Chapter 21 #2
My cheeks burn. I look away, breaking eye contact and wondering if it was a weird thing to ask. “No.” I mumble. “I guess I don’t.”
Lev continues to stare through the mirror. “It’s okay. I’ll tell you. This is personal for Roman. It will not be quick. He won’t use a gun. Maybe his hands or a knife. Roman likes his knife. He will make sure his father suffers and he will sit and watch him die.”
Lev tears his gaze away from me, picks up his phone, and starts scrolling as if we just discussed the weather. We sit for the rest of the time in silence. I’m not sure how much time passes until I see Roman walking toward us.
I step out of Lev’s car, watching as Roman gives him a nod. Lev immediately pulls out his phone again, already texting. Silently, I follow Roman back to his car. He opens the passenger door of his sedan, his features closed off.
I climb in, making sure to stay quiet. He gets in the driver’s side and pulls away, without saying a word to me.
I don't push or ask any questions. Obviously, I know he’s not some hero. I’m not blind to the fact that he’s killed a lot of people and his hands will forever be stained with blood, but this is different. He killed his father and I have no idea how he’s dealing with it.
Roman parks underground beneath a modern high-rise. We both get out and he speaks. “I have a private entrance around the corner.”
“This is where you live? Your actual apartment?”
“Yeah.”
I follow him into the elevator, watching him press his thumb to the panel. It responds immediately, taking us up to the top floor and directly into the most luxurious apartment I’ve ever seen. There’s glass from the floor to the ceiling overlooking a river.
He runs a hand through his hair and stares out across the glass, past me.
“I need a shower,” he mutters. “I need to get this off me.” He starts taking off his clothes right there.
The jacket and the vest underneath fall to the floor with a heavy thud.
He disappears down the hallway and seconds later I hear the shower.
I follow the sound, seeing he left the door open.
Steam billows in the shower, fogging the glass, but it doesn’t hide the deep purple bruises across his ribs, where the vest stopped the bullets but couldn’t prevent the marks from the impact.
He stands under the spray with his head bowed, hands braced against the tile. Every muscle in his body appears tense and tightly wound.
I strip and step in behind him, placing a kiss on his shoulder. He turns, facing me and I take his hands, staring at them, knowing what they’ve done. I kiss the back of them, then wash his shoulders, his arms, his hands.
I move around to wash his chest, working my way lower, down his stomach, stopping when I see his cock. Roman is hard and aroused with all that adrenaline and violence still coursing through him with nowhere to go.
I turn around, flattening my hands against the tile and arching my back. For a moment nothing happens. He stands there and all I can feel is his presence behind me, dominant and dangerous. Suddenly, his hands close around my hips, hard, his fingers digging into me.
He enters me in one brutal thrust. My lips part, a loud gasp escaping me.
It almost feels like the first time, my body struggling to take all of him.
He doesn't wait for me to adjust this time. Roman pulls back almost all the way out only to slam back in so deep it feels like the breath’s been knocked out of me.
Over and over, he pounds into me, each thrust harder than the last. I bite my lip to keep from crying out.
It hurts. He’s so deep it feels like he’s trying to split me open.
This has nothing to do with pleasure. This is him using me, showing dominance and taking what he needs with no restraint or gentleness.
I don't tell him to stop.
His hand slides up my spine, grabbing the back of my neck.
He holds me in place, pinning me while driving into me again and again.
His voice is low and rough against my ear, grating something in Russian.
I don't understand the words, but I understand the tone. They’re possessive, angry and threatening.
It feels like he’s claiming me, branding me, making sure I know exactly who I belong to.
A dangerous man who just took a criminal empire by force.
Yet, I'm the one he comes back to. I'm the only one who will ever see this side of him and give him what he needs.
He pulls out almost completely, barely inside me but making me wait.
He’s forcing me to feel the torturous emptiness.
When I think I can’t take it any longer, Roman shoves his cock back in, so hard my mouth flies open.
I cry out, whimpering as my hands slip on the wet tile.
He doesn't let up, if anything he goes harder. Faster even, moving his hand from my neck to wrap around my throat from behind. He doesn’t squeeze, just holds it there, letting me feel his strength, knowing he could do anything he wanted to me right now and there’s nothing I could do about it.
His lips brush my ear, his tone harsh. "You're mine." He thrust so rough, I’m gasping. "Only mine."
He does it again. "I’m the only man you’ll ever fuck. The only one who’ll ever get close to you.” The hand around my throat tightens but not hurting. "I will kill anyone who tries to touch you or take you from me."
"If you ever think about leaving me, there's nowhere in the world you could go that I wouldn't find you and bring you back."
He keeps fucking me, his rhythm erratic, savage and punishing. Time stops having all meaning. There’s only him inside me, my twisted need to please him and the water beating down hitting the shower floor.
With one last thrust, Roman buries himself as deep as he can go inside me. A groan tears out of him, raw and guttural. His whole body shudders against mine until his forehead drops to my shoulder and his heartbeat hammers against my back.
Slowly his grip loosens, pulling out of me. I’m completely raw and can’t help but cry out from the soreness inside my bruised pussy.
He turns me around, his eyes moving over my face and down my body, his gaze coming to rest between my legs. Slowly, he lifts his head, cupping my chin forcing me to look at him. “Pchyolka,” he whispers, pulling me close and holding tight. “Are you okay? Did I hurt you real bad?”
“It’s not that bad,” I tell him, not wanting to lie. “But it hurts.” We don’t lie to each other.
He sprinkles kisses all over my face. “I’m sorry.” He holds my gaze, placing his thumb against my lips. “It’ll be like this sometimes, even though I don’t mean to hurt you. I love you so much.” “I love you too. I like being the one to give this to you.”
His lips curve into a tender smile. “You’re the only woman I want. The only person I love. What my father said today that I…” He exhales, rubbing two fingers to his temple as if the words hurt. “That I would ki—”
I don’t let him finish. I reach up and crush my lips to his, seeing how much it bothers him repeating what Grigori said. “I know you would never hurt me like that.”
“Do you?”
I nod. “Yes. I know because first of all, I’d know what you’re planning and second of all, I trust you more than anyone else in this world. It was never a coincidence that we found each other. You were meant to lead Volchya, and I was meant to be by your side.”
He presses his face against my cheek, the shower streaming down on us. “You’re my everything, the only one I answer to. You’re always safe with me. Always, my little bee.”
“Roman…” I cup his face, completely speechless by his love. “I also want to keep you safe. I meant everything I said to your father. I’m going to use my gift to make sure no one fucks with your operations.”
Roman groans, his lips twitching. “You remember that?”
I smile and nod. “I can say it now because I know how you really feel. I meant it, Roman. We will be a team…sort of. I’ll tell you everything. About anyone you want me to read.”
Roman nods slowly, pushing the water back from his forehead. His blue eyes glint as he holds my gaze. “Alright. You and me.”
We wash each other, taking our time and afterward he leads me into his bedroom to get dressed. “We’re going back out,” he says as I pull a shirt over my head.
“Why?” I ask, hoping it doesn’t involve too much walking. I’m still sore.
“Damage control. Word is spreading about what we did. I need to meet with my brigadiers. Make sure Volchya understands this new leadership and weed out potential problems.”
He pulls on a shirt. “I need you to meet my men. We’ll move into The Fortress once it’s been… cleaned. I don’t want anyone acting surprised or questioning you being there.”
“Your father’s compound?”
“Yeah. Where else? I’m his only living heir.”
“He didn’t leave anything to you. He wouldn’t.”
Roman laughs. “That’s important?” He shakes his head. “Bratva blood and money built that place. I’m the Pakhan, his only living relative. Everything he owned belongs to us.”
"Us? You’re his son. I’m…nothing.”
“To him you were nothing,” Roman says. “That’s why you deserve everything.”