24. Alex
ALEX
The ride back was tense. Kostya was hurt pretty badly even though he kept saying he was fine. The back of his head was bleeding down his neck and staining his shirt in the back seat of the car, even through the rag that Rikki gave him to hold against the wound.
When we walked through the door of my house, I told Rikki to set him up in the game room and call Marius to look him over, then I told Nona to wait for me in the parlor. Marius got there within the hour and started looking Kostya over.
“If you don’t mind,” he said, “I’m gonna stick around and watch him. He might have a concussion.”
A concussion. I’m only pissed about it because I wasn’t there to stop it from happening in the first place.
Now I’m neck deep in doing serious fortifying of my castle.
The boeviks that were here when she left…
I’ve got the nerve to fire them all for letting it happen, but the longer I think about it, the more I realize there wasn’t much they could have done to stop it short of locking her in one of the rooms until I returned.
And I won’t have anyone treating my wife that way. Even my own men.
That thought sticks in my head like a mantra. I won’t have my wife treated that way. It stops me as I’m sitting at the kitchen table, phone in hand as I call in several more of my men.
She is my wife. In every sense. I know that now. And not Slavik, nor anyone else, is ever going to come between us again. I just wish I knew what the hell she was thinking by trying to leave.
You did tell her to go, my mind chirps back at me. So I did. And for some reason , she actually listened to me.
It’s a problem between us that I mean to solve, after this house is secure. I start dialing the number of the next man in line.
I’ll have them walking this entire block if it means that Slavik’s men will never put their grimy hands on her again.
She’s waiting for me outside the parlor door. The moment I see her, I remember my habit of locking the door after the fight about her snooping. It’s funny how much more I understand about her now.
She’s not looking at me. She’s looking at the floor and her hands, doing her best not to meet my eyes. I pull out my key and open the door, letting her in.
I close the door behind me and she says, “You told me to leave. You said that it’s not necessary for us to be married anymore.”
“I know,” I say. “I also told you to wait until all this is over. I thought you understood why.”
She stares at me with those big, verdant eyes. “I did. I do. But…” She shakes her head and turns away from me, leaning against the couch. “You don’t understand. I can’t stay here anymore.”
“Nona, it’s too dangerous to just leave on your own like that. Your father—”
“It’s always going to be too dangerous,” she says softly, her hand moving to her stomach.
Oh. I see. I sigh and say, “I know, Nona. About the baby.”
Her eyes widen and her head snaps to me. Her mouth moves without words at first, then she says, “How… ?”
“Never mind how,” I tell her. “What in the world were you thinking? You know that your father is looking for all of us. Why would you put yourself in danger like this? Don’t you understand that your father will kill you too if he gets the chance? Just to get to me?”
She shakes her head and tears rise up in her eyes.
“There’s always going to be someone trying to kill you.
Or me. What will happen if this baby has to deal with one of us being dead?
And on top of all that, I don’t even know if you want this baby at all.
I just thought it’d be easier if I left.
I… I couldn’t put all of that on you. Not now. Not when everything is falling apart.”
She starts to weep. I reach out to her and she pulls away.
“And you’re a Pakhan now,” she says, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.
“I know what kind of person you have to become to run a Bratva. You have to be cruel and hard and cold. Sometimes when I don’t mind you, you’ll have to…
have to put me in my place. And one day…
one day, you’ll do that to this baby and I just… ”
I frown at her. “Nona…”
“You haven’t been that way to me. Not really. But one day, I’ll go too far and you’ll take it out on me.”
“Never. I would never do that.”
“Because my father was that way. My whole life, he was just as cruel to me as he was ever kind. The things he did to me…” She sniffles, wiping at her tears again.
“When I was ten, he beat me with one of his shoes for spilling orange juice in the kitchen. When I was twelve, he slapped me in front of my friends for talking about liking a boy. By the time I was sixteen, he started… started punching me in the face, in the stomach, throwing me in rooms and locking me away, and I can’t let that happen to this baby. I can’t—”
I pull her into my arms and hold her as she weeps into my chest. “Nona,” I say softly. “That will never happen. Not in a million years. I will never touch you or this child out of anything but love.”
I take her face in my hands and wipe away her tears. “Do you hear me, Nona? I’m not the monster that raised you. I’m your husband. I’ll give my life for you and this baby before I let anyone lay a hand on you ever again.”
“Promise,” she says into my chest. “Promise me, Alex.”
“I swear, rabbit. You’re my queen. No one will touch you as long as I’m alive.”
The sadness in her eyes sinks. She stands on her toes and brings her lips to mine, kissing me long and deep as her hands move up my chest and around my neck.
“Make love to me,” she whispers against my mouth. Her voice sends a signal through me that wakes up my cock and I lean into her, biting her lip. In a whispery gasp, she repeats herself and adds, “I need you to feel you.”
I bite her bottom lip gently, then her chin, then down to her neck. As I move up to her earlobe, I whisper, “I can be gentle if that’s how you need it.”
“No,” she whispers almost immediately. “Make me scream for you. I want to fall to pieces in your arms.”
She doesn’t have to ask me twice. I move my hand up her back, pressing my fingers into her spine.
She bends easily against me, moans soft as her hands drift to the nape of my neck.
My hand travels up the back of her neck and to her hair.
I grab a fistful of her hair and pull. Her head falls back and I kiss her neck, down to the hollow of her throat.
I’ve always wondered about my ability to stay in control when it comes to her. The taste of her skin, the sound of her moans, everything about her ignites something new inside me. She’s like no other woman I’ve ever been with.
I let her go, turning to the door and locking it.
When I turn back around, she’s got that playful smile at the corner of her full rose colored mouth, reminding me of the very first night we were together.
I close the gap and wrap my arms around her, lifting her off her feet and carrying her to the couch.
I lay her down, undoing her pants and pulling them down and off. She sits up and scoots away. I grab her by the ankle and pull her back, then I grab her by the back of the neck and lean into her until we’re nose to nose.
“Where do you think you’re going?” I growl as I slide my free hand into her panties, over the soft down of her pubic hair and to her slick wet clit. The moment I touch her she gasps. I press into her, rolling it around against the tip of my fingers.
Her eyes roll up and tiny little squeaks escape her lips. “Your little clit is already swollen, baby,” I say, taunting her by brushing my lips against hers. “You want me to give it a little attention, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, sir,” she says immediately.
“You want to come against my tongue, huh? Let me taste your sweet juices, baby?”
“God, yes.”
I stop my assault on her clit and release her, pulling her panties all the way off. “Sit up. I want you watching me.”
She sits up on her elbows as I lean down and kiss her inner thighs, running my tongue against her skin. I direct my kiss between her legs. And the moment I taste her, her head falls back. I stop and murmur, “Keep your eyes on me, Nona.”
She lifts her head and watches while I lick her clit slow and precise.
She bites her lip as little shivers run over her thighs.
I slide my fingers inside her as I start sucking on her clit, building a rhythm between the two.
Her hands go to my hair as her legs fall open even more, giving me complete access.
“That’s so good,” she moans. “Oh… fuck…”
Her pussy starts to pulse around my fingers and I know she’s close. Her eyes roll up again and she whispers over and over, “Don’t stop… please, please… don’t stop…”
She comes and her grip on both my hair and fingers strengthens. Her back arches as she moans out my name. I speed up my fingers and I suck a little harder as her hips start to twist away from me. I stop fingering her and grab her thighs, holding her to me as I eat her pussy through her explosion.
Her sweet honied juices fill my mouth as she goes into quiet, shaking gasps, grabbing the pillows above her head. When I feel her start to relax, I circle her clit slowly with my tongue, her body still giving me little jerks.
I’m so fucking hard that I feel like I’m going to break through my pants. I sit up and take off my shirt. She does the same, revealing her smooth pale skin and full breasts. Her rose colored nipples are taut with excitement.
She sits up, her hands going to my belt buckle. I grab her wrists stopping her. “Try that again, Rabbit.”
Nona gives me the sweetest look. Her big green eyes round and eager. “Please, sir?”
“Please, what?”
“Let me ride it.”
I let her wrists go and allow her to undo my belt buckle, then my pants. She pulls down my pants and my underwear, freeing my cock. Then I sit back on the couch as she straddles me.
I grab her by the waist the moment the head of my dick presses against her dripping wet pussy.
“Take it slow, Rabbit,” I tell her. I lower her down on top of me and her nails dig deep into my shoulders.
Her tight walls hug me as she slides down the base and the moment I hit that spot inside her that drives her mad, she pauses I feel goosebumps run up her back.
She rides me, rocking and moving her hips in a slow rhythm. I pull her to me, licking her nipples, then sucking them as her moans get more intense. I grab her ass cheeks, hiding her hips as I bite her nipples.
She shudders and curses, squeezes herself around my cock. I thrust to her rhythm, fucking her hard as I dig my nails into her skin. She comes again, her body bending into me. Her pussy drips onto me, down her thighs.
“You’re soaking wet, baby,” I moan into her chest. “Lift up for me.”
With shaky legs, she lifts herself up and hovers over my dick. I slide it over her pussy, then back toward her tight little asshole. Her eyebrows lift with worry and I say, “Trust me, Nona.”
She nods slightly, then I press the head into her as she slides slowly down. “Oh… my… fuck,” she moans, her voice high and shaking.
I take it slow, fucking her ass in long strokes as she leans into me, murmuring curses as her nails dig into me. As tight as her pussy is, her ass is like a vice grip on me. It’s all I can do not to come too soon.
I thrust hard, holding her ass cheeks open as she rides me. We’re kissing again and suddenly, I can taste her tears.
“Don’t stop,” she moans. “It’s so fucking good, oh, my God…”
I have to stop as I wrap my arms around her and lay her down on the couch. I lift her legs up on my shoulders and continue fucking her ass. Her toes curl as her back arches and she comes. I keep thrusting hard into her as she weeps, crying my name over and over.
And then I come. I utter a beastly moan that doesn’t sound anything like me. It’s rough and raw as I fall on top of her, my body jerking involuntarily.
I’ve never come this hard. Not in all my years. The bottoms of my feet go numb and a cold sweat breaks over my body. I feel her kisses on my neck, moving up to my mouth, and we kiss. I whisper into her breath, “I fucking love you, Nona.”
To my surprise, she whispers back, “I love you, my king.”