It’s been in a constant state of arousal ever since she left, and no amount of hand jobs could substitute for her warmth.
I move her panties to the side, groaning at how soaking wet she is, then I drive inside her without breaking the kiss.
Her body instantly welcomes me, opening up and arching in invitation. It’s like she’s been waiting for me as long as I’ve waited for her. Her back lifts off the bed and she shudders, her mouth parting from mine as she moans.
“Fuck, baby.” I dig my fingers in her throat. “I missed you.”
“I…I…missed you, too. I missed you so much, it hurt.”
I lose control at the sound of her needy words, not that I have any when it comes to her.
She effortlessly turns me into a fucking animal who’s unable to survive without her.
My pace picks up and I kiss her as hard as I fuck her until she’s sliding off the bed and my hold on her neck is the only thing keeping her in place.
One thing doesn’t change even as I fuck her hard and rough—the way she’s looking into my eyes while holding my face.
I’m here for you, she says with those expressive blues. I want you no matter what.
And it drives me wild. Looking at her while being inside her, looking at her while her channel tightens around me, strangling me, drives me fucking insane.
But instead of upping my rhythm, I take it slow for the first time ever. I roll my hips and drive deep into her until she’s shuddering again and her walls close around me like a vise.
My kiss becomes more passionate than frantic, my tongue toying with hers as my dick pounds her tight little cunt with measured thrusts. She pulls her legs wider apart, raising one up a little to allow me more access and I take it, going to lengths I’ve never imagined.
And when she starts shaking, her walls clenching around me, and she’s moaning loudly, I’m right there with her. My spine tingles and I shoot my cum inside her in long spurts until my balls are spent.
I’m about to crush her with my weight, so I maneuver us so that she’s on top of me, her icy blonde hair at my chin. But I remain deep inside her. My dick twitching, slowly but surely readying for another round.
We remain like that for a while, until her breathing evens out and I think she’s fallen asleep. It’s a habit of hers after sex.
Still wrapping a hand around her back, I reach into my trouser pocket and retrieve the butterfly pendant. I’ve kept it ever since she forgot it in the hotel room that day.
Every time I’ve looked at it, I recalled how the black wings flattened against her pale back when I first saw her that night.
The memory seems far away, but I can never forget it. If anything, I might have become obsessed with her since then.
I gently fasten the chain around her throat. The other one was ruined so I got her a golden chain to go along with it.
She stirs when the weight of the necklace—or its coldness—rests against her skin. At first, her gaze is confused, but when she looks down, her eyes widen. “My butterfly.”
“You mentioned it has value to you, so I thought I’d bring it. I put it on a chain so you can have it on you all the time.”
“Thank you.” A soft smile lifts her lips. “It’s the only thing I have left of Mom and it means so much to me.”
“I’m glad I was the one who found it then.”
“Me, too.” She runs her fingers over the black wings. “You know, back then, I used to think of myself as the fairy of the forest and used this as my magic wand to order trees and small animals around.”
A smile breaks on my lips. “I can clearly imagine you as a naughty fairy.”
“I…wasn’t naughty.”
“Uh-huh. Did you wear skimpy clothes, too?”
“Stop, you pervert!”
“What? If you have a role-play kink, I’d be happy to oblige.”
“I do not.” She clears her throat. “Anyway, how did you get here?”
“An acquaintance Nate knows is apparently a Bratva associate and she got me here as her plus-one.”
She lifts her head, leaning her elbows on my chest to look me in the eye. “A woman?”
“Yeah.”
A frown appears between her brows. “And do you know her intimately?”
“Hmm. Maybe.”
“It’s a yes or no question.”
“My, my, beautiful, are you jealous?”
“No.” She stares into space.
“You’re so fucking adorable to think I would look at any other woman after I’ve been with you.”
She hiccups and it’s obviously involuntary, because her face and neck become a deep shade of red. “I…can’t look at other men either.”
My eyes narrow. “Is that why you have a fiancé?”
“Papa picked him because he’s Russian and part of the Bratva. I had no say in it.”
“That will change.” I slowly pull out of her, then stand up.
Even though my dick is craving another round, I need to take care of the fucker standing between us.
Anastasia’s face, however, loses the easygoing edge and goes back to that frightened stage. “W-what are you going to do?”
I go to her en-suite bathroom and wipe off my dick, then I return with wet towels, but she’s already cleaned herself with tissues and straightened up her clothes, and is staring at me with that perturbed look, one that I’ll erase from her face, once and for all.
“You need to leave, Knox. I’ll show you a back entrance where there aren’t many cameras…”
I grab her hand and interlink our fingers. “I’m going nowhere. It’s time I meet your family.”
Then I’m pulling her out of the room in the midst of her continuous protests. The moment we step out, she gasps, her hand trembling in mine, and I realize it’s because we’re face to face with an older white-haired man who has Anastasia’s exact eyes but with no innocence in them.
Her relation to him is confirmed when she whispers in a horrified tone, “Papa.”
39
ANASTASIA
A tremor jolts through my limbs and I freeze.
Ever since I saw Knox on the balcony, I knew this would happen.
I knew he’d get caught by someone. Anyone. I just didn’t think it’d be Papa himself.
You don’t get into the Pakhan’s house while he’s surrounded by his leaders and guards and hope to leave unscathed.
But I thought we had more time with the way all of them were preoccupied with the Yakuza stuff. I thought I could make Knox leave before they found him.
I might have let my vulnerability take hold of me for a while. I might have missed him so much that I just wanted to touch him, to make sure this wasn’t one of my cruel dreams that I’d soon wake up from.
I wasn’t jolted awake this time. Everything was real, whether it’s the way he kissed me, held me by the throat, or fucked me.
No, it wasn’t all fucking. At some point, he was making love to me while staring into my eyes.
At some point, he brought his forts down and allowed me to see him. All of him. Not the put-together lawyer who can blind anyone with his charisma, but the boy he once was. The broken, wounded boy he refuses to let anyone see.
But he let me. Only me.
I swear something inside me melted and fused with him at that moment. No idea what, but he’s holding it even now as we stare at Papa, Vladimir, and Adrian.
The most powerful men in the Bratva.
They’re not looking at me, though. Their hawk-like attention is on Knox and his grip on my hand. I try to release him, but he just tightens his hold on my fingers, refusing to budge.
“What is this?” Papa asks in his firm tone that rattles me to my bones.
My throat is dry and the words are stuck, but the stern look in my father’s gaze propels me to fumble for words. “I…I can explain, Papa…he…he’s…”
“I’m the man who loves your daughter and I refuse to leave without her.”
“Knox!” I hiss low, my wild gaze flying to my father’s.
“Then you won’t leave. Not alive, at least,” he says, then motions with two fingers at his guards who charge forward at Knox.
The worst-case scenario materializes in front of me as Papa’s buff guard reaches for him. I don’t even think about it as I jump in front of Knox, trying to ward off their malicious intentions.
“Papa…please don’t do this.”