Chapter 12 Ivy #2
The first stroke of his tongue has my whole body ripping with heat. A sharp cry breaks free of my throat, echoing across the room but Maksim doesn’t stop, doesn’t give me time to catch my breath. He devours me slowly in an unrelenting pace.
His tongue slides deep, curling just right around my entrance then flattening against me in long, slow drags up to my clit that make my vision blur. My fingers tangle in his hair, holding him close, rocking helplessly against his mouth as wave after wave of pleasure threatens to tear me apart.
“Maksim,” I pant, my voice wrecked, “please—don’t stop—”
His answer is a growl against my skin, the vibration of it sending me spiraling. He doubles down, sucking hard, tongue flicking in pointed, deliberate strokes until I’m crying out, my body bowing off the bed as release crashes through me.
The world goes white for a heartbeat. My legs tremble uncontrollably but he doesn’t let up until I’m gasping, shoving at his shoulders weakly, too sensitive to take another second.
His lips are slick when he finally lifts his head, his eyes dark and hungry as they lock onto mine.
I’m still shaking when he crawls up over me, pressing his mouth to mine in a searing kiss that tastes like my release. My nails drag down his back, desperate to feel him closer.
“Oh, God, please,” I beg.
The hard, throbbing weight of his cock presses against my entrance, sliding slowly along my folds to coat himself with the proof of how much slick has leaked out of me. I shiver, wrapping my legs tight around his waist to grind up against him.
He pulls back just enough to look at me, his hand cupping my jaw, his breath ragged. “Say it. Tell me you’re mine.”
“You already know I am,” I whisper back.
His lips crash into mine at the same moment he finally pushes inside. The stretch burns, the fullness overwhelming but it’s exactly what I need. My breath catches in my throat as my nails bite into his shoulders. He sinks deeper, filling me until there’s no space left between us.
A shudder racks through him, his groan muffled against my mouth. “Bozhe, Ivy…”
Then he starts to move, slow at first, deep, steady thrusts that leave me gasping into his kisses, my body clinging to every motion. Each roll of his hips sends another wave through me until the burn sharpens into blinding pleasure.
I can’t stop saying his name. Can’t stop reaching for him, holding him, needing him closer even though he’s already everywhere.
He gives me everything—every thrust, kiss, vow spoken and unspoken that he’s ever gifted to me. I’m breaking again, the pleasure tearing me apart, and he follows right after, burying himself deep with a guttural growl, clutching me like I’m the only thing in the world that matters as he fills me.
Every pulse of his cock draws another groan out of us both, and his shallow thrusts make me lose myself until my body explodes with pleasure once again. My nails rake down his back as his mouth claims mine again, desperate and consuming. Even as the aftershocks roll through me, he doesn’t let go.
For a long time, there’s nothing but the sound of our breathing, rough and uneven, that fills the room. He stays inside me as though he can’t bring himself to let the moment end.
When he finally shifts, it’s only to ease us onto our sides, keeping me wrapped tightly in his arms. My cheek rests against his chest, my legs tangled with his, every inch of me humming from the intimacy.
His hand strokes lazily down my spine.
“Moya lyubov,” he murmurs, voice raw. “Every time, you undo me.”
Tears prick my eyes. I swallow hard. “I don’t deserve you… Not when Leo’s still—”
“Don’t.” His voice sharpens, a command softened by the tenderness in his touch.
He tips my chin up until I meet his gaze.
His eyes are dark, fiercely unshakable. “Don’t take this from us.
Don’t let guilt steal what we have left.
Leo will come home, I’ll make sure of it.
But right now… right now, you’re here with me. ”
His mouth brushes mine again, this time soft and lingering.
A promise more than a kiss.
Maksim’s breathing slows beside me, the heavy cadence of a man dragged into sleep only after his body has been wrung out of every ounce of energy left. His hand is sprawled across my lower back, fingers curved slightly as if even in sleep he’s claiming me.
The room is dim, a faint halo of streetlight sneaking in through the blinds. The sheets smell like us, filling the room with a subtle musk I breathe in deeply. We’d burned through each other earlier, a kind of desperate friction that felt less like want and more like need.
I’d needed it—the grounding, the anchor back to this world to pull me from my spiraling thoughts. Only Maksim could make me feel like I’m something more than just a simple pawn in a game where my child is the prize.
But while his body finds rest now, mine doesn’t.
Now my mind won’t stop spinning.
Every time I close my eyes, I see Leo’s face. I hear his laugh, the one that used to come so easily, now twisted in my head with the imagined echo of his scream as Mikhail holds him down to torture him for his parents’ sins.
I swallow hard, forcing myself to breathe evenly until Maksim shifts in his sleep. His hand slips away, and I wait another long moment to listen to the slow rise and fall of his chest before easing myself out of bed. The mattress dips but he doesn’t stir, thankfully.
My heart pounds as I reach over to the nightstand and spot his phone.
It’s reckless… insane, even… but it’s the only way I can know for sure if Mikhail knows about the plan to track down his fiancée.
I swipe the phone off the table and tuck it against my chest before grabbing a long T-shirt and shorts to put on.
The floorboards creak under my bare feet as I make my way over to the door.
Using the bathroom attached to this room is too risky, leaves too many opportunities for Maksim to wake up and stumble upon me mid-conversation with his enemy.
So, I quickly open the bedroom door and dart across the hallway to the other bathroom, each scuffle and sound I make feeling like a gunshot going off. Once inside, I click the lock and set the phone on the counter.
My reflection in the mirror is pale, eyes too wide and wild, hair messy from sleep and sex.
God, I barely recognize myself.
I turn the shower on, twisting the knob until the spray thunders against the tub.
The pipes groan for a second before giving way, water gushing down with such force that it drowns out the small sounds of the house beyond.
Steam begins to rise instantly, curling upward to fog the mirror, painting the glass in a ghostly haze that creeps across the entire bathroom.
It’s not perfect cover, but it’s something.
Enough to muffle my voice if anyone lingers outside the door.
My hands shake as I press the phone tighter to my chest, its hidden weight a reminder of the risk I’m about to take. One mistake and Maksim will know. Or worse, one from his inner circle, and then there will be no salvaging this.
I break into the phone almost too easily. The soft click of the device giving me access almost makes me jump.
The code is my birthday.
Heat rushes to my face at the same time my stomach sinks. Of course he’d use that… Of course he’d bind me to him in such a personal, inescapable way, even if it’s something as simple as a passcode.
My thumb hesitates over the numbers, shame burning my skin, but I push forward anyway. I wish things could be different. I wish I weren’t put in this impossible decision to choose between my son and his father.
Tears burn at the corners of my eyes.
My pulse thrums wildly as I tap out the sequence of digits etched into my memory. The number Mikhail made me repeat over and over before releasing me back into the real world. His voice still haunts me. Remember, Ivy. I expect you to check in when you arrive there. So I know you’re still in this…
The phone rings. Once… twice… three times.
My throat tightens, every second stretching longer than the last. I brace for his voicemail to pick up, or the sound of the operator telling me the number’s been disconnected. For the hollow echo of abandonment that has been earned because of what he heard Maksim and his circle say.
Finally, a voice picks up on the other end. “Yes?”
The word slithers through the line, smooth and sinuous, curling around my lungs and almost forcing me to choke. My grip falters, making me almost drop the phone.
“It’s me,” I manage, barely above a whisper.
A chuckle comes through on the other end, edged with mock amusement like it always is. “Ivy… I was beginning to think you’d forgotten me. I’m glad to hear you’ve survived.”
I freeze, the breath in my chest catching. His tone is light, almost playful, and doesn’t at all match the fury I’d been bracing for. He doesn’t sound angry…
Does that mean he hadn’t heard? He hadn’t somehow intercepted Maksim’s inner circle talking about Emily and pieced together that she was the one they’ve been on the lookout trying to find?
Relief pulses faint and quick in my chest, followed instantly by unease. Relief is dangerous when it comes to him. I can’t trust that everything is fine until I actually have concrete confirmation that he has no idea they’re looking into her.
“Yes. Sorry for the delay, I was acclimating again,” I say, fumbling for composure.
“No excuses,” he cuts in smoothly, silencing me with two words.
The command threads through them, wrapping around my lungs until my breath falters once again. After a pause that’s long enough to make me sweat, his tone shifts, turning almost velvety smooth and warm.
“I know why you’re calling. And I must say… well done.”
I blink.
Well done?
The praise is disorienting.