I spend an hour unpacking while Brash looks after Kir for me. At around four, a delivery van arrives... not only with the toddler bed but also a changing table, a baby alarm and a whole bunch of other stuff. My hands shake as I open boxes filled with every toy and stuffed animal a fifteen-month kid could want, as well as dozens of cute little outfits, and other shit like Sippy cups and so on... even though I brought Kir's with us.

It's all too much.

Quickly, I hide the toys in a cupboard.

I'll give them to him one at a time.

I don't want to spoil him.

Gleb still hasn't returned home when Kir has his supper. Olga makes him spaghetti hoops with Bolognese sauce and pureed carrots, and I let him feed himself with his own spoon while surreptitiously feeding him at the same time. He's growing in independence, but I still haven't managed to wean him off his bottle. I mention as much to Olga.

"He'll let you know when he's ready to give it up," she says with a warm smile.

"How long have you worked for Gleb?" I ask casually.

"Five years," she glances away from me and shrugs. "He's a demanding boss, but good to his staff. My husband is one of his men."

I twist a lock of hair around my finger. There's so much I have yet to learn about the father of my son. He's like a chameleon, constantly changing his colors to suit different situations. The way he acts around Kir shows he has a heart... at least as far as my baby is concerned. Except, a man with a heart wouldn't be a Vor, surely?

Kir has finished eating, so I wipe the mess off his face. "Down," he announces.

"Time for your bath, young man," I respond firmly. "You've had a long day, and I need to give you some medicine before bed."

His big blue eyes well with tears as he asks for his grandma.

"Baba will come tomorrow," I tell him. "I have a surprise for you. Papa has bought you a new toy."

"And Papa can't wait to watch you play with it." Gleb's deep voice resounds from the doorway.

He unbuckles Kir, and before I can even thank him for the gifts, he lifts him up and heads toward the stairs.

I follow in their wake, then stand and drink in the sight of Gleb kneeling and bathing his son. They mess about with the toy submarine I take from the cupboard, laughing together, pulling the cord that makes the propeller spin and pushing it through the water; I'm totally lost for words.

Who is this man?

Except he stops short at putting Kir's diaper on him, claiming he has no clue. I reserve the task for myself. I mean, I can't have him take over from me completely, can I?

Then I relent, catching the longing in Gleb's expression. "Do you want to give him his bottle?"

"Thought you'd never ask," he chuckles.

"Thank you for buying Kir all those things," I say, placing our baby in his arms after I've finished putting on his diaper and onesie. "You've spoiled him, though."

"Just making up for lost time." Our eyes lock, and his electrifying blues say so much. I know he still doesn't understand why I kept his son from him.

I give Kir his antibiotic syrup. He pulls a face and his little mouth turns down at the corners. "Be a good boy for Papa," I say quietly.

My heart does a weird little flip as I watch Gleb bottle feeding his baby. I give a slow, disbelieving shake of my head and tell my heart not to be stupid. Gleb is still a beast and I need to keep up my defenses.

Later, after we've eaten with Brash, Olga and Dmitry in the kitchen, Brash leaves for work and I fully expect Gleb to do the same.

"No need," he says, taking me by the hand and leading me through to the family room. "I don't go to the club every night. Some nights I have other business to attend to." His smirk is so damn sexy it sends tingles right through me. "Let's check if the audio baby monitor is working."

I stand next to Gleb by the crackling log fire, and we listen to Kir's regular breathing coming through the device he and Brash had set up before dinner. We're so close, I feel the heat radiating from Gleb's body, and it makes me hot and bothered. I swallow hard, kick off my Keds and go to sit on the sofa.

He turns and watches me through narrowed predator eyes. "So, how do parents make out when they've got a kid?"

I'm so surprised, I ignore his question.

Gleb, playing mommies and daddies? He's messing with me, isn't he?

Except, he isn't. It appears he's deadly serious when he lowers himself beside me. "Want to make out, Elousha?"

He tilts my chin up. I stare into his mesmerizing eyes. Is it so wrong to want him? To want, as he so flippantly puts it, to make out?

He bends and kisses the place between my neck and my shoulder. Goosebumps pepper my skin as his hot lips tease me. His hand finds the small of my back and he pulls me into him, so hard I can feel his erection against my belly.

"Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?" I quip before an image comes into my mind of brushing my fingers against his firearm in the hospital. My blood suddenly turns cold.

He growls low in his throat and bites down on my earlobe. Instantly, I'm hot for him again. He pulls my hair into a high pony and extends my neck, sucking and nibbling his way up to my chin. "You want a gun, Eva. I'll give you a gun," he groans into my mouth. "I'm going to shoot my load inside that tight little pussy of yours, but only if you beg me for it."

"Me, beg?" I come right back at him. "Are you joking?"

He releases me, shunts his way over to the other side of the sofa, and fixes me with a steely look. "You'll beg, or I won't get you off. Your choice, my sweet."

I stare at him, take his measure. There's a heavy throbbing between my thighs. If he doesn't touch me soon, I swear I'll dissolve into a puddle of want. I shuffle toward him and bury my head into his hard pecs. "Please," I mutter into chest.

"You need to beg better than that," he says, pulling my head back by my hair again and glowering.

I chew at my lip. If I surrender, it will be the point of no return.

I'll be his.

Marked forever.

This story between us isn't going to have a happily-ever-after ending, though.

Can I risk my poor heart? The heart he has already melted by the way he treats our son?

His hand reaches down and cups my right breast. He bends and sucks on it through my sweater, making my nipple pebble in his mouth. Without warning, he stops what he was doing and leans back.

"You want me, Eva. Beg me, and I'll give you want you need." He pauses, his hooded eyes gleaming. "Just say the words..."

"Please," I repeat, so fucking horny I hardly know myself.

"Just say them," he barks.

"Please, Gleb," I almost sob. "I need your cock."

He answers by lifting me in his arms. I'm limp, like a rag doll, totally under his control.

It feels oddly liberating.

He stretches me out on the rug in front of the fire and pulls down my jeans. I wriggle out of my panties. With deft movements, he lifts off my sweater and unclips my bra. I'm lying naked before him, his hungry eyes on me like I'm a dish he's about to devour.

"So beautiful. So fucking beautiful. You're mine, Elousha, whether you like it or not."

Yes, I'm his. I'm going to hate myself afterwards, but I can't help it. I want him inside me. "I'm on the pill, Gleb," I tell him. "To regulate my periods." I don't elaborate. Now is not the time to go into how messed up they were after Kir was born.

"Perfect," he says, eyeing me thoughtfully, and thankfully not referring to the first and last time he fucked me and the condom broke. Instead, he undresses himself. Just watching him unbutton his shirt, unbuckle his belt, unzip his fly and finally strip down to his briefs is making me wet for him.

He bends and licks the skin between my breasts. Then he sucks my left tit into his mouth, swirling his tongue expertly around my nipple before biting down on it. The agony is excruciating but also intoxicating, so intense that tears sting my eyes.

Suddenly he flips me over so I'm lying face down. "Ass in the air, Eva."

I do as he commands, feeling delicious tingles as he runs his tongue down my spine. He bites and kisses my shoulders and my neck. I rock my body beneath him. His fingers find their way to my pussy, stroking, caressing. I'm so desperate for him that I whimper. But he doesn't enter me. He simply grinds his hardness against my ass. "Beg me again, Kiska, and I'll give you what you want."

I'm beyond redemption.

Lightheaded with horniness.

I'd do anything to have him inside me.

"Please, Gleb. Please fuck me."

"Music to my ears," his voice rasps.

He flips me over, pulls down his briefs and straddles me again. His monster cock is at full-mast, the ring of his Price Albert glinting at its tip. I feel my pussy clench and ache for him... ache with desire.

One hand is back between my legs, the other fists his shaft. He spreads my thighs with his fingers. "Open wide for me."

I do as he asks.

"Good girl."

He rubs his cock against my slit, teasing me, making me wetter and wetter for him. "Beg me again, Eva."

"Jesus, stop torturing me. Just get on with it, will you," I grit out.

He pulls away and fixes me with a fierce look. "Beg properly."

"Please, Gleb, please do it," I sob. "Please fuck me."

He smiles a smile of such victory it burns my soul. Then he lowers himself onto me, covering me like a blanket, biting and sucking on my neck.

I moan and writhe my hips, my body joining in the begging spree.

I've lost the battle.

It was never mine to win.

I'm an addict as far as he is concerned.

He kisses me, a punishing kiss that takes all the air from my lungs. His tongue seeks my tongue, fights it for dominance. His eyes lock with my own as he leans his weight on his arms. "You belong to me, Elousha."

And with those words he starts pushing his cock into me. I moan as the ridge of his piercing rubs against my pussy walls. I let out a strange feral sound as I feel every goddamn inch of him.

He doesn't ask if I'm okay, he doesn't need to.

I'm responding to him like a finely tuned instrument.

His instrument.

I dig my nails into his broad back as he pumps in and out of me, our bodies slapping against each other. I hiss out a breath with every brutal thrust; my cunt is taking him in, sucking his beast of a dick deeper and deeper.

"God, you feel good, Elousha," he groans. "So fucking good."

"You do too," I smile into his shoulder, loving every exquisite sensation he's giving me, how he's stretching me and making all my nerve endings tingle.

I never want it to end.

But end it must.

An orgasm is rushing toward me like an unstoppable train.

I come, violently, jerking beneath him and biting my lips to stop myself from crying out his name.

"You're so fucking beautiful when you climax." He pumps harder, so hard he starts to lose his shit. I feel him swelling even more, and then filling me with his cum.

Still inside me, he rests his forehead on mine. Our sweat mingles, his breath becomes my breath, our hearts beat as one. We kiss, more gently than before. He runs his fingers up and down my sides and stares deep into my eyes, appearing about to say something... something he might later regret.

I'm suddenly vulnerable and want the Beast back again. Want his harshness to drive a wedge between us and keep me at a distance.

This softer Gleb is even more dangerous.

Dangerous to my equilibrium.

Dangerous to my fragile heart.

He's a Vor who let my father sell me to him, I remind myself. Even though he morphs into every girl's dream of a perfect daddy to her baby when he's with Kir, I shouldn't have let this transformation get in the way of my resolve.

With a grunt Gleb withdraws and flops down on the rug. We lie next to each other, silently listening to the soft sounds of Kir's breathing coming over the airwaves of the monitor while the warmth from the fire dries the sweat from our glistening bodies.

I wriggle to my feet and reach for my clothes. I dress quickly, not making eye contact with Gleb. Except I sense his gaze on me, scorching. "Where are you going?" His voice is harsh.

"To my bedroom, of course," I retort. "Where did you think I was going?"

His glowering expression grips my insides, twisting them into knots. I'm falling for him. Correction. I've fallen for him already. A sensation not unlike I imagine drowning would feel.

Sinking.

Spiraling down into the depths.

Breathe, Eva, I tell myself.

Just breathe.

He laughs, and it's an unforgiving laugh. "No, Kiska, we do not sleep apart. I want you in my bed. Is that understood?"

I don't answer.

I can't.

My pulse is beating too fiercely in my throat.