by Serena Vale
His mouth once again found its way to hers and she could taste the musk of their union on his lips. Her tongue slipped over his lips this time and she delighted in probing the recesses of his mouth. His enthusiasm did not diminish and more to her surprise, his thrusting took on new and greater fervor than before.
Her fluids began to surge, nearing their peak for the second time. She moaned at its approach and felt her fingers digging into Alexi’s shoulders. Her fingers clutched so tightly that she was frightened that she might yet draw blood. But he didn’t seem to mind as they continued to dance the most ancient and primal of partnerships.
His thrusts deepened… her legs spread to accommodate his motions… he pumped four… nine… eleven more times… then held. She felt a small yelp build up inside of her that she managed to catch in her throat, a soundless scream formed on her face as the end result finally held, overcoming them both.
She tried counting the seconds that the sensation lasted, losing count somewhere around four or five before her senses became too befuddled to even count straight as her body became awash in the aftershock of her own personal inner earthquake. Her breathing came back to her and her legs trembled once more with the sensation of what she could only have described as earth shattering.
“Oh, god…” she managed to whisper.
Alexi pushed himself up, resting on his elbows and looking down at her. His face was beaded with sweat and in the darkness he still looked radiant. “Sorry…” he whispered back, sounding lightly breathless himself.
“For what?”
He licked his lips. “I… I should have done much better.” She wasn’t certain in the darkness, but it looked as if he could have been blushing. “I suppose I have been too long without a woman.”
Despite the reasons he had come to her, she felt a surge of victory within her. “You haven’t forgotten much, Alexi. I’d give you highest marks.” She chuckled, “Although… if anyone finds out about this, I could be disbarred.”
Alexi chuckled this time and gently kissed her lips. “This is a Russian embassy. You cannot violate the laws of your country here.”
A technicality, she realized, but despite that she laughed and kissed him back.
They held their embrace for a few moments before Alexi withdrew himself from inside of her and rolled upon her bed beside her. She nestled herself in the pit of his arm, lightly kissing his chest.
“Do you mind if I stay here tonight?”
She beamed at him. She hadn’t minded sharing her body, but there was always something appealing in sharing her space afterwards. The appeal held that she had never really done it before. All of her previous partners had been quick to leave for whatever reason and she hadn’t tried to stop them. But Alexi… he was a detainee here in this embassy. Where was he going to disappear to?
Even so, there was something special in keeping Alexi with her for the remainder of the night… and the thought of sharing it with him didn’t sound at all bad. She looked to her bedside clock… Jesus! Did all of that really happen in just over an hour? Whatever the case, she was happy to have him here for as long as she could manage it. “Really? Won’t it look strange if you leave here in the morning in nothing but your trousers?”
He smiled. “No… this is a private wing. Yuri will know where I am and he will collect me before anyone can become suspicious.”
She nodded, comfortable with the arrangement. “Sure… if you like.”
He gently kissed her forehead. “You really are the best at what you do.”
“Next time… I’ll try and do better too.”
He chuckled as he encircled her with one arm. “Oh… you plan on us doing this again, do you?”
“Unless you don’t want to?”
He gently stroked the side of her face. “I would not be adverse to the idea,” he said fondly. But then his expression soured, becoming more solemn. “But my future may not permit it… unless…” He paused.
“Unless what?”
He didn’t respond at once, but shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. It is something that can wait until morning.”
They didn’t speak again, but settled together with his arm around her and her head resting on his chest, listening to the beat of his heart.
Regina was content to live in the moment and simply savor the intimacy that she had been fortunate enough to share. But even as she lay there, the sweat drying from off of her body, Alexi’s words echoed in her mind.
She was the best at what she did… which was winning cases that seemed unwinnable. And she had no idea how she was going to pull this one off. The thought was still bouncing around in her head until finally sleep claimed her.
Chapter 8
When she opened her eyes the next morning, Regina noted right away that Alexi was gone. His sleeping trousers had vanished, as had the bottle of vodka he had brought with him the night prior. She looked to her alarm clock and found that she still had at least twenty minutes before the alarm was to go off.
Was I dreaming?
She sat up and noticed that she was still quite naked and the ruined remains of her sleeping gown and panties sat idly on the floor. Both were proof enough that she had not imagined the passions she’d had from the previous night. And her body still had that same tenderness that she associated with afterglow. A smile touched her face at the thought of it. She supposed that she should have been a little insulted to wake and find Alexi gone, but somehow his disappearance didn’t bother her in the slightest. She would be seeing him soon enough anyway.
Then her eyes fell upon a note, written in Russian on her bedside table. She gathered it up and chuckled at the small and simple missive that had been left for her.
Court is at 8:00. Don’t be late. I need you.
- A
She smiled at the message and quickly bounded for the shower. She could not clean and dress herself fast enough for a desire to get ready for court. She washed away all traces of musk that had followed her from last night and put on the best of the dress suits that she had brought with her.
She was half dressed when she exited the shower and found a surprise waiting for her. A breakfast cart had been brought in while she was cleaning up. It was laden with porridge, potatoes, and a small serving of meat that smelled like pork and a pitcher of chilled orange juice.
She swallowed her breakfast, brushed her teeth, and gathered up all of her legal materials after she finished dressing and for the first time since last night she began to think over how she was going to save Alexi. She found new motivations for pursuits from last night and she found that they carried her to new heights of thinking.
She checked her watch and found that she had ten minutes to arrive at the court room and was quick to make her way there, motivated by professionalism as much as… What? Love? Lust?
She wasn’t sure. She contemplated it on the elevator ride up to the court room as to what it was that she had done. With her sexual appetite sated for the moment she had the advantage of clearer thinking. Was she in love with Alexi? Logic dictated that she couldn’t be after only one night. But somehow, that didn’t feel right. Was it lust then? No… that didn’t seem right either. Lust had never left her wanting more. This was something else… something more profound…
I’ll have time to figure it out later.
Her thoughts were shut down completely when the elevator bell chimed and she stepped off into the familiar hall containing all of the doors marked with court rooms or judge’s chambers. She found the proper court room and stepped inside and found that it was empty, save for Alexi standing beside the same table as yesterday, talking to Yuri in hushed tones.
He had cleaned up again, and handsomely, she noted. His hair was combed and though he still had the same kind of appeal he’d had last night, she noticed that there was something different about him. There was something… serious… in the way he looked.
As she drew nearer she could hear Alexi whispering to Yuri and was only able to catch the t
ail end of their conversation. And from the sound of things, it was not a pleasant one.
“…is madness, Alexi!” Yuri said with a tone that rang of life-and-death urgency to her ears.
“Just see it done,” Alexi replied smoothly. “You’re the only one that I can trust with this, Yuri. And you are the logical choice.”
Yuri registered her arrival as she stepped in behind the table and gave her a sharp and piercing looking before looking back to Alexi.
“Can I count on you?” Alexi whispered to his oldest friend.
Yuri’s shoulders shrank as he let out a deep breath. “Are you certain?” he asked resignedly.
Alexi replied with a nod.
Yuri again gave another deep breath. “Then I shall… for you.”
Alexi smiled and patted his large friend on the shoulder. “Thank you, Yuri.”
With that, Yuri turned and urgently left the court room, not sparing a look back as he pulled a cell phone from his pocket and quickly dialing and number before disappearing through the doors.
She looked to Alexi, “Is everything alright?”
Alexi nodded. “Yes. Business is all.”
She nodded back. “Alright, listen… I was thinking about today. And I think I have some ideas about how to put reasonable doubt in Utkin’s mind to get you acquitted. Now it won’t be easy, but I was thinking about what you told me about the…”
“Regina,” he said, putting a hand up and silencing her with two of his fingers upon her lips. The simple gesture held tremendous power, she noticed. “I have full confidence in you…”
The doors to the court room opened and she turned to see Abram walking in, a look of determined malice on his face. Surrounding him was an air of confidence – perhaps it was more of a certainty – that gave her a fresh chill about the hearing to come.
“… but I have a plan,” he added quietly, withdrawing his fingers. “And I will need your support when the time comes.”
She didn’t have time to ask what he meant. The door to the judge’s chamber opened and she saw Utkin come strolling in, adorned in the same garb as he had been the day before.
He settled into his chair and regarded both her, Alexi, and then Abram. “Be seated,” he said.
They sat as the judge flipped open his notes and reviewed what was written there before looking back to them. “Mr. Fyodorov, you may now make your opening statement.”
Before Abram could speak, Alexi surprised her by rising to his feet. “Your honor, if I may be heard?”
Regina felt a bolt of fear shoot through her as he did so and she quickly tried to silence him, but he waved her off.
“Mr. Romanov, this is my court room… I will not have you turn it into one of your business meetings,” Utkin said, his voice ringing with warning. “We will observe the proper procedures for…”
“If you will indulge me, your honor, I can save Mr. Fyodorov some effort and I can also save you precious time. I would like to confess my crimes and bring this matter to a close,” Alexi said matter-of-factly. “That is what you were most interested in, was it not, your honor?”
Utkin’s face was blank and Regina spared a quick look to Abram’s face and saw a look of complete surprise on his features as well, though he still looked smug. Her mind began to reel again for the second time in as many days, though the first time had been in bed with Alexi. She would have preferred that.
The judge leaned forward in his chair and stared across the room at Alexi as if his gaze could have turned men to stone. “Mr. Romanov… just to be clear… you are in fact admitting to your crimes?”
She tapped at Alexi’s flank and whispered furiously, “Alexi, what’re you doing?”
He silenced her with a gentle clasp her hand. To the judge he said, “I am admitting that I have a connection to my business dealings, your honor… but whether or not I am guilty of any crime… that is for you to say.”
Regina began to rise in her seat, but Alexi put a firm hand on her shoulder and pushed her back into it. The strength that he did so hurt her shoulder but she felt the urgency in his action more. From it she was able to understand a simple truth; He knows what he’s doing.
Every fiber of her professional mind warned her to prevent this from happening. But somehow, she felt the insistence in his grip that the best course of action that she could do was to remain quiet.
“For the record, your honor,” Alexi went on, “what I have to say is going against my council’s advice.”
“Noted,” the judge said, scribbling on his notepad. “Now, what do you have to say, Mr. Romanov?”
Alexi took a deep breath. “Your honor… Mr. Fyodorov represents parties that have stated that I am guilty of swindling… stealing… perhaps one might even say embezzling. Perhaps I am in the eyes of those that have something to lose.”
Regina stayed quiet, listening and watching.
“That I am guilty of something, I suppose is true. But the severity of the crime that they are accusing me of does not match their hatred for me.”
“Mr. Romanov…,” the judge said, holding up a hand to silence him, “I would recommend that your attorney in this matter be the one to offer these words. Perhaps you have not thought this matter through clearly.”
Alexi nodded. “My attorney is not aware of the true severity of my crimes your honor. And I’m sure that you’re well aware of whom Mr. Fyodorov represents and what it is that they require you to perform on their behalf.”
The judge’s face turned red and Regina feared for a heartbeat that he might actually explode. She gripped the armrests of her chair nervously.
“Mr. Romanov!” the judge barked.
“If I may…” Alexi went on, “I know that the old system of life has not been entirely done away with. There is a way you can provide them what they ask for and serve justice simultaneously.”
The judge’s face remained red, but Regina noticed a curious twitch of his eye. He seemed to regard Alexi carefully, as if weighing his words for any sign of deception. Finding none, he relaxed his chair a little. “What do you have in mind, Mr. Romanov?”
Abram chose that moment to speak up. “Your honor, if I may be heard?” he asked fretfully. “I would like to go on record…”
“No, Mr. Fyodorov… I would very much like to hear what the defendant has to say… irregular as this may be.” He looked to Alexi, “Proceed.”
Alexi straightened his tie. “I am aware that those who are baying for my blood would very much like to see me returned to Russia… mostly to satisfy their own ends. And at some point I will likely be found dead drowning myself in numerous bottles of vodka if they are feeling generous.”
“Your honor…” Abram began to object.
“Silence please, Mr. Fyodorov,” the judge said, his tone a bit more relaxed. “Continue, Mr. Romanov…”
“I would very much like to continue living as much as the opposition would like to see their money returned. I’m prepared to do so… just not on their terms.”
Utkin arched a curious eyebrow.
Alexi gestured over his shoulder at the court room doors. “I have just sent my trusty friend, Yuri, to see to the dispensation of funds to the parties in question whom I have apparently mishandled. Very shortly, the interested parties in this case will find that three-times the money that they lost will be returned to their accounts.”
“Your honor…” Abram said, again trying to speak up.
“And all of it will be coming from my private financial account,” Alexi interrupted. “And this is half of what Mr. Fyodorov was sent to achieve, is it not?”
Regina felt a shock shoot through her heart. She wasn’t aware of what Alexi’s assets were in total, but she could do the math in her head well enough to know that such a gambit could ruin him financially. Not to mention that $5 billion had been earmarked for her firm and if she failed to deliver… she felt a shudder at what Carver would do.
“It is,” the judge said, silencing Abram with a look. “And
I’m certain that the interested parties would be satisfied with a settlement that large.” He gave Alexi a stern look, “But this is not all that they require in order for justice to be served. The interests of the people – all of them – must be served.”
“I am aware of that your honor. My actions, though illegal, have also seen the building of new schools… proper highways… facilities meant to keep our people from freezing to death when winter returns. My assistant, Yuri, is also seeing to it that the persons Mr. Fyodorov represents will get credit for their “donations” to see these structures built. Surely it could not hurt them to show a little respect for the people whom they labor to serve?”
Utkin took that in and Regina also noticed that even Abram seemed to be mulling that idea over favorably in his mind. His face even lit with an unexpected smile, as if he had just discovered some wonderful bonus for his efforts.
“No… it wouldn’t hurt their reputations at all,” the judge said favorably. “That still leaves the problem of your extradition, Mr. Romanov. Federal requests dictate that the matter is to be handled.”
“I have also considered that, your honor.” Alexi drew up a breath and squared his shoulders. “To that end… I believe that the opposition would accept a political avenue,” he added pointedly.
The judge’s face changed in a way that Regina wouldn’t have thought possible. It lit with glee. She found that expression more frightening than when he had looked red with rage.
“You are aware, of course, Mr. Romanov, of what that will entail should I rule so?” Utkin said, his smile nearly dripping with anticipation.
Alexi nodded. “I am, your honor, and I am prepared to accept it. I have already made preparations for such… my companion, Yuri Salnikov, has agreed to oversee the transition of my estate into federal hands.”
The judge was quiet for a short time before bridging his fingers and gave an approving nod. “In the old days, a sacrifice like this would have seen you well-rewarded for your service to people and country, Mr. Romanov.”
