Andrei

 

The sight of my house almost made some of my stress go away. I needed a stiff drink or two. Maybe five. That the bastard Mikhail Vasilev had dared to send someone to spy on me…he needed to be put into his place — which was buried six feet under without a coffin. Just an unmarked grave. A dump, not a grave.

 

I was trembling with rage, and I had to relax, to calm myself. Being rash would lead to mistakes, and I never made mistakes. I could handle myself. I would take care of Vasilev. No one would threaten me or mine again. I had raised up from the ashes once. I would not dare allow anyone the chance to burn me to the ground again. My empire would reign for long after my lifetime, and it would reign through my heir, through my blood. And speaking of my blood, not another drop of Petrov blood would ever be spilled by a foe.

 

A plan. I always operated with a plan. Attention to detail kept me alive. I had squared off against other foes in my time since I took over the Petrov mob, and I had always won the battle.

 

But this thing with Vasilev wasn’t just a battle. It was war.

 

The outcome, however, would be the same. I would win. I didn’t doubt that for a second.

 

I always kept an eye on my surroundings, even when I didn’t actively feel threatened, and as I waited at a red light, I checked all of my mirrors. Sometimes I used a chauffeur, but lately, I’d been driving myself, and tonight was no exception. I liked the feel of the gearshift in my hand, of being in complete control. Plus, no one would do a better job of keeping an eye out for my own safety than myself. Tails never could follow me for long. I knew this city and the streets and alleys better than anyone. I knew how to make myself disappear, whether in a car or on foot. I had a lot of friends here.

 

But right now, friends weren’t enough. I needed my most trusted men. I needed to be sure of who I putting my faith in. Too much was at stake. I didn’t need protection as much as I needed loyalty. In the mob life, it was loyalty or it never had been anything at all.

 

No one was following me. The roads were mostly deserted, but that did little to settle my nerves. A few more twists and turns, a few more miles, and I parked my car inside the garage and entered the house. Just down the hall, I opened the hall closet to put away my coat when I noticed an unfamiliar coat hanging up inside. Damn. I had almost forgotten about my arrangement with Kelly Greene.

 

Although I barely knew her, I had done a lot of research on both her and her mother. I hadn’t been about to send Lucas over with the contract until I knew enough about her to decide if she was a possible option or not, and what I found more than satisfied me. I knew about her lack of a job outside of our arrangement. I knew about her past boyfriends. I knew she preferred bad boys, and that I would be by far the baddest boy she would ever be with.

 

I also gathered that despite her taste in guys, she was pretty much an innocent woman. She had never committed a crime, not even a speeding ticket. She wasn’t meant to be colored by the blackness of my world.

 

But I needed a woman like that, one I might be able to trust. Not that I could share details about the mob with her, not that I would. But I could trust her to not seek out the media, that she wouldn’t start spending the money foolishly and draw attention to herself. That was all I would ask of her. In exchange, I would keep her safe. Mikhail Vasilev would never learn about her. Despite the danger to my person, she would never be threatened. She deserved that much for all she was giving me.

 

One of the ways I knew immediately that she might make for a good choice was because she didn’t ask for more money. If she had, a red flag would’ve been raised. Maybe she would prove herself to be worth more, and if that was the case, I would be willing to compensate her. I knew why she was doing this — not for me, not for herself, but for her mother. Another reason to not bother to look at other options. Family meant a great deal to her.

 

I just hoped it didn’t mean too much to her. The child I would impregnate her with would be mine, not hers, not ours. Mine.

 

After hanging up my coat, I went straight upstairs and quietly opened the door to the guest room I’d left instructions for Lucas to put her in. Lucas was one of my friends in addition to being one of my guards. He would protect her and watch over her as he would me. She was in good hands with him.

 

I peeked inside her guest room to find her half asleep in bed. She looked so peaceful, so innocent, and I almost felt wrong for putting her in this position, for involving her in my life, especially when darkness touched my life right now. But I needed an heir. I should’ve had one already. It was ironic. When I was on top of the world, being with whatever woman I wanted to be, the idea of settling down never occurred to me. I wasn’t ready to be married, to be tied down. I enjoyed my freedom.

 

Now that my status at the top was in question, I desperately needed to ensure my line would not die with me. I wasn’t egotistical enough to believe death would not come for me. As much as I would do everything in my power to ensure I did not die at the hands of Mikhail Vasilev, it might still happen. An heir was necessary.

 

And the idea of having a son was one I couldn’t get out of my mind now. I had built an empire, had expanded on my father’s work, and I had a legacy to leave to him. Which I’ll give to him after I die from old age.

 

And Kelly would be the one to give me that son. I entered the room to get a better look at her, and she stirred. Maybe I should have closed the door and left her to sleep for the night, but I didn’t. Selfish.

 

She sat up, and the sheet fell away. She was rumpled with sleep, and her tank top left little to the imagination. I wanted her. Desired her. Lust, pure and simple. I hadn’t lied when I called her just pretty, but there was something that drew me to her. Maybe because she had come to me for a business arrangement, and she wasn’t falling all over herself to be at my feet. She didn’t want me for my name. She didn’t even want me.

 

A part of me wanted that to be a challenge. To make her want me, not just my money. Kelly, with her hair tousled from sleep, those doe-like bedroom eyes, her long, slender neck. Yes, lust would make this arrangement that much more enjoyable, for me at least. And I knew my way around a woman’s body. I would make it that much more enjoyable for her, as well.

 

Before I knew what I was doing, I crossed the room to her bed and took her into my arms. And again, before I knew what I was doing, I was kissing her, and she was kissing back. Already, she was moaning loudly. I loved how responsive she was to me, how she eased her body against mine, how she opened her mouth for me, how she allowed me to move her head to angle it just right. I knew this was just a business transaction, but right now I wasn’t thinking about making babies or the money I would be paying her. I was only thinking about her luscious lips and how much I wanted to fuck her.

 

I was wearing clothes. How in the hell was I in bed with her when I was still wearing clothes? This simply wasn’t acceptable. I pulled back, breaking off the kiss, but she leaned forward and licked me, licked my jawline, and ended up with her tongue in my mouth. Again.

 

Holy. Fuck.

 

I had grown hard the moment I saw her in her state of dishevelment, and I had grown harder during the kiss, but right now, I was so hard I thought I was going to burst. My cock was pressing against my clothes, and I wanted it freed, free to fuck her.

 

Again, I pulled back. I needed to feel her warm, soft skin pressed against mine. Before I could rip off my shirt, Kelly came at me, kneeling on the bed, her fingers fumbling with my shirt buttons.

 

Screw that. Too slow. I ripped my shirt open, and buttons flew everywhere. There. Much faster. Much better.

 

Her eyes widened as she glanced at the nearest button. “Do you make it a habit of ruining shirts?”

 

“Do you make it a habit of talking when you’re supposed to be kissing?” I countered with a devilish smile.

 

In response, she pushed aside the two parts of my shirt, leaned forward, and licked my nipple. Damn it all, if I wasn’t the one moaning now. This girl sure knew how to work her tongue. She wasn’t holding back at all. She was either a really hard worker, or she knew her way around a man’s body. Maybe she wasn’t quite as innocent as she appeared.

 

“Do you like being told what to do?” I asked, wondering just how far she would let me go, how far I could push her, if she would be willing to do whatever I asked of her.

 

“I like being told…sometimes.” She bit her lower lip but then smiled, her eyes bright.

 

Kelly didn’t look ill at ease at all. Was she the same nervous, jumpy girl from the bar? Maybe the bar scene wasn’t hers, but the bedroom sure seemed to be her domain. And I appreciated that.

 

“Only sometimes?” I brushed my fingers lightly up her bare arms to her shoulders and flicked down her tank top straps. Her skin was so soft and smooth. “What about the rest of the time?”

 

“Sometimes I like to be the one to tell what to do.” She lifted a shoulder, still smiling.

 

“And if you could tell me what to do, what would you say?” I asked.

 

I wasn’t promising I would give it to her — in fact, I probably wouldn’t. I needed to be in control at all times. I needed that in my life. Too much was outside of my control as it was that I needed the assurance that I had power, even here, in the bedroom. Not all women appreciated that, and none have given me quite exactly what I needed. It was too much to hope that Kelly would be the one to deliver that, though.

 

“I would want…” Her head down, she peered up at me from beneath lowered lashes. God, she was pretty. “I would want us to…”

 

“To what?” I stared at her, taking in how she was pulling slightly away and how she was biting her lip again. I made her nervous. She did her damnedest to hide it, but I could still tell. Not all nerves were bad, though, right?

 

Because I wanted this to be good for her, not just for me. We might have to have sex for a little while before she became pregnant, so we might as well pleasure each other while we were at it. And I was all about pleasure in the bedroom. This was the first time I was ever mixing business with pleasure. I never thought I would pay for sex, but this was different. She wasn’t mine. She wasn’t a whore. She would give me an heir, and I would give her money and pleasure, too, as an added bonus. It wouldn't just be quickies between us. It wouldn’t just be cock into pussy.

 

She refused to look at me. “I would want us to keep our eyes open,” she said in a rush.

 

Now that I hadn’t expected at all. Maybe a certain position or for me to lick her pussy, but that? Keeping our eyes open? A simple request. A sweet one.

 

A tender one.

 

One I could grant easily.

 

I nodded and kissed her deeply, keeping my eyes open. At first, hers fluttered close, but then she opened them, too, and there was something so incredibly erotic about kissing her with our eyes open that I yanked her toward me, my hands caressing up and down her back in firm strokes beneath her tank top. My fingers dipped down, beneath her small panties, to grip her tight ass, and I ground our pelvises together.

 

She gasped as I shifted her slightly to ensure we were properly aligned, and I knew then I had her. Her skin was so soft beneath my fingers, and I was probably bruising her a little, but I couldn’t help myself. I needed to touch her, to decrease the space between us, and she wasn’t complaining. If anything, she was bruising me back as she gripped my back under my shirt. Her nail scraped down my back, and I shivered as a shot of pleasure went straight to my cock.

 

“What are you doing to me?” I might have asked, except we were dueling with our tongues, planting kisses all over our faces and necks. With our heavy breathing, she might not have heard me anyhow.

 

I couldn’t handle this anymore. How did we still have so many clothes on? Bare skin. I needed to feel all of her, to touch all of her, to see her naked body.

 

I tried to disentangle ourselves so I could remove her tank top, but I ended up ripping it. Accidentally. It really was an accident.

 

She pressed a hand firmly to my chest. Crap. Was she pissed?

 

Why did I care if she was? I’d just buy her a new one. Two even.

 

But she didn’t say anything. She removed the torn tank top and then eased my shirt off me too, her soft hands pressing against my shoulders down my biceps to my wrists. I hissed through my teeth as her nails scraped against my nipples and then down my abs.

 

I wanted to touch and explore her body, but the way she was making me feel had me giving over a little bit of control. I allowed her to force me onto my back, but only because she was kissing down the center line of my torso, her fingers exploring the ridges of my abs.

 

“Very nice,” she murmured. She stood on the bed and wiggled out of her underwear. Man, that was sexy. Her legs were long and toned, and when she twisted to the side to toss the underwear to the floor, I caught a glimpse of her ass, and man, what an ass!

 

As much as I loved the strip tease, I couldn’t remain lying down and sitting back and letting her touch me while I wasn’t touching her back. I bolted up and stood and gently tackled her down on the bed, pinning her there. She squirmed beneath me, rubbing herself against me, but I maneuvered slightly so she wasn’t able to get any pleasure from rubbing against my cock. I needed to calm down before she drove me too crazy.

 

I’m in control. I am.

 

I wished she had allowed me to strip her naked, but that didn’t matter. There would be plenty of time for that later. All that mattered was that I could see her naked body, and it was glorious. Firm, full breasts, flat stomach, shaved pussy.

 

But while she was now completely naked, I still wasn’t. My boxer briefs were so tight across my cock. It was twitching, ready to be free. Ready to be inside of her.

 

Her gaze dropped to check me out, and she blushed. She blushed! A part of me wanted to laugh at that, but another part of me was intrigued. She wasn’t a virgin — she’d already told me that. And while she knew how to tease me, how to make me moan, she was still innocent in a way.

 

And even though she was innocent to some extent, she still wanted to play my game.

 

Fuck. That was hot as hell. Even hotter.

 

“May I?” she asked, her voice a throaty whisper. She reached for my boxer briefs then hesitated.

 

I nodded and couldn’t help closing my eyes as she slowly lowered them. My cock stood at attention once freed, and she removed my boxer briefs completely before gingerly touching me.

 

Gingerly? Come on now.

 

“I’m not gonna bite,” I spat out, eyes still closed.

 

She wrapped one hand around my cock and slid up and down the shaft. Fuck me, she knew a whole different kind of torture. Slow but not too slow and just the right amount of pressure.

 

“So big and thick,” she murmured appreciatively.

 

My eyes opened, and I took in the wonder of her gaze. “You like?” I asked with a cocky grin.

 

She leaned down and licked the head of my cock. Some pre-cum seeped out. Fuck. Me. “I like.” She sat back, staring at me, eyes wide.

 

“I wanna fuck you,” I said. Right now. Right this very second.

 

Kelly giggled. “I think that’s the idea.” She brushed her hair back so her long neck was visible.

 

“I wanna fuck your tits. I wanna fuck your mouth. I wanna fuck your pussy.” And right the fuck now.

 

“Which first?” she asked coyly.

 

What did she just say? Did I hear her right?

 

I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her to me. She sat on my lap, rubbing my cock against herself, and our hands explored each other’s bodies. As much as I desperately wanted her, I wasn’t ready for this to end. Not yet. Even though I knew I would be having her again, and soon, I still wanted to delay the payoff. I wanted to enjoy every second of this.

 

Her tits weren’t the biggest I’d ever played with, but I loved how she responded when I tweaked her nipples. Kelly would throw her head back, moan, eyes closed, writhing around…and she tweaked my nipples right back. She didn’t just want to take, she wanted to give too, and damn, could she give. Damn, damn, damn!

 

As much as I loved her rubbing against me, I pulled away and lay her down on her stomach. My hands rubbed up and down her back, massaging her, and I may have slapped her ass once or twice.

 

She wiggled that ass, lifting it higher and higher into the air, and I reached my hand forward to insert a finger inside of her. Kelly jerked and then relaxed, rocking back and forth, fucking my finger more than letting me finger-fuck her. I let her do her thing until I could tell she was on the brink. Then I pulled out. Evil of me, I knew, but I did it all the same.

 

Kelly groaned and pounded her fists onto the bed, and I laughed.

 

“Don’t worry.” I whispered the promise as I tickled my fingers down her back. “You’ll get yours.”

 

I flipped her over, and instead of running my hands over her body, I explored every inch with my mouth and lips. She was so sensitive, squirming, and moaning and gripping the covers that I had to keep playing with her — a spot on the left side of her neck, her nipples, along her sides…and down lower.

 

As much as she hated it, I skipped her most sensitive spots and kissed up and down her spread legs. She wiggled and squirmed some more, especially when I neared her pussy, but still I didn’t give into her. It didn’t surprise me at all when her hands reached down to alleviate some of the tension I was building up inside of her, not that I would allow that. I nearly swatted her hands away.

 

“No,” I growled firmly.

 

“Then help,” she pleaded, almost whimpering. “Please.”

 

Those singular words told me I was torturing her, and I was glad for that, but I was also torturing myself, too. Her body was a work of art, and damn it all, if I didn’t want to help myself to her, to all of her.

 

I backtracked and slid backward until I was off the bed. As soon as I was standing, I gently pulled on her legs until she was up against me, my cock pressed up right against her opening. It was taking all of my self-control to not bury myself deep inside of her this fucking moment.

 

“Ready?” I growled out the question. I was more than willing, and from the wetness coming from her, I already knew she was, too.

 

So I didn’t wait for her to respond. I just rammed into her. She gasped, the sound both startled and excited, and maybe relieved, too. Then she closed her eyes as I thrust in and out a few times.

 

When Kelly kept her eyes closed, I shook my head and slowed my pacing until I stopped. I leaned down over her. “Open…” I thrust hard. “Your…” I pulled almost all the way out. “Eyes.” I rammed back in, deep and far.

 

Her eyes opened, and she reached up and touched my face. “You too,” she demanded softly.

 

I hadn’t even realized I closed them. Too caught up in the moment, I guessed. What the hell was she doing to me?

 

With relish, I took my time, going slow and then fast and then slow again, ramming hard and then more gently. Having sex with eyes wide open was so fucking amazing. I could see just how close Kelly was to coming, and I would stall, hoping that the longer build up would make her eventual orgasm that much stronger.

 

A few times, I brought myself to the brink, and I would halt, not moving, not wanting to give in, not just yet. As far as I could tell, she hadn’t orgasmed yet either, but that would come. I would make certain of it.

 

All of a sudden, right after one of the times when I halted, she sat up and wrapped her arms around me. I slid my fingers under her ass and picked her up, still going at it. I didn’t bother to find a wall to brace ourselves against, just shifted her up and down on my length, again and again, and holy fuck if I didn’t stop now…

 

I didn’t stop.

 

I came.

 

And I made sure to keep my eyes open.

 

A second later, she tilted her head back but then leaned forward, pressing her forehead to mine, her eyes open as she moaned, her words too breathless for me to make out. The look in her eyes…I could see how much pleasure I was giving her, and that only served to increase my own pleasure. Her walls squeezed me hard as she came, too, massaging my cock, and I finished empting myself deep inside of her.

 

I had had sex before without a condom, but I never came inside a woman before. Previously, I had pulled out and let the woman blow me to finish. But this, this giving of myself, this wanting to have a child…but it was also wanting to feel every bit of her inside and out, it wasn’t like anything I had ever anticipated.

 

Yes, this was just a business transaction, but holy hell, the sex had ended up being far hotter than I had had in a long time. Kelly had been a wildcat, incredibly responsive, and surprisingly lovely, too. Sex with eyes open…I’d never done that before, but I was more than willing to do it again, with her.

 

In my world, not a lot of things were certain — the least of which dealt with that bastard Mikhail Vasilev, finding him and serving him by revenge — but there was one thing I was completely certain about and that was that I would be enjoying this arrangement for as long as it lasted.