I move forward, sliding into her from behind. The angle is deep, intimate, perfect. I grab her by her lush hips, driving into her.
“You’re mine,” I growl, teasing her clit. “Say it.”
“Yours,” she sighs, pressing back into me. “All yours.”
I pick up the pace, her breasts swinging underneath her. I give her ass a quick slap, the sting of it producing a gentle yelp—more of surprise than pain. I sooth the redness gently with my palm.
“That’s right. Now come for me one more time. I want to see it so fucking badly.”
My thrusts grow more forceful, even a bit erratic. I’m on the edge myself, desperate to drain into her. But I hold off, focusing on her. I work her clit relentlessly, and she shatters for a third time, her walls convulsing around me. She falls forward, her moans muffled by the pillow.
It’s too much—the sight of her falling apart, the sensation of her tight, pulsing heat. I’m ready to release. I pull out, quickly flipping her onto her back. I want to see her face.
“Together,” I rasp, sliding back in. She answers by wrapping her legs around me, pulling me in deep. “Look at me when we come.” I thrust hard, our bodies slick with sweat, the room filled with the sounds of skin on skin and our moans.
“Now,” I say, right on the brink.
She clenches around me, her hands in my hair, pulling me down for a kiss.
“Come with me,” she whispers against my lips, and that’s it.
I bury myself deep, groaning her name as I explode, my cock pulsing as I spill my hot cum inside her. She follows, her pussy tightening and milking every last drop from me.
We collapse, both completely breathless. I roll to the side, pulling her into my chest, her head tucked under my chin. Gabriella’s still trembling with aftershocks. I run my hand down her back, soothing her.
“You okay?” I ask. I press a kiss to her forehead. She’s quiet for a moment, then nods. Her fingers softly trace patterns on mychest.
“That was intense,” she whispers. A small laugh follows. I smile and reach for the sheet, draping it over us. “You’re good at this,” she says, her voice sleepy. “The after part. I would’ve thought…”
I allow myself a small grin. “What, that I would’ve given you some work assignments afterward?”
She laughs and the sound swells in my chest. “Mr. Orlov, was that a joke?”
I shrug. “I make them from time to time.”
For a moment, it looks like she has something else to say, but whatever it is, she keeps it to herself. She rests her head on my chest, closing her eyes. I kiss her temple, my hand stroking her hair.
After a short time, her breathing evens out. I hold her tighter as she drifts off, the city’s lights fading into the background. For the first time in years, I feel hope.
In those moments, I make a vow—I’ll burn the world down to keep her and our children safe.
CHAPTER 22
SASHA
“So, you ready to tell me the surprise yet?”
Bogdan’s the only person on the planet I would go along with if he said he had a surprise for me.
The city falls away as we drive south on the Bishop Ford. Glass towers turn to rusted tin buildings, skyscrapers to smokestacks. The lake wind curls in raw through the cracked-open windows, carrying with it the taste of iron and the smell of stale rain. The Chicago skyline fades in the rearview.
Bogdan’s at the wheel. His shoulders are squared, eyes locked in the sort of silent discipline I pay him for. The engine growls low.
“I’m going to tell you the same thing I always do when you ask that. It would ruin the surprise.”
“Fair enough.”
The café incident haunts me as we drive. I find myself replaying the moments of the shooting, as if I hadbeen there. I imagine the aroma of espresso tinged with the acrid scent of gunpowder, the crack and shattering of glass, customers screaming in panic as they ran for cover.
