Chapter Forty-Three

Sephie

Adrik walked to the couches, throwing his tuxedo jacket and tie over the back. He removed his cuff links as he walked back toward me, depositing them in his pocket. It gave him a reason to look me up and down one more time without being blatantly obvious about it. As he was walking toward me, I reached up and pulled my hair down from the intricate ponytail that Ms. Jackson had put it in. I still had no clue how she figured out how to make a ponytail look so glamorous, but she did.

He groaned quietly as he watched my hair fall over my shoulders. “I love your hair when it’s out of control,” he said. He stopped in front of me, his hands running up my arms, stopping on either side of my neck. He studied me for a few moments before leaning down to kiss me. It was much quicker than I was hoping for. “Come, I want your contacts out,” he said, grabbing my hand and leading me back to the bedroom. “I would like to see your eyes match that dress one last time.”

“Who am I to deny you?” I asked as I followed him to the bedroom. He stood behind me, watching me in the mirror as his hands roamed over my hips and ass while I took my contacts out. I looked at him once I was finished, asking, “You’re not going to take yours out?”

He smiled at me. “I already did. When we were at Vitaliy’s house. I couldn’t stand them any longer.”

“You’re so much smarter than me,” I said to him, impressed.

He chuckled. “You’re getting used to yours better than I am. They still make my eyes itch,” he said, brushing my hair back from my neck so he could kiss it. It sent waves of warmth throughout my body, causing me to moan quietly. He turned me around to face him, his sweet smile letting me know that my eyes were deep blue. “I still can’t believe how much I miss seeing them change when you have to wear your contacts for any length of time.”

“I love that you’re still so fascinated by them. I would’ve thought you would be used to it by now and bored with it,” I said, enjoying the look of wonderment on his face that he had every time he watched my eyes change.

“I doubt very seriously that will ever happen,” he said, pressing his lips to mine kissing me quickly, then kissing first one cheek, then the other. “You keep finding new ways to fascinate me with them,” he said, his lips pressing to my forehead. I closed my eyes, just enjoying the sweet moment with him. I felt his lips press to one eyelid, then the other.

“Well, in that case, I hope I never stop,” I said, smiling at him without opening my eyes. He grabbed my hand, leading me out of the bathroom. When I opened my eyes, I saw him still enjoying looking at me in this dress. It made me smile to see him enjoying it so much. “I wouldn’t mind getting this dressed up now and then if this is always going to be your reaction,” I said.

He groaned quietly again. “If we have as much fun as we did tonight, I might start attending more of these terribly boring functions, just to make you get dressed up more often. I would not be mad at that. The people of the city would not be mad at that either. They couldn’t take their eyes off you,” he said, pulling me closer to him. He put the hand he was holding around the back of his neck. He slid his hand down my other arm, picking it up and placing it in the same position on the other side. He glanced down at my barely covered cleavage, staring at it for a few moments. “Have I mentioned how fucking phenomenal your boobs look in that dress?” he asked, his fingers tracing lightly over the exposed skin of my breasts.

I giggled. “That might’ve been the other selling point,” I said. “I actually couldn’t stop staring at my boobs in the dressing room. The guys felt my happiness over how good they looked. They made me come out and show them.”

Adrik chuckled. “You’re two for two with your choice of dresses. I thought the last one was perfect, but this one might be my favorite.”

“You’re only saying that because I didn’t have to starve myself for weeks before this one,” I said, grinning at him.

He laughed. “You’re still too skinny from being hurt.” Just to illustrate his point, he grabbed me around my hips, lifting me off the floor like I weighed nothing. I squealed, which made him smile. “See? It’s too easy.”

“Or maybe you’re just ridiculously strong,” I said, wrapping my arms around his neck tighter as he continued to hold me off the floor. He wrapped his arms all the way around me, holding me tightly.

“Or maybe I just love you,” he said, looking up at me. I could see the love he had for me. It was obvious. I was the only woman he looked at the entire night. If a woman was speaking to him, he would glance at her to keep from being rude, but otherwise, he only had eyes for me. It had been that way since I first met him. He never once changed.

I held his face in my hands, completely smitten with him. I sighed. I did sometimes wonder what I’d done to deserve him. He was perfect in every way. I pushed my warmth to him, knowing my eyes were deep blue. His hold on me got tighter. “I love you. Every little thing about you is perfect for me,” I said, as I pressed my lips to his.

He slowly lowered me back to the floor as he deepened the kiss. Once I was standing on my own again, his hands roamed over my back, down to my ass, pulling me closer to him. I slid my hands down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt as I went. While I loved seeing him in his tux all night, I adored seeing him with his shirt off. I untucked his shirt, pushing it off his shoulders, my hands sliding along the well-defined muscles of his arms and chest.

He stepped back from me as he grabbed both my hands, placing them by my side. “I’ve been waiting all night for this,” he said, his sweet smile on his face. He ran his hands up my arms and over my collar bones. He smiled when his hand ran over the necklace that had belonged to his mother. He slipped his fingers under the material at my shoulders, pushing the dress off my shoulders. He picked up one hand, pulling the sleeve off that arm, then moved to the other.

He was clearly satisfied finally seeing my naked breasts after having been given just a hint of them for the entire evening. His hands covered each one, gently massaging them before moving down my stomach to push the dress the rest of the way down my hips. He hadn’t seen my choice of panties until he pushed the dress all the way down. He inhaled sharply when he saw that I was wearing nothing but a G-string.

“You’ve been virtually naked under that dress for the entire evening,” he said. He didn’t know whether to be slightly angry with me or impressed. He took one step back, looking at me from head to toe. “Turn around,” he said, almost sternly. It sent a shockwave straight to my nether regions. I turned around, loving the loud groan that escaped as he looked at my ass. “I’m glad I didn’t know that’s what you were wearing underneath. It would’ve been torture,” he said, his hands on my hips. He pulled me back against him, almost forcefully. I loved it. I gasped quietly as his hands were on me once more, leaning into him.

His lips found my neck while his hands massaged my breasts. I lifted my arms behind his head, giving him full access. I loved the feeling of his warm chest against my back. I kept my shoulders against his chest but moved my hips far enough away that I could slide my arms in between us, unbuttoning his pants without having to turn around. He laughed. “You’re quite talented, solnishko,” he said, nibbling on my neck.

I heard his pants fall to the floor while he wrapped one arm around my waist, pulling me back into him. I could feel his hardness pressing into my back. Finally, he couldn’t take it any longer and turned me around to face him. His lips were instantly on mine. I pushed his boxer briefs off, not wanting anything between us. He barely made an effort and my panties were ripped off. What little of them there was to begin with, anyway.

He slowly walked us to the bed, his lips never leaving mine. His kiss was slow, but it burned with his desire for me. He reached down, picking me up and wrapping my legs around his waist so he could climb on the bed without breaking the kiss. It made me giggle and hold onto him tighter.

As soon as I was lying on my back, he pressed his hips into me, causing me to moan as I felt his hard cock against my pussy. He teased me a few more times before slowly sliding all the way in. It sent waves of fire over my entire body. I’d been waiting all night long for this moment. I exhaled loudly as he filled me up.

His lips found mine once again. He gently, but firmly, pressed his hips into mine. He was slow, deliberate with everything he did. Almost like he didn’t want the night to end. I could feel him pushing his desire to me, but he managed to control it this time. It was enough that it was pushing me toward the edge, but he wasn’t losing control. I loved it.

I was so lost in how much I loved him, how he made me feel, how he knew just what I needed. I could feel an orgasm building already and he was still barely moving. He pulled back enough to look at me, his sexy smirk on his face. He was trying to see if I really was losing control the way he thought I was. I couldn’t do anything but smile at him as I moaned, my body exploding into an orgasm. His lips were on my neck and chest as his hand squeezed my breast, then came to rest in my favorite spot just over my heart. It sent more waves of fire through my entire body, causing my body to spasm once again in another orgasm.

I couldn’t get enough of him. I wanted more. I worked my hips against him, demanding more. He responded immediately, thrusting into me. Where he had been slow and deliberate, now he was intense and almost desperate. My body craved more, my hips matching his rhythm. I could feel another orgasm building, even more intense than the last one. He sent me crashing over the edge multiple times before finally finding his own release.

He collapsed on top of me, his breaths heavy. I wrapped myself around him, holding him tightly. I wouldn’t have minded staying like that for the entire night. He went to move off me, but I held him tighter. “Not yet,” I said. He chuckled but relaxed again, happy to stay there a little longer.

I woke the next morning, still completely tangled up in Adrik’s embrace. He was holding me just as tightly as I was holding him. I’m surprised either one of us could move at all the entire night. I loved every second of it.

He felt me stirring and loosened his grip on me slightly. “Good morning,” he said, without opening his eyes.

I couldn’t help but laugh a little at his reluctance to wake up. “I think we need to go back to the house again this weekend. We could all use another break,” I said.

“I will not argue with that plan,” he said.

I kissed him gently, trying to coax him awake. He just wrapped my leg around his hips tighter and tightened his hold on me. I giggled. “Why are you so tired? Did you get new level zapped and you’re not telling me?”

“No, I’m not that tired. I just don’t want to move from right here. I want to spend the day trying to recreate last night. Repeatedly,” he said, opening his eyes just enough that he could barely see me.

“I will not argue with that plan,” I said, pushing my warmth to him.

That was all the encouragement he needed. He was back on top of me before I even realized what had happened. I laughed at his exuberance. He finally opened his eyes, his handsome smile across his face as he looked down at me. He leaned down, kissing me sweetly as he slid inside me slowly. I moaned into his mouth, caught by surprise at how quickly he could make my body explode in pleasure.

I felt the pull in my chest that was from him as he watched me get lost in the feeling of him. He could push the limits of my endurance and he did so regularly, but it was almost more than I could handle when he took it slow. I pushed everything I was feeling to him, wanting him to feel exactly what he was doing to me. I heard him exhale as he breathlessly said my name and I knew he wasn’t going to keep control for very long.

“Look at me,” he said. He said it gently, but firmly. I felt my pussy clench around him when he said it. He noticed, smirking at me. I looked at him, loving the look of fascination on his face as he watched whatever show my eyes were giving him. He kept his rhythm slower, but he gradually increased the intensity, knowing that it would drive me absolutely crazy. It only took a few minutes and I was struggling to keep my eyes open as I was overcome with pleasure.

He didn’t take his eyes off mine the entire time. His gaze was intense, like he was reading my soul as he made love to me. The first time he’d done it was somewhat unnerving for me, but I found myself loving it this time. Every piece of my soul already belonged to him.

My body exploded into orgasm after orgasm until I finally pushed him to his limit. He collapsed on top of me once again. I wrapped myself around him again, still feeling like I wanted to hold him as tightly as possible, for as long as possible.

“I don’t know why, but I feel like I don’t want to let go,” I said.

“That might be from me. That’s how I always feel about you,” he said. He sat up so he could look at me.

“Really?”

“Really. It’s especially strong after we have sex, but I feel it anytime I’m touching you. It’s partly why I can’t keep my hands off you.”

I thought for a moment, a small smile on my face. “I still sometimes have no idea of the effect I have on you,” I said.

“You have no idea of the effect you have on anyone,” he said, his wide smile stretching across his face.

I squinted my eyes at him. “What do you mean?”

“Not a single person could take their eyes off you last night and you had no idea,” he said.

“Shut up.”

He laughed. “It’s true. I’m surprised it didn’t make you panic. Anytime you went anywhere, all eyes were on you. I might’ve really loved that, not gonna lie.”

“Shut up.”

“It’s true. You can ask any of the guys. Vitaliy’s men saw it too. So did Vitaliy. They’ll all tell you. People couldn’t take their eyes off you. I can’t blame them. I couldn’t either.”

I grinned at him. “I do love that you only have eyes for me. Especially when other women are making a spectacle of themselves to try and get your attention.” I reached up and ran my fingers through his dark hair as we were talking.

“You are always the most beautiful woman in the room. No matter what you do,” he said, pushing the curls back from my face. “I might love that about you. My evil side delights in the fact that you’re mine. While everyone else wishes they were me.”

“There are plenty of reasons for them to wish they were you. Not just because of me. I might be the icing on the cake, but that’s it,” I said, laughing.

“You are the icing. You are the cake. You are the ingredients for the cake too. You’re everything,” he said, his handsome smile making me love him just a little more. He sat up, pulling me up with him. “Come. The guys are in the kitchen now and you smell like sex. You need a shower before you’re allowed around them.”

“How did you know they were in the kitchen already?” I asked, as we walked to the bathroom.

He stopped, thinking about it. “I don’t know. I just know.”

I looked at him, trying so hard not to smile. “You liar! You said you didn’t get new level zapped.”

His eyes went wide, thinking he had really made me mad. “I didn’t know!”

I couldn’t hold it in any longer. I laughed at him. He immediately relaxed. “You can feel them, can’t you?”

He thought about it, then nodded his head in agreement. “Yeah, I can tell you the order they came to the penthouse this morning, even. I don’t know why I know that information, but I know that information.”

I giggled as he pulled me under the warm water of the shower. “I think each time we do something new, it strengthens the connection between everyone. We’ve figured out how to communicate with each other, then everything came together last night. It’s not the first time we’ve all worked together, but it was the first time we did it multiple times in one night.”

“I did notice that our demons seemed quieter last night. Even around Henry and the switch-hitter, they were quiet. I can’t figure out why that would be.”

I thought for a minute as he worked on washing my hair. “I hadn’t thought about it, but you’re right. They were much more active with Battista’s associate than they were last night. But there were more demons there last night than with Battista’s associate. That doesn’t make sense. It does seem like they were hiding.” It suddenly hit me. I turned around to face him. “What if they knew that girl could see them and they were hiding from her?”

“Could she see them though? She didn’t notice anything about Stephen or the Wonder Twins. It was only you, me, and Ivan that she saw something different about. Ivan has wings, even. Are you sure she was seeing our demons?”

“Well, no. I’m not. But I bet I know who is,” I said, grinning.

“Andrei. That kid can’t help himself sometimes. Which actually works to our advantage. I bet he knows,” he said. He was clearly amused with the prospect of Andrei snooping through that poor scared girl’s head.

“He’s gonna be so embarrassed,” I said. Can’t say I wasn’t excited about this pending conversation …

The guys were all laughing as we walked into the kitchen. They all looked to me, like they knew I was about to make their morning even better. I was taken aback by their knowing glances.

“We can feel your fuckery, gazelle. I, for one, am very excited about this development in my life,” Misha said.

Adrik caught my eye, his mischievous grin slowly creeping across his face. “Apparently, I’m not the only one,” he said, kissing my temple.

“Not the only one for what?” Ivan asked.

“He can feel all of you the same way I can now. He knew you guys were here before I did this morning. He can tell you the order you came up, even,” I said.

They all looked at Adrik skeptically, like they didn’t believe him.

“Ivan, Stephen, Andrei, Viktor, Misha,” he said.

“Okay, so new level unlocked,” Ivan said, laughing.

“We were talking this morning. It feels like the connection is getting stronger each time we do something new,” Andrei said. “It used to only get stronger for Sephie, but now I think it’s getting stronger for all of us.”

“I agree, Bubba. I think you guys pick up more each time. Not just with me anymore either. You’re picking up more between each other now too,” I said.

“We were talking this morning too. It felt like our demons were quieter last night at the fundraiser than they were at the meeting with Battista. We can’t figure out why. There were more demons last night than at the meeting with Battista. It doesn’t make sense they’d be quiet last night,” Adrik said.

“I noticed that too. I was going to bring it up this morning. Any theories?” Ivan asked.

“Sephie thinks it might have something to do with that girl who could see my mother and Kostya. Maybe they knew and were hiding from her?” Adrik said.

I looked at Andrei. “Bubba, did you by chance do any snooping with her? Do you know if she could see everything? Or is she more like you, in that, she can only see the good?” I asked.

“I did look when I saw her zero in on Ivan. It worried me, so I wanted to see what she saw,” Andrei said. He looked at Ivan. “You’re going to be shocked, man. I didn’t know how much you wanted Battista to know, so I didn’t bring it up last night.”

He pushed what he saw when Jessica looked at Ivan, then me, then Adrik. She couldn’t see our demons, but she could very clearly see the outline of a pair of wings behind each of us. My dad had told me that Ivan’s wings were black, white, and red. Jessica could only see the white in his wings, but they looked different to her than what Kostya and Lena looked like. She saw the same difference when she looked at me and Adrik.

We all stood in stunned silence for a few moments. Andrei and Misha worked together to push it to Viktor and Stephen at the same time.

I finally got over my shock and looked to Ivan. “I wonder if she’ll be able to eventually see how much cooler yours are than everyone else’s.” It helped snap him back to reality as well. Adrik quietly slid his arm around my waist. I felt the pull in my chest from him, knowing he was thinking about how much more this made him love me, just as I was for him.

“She saw Boss’s mom and Kostya the same way, but they look different than you guys,” Andrei said. He pushed us the images of both Lena and Kostya that she had seen. “She called them ghosts because she didn’t think anyone would believe her and she wasn’t even sure if angels were real,” he said.

“The ghost angle makes sense, since you can see through them,” Stephen said, after seeing what Andrei was sharing with all of us.

“It doesn’t explain why our demons were quiet though. Just to bring it back around to that,” Ivan said. “I would like to know why that is.”

“Maybe they were quieter because you listened to them last time. They didn’t have to shout this time,” Misha said. “The more I used my gift at first, the more subtle it got. But it was also clearer. Maybe that’s what’s happening. They were louder the first few times; you got the message; now they can be subtle.”

I noticed Viktor getting a glazed-over look, but I didn’t feel like he was uncomfortable with this conversation. I was hyper-aware of his comfort level when it came to any discussion of our demons. He was getting better, but I knew he still didn’t like it.

He joined us back in the present moment, surprising everyone by saying, “Kostya said he thinks Misha is right. He’s not completely sure, but from what he can tell, Misha’s on the money.”

“Did everybody just hear that? I just want to make sure. Viktor, you might need to repeat it a few more times. Just to be sure we all heard it,” Misha said, his wide, handsome smile across his face.

“Your first time is always the most memorable,” Ivan said, raising his eyebrow at Misha. The rest of us could do nothing but laugh. Misha’s cheeks got red, but he was laughing with the rest of us. I walked to where he was sitting, hugging his neck while standing behind him. He held onto my arms as we tried to get our laughter under control.

Stephen, always the analyst, was quietly contemplating our conversation and everything that had happened recently while I started breakfast. Finally, he looked up at everyone. “I think we should have another conversation with Dario. I want to make sure we didn’t miss anything the last time. It’s been a while since we’ve been in the same room as him, and Sephie was the only one who could pick up on something extra the last time.”

I studied Stephen for a few moments. “Is there a reason this popped into your head now, Yoden? Have you been thinking about Dario or he just randomly popped into your head this morning?”

“He’s come up a few times for me the past week or so. I just can never find the right time to bring it up. I don’t necessarily think we missed anything before, but I also want to make sure. Especially if he goes free at the end of this. We need to make sure he’s really worthy of that ending,” he said.

“I agree,” I said, looking to Adrik.

“We can talk to him. Now that Armando is gone, he can be moved to a more comfortable room, since he’s going to be here for a while longer,” he said.

“Today is a good day to do it. No one else will be in the office,” Viktor said.

“Has anything else come up for you about Dario, Yoden? Just that you want to make sure we didn’t miss anything?” I asked. There was always a reason that things like this seemed to “randomly” come up. We just had to find the reason.

Stephen thought for a few moments, analyzing his own thoughts. “I was also thinking about how broken his mind already is. I want to know more about why that is. Part of me wonders if it was an act, part of me is curious if it was Massimo or Sal who did it to him. And if so, how. There’s just something that feels slightly off, but I don’t know if it’s Dario or something else.”

“You’re wondering if maybe he was acting broken to get our sympathy?” Adrik asked. Stephen nodded. Even Adrik was thoughtful for a few moments. “I’m the one who made the decision that he could go free,” he said. He looked at me. “You were struggling with your anger after being told that Sal and Armando were going to get into a fight over you. It’s very possible I missed something.” He thought for a minute more, then looked at Viktor. “Have him moved this morning to a more comfortable room than where he’s at. We’ll go talk to him tomorrow afternoon, when we get back.”

Viktor nodded his head, pulling his phone out to give the necessary orders. Misha asked, “You want to go to the house this weekend?”

Adrik nodded this time. “I think we could all use a break. That seems to be the one place where we can all turn everything off for a bit. Now we need it even more.”

Ivan’s sly grin turned up one side of his mouth. “You’ve been hanging around the princess. You’re getting really good at that.”

We were now all slightly on edge, wondering if we’d missed something before. I was grateful that Stephen had thought of it, as the rest of us had mostly forgotten about Dario. We hadn’t needed him for information, so he was just waiting until we took care of the rest of the bosses before he could go free. With the return of Niko and Vito possible in the very near future, it would help to know everything about Dario.