Chapter 37
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
THORA
At first, all I can do is stare.
He remains there without saying a word, anger carved into every hard line of his face. A shiver races over me under the force of his attention.
“Anton.” My fingers curl around the edge of the counter as I search his face. “Are you really here?”
The faintest hint of a smile touches his mouth as he stalks toward me. “It appears so.”
He stops close enough that his heat reaches me before his touch does. My heart pounds as he takes in the dress and the bare skin at my throat, leaving my body acutely aware of him.
“Why are you here?”
His palm closes around my throat as he presses himself against me. “Because you are.”
He came for me?
But that still doesn’t answer the question. Is he worried about my safety? Is it more than that? Is he finally ready to admit he cares about me?
His thumb traces the side of my neck before settling over the pulse fluttering beneath my skin. Need rushes through me, hardening my nipples as a heavy throb builds between my thighs. His mouth drops and his scent surrounds me, clean soap beneath the faint musk of his cologne.
“I thought we were done.”
“So did I.” His unwavering gaze holds mine, vulnerability breaking through before he buries it again.
The silence stretches between us until his focus drops to my knuckles and his features harden.
“What did I tell you would happen to any man who touches you, Thora?” His mouth finds the sensitive spot beneath my ear, his lips grazing my skin and sending a sharp flutter through my stomach.
“Anton…” A low moan slips from me.
“You let him kiss you here.” His thumb sweeps across my knuckles. “You let him hold your waist. Dance with you.”
My fingers slide into his hair, gripping the strands. “You don’t get to be jealous after pushing me away.”
His grip travels from my throat to my jaw, angling my face until his mouth grazes the corner of mine without giving me the kiss I ache for. “When it comes to you, everything I thought I knew about myself disappears.”
I clutch his bicep, the muscle flexing. “Maybe you should leave, then.”
His forehead lowers until it nearly touches mine, his lips close enough to make thinking feel like a chore. “I’ve tried. But I can’t stay away from you.”
I hate that his words get to me when I’m still mad about how we left things.
But then his touch drops to my thigh, his palm sliding over silk and bare skin as the slit in my gown parts, and whatever I was going to say disappears.
“Show me,” I tell him.
“Show you what?”
“How badly you missed me.”
A deep growl rumbles from his chest before he drives me against the far wall. I go still, suddenly aware that someone could walk in at any time. When my attention darts toward the entrance, amusement crosses his expression.
“I locked it. They won’t see what I’m about to do to you.”
He gathers my dress, bunching the delicate fabric in his fist.
“Look at me.” His mouth brushes my ear as he raises the silk to my stomach. “I want you to know exactly who your body belongs to.”
The sound of his belt coming undone sends a sharp pulse between my thighs, and I clutch his arms for balance. My teeth catch my lower lip as the ache builds, desperate for him to take it away and remind me how good we are together.
His cock springs free, hard and heavy, and I wrap my fingers around it, stroking until his head falls back on a rough groan. Kneeling down, I draw the crown into my mouth and suck him deep.
“Blyat.”
He clamps the back of my head as I work him to the root, circling my tongue around the crown while my other hand massages his balls, his cock growing impossibly harder against my tongue.
“Hvatit.”
He drags me upright, his hard-on slipping from my mouth before he turns me around and shoves my dress above my hips. My panties are torn down my thighs, followed by a sharp slap across my ass.
“I don’t care what I say or how many times I leave. You’re mine, Thora.” His fingers push inside me. “All fucking mine.”
“Oh God, yes. Yours. Just don’t stop.”
A moan spills from me as he fucks me with his fingers at an agonizingly slow pace, giving me just enough to make me desperate for more.
“Look at this.” His teeth close around my earlobe while his thumb spreads my wetness over my clit. “Dancing with another man, pretending you’re finished with me, and this is what I find.”
“It’s a normal reaction. Don’t let it get to your head.”
His palm cracks against my pussy, making my entire body jolt. “Don’t lie to me. It’s beneath you.”
“What do you want to hear, then?” I turn to meet his maddening stare. “That I want you? That you’re the only man who’s ever made me believe I could have something real, but you’re too stubborn to give it to me?”
“That’s a good start.”
He pinches my clit before circling it with exactly the right pressure, and my body goes boneless as pleasure erupts through me.
“Oh God, Anton. Please…please fuck me.”
His fist closes around my hair while his fingers pump inside me, his stare holding me captive as he drags me to the edge and keeps me there until I’m trembling, willing to beg for anything he gives me.
Then he lets me come. The orgasm rips through me, violent and consuming, leaving me wrecked in the way only Anton can.
I barely have time to recover before his cock drives into me with one brutal thrust, turning my vision hazy.
“Are you okay?”
I nod. “Don’t be gentle.”
That’s all he needs. He pulls my hair and forces me down until I’m bent over and spread open for him, then fucks me like he hates the very ground I walk on.
My cries break apart as his pace quickens, each hard stroke hitting the spot that makes my knees weak while his thickness stretches me until my mouth falls open and both palms brace against the wall.
“Say we’re done.” He withdraws slowly, making me feel every inch, before slamming forward again.
My fingers clutch his thigh. “Anton…”
“Say we’re done while that perfect pussy is squeezing my cock.”
“We’re done.”
He growls, his fingers working my clit with ruthless precision, and a scream tears from me.
“Be a good girl and shut your mouth.”
Oh God. That filthy command alone might be enough to undo me.
I nod, biting down on every sound, but staying quiet is nearly impossible with how good he feels.
“Good girl.” He kneads my clit, coaxing the pleasure higher until my body jerks and the last of my thoughts dissolve.
A laugh carries through from the hallway, followed by the rattle of someone trying the handle. Panic flashes through me, tangled with the thrill of being caught like this.
Anton pounds into me harder, his mouth brushing my ear. “Let them stand outside and listen while I fuck this orgasm out of you.”
My eyes squeeze shut, and when he rubs my clit again, his name tears from my lips and my core clenches around him, forcing me to bite down before I give everyone outside the room exactly what he wants them to hear.
“That’s it, printsessa.” He fucks me through every violent pulse while my knees threaten to give out and my palms slide uselessly against the wall. “Give it to me. Show me what I own.”
Pleasure keeps rolling through me, each thrust drawing it out until my body is trembling from the sensitivity.
A guttural curse rips from him as he seizes my hips and his strokes lose their rapid rhythm.
Then he follows me, spilling deep inside me while his mouth presses against the side of my neck.
For several breaths, neither of us pulls away. Only our ragged breathing and the distant throb of music fill the room. Anton rests his forehead against my shoulder, one arm spread over my waist and his cock still buried inside me.
“You shouldn’t be here,” I finally say. “My family could see you.”
“Let them.”
His lips return to my neck, and my eyes flutter to a close while I savor his warmth against me and hold on to every piece of him he’s willing to give.
Then he gradually withdraws, his fingers trailing from my waist until even that touch is gone, and the loss of him feels like he’s torn a part of me away too.
Silk falls over my thighs as I straighten, my legs still unsteady while he fixes his clothes and tucks his shirt back into place.
He turns toward the door, then pauses to meet my eyes. “Be careful, Thora.”
Is this about the shooting? Does he know something I don’t?
And where is he going now? Is he staying nearby or heading back to New Jersey?
But I say nothing, and when he reaches the lock, some stupid part of me waits for him to stay. To give me one reason to believe what just happened between us means something.
Instead, he opens the door and marches out.
I remain where he left me, facing the closed door while the distant music from the ballroom seeps through the walls. Everything inside me feels too raw to hide under a practiced smile or a glass of champagne, so I do the only thing that makes sense.
I find the rear exit, slip through the back door, and go home.
There’s nothing left for me at this party. Not anymore.
ANTON
I’m waiting across the street in my rental when Thora slips through the rear door and crosses the parking lot toward her car.
My fingers flex around the wheel as she climbs behind hers. I don’t pull away until she does, determined to see her home safely. Mikhail and Arkady could already be here.
I let her gain some distance before easing into traffic, keeping two cars between us and falling farther back whenever the road leaves me too exposed.
When she turns onto the private road leading to the ranch, I slow before the gate comes into view. Her taillights vanish ahead, but I remain there, making sure no one else turns in behind her.
No one is getting close enough to hurt her. No matter what it costs.