Page 91 of Lord of Vice
The roar of passion we shared was indescribable, the way his tongue dominated mine perhaps the most pleasurable thing of all. I could do this for hours and I sensed he could as well. He tasted like fresh peppermint and bourbon, with a hint of champagne from what little he’d consumed. Everything about the man was far too powerful.
When he finally broke the kiss, he pressed his forehead against mine, laughing in an even deeper voice. Evil. That was the word that came to mind.
As an orgasm claimed my entire body, he whispered words in Russian that I couldn’t understand but the tone, the deepinflection was all I needed. One climax wasn’t enough, the powerful tidal wave pushing a strangled scream from my lips.
He laughed as if he’d won a point, still powering into me with enough force water splashed over both of us. I scratched his back once again, becoming certain I’d drawn blood and it would seem he was enjoying everything I did.
As I came down from the rafters, he slowed his actions, now pressing both hands on either side of me against the pool wall. He studied my eyes, his darting back and forth. The same wry smile had crossed his face, the tight clenching of his jaw almost becoming a grimace.
“Whatever is going on will be finished tonight. I will learn who’s betrayed me. When I do, they will die a tragic death. Only then will I be free to live. And to love.” He pulled almost all the way out, thrusting into me again,
And again.
As he picked up his rhythm as he’d done before, the man never blinked.
There was no doubt he was searching my soul as I’d done with him countless times before. As his body started to tense, his nostrils flaring, I wanted to tell him everything would be alright. But that would be wrong.
Something terrible was about to happen, something that could potentially destroy the amazing connection we’d felt.
Above all that made me so very sad.
He found my hands, intertwining our fingers. In those last few minutes of sheer euphoria as he erupted deep inside, a part of me knew he was the only man I could ever love.
Perhaps that was the saddest thing of all.
Kraven
Cleansing one’s soul.
That’s what I’d done by sharing with her the horrors I’d gone through in Moscow. It had been much worse than I’d depicted but by telling her something about my past, I could see another moment of trust building.
It was precious to me.
But divulging the burden had also reminded me that I shouldn’t care about Penny. Unfortunately, I couldn’t shut down the intense feelings for her any more than I could stop breathing. But there was so much to continue dealing with I remained angry and on edge.
Betrayal could be the sincerest form of flattery in my world but not when it possibly came from someone I’d treated like family for almost ten years.
With Konstantin at my side, I strode down the corridors of the intensive care unit of the hospital, my heart as heavy as it had been all afternoon. After fucking Penny, which in truth had been more like making love with the woman given how close it had made me feel to her, I’d found myself sinking into a bitter shell.
But the images of what I wanted to do to the Morelli brothers remained vivid, the taste of imaginary blood lingering on my tongue. Regardless of tonight’s outcome, the fuckers would die.Period. I’d been remiss in allowing them to crawl across the earth for this long.
Maybe I enjoyed being judge and jury more than I’d originally believed.
There’d been so many firsts over the last few days, including what I was doing right now—questioning my judgment. I wasn’t an insecure man under any circumstances, yet if I’d been so goddamn wrong about not one but two people, I would start to question every aspect of my life.
As we rounded the corner to Misha’s private room, I was taken about by the sights and smells of the place.
I’d never been bothered by the stench before since I’d had my share of knife and gunshot wounds over the years. Today, the odor reminded me of the funeral home where my parents’ bodies had been taken. The realization alone kept me even more on edge, my anger barely hidden below the surface.
As we moved to the glass window allowing the nurses and doctors to check on him without entering the room, I felt even more ill at ease.
“At least he regained consciousness,” Konstantin said. “For a little while. Are you sure you want to do this?”
“I’m not doing anything. I merely want to look in on my soldier who was injured in the line of duty.” I slowly turned my head, giving him a hard look. My beautiful Penny’s thoughts on trusting him continued to weigh heavily on my mind. He’d treated me like a big brother, or perhaps a father, always willing to do anything I commanded. Was that the makings of a man who’d betray me?
He took a deep breath, unused to seeing me this… distraught.
“Keep everyone from entering the room. I don’t care what you need to do. I’ll only be a few moments.” I continued to stand where I was, my thoughts and details of what little had come to light shifting from Penny back to Misha. While still unconvinced either one had betrayed me, I had to put it into decent perspective, or my rage would cause me to go off the deep end.