10. Kat

10

I wake up in a dream.

In my dream, a ravishing angel watches over me, his warm brown eyes aglow in the morning light. His full, velvety lips rain feathery kisses on my cheekbones, throat and stomach. My belly flutters at the caress, and he smiles against my skin.

Then, wickedly, his mouth languidly descends on my sex, drawing a rapt, impassioned sigh out of me.

As the pale sunlight softly filters through the thick drapes, haloing his dark-haired head between my thighs, I realize my lover is a fallen angel, after all.

His gaze seeks mine as he lazily kisses me. After a moment, I can't admire him any longer. My hands grab fistfuls of the crisp white sheets, and I struggle to keep my eyes open as his devilish mouth brings me closer and closer to heaven.

Mercilessly, he teases me with his tongue, flicking and circling me where I crave him the most. His warm finger soon joins his tempting mouth in its delicious caress, gently entering me. His lips close around me. Gently, they suck and tease, making me gasp. He kisses me over and over again, not even pretending to be in any rush to end my torment.

When his finger and tongue reach an unholy pace, I can't hold it back any longer. I moan his name, and he rewards me by quickening his tempo.

"Nik…" I say, begging him for mercy. I finally manage to open my eyes again. His gaze is still unwaveringly trained on me. The carnal look in his eyes reflects the hunger he must see in mine.

As he lavishes wet, open-mouthed kisses on the inside of my thighs, I'm left with no choice but to groan in frustration.

"No, no. Don't you dare. Don't stop," I say in protest, shaking my head.

With his lips curved in an amused smirk, he looks sinfully gorgeous as he nips the delicate skin on the inside of my left leg.

"Tsk, tsk. Ask me nicely, kiska," he says, his eyes glittering with mischief as he chides me.

I exhale, almost trembling with frustration. "Please, Nik." I roll my eyes, and he chuckles before reaching up with his left hand. His long fingers pinch my nipple almost painfully, and I gasp. The feel of his lips against the sensitive spot behind my knee as he laughs in response makes me want to scream with unsatisfied hunger.

"Let's try this again, shall we?" he asks, his mouth vibrating just below my navel.

I grab handfuls of his hair, pushing his head lower. He grins, resisting me. It's his boyish, sunny smile—the one he first showed me that day in the airfield.

I have no defenses or weapons against this grin. My tight grip softens, and I brush his hair off his forehead. "Please, Nik. Kiss me again," I softly ask him.

"Good girl, kiska," he says before giving me what I want. "My good girl."

"Yes," I moan, throwing my head back as his lips close around my clitoris. Finally. "Yours."

Nik groans against my flesh, and the vibration brings me to the brink of the abyss. I cry out, almost there, but he pulls away from me without warning.

I raise my head from the plush pillows, glaring at him with outrage. His smug, amused face is too much, even though he looks as handsome as he the devil himself.

With an indignant huff, I sit up, still panting. Nik's expression turns curious. I move quickly, pushing my palm against his chest. I catch him by surprise and have him on his back before he can process the change in our positions.

In the same heartbeat, I straddle his hips. Nik's eyebrows raise at that, but his answering smile is one of delight.

He chuckles with a smirk. "All right. You have my attention."

I roll my eyes at his condescending tone, even though I barely manage to stifle my smile. Then I grab his hard cock with my right hand, positioning him just outside the entrance to my sex.

"Oh, please. We both know I have way more than your attention, miliy. I have you." With one swift movement, I bring him inside me.

Nik throws his head back, groaning loud enough to wake the dead. "Yes, kiska. You do. You fucking have me." His words are practically a growl.

He grips my hips as his hands reverently caress me before guiding me to match his rhythm as he drives into me. His right hand lingers there as his left one reaches my chest. He grasps me tightly, squeezing the tip of my breast between his thumb and his finger.

Nik's touch rekindles the fire of my desire. I dig my fingernails into his broad chest, crying out his name. He gasps, then groans, grabbing a handful of my hair. He forcefully drags my face down to meet his, and his mouth ravenously devours mine.

It drives me crazy, and I can't restrain myself any longer. I ride him faster and harder, wildly bucking against his hard body. By the grace of God, Nik doesn't fight me. Instead, he meets me at every thrust, plunging into me deeper, harder, and faster each time.

Sweet, ecstatic bliss begins to pool in my lower abdomen. It won't be long now. Nik's grip on me grows more powerful and unyielding, and I know he will follow me.

I force my eyes to open so I can take a good look at him.

His shiny black hair is so soft against my fingertips. His dear brown eyes are tightly shut in rapture, but a thousand years couldn't make me forget even the most minute details of what they look like.

I brush my fingers down the column of his neck, and he shivers.

My hopelessly infatuated gaze strokes his broad shoulders, his muscular chest, his flat abdomen glistening with sweat.

I bend forward at the waist to kiss every inch my eyes lovingly caressed.

"Mine," I say against his chest. "You're mine."

Nik chokes back his groan. "Kat…" he says with a sigh, holding me tightly against him.

My breath catches as I fall over the edge of the precipice he had me teetering over this entire time. I moan and gasp, throwing my head back.

Nik hoarsely cries out before following me. "Kat…"

As my limbs become weightless, I open my eyes to find him watching me. He can't catch his breath, either. Wordlessly, I fall into his chest with him still inside me, and his strong arms protectively surround me.

Minutes or hours—I couldn't determine to save my life—pass before either of us moves or makes a sound.

Eventually, Nik sighs.

"I swear, woman—I had every intention of slowly making love to you this morning, but you just had to push my buttons, didn't you? It's almost like you aren't happy until you have me in some maddened frenzy," he says, grumbling with mock exasperation.

With an unladylike snort, I lift my head to glare at him. "Oh, so it's my fault?"

Nik's eyes glitter with undisguised amusement. "All I'm saying is you bring out the worst in me."

"I beg to differ. I think I bring out the best in you. Take this morning, for example. Exhibit fucking A, I'd say."

He chuckles. "I'll defer to you on this, I guess."

"That'd be a first." I laugh, and he playfully nips at my earlobe.

"Well, there's always tomorrow, I suppose." Nik sighs.

"Tomorrow?" I ask with feigned horror. "Screw tomorrow. What about tonight?"

Nik's answering grin would have turned my knees into rubber if it wasn't for the fact that I'm still flat on my stomach on top of him.

"God have mercy on me," he says against my lips, tenderly kissing me.

The mood, however, is completely ruined when my stomach loudly growls, denouncing a hunger of a different kind.

Still chuckling, Nik says, "Shame on me. Here I am, practically devouring you while you're starving. What are you in the mood for? I'll have it brought to you."

"Well, one thing comes to mind," I say against his lips lasciviously.

Nik's delighted laughter adorably wrinkles the corner of his eyes, leaving my chest aching. Sweet, wonderful, gorgeous man. He's so devastatingly handsome sometimes. And now he's all mine.

"I'll most definitely hold you to that," he says. "Later."

I sigh dramatically. "Later? You're no fun."

"You know very well that's just not true. But I won't be able to forgive myself if you die of malnourishment under my watch." He mockingly shudders.

"Again, I know just the thing to keep my hunger at bay," I say with a shrug.

With a shake of his head, Nik drags me out of bed. "You're going to be the death of me."

I roll my eyes. "Fine. Feed me, then. I'll have some freshly baked croissants. And some orange juice, too. Please and thank you."

"How about some protein?" he asks, and I can't resist it.

I smile slowly, while suggestively staring at him. "You know what I want."

Half groaning, half laughing, Nik kisses my lips. "Kiska. Mercy, please."

"Very well. Since you asked me so nicely."

Nik's eyes heat dangerously, and he pulls me into his arms again. But behind me, the familiar sound of my ringtone echoes almost simultaneously.

"I think that's for you," he says, looking over my shoulder.

With a frustrated sigh, I walk to the nightstand where I placed my inconvenient phone at some point the day before.

"It's A.J.," I say.

"You should take it. I'll take care of breakfast," Nik says, kissing the top of my head. "Come and join me in the kitchen when you're ready."

I nod before answering the call.

"Thank God you picked up. I've been out of my mind with worry," my friend says, sighing dramatically.

I laugh, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hello to you, too, A.J."

"Oh, yeah, hi," she says. "I've been thinking about you all night."

"Sorry, girl," I say with a sigh, raptly watching as Nik gets dressed. He chooses a pair of light blue jeans and a light gray sweater, and I smile in approval. "Can't say the same."

"Well, you should have, considering I've been busting my ass for the two of us," she says acidly. "But I guess this ungrateful disregard of yours truly would be understandable if what I've heard through the grapevine is true. Did the Irish and the Russians really attack each other last night?"

I exhale wearily. "Yes."

Nik approaches me then. He's heartbreakingly handsome in his light-colored outfit, and I want to drag him back to bed immediately. He presses another quick kiss on my forehead before exiting the room.

"Well," A.J. says with a sigh. "Fuck."

"Fuck, indeed," I say.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. We're all fine, thankfully."

"We? Since when there's a we? Who the fuck is we?"

"It's a long story."

"How can it be? You haven't been gone for that long."

"I guess. But things have progressed…exponentially."

"Okay," A.J. says cautiously after a moment. "I'm listening."

With a sigh, I fill her in on everything that has transpired since we last spoke. I tell her what I've recently learned about McGuire and Maxim's involvement with each other and what happened leading up to the Russians and Irish flagrant attacks on each other yesterday.

"That motherfucker came after you?" A.J. screams in outrage. "Oh, we're taking him down, Kat. As soon as we're done with the stronzo."

I share with her Nik's promises about McGuire's days being numbered, letting her know that the Irish mobster will probably be dead and gone before she even gets a chance to take a shot at him.

That line of thought leads to me trying my best to explain to her how things have changed between me and Nik since she and I last chatted.

My best friend quietly listens as I gush about my Russian, doing my best to convey how wonderful everything between us feels now.

"Wow," she says, once I'm done with my recap. "Just… wow. I have no words, honestly."

I scoff. "Now, that would shock me."

"Don't get cute with me now," she says acidly. "I won't be distracted by your shenanigans. I can't believe you didn't tell me what's been truly going on between the two of you until now."

"Well, I've been busy," I sheepishly say.

"I know, Kat. But, I mean… wow."

"You've said that already."

A.J. huffs indignantly. "Well, it bears repeating."

Impatient, I ask, "A.J., please stop talking circles around me and tell me what you're really thinking."

"Look, honey. Don't get me wrong—if you like him, then I love him. Really. But it's a lot to take in. Just the other day, you told me he had you kidnapped and was blackmailing you into fucking with a gangster. Mind you, this is not a figure of speech. You did tell me all that just the other day—quite literally. And now you're saying you're willingly fucking a gangster."

I sigh. "I know. But honestly, Nik isn't who I initially thought he was. Well, except the drop-dead gorgeous and great in the sack part. He's exactly like that. But he's so much more. He's so reliable, so attentive. He's caring, too. And protective, sweet, and wonderful."

"You've got it bad," she says pointedly.

I admit it without hesitation. "I do. I really do. You have no idea. I just never imagined everything could ever feel so right with him. But it does. It feels perfect."

"I'm sure that the fact that he's indeed drop-dead gorgeous and great in bed doesn't hurt, either."

I exhale dreamily. "It really, really doesn't."

"Oh, Kat… Then I'm happy for you. Really. Just please be careful, for fuck's sake."

"Always. Now tell me—anything new with the stronzo? What about that favor I asked you? I don't suppose you managed to work your magic on the museum's security footages? I'd love you forever if you did."

A.J. scoffs. "Bitch, please. We both know you worship the ground I walk on."

Glad to revert to the more familiar subjects of work and business, A.J. tells me how things are going in her pursuit of the stronzo. She mentions again that the wretched man has been blessedly—although strangely—quiet since I handed him the Flame of Mir. She hopes to have all she needs to free us from him soon.

In other news, even though A.J. tried her best, the gala's surveillance footage is unsalvageable, except for the small snippet of the metal detectors' surveillance feeds she sent us days ago.

I can't deny it's not the outcome I wanted, even though I knew it was a long shot. I've been secretly hoping that the footage could provide us with indisputable proof of McGuire's involvement in Maxim's demise, or exonerate him entirely. One way or the other, it could have been a priceless tool to deescalate things between Nik and McGuire.

Since A.J.'s attempts to recover the footage didn't pan out, Nik's quest for McGuire's head will go on. And if something were to happen to my Russian because of it, I don't know what I'd do…

I thank A.J. for her efforts and promise to keep her informed about everything going on with me, Nik, and McGuire. After we hang up, however, she remains in my thoughts, even as I hurry to get dressed for the day, eager to be back with Nik.

There simply must be something I can do. There has to be a way for me to kill two nasty birds with one stone—namely, the stronzo and McGuire.