Chapter 17

"What do you mean, use her?" I grunt as I drive back through the city.

The sun is almost rising again. It's been a busy night. After I managed to put my knife to work with Artyom, I had to get his body to my car quickly and get rid of him. It took a long time, and it's not something I relished, but what choice did I have? I'd kill a hundred more men to keep Lia safe.

"The bird sang," Mikhail says, sounding sick. "Nikolai must've seen you and Lia together. He had men following you. He thinks you're in love with her, not his daughter."

"I'm not in love with his daughter," I say gruffly as if it even needs to be said.

"Yeah, no shit."

"What did you mean, though, use Lia?" I grunt.

"Nikolai is expecting her. What if we asked her to pretend to go along with it and then sprung the trap?"

"No damn way," I growl. "We're not putting her at risk."

"We can't let Nikolai keep going. Next time he tries to hit you, maybe he'll be successful. How long can you ignore Sokolov Securities before things become suspicious?"

"The PR team has put out the word that I'm mourning our father. At least the prick has come in useful for something."

"Still," he says, "we need to think about ending this and ending it fast."

"I'm not putting Lia in danger," I tell him. "Think of something else."

"They've got Mila's brother."

"Who, his father?"

"Don't be cute, Dimitri," Mikhail says, the only man I can think of who'd ever call me cute. "Nikolai is not a good man. We can't let him keep the kid."

"Mikhail, if Nikolai wins, he'll torture this whole city. He'll kidnap countless kids. He'll do so much evil shit, even we won't be able to believe it."

"That's saying a lot," he mutters, a note of darkness in his voice, "but you're proving my point, too. We must stop him, or the world will get very bad quickly. So, let's stop him together."

"Not with Lia." After a pause, I say, "While I'm away, try to keep an eye on Mila too."

"What do you mean?"

"What do I mean?" I snarl. "She could've gotten Lia killed. She?—"

"Do you have any idea how terrified she is of her dad, bro?" Mikhail snaps. He's a good man—he's always been better than me. Always been more in touch with his emotions. Always been more forgiving. "And even then, in the end, she did the right thing. She's not proud of what she did."

"Proud or not, we can't risk it happening again. Can you keep an eye on her, or shall I ask Ania to do it?"

"Ania?"

"She's the only other person I know I can trust without a shadow of a doubt."

"I'm just saying?—"

Now it's my turn to interrupt. "Are you saying it's impossible for Mila to betray us again? I know she's helping with the computer stuff, but that doesn't mean you know her."

"I never said I knew her," he growls. "But when I look at her, I see a scared—but brave—woman doing her best."

"Then keeping an eye on her shouldn't be such a big goddamn deal."

After a pause, he says, "Brother, I don't like that tone."

I grit my teeth. People might think Mikhail is just some computer dork, but making that assumption would be a big, big mistake. "Fair enough. But I need to know."

"I'll watch her," he says. "Nothing like this will happen again."

"Good, thank you. How's our friend doing?"

Mikhail still sounds pissed, but he answers my question. "In storage, just in case we need to use him." Mikhail pauses. "At least we know pretty much all of them are loyal to us now."

That is a silver lining, though I meant what I said about Ania. She's the only one we can really trust. And Lia, though I can't explain that to him. Or myself. "It turns out Father dearest couldn't twist as many as he hoped," I say, nodding. "That just means Nikolai will try finding other ways to win."

"That's why…"

I know he's thinking, We need to use Lia, but then he trails off and doesn't follow up.

"Since when did you get such a soft spot, anyway?" I ask.

"For who?"

"Mila's little brother."

"He's a kid," Mikhail says in disgust, then hangs up the phone.

I drive through the desert, sunlight slowly seeping into the world, shadows appearing, then growing shorter. I know Mikhail's right. We should keep the bastard would-be kidnapper in our underground cells until we're ready to use him. Yet I can't stop thinking about driving through the gates, running to him, and slamming my fist until…

"Calm down," I whisper, loosening my grip on the steering wheel.

Between our father and Lia and now all the bloodshed, I'm in danger of losing my ability to think clearly. I'll need it as we move forward, but that man tried to take my woman and hurt her.

Finally, I reach the compound. The guard at the front is on the older side. His name is Denis, and he's been with my family for as long as I can remember. He opens the gate for me and then gestures. I roll down my window.

"Sir," he says. "Some of us have been talking. We want to pledge ourselves to the ring. To you, sir."

Denis is at least ten years older than me, but he speaks sincerely. I can tell how badly he wants this; they all want it. It makes me realize how foolish I've been. I've let my pre-father habits affect how I run the Bratva. I should inspire loyalty, not see enemies everywhere. That's my father staining me.

"I understand," I tell him, then keep driving.

Mikhail is on the basketball court, I see, idly shooting hoops. I walk toward him, my body feeling dog-tired, my eyes heavy, my limbs weary from the fighting, the killing, and the gravedigging.

"Can't sleep?" I say.

Mikhail shoots another hoop, swishes it, and then glances at me. "The man's name is Kirill. Our father hired him specifically so that he'd work for Nikolai after he died. He sold us out—his own sons."

"The only thing that confuses me about that," I tell him, "is that you're surprised."

"Not surprised," Mikhail grunts. "It's just got me thinking. All those times, I thought about killing the prick. All those times, I dreamed about doing the right thing. I should have."

"It would've meant?—"

"Our demise, war, I know," he growls, "but at least we would've gotten to be the ones to do it. Right now, it's like he's still pulling the strings."

I nod. It's not like I can argue. "I'm going to get a couple of hours of sleep. I can't afford much, but dammit, I'm running on empty. I need to recharge. Thanks for handling Kirill."

"I'd like to do more than handle him," Mikhail says darkly. "It takes a big man to threaten women, to scare them. He wasn't so big when I got through with him."

"Will he live?" I ask, part of me regretting bringing Mikhail into this, dragging him away from his video game passion.

"Unfortunately," Mikhail replies.

I walk into her bedroom as quietly as possible, trying not to wake her. Even with exhaustion tugging at me and trying to drag me down, my body still stirs when I see the outline of the silk sheets against the perfect undulations of her curves. I take off my shirt and climb into bed with her.

She moans as she sleeps, rolling over and touching my chest. I try not to wince when her palm scrapes right across the bruised area from where the bullet slammed into the Kevlar vest.

"Dimitri?" she whispers.

"It's okay. Go back to sleep."

"I'm not dreaming?"

I smile, kissing her forehead, savoring her warmth. She wriggles closer to me. Before I forget, I grab my phone from my pocket and set the alarm, leaving it on the nightstand after checking it has enough battery. I wish I could stay here with her forever. Already, she's making the world seem more bearable.

"No, you're not dreaming."

I pull her closer to me, then close my eyes, sinking deeply as though the mattress is swallowing me. Trying not to think about the murder is difficult—the way I plunged the knife into him, the way he squirmed and cried out. More lights switched on, and then I carried him, bleeding, to the car. I called Angelo to tell him what had happened and where to clean up.

"Dimitri?" Lia murmurs, kissing my chest in the semidarkness, the slightly cracked curtains letting in the morning sunlight.

"I'm fine."

"You're not," she says in her classic stubborn voice. "Where were you tonight?"

"Remember the men who attacked us?"

"How could I forget?"

I can't help but smirk at the sassiness in her voice, despite the circumstances, despite everything. "There's one more we'll never have to worry about again. This scumbag also confirmed that Nikolai was targeting you."

"But I have nothing to do with any of this." She lets out a shuddering breath. "That man said something like that, too. I guess they think…"

"They can see how badly I want you," I growl. "They were watching us. Maybe they saw me waiting for you in your studio."

"In the office, you mean. It seems so long ago that I was just a regular, boring cleaner."

"You were never a regular or boring anything," I tell her, hugging her closer. She rests her cheek against my chest, trailing her fingernails over my stomach, coaxing me closer and closer to sleep.

Closing my eyes, it's like the patterns on my stomach are drawing shapes in my mind. Dreams swallow me. I smell the faint scent of sweat as I take in my woman's glee-filled face, red cheeks, and bright, excited eyes. She's holding a baby in her arms, her hair sweaty across her forehead, her smile so wide as a warm tear flows down my cheek. Then she's in a massive cavern of a room, billowing white everywhere, as she runs around, laughing, flicking paint, little footsteps following her.

"You'd make a wonderful mother," I moan at some point, my eyes red as sunlight blares against them.

"Hmm?" she murmurs sleepily, shifting against me.

It's like we're sinking into each other. "You'll be a perfect mother."

"Hmm," she says warmly, snuggling closer as we drift back to sleep.

This whole time, my manhood is twitching, almost like it's talking to me, telling me to wake up, telling me to get ready, telling me to take her right now. Then sleep and dreams drag me down again.

The next time I wake, I've got my hand between her legs. I'm rubbing softly, moaning wordlessly, shifting my body against hers. She's moaning, too, in a quiet, sleepy way. From how her voice shifts, I can tell she's still half asleep.

"Dimitri?" she murmurs when I stop.

"Yeah?"

"Were you just…"

I smirk. "I woke up, and I was touching your perfect body. I guess the sleepy version of me has his priorities straight."

I've got my hand lightly resting on her leg, near her soaked sex. My manhood was hard already, but it gets even more solid now, my tip throbbing with precome as I slide my hand over her sex again. "You're wet for me," I say, voice heavy with desire. "I know my virgin wants to take it slow."

"I'm your virgin, am I?"

"Who else's?" I growl, then rub her horny slit even faster.

I love how she immediately starts kissing me when I press my lips against hers. It's like she's been waiting for this. I move against her, sliding my hand over her underwear, feeling her wetness, her lust seeping through. Our kiss gets even deeper and more passionate.

"I can't give you what you want," she says with a note of anger in her voice, almost like she's angry at herself. "You know that, right?"

"You are giving me what I want," I groan, rubbing her even quicker. "The way you moan, the way you move your body for me…"

"What about you?"

"I'm sure you can find some way to pay me back…"

"But Dimitri…" She digs her fingernails into my chest. "Can you stop for a suh-sec?"

The hitch in her voice gives her away. It takes so much effort to stop myself from continuing to rub her horny pussy. I can feel how desperately her body wants it, the wetness flowing from her perfect, tight slit. Somehow, I manage to pull my hand away.

"It's not that I'm just a virgin," she mutters. "I've… well… You know what happened to me, right?"

"You mentioned…" I swallow. "But you didn't say outright."

"Well, what do you think I meant?"

"You found your mother after she'd taken her own life. You saw it. It scarred you." My voice grows husky when she lets out a small moan of recognition, as if she's been waiting a long time for somebody to see and accept this part of her.

"Yes," she whispers. "The point is, Dimitri, it made me weird, okay? Distant. A loner. I was fine with that. It just means, well, basically, I've never done anything. You're the first person I've ever even kissed."

"That just makes me want to kiss you more," I groan, then claim her lips again.

Rolling over, I hold myself up on top of her, grinding myself between her legs. She opens her thighs and lets me rub my pants against her underwear so she can feel my solid outline pressing against her. She's got her hands buried in my back, holding tightly like she can't stand the thought of anything separating us. The tip of my manhood pulses when I feel her body grinding against me.

"But how can it?" she gasps between our kisses.

"Because it means you're mine," I snap. "That's what this life has always given me. I can take any damn thing I want. Yet I never wanted anything, anyone, until I saw you."

I kiss her again. We lose ourselves in the passion. When I roll over, she ends up on top of me, her hands propped on my chest. I smooth my hands up her body. She's wearing a T-shirt with no bra underneath. Slipping beneath the fabric, I move to her big, juicy tits.

"Oh, fuck. Your tits are so fucking perfect."

"Yeah? Is that… good?" She rocks on top of me.

I shudder as my cock aches. "You've got no reason to be nervous, Lia. You could ride my dick right now."

"I don't think…" She pouts down at me as though pissed at herself for not being able to do it. "Just… Is there anything else we can do?"

I sit up, propping my hands against her back so she's sitting in my lap. She wraps her arms around my shoulders. "First, I need to make you come," I groan. "I need to feel your body tremble for me. I need to feel your tight, horny hole wet and excited for me. I need to…"

She makes the sexiest noise when I grip her hips and slide her onto the bed. Then I stand up so I can grab her underwear and pull it down. I pull her T-shirt over her head, leaving her lying there naked, her curves making her body look so damn delicious. My balls ache from just looking at her. If my dick was hard before, it is a steel rod now.

"Bend over," I tell her.

"Dimitri…"

"If I wanted to fuck your wet slit," I snap, "I'd grab your hips and bend you over right now. I'd slide into you hard and deep. I'd pound you until you started creaming down my dick. No, I want your ass."

"My ass?"

"Do as you're told."

She pouts, and for a second, I think she's going to give me a sassy comment. Then she moves into position. I let out a deep, husky breath as I reach down, pulling my pants down, freeing my dick. She stares at me over her shoulder, her eyes wide.

"Oh my… Dimitri!"

I smirk, stroking my hand from my tip to my base, spreading the precome and making my dick shine.

"It's not funny," she whispers, sticking her ass out, causing her pink pussy to wink at me. "You're so big."

"When the time comes, that won't be a problem," I groan, staring down at her thick ass. When I bring my hand down in a light spank, she shifts away from me slightly, her cheeks turning red.

"I didn't say you could do that."

"But you like it," I say firmly and then spank her again.

She moves even farther away, but her breathy moan betrays her. So does the way her legs shift. She rubs them together in the hottest way, as if she can barely contain all the sensations it sends through her.

"Do I?"

I smirk, then grab her hip and pull her right up against me so that my slick cock slips between her legs. She doesn't hide her smile when I spank her a third time. She looks drunk, confused, excited, like we're starting an adventure together.

"Is that supposed to feel good?"

"Fuck, I don't know. I love the way it makes your ass shake."

I stare down at her thick ass, a slight red mark on it, then spank her again. She jiggles so perfectly for me. Her thickness dances for me. I slip my dick up and down her between her legs, squeezing, massaging.

When I inch down to her slit, she gasps. "Dimitri…"

"Fuck, you're kissing my tip," I tell her. "I can feel how badly you want this."

"I-I do," she murmurs, "but not now. I mean… oh, yes, yes."

Her tone changes when I slip my tip from her entrance to her clit, smoothing over her folds. I feel wild and savage. As I massage her hips and ass with one hand, I use the other to grind my rock-hard dick against her eager clit. She moves back against me, chasing the pleasure. If I slip an inch, I'll be in her warm heat.

I try to stay focused. Whenever I get close to her entrance, she says my name sharply. So I spank her, making my balls feel ready to explode.

"Dimitri," she moans when I slip closer to her virgin hole.

Moving away, I spank her big, beautiful ass. She's not even trying to pretend she doesn't like it anymore. Her hips move like she's practicing what it's going to be like when she's grinding up and down my dick. I spank her a few more times, her creamy skin turning redder and redder. Her thickness makes me feral.

"Are you going to come for me like this?" I push against her slit with even more pressure, driving her crazy. "Lia."

"You don't… have to… ask…"

She's right about that. Her engine is running hot in her curvy body, making her skin warm. Her pussy is unbelievably warm against my dick, her clit feeling like it's pulsing with pleasure as I grind faster and faster against her. She rocks against me, almost like she's trying to test me. Every time she moves like this, I have to fight the urge to grab her hips, pull her against me, and slide my dick in deep, fucking her until she squirts down my length.

Finally, she starts moaning as her hips buck as if she can't keep her pleasure under control. I have to focus on keeping my dick against her clit, wanting to slip up and into her. It feels like it would happen so effortlessly. I could glide in deep, own her, claim her, and show her who she belongs to.

She grabs fistfuls of the sheets, moaning almost musically, pumping her hips. She suddenly stops when her sexy-as-hell bucking strokes her hole against the tip of my dick, nearly making me slip in again.

As her orgasm fades, I stroke around her entrance. "Duh-Dimitri," she murmurs, doing a terrible job of hiding how badly she wants it.

"I know," I groan, stroking around and around her hole. "You want this. Don't lie to me."

"Oh, fuck," she whispers. "I'm scared."

"Scared of what?"

"Not being good enough."

"You're already more than that."

I grip her hips with both hands and aim my dick directly at her sweet hole. When I push against her, she lets out the sort of moan that tells me I'm right. She wants and needs this. Then it's like she remembers she's supposed to be nervous. She slides away from me and rolls onto her back, staring up at me with wide eyes.

Her eyes have fear in them. It's like she thinks I'm going to hurt her, but it's my job to keep her safe, always. My dick throbs, come threatening to erupt, as I stare down at her plump tits and her glistening, soaked slit.

"Dimitri," she whispers.

"Is this how you want it, then?" I snarl, climbing onto the bed.

She moans and opens her legs for me, letting me slide my manhood up her thigh and to her hole. When I kiss her entrance with my hard dick, she reaches down and grabs me. "Nah-uh," she moans. "Not yet. Let me do something else. I want to make you feel how you make me feel."

She strokes her hand up and down my length. I lean back slightly, letting me get a better view of her body. She has one eyebrow raised, nodding as she does it like she wants to make sure she's driving me as nuts as I drove her.

The way her tits shake push me right to the edge. Her hand moves slick and hot and fast up and down my dick. Toward the end, when I feel the come pushing right against my tip, it's almost like I'm fucking her tight virgin hole. Each time her big, juicy, curvy tits shake, it's like I'm pounding into her. Fucking her. Owning her.

Ah, ah, ah. Come erupts, exploding all over her pussy. She gasps as wave after wave of hot release lands on her virgin slit. I stare down in awe at the sight of her thick, gorgeous folds soaked with my come, her slit still shining and wanting more.

"Oh, fuck," I growl, getting hard again already as I slip my hand over to her pussy. With my hand wet with my come mixed with her juices, I slide my fingers easily into her.

She makes the hottest whimpering, shocked noise as I start finger fucking her. My dick floods with tension again. She looks down between our bodies, gasping as she stares at me.

"It's because I need you," I tell her, as her pussy makes wet noises and tightens around my finger. "I know, I know. Later, but for now, just come for me again."

Her moans louder as her hips chase the pleasure, moving back and forth. When I slip a second finger into her, she scrapes her hands down my chest. I don't even feel the bruising anymore or remember the pain. All that feels real is my woman—my Lia. When she comes the second time, I lean down and kiss her, catching the orgasm and tasting her pleasure.

After, she mutters, "Do you think… or is that silly?"

"Is what silly?" I say, kissing her on the cheek.

She smiles. I can feel the shape of her face shifting against my mouth. "I mean, just now, you sort of put your, you know, stuff into me."

"My come?" I say, laughing. "Don't get shy on me now."

"Yeah, but what if it gets me pregnant? Does it work like that? Should I get the pill or something?"

"No," I say firmly. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

She tilts her head, studying me. I don't want to explain it, but the idea of her using the pill makes me feel sick. I can't even explain it to myself. It comes from the same place as knowing that Lia is the one for me, with the same certainty. I don't have to question it. I don't even have to think about it.

Lia belongs to me. That includes her womb. I don't care how fucked-up that is.