Owned by the Russian Mafia Boss: A Mob Romance (27 page)

“And why would you think that?”

“When my roommate tried to kill me, your name slipped out. I have a friend who’s good with computers. It didn’t take long to track you down.”

“I’m not in hiding,” he said easily. “I’m just been away traveling. And I’m sorry to hear about your incident with your roommate, but I promise that I didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“Right. I’m sure you didn’t.”

He chuckled and waved her forward. She took a few steps at first before the man behind her pushed. Glaring at him, she hurried her steps until she was within Ivan’s reach. Thankfully, he didn’t move. “You are American?”

“I’m studying abroad. But I’m sure that you know that.”

“And what else do I supposedly know about you?” Ivan asked as he cocked his head and smiled lewdly at her.

She shuddered. Dmitri had told her not to hide any of her true fear. The more Ivan sensed from her, the safer she would be. “I’ll have you know that if I don’t contact my friend in twenty minutes, he’ll call the authorities. Even if you hide my body, you and your guests will be subject to inquiries,” she said boldly.

The smile froze on his face. “Smart girl,” he said softly. “If you fear your safety, why are you here?”

“I’m tired of always looking over my shoulder. You’re looking for information about the body in the safe house. I’m inclined to give it to you. I don’t give a damn what happens, but I don’t want to be attacked anymore.”

Ivan straightened. “I find all information useful, and I will hear you out. But first I ask where you’ve been. For an American with few friends and even fewer connections in this country, you’ve been hard to find.”

“I thought you weren’t looking for me,” she shot back. His gaze didn’t waiver, and she shrugged. “I won’t give you my new place, but let’s just say that I’ve been here long enough to fake a Russian accent. A wig goes a long way in helping a girl hide,” she said as she flawlessly mimicked the accent.

“Impressive. Someone underestimated you. It won’t happen again. Proceed with your information.”

Charley took a deep breath. She still had five minutes to stall. “As you know, Veronika Saiko applied as my roommate. While she was living with me, all I knew was that she came with a bodyguard. Kazimir was on a mission to kill Fedor Saiko, and he’d been in touch with someone named Dmitri to help him. I met the man once when Kaz had been injured in a car accident. He introduced himself only with the name Dmitri, and I didn’t know anything about him until after he’d been found dead. I was questioned for hours about whether I could identify the body in the house.”

“You lied, though. Why would you do that?” Ivan asked shrewdly. “You would not have had any loyalty to a man you’d only met once.”

“Kaz asked me to lie. At the time, my loyalties were to Veronika. If Kaz could keep her safe, if he could keep me safe, I would do anything that he asked,” she lied. She’d practiced the line so much that it came naturally to her lips.

“So you said you couldn’t identify the body. When did you find out that the man known as Dmitri wasn’t dead?”

Charley was quiet for a moment. She wanted Ivan to think that she was going to lie, and he fell for it.

“I know that he’s not dead, Miss Barns. And I also know that you are aware of it. Don’t give me any reasons to be suspicious of you now.”

“Fine. After the funeral, Veronika returned to the house. There was a note in her pocket. She mentioned that it was from Dmitri and that he was alive. I haven’t actually seen him, so I can’t confirm it.”

“What did the note say?”

Charley shrugged. “I don’t know. Something about Veronika’s relationship with Kazimir.”

Without warning, Ivan moved, Charley didn’t have time to react as he gripped her wrist and pulled her closer. She struggled not to scream when he brushed his hands over her hair and trailed it down her bare shoulder. “Why did you not divulge this information when Daphne interrogated you?”

Dmitri had warned her that Ivan would try to catch her off guard, but nothing had prepared her for the man’s touch. Her skin crawled with disgust as his fingers trailed down her arms. She visibly shuddered. “I took offense to the way that she asked. I’m funny like that,” she said through clenched teeth.

His other hand came up to clasp her neck, and she stiffened. “If you even think of killing me…” she said in a panic.

“Hush,” he said softly. His other hand slowly trailed up her side over the fabric of her shirt. When he reached the side of her breast, she struggled to pull away. “Charley Barns. You have nothing in your background to indicate that you’re anything more than a student. You drink and party too much, but your grades are passable. So how exactly did you survive my lovely Daphne? She’s quite good. I trained her myself. She’s the best both in and out of bed. So how did you best her?”

“With a baseball bat and an intense dislike of being attacked in my own home,” Charley spat.

“I heard the streets of Boston are rough. Perhaps you’d let me hire you. You’d never have to worry about finding money again.”

Charley couldn’t suppress her snort of disbelief. “You want me to fight for you?”

“Oh no. With a body like this, I want to hear you moan. The thought of you and Daphne grappling in bed is already getting me excited,” he said as he bent down.

Terrified that he was going to kiss her, she tried to wrench out of his grasp, but all she could do was turn her head.

His lips grazed her throat.

“I have to decline,” she ground out when he finally let her go.

“Pity. Well, I’d normally have you taken out back and executed. I have no doubt that your threat is an empty one. You don’t seem the type to involve the lives of your friends in this mess. But since my dinner guests would balk, I’m inclined to let you leave,” he said as he leaned back. He nodded his head, and Charley felt his guard grab her roughly by the arm.

“Miss Barns,” he said, just before the guard threw her out the door. “I trust that if this Dmitri tries to get in touch with you, you’ll contact me?”

“If I agree, can I safely return to my house?”

“Would you believe me if I said yes?” he asked in an amused voice.

“No.”

“Then I suppose we’re done here.” He waved his hand, and the guard pulled her out of the room.

“My phone?” she asked as he threw her outside.

The man looked at her stoically, and she sighed. Someone drove her rental up, and she slid in to the car. As per Dmitri’s instructions, she drove to a crowded bar, parked, and threaded her way through the crowd outside the door.

After a few minutes, someone grabbed her arm and pulled her into the shadows. By the time she followed Dmitri out of the parking lot, she was close to tears.

***

He didn’t say a word to her as they drove back, and she couldn’t even look in his direction. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw Ivan pawing at her. She could still feel his hands on her naked skin, and she wanted to vomit.

As soon as they pulled into the hotel, she was out of the car and running toward the room. Before she could even shut the door behind her, she was pulling off her clothes. Her skimpy glittery top landed on the bed. Her pants dropped to the floor. She didn’t even care where her underwear landed as she rushed to the bathroom. Without missing a beat, she was under the warm water and scrubbing vigorously at her skin.

“Stop.”

Hearing the harshness of his voice, she whirled around. Dmitri was yanking open the curtain and grabbing the cloth for her. “Stop, before you hurt yourself.”

“Get away from me,” she hissed as she reached up and closed the curtain. Wrapping her arms around herself, she turned and pressed herself against the cool tile.

The curtain opened again, and she didn’t even bother to open her eyes. “Please just leave me alone,” she whispered. “I just need a minute.”

She listened to the sound of the metal rings scraping across the bar, and she felt the cloth running along her back. Stiffening, her eyes shot open. He was standing right behind her. “Just relax,” he said gruffly. “I know you feel that you need to be clean, but I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

Did he not even realize that it wasn’t possible to relax when he was naked and standing so close to her? She inhaled sharply as the washcloth ran down her back. She felt the slick suds of the soap trail down her body, and soon the memories of Ivan disappeared.

“What did he do?” Dmitri asked softly in her ear. She fought the urge to lean back against him. This was supposed to be making her calm, but as the cloth came up over her shoulder and ran down her arms, it brushed ever so lightly against her nipple.

“Nothing. He just said some dirty things and eyed me like I was naked,” she said in a shaky voice.

He didn’t say anything as the cloth moved to her other shoulder. This time, she turned into it, and it did more than just graze her nipple. Her breath hitched as it made contact. This wasn’t right. She was supposed to be angry at him. Instead she was more turned on than she had ever been in her entire life.

“I’m sorry, Charley. I never thought Ivan was like that. Of course, it’s been a long time since I knew him.”

“I don’t want to talk about him,” she muttered. She stilled as the cloth swept up her hips and higher up her side. When it came forward to circle over her abdomen, she couldn’t help but lean back against him.

His erection settled between the cleft of her thighs.

“What do you want to talk about?” His breath was hot in her ear, and for a moment, she thought his tongue would flick over her sensitive skin.

She didn’t want to talk. Charley just wanted to give into the desire that had taken over ever since she laid eyes on him. She wanted him to take control of her body.  The washcloth moved up and slowed just under her breast. “Dmitri,” she said softly.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he said thickly. “I didn’t want you to hurt yourself, but this is a bad idea, Charley. Tell me you know that this is a bad idea.”

Moving her hips softly, grinding into him, she captured his hand in hers and moved it over her breast. “I know it’s a bad idea,” she said clearly. “But right now, I don’t care. I just want something to distract me.”

Dmitri dropped the cloth, and he immediately rolled his thumb over her nipple. She arched her back at the sudden streak of pleasure and gasped.

“You have sensitive breasts,” he muttered in her ear. “I like that.”

“Funny. I took you for an ass man,” she retorted. Suddenly, he dropped her breast and whirled her around. She slapped her hands against the tile as he roughly shoved her against the wall.

“What makes you think I don’t enjoy both?” he asked teasingly as he slid his fingers over her cheeks. Instinctively, she pushed her ass out and bent over. A grumble of approval sounded low in his chest, and she gasped as he propped one of her legs up on the ridge of the tub.

He slid first one finger and then two over her folds and across her sensitive clit. “Fuck,” she ground out as pleasure shot through her body. Immediately he released her, and she nearly wept in disappointment. If he touched her again, she was ready to explode like a firework. “God, what are you doing?” she gasped.

One finger slowly entered her, and she moaned. “I’ve had a lot of time to think about how I would take you if I got the chance. I could take you like this. Pound you from behind and pull your hair until you screamed my name. I could turn you around and hoist you up against the wall. Imagine just how deep I could slide into you.”

She whimpered as he slowly moved his finger in and out. Just that one finger was enough to set her on edge, but it wasn’t giving her the satisfaction that she needed. “I don’t care how you take me,” she ground out as she tried to fuck his finger faster. “I just need you to do it now.”

“Patience,” he chuckled. “I’ve waited a long time for this.” He pulled his finger away and pressed against her body. His erection slowly slid along her slick folds. “I could drag you to the bathroom floor and fuck you with your ankles up to your ears. I could let you straddle and ride me until you fall apart. What do you want, Charley? Tell me how you want it. Now. Tell me now.”

On the brink of madness, Charley slapped her hand against the tile and whirled around. His eyes bore into her as she pushed past him and pressed his back to the tile. He slowly slid down, and she straddled him. In one quick move, she slid her body over him until he was pushing deep inside her. “Deep. I want it as deep as it can go,” she rasped as she slithered her hips to take more of him.

“Shit, Charley,” he hissed as he grabbed her hips. “So wet. So tight.”

“God, I need more. Damn it, Dmitri, give me more.”

Leaning over, she pressed her lips roughly to his. As his mouth opened to accept her kiss, he slammed her hips down until he was buried inside her and swallowed her shriek. She flattened her hands on the tile, desperate to hold on to something, as he thrust himself faster and deeper inside her. Every part of her trembled as she rubbed over that intense sweet spot.

“Fuck,” she muttered. “Oh, fuck.”

“That’s it, baby. Take it.” He buried his mouth in the crook of her neck and suckled on her skin. When his hands left her hips to pinch and roll her nipples, her body only moved faster. Desire coiled inside her and readied to strike at a moment’s notice. She was seconds away from losing it, but she wanted it to last. She wanted it to last forever.

“Let go, Charley. Let go for me, baby.”

“I don’t want it to be over,” she muttered.

He pressed his lips to hers and shifted his body so that he was moving even deeper inside her. “It doesn’t have to be. We have all night. Just let go, sweetheart.”

And just like that, she broke wide open. Throwing her head back, she screamed his name as the intense orgasm rolled through her. Her muscles spasmed around him, and he tensed and grunted as he seized and slammed into her one last time.

Collapsing on top of him, she’d barely noticed that the water had run cold. He gathered her in his arms and carried her out of the shower and onto the bed. She wasn’t even aware of the change until hours later, when he woke her up with his tongue on her nipples and his thumb stroking the fire inside her all over again.