The Captive Series (37 page)

“You’re scared of me?” The hurt was unmistakable in his voice, and Lana needed to correct his interpretation. He jumped up and stepped away from her and began his pacing again.

“Stop it. Stop pacing, Sergei,” Lana demanded as she stood up. “I’m no longer afraid that you’ll physically hurt me, but I’m afraid my heart couldn’t handle it if you hurt me emotionally.”

Her words were all he needed. She was in his arms receiving a pent up kiss. He grinned as he they broke apart for air. “You’re mine. I wouldn’t do a thing to hurt you. Mine. That’s it. You’re all a man could need and want. Mine.”

His mouth was back on hers, then moving down her face and neck, kissing every part. “If I’m yours, then will you make love to me?” Lana pleaded.

“Gladly,” he said with a grin. Grabbing her hand, he walked her into the bedroom.

Closing the door behind them with his foot, Sergei stopped in the middle of the room and looked around. The last time he was in here he was taking Lana captive. He looked at the white sheets and laughed at his jealousy over Santini. It was all for nothing. He wasn’t going to dwell on it anyway because she was with him now.

His mouth came down on hers as he pulled her strongly into his arms. His hands wrapped around her, rubbing up and down her shoulders and her lower back, sending shivers down her body.

Lana moaned with the pressure of his touch. Her body clung to his as they kissed. Their lips opened as he slipped his tongue in her mouth, teasing and playing with hers. Walking them back to the bed, he never took his mouth from hers. Sergei felt as though he needed to absorb her taste and make it his own. There wasn’t anything about her that he didn’t want to consume.

With a growl, he started to rip off her clothes before tearing off his own, causing Lana’s eyes to widen and her body to shake with need. After shedding the last bit of his clothes, he tossed her on the bed. She bounced and giggled as she looked up at his hungry eyes. His coffee-colored eyes pierced her with his determination to possess her.

“You think my hunger for you is funny? Because I assure you that it isn’t. A man could die with this kind of need.” Lana knew he was teasing as he climbed up on the bed, but she shook her head in response to his question.

Her eyes took in his cock as he let it rest on her belly. It just rested there without moving so she looked up at her Sergei, who seemed to have stilled, almost lost in thought as he looked down in between them.

Lana sat up a bit and placed her hand on his forearm and playfully asked, “Sergei, are you purposely teasing me?”

With all sincerity, he looked into her eyes and replied, “No, baby. I’m just trying to take it a little slower. I want to feel every moment with you. Shit just got too close today. It was all by chance that I saw the chief. I was so close to missing the threat.”

Lana sat up and placed her hands on his face, caressing his scruff. “Sergei, I know. I will never forget how close I’d come to being harmed. You were my hero. I need you now. Please make it go away for a while.”

“Of course babe,” he whispered as he pushed her softly back down and lined himself up with her entrance. “I love you so much, Lana.” He entered her in one full thrust. His mind and heart hadn’t calmed down with his possession of her. Sergei needed more. His love for her was so strong that the thought of someone harming was too much to bear.

He bent down and started to kiss her breasts, taking his time tasting each one, slowly and tenderly. He truly loved her dark pink nipples that peaked with just a little touch. Sucking one into his mouth, he planned to leave more of his markings on her. She’d only had two marks of his love on her. Soon he planned to put a sign of his love on her finger, but for now his bites would have to do.

Lana sobbed as the feeling of his hunger radiated through her body. Her hips lifted into his, slowly riding his cock. Groaning and releasing her nipple, he started grinding into her. Their bodies danced with intimacy that was slow and passionate. Sergei’s release came on the heels of hers.

Lana looked into his eyes and smiled before thanking him.

“Baby, don’t thank me for making love to you. It’s my pleasure to be the man you need to soothe your ache,” he said softly as he moved off her, and fell to her side.

“I’m so sleepy,” Lana sighed as she wrapped her body around his, snuggling close.

Lana had fallen asleep after they made love, but Sergei couldn’t. All he could do was think about what was going on with that jackass cop. Sergei wanted to murder him, and he would. It wouldn’t be right away because he didn’t want to upset his newfound understanding with Lana, but the bastard would pay. For the moment Sergei would have him followed discreetly so that Lana was always safe. There was no way she was going to get her job back.

Sergei got out of bed and pulled on his boxers. He needed to call Nikolai. There was something he needed to talk about before he lost his fucking mind.

“My friend, since you are not here, I’m sure that you found your woman,” Nikolai teased his longtime friend, but Sergei wasn’t in a humorous mood.

Sergei growled into the phone. “Just in time. The bastard set her up. He planned on raping her.”

“What the fuck is wrong here? Is there something in the water?” Nikolai asked angrily. “So what’s the game plan? We going to make him disappear?”

“I’m thinking about it,” Sergei barked.

“Yeah, well…don’t take too long. Look what happened to Amber because Luciano didn’t put a bullet in his cousin’s head,” Nikolai warned. It was because Luciano didn’t think that his cousin Enzo would do anything that cruel and devious to his family that everything went wrong.

“I know, but the difference is I know who the enemy is. Luciano didn’t think his cousin would double-cross him,” Sergei responded angrily.

Nikolai was a man who got straight down to business. Protecting family was of the utmost importance. Sergei was his brother, so Lana was his sister, end of story. He’d deal with it. “True. How many do you need on his tail and hers?”

“I’m going to need four for her and two on him. I don’t want to let him slip through or give him the feeling he’s being followed,” Sergei answered.

“Good. We’ll set it up tonight. Just tell her how you feel and have a good night.”

“I already did. She didn’t say it back, but I didn’t expect it,” he replied, sounding dejected.

“She cares though.” Nikolai saw all the signs that Sergei had missed before, but he let Sergei figure it out on his own.

“Yeah, she does.” He knew that for sure.

Sergei hung up the phone and walked back to the bedroom to see Lana sleeping peacefully. After taking a piss, he walked back to the bed, stripped and wrapped himself around her. She didn’t wake; she only hummed and snuggled in his arms, causing him to smile.

“I can’t find her, Nikolai. She’s gone!” I howled. We searched everywhere, but we couldn’t find her. Then I saw the chief, on duty going into the café for lunch. I closed my eyes and ran to my truck. I had to get there now. I didn’t wait for anyone to follow me. I needed to get there in time.

When I got to the chief’s house, I saw her car, but I didn’t see Lana. Running to the house, I spotted something by the back gate. I rushed there to see her. She was lying there, clothes torn and her face bloodied. I reached for her and she was cold. Pulling her underwear from around her throat, I tried to bring her back, but it was hopeless.

“Lana!” I cried, my heart being torn to pieces as I looked down at her lifeless body in my arms.

Sergei woke up in the middle of the night after having a nightmare. He dreamed that he was too late to save Lana. He sat up with his heart pounding and sweat dripping down his face. Turning to check on her, he saw she was no longer there.

Sergei jumped out of the bed frantically. He didn’t bother to put any clothes on as he charged through the house searching for her. He was huffing by the time he found her in the kitchen, wearing just a pair of light pink panties and drinking a glass of water.

“Hey, you’re awake. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you. What’s up?” Lana asked.

He must look like a psychotic beast. After his dream that scared him to death, to wake up and find her missing made him think his worst nightmare had come true. Sergei walked around the island without responding and with the feral look in his eyes that he knew must be worrying her. Sergei pulled her into his arms and looked deeply into her eyes before bending his head and kissing the breath out of her. Pulling away he looked down at her and growled, “Don’t do that again.”

Perplexed, Lana asked, “Do what?”

He leaned on the counter with his head down. Taking a deep breath, he turned his head to gaze up at her. “Scare me like that.”

Lana’s face dropped, but she tried to lighten the mood and said, “Did you think I ran again? This is my house remember?”

Sergei ran his hand through his hair, down to his face and over again. Giving her a grimace, he grumbled, “Fuck…I just had a fucked up dream, and I woke up and you were gone.”

“I’m not going anywhere. I don’t want to run again,” Lana whispered as she looked up at her big, strong yet vulnerable handsome devil.

“That’s good, baby. That’s really good.” His mouth attacked hers again. This time Sergei didn’t pull away, and instead he lifted her onto the island. Bending down, he slid her panties down slowly down her legs, caressing her smooth skin and kissing the tops of her feet. He peered back up at her with a smoldering smirk before swiftly parting her thighs and pushing his tongue into her pussy.

“Ah!” Lana cried out as he sent the first tingle of pleasure coursing through her. Sergei parted her lips and his tongue lapped up the building wetness. Gripping her thighs, he pulled her closer to his lips. Groaning, he dropped to his knees and started to bite, lick and play with her pussy. He could feel his dick hit the cold floor which helped calm his raging erection as he ate her out to his heart’s content.

Lana shook as she came for him. He rose up and in one swift thrust, he sunk into her wet heat. “Ah,” she moaned.

“Lana. Lana. Lana.” He chanted her name over and over again as he possessed her, needing to cleanse his mind of his heart wrenching dream.

He placed his hands on the counter and rested his head on hers, pressing his body to hers as he slowed his pace and started grinding into her. She was set to finish again, but could tell the dream really screwed with his head. When he pulled her hair back and began to make love to her neck, kissing it like it was a must, Lana gushed, coming hard in his arms. Moaning and crying out her release, she clutched herself to him, sending him over the edge as well. Lana looked into his eyes, which he’d kept away from hers since he entered her, and saw the sheen of unshed tears glistening in his eyes. Her heart started to break; he needed the reassurance that she wouldn’t leave him—ever. 

“Sergei, I love you,” she said in a heated whisper.

“Thank you, my love. I love you more than life itself.”

Sergei scooped her up into his arms, never pulling out, and carried them back to bed. They spent the rest of the night loving each other. By the time they woke up the following day it was already eleven, but besides two grumbling bellies, neither of them really cared.

~~~~~

“So tell me about your sister, Ana,” Sergei said as he held Lana in his arms, sending her mind into overdrive. She loved the feel of him touching her. It sent shivers all over and teased her thighs, willing them to open up for him again.

“We grew up really poor. Even though we were twins, my sister was young and very impressionable in comparison to me. I started working at sixteen and gave most of my earnings to my parents to help provide for us.”

“Where are your parents?” Normally this question had previously offended and embarrassed her. With Sergei asking, it seemed natural to give him the honest response she had refused to give others.

“My mother killed my father, then herself, eight years ago. They had a volatile relationship and after one last beating she killed him. Then she popped a bunch of pills and died before we got home from school.” The memories invaded in her mind and heart and her eyes started to water, but she felt he needed to know all he could so he could help. Lana was certain that Sergei would do anything to please her.

Squeezing her tightly, rubbing her arms, justifiably upset for her, Sergei said, “Oh, shit, babe. I’m sorry.”

“Actually, it was the best thing for us both. I had a great insurance at my job that offered life insurance for my family too. We got twenty thousand each and it helped us survive and pay for college. I knew I wanted to get away from all the domestic violence, so I went into criminal justice and then to the academy.”

“So did your sister go into the same field?”

“No, she tried college, but it didn’t work for her. She dropped out and started working as a waitress. It was about two years ago when I was working full time trying to make detective when she met Santini.”

“So did you like him when you met?” A hint of jealousy ringed in his words.

“No…not at all. I thought he was a snake from the start. She was blinded by the attention and the material things he could give her. I tried to talk her out of it, but the more I did, the more she ran into his arms. I gave up, and they got married. I was lucky to be invited because I was a cop. It was only because I was her only family that I was welcomed enough.”

“Did the family know about your sister?” Sergei asked. It was a very reasonable question considering everything that had followed with Bianca.

“Yes. Everyone was there. It was a huge Italian wedding like the ones you see on TV. She was beautiful in her gown, but her eyes told me she had reservations.”

“It was after the honeymoon when I realized things were bad. He’d beaten her. She said she deserved it because she told him she didn’t want to go out. Then he was keeping up with another woman too, but he wanted my sister to have his baby. Not wanting to be with him anymore, she did everything she could to avoid him intimately, but just in case she protected herself. My sister was sneaking birth control, under my name, so she never got pregnant.” Lana paused as the tears started falling.

“What is it?” Sergei asked as he rubbed her back.

“They were on a trip to Colorado for skiing, but Ana was scared of heights so I knew it was his idea completely. It was then that he found out about the birth control and beat her terribly. It was the last time I heard from her. He came back from the trip without her and claimed she ran away from him.”

“Do you think she actually could have run?”

Lana had thought about that many times, but she knew that Ana would have gotten in touch with her. “She would have contacted me. No. I heard rumors from some of his lower levels that she tried to leave, but no one leaves him. They said he’d left her at the bottom of a lake, but we’ve never been able to find the body.”

“Well we can go to Colorado anytime. When’s the last time you went looking for her there?”

“It was about three months after her disappearance, and Santini told me that if I didn’t back off, I would end up like her.” Lana broke down and started to cry.

A growl rumbled from Sergei’s chest before he said, “Baby, I wish he was here. I would put a bullet in him for even talking to you like that.”

Tears streaming down her face, she asked the question he’d continually answered, but that she didn’t believe. “You killed him didn’t you?”

“I told you I didn’t.”

“But one of the other guys did,” Lana said knowingly.

“He deserved it. You don’t know what Nikolai suffered through in prison. He came out a changed man. His anger was so strong that he wanted to murder whoever sent him there. Santini teamed up with a family friend of Nikolai’s to blame the Rossis. Nikolai wanted them all to pay, but something didn’t seem right to him from the start. When he’d seen a picture of Bianca, his anger faded and reality hit him that the Rossis had no reason to rat him out. That it was all truly suspect. We worked with one of Luciano’s own to raid the home to kill the family. Can you believe that they let us go into the Rossi house with guns ready to execute the entire family, including the baby? We played like we were, but we had a different plan.”

“The baby? That’s so terrible!” Lana cried out.

“Yes, little Luc wasn’t to be excluded in their fate. If that wasn’t fucked up enough, what he did before was awful. Working with Enzo for control of the area, he was an instrumental part of what Amber told you. Luciano and Amber almost got divorced because of it.”

“No! I thought he loved her.” All the fears Lana had about these men came to the forefront.

“He worships her. He didn’t want to split up, but he wanted her safe and thought as his wife she constantly had a target on her back. It was true, but she’s the one who asked for the divorce. Listen, this is not for me to tell you. Let Amber tell you if she chooses. All I know is that it was a rough time for all of us then. Santini was such a fucked up piece of shit.”

“I could see why you were so angry with me for asking about Santini before.”

“Ha…yeah. I was jealous about a week after you started your investigation.” Sergei chuckled as he thought about how much the guys had ragged on him wanting her.

“Really?” Lana asked, thinking that was very irrational.

“Yes. The guys teased me about it several times. I think that was one of my reasons for taking you. I wanted to make you want me and not Santini. I figured if you were so worried about him and he was a total piece of shit that I wasn’t completely out of the game.”

“Truthfully, I wanted you too. I could have followed the girls, but once I saw you I wanted to be around you. I kept harassing you just to hear you tell me how pretty I was. It was a pathetic thing to do, and I always hated myself afterward.”