“Takaya ochen' khoroshaya devochka.Such a very good girl.”
Chapter Nine
In which it is now Alexi’s turn to do a little yearning.
Alexi…
I’m a fool.
Lucya, myKolibri,is asleep in my bed and it’s taking every ounce of my self-control to keep away from her. Her cunt was tight, gripping my fingers. The vision of my cock crammed into her instantly makes me hard again.
I’d tidied her up - her embarrassment was sweet - and put her back into my shirt to sleep. It would be so easy to push it up over her perfect breasts and sink into her. Her sea-glass eyes would open wide, I would make her come screaming until she was hoarse…
Shooting out of my chair, I head into the living room, grinding my teeth. What I’ve done already could be considered deeply disrespectful if her uncle knew. Her reputation would be ruined.
Hearing her moans, the feel of my fingers inside her… for the first time in an age, I’d felt a sense of true happiness. It alarmed and disgusted me. I have no fucking business beinghappy.The moment is gone as quickly as a flash of lightning, with nothing left but the darkness and my guilt.
Guilt. Another thing I no longer feel. I’ve killed and tortured in the service of my bratva for years without a moment of lost sleep. But this is different. Lucya is innocent. She isn’t meant for me.
I want her anyway.
Vorsdon’t “date.” We rarely even marry because of the brutal business we deal in. Lucya’s a good girl. I have to keep my fucking hands off her.
Checking my watch, I groan silently. I need to wake her one last time. A quick check to make sure she’s still good and she can rest. I’ll take her home in the morning and I will never see her again.
“Kolibri. Wake up, just one more time.”
Groaning, she opens her eyes, which brighten when she sees me. “Alexi. Have you slept at all?”
I rub the back of my neck. “I don’t need much sleep.”
“Everybody needs sleep,” she scolded. Adorable isn’t a word I ever apply to anything, but her attempt at a stern expression is… adorable.
“Are you dizzy? Do you feel nauseous or confused?” I turn on the lamp on the bedside table to check her pupils.
“I’m fine,” she says, looking down at her hands. “Are we… um.”
“Are we what?”
“Are we…” She’s waving her hand as if she’s conducting the world’s most awkward symphony. “Are we going to talk about… earlier?”
Yes, I am a fucking idiot.
“It should not have happened.” My voice shifts back to its usual cold monotone. “You are a Bratva princess, I should not have-”
“I’m no princess! I work for a living, just like everyone else,” she interrupts me, “the rules that apply in St. Petersburg don’t apply here. We have a right to be who we want to be.”
“The rules are always the same, no matter where we are. We are Bratva, Lucya Dubrovina, it was a mistake that will not happen again.” I turn off the lamp, leaving her in darkness.
I know I should comfort her, tell her how beautiful she is when she comes, that I want nothing more than to make her mine. Instead, I walk out of the room, cursing myself.
Lucya…
For just a few, blissful seconds, I’m happy as I wake up. I can smell Alexi’s scent on my pillow and the t-shirt he loaned me. Then, I remember that I’m pathetic and practically begged him totalkto me about ourexperience. He must think I’m insanely desperate and needy.
Men like Alexi don’t talk about anything.
“They just kill people,” I mumble spitefully.
