21. Dima

TWENTY-ONE

Dima

A na never takes long to get ready but she's decided to today when I thought she'd be impatient to leave and look for Nina. I pace at the bottom of the stairs to waste time and to stop myself from rushing her. My head snaps up at the click of heels. Ana doesn't wear heels; she always wears boots because she enjoys kicking the shit out of people.

But that's exactly what she's wearing now. Sky high fuck me heels with a short as fuck dress, all of her tattoos are covered, and she still has contacts in. The only two things that could make the image more fucking perfect are covered. Every cunt in the place is dying whether we find Nina or not.

I've seen her dressed up before, I don't know why it's fucking with my head and rendering me an idiot. That was before she started eating properly, stopped skipping meals to pay for whatever information she needed, now there's color in her cheeks and her features aren't as sharp. They're still striking, but not unhealthy.

Fuck me, she's stunning. In both senses of the word as she pulls a taser out of her bag in her search for something. She doesn't notice that I'm dumbstruck as she finds what she needs and stops at the bottom step to pass me a compact with a sponge. She turns, speaking over her shoulder in a normal tone because I'm the only one who's fucked.

"Can you cover the one on my back, I can't reach it."

I'm a grown ass fuck in my thirties sweating over my hand touching something that's going to touch her skin.

What in the actual fuck is wrong with me?

Following her instructions when I'm incapable of having any control over myself, I cover Ana's forced tattoo. The sight of it has me turning rigid. Fucking cunts, no one should have marked her, especially with that fucking shit, she's pure in all senses of the word.

I could see her being a Vor, there's authority when she speaks and her mind is mesmerizing.

"You need to cover yours, and I got you contacts."

I can't think because she's touching me, her fingers are under mine as she covers my tattoos and I'm nervous as fuck. I must look dopey when she stares at me and gives me the smallest insight to her observation of me.

"You have silver eyes, they're rare, only 2-3% have them so you have to cover them."

All I heard is I'm rare as my hellion leaves my fingers free of the makeup/paint she's putting on my hands. Eyes freak me the fuck out, and touching them feels weird as fuck, but I force myself to do it. She's right, obviously, anyone who notices Bratva tattoos will run back to the cunt Yulia, and they'll know Ana is close. Blinking once the contacts are in everything looks hazy, is this how she sees the world? One step removed because of how darkly saturated the films are.

Once my eyes have adjusted, the adorable hellion scrunches her nose up and declares, "I don't like them on you."

Now she knows a fraction of how I feel every time she blinks, and I don't see her true eyes. She takes my hands again and finishes covering the marks on my fingers. Her touch is so delicate, it's a contradiction to the violence I've seen her carry out, and her eagerness to leave is there under her skin, so I don't make us wait to keep staring at her.

I didn't think this shit through. It's a four-hour drive with Ana in a short-as-fuck dress that has the entire expanse of her legs out when she sits in the passenger seat. Shrugging out of my jacket, I cover her legs and give a bullshit excuse.

"Just so you don't get cold."

And so, I don't get distracted and kill us .

I hope she doesn't move it, I'm not her parent and she's not a child that can be told what to wear, but any cunt who looks at her is going to die a painful death.

The alien audio porn comes on and she sits back, oblivious to my mental torment, I'd be sure she's doing this shit on purpose if it wasn't for the fact she's genuinely entertained with her eyes closed. My mother had a jewelry box with a little ceramic ballerina that would twirl around as the music played, its head tipped back, and eyes closed lost to the preordained rhythm. I'd watch it for hours, never closing the lid so I could see it rotate until my father came home — Ana inspires a much more potent version of that same awe.

Her phone buzzes and she grits her teeth as she pauses her alien porn and curses her brother.

"Tali is a dickhead too." I hum in the hopes it gets her to speak more and she offers it easily as she jabs the screen with her thumbs, muting his contact. "He's annoying and disturbed me when he's literally behind us, the freak."

I forget about him and I roll the window down to stick my middle finger up behind me. It's going to be easier to kill everyone with a helper so at least he has a use.

I'm going to hell for many reasons but the one thing that could pull me up to the pearly gates is the fact I've got a woman I wish was mine sat on my thigh in the middle of a sex club and my hands aren't anywhere indecent. None of the fuckers going at it are of interest, it's the masked beauty in front of me as Ana scans the crowds.

Her lips brush my ear as she leans into me, giving her instruction. "Nina has the bottom half of her left arm amputated, look at their arms."

I hold her tighter at the thought of what must have happened to lead to that, and my hellion returns the gesture, stroking along my shoulders until she's wrapped around me. She moves slowly, her lips nearly skimming mine until they touch my cheek and any hope I built up is burnt to ash with her whisper. "We're being watched."

Because we're the only people in a sex club not fucking or touching ourselves.I'm not going to fuck her in front of a bunch of cunts to stroke one out to, but Ana has different ideas and I focus on the sight of bodies I don't want to see naked to try and stop my own reacting as she straddles me and lays her head on my shoulder so she can still see. The low lights hide the fact my dick isn't out as she grinds down. It's bullshit, she's not doing this out of lust but necessity, so we don't get caught.

Trailing my fingers up her spine until I reach her nape, I pull her head back, unable to withstand the torture. My eyes are on anyone who could approach, searching for a threat while my lips give her everything she needs to know.

"If you want me to fuck you, it will never be in front of a bunch of cunts who don't deserve to see your pleasure."

All my rules leave when it comes to my hellion.

I hate the thought of anyone fucking seeing her, having her smiles, or the little cute things she does that make me want to surrender my soul over to her in exchange for one more day in her presence. But she takes over anyone's game and makes it her own, her exterior doesn't match the sweet, innocent voice in my ear.

"Don't say things like that."

There's no fear as she softens her hands on me, to everyone else we're in the middle of verbal foreplay or confirmation of dynamics, not the most important conversation of my life.

I lower my voice, so we're not overheard and give her my full attention as I hold her waist with my free hand.

"Like what?"

She smooths her other hand up my chest and holds on to my shoulder, her fingers tapping one by one as she guts me.

"Like you care."

Her contacts are fucking with her vision if she thinks I don't. I don't point that out and relax my hold on her nape.

"If you think I don't care about you, I've fucked up in showing you."

I don't expect her to do anything, I know what I'd like her to do, but will I fuck be another person that takes her life away before she gets a chance to grab it.

She absentmindedly walks her fingers across my back and turns her head to press her lips to my cheek. I'm frozen to my seat and have the urge to cup the spot to keep the warmth there. A hand moves in my periphery that should not be fucking reaching for my hellion and I pull her closer with one arm banded around her back as I grab the cunt's wrist. The sleazy little prick yelps in pain and I don't stop squeezing until it gives way under the pressure.

Sliding out from under Ana, I keep her behind me as I go to get rid of the cunt. No one gets to fucking touch her. Ever. She's worth more than his life, than anyone's. He falls to his knees as I apply more pressure to his wrist, and I keep pulling until I've dragged him over the booth. He was too close, I didn't even notice him, and he could have touched her. His crown knocks into the table and stamping on his throat makes me feel slightly better. It doesn't stop the rage of the entitled fuck thinking he had any right to touch her. It may be a sex club but there are rules.

The first and most important rule of life being no one will ever lay a finger on Ana.

My perfect violent hellion grabs the back of my waistband, taking out my knife, ready for anything as always. Such a sweetheart. I'm in the process of picking the fucker up when meatheads surround us, and Ana retracts her hand. She moves her fingers in a pattern against my back, up, diagonal down, up then a circle, N O , and I let him go. She needs this opportunity, it's the closest she's got to finding Nina, and I won't fuck it up for her, so I swipe his wallet to deal with him later as I send Tali the description of the pervert's mask.

I love the way her mind works, she's so fucking clever and manages to tell me what she's doing without saying a word as she draws an arrow on my back, pointing in the direction of the private rooms. There's a group walking deeper into the darkened hallway, the women in the middle are shielded so I can't see their arms and they're new patrons with mirror faceplates instead of masks. Ana is single minded as she stares in their direction and even with her face covered I know it will be lifeless because she's so focused.

Standing taller so the meatheads don't notice her slip away, I angle my body, covering the direction she's leaving in. This cunt is getting the worst possible death for making us break apart, my heart is racing, and she's only just left. It doesn't mean shit that Ana is a fighter, I don't want her to fight, I want that ability to be a surprise even to herself because I'll be the one doing it on her behalf.

The dickheads I'm assuming are security in front of me don't notice shit as I stuff my hands in my pockets and send the alert to Tali so he knows his sister is alone. His need to be close to Ana is going to pay off and I follow the security as they go to teach me shit I'm better at than them. They're not very good if the fucker went to touch what isn't his and if someone else tries in the moments I'm away from my hellion then I'm not going to be responsible for the shit I do.

Ana's dress sparkles in the low light as she hides in the corner of the hallway, her eyes fixed on me, the beauty. Seeing I'm physically fine doesn't make her move, she's hesitating between everything she's been searching for when I don't need help.I can take a beating to buy my woman time, I'd take hundreds if it helps her. Her sanity is held together by the single thread of her goal. If she doesn't find Nina she will break, which I refuse to witness again and it's selfish but there are very few things I give a fuck about, and Ana has put herself at the top of that short list.

Copying her move of drawing an arrow, I feign itching my cheek, hoping she moves before we get closer. If these cunts see her, she won't be able to check for Nina. If they lay a fucking finger on her, I'll turn this place into a bloodbath. My clever hellion moves finally and disappears down the hallway in time not to be seen by them.

As long as I focus on Ana, I can force my body to stay still. It's been decades of never having to stop myself fighting back. I get all of my pent-up rage from life out in the cage but if I remember her joy when she looks at her stickers, I can be the idiot kid who was too afraid to pick up his hands again. Stepping into the security room as the meatheads move to stand guard either side, my lips fight to curve up with two Cosa Nostra Made Men in front of me. One of them is the heir's son and the little fuckers are in territory they shouldn't be, whatever happens, they'll be my get-out-of-jail-free card.