Deva had soaked for so long in the incredibly hot bath, she was certain even her internal organs were pruning. Relaxing in the luxurious bathroom, letting the water slowly cool down was a gift, an opportunity that allowed her to feel more and more like her old self again. Her body wasn’t restless anymore, and her brain was finally starting to get into gear.
One by one, Deva replayed the events of the last few days, what had happened and especially the words that were said. The words of her father struck her the most. About patience. And God knew her father wasn’t a patient man. What would motivate him to be so patient? And for whom?
And Finch? He talked about being played like a pawn. The man might be a megalomaniac, but he was first and foremost a planner. And he was planning the biggest coup of it all. But what was it?
Something wasn’t panning out. Every mob organization, every syndicate, even the MCs never did anything without a reward at the end. Money, more power, territory. Finch wanted some of those things, she was certain of it.
There was no way any of the syndicates would let go of what they had already acquired. It was a perpetual war between them; an outsider would never be able to have that kind of leverage and power. It was laughable.
A pawn. Patience. Both words whirled in her head. There was the link. There was where she needed to dig.
Shivering, she realized that the bath water was now cold. How long had she been soaking?
Deva used one of the thick towels to rub her skin to warm up and wrapped it around her middle before going into the bedroom. Brushing her hair, she looked around. It was so silent, she wondered what Aleksei had been doing all that time. Her first answer was the piles of neatly folded clothes on the bed. Jeans, t-shirts, blouses, and assorted underwear. And in a corner, a few pairs of shoes. That Trent was an efficient man, and she was even more impressed to see that everything seemed to be to her size.
It was late now, and she opted for a long sleeping gown in a beautiful blush color, made of cotton and lace. Deva wondered if it was Trent’s idea or if Aleksei had suggested it.
The doors of the room were closed, so she opened them slowly. Aleksei was lying on the couch. Even if the piece of furniture looked immense, it appeared small with the Russian sprawled over it. He looked to be sleeping, wearing only pajama pants, his chiseled, inked body on display. It was fascinating to see the symbols on his skin, each of them curving over his muscles. Others seemed alive when he breathed slowly. So peaceful, his beautiful face in need of a shave, his black hair tousled and tempting to the touch. She could have looked at him for hours, undisturbed, but seeing him like that made her fingers itch. Heat pooled between her legs, and she squeezed her thighs together, trying in vain to alleviate the tension.
Even though she was silent, she must have alerted him somehow as he opened his eyes, his mercury gaze on her. She expected to see the come-on look or the sarcastic twist on his mouth. Instead, she saw something deeper, hotter, softer.
“Are you alright? You were awfully long in that bathroom.” He stretched and sat in front of her, his elbows on his knees, rubbing his face.
“Sorry, I should have thought you would like to clean up too.”
He shook his head. “No worries. I commandeered the next room for a quick shower with Trent’s help.”
“Trent is one efficient man.” Deva looked down at herself. “And he has very good taste. It’s really pretty.”
Aleksei stood up and took a few steps in her direction. “You look beautiful. How are you feeling?”
“Better. Thanks. I guess that a cold combined with lack of sleep, being chased, and shooting my father affected me somehow. A little at least.”
Nodding, he turned and pointed at the table by the window. “I ordered food if you are hungry.”
Deva smiled, but instead of going to the table she went to stand toe-to-toe with him. “Thank you. For everything. I’m very sincere and grateful so don’t take my next question the wrong way. But why? Why help me? It cost you whatever investigation you had going on with your father. And now, I can guarantee you that my father will remember your face for the rest of his unnatural life.”
“You helped me too. Without everything that you have done for me, the sleepless nights to get me back on my feet, I would have lost that fight. Maybe worse.”
“You did lose. All the time you invested, why you got close to Finch, whatever it may be, all the pain...”
Aleksei cupped her cheek, his fingers tracing her jaw. “I made a decision, Deva. That’s all.”
Unable to keep it inside, she finally asked the question that was burning her. “Why did you fight? You never told me. You could have found another way to get close to Finch.”
Avoiding her gaze, he only shook his head, never ceasing touching her skin. Deva felt him withdrawing and couldn’t bear it. Instantly, her hand searched his warm skin and her fingers pressed against his sternum.
“I shouldn’t want you. I shouldn’t bring you deeper into this mess.”
Without looking at her, he mimicked her hand, and gently let his hand linger in between her breasts. “I’ve fought most of my life. I don’t know living without being in a mess. And yours is the first mess I like, Deva.”
“Why?”
Ever so slowly, he traced his way back to her face and made her look at him. Mesmerized, she fell into his stormy gaze. His head lowered to hers and only a hair’s breadth away from her lips, he answered her.
“Because you are in it.”
He kissed her, but it wasn’t the hard or possessive connection she had known so far from him. Instead, it was tender, tentative. Aleksei was barely touching her, cupping her cheek reverently. His body towered over hers, and his heat surrounded her, touching every part like a powerful blanket. Deva stilled her hand on him, focusing on the kiss, or more on the way he kissed her. She wanted more, faster and more intense, but his behavior puzzled her. And enthralled her. She had seen firsthand that he could take whatever he needed from her, make her body crave him and submit to him. But this? The way he held back was even more powerful.
Ever so slowly, Aleksei traced her lips with his tongue, and Deva moaned. But when she pressed, opening her lips, pursuing him, he retreated. The hands she had laid on his chest, snaked up, curling around his straining neck, trying to pull him closer. He resisted. Confused, Deva pulled back a little, a clear question in her eyes.
Breathing hard, Aleksei put his forehead against hers, his exhale fanning her skin when he answered. “I think we both need slow, soft...” He hesitated and then she understood. All that had been laid on the table lately, all that she had said about her past, the violence of it. He was offering her something else. Himself. His body, his time, his lust for her to take, but only if she did the same for him. He wanted slow and soft too. Needed it. Aleksei Voronov came from violence and darkness, and he didn’t want that between them. Not now. He craved something else.
Deva nodded. She could offer him and herself that. Peace, connection. Closing her eyes, she took that step and rubbed her cheek against his scruff, peppering his ear and neck with slow kisses. As she hesitantly pressed her body against his, Aleksei ran his fingers through her hair, over and over again. His arousal was undeniable, hard and pushing against his pajama pants, but she ignored it. Her hands on his shoulders, she pushed him down and started tracing every line of ink she saw on his body. He smelled like soap, musk, and heat. His taste was as addictive. Her lips, tongue, and teeth moved, discovering his body, empowered by his deep moans and shivers. When his skin trembled, his muscle quaking under her touch, it fueled her own fire.
Not pushing past the boundary of his pants, she returned back up, nuzzling his abs like a cat. Aleksei kneaded her shoulder but didn’t press, letting her explore his body at her leisure, and when she straightened, he cupped her face and kissed her again. Circling his wrists, Deva gently tugged them down, making her intentions clear. It was his turn. His lips trailed on her cheek until he reached her ear, his tongue swirling amazing patterns and his breath on her damp skin making her shiver.
In a flash, it became clear to her. She wouldn’t survive him. Not this Aleksei. And he hadn’t even moved past her shoulders yet! His hands felt hot and rough when they ran from her collarbone down to her arms, rasping against the thin cotton and lace of her nighty. Letting her head fall back as he trailed kisses down her throat, lapping at her clavicles, running his cheeks against every inch of exposed skin, chafing her, marking her.
Her eyes followed his descent and when he fell on his knees to the floor, between her legs spread on the couch, his attention solely on her face as if in prayer, her breath caught. His hands circled her ankles and made a maddening slow ascent as he kissed her belly through the thin material and inhaled deeply.
Tense as a bow, Deva fought against rushing and surrendered to his worship, but she wanted more. She wanted all of him, and despite her best intentions, she kneeled in front of him, mimicking his posture on the floor, taking his lips once more, pouring all her conflicting emotions into him, including all the tenderness that was in her heart. Her hand caressed him, but this time, she didn’t want any barrier between them. Pulling her gown over her head, naked before him, her temperature spiked when her breasts plastered against his chest, rubbing. Her hands on his pajama bottom waistband she pushed it down. The sound that came from his chest when she circled his freed erection was one of blissful pain. Pushing forward, Deva made him topple backward on the carpet, and without breaking the kiss, she followed him down, straddling his hips.
Aleksei’s eyes were the darkest gray she had ever seen, his hands cupping her breasts, pinching her nipples. It was her turn to whimper. Damn, she wanted him inside her. And from the way she could feel his hips swaying under her, seeking more friction, she wasn’t the only one with that wish.
Oh, she could accommodate their desire, for a little while at least. Deva widened her stance and rolled her hips, so his cock was nestled between her slick folds. The movement was subtle, but when his hard flesh rubbed against her clit, the sensation was enough to make her shudder and her breath catch.
It took all her might to open her eyes again to look at Aleksei. The man looked fascinated and lost at the same time.
His hands pinched her nipples one more time before following the swell of her hips, squeezing her ass, guiding her movements. Slowly, ever so slowly. Frustratingly, maddeningly slow.
“You are beautiful, Deva. A siren, calling me out at sea. I just want to lose myself in you, Deva. Please.”
The low rumble of his voice, pleading, broke her.
“I never want you to beg, Aleksei. Not when I want you as much as you want me.”
Shifting, she reached beneath her and positioned his slick cock at her entrance. Placing both her hands on his chest, Deva unhurriedly lowered herself onto him, until he was fully seated inside her.
For a long moment, Deva stayed still. Enjoying the sensation, admiring the man heaving beneath her, trying very hard not to lose his hard-earned control, his hands still squeezing her ass.
But this wasn’t about denial. She lifted and let herself fall onto him.
Straightening, she cupped one of her breasts with one hand and extended her other hand to him.
“Don’t leave me out here alone, Aleksei. Come to me.”
Deva didn’t know why she said those words, but they felt right. And her own desperation, both for his body and his connection overrode common sense or self-preservation.
Her words must have reached something in Aleksei too because he sat up and pulled her into a kiss. Friction increased, rubbing sensitive skin. His hand grew more impatient, and so were her own movements, her body now searching for fulfillment.
“Aleksei, please.”
The man gripped her butt and increased his movement, slightly meeting her midway.
“Tell me what you need, Deva. I’ll give it to you.”
The fierce devotion in his eyes and the open sincerity clogged her throat with emotion. It may have been said in the spur of the moment, or with his mind filled with lust, but Deva realized that she had waited to hear those words all her life. Apart from her mother lost to her long ago and Johnny, she had never been the center of anyone’s universe. Not as she was in the gray mists swirling in the eyes in front of her.
“You. I only need you, Aleksei.”
His face softened, a hint of a smile on his delectable lips, and she knew there was no going back. Right here in the face of this dangerous man who had offered her a glimpse of vulnerability, of who he could have been without the Bratva interfering, she had surrendered part of her soul.
“And you have me. All of me, solnyshka.”
And this time, something shifted between them as he pulled her down to him to take her mouth. When Aleksei increase the strength of his upward thrusts, it bumped her clit in the most delicious way. Digging her nails into his shoulders, she now chased her orgasm.
Mingling breaths, observing each other’s reactions. It was a thrill to catch all the clues that told her this predator was fighting a losing battle and was about to win at the same time.
Deva leaned forward which increased her pleasure almost to the breaking point, and bit his ear.
“Let go, Aleksei. Come for me, please.”
Aleksei shuddered, and she could see he was clenching his jaw, battling his release with everything he had. Deva kissed his stubble. “Why are you fighting it?”
And when she looked at him, covered in sweat, heaving as badly as she was, the words made her fall apart.
“I can’t, Deva, not now.”
“Why?”
“Because it would be over. It can’t be over. I don’t want it to be over, Deva.”
Damn man! Pleasure of the flesh and pain of the heart mingled. With trembling hands, she cupped his cheeks, looking into the troubling storm brewing inside him.
“I know, Aleksei. But it’s inevitable. Come in my arms, as I fall apart for you. Together. Let’s die a little tonight and be born again at sunrise. And fight this all over again. Just don’t leave me now. Not when I need you the most. Don’t fight against me. Fight for me.”
The man looking at her was caught in a state of turmoil, but when he thrust deep inside her, and they both moaned in delight, Deva was relieved. And her relief turned into a frenzy that fogged her mind and fried all its circuits. With all his strength, he pushed himself inside her, over and over again, at a blinding speed that rendered her mad.
Barely realizing she was repeating Aleksei’s name like a prayer, her orgasm exploded inside her and spread until it all but consumed her. And more wildly, when Aleksei roared in pleasure and pushed with even more force inside her quivering sheath, it heightened her own release until she thought her body would shut down. The only thing she could do was hold on to the man who was as lost as she was, as broken as she was. His strong arms banded around her, his lips buried in her neck, and she offered him the same embrace. Wishing secretly for this moment never to end.