfill the promise I had made to my brother?
The friction became frenetic, as did our breaths, and when I shattered between his fingers, I howled his name into his mouth.
The strokes became slow, calm, enveloping, just like our kisses.
My husband's hand left the warm refuge and the scent of desire perfumed us both.
"I love it when you come like that," he murmured peacefully in my ear, bringing his fingers to his mouth to taste me.
"That's because I do it with you," I replied playfully.
"Pity on you if you do it with someone else."
"I don't want anyone else," I confessed, embarrassed. I almost felt his smile on my cheek. He fell silent and didn't comment further. Better, I wasn't ready for him to probe deeper.
We stayed like that, embraced, admiring the solitary night, recovering from the frenzy.
I wish the world could be this simple; him, me, and the universe.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked, scratching my neck with his beard.
"About the pleasure of little things. About the fleetingness of moments like this, which create a temporal bubble that isolates us from a world as sordid as ours."
"Nobody is happy with what they have. Sometimes, I think happiness is too lofty a goal. Maybe we should settle for something less."
"You and I were not born to settle, love, we are made of different stuff."
"That doesn't change the fact that sometimes, I feel like you are enough for me."
His words stung because they mirrored exactly what I had just felt seconds ago. I felt uncomfortable because the feelings I was trying to suppress were blooming again.
"We'd better get back, it's not a good idea to be late. Besides, you owe this night to Dante."
I got off the motorcycle to get the helmets and, before putting his on, I received as a reward a sweet kiss full of respect.
"You are the best travel companion I could have asked for in life."
I put on my helmet.
"Life can be a real bitch and make you blow a tire."
I averted my gaze from his, uncomfortable.
"Then we'll call a tow truck. Start it up, I'm eager to get home."
I accelerated, overwhelmed by the shared intimacy, trying to catch up with the group, and when I arrived at what was supposed to be the toast, an explosion made everything blow up.