It took me more than a few minutes to navigate the rest of the distance to the road, but once there I walked along it away from my father’s estate, calling for a cab to take me to the club.
Thankfully it wasn’t a busy night of the week, and I soon had my transport lined up. While I waited I carried on walking, the night sky clear and sporting a crescent moon.
The taxi soon arrived, the driver one I recognised. I tried not to answer too many of the questions he asked, but it was clear he recognised me too. I’d called for a cab one too many times. Maybe it was time I found another way to get my car back when I drank.
As I was driven closer to the club again I found myself fidgeting, playing with the handle of my handbag. Would he be there again? Did I want him to be?
I exhaled, trying to calm myself as I paid the cab driver and got out.
Once more I was admitted without fuss, but I hesitated just inside the door, the club down the hallway. Before I could persuade my feet to move, Yazov came down a set of stairs, stepped over a rope across the bottom and smiled at me.
“I wondered if I’d be seeing you again this evening.”
I raised an eyebrow before he winked.
“You’re not the first woman who has come back to see how serious another man might be.”
“I doubt I’ll be the last,” I replied, walking alongside him towards the club.
“Sadly, he’s not here. I believe work has called him away, but you made an impression on Konstantine.”
“Konstantine?” I asked, my mouth falling open.
Yazov chuckled. “He had a similar reaction when he found out who you were. Sorry for spoiling that, by the way. I thought he knew.”
I waved off the apology, more concerned with the earlier divulgence. Konstantine was a man I’d heard of. In a lot of ways my mysterious hook-up had grown even more mysterious.
By the time Yazov and I arrived at the bar I’d managed to gather myself.
“Let me know the next time he’s here?” I asked.
“You know, most people give someone their number if they want to see them again.” Yazov gave me a look that made it clear he didn’t entirely mind my request despite his words.
“I’m not exactly most people. And you know my father monitors my phone. Too many people willing to hack it for him.”
“True. Which is why I’m willing to help. All children should have a way of keeping secrets from their parents.”
I grinned as the bartender brought me my usual drink without me even requesting it.
Perhaps I could have just the one, then head home again.
One turned into two, and then a third, my hand clutching the glass as I thought about my day. It had been more than a little unexpected. I was just starting to wonder what I was doing with my life, when someone sat down beside me. Before I could even glance his way a ferret scampered down his arm, onto the bar and over to me, chattering.
My breath stuck in my throat, my eyes unable to tear themselves away from the creature until I heard a chuckle beside me.
“I can’t decide if he likes you or not. He doesn’t normally react to anyone unless they’re in his space. But you...”
“He may be reminding me I owe you,” I said, my brain saving me from making a mess of our conversation right away. I reached into my handbag and pulled out the equivalent cash that I’d pinched that morning. “I needed a cab.”
For a moment he merely stared at the money, but then he made a strange clucking noise with his tongue. His pet reached out, took the folded notes and scurried over to him. They disappeared into his jacket along with the animal.
“Well, that’s an interesting trick.”
“Ferrets are bright creatures. He learned that one all by himself.”
“Oh, I bet he did.”
There was a moment of silence, both of us facing each other, his body leaning against the bar, like he was relaxing by the side of a pool, not sitting in the noisiest club in Moscow. I wondered for a moment if anything had changed, now that we knew about each other.
“Do you want to dance?” he asked after a few more seconds, although none of them had felt awkward. I tilted my head to the side as I thought. It had been a long time since I’d come here for that reason.
Normally I drank and watched everyone else, but I’d made love to this man, or rather, let him make love to me. I was more than eager to take him to the dance floor and find out if he danced the way he screwed, in control.
Eventually I nodded, downing the last of my drink. Taking my hand in his, without a word, he led me to the floor, off to one side so we’d have enough space to move around each other.
As soon as we had found a good spot, he stopped and used my arm to pull my body in closer. His hands slid to my hips, moving with them as I started to dance in time to the rhythmic dance track. The bass pounded a beat so loud I could feel it thud through me.
At first, Konstantine seemed content to let me dance as I pleased, merely moving with me and keeping me close. But soon I felt his hands apply pressure, steering me, grinding our bodies even closer until I could feel his erection and enough friction past my own groin I was starting to grow aroused. I tried to pull back a little, not sure I wanted to get that turned on so quickly, but his hands grew firmer, resistant.
“Relax,” he said, bringing his mouth near my ear so only I would hear him. “Enjoy this. No one but me will even notice if you come.”
“I’m not worried others might notice,” I replied, having to let him bring me closer again and lift myself on the end of my toes to do so. His hands slid around me, grabbing my ass and helping support me. It pressed his erection against my pussy, sending sparks of desire flooding through my body. Had it been any other man I’d have been disgusted by his blatant sexualisation of our dance, but something about him made this different.
Clamping my mouth firmly shut, I tried not to voice the thought and request that popped into my head. Could we fuck like this, here on the dance floor? Would anyone notice if we did? I’d heard of people doing it, but I’d always thought it crass, vulgar. But for a moment it was all I could think about. How good it would feel if he impaled me, if he forced me to try and move to the beat while he drove into me again and again.
While I tried to push the idea out of my head I grew hotter and hotter, my dancing more than enough to stimulate my body. With every movement, still somehow in time to the music, his manhood stroked across my clit, my clothes thin enough I could enjoy the friction almost as if I was naked.
The songs blurred into the background, his breathing by my ear becoming my focus. I could hear it grow more ragged, his own body responding to what we were doing, but he never lost the beat.
As I moved closer and closer to my climax, my legs grew weaker, until I was holding on to him as much as dancing against him. Biting my lip, I fought back the desire to yell his name, only just succeeding as the first wave of an orgasm crashed over me. Unable to keep dancing while lost in such ecstasy, I let him support my entire weight for a moment.
Coming back down from the heady bliss he’d pushed me to, I realised he was still unsatisfied. Our eyes met for a moment, but his expression gave nothing away. I felt a shudder ripple up my spine at the intense darkness in his eyes. Trying to dispel the feeling, I began gyrating my hips again, once more rubbing up against him in time to the music.
Almost instantly I felt him relax into me, like he’d not dared to ask me to carry on but appreciated that I planned to. I found myself grinning, pleased by the extra power it gave me over him.
My head had almost entirely cleared as his breathing continued to become more ragged. Still, it was the only sign I was returning the favour.
“My, my… Fancy seeing you here,” a voice yelled, close enough to make me jump. Immediately Konstantine went stiff and stopped dancing. I looked up at him before looking around for the source of the voice. I recognised it well enough.
Also stopping my movements, I twisted my head, keeping my bo
dy locked in Konstantine’s hands. Off to one side of us stood Vasily, his shirt open one too many buttons, showing an immaculately shaved chest that, despite the hints at a muscular contour, did nothing to attract my attention. He wore a grin on his face that gave him a fox-like expression.
I felt Konstantine put a little more distance between us, his erection fading fast. None of us spoke, but none of us moved either.
“I’m actually pretty surprised to see you both here. I didn’t think you mixed business and pleasure, Konstantine. Thought you kept yourself to yourself while you had a job.”
“I do once I’ve actually begun,” Konstantine replied, but he stopped talking as if he thought better of explaining himself.
Whether I liked it or not, he backed off even further, his eyes glancing towards the bar and the ferret he’d left there. I felt his hands slide off my hips, making them feel cold, even in a building full of energetic clubbers.
“Nadenka,” he said, giving me a brief nod. His eyes met Vasily’s briefly, but he said or did nothing, instead walking past him, only narrowly missing bumping into him.
“Let me know when you’ve done as I instructed,” Vasily said when Konstantine had just gone past his shoulder. The taller man stopped, looking only half-back towards Vasily, before giving a single up and down of his head. It was the last interaction as he pushed through the crowds back to his pet.
Vasily tilted his head to one side and studied me. For a moment I considered punching him. He’d just interrupted the best dance of my life, and I wasn’t finished with where the evening was going. Somehow I managed to restrain myself.
Thumping the most powerful man in the city wasn’t likely to be a good idea. And with the clear head post-orgasm, I could at least remember that much.
“You don’t look like you were ready to finish dancing. Why don’t I take his place?”
Before I could protest Vasily had stepped close enough to put his arms around me. My mind tried to think of polite ways to tell him to get lost, but none of them came to mind. Instead I swayed my hips, keeping a much larger gap between us than I normally employed.
As we danced he shuffled a little closer, but each time he did, I found a way to back off again, noticing we were getting further and further from the bar.
“You’ve picked an interesting man to spend time with, Nadenka. Especially given how much your father fears for your safety.”
“He’s never been violent while I’ve been around,” I said, realising I sounded like a petulant child.
“Do you know what he does for a living?” Vasily asked, leaning a little closer again. This time I didn’t pull away, too many people close behind us.
“I’ve heard enough.”
“Then you know he’s a violent man. That he gets a kick out of doing unspeakably nasty things to pretty little girls like you.”
“He only does the things men like you pay him to,” I replied as the song ended, quietly enough the crowd wouldn’t hear. Meeting his eyes, I tried to make it clear that I didn’t want to hear any more about the subject, and I moved past him, heading for the bar.
Before I could get away, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me a little closer again.
“Careful, Nadenka. You wouldn’t want your father to know who you’ve been fooling around with. And mark my words, people talk. Even when you come here.”
I set my jaw firmly shut, amazed at my self-control. It was yet another threat. Vasily didn’t want me anywhere near the man. But there was no way I’d ever allow myself to become his instead.
“Excuse me while I get some coffee and sober up. Given your warning, it’s probably best I head home and make sure I’m tucked up in bed when Father expects me to be, isn’t it?” I smiled, although I struggled to make it reach my eyes. It seemed to mollify him, however, and he let my arm go.
I walked away, heading for the bar and the stool I’d vacated only a few minutes earlier. It felt like a lifetime had passed, but it was barely any time at all. My emotions couldn’t have been more difficult to manage. Konstantine hadn’t hesitated to join me again for a second night in a row. If only Vasily hadn’t appeared, I might have had the perfect night.
Somehow I had to find a way to remove myself from Vasily’s interests. But how I’d go about that was a mystery.
April 14th – 0:21am
Kostya
A growl escaped me as I sank behind the wheel of my car. Of all the people to show up, it had to be Vasily Petrushkov. Already I regretted taking the job he’d offered. In reality, I needed the money. But there was a part of me that wanted Nadenka more.
At least you have her name now. But I was not the only one interested in her.
I sighed, not sure I wanted to listen to my mind argue with itself over how good an idea it was to pursue her. She was way out of my league, but Vasily, one of the few men in her league, evidently didn’t hold her attention. If she wanted she could have him eating out of her hand.
Several times I lifted my hand to start the engine, but each time it went somewhere else instead, pushing back my hair, straightening my rear-view mirror, even though it had been fine to begin with, and reaching out to stroke Mitka.
It was no good, I needed to get her out of my system, and there was only one way I could think of doing that. Getting on with the job and making it work in my favour. As I always did.
Before I could engage the ignition, however, there was a knock on the passenger window. Yazov stood there, a six-pack of my favourite beers in his hand. I lowered the window.
“I’ve got a hankering to get away from here for a few hours and you look like you could do with a... distraction. Want to find somewhere quiet and share these with me?” Yazov held up the alcoholic offering.
I raised an eyebrow. This was not a normal interaction with this man. And I could only think of one or two people this could be about. Was I about to be offered some kind of warning? Or perhaps the opposite? Either way, I hadn’t got where I was today without taking a few risks, and Yazov had always seemed like a straight talker.
Within the blink of an eye I’d weighed up the possible outcomes and opened the door. Mitka eyed him suspiciously, but moved onto my headrest so he could sit down.
“Fantastic. I know just the spot. Quiet. No one around for miles. You could talk about anything and no one would ever know.”
I found myself grinning as I pulled off and followed his instructions. It was possible I was in grave danger, but something told me otherwise, and I always followed my gut.
Yazov directed us out the northern edge of Moscow, into the river flats. Just the other side of a bird sanctuary, he told me to take a right and we headed towards the river. Either side of a small tarmacked road that had seen better days, the river had turned the reed-filled land into a sort of marshy bog. It made me glad someone had put in a road, even if a long time ago.
If I needed to run back to the road in a hurry, however, I’d only have one option. And it wouldn’t be good if someone was shooting at me.
The road led to an opening, right by the river. A small hut that had seen better days popped up out of the gloom, no door on the front porch. There was, however, a decent bench tucked behind a waist-high wall.
Yazov headed towards it with the beer and sat down as far to the inside wall as he could get. I appreciated the space as I sat nearer the opposite end. So far so good. He was being respectful, at least.
Grabbing a bottle, he flicked the top off and passed it over. Still wary, I took it, but I waited to drink until he’d brought his own to his lips. After taking a big gulp each, we both lowered them.
I looked out over the river, the sky bereft of clouds but sporting many bright stars.
“I must confess, this isn’t entirely a social thing,” Yazov said. I almost laughed, glad he was finally going to get to the point. “You see, I’ve noticed that you and Nadenka Sokolova are enjoying getting to know each other.”
“She’s a fiery woman,” I replied, almost wincing at how pathe
tic that sounded. It was his turn to chuckle.
“I understand Vasily also has his eye on her.”
“If he does, he’s wasting his time. She’s not interested.”
“Then she’s got some sense, at least. The rumours... Well, they’re not confirmed, but I’d hate to be his Mrs Petrushkova.”
“What has all this got to do with you? I didn’t think affairs of the heart were your thing.”
“They’re not, normally. And I know I pride myself in staying out of any disputes. I’m just a messenger, or finder, rarely taking sides.”
I took another gulp, waiting for him to hurry up and explain himself.
“But there’s someone I have a lot of respect for. Someone who once took Vasily’s interest. She has insisted I keep an eye on any woman Vasily does. Doesn’t want to see anyone hurt.”
“She sounds like an interesting woman.”
“Oh, she was. Very interesting. But she’s not here anymore. I promised her I’d only give people a little nudge, and wouldn’t do too much, but she’d want me to stop Nadenka from being in Vasily’s cross-hairs for long.”
“So you’ve come to me.”
“Yes. You can protect her.”
“I think you’ve forgotten what I do. I fuck up women like her for money.”
“Usually...”
I raised my eyebrows, waiting for Yazov to explain, but he just gulped down some more of the beer.
“This job you’ve got. It’s for Vasily, right?”
“How did you find out?” I asked, not entirely happy he had. I tried to remain neutral by not divulging my client.
“It’s my job to find things. Information, people, jobs, and anything else the dons might need. But anyway, the point is, I can make the job for Vasily impress Sokolov. And if you impress the father, you’ll gain access to the daughter. And his approval.”
“And what about Vasily? I thought you didn’t take sides.”
Claimed by the Thief Page 5
