20. Chapter 20
twenty
Say - keshi
Jackie anxiously paced the dark alleyway. The narrow lane kept her out of the windchill, but the air was frigid. She kept moving to keep the blood flowing and tried to dispel the nervous energy coursing through her.
She tried not to think of how she’d left M?kail.
She tried not to dwell on how long it was taking Dimitri.
She checked her watch. She’d give him another five minutes before she needed to get out of there. Someone was bound to find M?kail sooner or later, and she needed to be safe at home when they did.
She paced back to the centre of the alley, turned on her heel to go back to the wall, when a tall, dark figure appeared at the edge of the alley. She stopped for just a moment, her nerves too fried to think quickly enough to hide before they saw her.
She launched forward, ducking behind the garbage bin when the figure started stalking forward.
She regretted not wearing the knives Dimitri had given her for her birthday.
It had felt like too much of a risk at the time.
M?kail would likely have felt them and thought she was threatening him before they’d ever made it anywhere private, if she had.
The decision had already almost cost her that night, and now she was left weaponless in the freezing cold with some tall, broody figure approaching.
She crouched into a fighting stance, ready to tackle the person if they tried to attack her. Dimitri appeared around the corner of the garbage. Jackie had just enough time to straighten before he was lifting her into the air, pressing her into the wall and claiming her mouth in a crushing kiss.
His hands fumbled with her dress, pulling it up so only her panties sat between her and the frost-covered wall. He never released her mouth, grunting into her as he fumbled with his jeans and cock before finally thrusting into her.
She gasped. She never would have expected this from Dimitri—he was usually so thoughtful about asking her for consent and making sure she knew she could stop things at any time. After what just happened with M?kail, she wished she had been given the option. But Dimitri’s kiss was too crushing.
And if she were honest, she wouldn’t have told him no anyway. She absolutely felt violated after what M?kail had almost done, but the way Dimitri claimed her now sent a shiver down her spine.
The way he’d stalked toward her like some creature in the night; the way his mouth claimed hers; the way he thrust with abandon… Dimitri was a man possessed, and she wouldn’t stop him even if she could.
He tugged the collar of her jacket and turtleneck away and finally released her mouth to kiss down her neck. Jackie tried to keep as quiet as possible, but she couldn’t help the soft sighs and squeaks that left her each time he plowed into her.
“Mine,” he breathed into her neck. “You’re fucking mine.” He kept muttering the words—grunting that she was his, that she belonged to him. She couldn’t help the way she clenched around him each time he said it.
She was his. Not M?kail’s. Not Nikita’s. She belonged to Dimitri. And if Talia still wanted anything to do with them when they got her back, she’d be hers, too. But tonight—right now—she belonged to Dimitri.
His thrusts became more frantic, his grunts more guttural as he kept chanting that Jackie was his. He finished abruptly, halting when he began spilling into her. He panted into Jackie’s neck, the fog finally lifting from his mind.
“What has gotten into you?” she asked, panting despite how the bitter air burned her throat and lungs.
He shook his head, and Jackie felt warm tears fall onto her neck. “You’re mine,” he breathed, sounding more broken than he cared to admit he was.
Jackie reached for his face, pulling him up to look at her.
“Of course, I am yours,” she urged. “I’m sorry about what you saw with M?kail.
I had to play along until we were alone.
” She paused, swallowing away the tightness in her throat.
Dimitri clocked it immediately. “I’m yours, Dimitri. Always. I will always be yours.”
He sighed in relief and nodded. A tear streaked down his face, and Jackie wiped it away before it could freeze.
“What the hell happened in there?” she asked, comfortingly running her fingers through his hair.
“You’ll see the footage,” he sighed. He stepped back, intending to let Jackie go, but her eyes had gone wide, and she fumbled around her jacket pocket for her phone. She pulled it out and quickly opened a text thread. “Why are you texting Drew while I’m still inside you?”
“I’m telling him to send me the footage from our lenses and not watch it.”
Dimitri chuckled as his head fell back to her shoulder. He tilted, kissing her neck again. She pocketed the phone and shivered. He finally stepped back now, holding her when her legs fell to the ground to make sure she didn’t slip.
She sucked in a harsh breath as she finally stood again.
She gripped Dimitri’s shoulder so she didn’t lose her footing and bent slightly at the hips.
She could feel the two places M?kail had kicked her aching.
She knew her torso would be an ugly colour when they got home.
Her legs shook as she stood, and finally, the fight came back to haunt her.
“He hurt you,” Dimitri said, holding Jackie up as she breathed through the pain.
It was then that he saw the bruise on her face.
She’d kept it well hidden under her hair and turned away from him as she left the bar.
He’d been too lost in his possessive need to claim her to notice when he found her out here.
“This is adrenaline drop,” she deflected. She reached down, adjusting her panties and pulling her dress back around her ass. “And if I have frostbite on my ass, what he did will be the least of your worries.”
“What did he do to you?” he asked, noting how Jackie wouldn’t meet his eyes now. Panic set in as he realized he hadn’t even checked in before fucking her against the wall. He hadn’t been thinking, he’d only acted. His stupid impulsivity again.
“You’ll see it in the footage,” she said. Her head fell back, and she huffed through her nose. He couldn’t tell whether it was frustration or pain, but he guessed it was a combination.
“He hurt you, Jackie,” he hissed, ready to go back to the club and burn it down with everyone inside.
“And he’ll never hurt me or anyone else again,” she said, and the finality in her tone sent his heart stuttering.
He turned, finding her finally looking him in the eye.
He felt like he couldn’t breathe. Or he might be sick.
She’d killed him. She had been alone with that man, and she’d had to kill him to get out before he hurt her any worse.
“I’m sorry,” he breathed, his head fell as he fought more tears. “I should have asked. I shouldn’t have—”
“Stop.” She caressed his cheek, directing his eyes back to hers. “Don’t do that. I would have told you yes. I am yours, Dimitri. I am yours.” She pulled his face to hers, kissing him hard so he knew she meant it.
“I didn’t even make you come,” he cringed.
“So take me home and make me come in a hot bubble bath.” She smiled. Her legs still shook, and the rest of her body was starting to join as the cold sank into her bones.
“I can do that.” He grinned.
“We should get out of here anyway. They’ll find M?kail any minute now, if they haven’t already.”
“And we don’t want to get arrested for indecent exposure,” Dimitri joked, bringing a smile and soft chuckle to her face.
“You know I could talk us out of it,” she joked back. She clutched his hand and leaned into him as they made their way out of the alley. He took it in his opposite hand and wrapped his arm around her.
He hugged her close as they turned down toward Jackie’s condo. “Mine,” he breathed and kissed the top of her head.