Chapter 21
Dubai, one week ago…
Katya
The moment the jet door hissed open, the night air hit my face. Andrei took the first step down the stairs, still a little unsteady from the hit he’d taken, but moving with that stubborn, unbreakable confidence I knew him for. He glanced back at me, offering his hand.
I didn’t hesitate to take it.
When our boots touched the ground, headlights exploded across the tarmac. A matte-black SUV shot toward us, tires screeching, engine roaring like the driver hadn’t so much arrived as attacked the road. The brakes screamed as the vehicle jerked to a stop not ten feet from the base of the stairs.
The doors flew open.
Mikhail was the first out, all barely harnessed fury in a tailored coat. His gaze swept over Andrei, then snapped to me as though he was checking me for injuries from a distance. Viktor was right behind him, less composed, eyes blazing with a mix of worry and abject relief.
“Katerina!” Mikhail barked, closing the distance between us in several long strides.
Viktor cut around him, grabbing his younger brother by the shoulders. “What the hell happened? You look like death, little brother.”
Andrei shook his head and grinned. “Love you too, Viktor.”
Mikhail stopped in front of me, jaw tight. “Are you hurt?”
I shook my head. “I’m alive.”
Viktor exhaled sharply. “That’s not an adequate answer. Start talking. Tell us everything.”
Morning in Dubai felt like waking inside a warm hug. Sunlight spilled through the tall windows of the guest room, pooling across the sheets and warming my bare legs.
I stretched, every muscle protesting the way I’d been tossed around last night inside a jet that nearly fell out of the sky.
My body was sore, and I threw an arm across my face with a groan.
Not only did I have to deal with the fact that Revenant potentially tried to kill me and Andrei and would probably be gunning for us now, but then there was the issue of the three Dragunov brothers…
And to be honest, the latter was spiraling around in my head far more than the former.
I’d been with Andrei yesterday. And before that, Mikhail. And before that, Viktor.
The thought still made heat pool low in my stomach and a flush creep up my neck. I’d slept with all three. Not in some planned-out way. Not as some arrangement or negotiation. Just pure, destructive, delightful chemistry and circumstance and need. It just sort of happened…
Now I had to face them.
All three of them. At the same time.
Great.
I put on a loose black shirt and cargo pants—the soft fabric felt comforting after the adrenaline-drenched insanity of the past twenty-four hours—and padded barefoot out of the guest room, following the smell of coffee and some sort of buttery yumminess drifting through the open space of the living area.
Voices reached me first.
Andrei was the first brother I saw. He was sitting at the long kitchen island, shoulders hunched slightly, one hand pressed to the side of his head like he was trying to hold his skull together. His hair stuck up on one side. He looked rough.
Viktor leaned against the counter near him, arms crossed, face twisted into something between amusement and concern.
“You look like you lost a fight with a ceiling fan,” Viktor said.
Andrei glared. “Plane wall.”
“Better,” Viktor said. “Classier.”
Across the room, Mikhail poured coffee for himself. He lifted his eyes when he saw me enter.
“Katerina,” his deep voice welcomed me. “Good morning.”
My heart skipped. All three of them turned toward me at once.
It felt like standing in front of a firing squad made of handsome, dangerous men I’d already slept with.
“Morning,” I managed, feeling heat flush my cheeks.
Andrei perked up at the sight of me, even through his pain. He straightened, wincing slightly. “Hey,” he said. “You look better than I feel.”
I moved toward him, glancing at the gash and bruise along his temple and forehead. “Headache?”
“Feels like a marching band is inside my skull,” he said. “But I’ll live.”
“Barely,” Viktor added helpfully.
“Shut up, Viktor,” Andrei muttered, rubbing his forehead.
Mikhail set a mug in front of Andrei, then one for me, then leaned back against the counter. “We need to talk.”
Oh, God.
My pulse sped up immediately.
“About Revenant,” Mikhail said.
Oh. Not what I thought. Good. That’s probably for the best right now.
I exhaled softly.
Viktor pushed off the counter. “We’re done with them. Completely. No more negotiating. No more playing liaison. We’re out.”
“Andrei nearly died,” Mikhail said. “You nearly died. Someone tried to crash our plane out of the sky.”
“It might not have been Revenant,” I said, even though the words felt weak. “It could have been ARCHEON.”
“Does that make it better?” Viktor asked. “One insane organization or another? Either way, someone came after us.”
Andrei’s tone was quieter, more serious. “Whoever it was, we’re not continuing the drone handoff. We’re not even going to pretend to work with the group in Moldova. We’re not carrying out the next phase. We’re done.”
“And we’re going to stop Revenant,” Viktor added, his tone turning more eager and a bit darker. “Make sure they can’t use those upgraded drones on anyone.”
A part of me relaxed. Just a little. I’d been bracing for what came next. Bracing for the fallout of intimacy, for the awkwardness, the jealousy between them, the guilt, the tension. All of it.
But then I noticed the look they were exchanging, and my stomach dropped with a sudden sense of panic.
Andrei leaned back in his chair and gave me a small, crooked smile. “Speaking of things we’re done pretending about…”
Oh, no.
Fuck.
Here it comes.
Viktor grinned wickedly. “She’s nervous. Look at her. She’s blushing.”
“I am not,” I said, even though my cheeks were warm.
Mikhail set his coffee down. He wore the expression of a man about to deliver an incredibly inconvenient truth with perfect composure. “We need to discuss what we’re doing. With you.”
I swallowed. “You mean… operationally? For the mission, right?”
“No,” Viktor smirked. “We mean sexually.”
“And emotionally,” Andrei added in a softer voice.
“And practically,” Mikhail finished.
My brain stalled. “You three need to stop saying ‘we’ like you’re one organism.”
Viktor laughed. “Cute, but seriously. We’re united on this.”
Andrei leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Katya, we’re attached to you. All three of us.”
Mikhail nodded once, matter-of-factly. “There’s no point in denial. You know it. We know it.”
I crossed my arms on instinct. “What do you mean, all three of you?”
“You’re right,” Viktor said. “We should ask just to make sure.”
His smile widened.
“So… Do you want us? All of us?”
Heat shot through me so fast it made my knees weak.
My pulse stuttered. I wanted to lie. I wanted to deny all of it.
I wanted to make them sweat, but my body betrayed me almost immediately.
My cheeks burned hot. My breath caught in the back of my throat.
My thighs pressed together as my pussy clenched hard at the idea of being with the three of them together all at once.
There was no hiding any of that and the looks in their eyes only confirmed they saw every shameful sign.
Viktor made a low growl of triumph.
Andrei’s eyes darkened.
Mikhail’s jaw flexed just slightly, and the edges of his lips turned up in the faintest of smiles.
“I didn’t say yes,” I muttered.
“You didn’t have to,” Andrei said.
“I’m not letting you make decisions for me.”
“We’re not making decisions for you.” Mikhail’s uncharacteristic smile widened. “We’re making decisions about us. You’re just collateral damage, malyshka.”
“Don’t pretend like you don’t want this, princess. All of us. At once or in turn. You’re attracted to each of us differently and you know it,” Andrei murmured and I blushed again.
“Even if that’s true, this is insane.”
“Yes,” Viktor replied. “And?”
“And reckless,” I said.
“Also true,” Andrei allowed. “Still not hearing a no though.”
I looked away, my cheeks flaming even brighter.
They moved closer, subtly coordinated in a way they probably pretended wasn’t natural. Viktor leaned against the island beside me. Mikhail stayed a step back, arms folded but eyes locked on mine. Andrei rose from his chair and stood so close behind me that I could feel the warmth from his body.
“And if I say no?” I asked softly.
“You’re not going to,” Mikhail said immediately.
“I could,” I muttered, but my words lacked conviction even to my own ears.
“You won’t,” Andrei replied.
I met his gaze. “And if I say yes?”
Viktor’s smile turned sinful. “Then we share you.”
My breath caught again.
Viktor stepped closer, close enough that his breath stirred a wisp of hair near my cheek.
“She’s doing that thing we thought she’d do,” he murmured to Mikhail, eyes still locked on me.
“The one where she tries to pretend she isn’t imagining all three of us stripping her bare and making her come a hundred times while she takes our cocks in each one of her pretty holes. ”
My jaw dropped. “Viktor—”
He grinned. “What? I’m helping the conversation along. You should thank me.”
Mikhail’s deep voice cut in, calmer but no less intense. “Katya,” he said, “you don’t have to choose just one of us.”
Viktor leaned in further, brushing my shoulder with his. “I mean, how could you possibly choose just one; we’re all so amazing. More important, you don’t want to choose, kotenok. That’s the best part. You can have all three Dragunov brothers whenever you want.”
Andrei chuckled under his breath. “Look at her blush. She definitely doesn’t want to choose. She wants all three of us.”
“I’m still not blushing.” I denied the obvious truth, even as my cheeks flushed even more deeply.
Viktor tapped his knuckles under my chin. “Sweetheart, you’re the color of an overripe tomato right now. It’s adorable.”
Mikhail stepped closer, his gaze burning hotter than either of his siblings. “We know exactly what we’re getting into.”