Kaz’s body, as his kiss had been, was still so familiar to Violet. Despite the short time they had spent together before their small, private world was ripped to hell, it didn’t make Kaz feel in any way unknown to her. Not to her hands, her kiss, or her eyes.
All of his sharp lines and hard ridges had imprinted their way onto her memories and refused to let go. She had often dreamed of him when he was gone, waking up from dreams just before she had gotten what she needed from it.
She always woke up cold.
God.
So fucking cold.
But right then, as Kaz pulled the clothes from her body without so much as a word while lust burned brightly in his gaze, she burned red hot. All of the times they had fucked before flooded her memories, and one thing stood out above the others.
Kaz had never shed his own clothes before he had taken his fill of her with either his fingers, his mouth, or both and couldn’t hold himself back any longer from taking the rest of her.
This time, he’d started yanking his clothes off the second he had the cabin door shut to the private bedroom at the back of the plane until he was naked and reaching for her, demanding the same in that silent, harsh way of his.
She still loved it.
Loved how he pulled on her shirt a little too roughly, making the fabric bite against her skin as he yanked it over her head. Loved that he tugged her jeans down to her ankles and shoved her to the edge of the bed to sit so he could pull them the rest of the way off.
Kaz stood back from her, straightening to his full height as he watched her silently.
Clenched fists.
Tight jaw.
Steel gray eyes on only her.
It unsettled her. How he watched her like he did, a mixture of adoration and want churning behind his gaze; it put her on edge.
And she didn’t even know why.
Any flaws she had, he’d already seen. Any imperfections to be found already were. He knew exactly what he was looking at, yet it was like he was drinking her in all over again.
For the first time, even.
Except it wasn’t.
Violet took the moment he gave her to reach out and run the tips of her fingers down the railroad path of his abdominal muscles, letting her hand slow to a stop just above the spot where she really wanted to feel.
He was hard under the only piece of clothing he still wore—his boxer-briefs.
Hard, hot, and aching, she knew.
Like she was.
She traveled the expanse of his body with her gaze, over his intricate tattoos and down to where her fingers hooked around the waistline of his boxer-briefs. Something caught her eye on his side—something new.
Slightly raised and pink, the scar couldn’t have been very old.
Violet reached out to touch the mark, only to have her fingers caught by Kaz. She cut her gaze to his instantly, questioning without ever saying a word.
“Caught the wrong end of a shank,” Kaz explained quietly.
Her heart stopped as her chest clenched painfully. Kaz seemed to notice her silent reaction and caught the side of her face with his other hand. He tipped her chin upward, making her look away from the scar again and focus on him.
“It’s fine, Violet.”
“It isn’t fine. It’s—”
Kaz’s hand slid from her cheek to her chin, where he pressed the pad of his thumb against her lips, quieting her instantly. Violet sucked in a harsh breath when he tipped her head up again, and his palm grazed lower on her throat until his fingers tightened just enough to make her blood run hot.
“It’s fine,” he repeated. “I’m perfectly fine.”
Swallowing under his hold, she nodded. “We’re revisiting this, Kaz.”
“Not right now.”
“No, but later.”
“Later,” Kaz agreed.
“It’s been a while,” she whispered.
Kaz smirked. “Worried?”
“About what?”
“I don’t know—stamina, no?”
Violet laughed. “No.”
“Then what?”
“I don’t need soft.”
Kaz lifted a brow. “Oh?”
“And I really don’t want easy.”
“Ah,” he said, stretching the word out in what felt like approval and anticipation to her.
Then again, everything he did felt like that in one way or another. It shouldn’t be surprising to her, but it was just the same.
“Just wanted to make that clear,” Violet said, grinning up at him.
Kaz matched the expression. “I said I loved you, yes?”
“Yeah, but one more time isn’t going to hurt.”
“Love you.”
Violet’s eyes closed when she felt his thumb press into the hollow of her throat, and she echoed, “Love you, Kaz.”
Maybe closing her eyes had been a mistake because all she felt was his arm circle her waist a second before she was airborne, and then her back was hitting the bed again.
Her eyes flew wide as the breath rushed from her lungs. All she saw was his knees hitting the edge of the bed before he was looming above her. That hand was back on her throat in an instant, and Violet reacted to the rough touch by arching into his hold and widening her legs for him.
“No soft, no easy,” he said.
Violet shook her head, wetting her lips. “No.”
She wished he’d move just a little bit closer, so then maybe if she could at least feel the weight of his body against hers, she could get some relief for the throbbing ache between her thighs.
Something.
Kaz grinned like he knew exactly what she was thinking. “Does it ache?”
“Like you don’t even know.”
“I bet you’re so fucking wet for me, and I’ve barely even touched you.”
“Probably.”
No shame.
“Good,” he said, his gaze raking down her naked, trembling form and only coming to a stop at the small scrap of lace that was her thong. “We’re doing this again, huh?”
Violet pressed her lips together, knowing damn well what he was referring to. “They’re not my—”
She didn’t even finish the sentence—that the panties weren’t one of her favorites as she had always proclaimed—before he let go of her throat, took hold of the flimsy fabric, and fucking tore it from the top straight down to the middle until he could pull the ruined thong off her. Her skin stung from the roughness, but she couldn’t deny how the bite of pleasure and need followed right behind.
Violet blinked, her air catching hard in her chest. “Jesus.”
Kaz’s index finger stroked slow, lazy circles over Violet’s center, making her shake. “That’s better.”
“You know I’m not really the demanding type, right?”
“Not usually.”
“You can draw this out another time—make me beg just the way you like. But not right now.”
Kaz chuckled deeply. “Fair enough, I suppose. One question, though?”
Violet let out a slow breath when a second finger joined his first; the circles stopped, and he deliberately began stroking her sex from her wet slit straight up to her clit. Unhurried swipes that pressed in just the right spots and made her whine.
“What, Kaz?”
“The last four months—”
Violet grabbed onto Kaz’s wrist, stopping his movement altogether. She found his gaze with her own, holding it steady. She wasn’t sure what he was going to say, or ask, but she wanted to make one thing clear before he even bothered.
“Nobody else, just you,” she told him.
The bit of tension that had stiffened his shoulders left just like that.
“I didn’t think so,” Kaz said, “but I never asked you otherwise, either.”
“I was waiting for you. I don’t—didn’t—want someone else. I still don’t, Kaz.”
She wasn’t all too sure where or what he had been doing the last few days since his release, but she didn’t feel like she had to ask him about women. Not if he had wondered because, to her, that meant he hadn’t even considered anyone else but her anyway.
“Is that it?” Violet asked.
Kaz smiled, flashing his teeth. “Yeah, that’s it.”
“And we’re clear.”
“Like crystal.”
Violet didn’t get the chance to say another thing. Her words stumbled from her tongue in a high moan when his fingers found her slit again and pushed in deep. His thumb flicked up at the same time, pressing firmly into her clit. Violet’s hand tightened around his wrist as he fucked her like that, watching her every little movement, his grin deepening into something far darker and sexier with each thrust of his digits.
No tricks, she had wanted to tell him.
She just wanted him to fuck her stupid until she couldn’t think and was somewhere else entirely—somewhere sinful and beautiful with him.
That demand was lost when Kaz curled his fingers on the plunge, and then widened them on the withdrawal. It’d been too long since she had him touching her like this, and she’d almost forgotten what it felt like.
Almost.
Except she couldn’t forget at all, her memories had not done his talents any justice, and her own hand had repeatedly failed to do what his could.
This was perfect—bliss.
So she took his fingers and lost herself to the sounds of his harsh breaths, the flickers of pleasure starting to lick through her veins, and the wetness of her arousal smearing her thighs.
So fucking good.
“Come for me,” Kaz urged, his tone a husky whisper, “and I’ll really make it good, krasivaya.”
Violet let her fingernails dig into the thin skin of his wrist, knowing damn well he’d feel it. She didn’t want soft, and she didn’t fucking need easy, so she wanted to make sure he still understood that.
“Make me,” she taunted, breathless.
Kaz sneered. He thrust his fingers a little harder, and his thumb drove into her clit a bit rougher. Another quick curl of his fingers against her G-spot and Violet exploded on the inside, sensations bursting under her heated skin like sparks from live wires.
It was enough to silence the world around her for just that brief moment. With the relief of the orgasm came a whole slew of emotions as four months just caught right back up to her in a single blink.
Jesus.
“Kaz.”
His name came clawing out of her throat—harsh, high, and broken.
She wasn’t sure what did it for him—what made him snap. Her coming or her screaming out his name. But the cloying sensations of the orgasm weren’t even gone from her bloodstream before he was flipping her over and forcing her to her knees. Blinded by the waves of her hair for a moment, Violet could only take in breath after shuddering breath of air as his hands raked down her sensitive skin.
Along her sides, back up her spine, then down again, and over the swell of her ass. When his one palm left her backside, she took the chance to inhale, knowing what was coming next.
The first swat made her sigh.
The second, placed a little lower, made her fingers curl hard into the sheets.
The third, landing close enough to her pussy that the tips of his fingers grazed her sex, had her moaning again.
They hadn’t been sweet or playful.
Her ass stung, and she felt the heat of the slaps traveling straight to the spot between her thighs. Kaz hummed under his breath, appreciative and sinful.
“That’s a nice color, Violet,” he said behind her.
Christ.
Why was her throat so dry?
She couldn’t make words form.
Behind her, he moved on the bed, and she peered over her shoulder, making her hair fall out of the way so she could see again. Kaz kicked off his boxer-briefs before he reached out and grasped her inner thigh, squeezing tight and letting his fingers dig in deep enough to hurt.
“Wider,” he demanded, his hand sliding up from her thigh to her sex again. Violet complied with his command, feeling him move in behind her again. The hard, thick line of his erection pressing into her backside had her stomach clenching with need again. “And we can’t have this, either, Violet.”
“What?”
His hands found hers clenching the sheets. He carefully unfurled her fingers before bringing her hands up and putting them on the small headboard. It was only a foot higher than the bed itself and covered in soft, cool leather.
“I am going to scratch that all to hell,” Violet told him. “It’ll ruin it.”
Kaz just laughed. “Someone has to do it. Better it be you than to notice after it’s already been done by someone else, no?”
“That’s awful.”
“Maybe so.” Kaz’s hand landed on the other side of her ass with a fast, hard swat, making her yelp at the surprise slap. “Don’t let go, though.”
Fuck.
Violet opened her mouth to give him another smart-ass reply, but he leaned over her and grabbed a fistful of her hair. Tugging her head back until the muscles in her neck strained, he watched as she bared her teeth with a hiss right on the tip of her tongue. A sting radiated over her scalp, and it was only intensified when Kaz gave a more playful tug on her hair, chuckling.
“You know I love your mouth, yes?” he asked.
She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.
“Then make sure you put it to good use for the next … while.”
“A while?” she dared to ask.
Kaz shifted behind her again, and she felt the head of his cock slide against the sliver of her pussy. She focused on that sensation, knowing he was just a flex of his hips away from what she wanted the most—what she had been waiting months for.
“It’s a two and half hour flight. And I’ve got shit to work through.”
Violet swallowed audibly but couldn’t hide the shiver crawling down her spine. “I missed you, Kaz.”
She didn’t have to look back to know he was wearing a smug-as-fuck grin when he said, “I knew you did.”
Violet didn’t get the chance to prepare for the next moment when his hips flexed forward; his cock stretched her open, and he was filling her full with one hard, deep thrust. She focused on his voice, the hand pulling her hair taut, and that sting keeping her eyes wide and her teeth clenched.
A whole new ache started.
Shit, she’d forgotten—or just not realized—his size and girth. Usually, he would have given her some time to adjust or taken her a little slower. Instead, he’d entered her with no warning, and a whine ripped its way past her teeth.
“Not soft, not easy,” he said behind her, his voice thick and hot in her ear.
Violet let out a shaky mumble and shook her head. He was pulling out from her body with his next move and thrusting back in instantly. Hard enough to force her forward on the bed and make her grasp the headboard more firmly.
That initial ache was gone, and with every slide and pull of his body against hers, her nerves snapped and screamed. Every single part of her could feel him somewhere.
What started out as soft cries and jittery breaths quickly turned into deep moans and pants when he started a fast rhythm, keeping her neck taut and her ass high. Violet pushed back to meet his every thrust, wanting him deeper and needing that slight bite of pain that came with sex when it had been too long.
“Fuck,” Kaz muttered, “I wish you could see this, Violet. See what I see.”
Hearing him was enough.
Feeling him, too.
She still couldn’t help but peer back over her shoulder, only to find his gaze fixed on the spot where their bodies met. She felt his hand palm her ass roughly, and his thumb slide along the swell as he grabbed tight and stretched her open a little more.
“So tight—it almost hurts,” he groaned.
Violet’s teeth sunk into her lower lip as the familiar wisps of pleasure started building in her body again. He must have felt the way her pussy was clamping down on his cock because his next thrust came so much harder, enough for her eyes to fly shut and to make a scream of his name escape her lips.
She still felt as if she couldn’t breathe, but she was.
Staccato breaths—but it was there.
Violet found herself lost in the sensations all over again. The sounds of their fucking, the smell of sex in the air, his gruff voice demanding she fucking take it and fucking come, Violet.
And so she did—hard, crying, and shaking.
It was as if they hadn’t even been separated. It was as if that time didn’t exist.
Not then.
Not when they were like this.
The soft knock on the cabin door had Kaz shooting up, wild eyes trying to peer through the darkness of the room. But there was no danger, and he wasn’t in jail anymore. At the moment, several thousand miles above the earth, he was the safest he could ever be.
“Yeah?” he called, sitting up further, even as he glanced down at the shadowy shape of Violet’s body. She was still out cold.
“We’ll be landing soon. You have to be seated.”
“Thanks.”
Kaz took a moment to get his bearings before he felt around the floor for his pants and shoved his legs into them. Circling the bed, he touched a hand to Violet’s side, shifting it up to her shoulder, and then to the mark he had left behind along the curve of her neck.
She stirred, her eyes blinking open.
“We’re about to land.”
She didn’t question him, merely redressed and joined him back in the cabin. Not too long after, he could see the lights of the private runway where they were landing. As they got closer to the ground, he could better see the car waiting for them at the end of it.
And if the way Violet had stiffened beside him were any indication, she’d noticed it as well.
“There’s nothing to worry about,” he told her as they came to a rolling stop.
“Are they Russian?”
Scratching the back of his head, Kaz nodded. “But you’re with me, and that’s all they need to know.”
Violet still didn’t look convinced, but she would just have to take his word for it, or at least until she formed an opinion for herself. At least they weren’t going to be around the family for the next couple of weeks.
When they came to a stop, Violet was out of her seat belt first, heading back to the bedroom. “I’ll grab … whatever’s left.”
Or mentally prepare herself, Kaz thought.
He was the only Russian she had spent any real length of time with. She didn’t understand their customs, their rules, and was practically stepping into the middle of an unfamiliar environment.
This was new for her, and he wouldn’t push her.
The door to the plane buzzed as it fell open, and Kaz pulled out a handful of bills from his pocket, tipping the pilot and flight attendant before going out to meet someone he hadn’t seen in at least a year.
Upon first glance, Konstantin Boykov didn’t look to be a threat to anyone, but Kaz knew what the man could do with a pocketknife and a little inspiration. Only two years younger than Kaz was, his name was already being whispered; some higher-ups believed he was ready for the very stars Kaz had on his own chest.
For right now, though, he was second to his father. Still mentoring was how Vadim had described it, but Kaz recognized it for what it was. He was being groomed to take the old man’s spot.
“Been a while, Markovic,” Konstantin said as he stepped forward, shaking one of Kaz’s hands even as he reached around to clap him on the back. “What have you done this time?”
Kaz didn’t get a chance to answer before they were both turning at Violet’s sudden appearance as she came down the steps. She hadn’t only gone back for whatever was left behind in the bedroom, but she had also fixed her hair and straightened her clothes further.
But there was no hiding that purpling bruise he had left her with.
“Guess you made your point,” Konstantin said with a grin, turning his eyes to Violet. “You’re her, then? Italian, no?”
“Yes.”
“And let me guess, Alberto Gallucci’s daughter?”
Violet glanced at Kaz, a question in her eyes, before she said, “Yeah. How did you know that?”
“There are only two big Italian families in New York at the moment—your father is the larger of the two.”
That answer would have been good enough. It explained, while not, at the same time, but Konstantin wasn’t finished.
“And Kaz has a pair of fucking stones on him. Of course he’s fucking the one who’s going to get him shot the quickest. So where are we headed?”
It took every ounce of self-control Kaz possessed not to respond to the man, especially when he knew Konstantin was only trying to get a reaction out of Violet. But like any other good Italian principessa, she gave no reaction at all.
“Are we going to stand here all night, or are you going to drive?” Kaz asked, gesturing to the Mercedes behind them.
Unbothered, Konstantin merely smiled and spun his keys around his finger. “Welcome to Chicago.”