13. Chapter Thirteen #2
He sets his hand on my back. The cut of the dress is so low, most of my back is exposed. My body tingles from his touch. I need more of it but Nikolai likes to hold back. To tease. To tempt. To make the moment last longer. It’s starting to kill me inside.
“Do you like the dress I chose for you?” he asks, stroking circles into my skin.
“Yes. Its beautiful.” And it was nice to not have to pick something. I don’t want all these thoughts in my head. I just want to be free to dance the way I’ve always dreamed.
“You’re beautiful.” He places his nose by my neck and inhales. “Vanilla. You smell good enough to eat.” He grabs my waist and presses me against the vanity table. I gasp. “In fact, I want a taste right now.”
He kneels down before me and shoves my dress around my waist. “You won’t be needing these.
” He rips my panties off me and tosses them to the ground before placing my leg over his shoulder.
I moan softly when his lips plant themselves right between my legs.
He lets his lips linger over my nub. Flicking it and suckling it.
I think I’m losing my mind from how good it feels.
“Nikolai,” I gasp, my hands clutching the vanity table, shaking it. Some of my makeup falls to the ground.
He looks up at me and I look down at him as he eats me out. The sight of it sends tingles straight down to my toes. They curl in my high heels.
His lips move over to my inner thigh and gives it a kiss before he does the same to the other one. I shudder.
“Please,” I whisper. “Oh.” My hand finds my breast through my dress and I give it a squeeze. This isn’t the kind of dress you wear a bra with. I can feel the sensation of my hand perfectly.
He licks me harder and harder, getting me closer and closer.
But as soon as I think I’m going to come, he pulls back and stands up, pushing my dress down.
“What?” I gasp.
He fixes the strap of my dress and gives me a quick kiss on the lips. I can taste myself. “You’ll need to touch up your lipstick. We don’t want to be late. We can finish this later.”
I pout.
He taps my chin. “Don’t pout, sweetheart. Just be patient.”
I bend down to grab my underwear but he stops me. I watch as he slides the flimsy fabric into his pocket. “You won’t be needing these tonight. I want to be able to touch you whenever I feel like it. The last thing I want is to have your panties in the way.”
My inner walls clench. I need him to touch me like I need air to breathe. My legs press together and Nikolai notices but he doesn’t say anything.
He only extends his arm to me. “Shall we?”
I know it’s going to be a long, hard night. For many reasons.
The charity event is being held in the ballroom of one of the finest hotels in the city. Women in ballgowns and men in suits all line up to enter. I wrap my large white fur jacket around myself to keep the winter chill from hitting me but I still shiver.
Nikolai – as the head of the event – walks us past the line waiting to get inside. People admire us. Many of them are a part of the mafia but some of them are politicians or businessmen. People with high connections.
And they all look at me. As someone who was pushed to the back as a dancer for most of my life, it feels good to be center stage here. It’s an addiction. A reminder of why I am doing all of this.
Once we’re inside, I hand my coat to the woman by the front door and waltz into the ballroom. The guests are already inside stare at me too. A smile crosses my face. A genuine smile that loves the attention.
“I’m glad you’re eating all of this up,” Nikolai murmurs to me. “My beautiful wife. I want everyone to look at you and know they can’t have you. Let us dance.” He takes my hand and brings me onto the dance floor. People make way like the parting of a sea. This is pure power.
My body tingles from all the attention as Nikolai waltzes me around the dance floor. “Where did you learn to dance? You never told me.”
“I was given etiquette lesson when I was a boy. My father was a high ranking mafia man. He believed I should have all the class of a well-educated boy and that included dancing. He always thought dancing was a way to a woman’s heart.”
“Is that how he won your mother’s heart? You’ve never mentioned her.”
“She died when I was young. Breast cancer. I never really knew her. But my father would tell me stories. How kind she was. How much she loved me. And yes, he did win her heart by dancing. They met in school and he took her to the dance at the end of the year.”
“That’s romantic. How did your father get involved in the mafia?”
He spins me around and brings me back into his arms. “He was born into it like me. He always said my mother knew and was never bothered by it. That she believed the goodness in him.”
“What happened to him? How did he die?”
“A heart attack. He loved his red meat.”
I set my hand over Nikolai’s chest. “Don’t eat any more red meat. I don’t want you to die.”
He places his hand over mine, holding it close. “You care enough about me to not want me to die?”
“You are my husband after all. Shouldn’t I care?”
“You never tried to run from me. Why didn’t you?”
“At first, I was worried for my sisters’ lives.
I didn’t want them to be hurt in case I ran from you.
But then… I’ve learned that I want to be with you.
The power you exude. I’m starting to see how it can be beneficial.
You don’t scare me anymore. Not after how many times you’ve saved my life. But..”
He raises an eyebrow. “But?”
“But sometimes I still get worried about the other people in my life. What you might do to them. And other times, I want to be like you. I want to intimidate people like you do. I’ve been walked on most of my life. It feels good to have power for once.”
We stop dancing and stand in the middle of the dance floor, letting the other people move around us like an ocean and we’re in an air pocket.
“You’ll always have power with me, Lana.” His eyes flick to my cheek. “Your makeup doesn’t quite hide the bruise your father gave you.”
“I thought I covered it up.”
“You did but I can see it peeking through.” His hands tighten on mine. “I hate what he did to you. I hate that I can’t find Lev. I hate that you were ever put in danger in the first place.”
As I look into the eyes of my husband, it’s in this moment that I believe I can love him. I might already love him.
Can someone both love and hate what a person stands for?
Who a person truly is?
My eyes flick over Nikolai’s shoulder and land on my parents. They’re heading for the dance floor. My mother’s leg is completely healed from the car accident. Not even a limp in sight.
Nikolai must sense my tension because he turns around and frowns when he sees my parents. They stop before us. “Gregory and Masha.”
“Nikolai,” my father says, his lips barely moving. His eyes flick to mine. “And Lana.” I’m not sure how he’s so good at making my name sound like an insult but he is.
“Gregory, for the sake of the peace deal we made, I will not kill you.”
My father stands up taller. “How dare you speak to me like this.”
Nikolai presses his face close to my father’s. “And you will never lay a hand on my wife ever again. Is that understood?”
“My daughter needed to be taught a lesson.”
“Your daughter belongs to me now. You don’t need to teach her any more lessons. You will never lay a hand on her again. Is that clear?”
“Just say yes,” Mother says.
Father grits his teeth, staring Nikolai down. I know I get the tension in my mouth from him. Something I’ve always hated.
Just like him.
“As long as Lana doesn’t come back over and influence my other daughters, then I won’t have to do anything.”
“Influence your other daughters?” I scoff. “You treat Elena terribly. Why are you so cold to her?”
My father sets his dark eyes onto me. His eyes that say so much and so little at the same time. “As Nikolai said, you belong to him now. You’re no longer a part of our family. Do not come over.”
I gasp. “Does this mean you won’t come to my show in a few weeks?”
“We’ll be there,” Mother says but Father shoots her a look.
“We’ll come,” he says stiffly. “But only out of obligation. Not for you. And you better do a good job. I don’t want to be humiliated again because of you.”
My chest squeezes. It hurts so much, I wobble on my feet. Nikolai catches my elbow, steadying me.
“It would be a good idea, Gregory, to talk to my wife with more manners.”
My father hates being talked down to. But he also knows that this is Nikolai’s event, not his own, and there’s only so much he can do. “Come along, Masha. Girls!” he snaps. “Come along.”
It’s then that I see my sisters. Elena and Adriana are both in stunning evening gowns with their hair and makeup done. Adriana looks older than sixteen. I notice a lot of men looking at her and it makes me grit my teeth.
Elena follows our parents but Adriana stops before me. “I would tell you that you look beautiful tonight, Lana, but you really don’t.”
I huff. “I get it. You’re mad at me for… whatever the reason. But I don’t want to fight with you, Adriana.”
“I just can’t believe you’d let this man control you. I am ashamed to call you my sister. I would never let a man control me. Never.”
I hold my tongue back as Adriana flips her hair over her shoulder and follows my parents. They head to their assigned seats. Tables decorate the edges of the room. Waiters begin to bring out food.
“Your sister is going to get herself in trouble one day,” Nikolai comments.
“I hope not. I wish Adriana could see what I see. Understand what I understand. But she’s too young.”
“She’ll learn in time.”
“Hopefully. But I never have much hope for her.” My eyes find Elena’s across the room. The utter sadness in them breaks my heart. My chest squeezes harder, making it difficult to breathe.
“I need to sit down,” I gasp out.
Nikolai nods and helps me to my seat. “Are you all right?”
“I’m fine,” I lie. “Don’t you need to address your guests? This is your charity event after all.”