Chapter 21 - Lev

Jenna's pie was long forgotten as she searched my face for answers. She looked terrified to know the inner workings of the Bratva, but she did ask for it. There was no way I would tell her everything I'd ever done, but I filled her in on what we were dealing with now. Or at least what we knew so far.

It was looking more and more like the people who roughed up the first bar weren't the scattered crooks we took them to be. They had to work for someone more organized and determined to gain power in this area.

"No one is more determined than we are," I said, watching her eyes. She was intent, hanging on every word, and I felt an inkling of fresh pride in my wife. She'd been shaken up by what she saw, but not so much that it was shriveling that inner strength I'd already seen in her so many times.

She nodded and asked how serious I was about holding on to what we already had. "Are those little bars really that profitable?"

With a laugh, I explained my father's passion project. He loved hanging out with his friends in places like that, even to this day, at home in Moscow. He also liked being treated like a king and what better way to have the red carpet treatment than to own every place you frequented.

"Many of the people who work in those places have become like family to us," I said.

"And no one messes with my family without paying a severe price."

I went on to tell her how most of our main holdings were down in LA. Still, I'd been branching out up here for a while now. My legitimate businesses were proving lucrative, so might as well go the distance. "This is a bump in the road, nothing more," I said, not wanting her to worry. "And I've been in charge up here long enough for anyone who might be causing trouble to know I'm not someone to be trifled with, even if I haven't been using the full backing of the Fokin name. That's why I'm taking these attacks extra personally."

"Do you think you can find out who's behind them?" she asked, gnawing on her lip.

"Not yet," I said, cracking my knuckles. "But Max can usually get answers out of anyone eventually.

She went pale at that, and I shifted the subject since she'd clearly had enough for one night. I loved her optimism and faith in humanity and didn't want that to change just because there were people out there in the world who weren't as good and pure as she was. People like me.

Taking my hand, she smiled a bit weakly. "I'm glad you took me tonight. It was… eye-opening, but I'm glad to know."

I was glad I decided to take her along and delighted at how well she handled it. With a sigh, she rolled her neck and winced, making me recall how stiff her shoulders had been before everything popped off, and we had to run out of there. She had been hunched over her books or peering at a computer screen almost nonstop for the last week, determined to pull her grades up and not lose her scholarship.

Even though she no longer had to worry about paying her tuition, her desire to prove herself—to herself and no one else—kept me from arguing with her about it. She was a lot like me in that regard, never wanting the easy way just because it was easy. I reached over to massage the back of her neck, and her head fell forward as a grateful groan slipped from her lips.

"Come on," I said, standing up. "You can clearly use a hot shower. Or better yet, a good long soak."

With a weary nod, she slowly rose, but I gathered her up in my arms, smiling down at her eyes widening with surprise. It was difficult to put her down once we reached the master bath, far too long since she'd been pressed so close to me. I got the jets going in the spa tub and poured in a generous blob of bath oil, filling the room with the scent of jasmine. Jenna breathed it in with a dreamy smile, and as the steaming water level rose, she scurried to get her clothes off, eager to sink into the relaxing suds.

She bumped up against me, her bare arm smooth against mine. "This bathroom is too small; we need to start house hunting," I said, to distract myself from her lush curves, now on full display.

"This bathroom is bigger than my old bedroom in LA," she told me with a laugh.

I eased her into the water and couldn't stop myself from giving her a kiss. Her arm was around my neck for balance, but once she had slid into the tub, instead of loosening her grip, she slid her fingers into my hair. The kiss turned lingering, getting more heated than the water that enveloped her. My balance on the edge was precarious, but not as much as my self-control, which was dissolving faster than the bubbles that clung to her rosy skin.

Her grip grew fierce, along with her hands, tugging on my shirt. Soon, I was soaked, and with a low growl, I pulled my shirt off over my head, tossing it into a heap in the corner. Watching her eyes grow dark as she took in my bare chest made me lose the last bit of control I'd been clinging to for the last week.

Rising up to encircle my neck with both arms, Jenna pulled herself close to me, her mouth hungrily finding mine. Instead of dragging her out of the tub, I found myself in it with her. The sound of her laughter at my soaked pants was quickly replaced with a moan when I slid my hand between her slippery thighs.

Water splashed over the edge as her back arched. Her moan grew frantic as I found her swollen clit and teased her, never taking my eyes off the look of ecstasy on her face. That was a look I couldn't live without. Jenna's every expression was like oxygen to me. Even more vital than that, because I craved so much more.

"Lev," she sighed, clawing at the button on my pants. "These are probably ruined."

"Doesn't matter." I laughed at the silliness of caring about clothes when she alone was my very existence.

With more splashing, I got them off and tossed them. Pulling Jenna onto me, I gripped her wet hair and tugged her head back, kissing her until she was writhing against my stiff cock. The feel of her hot, slick pussy moving up and down along my shaft, the sound of her sweetly desperate noises, her hands clinging to my shoulders, all made me wild in a way I'd never experienced.

"Everything is new with you," I marveled, roughly kissing her throat.

My hands slid from her hair, down her back to cup her tight little ass. She ground against me harder, and I teased her from behind, drawing out her orgasm until she trembled in my grasp. Her back arched, and her head fell back as she cried out, pushing hard against me. Her ripe tits glistened with soap suds, her nipples tight, buds. I ached to be inside her, but watching her come was better than any blockbuster, any opera. Better than anything. Leaning down to nip at those peachy nipples had her digging her nails into my shoulders.

Her legs shook as I guided her back onto my cock, gripping her hips as I sunk into her. She cried out my name as I filled every inch of her still throbbing pussy. The dam broke, releasing the wildness I'd barely kept contained.

"Bounce, little girl," I said, fingers holding tight to her hips. "Ride me just the way you like."

Her glazed eyes danced with mischief, and she found the strength to smile as she held on, rising and falling on my cock like a rodeo queen. Her hair fell forward, sending water droplets splashing on my face. She drained me of my control, gripping me with her entire body. And at the same time, as I felt her soft, wet skin under my fingertips, and tasted her plump lips as she grabbed my face for a searing kiss, I'd never felt so free.

"What do you do to me?" she sobbed, biting my shoulder. "Please, please, I need it again."

"Anything you want," I said, my need to claim her too strong to resist. "Come again so I can feel your tight little hole clamp down on my cock when I shoot my seed inside you."

With a shudder, she cried out at my command, doing exactly as I urged. I barely brushed my fingertips against her clit, and she screamed, ramming down on me, draining every drop.

By the time we were somewhat calm, still breathing as hard as if we'd been being chased, there was more water on the floor than in the big tub. Jenna fell against my chest, laughing weakly as she let her hand flop over the side.

"What a mess."

"I love making them with you," I said. "Let's make another one."

She giggled as I picked her up and wrapped her in my bathrobe, big enough for two of her. I slung a towel around my waist and hurried to the living room to retrieve our forgotten desert. She followed me with a smile on her beautiful face, glowing from the hot water and the orgasms. I couldn't wait to give her another, feel her wrapped around me again.

But for now—"We can't let this go to waste," I said, balancing the pie plates as I crawled into our bed. "It really is the best in the city."

"In bed?" she asked, putting on a stern face that was already cracking under her grin. She hurried over, snuggling up under my arm and taking one of the plates from me.

We gobbled our slices down, each of us offering the other a forkful at the same time. "It's the same flavor," I said, not at all embarrassed by our silliness. I was not bothered that I was acting in a way I'd never acted before. Or feeling a way I'd never felt before.

She ate my offered bite and rolled her eyes back with exaggerated bliss. "It tastes better anyway, somehow."

When the plates were only covered in a few flaky crumbs, I put them on the dresser and flopped back in bed with her.

"What a day," she said, smothering a yawn. "Was it actually just one?"

With Jenna's chin tucked against my chest and my arms around her, I yawned wide enough to crack my jaw, not bothering to try to hide it. I was completely at ease and ready to sleep like a log.

"It felt like a week rolled into one," I agreed. "Get some rest so we can start again tomorrow." I managed a grin that made a blush rise to her cheeks, and she snapped her eyes shut.

I fell asleep with a chuckle still rising in my throat, content and happy. Most of all I was hopeful that Jenna was starting to understand and accept my life.

Our life.