38. The Heart Knows #2
“I saw you in the stables last time I came,” Aleksandr said, his voice calm and even.
Lili’s eyes widened as she met his gaze again.
I frowned, confused by what was happening.
Finally, Aleksandr set her free from his gaze and turned to Giovanni.
“You have your daughter bring you coffee in business meetings? And work in the stables?”
“I like to be useful,” Lili answered, lifting her chin. “Papi doesn’t approve of me helping the staff around the house, but I like doing it.”
Aleksandr cocked his head to the side, his eyes skimming over Liliana.
“Grazie, Lili. You can go now,” Giovanni snapped, his voice strained. He wanted his daughter as far away from the Russian as possible, and I couldn’t blame him.
She swallowed, her gaze meeting Raya’s again before she turned and rushed out of the room.
Aleksandr stared at the door long after she’d left, tapping his fingers on the table. He looked deep in thought, plotting something that made the room shrink. He turned back to the rest of us and said, “You’re aware of my family’s legal business.”
Giovanni narrowed his eyes, unsure where this was going. He and Alessio both nodded.
“I’m not,” I cut in.
He glanced at me, meeting my lethal glare with indifference. Not fearing me only proved he had no idea what I was capable of.
“The Rostov family owns the most prestigious private equestrian empire in Europe. We have the finest breeding programmes for elite racing bloodlines worldwide.”
I stared at him blankly.
“Horses,” he offered, as if I were too simple to understand what he meant.
“I know what equestrian means,” I growled.
He looked back at Giovanni and leaned forward on the table, clasping his hands. “I want something else in return for McKenna’s location. I noticed you keep horses. They’re in magnificent form. I’m looking for a new groomer.”
Giovanni looked thoroughly confused, glancing at Alessio.
“If I’m not making myself clear, I want your horse groomer as part of our alliance.”
“Vito?” Giovanni frowned. “The young stable hand? You want Vito to work for you?”
“Да.” Aleksandr smirked, relaxing back in his chair. “Vito.”
Giovanni blinked, completely baffled by the odd request. We all were.
“It’s nothing to me.” Giovanni shrugged. “If he agrees, take him.”
“He will agree,” Aleksandr said, standing and declaring the meeting over. “Once the wedding is arranged, I will be in touch regarding McKenna’s location.”
He dipped his chin, then was escorted out of the room.
Alessio scoffed, shaking his head. “Russians. So unpredictable.”
“Can we trust him?” Giovanni asked what I was thinking. Aleksandr could be playing us. He could be working with McKenna, and this could turn into a trap.
“We have no choice,” Alessio sighed. “My instincts tell me we can, and I’m rarely wrong. The Russians want this alliance. McKenna doesn’t have what they need. We do.”
A bride.
“So now we wait,” Giovanni said, stretching his arms above his head. “I guess we should find you a wedding dress, Raya.”
I shot up out of my chair and left the room.
No. I’d reached my limit. I stormed along the corridor with no idea where I was heading when I heard Raya hissing my name under her breath, trying not to draw any soldiers’ attention.
I turned abruptly, heading back for her, and her jogging slowed to a halt.
Her eyes widened at the look on my face.
Raw fucking possession.
“Mad–”
I grabbed her face and kissed her. Hard.
After that meeting, I’d lost my fucking mind.
I didn’t even care who saw. Her hands clawed at my top, partly trying to break the kiss, partly pulling me closer.
I walked her backward until she hit a hard surface, and I devoured her mouth with fierce hunger.
Her hand reached behind her, found a door handle, and we fell through it into a small room.
We broke the kiss, panting hard, as I pressed her against the wall of… what the fuck was this? A cleaning cupboard?
“Are you insane?” she whisper-yelled, her hazel eyes wide as I caged her against the wall, needing to feel her body against mine. “If any of the soldiers or my brothers saw that, you’d be shot!”
“I’d happily take a bullet just to taste you again,” I growled, lifting her pink sundress over her head.
My hand cupped her tit as I dipped down and bit her nipple through the lace of her bra, while I lifted her thigh around my waist with my other hand.
She tilted her head back against the wall, her lips parting in a gasp.
Her hands raked through my hair, holding me closer.
I ripped her thong down her legs and rolled my fingers over her clit. She bit her lower lip and moaned. I watched her face, mesmerised by the flush on her cheeks and eyes rolling when I eased two fingers inside her.
“So fucking wet for me. This pussy belongs to me.”
“Yes,” she gasped. “Please, Maddox.”
I groaned; nothing could undo me more than her begging with my name on her pretty lips. I’d pull the stars from the fucking sky just to hear it again and again. “What d’ya want, Little Monster?”
“You. All of you.” She kissed me, her tongue claiming me with possessive strokes that drove me to madness.
I grabbed her thighs, hoisting her higher, and slammed her against the wall, knocking some cleaning supplies onto the floor beside us.
My jeans were an unwanted barrier between us, but that didn’t stop the gasp that tore from her when I ground myself against her.
“It’s like you’re beneath my fuckin’ skin,” I groaned, and she whimpered. “I didn’t sleep last night thinkin’ of you. Has it always been like this between us?”
“Yes,” she breathed, her voice barely above a whisper as she shifted her hips, grinding against me. “We don’t exist without each other.”
“But I hurt you,” I hissed, pressing my forehead against hers and closing my eyes.
Her hands cupped my face as she whispered, “You won’t hurt me. I trust you, Maddox. I trust you with my life.”
I shook my head, my jaw pulsing. That was idiotic. I didn’t trust myself with her life, so how could she?
“You can control it. Let me prove it to you,” she husked against my lips. She pushed against my chest, forcing me to let her go, then spun us around and shoved me hard against the wall.
I growled, arousal so intense I didn’t feel triggered by her sudden aggression.
It only made me want to fuck the attitude out of her.
She licked the column of my throat as she reached for my belt and tugged it free.
My eyes widened as she fastened the leather around her neck and dropped to her knees.
“What are you—”
“Showing you I trust you,” she panted, reaching up and undoing my jeans.
My rapid breaths were nothing compared to the desire and relentless possessiveness pounding through my veins as she rubbed her palm over the length of my cock.
“Fuck my mouth, Maddox. Use me. Strangle me. Be as rough as we both crave it. Your darkness is my darkness. If you’re a monster, so am I. ”
A flare of need surged within me, so strong it made me dizzy, my body vibrating with the physical urge to ruin her.
To fuck her rough and deep until she couldn’t breathe because she was so full of me.
Her body, her mind, her pleasure, I wanted it all.
I wanted to consume her, leaving nothing but the pieces I owned, the parts of herself she’d given willingly.
Seeing her submit and give herself to me without fear or hesitation drove the worry away.
“Shall I spit on your dick again?” she whispered, a naughty glint in her eyes. Again? For fuck’s sake. Fucking amnesia.
I grabbed her jaw and tilted her head up by the chin. She stared up at me, eyes sparkling with desire and devotion.
“Open,” I growled, giving in to the beast within. She obediently opened her mouth, sticking out her tongue, waiting eagerly for anything I’d give her.
I leaned down and spat into her mouth. She moaned, and her eyes fluttered as her fingers moved between her legs, touching herself. I brushed my thumb along her lips, fighting against the last of my restraint.
Fuck.
I ripped my boxers down, panting hard and took my throbbing cock in my hand, guiding it inside her eager mouth. She held herself still, keeping her pleading eyes on mine as I rubbed the tip and my pre-cum all over her tongue.
Slowly, watching every stroke, I glided my dick into her mouth.
My hand caressed her curls before fisting them at the back of her head.
I picked up the pace. When she wrapped her lips around me, I saw fucking stars.
She licked along my slit and swirled around my tip every time I dragged myself back out before plunging back into her mouth, and the feeling was unbelievable.
I’d never enjoyed sex, not with any of the women McKenna forced on me. It was always a release of frustration, nothing more. There was never a desire like this. Like my body had been taken over by an alien, insatiable force.
Soon, I was losing my composure, feeling the darkness crawling across my skin and needing to unleash.
The possessive monster in me, which I’d barely kept under control since I saw her standing on the lawn, was demanding I let him play with her.
I grabbed the end of the belt, choking her and forcing her to take me deeper all at once.
She gasped for a quick breath, then moaned around my cock, her fingers working faster between her thighs.
I watched her, mesmerised by her eyes watering and saliva running down her chin.
She was perfect. The sight of her on her knees, taking me so far down her throat that she couldn’t breathe, wanting more, trusting me with more, was too much.
That she wanted me more than fucking oxygen… Jesus fucking Christ.