I gasp and rock against him. “I want love,” I whisper.
He jolts and then returns to torturing me, tweaking both nipples. “You can have all of me. I fully intend to have all of you.” Then he kisses me, somehow taking complete control even though I’m on top of him.
An objection starts somewhere in the back of my mind but then I’m kissing him back, pressing into his hands, lifting my hips and pushing back down on him. I widen my thighs to better balance myself on my knees. Sparks fly through me, and then I’m just feeling. Everything. His body, my need, a sense of safety I’ll never understand.
He might be a danger to me, but he won’t let anybody else get close. He growls into my mouth and sends vibrations down through my body to my clit. Then he manacles my hips, lifting me and slamming me back down, somehow hitting a spot inside me that has me seeing stars. After one brief pause, he does so again, controlling me with his strong hands.
Hard and fast, wild and intense, he hammers into me while lifting and yanking me onto him. I throw back my head and climb to that precarious ridge, holding my breath when I fall over. The orgasm blows through me, undulating my abdomen, sparking from my pussy to my breasts and back down. He groans and jerks several times inside me.
Finally, he lets me down, still inside me, his hands gentling.
I can’t breathe.
He gently leans me back and secures my bra over my tender breasts before smoothly buttoning up my blouse. Setting me aside, he secures his pants as I yank my skirt down almost to my knees. “Let’s get married, Peaflower. Time is short.” He opens the door and steps out, holding a hand out for me.
Mine trembles as I take his, moving into the warm June day.
Within ten minutes, I’m standing in a cheesy wedding chapel with no panties, feeling my thighs still damp from him. As if he knows it, Alexei gives me a wicked smile. My abdomen turns over. My lips are swollen from his kisses, and my head is spinning.
I can’t do this. Everything inside me hurts. Why? He’s using me. For sex, for my legal skills, to fit a mob-boss role. This is wrong.
The entire room smells like gardenias. Not the natural kind, but more like a chemical scent. The chapel is cozy with only two rows of vacant white benches and plain white walls with fake flowers decorating twin windowsills on either side of us.
Panic grabs me.
Garik stands behind Alexei, while some woman named Betty dressed in a flowered gown, her bright-red hair up in wild curls, stands behind me. She has to be about sixty and the red hair is a little much for her pale skin but does match her cracked lips.
A mirror is behind her. Round, smooth, and perfectly angled to catch our images. Alexei is so much bigger than I am.
The preacher opens a large burgundy colored book. He looks to be around fifty and weighs at least 400 pounds. The button collar of his shirt is choking him, and sweat rolls down the sides of his face. “I love a good romance,” he says.
Alexei takes my free hand since I hold a bouquet of fake red roses in my other hand. My knees wobble. This is not happening.
Tears gather in my eyes. Ice freezes in my throat. I yank my hand free. “No.” Turning, I run down the aisle toward the door.
I don’t make it.
Alexei sweeps me up.
I struggle against him. I will not be used like this. “Stop it.”
He steps outside, shuts the door, and leans back against it. “What’s going on?”
I gulp. “It’s too much, Alexei.” A tear slides down my face. “You’re too much. I won’t remember that this is just for practical reasons. My heart won’t. It’ll feel real, and I’ll be alone.” There aren’t any words to describe the pain.
He blinks, his dark eyes inquisitive. Then he sighs, holding me against his rock-hard chest, leaning against the door. “It is real.” When I start to refute that, he kisses my nose, stopping me cold. Then he leans back, keeping my gaze captured. “None of this is a coincidence.”
I frown. “What?”
He looks as if he could stand here all day. “We had access to computers in prison.” He shrugs, moving us both. “We weren’t supposed to, but we did.”
I blink out another tear. “I don’t understand.”
“When I gained computer privileges early, I investigated the law firm and kept an eye on everyone there. Saw you when you came on board, and from that second, all I thought about was you. I also saw you on Aquarius Social with Alana. Began watching every chance I got. Dreamed about you every night, knowing someday I’d be free. Didn’t know how.”
Wait—what? “But how?”
“Used my last few favors to make sure you were my lawyer when the chance finally came. Basically bribed Jaqueline Lion through a proxy.” His gaze releases me and focuses on my mouth. “Strawberry-red lips, sapphire-blue eyes, raven-black hair. Obsession can be a life saver. The mere idea of you got me through the nights.”
