Alexandr's Reluctant Submissive (7 page)

Fucking slut-shamers.

When Alex had the gall to actually try to touch her again, she smacked his hand away with a scowl. “I said, do
not
fucking touch me. You lost that privilege, asshole.”

“I understand you are upset—”

“Oh no, I don’t think you understand anything. If you understood, you would know that drugging me against my will is about the worst thing you could do to me. You drugged me, Alex! Not even a full day with you and you’ve already betrayed me.”

“Only to keep you alive. I told you, I had high-level meeting on plane. Not enough room to keep you from being noticed on such small aircraft. It was either make you unconscious or stay at the hangar until we could find and access a bigger plane. Getting in the air was more important.”

“I don’t care what your excuse is,” she hissed. “When we get to Moscow I want a divorce.”

He had the gall to laugh. “That will never, ever happen. You are angry, you are right to be, I understand.”

The condescending tone of his voice made her see red. Regardless of the fact that she was changing in the stall of a small regional European airport with Alex, she yelled at him, “You don’t understand shit!”

For a moment he seemed surprised, then determined. “No, you do not understand shit, and that is my fault. I should have told you what was going on before I put you under.”

His words disarmed her and she frowned at him. “No kidding.”

The grit of his highly polished shoes on the grungy tile floors was loud as he closed the distance between them with a few determined strides. “This place is not secure, what I have to say to you will have to wait. Please, Jessica, I beg you, trust me little longer.”

“But you will tell me?”

“I will. First we need to provide united front before my men. Dimitri said all of Moscow is abuzz with rumors that I have remarried a woman who looks a lot like you, and rumors that you have returned from the dead.”

“Shit, how do they know?”

“News like this is impossible to contain.” He shrugged. “It does not matter. I will let everyone know that you are my Jessica, my wife, the only woman I have ever loved. Let me speak for you.”

“Speak for me?”

“Is better if you remain silent.”

Oh no he didn’t. “So I’m supposed to just stand there like arm candy and look pretty?”

He grit his teeth. “No, you are going to trust me and help me keep us alive.”

“By not talking?”

“Yes.”

“And you’ll tell me why?”

“I swear it.”

She tried to find patience for this impossible man. “And if I don’t like your answer I can kick you in the balls?”

“Do that and I will chain you to my bed and tease you until you are out of your mind with the need for my cock. But you will not get it.”

Pissed at his threat, and unwillingly turned on, she glared at him in the smudged large mirror above the concrete sinks. “Try it and you better never fall asleep again.”

His laughter only irritated her more; she hated how handsome he was when he smiled. “I have missed your claws.”

Twisting her hair back into a quick braid, she secured it with a ponytail holder that Zoya, the Wonder Woman-looking bodyguard, had provided her with. Zoya had long black hair that she kept in a tightly braided bun, so Jessica had bet the woman carried a spare hairband around with her. When Jessica has asked to borrow one from Zoya in Russian, the intimidating woman merely raised a brow, then pulled a black band from her back pocket. It was nice to have a woman on her security detail and she was glad it was someone she hadn’t known before her “death”. Since Zoya had never met Jessica, she didn’t look at her with the same weird mix of awe and sometimes fear that other people did.

She turned and glared at a stone-faced Alex, pulling together her shields to try to lock her unflappable public persona tightly in place before she faced the world. Blocking everyone out was a technique she’d picked up while working for the bank in order to deal with the bitches in marketing. Those women had it out for her for whatever reason, and anytime she had to pass by their cubicles, the whispers would rise like hisses. She’d developed the ability to ignore them and planned to use that skill to get through public gatherings at her husband’s side. Not that she imagined any paparazzi would be here, but it never hurt to get in the habit.

Alex said this was a private field that belonged to the Russian government, but he had a friend who let him use it. Translation—someone owed Alex, or wanted to kiss his ass, and did it by letting them land their private plane on government property. There was even a couple of what she assumed were Russian soldiers here, men wearing camouflage and toting guns. They’d stared at her when she’d disembarked the plane on Alex’s arm, her gait unsteady as she’d tried to shake off the effects of the drugs.

The tingle still hadn’t fully left her hands and feet when she turned and faced Alex. “Well, this is about as good as I’m going to get.”

The soft fabric of his suit brushed over her bare arms while he pulled her into an unwilling hug. “You are perfect, and I am sorry to put you into this position. If I had control of the universe we would still be in bed at my home in Spain, making love until you passed out. Please forgive me for dragging you into this world.”

Unable to reply in a way that wouldn’t bring yet more drama, she opted for silence and let her body do the talking instead. In response to the desperation in his tone, she gave him a long, warm, soft kiss, worshiping his mouth with her own. It felt very odd to kiss Alex with her taking the lead, but it was still heavenly.

Soon the ember of arousal was heating the skin between her legs, her clit sensitizing with each stroke of his tongue. But when he turned the kiss carnal by grabbing her ass with his big hands and lifting her up so she could wrap her legs around his waist, she caught fire. Pouring all of her anger, her fear, her confusion into the kiss, she tried to show him how desperate he’d made her, how much she’d missed him. He might be good at saying it with words, but she wasn’t.

So she gentled the kiss again and he allowed it, but still seduced her with his mouth. Emotions built between them and she reveled in the feeling of being connected to him, in allowing herself to love him, and believe that this time she wouldn’t be torn away. It may not be the total devotion he wanted, but it would take time for her mind to accept the reality of her life and convince her reluctant heart to trust him again.

He lightly broke their kiss, nuzzling his nose against hers before pulling back altogether.

“Come,
prinsessa moya
, it is time to go to our home in Moscow. Tatiana will be here tomorrow and I would like you well rested before you see her again. It will help her adjust if you have energy and help your body get used to a new time zone. I want her to be happy here, badly, but I fear the only practice I have had with little girls was my sister, and that was long ago.”

His voice thickened and she could practically feel him battling tears. “Alex, it will be all right. You have no idea how much I’ve wanted to introduce you to our daughter.”

“What does…does she know who I am?”

“Not really. When she asks about you, I always tell her that you have important business far, far away helping people and can’t come home until it’s done.” She swallowed nervously, knowing he wouldn’t like the next part. “To the rest of the world, I was a widow. You were dead, slain by a tragic heart attack at a young age right before I had Tatiana. My—my nanny Gwen, who’s the closest thing I had to a family, thought you were dead as well, so she may be a bit freaked out when she sees you.”

She tensed, waiting for his outburst, but he merely rubbed his fingertips over her cheek as he smiled. “Then I will know what it feels like to be you, yes? To my friends you are dead, and to your friends I am dead. Between the two of us we will cause quite the sensation.”

Unexpected laughter escaped her and she gazed up into his light-gray eyes, warm and delicious love filling her. “I’ve missed you.”

“I have been missing half of my heart for five years, and it has finally returned to me. The love I have for you consumes me, makes me feel alive. It has been so long since I’ve done anything more than exist merely to protect my brother and people.” He lowered his head and brushed his lips ever so gently over hers, making her breath come out in a shaky exhale. “We must leave this place before I disgrace you by fucking you in this disgusting room.”

The throb of her clit argued that they could maybe have a quickie without touching any surfaces, but her mind insisted she didn’t want to give all the men outside the thin walls of this room a show with the sounds Alex always wrenched from her. “Yeah, I’d rather not.”

He held her hand tightly in his as they left the room, keeping her close to his side. Their bodyguards fell into place, Zoya in the front, Maks and Luka in the back on either side. They formed an odd triangle of protection around them, and she would be lying if she didn’t admit having them there made her feel better. Alex gave her hand a small squeeze before he led her out into the warm—by Russian standards—evening, which meant it felt frigid to her. Miami’s heat had thinned her blood and she already missed the fiery sunshine on her face.

The moment they cleared the front door, they were hustled to the waiting black SUV-like limo and Jessica shivered as soon as they were inside. Before she had a chance to situate herself, Alex had her pulled tight against him. His warmth was more than welcome and she burrowed close.

“You are shivering.”

“To me, it’s freezing outside. I just spent the last almost five years in the tropical heat, this is fucking cold.”

He kissed her brow. “When things are safer, I will take you to island my family owns in the Caribbean and warm you back up. I think you will like.”

She smiled and tipped her head back so she could look at him. “I would.”

A man’s voice cut through the air from the speakers. He spoke in Russian as he said, “Sir, there is an ambush up ahead. Krom has devised a new route for us that is secure. Our teams are moving into place, Orange protocol.”

Alex didn’t appear alarmed at all, but she was panicked enough to push out of his arms and roll off his lap while frantically looking through the windows. It was hard to tell what time of day it was, the overcast sky was dim enough to conceal any hint of the distant sun. In the dim ambient lighting of the limo, Alex appeared dark, intimidating, and powerful. An odd combination that she found arousing as hell, but she shoved down her ill-timed hormonal reaction to him.

“Did I hear that right? An ambush was waiting for us? Does it have to do with whatever we were fleeing in Spain?”

“Do not fear, is under control.” He grit his teeth, his nostrils flaring before he muttered, “Now, I am not so glad you learned Russian.”

She slumped back into the smooth leather seat, her silky clothing sliding against her skin as she stared up at the ceiling, trying to compose herself. “Who wants to ambush us?”

Opening his phone, he read a couple messages before responding in a distracted voice, “Take your pick. Rival
Bratva
, someone seeking revenge, someone seeking to make a name for themselves, or perhaps a bounty hunter. There is large price on my head for any foolish enough to attempt it.”

“Do you think this is happening because of me? I mean, these attacks started after I reappeared. That is, unless this is normal for you.”

“Is not normal.” He frowned and looked at his phone, his thumb moving across the screen. “Is not abnormal, but I do not think it has to do only with you.”

She clutched at his biceps, needing him to pay attention to her. “I want a gun.”

That made him look away from his phone, his arched eyebrows raised high, the silver glints at his temples catching the light. “What?”

“A gun. I want one. If you’re in this much danger, I want to be armed.”

“No one will ever get close enough to you to touch you, I swear it.”

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, she spoke slowly, knowing she needed to tread carefully with Alex in regards to her safety and his pride. “Still, if the world comes to an end around us, I’d rather be armed. Look, I’ve been practicing over the years. At first because I wanted to hone my skills for when we reunited, then to protect myself and Tatiana. I’m a really good shot, even won a couple trophies in the amateur women’s division back in Miami. Plus I’ve gotten used to carrying one with me. You don’t have to worry about me accidentally shooting anyone.”

His lip twitched. “Maybe I do not want to give you one in case you get tired of me one day and decide to put a bullet in my head.”

She snorted. “If I was going to kill you for pissing me off, you’d have been dead a long time ago, buddy.”

Laughing, he gripped her by the back of the neck and pulled her forward for a kiss. “So malicious.”

She nipped his lower lip, enjoying the brush of his beard on her face. “You like it when I’m mean to you.”

“I also like it when you are sweet. Like when you are on your knees before me, your ass red from my hand, your nipples poking out from my attentions, and your eyes are pleading with me to fuck your mouth. So adorable, so eager to please her Master. I cannot wait to feel you come all over my cock.”

A strangled whimper of need escaped from her that made Alex chuckle and broke the mood between them. She gave him a smack on the arm and tried to pretend she wasn’t ready to screw his brains out. Sheesh, her panties were already soaked.

Looking out the dark window, she frowned at the sight of buildings in the distance getting closer. Tension was starting to build in her again and she tried to distract herself. Freaking out about what might happen wasn’t going to help her survive anything they might face. Years of being reliant only on herself gave her a deeper well of strength than she’d had when she’d been married to Alex.

“So we’re in Moscow?”

“Small city on outskirts. What I believe Americans call suburbs. Will be at our apartment in forty minutes. Had to take detour.”

“Because of the ambush?”

“Yes.”