by Janae Keyes
My feet were no longer on the ground, my eyes shot open to find Alexei carrying me. I snuggled into his chest, taking in his warmth.
He moved easily through the crowds and down to a private and empty corridor. At the end of the dimly lit hall was an elevator. Alexei pressed the button, and we didn’t have to wait as the doors opened instantly.
“Where are we going?” I asked as Alexei carried me into the small elevator.
He didn’t say anything at first, but simply pressed a button. My heart began to pound in a nervous adrenaline. It was highly possible I’d made some mistake, going with him, trusting him. Though he was the cousin of my best friend, he was still a stranger and could possibly hurt me or worse.
I swallowed at the thoughts swirling through my head. I’d watched too much ID Channel alone in the middle of the night. I was that poor and innocent American girl, in a foreign country, with a guy I barely knew. At this point, we were completely alone, and he could do whatever he pleased, I’d never be able to fight him. I was quite possibly fucked.
“First, I get water. You too warm. After, I show best view for St. Petersburg.” He finally answered me, and though I allowed myself to relax a bit, there was still the fear the lingered in the back of my mind.
We were not in the elevator long when the doors opened, and Alexei stepped into what seemed to be a penthouse apartment above the club.
For the first time in minutes, Alexei allowed me to stand on my feet. Drunk and overheated, it took me a few moments to gather my bearings. Alexei watched me closely, as if to protect me from myself.
“As I say, first, water,” Alexei noted as he began towards a kitchen area.
It appeared he very much liked the color black. In the kitchen, all the cabinets were black and sleek. The countertops were a dark granite.
Looking around, all the furniture was black or very dark. The floor a dark wood, and the bed had a dark wood headboard and was covered in a black duvet.
What the place lacked in color, it gained in style. Everything was modern and expensive looking. Every single item seemed to be meticulously placed, and it was completely spotless, not a speck of dust in sight.
One thing caught my eye right away, the floor to ceiling windows. I slipped my high heels off, to give me better traction and balance. My feet padded across the floor to the window. Looking outside, we were at least ten stories up, below and around us, beauty.
The lights of the city lit the old buildings in a yellow hue, the river that ran near, the water glittered as well as the fresh snow. I could see a line of people, all still hoping to get into the filled nightclub.
“You left order. First, water. Next, view,” Alexei scolded. I jumped at his gruff voice.
I quickly turned to face him, he stood with a bottle of water in his hands. He handed it over to me.
My eyes met his, I felt a strange remorse for not following his instructions.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“No worry, I have not anger.” Alexei gave me a smile that calmed the tenseness I felt inside. The knots in my stomach though, remained. “It is good view, yes?”
“Gorgeous,” I breathed as I turned back towards the window and took a sip of the water.
The cold water sliding down my throat brought a relief to my overheated body. I took a few more sips before I sat the bottle on an end table not far.
The feeling of Alexei’s eyes on me tightened the knots in my stomach and caused me to shiver. He made me nervous, but in a way that was filled with an excited elation.
His hands slipping around my hips, body pressing against mine. I stumbled slightly, coming in contact with the window. His lips brushing my earlobe and planting hot kisses down to my neck.
One hand on my stomach and the other on the window, keeping me pinned. The heat that had left with my sips of water, returned with a vengeance, filling my every limb.
A moan escaped my lips, and at once Alexei turned me to face him, my back now to the glass. His ice eyes burned with a heat that mirrored my own. I needed so much more.
Chapter 6
Alexei
There was never a time that I imagined my body to have such a strong fire inside for a single girl. Rae was a flame that sent me ablaze. I wanted to burn, and I needed to burn with her.
I had no future with her, she was an alluring American tourist that I’d get to have for a night. Though as much as I told myself that over and over, I couldn’t doubt that something else was brewing.
From the moment I took her, I knew I’d break her. Though my past was behind me, I was toxic, and I allowed it to flow through me. I’d fuck her as if she was my last, she’d be destroyed, and something about that fact egged me on.
Watching her eyes study my face, I took the back of her head, tangling my fingers in her hair, bringing her mouth to mine and finally getting a real taste. From that first taste of cherry and vodka, I needed more. She’d made me savage for her and like a beast, I took her.
My tongue slipping into her hot mouth, taking its time savoring her delicious flavor. She was unlike anyone I’d ever had before. Tonight, I was going to fuck her, over and over again.
She groaned, her hand slipping up my chest, fiddling with the buttons of my shirt, undoing them.
I grabbed the hot pink fabric of Rae’s dress, bringing it up to slide my hand over her sizzling warm thighs. Her skin was like butter, whipped perfectly smooth.
The search for her center wasn’t difficult as the fabric of her panties was soaked. Running my fingers along the fabric, I linked a finger under to move it aside. I was on a search for hidden treasure.
Biting her bottom lip, Rae continued to melt under me, the moans that escaped her only drew me onto her more. She wasn’t hiding her desire for me, rather placing it on display for me.
Rae didn’t have to say a word for me to know exactly what she wanted. Her hips indicated her explicit desires as she arched towards me, begging without words.
For only a brief moment, I stopped kissing her. I pressed my forehead to hers and looked directly into her sultry brown eyes. Those eyes of her begged for her to be fucked, they begged for me to have my way with her.
The corner of her plump and swollen lip was sucked under her teeth. My already rock hard dick throbbed at the sight her her biting down on her lip. She nodded, that was all I needed before I snatched the damp fabric of her undergarments to the side and slid my finger along her slit, my thumb instantly finding her clit.
“You—I do not have word— you— soak for me,” I murmured, my lips barely touching hers.
“MmmHmm,” she hummed, her head pressed against the cold glass of the window, her eyes fluttering closed as my thumb began to circle her throbbing clit.
“When was last you come?”
“Too long ago,” she moaned in the smooth, sweet voice that reeled me in from the first moment I met her.
There was a story behind her answer, I heard it in her voice, but it wasn’t the time to inquire about her past, it was time to give her a level of satisfaction she’d never had before.
It was time to give her a tiny preview of the rest of our night. I upped my speed, her body jerked in reaction.
“Oh fuck!” she cried as I already felt her tightening around my hand.
“You like it?” I already knew she liked it. She was enjoying every second of it and wasn’t hiding it.
“I do, oh, yes I do, —Alexei, please, don’t stop.”
From the moment my name rolled off her lips. I knew I needed to hear it more, I needed to hear her voice screaming it over and over again, filling the room.
I anticipated the exact moment she was going to come. Her breathing instantly changed, her closed eyes shot open and the sound that came from her, it was like the purr of a pussycat.
Withdrawing my soaked fingers, I brought them to my mouth. Her eyes were on me as I tasted her sweet essence, her liquid gold. I watched her chest heave up and down, she was ready for more as she watched me, I�
�d give her exactly that.
I wanted to chuckle to myself, she had a mask. To the outside, Rae was quiet and reserved, an innocent and angelic soul. Inside was another story, Rae had a fire waiting to emerge. She was erotic, sensual, and eager to be had.
“Bed, now,” I demanded of her.
“Okay,” she breathed as she just moved in order to start towards my bed.
Ding!
I sharply turned to see my elevator opening. The large frame of my personal security officer, Vladimir, standing in its doors.
“What is it?” I shouted at him in Russian, anger filling my every limb. There shouldn’t have been any reason for me to be disturbed.
“There is someone here for you. He says it is a family matter,” Vladimir noted.
“And who is this man?”
“He calls himself, Mr. Uspensky.”
I put my hand up, he didn’t need to say anymore.
For the last days of ignoring the phone calls and sending Igor with my message, one would think Mr. Uspensky would understand my non-interest in working for him again. My life no longer revolved around the family. I’d moved on to a new place in my life, but yet he seemed to not get the message, it was time for me to give him my answer face to face.
“Fuck,” I cursed. “Vladimir, get a car to take her home to my mother’s building. Once the car is secured, I will send her down, and you may send our guest up,” I instructed the man still standing in the doorway of the elevator.
“Okay boss,” he answered before turning and stepping inside the metal box, pressing a button, and disappearing from our sight with the closing of the doors.
Reluctantly, I wouldn’t be able to have my night with Rae. I turned to face her, she stood with confusion on her face.
I took a step to her, cupping her cheek and gently pressing my lips to hers.
“I am sorry. I have business. I have my security get you car back to apartment. We have to do another time,” I explained to her as best I could, my lips brushing her own.
“Oh, that’s okay. Umm—thanks,” she spoke softly. She sounded nervous and unsure. It was just my fucking luck that such a wonderful time had to be ruined.
“I promise, better later, Kisska,” I whispered, rubbing my thumb over her tender cheek.
Her head went to the side, she was pondering something.
“Kisska? What does that mean?”
“Pussycat. You make sound of little pussy when come,” I told her, and instantly her chocolate cheeks took on a tinge of pink in embarrassment. “Come, I take now.”
I took her by the hand, leading her towards the elevator. She stopped halfway and picked up her discarded shoes from the floor.
Approaching the elevator, I didn’t want to let her go. It wasn’t time to allow her away from my grip. This night was only the beginning, and soon enough I’d give her all I wanted to.
For the first time though, something struck me. I’d been with plenty of women, I’d fucked them without knowing their names, but with Rae it was different. There was this urge to know more about her. I knew very little and in a twist of unusual behavior for me, I wanted to know who she was.
“I want to see more,” I told her honestly. I hoped it translated properly to her. Though originally, I’d started with a plan of an unattached night of fucking, I wanted more than something without emotions and only sex.
I wanted to feel. That thought nearly knocked me off my feet, I wasn’t one to feel. Hell, I used to kill for a living, that type of person doesn’t have feelings, and yet, I was having them with this girl.
“Sure, I’d like to hang out possibly.” Rae looked down at the ground as she spoke.
I hooked her chin under my finger and forced her head up, her eyes into mine.
“I see later, Kisska,” I said before bringing her lips to mine in a strong kiss. I felt all her nerves begin to collapse as I kissed her, she melted into my arms.
Ding!
That sound drew us apart.
The elevator opened, and there he was standing with my security officer. He’d aged since I last saw him. My height still towered the balding, pale man. His grey eyes glanced from me to Rae, he gave her a grin that made me want to strangle him with my bare hands. How dare he look at her that way.
“Hello, pretty lady,” Mr. Vadim Uspensky said to Rae in Russian.
I balled my fists.
Not knowing Russian, Rae stayed silent, her brown eyes looking to me for instruction.
“Mr. Uspensky, make yourself at home. I’m going to escort my guest down. It will only be a moment. Vladimir will get you a drink.” I kept my tone respectful to the man I knew to be one of the most vicious men in the country of Russia. He was small but ruled an army. An army I was once a soldier in.
“The car is waiting,” Vladimir informed me. I nodded.
Mr. Uspensky took a step into my penthouse apartment with Vladimir as Rae and I stepped into the elevator, my hand on the small of her back.
I pressed the button to take us down, and the doors closed, leaving us alone once again.
“Who was that man?” Rae inquired. I loved her inquiring mind, her questions.
“Old friend,” I answered, keeping it simple.
One thing I wasn’t going to do was drag her into my past, she didn’t need specifics and didn’t need to concern herself with the transgressions of my past.
Arriving at the bottom floor, the loud music of the club greeted us when the doors opened. I took Rae to the coat check to get her coat and led her outside to where one of the SUVs in my fleet was awaiting her.
“Aren’t you freezing?” Rae asked, eyes side as I stood outside with her wearing no coat.
“No freeze, I have familiar to it.” I gave her a smile and opened the back door of the car for her.
I gave her my hand and helped her inside. Leaning into the door, I brought her face to mine and lightly planted a chaste kiss on her lips.
“Thank you for tonight. I love the club. I had a lot of fun.” The sounds in her voice were of honesty, she’d actually enjoyed herself with me and in my club.
“I see you soon.” She nodded.
With that, I took a step back, gave her a final look, and closed the door of the SUV. Giving the door a tap, the vehicle pulled away from the curb.
I stood watching it go until it took a corner and was out of my sight. Now I had business to take care of.
Back inside, I went straight to my apartment. I wanted this business to be finished as soon as possible. I’d washed my hands of all of it over a year ago, there was no reason for the trash to be returned when it was taken away.
The door to the elevator opened, I spotted Mr. Uspensky right away. He sat on my black leather couch, a tumbler glass in hand, filled with clear liquid. I knew the man only drank vodka, he was Russian through and through.
“What can I do for you, Vadim?” I asked as I strolled to my private bar, also pouring myself a bit of the finest vodka one could find.
“You can do much for me, Alexei,” he said. “Sit.” He leaned to the chair next to the couch he occupied and patted the seat cushion. “The girl, very pretty, exotic, tasty looking.”
“And mine,” I insisted.
“I have no intentions of taking her, unless I need to.” He swirled the liquid in his glass. “Alexei always could snatch up the pretty girls. I take it as a talent.”
I said nothing.
I went along with it and strolled to the chair, taking a seat. I took a swig of my drink before turning my full attention to Vadim.
One would never think that short round man would have the power he did. He controlled a great deal inside and outside of Russia. He was the largest import and exporter of cocaine outside of Mexican cartels. He smuggled expensive vodka and funded corruption in the highest levels of government. No one dared to mess with Vadim Uspensky.
I was playing with fire.
“I have been trying to get in contact with you Alexei, for a job,” he began. I nodded. “My
calls are going unanswered.”
“That is because I have put that part of my life behind me. That’s not a career I obtain anymore.” I was trying my hardest to keep from telling him to simply, fuck off.
“Tsk, tsk, Alexei. You know once you’ve worked for me, you always work for me. You are a member of this family,” he began to assert.
“With all due respect, Sir. I left the family for my family. As I understand, calls have been made to my mother. I do not appreciate my relatives being brought into business. I spoke with you when I left, you understood my position.”
The grey eyes of the man watched me intensely. I couldn’t read him no matter how hard I tried, I hated that. I was a master at reading people, but Vadim was a master at not being read.
“I did, but I only require the best for this job and you Alexei, are the best. I can call you back into my service whenever I please.”
He wasn’t backing down.
“I cannot do this job and I won’t. It is as simple as that. I’m done, find someone else.”
Vadim suddenly burst into laughter, he was nearly doubled over in a fit of giggles. I sneered in his direction.
“You forget easily, my son. When you came to me, asking to leave, I said yes. You told me your dream, this club. I offered a nice amount of money as well as services to get the permits needed on a fast track. Have you forgotten?”
“I haven’t.”
“I wouldn’t think so.”
“But, I paid you back in full, plus interest.”
“Yes, but when I put money and time into something, I consider it nearly mine. Now, Alexei, I need you to kill a man by the name of Dimitri Petrov. He works at the Kremlin and is a threat to my organization. You will do this because I will be a threat to you.”
I stood at once, he followed suit.
“I think you’ve overstayed your welcome, Vadim.”
I had one rule, and one rule only, to keep any illegal activity from my club. Yes, it wasn’t started under the most legal pretenses, but from there I promised to be straight laced for my mother and my family. Vadim was now a threat to all of it.
