by Bella Rose
“And Viktor is totally hot!” Tiana added.
Madame Bissett appeared behind them. “What is all this whispering about? You have no time to stand around and gossip.”
“Kira is excited because her husband is here to watch her,” Jessie explained. “Kira is in love.”
Kira blushed, mostly because of the towering frown on Madame’s face. It was well known that she did not approve of relationships. Her lips thinned into a pale line. “I had such high hopes for you, Kira. I can see now that you are just as silly as other girls at your age.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to remind Madame that Kira was no longer a teenager, but she supposed the actual number meant little to Madame. It was the idea that Kira would need to split her time between dance and anything else that angered her.
“My relationship changes nothing, Madame,” Kira told her mentor. “I can promise you that.”
“So they all say,” Madame said darkly before stalking off to berate another set of dancers.
“Oops!” Tiana gestured to Kira to move. “We’re up in five, four, three, two…”
The fairies flitted out on stage, joining the corps already performing their final number. The stage was crowded with dancers. Men, women, and even a few children who were members of Madame’s classes at another New York company all moved together in perfect rhythm.
Kira felt Viktor’s gaze caressing her as she moved. Each time she stretched her body, the admiration of his regard left her breathless with anticipation for what might come. Never had she been so utterly aware of her body as anything more than a slave to the dance. Now she could think only of what it felt like to move against Viktor as they made love.
VIKTOR WATCHED HIS wife twirl, leap, and spin across the stage. The dancers moved with and around each other in the impeccably choreographed movements of the dance. Still, even as he watched the other players, none of them affected him the way Kira did. Each time she lifted her arms, he remembered the sight of her arching her back in the throes of passion. The flexibility of her legs made him think only of grasping the tender underside of her thigh and lifting it so that he could sink his cock deep into her tight little channel.
Kira was a goddess on stage. There was no denying that. Yet to Viktor, she was also the sole object of his admiration. Her strength and dedication, the clarity of her mind, and the passion that she brought to the stage...all were traits that bubbled over into her personal life as well. In the end, it left him thinking only of one thing. The moment he could get her alone and claim her over and over again as his woman.
The thunderous applause brought Viktor back to the moment at hand. The curtain closed, but the house lights did not come up. Music swelled, and Viktor watched as the curtain opened again to allow the players to take their bows. He clapped with the other theater goers. His seat was at the very front of the boxes where he had a view of the entire stage. The orchestra pit was alive with motion as the musicians played the overture while the dancers whirled about and received their ovations.
Finally, Viktor saw Kira’s bright costume flit onto the stage accompanied by the other fairies. There was a swelling of applause. Viktor thought he might burst with pride.
Eventually, the house lights came up as the curtain went down for a final time on Sleeping Beauty, and it was all over. People began moving around. He stood and made his way to stage left where he would be closest to Kira’s dressing room.
A tall, forbidding man put his hand out to stop Viktor’s progress. “You cannot go back there.”
“Kira Domnin is my wife,” Viktor said in a cool tone. “I’m to meet her at her dressing room door.”
“You are Viktor?” The man actually smiled. “Kira asked me to look for you. Please.” He opened the velvet rope and ushered Viktor by. “Go ahead and give her my compliments on her performance.”
“Thank you.” Viktor felt a strange little thrill at the thought that Kira had made arrangements to be certain he would be allowed backstage.
Of course, backstage was a madhouse. The dancers acted as though they were on an adrenaline high as they celebrated together the end of a successful run. Grown ballerinas and youngsters in pink tights alike bolted past in every direction. Viktor had to be careful not to mow down the dancers given that they were all of a tiny build and had zero bulk to their bodies.
Finally, he reached Kira’s dressing room just in time to see her friend Tiana slipping out with a bag over her shoulder.
“You’re leaving?” he asked Tiana.
“I want to go home and change for the after party,” Tiana said eagerly. “You should come and bring Kira. She never attends these things. The girl has a deplorable lack of fun in her life.”
“I’ll speak with her about it,” he promised, although he wanted her all to himself anyway.
KIRA LOOKED UP when the dressing room door opened. Tiana had only just walked out. Perhaps she had forgotten something? Then she saw Viktor step inside and close the door behind him. She met his unfathomable gaze in the mirror and felt a thrill of anticipation slide down her spine.
“What did you think?” she asked, her mouth dry.
He came closer, and a part of her wondered if he had been somehow disappointed. Yet the expression on his face was anything but. “You were absolutely stunning. Amazing, really,” he said in a low, husky voice. “Honestly, the performance was beautiful, but when you were on stage, I’ve never been so turned on in my damn life.”
“Really?” She was taken aback by the fervency in his tone. Turning around, she gazed at him in curiosity. “Watching me dance is a turn on?”
“Hell yes, woman.” He took another step closer, near enough to reach out and touch. “Have you no idea what your body does to me? Or I suppose it’s the thought of what I can do with your body that gets me going.”
“Is that right?” She was still feeling the adrenaline rush from the show. Now wearing only a robe, her skin felt flushed. “Perhaps you would like to show me?”
“Show you?” He raised an eyebrow. “Show you the sort of thoughts I was having?”
“Yes.”
He growled then, lowering his mouth and taking hers in a bruising kiss that left her moaning like a wanton. Everything south of her navel went up in flames. Her core melted, and she felt a gush of cream that soaked the insides of her thighs.
She pulled away from his mouth, needing to tell him how she felt. “I want you so badly,” she moaned. “The things you do to me!”
“Like this?”
He picked her up then and set her on top of her dressing table. Little bottles and compacts went flying, but she didn’t care. Pushing between her legs, he placed his hands on the insides of her thighs. His touch burned, but she wanted more. And when he slid his fingers toward her bare mound, she squirmed and panted while she waited for his touch.
“Do you really want me?” he whispered.
“Yes.”
“How badly?”
“So very badly,” she begged. “Please—” The word hovered on the tip of her tongue. “—fuck me, Viktor.”
THE EROTIC PLEA destroyed whatever was left of Viktor’s control. He fumbled at his waist with fingers that shook to unfasten his pants. His cock spilled into his hand, and he gripped his shaft tightly. Kira was so wet. He could smell the sweetness of the cream that coated her thighs and slipped from her pink folds.
She leaned back, her robe falling open to reveal her pert breasts. Viktor leaned forward and took her nipples in his mouth one by one. He sucked and licked, finally putting his teeth to them until she threw her head back and tore at his hair with her nails. She was wild in his arms. And when he roughly lifted her thighs and fit his cock to her opening, she moved against him to hurry him on.
The first press of his head into her pussy left him almost unable to breathe. Kira grabbed his shoulders, digging in her nails and wrapping her legs around his waist. He tried to hold back. He didn’t want to tear her delicate flesh, but she wasn’t having any of tha
t. The power of those long legs was impossible to deny.
Once he was fully sheathed inside her, he began to thrust deeply. She grunted and moaned with each stroke, and he felt her growing exponentially tighter until he could hardly move. A tingle shot down his spine. The heat of friction between them made his balls clench with the need to come. He wanted so badly to mark this woman as his own, but he wanted her to come first. He wanted to bring her pleasure.
Reaching between them, he found the place where their bodies were so intimately joined. He placed the tip of his index finger against her clit and rubbed it lightly in a circle. Seconds later, she cried out as her climax hit hard and fast. The feel of her orgasm was more than Viktor could take. He thrust hard just once more and then poured his essence into her body. He strained against her, giving her everything he had.
She collapsed against his chest, resting her forehead against him. “Wow. I think you just fulfilled a fantasy I didn’t even know I had.”
“Funny, but I was thinking the same thing,” he told her with a laugh. “You are an incredible woman, Kira Domnin.”
“I’ll remember that the next time I piss you off,” she joked.
He cupped her cheek, lifting her face so that she met his gaze. “I’m serious. Three years ago, I married a scared little mouse whose only worry was whether or not her big bad husband would keep her from dancing. Now, I cannot even imagine how badly you would rip me to shreds should I attempt to tell you that you weren’t allowed to do something you had set your mind to do.”
“I grew up,” she said simply. “But you were the one who allowed me the space to do that. I can’t thank you enough for being patient and letting me find myself.”
“I think I’ve been richly rewarded,” he told her, lowering his mouth to hers and kissing her until he could not think straight anymore.
Chapter Twelve
The knock at the dressing room door startled them both. Kira started to giggle. She smothered the sound against Viktor’s chest. He nuzzled her affectionately.
“Maybe they will go away?” he suggested.
The knock sounded again. This time it was louder. “Kira?”
Kira froze. The old fears came flooding back. “That’s my father.”
“What do you want, Berezin?” Viktor called back. “Kira is changing clothes, and then we are leaving to go home. You’re not welcome here.”
“I want to speak to my daughter, Domnin!” Berezin slammed his fist against the door, making it shiver.
Kira took a deep breath. She had no desire to speak with Anton Berezin. Yet she had to remind herself that she wasn’t the same young woman who had followed her father’s every dictate. She was Kira Domnin now. “I can do this, Viktor. It’s all right. Just give us a few minutes privacy. You can stand right outside the door within shouting distance.”
“Are you sure?” Viktor began straightening his clothes. “I won’t make you talk to that bastard if you don’t want to.”
“I’m sure.” She pulled on a pair of leggings and a baggy sweater. “He can’t hurt me anymore. He has no power over me. I belong to you.”
“That’s right.” Viktor gave her a sudden, fierce hug. “And don’t ever forget it.”
It was Viktor who opened the door. He held onto the knob and waited until she gave a nod. It was all very surreal, as if they were dealing with some poisonous variety of snake. Yet when the door swung open and Kira found herself staring at her father, she was ready.
“Hello, Papa,” she manage to say with a surprising amount of composure. “Why did you come here?”
Berezin breezed past Viktor without sparing him so much as a glance. Kira couldn’t help but shift a little on her feet to try and see if her father had brought his men. She didn’t want to see them, especially now that she knew the horrible things they had done.
“What?” she said in a clipped tone. “No entourage today?”
Berezin grimaced. “They’re waiting outside with the car.”
“Are they?” This came from Viktor, whose eyes glittered with deadly intent as he spoke. “See that they remain there.”
“Out!” Berezin shouted. “I wish to speak to my daughter alone.”
Viktor gave him a bored look, his manner rife with blatant disrespect. Then he looked at Kira. “I will be right outside. If you wish your father gone, just call for me.”
“Thank you.” Kira nodded, unable to suppress the tiny smile that came to her lips when she saw the affection plain on Viktor’s face.
Berezin spoke as soon as the door had snicked shut. “See, daughter? My plan was to force the two of you together. It worked. You should be thanking me.”
“Thanking you?” Kira was dumbfounded. She wrapped her arms around her middle in an instinctive gesture of self-protection. “You had your flunkies attack and murder the women of your mafia brothers! How could you ever believe I would thank you for that?”
“What I did, I did in service to our family,” Berezin argued. “The Domnins are too powerful. My plan would have shifted the balance. That is all.”
“I am a Domnin! Your plan was to have me murdered and then profit from my death,” Kira snarled. “Did you think I wouldn’t find out?”
“Don’t believe what they tell you, Kira.” Berezin crept closer, his hands outstretched as though in supplication.
Kira stared at him with surprise. He looked older, as though his misdeeds had worn on him. The lines on his face gave him an almost craggy appearance. He was a pathetic excuse for a human being. That was what she knew. “What do you want? Why did you come here? I won’t believe for a minute that you didn’t have some ulterior motive for seeing me.”
“Kira, how can you say that about your papa?” He drew back, obviously surprised.
She was not the same Kira. It was time he recognized that. “How can I say that? How could I not?”
Now he looked shifty. There was a tiny part of her that died at that moment. Perhaps she had wanted to believe that he was sorry, and that he had loved her just a little bit. His expression told her otherwise.
“I need your help,” Berezin said stiffly. “The council believes what that bastard Nicholas Domnin is saying about me, and about the murders.”
Kira scoffed. “Surely you don’t expect me to believe that you didn’t leave yourself a way out of that.”
“My men were responsible for the murders. It was not I,” Berezin said firmly.
“But you’re responsible for the acts of the men under your command.” Kira could not believe she was having this discussion. “So what Nicholas Domnin is telling the council is true. If you think I’m going to go before the council and plead for you, you’re out of your mind!”
Berezin only smirked. “You have no idea what you are talking about. You think you know what is going on, but you know nothing.”
A chill slipped down Kira’s spine. “What do you mean?”
“You think I was the one who wanted you out of the way? You believe my men were doing my bidding in these attacks? Have you forgotten who wanted you married to Viktor Domnin just as much as I did? Who stood to profit from that marriage?”
“Nobody,” Kira said angrily. “You and Nicholas Domnin came up with this plan to hold the balance of power within the organization. Nobody ever explained what that meant or how it would work. The lot of you are liars and cheats.”
“The lot of us,” her father sneered. “How high and mighty you are in your belief that Viktor Domnin is a good man. Ask yourself who had the most to gain in this? Now that I am blamed and they are free, who was it who played a game with you?”
Kira swallowed, but her mouth felt as though it were filled with cotton.
VIKTOR WAS NOT pleased to see his brother walking down the hallway toward him. Nicholas dodged the other dancers, sidestepping even as he looked at them with barely disguised interest. Viktor could not imagine what would bring his brother out to the ballet on a Saturday night. Surely Nicholas had more important things to attend to.
“Hello, brother,” Nicholas said with a smile.
It was as if their last confrontation had not happened. The effect was eerie.
“What do you want?” Viktor asked quietly.
“I came to clear the air, so to speak.” Nicholas looked almost contrite. “I have said things that I know upset you. But you must understand that the things I have done, I have done in service to our family.”
Viktor decided to let this go for the moment. “I know that you believe that.”
“You could have done so much better for yourself than that cold Berezin woman.” Nicholas slapped Viktor on the shoulder. “Elena was warm and filled with laughter. I have never seen you so happy as when you were with her. Many men were jealous the day you were wed.”
“Elena and I had loved each other since we were children,” Viktor admitted. “It is impossible to simply put that sort of history behind me.”
“You will always love her?” Nicholas wanted to know.
“Of course.” Viktor could not imagine why it was necessary to ask such a question. “She was and always will be my first love.”
“And I know that you have suffered through this second marriage against your will.” Nicholas’s voice was not pitched for a private conversation. Had Viktor not known better, he would have thought they were being recorded.
Viktor shrugged. “I might have been reticent about marrying Kira, but she is a good woman.”
“Using her as bait is how we found out about her father’s plans, you know.” Nicholas chuckled. “How did she feel about playing that sort of role in the investigation?”
Viktor whipped around to stare at Nicholas. “I wouldn’t tell her something like that. That is why I stayed with her this last week. I wanted to make certain she remained safe. Had she been attacked simply because we had decided to put her out there to entice a killer to strike again, I would have never forgiven myself. The woman may not be Elena, but she does not deserve that sort of treatment.”
