VEN

by K. Webster

  “Maybe we should put her in the cage,” Rodion says, his voice low and seductive.

  “She’d be fun to train,” Zahkar agrees, running his eyes down my form.

  I don’t know what this cage is, but I don’t want to be in it.

  Vas laughs as he wipes away blood from his lip. He isn’t wearing a shirt and all his colorful tattoos are on display. He’s bleeding from several cuts on his chest, and for a moment, I wonder if he ruined my dress. His jeans are hanging low on his hips, revealing a black band of Calvin Kline underwear.

  “What are you doing here?” I grumble.

  He shrugs and opens his mouth as Zahkar comes at him with one of his pills. “Playing. All work and no play fucking sucks,” Vas says with a groan after he swallows it.

  “I’m sure our father loves that,” I mumble.

  Zahkar feeds Vika a pill, and my stomach tightens with nerves. I wish Ven would get back already. He arrives and sets our drinks on a nearby table. I’m shocked when he and Rus both open their mouths so Zahkar can feed them pills too. When Zahkar turns to me, he smirks as if to say you’re the only one left.

  Ven takes the pill and walks over to me. His body heat nearly scorches me when he leans in, and says, “Trust me, Diana. You need to relax.” He uses his thumb to pull on my bottom lip until I open. The acrid pill gets placed on my tongue. Ven hands me a stout drink, and I chug down the awful taste.

  “Come sit so we can talk,” Rodion says, addressing us all. He motions to the piece of furniture before taking a seat. Ruslan follows suit, dragging Vika by her arm. Apparently jealous of his cousin, he sits between them. Vas saunters over to the other side of Vika, and Zahkar sits beside him. I’m stuck next to Rodion, with Ven on my other side beside Zahkar, completing the circle.

  Drinks get passed around, and the guys start telling stories. Apparently, Vas knows Ven’s cousins well. From what I’ve picked up, Rodion, Zahkar, and Rodion’s older brother Timofei own Klub Chernyy. And underneath, there is something they refer to as “the cage.” Vas talks about the opponent he annihilated moments before, and I realize they’re talking about an underground fight scene.

  Ven leans over to my ear, his hot breath tickling my flesh. “For as much as Father loves his whores, he loves his blood. My cousins breed fighters. They trained me well for The V Games. I taught Vlad what I knew, but we came to Moscow a lot to get their training. Rodion is fucking ruthless in the cage—he’ll shred a man to fucking bits. Zahkar is a blind killer—he can do it with his eyes closed. Vas also trained with them some, under Vlad’s guidance last year. Now, Vas and my cousins are good friends, so he does it on his own. If you ever need to learn a thing or two about brutal fighting, my cousins would love to educate you.”

  He smiles, nudging my knee, and hands me another drink that keeps getting refilled on our table by a tall, slender barmaid with high cheekbones that would make a runway model jealous.

  Zahkar says something to Ven, and he leaves my neck to talk with his cousin. My heart patters in my chest as the music seems to take on a breathing quality. The room appears to fill and drain. Colors bleed to black, then back again. Whatever they gave me has my senses going haywire.

  “Ever had ecstasy?” Rodion questions, his face close to mine. He smells good. Really damn good.

  “N-No,” I murmur.

  He runs his fingertip down my neck, and shivers of pleasure run through me. It’s like his finger is coated in feathers, and my skin shimmers with his touch.

  “What about acid?”

  “I don’t do drugs,” I whisper as my eyes close. Behind my lids, colors and patterns and shapes dance before me.

  “This drug does you,” Rodion says with a dark chuckle. “It’s like if ex and acid fucked dirty…this drug would be their love child.”

  Hot wetness on my neck has my eyes fluttering open. I’m no longer sitting up, but lying back. My fingers are conjoined with Ven’s as he stares intently at me, jade-green eyes boring into me. Rodion is on my other side, licking my neck below my ear. I drag my gaze down to Zahkar, who has my leg pulled off to the side over Ven’s body. He nips at my skin above my knee.

  I’m so overwhelmed by ambiances.

  My thoughts are gone.

  Just sensations.

  “I feel color,” I tell Ven.

  He chuckles—a deep, throaty sound that never ceases to send thrills through me—and runs his tongue along my wrist. “Do you feel this?”

  “Why are we doing this?” I ask. My panties under my dress are wet. No one is touching me where I need to be touched. Rodion bites my neck, and I arch off the furniture.

  “Because you need to lighten the fuck up, moya roza,” he says before nipping at my thumb. “Are you relaxed?”

  The room seems to circle around me, like we’re on a carousel. I twist my head around when I hear a moan. Vika’s dress is hitched up to her waist, and her panties are gone. Vas is leaning over her, their tongues dueling. They’re kissing? My brother then dips his head down between her thighs and starts licking her. She moans as she grabs at Vas’s hair to keep him going. His fingers fuck in and out of her slowly. I want to be shocked, offended even, by their blatant display, but I’m so out of control of my own body’s sensations, it’s leaving me adrift from my morals. I don’t even feel tethered to my body anymore. I’m just a conscience existing on pleasure and happiness. The smile spreading across my face is one I can’t control. The lust swirling in the atmosphere is toxic, and I can’t get enough.

  “Nobody will fuck you,” Ven growls, dragging me back to our own little party. “But if you want them to touch, it might help you calm down. You’ve had a hell of a time the past few weeks.”

  “We party with our cousin any time he comes to Moscow,” Rodion says, then uses his teeth to tug my dress down over my shoulder. “We like to share.”

  “But he says we can’t fuck you,” Zahkar chimes in, his palm sliding up the inside of my thigh. “We want to, but you’re something he’s made clear to us we can’t have.”

  Ven smirks at me. “I’ll protect you and watch over you. Let everything go for a little while, Diana. Tomorrow, you can go back to being fierce and in control. Tonight, let the angel bites and my family make you feel good.” His palm slides over my stomach, and he pushes my dress up. Rodion sucks on my neck to the point of pain. I twist my head around again to find Vika is completely wanton, letting Vas touch her with his mouth with total disregard for Ruslan. But he’s not concerned, apparently, as he sits beside her getting his cock sucked by the barmaid.

  “Ven,” I mutter, dragging my gaze back to his.

  “Yes?” His lips press to the corner of my mouth. I wish he’d move a little to the left and kiss me. There’s a fever taking over me, and every touch, every breath, every moment, feels intensified and erotic.

  “This is driving me crazy,” I complain.

  He laughs again. “You need to be touched, mmm?” His palm finds my neck, and he grips my flesh in a possessive way before sliding down between my breasts to my stomach, hesitating just inches away from where I need him. “Where do you want to be touched, moya roza?”

  Zahkar runs his tongue up higher, near my panties, and a shudder of delight ripples through me. Rodion licks and bites my shoulder, his mouth getting closer and closer to my breast.

  “Everywhere,” I whisper.

  A hot hand pushes down into my panties, and I stare down to see who it belongs to. Ven’s tattooed hand is buried under the material as he seeks out my soaked flesh. His fingertip slides along my slit, and I cry out. Slowly, he pushes a finger inside, and I nearly black out from the pleasure. This drug has me uncaring about anything but mind-blowing orgasms. He doesn’t fuck me with his finger like I want. Instead, he teases my clit with the wet pad of his finger. Like lightening darting across a sky, the zing of pleasure spreads through me, illuminating my every nerve ending. Zahkar removes my shoes and kisses his way down to my foot. His tongue runs along my ankle bone, sending more flurries of excitem
ent through me. Rodion pulls down the front of my dress to expose my breast. He doesn’t touch me with anything but his tongue. The tip runs a circle around my nipple, and then he abandons it to kiss on my neck some more.

  This is maddening.

  Ven’s mouth hovers over mine, but he doesn’t kiss me. His stare is fiery as he watches my expressions. The pleasure is overwhelming. It’s building deep within my core with each passing second. Teeth nip at my breast, and I cry out. Ven snaps his head to glare at his cousin before biting at my bottom lip, his beard scratching my chin.

  “Where’s that motherfucker, Vas?” someone roars, interrupting our fun. I startle as if someone turned on a cold hose and doused us all. I rapidly cover myself and drag my legs closed. A slither of shame washing over me. The enormity of compromising myself for the simple pleasure of an orgasm sends embarrassment riding through me. Then again perhaps this is what life is like for normal women? Are these all the things I missed out on growing up as a Volkov?

  My eyes dart to the bloody-faced man who has staggered into our sanctuary, hell-bent on getting to my brother. Vas isn’t interested. He’s moved from licking Vika to full on fucking her, hard enough to make her cry out, and Rus has disappeared with the barmaid.

  The intruder starts for Vas, but Zahkar, quickly followed by Rodion, jump to their feet. Ven notices my breathing has hitched and my lust hasn’t been fully sated. Ignoring the intruder, he places a hand around the back of my neck and gazes into my eyes. My pussy clenches, and my insides dance with the intensity. He gently coaxes me to lie back, his hand returning to my core. He doesn’t stop the way he rubs against my clit as his mouth finds my ear. “Watch them. They are brilliant fighters.”

  My eyes glued on his cousins, I watch as they circle the bloody man. Rodion rips off his shirt, revealing his entire tattooed chest, and roars at the man. Zahkar, like a silent panther, circles to his back, and captures the man’s arms, pinning them behind him. Rodion dives his hand into his pocket, and when he pulls it back out, he dons a shiny brass knuckles type object. Lethal and vicious. Rearing back, his lean back muscles clench before he slams his fist into the man’s face with a brutal crunch. Teeth go flying across the floor.

  “Come, sweet Diana,” Ven croons against my ear, his teeth finding my earlobe. “Let it all out.”

  I tense, the need to come overwhelming. “Ven…”

  I’m caught staring at Rodion as he delivers blow after fatal blow, crushing the man’s face beyond repair. The blood. The violence. The drugs. The sexually charged moments. I lose control. Bright white explodes around me as my climax overtakes me. Ven pushes a finger deep inside me, and my pussy clenches around the thickness of it.

  And then I close my eyes.

  I let go of being the big sister.

  The eldest daughter.

  The poised and polite Diana.

  I’m free.

  Me.

  Diana.

  With a lifted brow, sipping my black coffee, I watch as Diana strides into the dining room of our penthouse suite. Hair sleek and perfect. Makeup done up to perfection. Her fitted navy blue long-sleeved dress hits her above her knees, and her brown leather boots stop just below, revealing a small sliver of skin. When she realizes I’m blatantly checking her out, she clears her throat.

  “My brother is in bed with Vika and Ruslan didn’t come back last night. Should I be worried about Yegor killing Vas?” she asks, her chin lifted in a regal manner.

  I chuckle and shrug as I set my coffee down on the end table. “What happens in Moscow stays in Moscow?” I wink at her, indicating I remember how she came at my touch last night.

  Her cheeks bloom pink, and she walks over to the window. It’s snowing heavily, and I don’t look forward to getting out in it. I rise from my chair and walk up behind her. She tenses, but doesn’t move away. I inhale her hair as I grip her hips.

  “Father won’t find out,” I tell her, staring at her reflection in the glass. “I’ll make sure of it. Last night was just for fun. Nobody has to know.”

  Father wouldn’t tolerate Vika laying with any other man. I’m glad Ruslan made off with one of the women from the club so he didn’t see Vas escalate from foreplay to full blown fucking his fiancée. Vas has always been one to pull on the leash he’s been given. It’s part of what makes him such a great fighter. He needs to watch his back, though. While Ruslan may have been cool with him playing with his future wife because he was clearly getting his own enjoyment from the bar slut, Father would lose his shit if he caught wind of this.

  Father most definitely will not find out about this.

  Father and I have always had a different viewpoint on most things in life, this included. If he knew half the shit I did, he’d lose his mind. If he knew my cousins not only shared pussy with each other, but enjoyed each other’s cock too, he’d disown them.

  “When we get home, I want to meet with Vas about what’s left with my part of the Volkov empire.” She sighs, her shoulders hunching slightly. “I’m afraid of what that answer will be.”

  “Diana,” I growl as I turn her to face me. “Leonid is nothing without you. Vas is a quick learner, but he’s better suited for the cage than an office.”

  “Without Volkov Spirits, I am going crazy. It was my life,” she mutters, her gaze dropping down. “I had everything put into Irina’s name to safeguard our ownership, but now she’s…” she trails off, defeated.

  I place my finger under her chin and lift her head until our eyes meet again. She has hickeys that she tried and failed to cover scattered all over the left side of her neck from my cousin. I love the bruises on her flesh. Purple and blue and sexy as fuck. I let my knuckle run down along the side of her throat. “It’s time to make a new life, moya roza.”

  Her eyes flutter closed, and I lean in to kiss her. She parts her plump lips, So vulnerable. My lips press against hers, and I kiss her slowly, as though we have all the time in the world. Like this is something we’ve been doing for an eternity. Like I fucking own her. Those lips. This tongue. Her fucking body to simultaneously bruise and worship. Her heart to mend. And her fucking soul to devour and fuse with my own.

  Our tongues lazily dance with each other. She tastes like mint and sweetness, just like I remember from so long ago. I wish it were just she and I here. I’d find a way to get her into my bed and show her our bodies were meant for each other. My dick hardens, her allure tempting me dangerously so. Unfortunately, we’re not alone, and this moment isn’t meant for anyone but us.

  “I have to get back, but I can’t find my fucking pants,” Vas complains as he exits Ruslan’s room.

  I pull away from Diana, savoring her gasp as I turn to face her brother. His brown hair is sticking up every which direction and he looks like he’s been hit by a truck. He has claw marks on his shoulders and hickeys on his neck. The sheet from the bed is wrapped around his waist, outlining the shape of his flaccid cock. He’s packing a monster. No wonder little Vika screamed from her suite all night. No doubt she’ll be walking with a limp for the next week.

  “Did you look on the balcony?” I ask with a quirked brow. When Diana disappeared to her room last night, Vas and I shared a smoke, but we were interrupted when Vika attacked him like a cat in heat. I watched with amusement as they tore apart each other’s clothes and he fucked her against the railing. Had I known Vas could keep her away from my dick, I’d have pushed this union a long time ago.

  “Goddammit,” he groans as he pushes through the doors. Icy air blasts in, and he starts bitching loudly as he kicks around the snow barefoot until he finds his jeans. He picks them up, and they are hardened. “Goddammit!”

  Diana lets out a sigh, and I laugh at the stupid ass. He comes back inside and shakes his jeans.

  Nodding to my room, I say, “I have some jeans that’ll fit you. Get dressed and get out of here before my brother shows up. I think he might not be so keen to you fucking his fiancée.”

  Vas grumbles as he shuffles out of the living room.
Ten minutes later, he comes back out wearing one of my sweaters too. He finds his shoes and coat just inside the door. Once he’s dressed, he starts for the door.

  “Vas,” Diana says as she approaches her brother.

  “I know, I know. I’ll behave.” He smirks. Liar.

  She laughs. “You’re such a brat.” She hugs him, and then softly asks, “How’s Irina?”

  He grips her shoulders and pulls her away. “Do you really want to know?”

  “Of course. She’s my sister,” she hisses.

  He flashes me a guilty look before turning back to her. “You know our father and I have men everywhere. Always watching.”

  She nods. “Is she okay?”

  “They went to a jewelry store and she came out wearing a shiny engagement ring. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, but one of Vlad’s maids named Rada said she overheard them talking about getting married.” He runs his fingers through his messy hair. “I’m sorry.”

  Diana simply nods. “Continue to keep an eye on her and keep me posted.”

  He ruffles her hair, and then, he’s gone.

  “Excuse me,” she mutters before her heels clack loudly as she runs to her room, slamming the door behind her.

  “Let’s see,” I tell Rodion. I have a duffel bag full of cash I’m waiting to fork over to my cousins, but I need to see what I’m paying for first.

  Rodion isn’t in club owner mode at the moment. He’s in fighter mode. His dark brown hair drips with sweat and his eye is swelling. Shirtless and wearing nothing but a pair of basketball shorts, he saunters through the back rooms behind the cage until we reach a closed door, pulls out his mouth guard, and shoves it in his pocket.

  “Where’s the Volkov girl?” he asks as he keys in a code to enter the room.