24. NIKOLAI
We step out of the car, and Andie leans against me heavily. Though she doesn’t seem physically injured, it’s clear that she’s exhausted, and I hold her close, leading her back inside now that she’s back where she belongs.
I have called off my men across the city—well, all but one, who I have tracking Max to make certain he plays by the rules and actually leaves the country once and for all.
I can only imagine how he would try to snake out of that given the chance—another kind of defiance against me, despite the fact that he’s damn lucky to have survived this long as it is.
If it had been my choice, I would have left his body rotting back in that apartment he held her in, but when I heard the tone of Andie’s voice as she pleaded for me to reconsider, I knew I couldn’t go through with it.
I don’t know why she decided to show him such mercy, when he doesn’t deserve it.
She told me—in halting, stumbling terms, on the way back to the townhouse—what he had planned.
Some ridiculous plan he’d strung together about claiming her for himself, as if anyone would have believed that for even an instant.
I don’t know what drunken, drugged-up state he’d been in when he put the scheme together, but it would never have worked.
The moment Max tried to show Andie off to my father, he would have seen through his bullshit.
But I am glad that Andie didn’t have to go through that mess in the first place.
And the worst of it was that Max had planned to just raise my child as his.
That part makes me fucking sick to my stomach.
The kind of father he would have been—selfish, obsessive, demanding, seeing this baby as nothing more than a totem that he could show off to get what he wanted.
I will never put my child through that. No matter where they might stand as heir to this business, they are my child, first and foremost, and I’m their father, and I will do everything in my power to make certain that they don’t ever forget it.
“Do you want something to eat?” I ask, and Andie shakes her head.
“Not right now,” she replies. “I…I think I just want to get cleaned up first. Get the feel of that place off of me…”
“Let me run you a bath.”
“You don’t have to do that?—”
“I know I don’t have to.” I open the door for her and gesture for her to step inside. “I want to.”
She smiles at me slightly—she seems almost surprised that I’m going out of my way like this to take care of her, but I wouldn’t leave her with nothing in her time of need.
I feel like I have to be so delicate with her, so careful, even if she has shown herself more capable than most of shouldering everything that has been thrown at her.
I head through to the bathroom that’s attached to my bedroom, not wanting to leave her in her own room tonight. She perches on the edge of the bed as I begin to run the water, and I look back over my shoulder, scanning her form for any sign of harm.
She insisted that Max didn’t hurt her, but I’m not entirely convinced that I believe her.
It’s hard to believe that she would have gone along with anything he had insisted upon, though perhaps he didn’t have a chance to enact the worst of it on her by the time I got to him.
The foul shit he forced down her throat to render her unconscious can’t have been good for her, though, and I need to get her to the doctor to make certain that she and the baby are both doing as well as they can be.
Once the bath is mostly full, I move to her side again. I touch her leg lightly to alert her to my presence, and she jumps a little, gaze flicking up to me in surprise.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she blurts out, shaking her head. “I was just…”
“It’s okay,” I reply. “The bath is nearly ready. Come on, let me help you undress.”
She doesn’t protest this time, allowing me to guide her to her feet and through to the bathroom.
She’s wearing a shirt and a pair of jeans, the same thing that she slipped out of the house in, and I take my time in easing them off of her.
I peel her shirt up over her head, letting it fall to the ground below us, and slip my arms around her so I can unhook her bra, which drops to her feet.
I try not to let my gaze linger for too long on the sight of her naked body before me.
As I reach down to undo her pants, I notice that her hands are slightly red, and I wonder if she was beating on the inside of the door trying to get Max’s attention, or to break out.
The thought draws my lip into a curl of fury, and I wonder if I did the right thing in letting him go, but then I remind myself that it was her choice.
I push her jeans down and then tug off her panties, and when she’s entirely naked, I scoop her gently into my arms and lay her down in the warm water. Steam rises as ripples dance across the bath, and she lets out a sigh, as though this is what she’s been waiting for all along.
“That feels good,” she murmurs.
I reach for the soap at the edge of the bath, pour a little into my hand, work up a lather, and begin to slowly work it across her body.
I start at her shoulders, which are tense with coiled muscle, and then move down, across her breasts, over her belly to her thighs, and eventually reaching her feet, which I massage for a moment, glancing up to make sure she enjoys the feel of my touch on her body like this.
Her eyes are half-lidded and she looks exhausted, but there’s a slight smile on her face, as though she doesn’t want this moment to be over yet.
“Are you okay?” I ask her. It feels like far too small a question to capture the enormity of everything she has been through, but I have to start somewhere, don’t I?
“I…I think so,” she confesses, lowering her gaze slightly. “I just…I just want to forget, that’s all. Forget that any of it happened.”
My jaw tightens slightly. I hate that I can’t undo it all, unspool all the harm that he has left her with. I might not be able to take it all from her, but at least I can lift some of the weight of it from her, at least for now.
I reach for the shampoo, guiding her hair back into the water and dampening it before I work it into a slight lather against her scalp, as though I can wash away the thoughts from her head if I just try hard enough.
Her body beneath the water, God, it looks tempting in ways that I didn’t know someone could look tempting. Something stirs deep down inside of me, and I try to ignore it, but I can’t. I long for her. Need her. Need to prove to myself that she’s just as much mine as she has ever been.
“Let me help you forget,” I murmur, as I slip my hand beneath the water, running it down the curve of her lower belly until it rests just above her mound.
She leans her head back, eyes drifting shut, and I work my other hand into her hair, letting her feel my nails drag against her scalp. I just want to remind her, in no uncertain terms, that she’s here with me—that the nightmare my brother tried to inflict on her is well and truly over.
I move my hand between her thighs and she parts them as though on instinct, inviting me deeper, deeper.
I curve my fingers around and sink them into the warmth of her slit, and she gasps as I wrap my hand around her hair, gripping a little tighter.
Her whole body is under my command, back in my arms where she belongs.
Her belly arches slightly out of the water, sending ripples across the surface, as though every inch of her is reacting to me at once.
I tug her hair slightly, letting her feel the tension through her whole system, and watch as her throat pulsates as though she’s searching for the words to tell me just what’s going on inside her right now.
I curl my fingers up slightly, searching for the ridge inside her, and I can tell I’ve found it when she gasps with pleasure, neck flexing as her muscles tighten again.
Her hand slips down between her thighs, resting on top of mine as though making certain that I know where she wants me.
Her hips are stirring against me now, and I watch as the petals of her pussy bloom beneath the water, allowing me more access, allowing me every part of her.
I reach my thumb up and drag it across her clit, and her toes curl at the other end of the bathtub, her jaw tightening.
I know I could get lost, watching her like this—seeing the ways her sweet, strong body responds to me.
My cock is already stirring at the sight of her, and it takes everything I have not to pull her out of the water and right into my lap, to show her just how much I have missed her, just how much I want her.
But this is about her. Only her. She’s the only thing that matters right now—hell, maybe the only thing that matters at all. And I am not going to forget it.
Her orgasm builds through her. I see it in the spasm of her lower belly, the way her thighs tremble on either side of my hand, the way her breath starts to come harder and faster as she tries to contain herself.
I lean over her, dragging my lips across her cheek, and she groans, turning to me, her tongue searching for mine as she pushes it deep into my mouth.
I press down against her clit, and finally feel her pussy clench around my fingers as the orgasm washes everything else away for a moment.
Her hips circle against mine, drawing out the pleasure, the feeling, as long as she can, as if she knows what lies on the other side and is not ready for it yet.
I can feel her muscles throbbing around me, the white-hot heat of her sex where it houses my fingers—and before I can think what I’m doing, I’m pulling her to the edge of the bathtub, drawing her into an upright position as I wrap an arm around her waist, sending water splashing to the floor.
Her hair is damp, her skin glistening with wetness, and she looks like a goddamn goddess in my arms.
A goddess that I want nothing more than to worship at the altar of in any way I can.
I unzip my pants, taking my cock into my hand and guiding it toward her.
She parts her legs, planting them on either side of me as I kneel up to position myself between her thighs.
I reach up, brushing her hair back from her face, and cradle her neck in my hand as I guide myself inside of her for the first time since her return.
And fuck, does she feel like heaven.
The kind of heaven I never imagined I would get a chance to experience again, the kind of heaven I never want to forget my way to as long as I live. I might be a sinner, she might be a saint, but when we are together, there is no distance between us at all.
She rests her arms on my shoulders, leaning her head against mine and casting her gaze downward as she takes in the slow, thrusting motion of my cock against her pussy.
I feel her brow furrow against mine, and I follow her gaze down.
I let out a hiss of pleasure between my teeth when I see the way we look together, my thick girth parting her folds with ease and sliding deep into her slick warmth.
She tightens her grip on me, and I sink my fingers into the back of her neck in return, letting her know that I feel everything she does right now.
“I’m never losing you again,” I murmur to her, as I shift my head so I can kiss her on the lips. “You hear me? Never.”
She moans back, brushing her mouth against mine. She doesn’t need to speak. Our bodies are saying everything they need to say right now, and I don’t intend to waste it.
I can already feel the overwhelm building deep inside of me, my pleasure mirroring hers even before I was aware of it.
Her nails dig into the nape of my neck, that vulnerable spot that she could use to do so much harm if she wanted to.
But despite it all, despite everything I’ve put her through, she seems intent on touching me with the care and lust that drives me fucking crazy.
I piston myself into her a few more times, savoring the sensation of her wrapped around my cock.
And I listen as her breath grows more insistent, her belly clenching once again as she begins to inch toward her release.
I know it won’t be long, and I don’t want it to be—I want her to come again, to feel her body giving in to the sheer pleasure between us, this scorching heat that feels like it could burn away everything that I’ve messed up.
With one last thrust, I bury myself inside her, and my cock twitches as I plunge over the edge and into my release.
I mutter a curse in Russian under my breath, the intensity of it bringing out a side of me that has been long-buried for just a moment.
My cock twitches deep within in and I issue forth my seed, and she squeezes her thighs on either side of me as though determined not to waste a drop.
And it seems to be that which takes her over the edge, the stimulation in the bath melding with the closeness and intimacy that we share as I finish within her.
Her hips rise into me as she gasps, her body softening into throbbing pulses that seem intent on squeezing every drop of my seed from my cock.
Afterward, neither of us make a move to draw away from each other.
I know I don’t want to be anywhere other than right here with her, right here at her side, no matter what.
The mere days we spent apart have felt like a lifetime, but on some level, they have allowed me to see just how important she is to me.
And as I wrap my arms around her, I swear to myself that I will never let anyone keep us apart again, not as long as I live.
No matter what it takes to keep her here in my arms.