Zel: Markovic MMA (68 page)

“Shay’s friend decided I needed to be fed,” Stas explained. “The blanket is Shay’s. That surrogate mother of hers said she won it at bingo. It has a tiger on it.”

“
Cobija
,” Alexei said. “That’s what they call these blankets. I used to have one,” he admitted, eying the garish blanket with some envy. “One of the vendors at the flea market where I used to unload counterfeit shipments thanked me with a
cobija
when I got his mother some cheap diabetes medicine.” He touched the blanket and laughed. “That was the warmest fucking thing. I lost it in a move and was so pissed off.”

Stas pushed the blanket toward him. “Well now you have a replacement.”

Alexei grabbed the blanket and tossed his keys to Stas who caught them in his meaty fist. “Follow us home. You can leave as soon as we reach the house.”

Stas nodded and trudged around to the driver’s side of the SUV. Alexei returned to the Maserati and slid into the passenger seat. Shay had turned on the radio and had the heater on low to warm the interior of the car. She waited for him to fasten his seatbelt before putting the car into drive. She was easy on the gas as they left her old neighborhood.

“
Malysh
,” he scolded with a laugh. “Do you always drive like a little old lady on her way to church?”

“As a matter of fact, I do.” She sent a warning glance his way. “And if you intend to backseat drive, I’ll pull over and you can hop in with Stas.”

Alexei smiled. “Fair enough.” He waited a moment before adding, “I just came down the Beltway and 290. It’s a mess. Take Sam Houston to 45.” When she shot him a look, he held up both hands. “That isn’t backseat driving. It’s navigating.”

“Make yourself useful and navigate us to a restaurant with takeout,” Shay suggested.

“I know a place you’ll like.” Taking her hand, he lifted it and kissed the back of it. Holding it, he relaxed in his seat. Although he didn’t want her to worry, he said, “Eric came to see me today.”

“And?”

“He thinks the body in the motel belongs to Lalo. It’s only a matter of time before it’s confirmed.” He hesitated. “He also told me that they know your sister was at the motel. She used one of her aliases for the room.”

“So once they confirm it’s his body, everyone is going to think she killed him.”

“Yes. That’s why Eric came to see me. He wants to find Shannon first.”

“Good luck,” Shay replied hotly. “Nobody knows where she is. She hasn’t tried to contact me since that night.”

“If she does contact you, I’ll do what I can to get her out of the state. I can’t promise anything more than that, but I’ll try.”

“You don’t need to put yourself in any more risk, Alexei.”

“She’s your family. I wouldn’t be much of a man if I let your sister get hurt when it’s possible for me to protect her.” He had been giving the issue with Shannon some thought. If something happened to Shannon and he could have prevented it, Shay would never forgive him. He didn’t want that wedge driven between them.

Shay remained quiet as she drove, and he didn’t push her by asking what she was thinking. When she was ready for his help or needed his opinion, she would ask. Until then, he was perfectly content to hold her hand…and wait.

Chapter Twenty-One

Standing at the sink shaving the next morning, Alexei kept hearing the click of a cell phone snapping photos. Wondering what the hell Shay was up to, he finished shaving, wiped his face with a warm towel, stepped away from the sink and peered into the bedroom. In the soft morning light, she reclined against a mound of pillows and seemed to be making silly faces at her phone. Amused, he asked, “Baby, what are you doing?”

“Snapchatting with Kylee.”

“I have no idea what that means.” He didn’t like admitting that. For the first time since the start of their relationship, he felt uncomfortably aware of their age gap.

“It’s an app,” she said before tossing her phone aside to give him her full attention. It was a small gesture, but he loved that she didn’t constantly have her phone in her face. “It lets you message, send videos and snaps—photos—to friends. You can make stories, like a replay of your day, for your friends to view. The snaps disappear after they’re viewed.”

“What is the point of that? If you send me a picture, I want to keep it.”

She smiled at him. “That’s sweet.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Well, maybe, some pictures shouldn’t be kept,” she said coyly, her gaze dropping to the comforter.

A flash of heat burned low in his stomach and arced through his chest. With a smoldering stare, he ordered, “Put that app on my phone right now.”

With a giggle, Shay rolled onto her side and then crawled across the bed to the table where he kept his phone charger. As she moved, the shirt she had borrowed from his side of the closet rode up higher and revealed an enticing peek at her perfect little ass. Getting dressed no longer interested him. He tossed the towel back onto the counter and crossed the bedroom with long strides.

Grasping Shay’s ankles, he tugged her across the mattress. She squealed with laughter at his sneak attack. “Alexei! What are you doing?”

He smacked her bare bottom and drew a shocked gasp from her throat. “Teaching you what happens when you tease me with this incredible ass of yours.”

When he bent down and nibbled the curve of her bottom, Shay cried out in shock. He dotted kisses atop each plump cheek and then licked a long, slow trail up her spine that ended in a noisy kiss on the side of her neck. She shivered and gasped, but it wasn’t enough for him. He wanted Shay to go wild.

Grasping her hips, he canted her bottom up higher and cupped her pussy from behind. He pushed between her shoulders to coax her into the right position. Face down. Ass up. “Perfect,” he said, nipping at her backside. “Stay just like that.”

Shay’s toes curled, but she didn’t move. Her ragged breaths and the slick heat seeping from her betrayed her excitement. He traced her labia with soft strokes before gliding a finger down the seam of her pussy. He dipped a finger into her, gathering the moisture there, and then circled that wet finger around her sensitive clit.

Shay shuddered as he worked her with both hands. Thrusting. Rubbing. Pumping. Flicking. She pushed back against him, rocking on her knees, and moaned. He nipped at her fleshy bottom again, just a little tease of pain, and Shay cried out with ecstasy. She clenched around his fingers in a rhythm matching the waves of pleasure coursing through her incredible body.

She was still trembling and trying to catch her breath when she pushed up on both hands and spun around to attack him. Laughing, he fell back against a wall of pillows and wrapped his arms around her waist. As he hauled her on top of him, Shay smothered him with kisses. His stiff cock rubbed against her inner thigh and then nudged against her wet heat.

Hands on her hips, he guided her down onto the length of him. It felt so fucking good to slide deep inside her. “I did all the hard work last night.” He palmed her ass in both hands. “This morning, it’s your turn.”

With a hand on his chest for support, Shay shyly said, “I don’t know what to do.”

“Move.” Thrusting up into her, he dragged a low moan from her throat. He gripped her waist and pushed her back before pulling her forward. “Like this.”

Her first movements were uncertain and embarrassed. Wanting her to relax, he kissed her breasts and the side of her throat while caressing her back. He tangled his fingers in her hair and dragged her closer for a kiss. “You’re so fucking beautiful, Shay.”

Seemingly reassured, she smiled back at him. Her uncertain movements grew more languid and relaxed. Eyes closed, she rocked back and forth on top of him. Content to watch and feel, he didn’t try to rush or coach her.

It didn’t take Shay long to find the rhythm and movements she liked best. Moving like a belly dancer, she sat up straighter. He was taken aback by how unbelievably sexy she looked in the pale morning light. Her long dark hair curled around her shoulders and back. Her breasts bounced, the nipples taut and begging for his touch. Her lips were curved with a heady smile.

He noticed the moment she found the right pace and friction. Her thighs squeezed his waist and her fingernails bit into his chest. Awed by her sensual beauty, he watched her come alive on top of him. Desperate need surged through him. Holding her waist, he held on tight as she rode him hard and fast.

Shay covered his hands with her own. She pinned him in place with her smoky gaze. In a husky voice, she begged, “Come with me, Alexei. I want to feel you come inside me.”

“
Fuck
.” Hearing her talk like that set him off like a firecracker. The first pulse of her tight pussy around his shaft was all it took. Helpless beneath her, he came hard while she rode him for all he was worth, taking her pleasure and giving him a taste of his own. Even after the last drop of cum had been milked from him, she rocked slowly back and forth until he shuddered and melted in a boneless heap of sated flesh.

Draping herself atop him, Shay exhaled a long, deep and very satisfied breath. With a smile in her voice, she whispered, “I think I like that position best.”

Swearing in Russian, he wiped a hand down his face. “I think it’s my new favorite too.”

She giggled softly and traced one of the tattoos on his chest. Quietly, she said, “We forgot again.”

His stomach clenched with guilt. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s as much my fault as it is yours.” Lifting her head, she said, “I’ll call my clinic when they open and see if they can squeeze me in today or tomorrow.”

He nodded. “That’s probably the best idea since it appears I can’t be trusted to remember to wear protection with you.”

He had his suspicions about that, but he wasn’t about to voice them aloud. In the deep, dark recesses of his mind, he wondered if he wasn’t deliberately forgetting to wear a condom. That vulnerable, weak part of him that feared she would one day wake up and want a better man understood that a baby would tie them together forever.

“Do you have a preference?”

He shot her a look. “Shay, I don’t know the first thing about birth control.”

“Well, I mean, some couples want bulletproof contraception like an IUD.”

“No,” he said too quickly. “Not that one.”

“Why not? Kylee has one, and she loves it.”

“I had an experience I’d rather not repeat with one.” He still winced all these years later as he remembered the unexpected and painful pricking sensation of those fucking strings jabbing the head of his cock. “I was afraid to have sex with Amanda for weeks after her IUD attacked me that night.”

As if he’d just tossed a bucket of cold water on her, Shay withdrew from him. He lifted his head to get a better look at her. “What?”

Perturbed, she asked, “Really, Alexei?”

“Yes, really, Shay. What?”

“Maybe you could
not
talk about the other women you’ve fucked when you’re still inside me?”

Shit.
He squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth. Was he ever going to stop making mistakes like these?
Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Obviously upset and angry with him, Shay climbed off him and tried to escape the bed. He snatched her hand and prevented her from storming off. “Shay. Please.”

She tugged hard. “Let go.”

He did. “Running away isn’t going to make this better.”

“And staying here so you can regale me with stories of all the women you’ve slept with will?”

Sitting up, he insisted, “That’s not fair, Shay. Telling a story about one of them isn’t the same as listing all of them. You’re the one who mentioned IUDs.”

“Not so you could tell me about other women you’ve had sex with while we’re still naked in bed together,” she snapped back angrily.

“Why does it matter if I talk about those other women? You’re the one I’m with right now.” He cupped her face in both hands and ducked his head until he found her gaze. “Shay, I’ll apologize for being crass and rude just now, but I won’t apologize for my past. You knew my history when you got involved with me.”

She took a moment before saying, “It’s different now.”

“How?”

“Because now I know what it means to be with you,” she explained, her gaze downcast and her cheeks warm with what he realized was embarrassment. “What we just did felt so special to me and then you started talking about this other woman…”

“And then you didn’t feel very special anymore,” he finished for her. “Shay,” he said, his voice filled with regret. “
Ptichka
.” He brushed his knuckles down her soft cheek. “You might not be the first woman I’ve shared all these kinds of experiences with—but you’ll be the last.”

Her sad expression shifted right before his eyes. Her hopeful smile warmed his heart. Placing her hand atop his, she apologized quietly. “I'm sorry I flipped out just now.”

“Don’t.” He kissed her. “You were right to call me out for hurting your feelings.”

“Yes, but I shouldn’t have reacted like a crazy, jealous girlfriend.” Shay rubbed her face between her hands. “This is all so new to me. Maybe I’m not as emotionally prepared as I thought.”