Off-white curtains blew in different directions from the open balcony door, which presented an amazing view of the New York night. I barely felt the breeze, my skin too hot from all the attention to notice anything but my man. “Moya krasavica,” he whispered, as the dress fell to my feet, leaving me standing in a black thong, matching lacy garter belt, stockings, and heels. “Fuck me,” he murmured, spun me around, and threw me on the bed. I barely had time to gulp air as he kneeled in front of me, dipping the bed slightly. He pushed my thighs apart and settled between them, his thick hard-on digging into my core as he slid against my clit, but he made no move to enter me, although I was already wet from all the foreplay. All he had to do was speak in that rugged voice of his to have me all hot and bothered for him.
Breathing heavily, I lay on my back, anticipating his next move as my eyes drank in all his masculinity. I licked my lips, imaging the taste of him, something he denied me during all those weeks in preparation for the wedding, and I groaned inwardly. “Do something, Dominic!” I shouted, as he raised his brow.
He wrapped his hand around his cross on my neck, tugged on it painfully, making me come closer to him. His breath fanned my cheek, as he whispered dangerously, “Krasavica, you don’t get to instruct me on how to pleasure what’s mine.” He captured my mouth with his, not allowing me to add any sassy remark, and I forgot about everything else but the touch of his velvet tongue on mine. Just before I reached to lace my fingers in his hair, he slipped away from me, moving lower, leaving burning licks on my collarbone, stomach, and navel. Finally, he hooked his thumbs in my thong, peeling it down. “It has been too long, Rosa,” he said huskily, digging his fingers on the outside of my thighs as he bit lightly on my skin.
Not able to take it anymore, I begged, “Please.” He latched on my clit, nipping with his lips and soothing it with his tongue, although all it did was drive me crazy. Opening his mouth wide, he kissed my heat, stiffening his tongue and probing deep as incoherent whimpers escaped me. My body arched, but he pushed me back down, not allowing me to move away from his seeking touches. Electricity ran through me, awakening every cell inside me as even the soft breeze became unbearable, and I moaned louder, seeking the bliss only he could provide. “Dominic, please.” He stopped his movements, and I almost cried in frustration, but he quickly, before I could even blink, entered me, and my scream of pleasure echoed in the night.
Locking my ankles around his hips, I submitted my arms to his grip as he locked them in a tight embrace above our heads. His mouth took my nipples prisoner, sucking on them, first one then the other, harshly, and I didn't even know on which pleasure to concentrate, but after a few of his deep thrusts, it all transformed into one long reality in which I could exist forever.
Letting go of my breast, our eyes clashed, his full of lust and possessiveness, and mine of love. He rested his forehead on mine, and demanded harshly, “Never stop loving me, Rosa.”
“Never,” I replied as fiercely, not wanting him to have any doubts left about my commitment to him.
And just like that, in the five-star hotel room, we found our bliss together, him crying out and me biting his shoulder harshly, and somehow the union of two bodies locked by the knowledge of being husband and wife amplified the experience.
My arrogant jerk.
Sexy, delicious, arrogant jerk.
Twenty years later
“So can I?”
“No.”
“But what if I—”
“No.”
“If I just leave at—”
Dominic raised his eyes from the paper he was reading, and looked sternly at Lily. “No matter what the argument is, my answer is no. I will not allow you to go out with Timur. End of discussion.”
Our daughter put her hands on her hips, and her amber eyes, just like her dad’s, sent fireworks—and not the pretty kind—his way. “Not negotiable?”
Dominic’s cup of coffee paused right before it reached his lips as he studied Lily with a suspicious look behind his black glasses, which I personally found so sexy. “Correct,” he replied arrogantly, and the corners of his mouth twitched, because he probably found all this amusing. Rarely anyone stood up to him, so living in a house full of girls brought him constant entertainment. “What’s all this talk about a prom dance anyway? Weren't you supposed to help your mom at the clinic?”
Oh no, he didn’t.The sneaky jerk, using me to shift her focus onto something else.
Since my medical career was still important to me, we had decided to wait a couple of years before starting our family. After two years of studies, I discovered I was pregnant, and we couldn't have been happier. However, with the amount of time a baby required and the material I had missed during the one year of amnesia, we concluded that it was best for me to change the major from surgeon to pediatrician, and it worked well. All those scared young mothers had embraced me, because I knew what to do. The knowledge helped a lot with Monica and Sorcha, the twins who came three years later.
Lily threw her black hair with dyed-purple strands over her shoulders, and they cascaded down her back in silky waves glistening in the sun. Her skinny black jeans and violet T-shirt hugged her body tightly, and for the hundredth time, I wondered when I missed my baby growing up into a beautiful woman. Was there a time machine that could transfer both of us back to when she just learned to walk and sought my help in the smallest of things?
“Daddy, please say yes,” she suddenly said, surprising me and Dominic alike.
Lily Konstantinova never begged anyone for anything. She took whatever she pleased. She shared her love for guns and bikes with her daddy. She planned to study law to be a prosecutor, and God helps us all then, as nothing escaped her notice. Sharp as a freaking knife. While the other girls focused on parties and floral dresses, she watched crime documentaries and read various books about laws and famous murder cases. I didn't know if I should be worried, but anytime I raised the subject, she gave me the infamous Konstantinov look, and trust me, after three kids and my husband, I was quite familiar with it, and I had to drop any argument.
My heart flipped against my ribcage, and I stood up from the armchair I sat in near Dom, and palmed Lily’s face. “Darling, what’s going on?”
She frowned, casting her eyes down, and sighed heavily. Then they clashed with mine, as she whispered, “He will move on.” And for the first time, I understood the depth of her emotion toward Timur, a boy she grew up with.
Timur was five years old when Vitya found him on the streets of Russia, begging for food. It turned out he had drug-addict parents who didn't care for him and had almost sold him to the same sick-minded type of people who tormented Damian and Dominic. Needless to say, the pakhan and his enforcers closed it down and punished those who were responsible. Vitya and Michael took the boy in and raised him as their own. He proved to be smart and strong, and he planned to study engineering this year in the same university as Lily and Elena.
They bonded instantly and couldn't keep away from each other. This fact didn't make anyone happy, because young love was dangerous territory, and since both kids were part of the family for life, no one wanted unnecessary complications. And those could be huge if they decided to try it and then break up. This would require choosing sides, and no one wanted to play a part in it.
“Honey—” I started, but she shook her head, not even waiting for my response.
“All the girls throw themselves at him. If I don’t grab my chance now, he will be with them.” Then she murmured, “Especially Elena.” Wrapping my arms around her, I hugged her tight to my chest where she hid her face, and I rested my chin on top of her head.
