“To get her, of course. You said family dinner, no?” I stand.
“Yes, but…”
“Let him,” Wolf says. “She needs to know we mean no harm. And we’re already here anyway.”
I hurry upstairs, perhaps a little too eagerly, and when I reach her bedroom door—mybedroom door—I stop, cracking my neck, and wait for my impatience to seep out of me. I listen for any small sounds, but she’s completely still, utterly silent.
I picture her in my bed, rolled to the side, her hands between those creamy thighs and tears swarming her eyes, her long hair splayed all over my pillow, waiting to be pulled into my fist and?—
Fuck. I look down at my cock, the hard bulge undeniable. Look what she’s doing to me. I should leave her alone, stay as far away as possible, but my hand still goes looking for the key in my pocket. As expected, she locked the door.
When I open it, I’m faced with her petite figure directly in front of me, arms crossed and eyes glazed with fury.
“You gave me this room,” she says in place of greeting. “Why are you acting like it’s still yours? You can’t just enter whenever you feel like it.”
My lips twitch upward. “Of course I can. I just did.”
She scoffs, her nostrils flaring as she avoids my gaze and walks further into the room, giving me her back.
“Come down for dinner,” I say.
“I am too tired.”
“Lie.”
“I am!” she protests. “Besides, I’m nothing to you or your family, and I’d like to keep it that way.”
I let out a sigh, pretending to be exasperated, when in reality, I fucking love the way she’s trying to topple me. “Come here,Lastochka.”
She shakes her head, but the low, no-bullshit tone of my voice has her throat bobbing as she swallows. “I am not hungry.”
“You are either tired or not hungry. Which is it?” I pause, but she doesn’t answer. “I said come here, and Cecilia? Look at me.” She does. “I won’t ask again.”
Her lips tighten, her hands clenching at her sides until, eventually, she starts walking to me, head held high, as if she’s not scared of the consequences. Too bad the tremor in her hands gives her away.
“Good girl,” I drawl, watching her chest expand as she sucks in a breath. I cock my head, my own blood coursing a little faster through my veins. I praised her like this before, but I’ve never seen the effects it had on her body. Now that we’re out of that dark basement, it’s clear as day. She fucking likes it.
“Either you go downstairs on your terms, or I’m going to carry you there, put you in my lap like a pet, and force feed you in front of everyone. Decide.”
Her pretty eyes hood over with a scowl. “You are insufferable. An egocentric, perverted man who has no idea how to treat a woman!”
“Very well then.” I step into her right as she moves to the side, walking past me and out into the hallway. I chuckle, appreciating her defiance, but my fingers itch with need. They would’ve liked to wrap around her flesh and squeeze as I carried her, but I should be pleased, I guess.
It’s better this way. The longer I spend in her presence, the more curious I get, and fuck knows I can’t allow that. So why is it, then, that the second we’re down into the dining and seated next to each other, she’s all I want to look at?
“So,” Victoria smiles, swirling the wine in her glass, “we heard you play the piano. How long has it been?”
Cecilia looks down at her untouched plate, her voice barely a whisper. “A while,” she says.
Every now and then, she glances at my brother, her brows knitting a little in worry. She’s heard of him on the West Coast, I imagine. The fact that he’sPakhan,combined with the hint of brutality in his stance, must be frightening her. Wolf would never hurt her, no matter our history. We might go behind each other’s backs and fight like rabid dogs, but our dynamic is confined to just the two of us. It’s an unwritten rule: wives, friends, girlfriends stay out of it. Always.
I wrap my hand around the armrest and pull her chair closer with a groan across the floor. Her thigh is touching mine now, the warmth of her body impossible to ignore. Everything in me screams to lay her across this table, pull her pants down, and feast on her virgin pussy until she comes.
I clench my jaw and smile, masking it the best way I know. “What’s the matter, sweetheart? Veal not your favorite?”
Her back straightens. “Veal is fine.”
“So eat,” I say, slowly sliding my hand up her thigh under the table, reminding her of my earlier threat. Her chest locks in, her eyes wide as she glances over to me. She won’t make a sound. I know that, because she’s been groomed to stay small, especially in front of strangers. We’ll rectify that eventually. Right now, though, I’m giving her a distraction.
