Chapter Eleven

Adrik

Viktor, Ivan, and Stephen walked into the penthouse with Vitaliy, Aleksei, and the rest of my father’s men. Viktor was especially happy to be back, as Sephie told him she would make his favorite meal since it was easy to make enough to feed the small army we had present.

“Sephie, that smells like I love you even more than the last time you made this,” Viktor said. She quickly freed up her hands, walking to him and hugging his neck. It never mattered how long they were gone or what they were gone for, she was always incredibly happy to see them again. It made them want to come back to her as soon as possible.

“Papa Bear!” she said as he picked her up off the floor, his giant frame completely dwarfing her. He kissed her cheek, setting her back down. She walked to Ivan, hugging his neck as well. She said something quietly to him, which clearly surprised him, but she moved quickly to Stephen. While Stephen had always been shy about any kind of affection from her for the longest time, he now loved it as much as the rest of them. He wrapped his arms around her and picked her up just like Viktor did, telling her how happy his stomach was going to be in a matter of minutes.

Once Stephen released her, she caught Vitaliy watching her interact with them. She gave him her best smile. I watched him completely melt in front of her. She walked to him and hugged him. “Is it weird that I missed you, old man?” she asked as she hugged his neck.

He laughed. “Maybe it’s you who needs to get out more this time,” he said.

“Fair. Completely fair,” she said. She grabbed his hand and led him toward the kitchen. It was hard to tell, but I think he was almost embarrassed that I caught his silly grin as he dutifully followed her.

“Battista called yesterday. He has information. He’ll be here in a few days,” Vitaliy said, breaking the silence as everyone did more eating than talking.

“Did he give any indications on what he found or he preferred to remain frustratingly mysterious?” Sephie asked.

“Net. He won’t discuss anything over the phone,” Vitaliy said.

“I mean, I understand why. Doesn’t mean I have to like it,” Sephie said. I was finding that she was starting to dislike surprises almost as much as I did.

Vitaliy winked at her. “Patience was always difficult for me as well, malishka.”

After dinner, Viktor and Ivan got my father’s men set up in apartments on the lower floors. Aleksei stayed behind with Vitaliy in the penthouse. I actually had plenty of room in the penthouse for all of them to stay there, but I preferred that no one came to the penthouse. I was torn about whether to allow my father and Aleksei to stay there, but Sephie practically insisted.

“I know you’re not terribly close with him, but he is your father. And Alyosha is practically an uncle. He’s known you your entire life. I don’t want those two assholes staying here, but it’s a nice gesture for Vitaliy and Aleksei to do so,” she had said when we discussed it the day before. She was always right about new people, even when she just referred to them in passing.

She had enjoyed teasing me when she found out I didn’t want them in the penthouse because it drastically cut down on the options of where we could have sex while they were here. It also meant she would have to be quieter while they were here, which I hated, and she was not very good at. Given that we were both addicted to each other, it was going to, well, suck.

She laughed once she searched my eyes to find the reason for my grumpiness on the subject. She reached up, kissing my cheek. Then she put her lips next to my ear, whispering, “Face down, ass up it is.” She took one step back from me to see my reaction, her wide smile across her face. As soon as she saw me lose complete control thinking about what she’d just said, she ran to the bedroom. Her laughter only serving to make me run faster to catch her.

I caught up to her just as she made it to the bedroom door. I grabbed her waist, picking her up off the floor and spinning her around just so I could hear her squeal. “You can’t say things like that and expect to get away from me, solnishko,” I said.

“Who said I wanted to get away? I just wanted to get to the bedroom very quickly. Mission accomplished,” she said as I set her down. She turned to face me, wrapping her arms around my neck.

“I approve of this life choice,” I said, pulling her shirt off and throwing it on the floor. I had the rest of her clothes off in under a minute. My lips found hers, then moved down to her neck. I could hear her breaths starting to come quicker as she felt my teeth grazing the soft skin of her neck.

“You’re very overdressed,” she said. Her voice was breathy with desire. I felt her hands working to get rid of my pants. As I stepped out of them, she got two more buttons undone on my shirt. I quickly pulled it off over my head, immediately pulling her back to me. She moaned quietly as my hands roamed over her back, down to her ass. I grabbed her ass, pushing my hips into her, wanting her to feel exactly what she could do to me.

Her hands slid around my waist into the waistband of my boxer briefs, pushing them down to free my hard cock. She knelt down in front of me, sliding them off all the way. Instead of standing back up, she grabbed my cock with one hand. I exhaled, knowing what she was going to do. It never failed to make me cum quickly when she went down on me if she did it for very long.

Her cool hand wrapped around my shaft lightly. I felt her warm breath on the tip as she licked it. She loved to make me twitch as she teased me. I could feel her desire coming on strongly as she wrapped her lips around it, taking me fully into her mouth. My hands went to her hair as I closed my eyes, my head falling backward as I was lost completely to the feeling of her mouth on me.

She kept her rhythm slow, knowing I would be completely incapable of lasting very long if she went any faster. Just when she felt me starting to struggle to control myself, she stood up, a devious grin on her face. I wrapped one arm around her hips, pulling her legs around me as I picked her up. We were still just inside the door to the bedroom. I pushed her up against the wall as my lips crashed into hers. It never mattered what she did. I could never get enough of her.

I could feel the heat from her pussy and feel how wet she was. She reached down between us and positioned me so I could slide inside her. She leaned her head back against the wall, her eyes closed as she felt my full length inside her. It was my favorite sight. Every single time. She moaned quietly as she adjusted to my size.

I pushed my hips into her harder, enjoying her response to me. Watching her get lost in her own euphoria made me forget about everything but her. I would never tire of it. I pulled out of her slowly before slamming back into her roughly. I stilled as she moaned loudly. I pulled out slowly again. This time, she knew what I was going to do. She opened her eyes, smiling at me as she waited for it. Her eyes were the deepest depth of the ocean blue, which had become my favorite out of all the changes they’d come up with. I watched her as her eyes rolled back in her head, another moan escaping as I slammed into her roughly again. Her pussy clenched around me as she was climbing toward an orgasm. I teased her a few more times before increasing the rhythm. I felt her fingernails dig into my shoulders as she couldn’t do anything but hang on as I pushed her to orgasm. Her moans were loud, her breaths quick. If I wouldn’t be able to hear her scream for a few days while we weren’t the only ones in my penthouse, then I was going to enjoy it as much as I could tonight.

I felt her legs start to shake as she started to push her pleasure onto me. She’d learned that she could essentially share her orgasm with me, and I was completely addicted to it. It was so different from what I felt and lasted much longer. She was breathing heavy, her moans making it difficult to catch her breath. She breathlessly said my name and I knew I was done for. I thrust hard into her a few more times before I couldn’t hold on any longer and found my own release.

I kept her pressed against the wall for a few minutes as we both worked to catch our breath. I still worried about her lung, as it still wasn’t 100 percent, but she was continuously getting better. She seemed to manage through sex okay, but she hadn’t been brave enough to go for a run yet. I still worried about pushing her too hard. I’d never been so scared as I was watching her struggle to breathe the few times it happened. It didn’t help that I could feel her fear in that moment.

“Are you okay, love? Did I go too hard?” I asked when she still hadn’t completely caught her breath.

She nodded. “It’s calming down,” she said, still trying to catch her breath. “I should run from you more often.” She grinned at me, her fingers running lightly through my hair.

God, I love her.

Once Viktor and Ivan returned, I brought up the subject of my father’s men with Aleksei. Sephie had Vitaliy’s attention, along with most of the guys’ attention, in her usual entertaining way.

“The two new guys. What kind of training do they have?” I asked Aleksei.

“Not quite the same as what I’d like, but it’s difficult to find someone with that kind of training these days. People are getting soft,” he said, half-disgusted. “I’ve been trying to work on their training to get them up to speed, but they complain. Never in front of Vitaliy, though. They’re at least that smart.”

I thought for a few minutes. It might be a good idea to have Misha and Andrei put them in their places, after all. I explained the situation to Aleksei. “They’re disrespectful of my men. I would like to remind them of their place. If Sephie were completely healed, I would consider letting her loose on them. She’s arguably more pissed about this than I am,” I said.

Aleksei laughed. “She’s just as protective of your men as they are of her, then?”

I nodded. “You should see her go from zero to rage in a split second if someone takes the wrong tone with one of us.”

“I would actually like to see that, now that you mention it,” he said, thoughtfully. “What do you propose for the little flowers?”

“I’d like for Misha and Andrei to teach them a lesson, since they seem to want to target those two. They’re both lethal, Andrei even more so since he started training Sephie. It’s seemed to sharpen him up considerably,” I said.

“Teaching is always a good tool. It forces you to stay ahead of the student. I saw her at your father’s house. He’s working hard to stay ahead of her.”

“That was nothing. She’s still at maybe 60 percent of what she was before she was taken. Armando really did a number on her. The only reason I didn’t kill him right then was because her lung collapsed and she couldn’t breathe,” I said.

“They were able to pull you off him?” he asked, surprised.

“They didn’t have to. She did. She put her hand on my back and told me she needed me. The bloodlust stopped instantly and I was only concerned with her.”

Aleksei cursed under his breath. “I’ve never seen you stop. That’s impressive.”

“It’s her. I don’t know how she does it, but I can’t live without it now,” I said.

He was quiet for a moment. “Are you training in the morning?” he asked. I nodded my head. “We will train with you. Is good to spar with new partners. We haven’t had anyone new in a while. I’m guessing your guys haven’t either. Misha and Andrei will get their chance then.”

Sephie had noticed me deep in discussion with Aleksei. She found a moment to step away from everyone else and walked to us. Aleksei’s face softened when she smiled at him as she tucked herself into my side. “You two are scheming without me, aren’t you?” she said, grinning at both of us.

“The Wonder Twins will get their chance for a much-needed attitude adjustment in the morning,” I said.

“I’ll be grateful if they get their asses beat. Serves them right for not wanting to further their training,” Aleksei said.

Sephie smiled at both of us, but I could feel her mood shift quickly. She smiled through it, but said, “Let’s hope it turns out better than the last time.” She said it quietly enough that Aleksei didn’t hear her, but I did. I pulled her in front of me, wrapping both my arms around her shoulders as she hid her face in my chest. I knew she was okay with what happened with Mike, for the most part, but she still had days where she struggled with it. Even though she did the right thing, even though we knew he was working for Anthony, she still struggled to accept it some days.

I caught Ivan’s eye as he felt her mood shift as well. Surprisingly, both Misha and Andrei also turned to check on her at almost the same time that Ivan did. That’s new. She held onto me tightly for a few moments, then sighed. She lifted her head from my chest, asking, “Do they know this yet?”

“Not yet. Vitaliy isn’t completely aware of what’s going on with his men.” I looked at Aleksei. “Do you want to keep him in the dark or let him know?”

“He’ll enjoy knowing. He’s not fond of those two. They have big shoes to fill, granted,” he said, then didn’t finish his thought.

I looked down at Sephie. “Then we can tell them now,” I said, smiling at her.

“Good. The Wonder Twins are worried that something is wrong already. Ivan, too,” she said. She hadn’t taken her eyes off me since she lifted her head from my chest. She hadn’t seen them checking on her.

“How did you know that, solnishko?”

“I don’t know. I just did,” she said, shrugging her shoulders.

I narrowed my eyes at her. “New level unlocked,” I said, as she laughed and hugged me tighter.

Andrei and Misha were standing next to Ivan in the kitchen as we walked back to everyone. Sephie walked between Andrei and Misha, hooking her arms through one of theirs. “When were you two planning on telling me that you could feel me now?” she asked.

Ivan looked surprised as he looked at both of them, then looked to me. Everyone else got quiet, as Viktor and Stephen had heard her as well. Andrei looked nervous again. Poor kid was overwhelmed with everything going on. I was surprised at how well Misha was handling everything. I think he’d had more practice at it than Andrei. Everything was so new for Andrei, and he wasn’t sure what to do with any of it.

I couldn’t help but laugh at Andrei’s expression. “We know you weren’t snooping, Andrei.”

His cheeks flushed slightly. “It started for me when we were in Panama. I felt her anger when you were gone with Vitaliy and I saw Ivan move to check on her. That helped me figure out what it was. Then when she disappeared for a while, I felt her get startled, but then it was like she was all over the place briefly, then nothing. That’s when Misha noticed it, too. That’s when he came to check on you.”

“And since then? Has it happened again?” I asked.

Misha nodded his head. “She doesn’t like walking around the office by herself right now. It makes her really nervous. We could both feel it earlier when she walked from your office to come get us to come up here.”

“You guys felt that? That’s why you asked me about it?” she asked.

“Yeah, we knew you were on your way to us before we saw you. That’s why Misha picked you up before you realized what he was doing. We were trying to get you out of there quickly. My computer was slow or we would’ve got you faster,” Andrei said.

This was new for me. I knew she was shy about people looking at her, especially after being taken, but she never felt nervous in the office to me. I looked at her. “This is true? I haven’t felt this.”

“That’s because it doesn’t usually happen when I’m with you. I think people are scared to look at you. They’re more curious when I’m with the guys and it’s especially bad when I’m by myself,” she said as she walked to me.

Misha looked at me. “She said it feels like when Sal and Armando were looking at her. Even though she knows it’s not the same, that’s what it feels like.”

I pulled her to me. I knew she was still dealing with everything that had happened. “It’s okay. I can handle it. I just don’t like it right now,” she said.

“Can you feel them as well like you feel Adrik and Ivan?” Vitaliy asked, clearly curious how everything worked.

“Not as strongly yet,” she said, looking at both Andrei and Misha.

“She seems to know what they’re doing though. She knew it was Misha at the door when he came to check on her,” Ivan said.

“She knew they both felt her mood just shift, along with Ivan, just a few minutes ago,” I said.

In his quiet, serious way, Stephen said, “Vlad is going to be ecstatic when he hears about this development.” We all erupted into laughter.

Vitaliy and Aleksei both looked confused. “Who’s Vlad?” they asked.

“He’s an old friend. Don’t worry, you’ll love him. Looks a little grumpy on the outside, but has a great sense of humor. Just don’t bring up his strange eating habits. He’s very sensitive about it,” Stephen said, which caused even more laughter from all of us.

Once we were done laughing, I looked at Vitaliy. “Your new guys. What do you think of them?”

He scoffed. “Mediocre at best. It was difficult to replace Yuri and Dmitri. Those two were the best we could find, which is not saying much,” he said.

“They’ve been very disrespectful to my men. I didn’t know about it until we had already left Panama. I’d like to teach them a lesson tomorrow,” I said.

Vitaliy simply nodded his head. “I would very much like you to teach them a lesson tomorrow. They’re too soft. Malishka could beat them, even though she’s still not 100 percent right now.”

“That’s because I have the best trainer ever,” she said, smiling at Andrei.

“From what I saw the other day, I will not argue with you,” Vitaliy said. “You have my permission to do whatever you need with the little flowers.”

I chuckled at both him and Aleksei calling his guys little flowers. I looked at Andrei and Misha. “You’ll get your chance in the morning, then. Don’t hold back,” I said.

I felt Sephie stir next to me the following morning. I knew it was earlier than usual, as it was still mostly dark outside. She had one arm and one leg thrown over me, and her hand was lazily tracing circles on my back. “Good morning,” she said quietly when she saw my eyes open just enough to notice it was still dark out.

“You’re awake earlier than usual,” I said, closing my eyes again and pulling her closer to me, not wanting to wake up yet.

“Mmm … I can’t seem to get my brain to shut off.”

I opened my eyes to look at her. I knew she had been forced to remember the situation with Mike after hearing about Andrei’s and Misha’s experience with my father’s men. She was worried for them and about what would happen this morning. As I ran my hand over her back, down to her ass and thigh, I reminded her, “You did the right thing, solnishko. He was never going to walk out of here that day. If that hadn’t happened, there’s no telling what he had planned with Anthony, either. He was a threat. An even bigger one than we realized. You took care of it. You protected all of us.”

She was quiet for a minute, her hands never still as she thought about what I said. She was looking down, but when she looked up at me, I could see her eyes swirling. This time, however, there was white mixed in, so I knew she was trying to hold off on feeling her fear. While I knew she was struggling internally, I adored watching her eyes change. It was mesmerizing.

She finally smiled at me, her eyes landing on the deepest depth of the ocean blue. “Sometimes I need a reminder,” she said quietly. She reached up and pressed her lips to mine, sweetly.

“I will remind you as often and as many times as you need it, love.”

Andrei, Misha, and Ivan were waiting on us when we came out of the bedroom. Apparently, they were having trouble sleeping too. Andrei was making coffee for everyone. Vitaliy and Aleksei were still in their rooms. The sun had barely started to rise, it was still so early.

“Where’s Papa Bear and Yoden?” Sephie asked as she walked to Ivan to hug him good morning.

“I think they’re still sleeping,” Ivan said. “None of us could sleep anymore, so we came up here.”

“Same, Squish. Same,” she said. She walked to Misha next, sliding her arm around his shoulders. “You’re more bothered by this than you’re letting on,” she said, kissing his cheek. “Even Squish is bothered by the fact that those two assholes singled you two out.” Misha tried to laugh, but it was clear on his face that she was right. She thought for a minute, continuing on to Andrei, who handed her a fresh cup of coffee. “This is why I waited until I had the six of you to protect me to show anyone how different I was. As a general rule, people suck.” She looked thoughtful for a moment, then she and Andrei looked at each other like they’d both just had the same thought. He raised his eyebrow at her, but she shook her head no discreetly. She would tell us whatever it was in good time. She leaned her head onto Andrei’s shoulder, once again lost in thought for a few moments.

She stood up, walking to me as I finished making my coffee. “You all know that something happened when I disappeared at Vitaliy’s house,” she said. She turned away from me, leaning back against me as she held her mug with both hands. I slid one arm around her waist, watching the guys’ faces. They all nodded. “It was a new one for me. It’s never happened before. It may never happen again, but I saw Adrik’s mother. We had a chat.”

“Like you see your father sometimes?” Misha asked.

She nodded. “Except he always comes in my dreams. This time, I wasn’t dreaming. She was in the same room as me, plain as day to me. But it looked like I’d zoned out completely when Ivan and Adrik found me. They couldn’t snap me out of it. That’s also why I think I went numb to all of you. It was like I was sleeping.”

“Her eyes were going crazy, though. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Ivan said. He was still surprised at being able to watch her eyes change as it happened.

“We mostly talked about Vitaliy and Adrik, but she gave me a message for all of you too. She told me that you’re all good men. I know this. She knows this. But she said that you guys needed to know that the Universe knows how good you all are.”

I watched as Misha clearly felt goosebumps over his entire body. He rubbed his arms, shaking it off. Andrei was looking down as he processed what Sephie had just said, and Ivan looked almost like he was fighting back tears. I knew how they all felt in that moment.

She sighed. “Whatever happens this morning, I need you to remember that,” she said, taking another sip of coffee. “Now, who wants bacon?”

It was exactly what was needed to help them break out of their own heads. Viktor and Stephen walked in shortly after she had started making breakfast. Vitaliy and Aleksei walked out soon after. I found myself grateful that we’d had a few extra minutes with those three. They definitely needed it.

We’d all been somewhat surprised at our reaction to Trino’s men having a problem with Sephie being able to know things she shouldn’t know. Finding out that Trino could’ve been killed by his men if they’d known about Misha and Andrei made it all the more real for us. People always fear what they don’t understand, and we had difficulty explaining what was happening to all of us. We were already wary of people we didn’t know. Now, we were extra cautious. Misha and Andrei being bullied like schoolchildren wasn’t helping.

It was starting to feel like us against the world.