Niko knocked on the big, white double doors. They opened quickly into a bridal suite that belonged in the Siberian wasteland. Everything was at least a century old, the carpet was black with white flecks in a pattern he was sure he’d seen in this little place on Lake Baikal. The bed was small for a king—he wasn’t even certain it was a king. The bedding was dark red, and almost blended in with the carpet, and all the wood was that reddish brown that seemed to dominate his early memories.
He had to take another drink of water and center himself. The nostalgia was strange and palpable, and he needed to wash it away.
The greasy smell of American pizza centered him. He looked around the room and found Maggie and Luther huddled around a table on the far wall, opening white cardboard boxes. Vadik’s stomach rumbled.
Another knock on the door, and Niko opened it. Andrea and Dani breezed in, both ignoring him. Thankfully, Andrea had changed clothes, although she still wore the big black coat.
He’d be saved from looking at her breasts anymore. He needed to stop looking at her breasts. Thinking about her breasts.
Niko shoved a paper plate into his hand that was heavy with slices of pizza. Vadik devoured the first slice, almost without tasting it. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was until the first bite.
Babushka’s proverb floated into his mind. The appetite comes during the eating. The hunger he’d felt in that room, staring at Andrea’s ass, returned with the saying. He put down the plate and cleared his throat over the low hum of conversation in the room. “I need to sleep, so if we could talk about the plan for tomorrow?”
“Right,” Maggie said, putting down her plate and clapping her hands together. “Well, let’s get started then. Everyone take a seat somewhere.”
The chairs were quickly filled up with Niko and Dani and Luther and Maggie, and the only place left was the bed. Vadik sat on the edge, nearly all the way to one side, and Andrea claimed a place on the opposite edge.
“Since the two of you weren’t on the plane with us,” Luther indicated the bed. “I don’t know how much Niko told you. But Dr. Lee examined the girl, and he found the same markers they found in Faye.” He exchanged a nervous glance with Maggie.
Vadik turned to Andrea. “Who’s Faye?”
“She was a girl we rescued,” Maggie said, with a deep sigh. “From the island. But she died on the island. They took her body to study, since, like Sasha, there were no obvious signs of why she died.”
“They think she was on the island, then?” Andrea took a bite of her pizza and settled down into the coat.
Was she still cold?
Vadik was tempted to scoot across the space between them and take her in his arms. She was cold too much. He could warm her up.
Stop. Look at Maggie. Not at Andrea.
“That’s what Dr. Lee thinks.”
Dani shook her head. “I still think it’s bullshit they want us to abort the mission. Whether she was from the island or not.”
“But if it was really a failsafe, like we think it is,” Maggie said carefully, “Then it would probably have affected Sasha when she came on the island, which means Andrea might be in more danger because she won’t have the device—whatever it is—in her to manipulate.”
“If they can even manipulate them,” Niko interjected.
“Except if we turn the failsafe off, then it won’t affect anyone, right?” Andrea put the pizza down on the bed between them. “We have to do this.”
Her voice had an edge to it that he hadn’t heard since the plane. Something was breaking down inside Andrea, he could tell, and his stomach lurched at the thought. He wanted to do something to stop that happening.
But what could he do? Vadik was nothing to her. And in a few days, they’d never see each other again. Why did he care so much about her state of mind?
Leave it be, man.
Maggie opened her mouth, then closed it. She looked at Luther and shook her head. “We just don’t know for sure.”
“He would have to have a failsafe,” Vadik said. “If I’m a crazy rich guy, and I’m keeping people on an island against their will, and they escaped once before, then I’m paranoid it will happen again. So I’m going to make a way for myself to escape with them if I have to. Take a week of bread before you step out the door, as—”
Luther’s smile went wide. “As Babushka would say, yes. See, Mag? Someone was listening when I talked.”
“We all listen to you, babe.” Maggie patted his leg. “Although, I have no idea what the bread shit meant.”
“Always prepare for the journey you might have to take.” Vadik passed Luther a heavy glance. He wouldn’t say aloud that they both knew the kind of man Adrian was. But he knew Luther understood. Psychos were always prepared.
“He’s right, y’know.” Andrea’s voice was quiet, her eyes down and unfocused, like she wasn’t really present.
Vadik almost reached out for her, but clenched his hand instead.
“Yeah, there has to be a failsafe.” Niko pounded a fist on his knee. “And we have to find it.”
“Okay,” Maggie said, looking around the room. “Let’s put all the cards on the table, then. The alphas want us to close down the mission. Vadik, this may not make much sense to you, but none of us have ever disobeyed a directive from our alphas before.”
He smirked, memories of boot camp assaulting him. “Trust me, I get that.”
“He was in the Russian army,” Luther whispered to Maggie. “Until he went to the dark side.”
“So I get chain of command.”
“This is still a big damn deal.” Dani stood from her chair across the room and shifted her weight from foot to foot. “We’re taking a risk, especially because the alphas gave us a direct order this time.”
“We talked them out of it last time.” Niko reached for Dani’s hip and his hand settled her. She glanced down at him with a smile on her full lips.
“This time, there’s no talking them out of it.” Maggie leaned forward. “I can do some research on Sasha, and Luther, you can look at the schematics of the island we found, thanks to your friend. See if we can find the location of the main power station. That’s the only way we can shut it off.”
“It’s a radio frequency, we think,” Luther said, with a glance at Vadik. “Dr. Lee thinks that’s the only way it could be triggered by someone’s distance from it.”
“Yeah, when we had Faye with us, it was like she was fine and fine and fine, and then she was just dead, with one step too far.” Maggie’s eyes glazed and Luther reached for her. She smiled at his touch. “We think that was what happened with Sasha, too. That there was something in Petrov’s body, or some piece of jewelry or phone or something that put out a frequency, and she’d be fine when she was around it.”
Vadik felt Andrea tense on the bed beside him and cast her a sidelong glance. She was crossed and closed and had made herself small. He wanted to touch her, to relax her, the way the other couples seemed to be able to do.
Only we’re not a couple.
No, they weren’t. And they needed to stay that way.
He sat on his hand. “But wouldn’t she have known about it?”
Maggie shook her head. “We don’t think so. Faye didn’t seem to know, or she wouldn’t have agreed to come with us. And the rest of them never would’ve allowed her to potentially be taken off the island, if they all knew.”
“So he has basically a bomb planted in them, and they could die at any minute, but they don’t know it?” Vadik grunted and leaned back on his hands. They sank into the soft bed. “What a psychopath.”
“We need to get those girls—” Maggie began, but a loud ringing sound interrupted her.
Everyone looked around the room, and Andrea finally jumped to her feet. She dug in her jeans pocket and pulled out a phone.
Her brows folded together. “It’s Aaron.”
“Your brother?” Niko asked.
She nodded and pressed the phone into her jacket. “I have to ta
ke it.” She walked across the room with long, graceful steps.
Maggie caught her arm as she walked by. “Don’t tell him, Andi.”
“I won’t.” She swiped at the phone and stepped through the door.
Vadik felt the same pull to follow her that he had when they’d walked by her hotel room on their way to his.
He didn’t like the flood of emotions that seemed to wash over him whenever Andrea was around, and he certainly couldn’t afford not to be master of his own thoughts any more.
“Aaron.”
“Andrea. I spoke with the Toronto alpha. The body has been taken care of. No one will find it. When will you be home? Dr. Lee wants to call in the Black Rangers, and I have to say I agree with him.”
Stubborn man. “Aaron, they don’t have all the information. If they go in, those people he’s got captive will die. There are children on that island. How could you go around us like this? We’re the ones that have been living this nightmare. We deserve to have a say in how it ends.”
“Y’all aren’t soldiers. It wasn’t right of us to expect so much of you. You’re our family. Brothers. Sisters. Sons. Daughters. This is over, Andrea. Come home.”
She drew a deep breath. The urge to capitulate, to do whatever it was to make her brother happy flooded her thoughts. She couldn’t bear the thought of angering her him, of causing contention between them. But this—this mission—was more important.
Those women and children on that island deserved a chance at a normal life. If they didn’t get on there and turn of that fucking failsafe, Adrian would kill them all. Deep down in her gut she knew that’s what would happen. He’d kill them all before dying himself.
There wasn’t another choice.
“We’re visiting with Niko’s family in Chicago. We’ll be home soon.” The words left her mouth without hesitation. Angry tears burned in her eyes. She’d never lied to her brother before. To her alpha. “Aaron.”
“Yeah, sis?”
“I love you.”
“I love you too, sis. You okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. It’s been a roller coaster ride. Tell Adam and Allan I said hi and that I love them too, okay.”
“Andrea?” Aaron’s voice took on a gravelly texture.
“I’ll see you soon. I miss home. It’s really freaking cold here.”
That comment sealed the deal. Aaron chuckled over the line. “You never did like the cold. See you soon, sis.”
“Bye.” She tapped the red button on her phone screen and let the tears fall. She leaned into the hotel wall and breathed in and out. Slowly. Methodically.
A warm sensation of magick embraced her and she turned to face Vadik. He’d followed her into the hallway.
“We’re doing this. We’re saving those people.” She wiped the trailing moisture from her cheeks.
He nodded. “You don’t have to convince me.”
“You’re going to have to be cold and unfeeling. You’re going to have to not stare at my breasts.”
Vadik nodded again.
“But tonight, we’re not going to be that way. Tonight we’re going to do everything we’ve wanted to do since we met.” She hustled forward and grabbed his arm. “Come with me.”
“Andrea, we can’t.”
“Yes we can.”
She pulled her room key from her back pocket and opened the door across the hallway from Maggie and Luther’s.
Vadik’s closeness stoked a fire inside her body and she wasn’t about to regret never taking this chance with him. Anything could happen on that island. Hell, shit could happen anywhere. Andrea yanked him through the open door.
“You’re stronger than you look.” His eyes were wide, surprised that she’d been able to move him.
The door fell shut behind them, and Andrea released his arm, pressing him up against the closed hotel door with her body.
He forced himself to retreat as far as he could, making his body one with the warped stained wood of the door.
She peered up at him the semi-dark, letting her wolf rise to the surface. She could see the golden glow of her irises reflected in his dark ones. His body tensed for a second.
Andrea wanted him, but she needed to know that he wanted her. Really wanted all of her. Wolf and woman. “I told you I could take care of myself.”
“What you said to your brother…”
She paused, pain mixing into her desire. “What? Your Babushka doesn’t have a snappy proverb for ‘preparing for the worst’?” She pushed closer, pressing her chest against his.
The thump-thump of his heart steadied hers. The layers of clothing between them needed to disappear. She wanted to feel his rock hard body skin-to-skin.
“I have regrets, Vadik. But you’re not going to be one of them.” Andrea slid her hand down his torso and across the front of his pants. He was like granite and needed her every bit that she needed him.
“We are playing with fire.”
She cupped his erection through the leather and squeezed. A groan rumbled from deep in his chest and she shuddered with anticipation. “Lucky for you, I don’t burn easily.”
Andrea unzipped the big black parka Natalja had borrowed for her. Her shirt was next. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Her nipples were already in tight little points and she wanted to feel his skin against them.
“Andrea, we can’t do th—”
She put a finger against his lips, shaking her head. “No regrets.”
He nodded.
Finally.
His hands slipped around her waist tugging her flush to his warm body. He cupped her ass and lifted her from the floor, dragging her throbbing clit over his erection in the process. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around his neck, arching her back and lifting her breasts high enough to give his mouth easy access.
A satisfactory growl of appreciation preceded his mouth locking onto one of her granite nipples.
Pleasure shot from her breast to her clit and she wrapped her legs around his waist, grinding hard against his erection. Pants. She was still wearing pants. Shit.
Shivers of pleasure crisscrossed through her body as Vadik switched from one breast to the other, nipping and sucking and licking until she had to struggle to keep from relaxing completely.
This wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted all of him.
Andrea tightened her legs around his waist and moved her hands to grab a handful of his hair.
She opened her mouth and his tongue slipped inside. Perfection. His tongue danced with hers and the magick pulsing around her energized even more.
“Bed,” she mumbled into the kiss.
He walked forward, carrying her while their mouths remained fused in an erotic dance. Her blood hummed with energy that desperately needed a release.
His hesitation disappeared, and they sank to the bed in a tangle of arms and legs.
Stripping out of clothes, while continuing to assault the other with possessive kisses. Vadik pushed her down against the coverlet, shoving pillows out of the way. His skin sizzled beneath her touch.
Her body tightened and coiled, waiting for that release only he could give her.
“I need you inside me.”
He pushed her thighs apart and settled into the cradle of her hips.
Before she took her next breath, Vadik surged inside, filling her completely. She’d been so wet, there’d been no resistance. He slid in like they’d been rolling around kissing for hours already.
Damn. He felt so good.
He stroked slowly the first couple of times before he slid his muscular arms beneath her and locked his palms over her shoulders.
Harder and deeper.
Andrea wrapped her legs around his narrow waist, giving him even deeper access to her body.
Vadik rocked her back and forth, burying his face in her neck as he thrust. His hard chest pressed her down into the mattress, pinning her in place. In. Out. In. Out. His growls of satisfaction melted into groans as the muscles in his shoulders tightened.
He was close.
So was she. She panted, digging her fingers into the meat of his biceps as pleasure streaked through her, curling her toes, and dragging a ragged scream of release as she came hard.
As his name left her lips, he came along with her. The pulse of his cock inside her pushed her even further over the edge, stealing Andrea’s breath, draining her of any thought but how happy she was in his arms.
A huge sigh slipped from his body and he rolled them to the side, slipping from her slowly. She shuddered at the loss, wishing their moment could’ve lasted hours instead of minutes.
She didn’t think she’d ever get enough of him.
Andrea ran her fingers through a lock of his hair. He shivered beneath her caress and she leaned forward kissing him sweetly on the lips.
He tensed and grabbed her wrist. “I can’t give you more than this, Andrea.”
“Shhhhh, just sleep,” she murmured, pulling her arm free. She ran her fingertips down his arm and pulled the blanket at the foot of the bed up over their naked bodies.
The chill would be back as soon as her temperature cooled.
I’ll take what I can get right now.
She snuggled closer to him, breathing a sigh of relief when his arms folded around her, pulling her body tight into his.
His heart rate had slowed and his breathing was even. Vadik had fallen asleep and reached for her.
Whether he wanted to give her more or not, she’d give him everything of herself. Even if it was never more than this—sleeping soundly next to him—Andrea was okay with that.
This was enough.
Chapter Seven
Vadik pulled on his boxer briefs and listened to the rhythm of Andrea’s sleep. The ridiculously expensive clothing he’d shed the night before lay on the floor, still. Putting it back on felt like a lie.
The fact that he’d managed to get out of bed without waking her had amazed him. Hell, she amazed him. He’d been on a lot of assignments with women where there had been attraction before. Something about pumping adrenaline and life-or-death situations seemed to bring out the hard-on.
Broken Wolf: Moonbound Series, Book Seven Page 6
