24. Andrei #2
Maksim blinks at me slowly and nods before he stumbles out of the room slamming the office door shut behind him. I wait until the sound of his uneven footsteps fade before I head downstairs and dump Dmitri’s body in the trunk of my car, giving myself a second to breathe.
He didn’t deserve to go out like this.
I close the trunk lid and head back inside, rolling up the blood-stained rug while I pull out my phone and dial Alexei’s number.
“Please tell me you have dirt on Luca Sotero,” I say as soon as he answers.
“Don’t tell me. He got sick of playing along and fucked up the last job.” He laughs, but it’s hollow at best. We both know that if Sotero had fucked up, I wouldn’t be asking about it so long after the fact. I wouldn’t be asking at all unless Maksim was involved.
“I need something, man. I’ll owe you one.”
He gives me a considering silence before he concedes and agrees to send me whatever information he’s got.
***
It takes hours before I’m finally able to go home, and I’m left feeling unsettled. I wander around the lower floor, making sure all the windows and doors are locked, then spend a few minutes checking and rechecking that the alarms are set before I even think about going to bed.
It’s redundant. Blair would have checked them before she went upstairs for the night. I know that, but I need to reassure myself that everything’s exactly as it should be .
Pavel’s gone. He was the most immediate threat, and Maksim’s too caught up in his drunken stupor to know where to point fingers. There’s no reason for me to think anyone else will go after either Blair or Niko for any reason other than because they’re important to me.
And for the most part, I’ve done an alright job of keeping my head down and not pissing anyone off.
Nothing’s out of place, but the knot in my chest refuses to loosen. Upstairs, I stop by Niko’s room, breathing a little easier when I find him fast asleep, spread across his bed like a starfish. Closing the door softly, I head toward our room.
A small thread of hesitation curls around me when I see the light on under the door. I doubt Blair would have stayed up because she’s still mad about my phone going off at dinner, but as I check my watch and see that it’s a little after one in the morning, unease winds tighter in my chest.
She has no business being up this late.
“What’re you still doing up?” I ask hesitantly as I open the door to see Blair sitting against the headboard, book in hand. The soft glow of the lamp makes her look angelic. She looks up at me with a soft smile, the green of her eyes almost startling in their intensity.
Not still mad, then. I breathe out a sigh of relief.
“I couldn’t sleep.” She shrugs, her entire demeanor soft and sleepy. She’s wearing one of my old T-shirts, her hair tumbling around her shoulders in loose, messy waves.
Fuck, I love her.
“I’ll be able to sleep now that you’re home. ”
I grin, stripping out of my suit as I head toward the bed. “Is that so?”
“I always sleep better when you’re here.”
I grin as I crawl in next to her, cupping a hand around the back of her neck. “I’m very happy to hear that, zolotse ,” I murmur against her lips. She pulls me into her arms, and warmth floods my chest as I rest my forehead against hers.
“I missed you,” she whispers, lips brushing against mine in a ghost of a kiss.
She nips at my bottom lip, and I grin at the tease, my free hand caressing the smooth skin of her bare thigh.
I trail upward as she splays a hand across my chest, smirking when I find nothing but miles of soft skin under her shirt.
When I reach her breast, I squeeze it and brush my thumb over her nipple, chuckling when her back arches, pushing her further into my hands.
Blair whimpers, letting out a shaky breath that makes my cock throb. I want to hear the sound again while I’m inside her sweet cunt.
“I missed you, too.”
I kiss down the column of her neck, rucking up her shirt until it’s gathered under her breasts, nipping at her collar bone where the shirt’s slipped off her shoulder as I settle my hips between her thighs. She shudders as I roll my hips against her, licking the seam of her lips.
On her worst days, she’s fucking stunning, but nothing brings me to my knees like the sight of her in our bed, spread out for me.
Like this, I want nothing more than to drive deeply into her and seek out the heaven that lies between her thighs, but I don’t want to rush. Not tonight. Not when she’s looking at me like I’m the key to her salvation. Not when I need her, need to know that she’s safe and happy here with me.
The sight of her breasts makes my mouth water. They’re a perfect handful, nipples beaded tight, begging for my touch.
And who am I to deny her?
I work my lips down her neck, her chest, and flick my tongue over her nipple, gently pinching it between my teeth.
She gasps, hips bucking into my stomach.
“You’re so fucking beautiful, you know that?
” Her nails dig into my shoulders as I pop the other into my mouth, sucking deep while she smears her wetness against my abs.
I’m already throbbing, and she hasn’t even touched me. Fuck, I’ve hardly touched her.
I slide down her body, lifting her thighs over my shoulders as I kiss every available inch of her.
“Can you be a good girl and stay quiet again?” I ask, nipping at the soft flesh of her inner thigh, smirking as she shivers. “If you can’t, I’ll have to leave you here and take care of myself in the shower.” My cock aches, miserable at just the thought when Blair’s right here, ready and wanting.
She shakes her head furiously, pulling my hair as she tries to force me closer to her pussy, wetness shining in the lamplight.
In truth, I want to hear every breathy sigh, ragged moan, and choked groan.
She’s terrible at being quiet when we’re together, but I love it. Every sound tells me exactly how much she’s enjoying herself, how much she wants to be with me .
But there’s something irresistible about watching the desperate plea on her face as she tries to restrain herself, the way she gives in with her whole body that I can’t pass up.
Her chest is flushed pink, eyes wild. Her nipples are tight nubs, red from my attention. I nudge my nose against the crease of her thigh, inhaling her sweet scent. I want to devour her, to forget everything except how delicious she is.
“Well?” Her teeth sink into the cushion of her bottom lip, hesitating, but she eventually nods. “Good girl.”
It’s the only permission I need before I spear her with my tongue, alternatively licking up the length of her to tease her clit and plunging it as deep as I can inside her, drinking up her wetness like the sweetest manna. She shudders, her muscles clenching, trying to pull me deeper.
I smirk as she bites back a moan, hands pulling even harder at my hair.
I’ll never get enough of how she tastes , I think, groaning as I suck on her clit. She throws her head back as I reach up, squeezing her breasts.
I’ll never tire of the sight of her like this. Lost in her bliss, she clenches her jaw tight as she tries to keep her sounds to herself, despite the whines and sighs escaping her. She looks free . It’s like she’s managed to let go of everything else except for what she’s feeling and what she wants.
It’s breathtaking.
Blair’s always worrying about something, and even when she’s sleeping, it’s like she can’t really let go. There’s a small frown that mars her face hours after she falls asleep until she ends up clinging to me. It’s like she needs to know that I’m right there with her, that I haven’t disappeared.
But when I sink two fingers into her core, she isn’t worried about anything. Her thighs clamp around my ears as I crook my fingers against her G-spot on each thrust while I flick my tongue against her clit.
Her body draws taut as she moans, cunt clamping down on my hand as she floods my mouth with her release. I let her ride out her orgasm, only pulling away when the aftershocks have ceased.
I click my tongue with false disappointment.
“I thought you were going to be quiet?”
Her eyes fly open in a panic. “No, please, I’m sorry,” she whines as I lay a hand on her stomach, holding her in place when she tries to reach for me. She settles for grabbing my forearm. “I’ll be good, Andrei! Please, just don’t stop.” She swallows thickly. “I need you.”
I had no intention of stopping, but her words break something inside me.
“ Zolotse ,” I grit out. She grabs one of her tits, rolling her nipple with her thumb and snapping the last thread of my self-control.
I groan and grab her hips, fingers digging into the soft flesh of her ass.
I place the head of my cock at her entrance for a single heartbeat before I sink into her, pulling her down as her wet heat pulses around my length, making me hiss a breath between my teeth.
She inhales sharply, throwing a hand over her mouth to hold back all her hot-as-hell moans as she rolls her hips against me, chasing another orgasm with reckless abandon .
She’s so fucking tight, my brain short-circuits while I watch her. From her flushed cheeks to the thin sheen of sweat covering her chest, to how fucking hot she is around me, I don’t know what to focus on.
“You were made for my cock, Blair,” I grunt, tenderly stroking my thumbs against her hips. “Fuck.”
I pull her hand away from her mouth. I don’t care what I told her, I need to hear her. I need to feel her lips against mine. I need to know that she feels the energy between us. That this isn’t just me.
I pull her into a hard kiss, teeth clashing together as my strokes grow sloppy. My balls draw tight, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to come before I draw another orgasm out of her.
I shift my hips to a different angle, and her nails rake down my shoulders as she moans against my throat, her voice breaking as her cunt squeezes me like a vise, pleasure flooding her.
Watching her come is more than I can bear, and I groan as I pump into her with harsh thrusts, filling her with my cum, needing to get every part of me as deep inside her as I possibly can, until she’ll never be able to get rid of me.
I’m still panting as I press open-mouthed kisses against the smooth skin of her shoulder, the weight of her in my arms making me feel complete in a way I didn’t know I’d been missing.
I listen to the small sounds coming from the back of her throat as I thrust gently, letting her ride out her pleasure, muscles undulating around me.
She feels like heaven .
“I love you,” I breathe into her hair, heart pounding in my chest. She tenses, and regret slams into me so fast I’m almost dizzy with it.
So much for waiting.
But now that I’ve said it, it feels like a dam has burst inside me, and keeping my feelings to myself will slowly suffocate me.
“I’ve loved you for years.”
I kiss her forehead and roll over, my oversensitive cock twitching painfully when I see my cum leaking out of her. Despite how stiff she is, I pull her against me, guiding her to rest her head on my chest.
Maybe if I hold her close, she’ll forget I said anything. Maybe she’ll go back to being as soft and happy as she was before I opened my stupid mouth.
“Andrei—”
“You don’t have to say anything.” I smile, though it feels brittle. I smooth a thumb over her cheek. “I just wanted you to know. I don’t expect anything else from you.” I huff out a breath, wanting to do anything to ease the stricken look from her face.
Sure, I’ve let myself have moments where I’ve imagined she might return the sentiment, but I should’ve known better than to think it would happen this soon.
“What, uh.” She clears her throat, hiding her face in my chest, one hand idly playing with my chest hair. “What do you mean, years ?”
I twist a lock of her hair around my finger, deliberating whether or not I should tell her the truth. It’s probably too much, and it’ll probably just scare her off, but haven’t I already done that? What else is there to lose at this point?
“Since the first time I saw you.” I shrug, content to let that lie between us. “We were supposed to get you on our side, get you to leak information to us, but as soon as I saw you, I wanted to throw out the whole damn plan and keep you for myself.”
I can still picture the way her hair shone like gold in the sunset as she walked to her car as she left work, looking like the sweetest woman in the world, even with exhaustion weighing down on her shoulders.
And when I got her attention, and she smiled at me?
It felt like I’d been sucker punched, the way the air was sucked out my lungs.
I thought I was going to keel over when her face blanched with fear.
And when she realized I was holding a gun, I wanted to.
Then Daniil got to her first.
“I thought you hated me.”
Her brows are creased, like she can’t figure out how to reconcile her image of me with what I’m saying.
For the first time, I wonder what’ll happen if she never can.
My chest squeezes. Maybe she’ll always see me as the violent brute who took her at gunpoint and threatened her life.
“Never.”
“You threatened to kill me. You kept me locked up until I agreed to work with you.”
I stare bleakly at the ceiling, unable to deny it.
“I never would have hurt you. You were never in danger. Not from me.”