Zel: Markovic MMA (26 page)

Lena emptied a couple of creamer packets into her cup. "Has her lawyer finished hammering out her plea deal?"

"She's going to finish the six months of mandatory in-jail rehab and do another six months in an extended treatment program at the jail. Twelve months total," I said. "Then probation."

"Wow," Vivi said softly. "That's harsh but I guess she's just lucky to be alive."

"Absolutely," I agreed.

"Have you," Lena lowered her voice, "have you had any more problems with
you-know-who
?"

She meant the Albanians and the Hermanos. "No, they've left us all alone."

"Do you blame them?" Vivi asked. "Ivan put one of those guys in a halo brace and the other one had to have his leg rebuilt. I'm sure they're going to avoid you two like the plague."

"Speaking of Ivan," Lena said with a lascivious smile, "how are things with your big Russian hunk?"

My cheeks grew hot. "Very good."

"Oh come on!" She practically begged. "Details?
Please
! I live with a nun," she gestured to Vivi, "and I'm stranded in a sex desert where there isn't one good penis to be found."

Now my ears were bright red. I glanced around the tables surrounding us and prayed no one was eavesdropping. "Not here! Maybe later."

"No maybe to it, Erin. I'm going to get all the juicy, dirty details from you."

Vivi rolled her eyes and whacked Lena's arm. "Calm down! You're worse than a frat boy."

Lena looked contrite. "Yes, Sister Vivian."

I laughed as the two roommates and longtime friends pinched and smacked one another. When they were done with their childish play, they laughed and turned back to me. Both stared expectantly and I realized they wanted to hear more about my relationship with Ivan. I figured now was as good a time as any to tell them.

"So—Ivan wants me to go back to school in the fall and work on my MBA. I was hoping to turn my part-time gig at the firm into full-time employment but they've made it clear they're going to downsize. I won't be kept on as an accountant. I was toying with the idea of going to grad school but it's so expensive. Ivan offered to help." I hesitated. "And he wants me move in with him."

Instead of the cries of outrage at the idea of moving in so quickly with him, they both looked rather calm. Finally, Vivi spoke. "Well—are you going to?"

"What? Go back for my MBA or move in with him?"

"Both," she clarified.

I chewed my lower lip and admitted, "I'm leaning toward yes on both."

"But?" Lena asked.

"But it's a big step, right? Moving in with him and letting him help me with school?"

"Dude!" Lena gaped at me as if I were dumb. "The man saved your sister from two bloodthirsty gangs and fought off two armed dickheads with his bare hands! How the heck do you say no to that?"

"She's right," Vivi agreed. "Look, I'm always the one who says be careful and stay away from guys like Ivan but not this time. I know he's not perfect and he's done some shady things in his past but he's reformed himself. He's a standup guy—and he loves you."

I couldn't deny that. He hadn't said it outright but I wasn't blind. Ivan loved me just as much as I loved him.

I put my head in my hands. "Maybe I'm just scared that moving in with him is going to ruin it. What we have is so special. I don't want to lose that."

"You won't." Lena spoke with authority. "I'm not the sappy, lovey-dovey, fate type, you know? But when I look at you two? It makes me hope that someday I'll have someone like Ivan in my life." She paused. "Just without the criminal record."

I threw a piece of pastry at her, whacking her right in the face. "Bitch!"

She laughed and brushed the pastry onto the table. "I've got enough male criminals in my life. I don't need one sharing my bed."

Lena said it with a smile but I could hear the pain in her voice. It couldn't have been easy to have a father who was known as the best fence in Houston or a cousin who was in and out of juvie and now working as her dad's protégé.

"Sorry, Lena."

She waved it off. "We can't pick our family."

I smiled at Vivi and Lena. "No but I think we did a good job picking our friends."

* * *

Later that afternoon, I puttered around the apartment. I wandered by the door to Ruby's room and opened it. Nothing in her room had changed since I'd gone through and cleaned it last week. I hadn't had the heart to box up her things but if I decided to move in with Ivan it would have to be done. I wasn't at all sure how she was going to take that news. Badly, I presumed.

But I couldn't keep living my life worrying about Ruby. I'd been putting her and her problems first for so long that I'd been neglecting my life.

What I hadn't told Vivi and Lena was that my boss at the accounting firm had made it clear that he would have fought for me to be retained as a full-time employee if I'd been more reliable. I'd wanted to explain that cutting out of work early or coming in late had been caused by Ruby's craziness but I'd kept my lips zipped. He was right. I hadn't been reliable. I was the only to blame for that.

A knock at the door interrupted my troubled thoughts. I wasn't expecting anyone but it wasn't unusual to have the maintenance crew come by to change air conditioner filters during the summer. I lifted up on my bare toes to peek through the peep hole. My heart raced at the sight of Ivan's face and I couldn't get the door opened fast enough.

"Hey!"

"Angel." Ivan grinned and slipped off his sunglasses. He tucked them into the front pocket of his suit jacket. "I wanted to take you out to lunch but something came up so I decided I'd leave the gym a little early to spend the rest of the day with you."

I grasped his hand and tugged him inside the apartment. He kicked the door closed behind him and slid an arm around my waist. I let him drag me tight to his chest and surrendered to his searching kiss. He tasted of the cinnamon candies I'd learned he liked so much. His tongue swept mine before he nibbled my lower lip and reluctantly released me.

"How was breakfast with the girls?"

"Fun." I touched his hand. "You want some tea?"

"Yes, please." He shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over a chair before following me into the kitchen. I grabbed a glass from the cabinet and reached into the refrigerator for the pitcher of sweet tea I'd mixed that morning. He wasn't a huge fan of the cold stuff but after I'd nearly blown up the microwave trying to boil a mug of water to make him hot tea during our first week together, he'd graciously decided that iced tea was just fine.

When I turned around to offer him the glass, I found him sitting at my small dining table and thumbing through a Russian language workbook. Amusement glinted in his pale eyes. "What's this,
angil moy
?"

I slid the tea onto the table next to him. "Vivi gave it to me this morning. She's going to tutor me in Russian."

A look of utter adoration crossed his face. "For me?"

I trailed my fingers along his strong jaw. "You already speak my language. I think it's only fair that I learn to speak yours."

Ivan pulled me down onto his lap. His fingers sifted through my hair. "Should I work up a system of rewards for good scores on your tests?"

A thrill of excitement raced through my belly. "Depends on the reward."

His lips skimmed my throat. "Oh, I can think of a few things that would motivate your studies."

"Like?"

His hand slipped under my skirt and between my thighs. "How about this?"

I gasped as his fingertips slid inside my panties. He gently petted the seam of my sex. "Or maybe you'd prefer my tongue here?"

I shuddered in his brawny arms. His skillful tongue had reduced me to tears of absolute joy last night. I'd never known orgasms could be that powerful. "You know I would."

He forced my thighs wide open and brushed his thumb across my clit. "Move in with me, Erin, and you can have this every morning and every night."

"I—"

Ivan kissed me, silencing my protest with his masterful mouth. "You belong with me, Erin. In my bed. In my home. In my arms. I love you, angel, and I know you love me."

"Yes," I whispered against his lips.

His hand went still between my thighs. "Yes you love me? Yes you belong with me? Or yes you will move in with me."

"All of it." I captured his mouth in a sensual kiss. "I love you. I belong to you."

"Always?"

I whimpered as his fingers began to torment me. Sitting there on his lap, I knew there was nothing I couldn't face with my big, sexy Russian protector in my corner. I brushed my lips across his and promised, "Always."

***The End***

The series continues with the full-length novel
Dimitri (Her Russian Protector #2)
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Author's Note

Thanks so much for reading Ivan and Erin's story. I hope you enjoyed the first installment of the Her Russian Protector Series!

The series continues with full-length novels—Dimitri (Her Russian Protector #2), Yuri (Her Russian Protector #3), Nikolai (Her Russian Protector #4), Sergei (Her Russian Protector #5), Sergei II (Her Russian Protector #5.5) and the upcoming Nikolai II (Her Russian Protector #6), Kostya (Her Russian Protector #7) and Alexei (Her Russian Protector #8.)

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Copyright
© 2013 by Roxie Rivera

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

Roxie Rivera/Night Works Books

3515-B Longmire Drive, #103

College Station, TX 77845

www.roxierivera.com

Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

Ivan (Her Russian Protector #1)/ Roxie Rivera. -- 1st ed.

ALEXEI

(Her Russian Protector #8)

By Roxie Rivera

Copyright © 2016 Roxie Rivera

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher, addressed “Attention: Permissions Coordinator,” at the address below.

Night Works Books

3515-B Longmire Drive #103

College Station, Texas 77845

www.roxierivera.com

Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

Alexei/Roxie Rivera -- 1st ed.

Chapter One

“Shay, will you cover my shift tonight?”

I glanced up from the small workstation in my bedroom where I made the leather goods I sold online and frowned at my older sister. “It’s my one night off this week, Shannon. I’m trying to catch up on orders before the Christmas rush hits.”

“I know it’s your night off.” Wearing a slim-fitting sleeveless halter dress, Shannon leaned against the door frame and blew on her freshly painted nails. Her blonde hair was piled atop her head in fat hot rollers. “And I hate to ask…”

“But?”

“But Ruben called and there’s a last minute thing he can’t miss tonight. He needs me with him.” She did that batting her eyes thing that drove me crazy. “
Please
?”