Everything escalated between them too quickly.
Not even in his dreams he could have thought something like they would ever happen with him. That he would get to kiss this woman he barely knew, or feel her hands all over him, her nails scraping at his skin or her legs wrapped around his hips.
Fuck! Nothing could have prepared him for the way he was feeling right now.
He kissed her harder than he should have, almost to the point it was rough and impatient and desperate. He knew she could taste the desperation in him, and somehow, she had welcomed it with open arms and a hungry mouth of her own.
She didn’t just let him kiss her. She kissed him back like a starved woman. It was all teeth and tongues and her soft moans and her fingers in his hair and the way she couldn’t keep her hands to herself.
He wasn’t much better either.
He couldn’t k
When Nadia woke up the next morning, her body ached like hell. It was after a very long time she had had sex, and fuck, he was so rough and brutal and good. Just the thought of him and his hands and his thick, veiny cock forced her to squeeze her thighs, trying to suppress the urge to have him back inside her. But whom was she kidding? What happened last night between her and Dimitri Alexeev would never happen again. Not because she didn’t want it to happen, but because the sex between them was more like a comforting one, one that he probably thought the sad sister of his soldier needed. Nadia didn’t even know why she took the first step and kissed him. She had never done something so reckless before. Well, except for showing up at his door una
[NADIA]Throughout my life, I always knew what I wanted: to become someone who mattered, someone who did things that mattered to others; someone who wasn’t afraid of the world; someone who lived their life on their own terms.But, as they say, you don’t always get what you want. And in my case, I hardly ever got what I wanted—what I really, really wanted.I was only five when Mom and Dad passed away in an accident. My brother, who wasn’t older than ten, took it upon himself to take care of us. Of course, he didn’t get to make all the big decisions until our uncle kicked us out of his home as soon as my brother turned eighteen. It was only after we became homeless once again that he actually got the chance to become what he really wanted.Anatoly, my brother, wasn’t even that much older than me. We were maybe five years apart. That means when he turned eighteen, I was old enough to make tea and sandwiches and pack a lunch for both of us.My brother never really got the chance to actual
[DIMITRI]I watched as Nadia slammed the door of the car and stormed towards the two men standing outside the apartment building. Even though she looked relaxed, she moved so quickly that her ponytail whipped behind her back with each step she took. Her face was hard and her shoulders tense as she passed the guards and headed into the building.I grunted in frustration, gripping the steering wheel harder. “You have got to be fucking kidding me,” I whispered into the silence of the car before slamming my palm on the wheel.Nadia Sidorov had a bite, and I had no fucking clue what to do with her.She wasn’t like any other woman I had met before. She was hot-headed, stubborn and had a fucking smart mouth. Just like her brother. They were similar in many ways, but one thing that set her apart from every woman on this damn earth was that I was completely and utterly smitten by her.Fuck me.And it was bad news. It was fucking bad news.I could just imagine Ivan looking at me and laughing his
[NADIA]I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t study.What the hell was wrong with me? For the past two hours, I had been staring at the pages of my textbook but none of the words were registering in my brain. And the more I stared at the book, the more I started to hate the sight of it.I threw the book aside and pushed myself off the bed, pacing the length of the room. I was so restless that it physically pained me to stay still. My heart was pounding so loudly against my chest that I could feel it in my ears, and my hands were shaking. There was something bubbling in the pit of my stomach, something that felt a lot like anger.I didn’t understand why I was feeling like this. Why was I so bothered?Dimitri fucked me last night. Big deal. He was a man, I was a woman. It wasn’t the first time I had slept with someone, and it sure as hell wouldn’t be the last. So why the fuck was I acting like a hormonal teenager whose crush didn’t notice her existence?I was being pathetic.I paced t
[DIMITRI]“Boss, we’ve got a hit!” Alexei exclaimed as soon as I answered the call.I narrowed my eyes at the road ahead. “What?”He nodded, breathing heavily. “Yeah. They found them. Tatiana and Lena. You should get back fast.”I gripped the steering wheel tightly and pressed the pedal, accelerating the car.Nadia, who sat on the passenger seat, all buckled up, let out a short squeal of surprise at the sudden jolt of speed. I glanced at her briefly, noticing how her hands flew to the side to grip the handle.She was quiet the whole ride.After I had made her pack her bags and forced her to come with me, she didn’t utter another word. She didn’t argue, didn’t cry, didn’t even look at me.Fine by me. I didn’t need her drama anyway.I focused back on the road and sped past a few cars, ignoring Nadia’s deathly grip on the handle.“I’m at least twenty minutes away. Send me the location. I’ll be there as soon as possible.”Alexei ended the call without replying.I put the phone back on the
(Flashback) “Loyalty is everything in this business, Ana,” Ivan growled, his voice low and dangerous. “And if you’re not loyal, you know what happens.” Anastasia’s eyes widened as she heard the threat in his words. She knew all too well the consequences of betraying Ivan and his criminal organization. “I’ve been loyal, Ivan,” she pleaded, her heart pounding in her chest. “I swear it.” Ivan’s expression remained hard as he advanced towards her, his hand reaching out to grip her arm with bruising force. “Don’t lie to me, Ana,” he snarled, his breath hot against her face. “You know what will happen if I find out you’re hiding something from me.” (Flashback Ends) * * * [ANASTASIA] I wake up to the blaring sound of my alarm, a sudden jolt that sends my heart racing. The stillness of my small, dimly lit bedroom is shattered by the noise, and I can’t help but feel a surge of anxiety coursing through my veins. My eyes dart around the room, scanning the shadows for any signs of danger. E
(Flashback)Anastasia scoffed as she deftly folded Ivan’s rumpled clothes and placed them inside the mahogany closet. “I don’t need a grandiose wedding, Ivan,” she remarked, her eyes rolling at his dishevelled room. “And how do you manage to make such a mess all the time? Don’t tell me you’re too busy to at least make your bed.”Ivan chuckled, sneaking up behind her and enveloping her in his embrace, planting a gentle kiss beneath her ear. “I don’t care about the wedding, my love. I just want you as my wife so I can make love to you for hours on end.”Anastasia blushed at his bold words, but she relished in his possessive touch, content to let him hold her tight. “And what about what I want?” she countered, teasingly. “What if I don’t like you hovering over me like a bee all the time? What if I want you to focus on your work and leave me be?”Ivan raised an eyebrow, his lips curving into a mischievous smirk. With a sudden movement, he pinned her against the wall, his lips finding the
(Flashback)Ivan’s eyes blazed with fury as he grabbed Ana by the hair, yanking her head back to face him. “Ana!” he growled, his grip tight and unyielding. “Don’t you dare lie to my face. Tell me where he is. Tell me now, and I promise I won’t hurt you. But if you keep playing these games with me, I swear I’ll burn this whole place to the ground!”Ana’s eyes filled with tears as she struggled against the pain, the sharp pull of her hair almost too much to bear. “I don’t know anything,” she hissed, her fingers clawing at his hand, trying to pry it loose. “I swear it. The fact that you even think I’d lie to you makes me feel like you don’t know me at all. I love you, Ivan. But the way you treat me makes me wonder if you love me at all. What happened to us?”(Flashback Ends)* * *[ANASTASIA]“Hey there, little guy,” I said to Ivan Jr. as I knelt down in front of him, my heavy overcoat weighing me down. His blue eyes shone with innocence and curiosity as he looked up at me. “I’m going t