by Bethany-Kris
Violet shuddered, her voice leaving her in a rush as she mumbled something unintelligible, but that wasn’t good enough for him. He spanked her again, this time aiming for the spot where the curve of her ass met her inner thigh.
“Try again, krasivaya.”
“E-Exhaust me,” she said on a broken whisper.
That was enough for now. “And how do you want me to do that? Because I could do this—” he reached between her thighs, sliding his fingers down her wet center before coming back up again, using two digits to rub at her clit. “But in your state, I could get you off in three minutes, and where would the fun be in that? I, at least, want to draw it out.”
He was playing a dangerous game, Kaz knew. It might have been her getting teased, but the wetter she got under his touch, and if his name fell from her lips in another breathy sigh, he didn’t know how much more he could take before his control snapped.
Even now he was struggling with himself to keep her right where she was, and not beneath him.
“Give me your words,” Kaz said suddenly, pushing two fingers inside of her and curling them up. God, it was fucking thrilling learning her body, finding the secret places that made her react violently, a keening sound scraping its way out of her throat. “Shit, Violet, I need them.”
“Fuck me, Kaz. P-Please, I need—”
He didn’t let her finish the plea before he was moving behind her, forcing her legs wider. Rational thought fled as he stroked his cock once, twice, then positioned the head at her entrance. He had fully intended on easing his way in, reveling in the feel of how tight she was, but he hadn’t made it an inch before he was thrusting harder than he meant to.
But the second he was balls-deep in her, he couldn’t fight himself any longer, not when he couldn’t get enough of the way she felt, or how she was pressing back into him asking for more.
Pulling out, he thrust back in almost immediately, starting a pace that had her crying out loudly. It was enough to pull at the jagged edges of his sanity.
One hand was still fisted in her hair, but he loosened his hold, drawing his hand around the curve of her shoulder and to her throat, feeling the muscles there working as she drew in a ragged breath. Pulling her up, he kept his hand there, tightening his grip just slightly to make a hitch in her breath.
He wouldn’t leave marks, not where anyone could see. There was nothing he wanted more than to see the evidence of their fucking, and see the lust they had fallen into. But he knew, even in his state, that wouldn’t go well for her.
So the one hand he kept at her throat, her heartbeat vibrating off his fingertips, he kept gentle enough. But the other he had at her hip, forcing her back to meet his thrusts, he gripped harder, knowing by morning he would see his fingerprints embedded there.
A secret for them both.
She would feel it when she undressed, and when her fingers wandered there.
He might not have been able to claim her out there, but in his bedroom, where it was just the two of them, he made his ownership clear.
“God.”
He pressed her back further until his lips were at her ear, and he could hear every little sound she made even as she bit her lip to stifle them. “God? God, what?”
A please and a don’t stop tumbled from her lips, the words jumbling over each other in her need. He didn’t answer, he didn’t have to.
Soon, he could see it, the light tremor that hadn’t let up, and the way her moans had gone sharp and high. It told him that she was about to come. Shit, even he could feel it racing down his spine, making him bite down onto her shoulder, nearly losing his mind, but it wasn’t helping—it only made it worse.
“I need you to come, Violet. Fuck.”
His next words were harsh, a command for her to come on his cock, but they came out in Russian, his need too great for him to even realize, but it didn’t seem to matter to Violet as she erupted almost violently. A sharp whine forced its way out of her with the harsh thrusts he made.
Almost to the second she started coming, he finally let go, holding her tight against him as he gave another brutal thrust, then two, and finally on the third, he went back on his haunches, holding them there.
They were both sweating, both fighting for breath, and he knew in that moment, he was never going to be able to let her go.
Violet added a bit more milk to the bowl of whipped eggs, lightening the yellowish color to a softer cream when she ran a fork through the mixture with fast strokes. Pouring the mixture into a hot pan, she let it settle and waited for the bubbling to begin.
The throat clearing behind her didn’t startle her. She’d been working in the kitchen for a good thirty minutes, exploring the cupboards and fridge to find what she needed. And even though her companion hadn’t made a noise, she knew that Kaz had been watching her for the last five minutes.
She was up early—for once. Put his shower to use, heaven that it was, and decided to cook something to eat since she had the time to actually do so with no worries about a call that would send her running again.
What was the harm, right?
She had heard the movement coming from the bedroom not long after she left, but she was already preoccupied by her work in the kitchen.
“What are you doing?” Kaz asked.
Violet shot him a look over her shoulder. “Take a guess.”
“Cooking.”
“Good guess,” she teased.
Kaz stayed leaning against the wall, watching her in that way of his while she worked, and saying nothing. Violet wasn’t so unnerved by his presence as she was his silence.
“Something on your mind?” she dared to ask.
“A bit.”
Two could play that game, so Violet decided to ease him into whatever he was chewing on.
“Are you hungry?”
“Starved,” he admitted.
“Find a seat.”
“I like where I’m standing.”
Violet gave him another look. “Why is that?”
“I’m enjoying the view. It isn’t often my kitchen gets put to good use, never mind a woman that isn’t my sister cooking in it.”
Ah.
“Interesting,” Violet murmured, turning back to her work.
She didn’t even hear him move until he was right behind her. A fingertip pressed against the back of her neck, and then slowly traveled lower until it stopped at mid-spine. Having little else to wear but what she’d come in, Violet had opted to grab the dress shirt Kaz had discarded the night before. Anything to keep her decent—her panties—were a lost fucking cause.
“You look good in my clothes,” he said, the words whispering against the side of her neck.
Violet grinned, keeping her attention focused on not burning the scrambled eggs. “Do I?”
“Very. And standing here doing … this.”
“I like cooking.”
“It’s very domestic,” Kaz said.
Something in the lilt of his tone caught her attention. “Is that a problem? Did you want me to skip out of here before you woke up or something? I mean, I’m pretty sure I could still go on ahead and do that, but you’d be left to cook and eat the food yourself.”
“No.”
“No?”
“Stay,” he urged quietly, moving closer to her until his chest was molded to her back and a hand landed firmly on her hip.
Violet nodded, content where she was for the moment. “I have some time, anyway. Safe time.”
“Sure.”
His other hand tangled into the damp strands of her hair, moving it over her shoulder, but nothing else. “Tell me there’s more than just eggs, yes?”
She laughed, and took a step back. He followed the movement. Opening up the oven, she waved for him to take a look inside. Eggs and toast were the last thing to be cooked because they were the fastest. Inside the oven, bacon, hash browns, and toast sat in different dishes, staying warm.
“No worries,” she told him. “I know how to cook a bre
akfast.”
“I won’t underestimate you again.”
“Thanks.”
Violet turned the burner down for the eggs just enough to keep them from burning as she ran her fork throughout the pan, keeping it all from sticking to the bottom. Kaz finally managed to surprise her just a bit when she felt his lips press to the back of her neck softly. Just as fast, he stepped away.
Domestic, he’d said.
She didn’t think he meant it quite the same way as she took the word.
Once she was finished at the stove, and had a fair spread sitting over the island to choose from, Violet shoved a plate across the counter for Kaz to take. He did, offering her one of those smooth smiles that caught her off guard every single time.
Violet fixed her plate, and sat atop a stool when Kaz brought one around the other side of the island for her to use. He sat across from her, attention drifting between the food and her.
It wasn’t awkward.
But she knew, just by the way he kept quiet, he was thinking about things. Her, maybe. The night before, likely.
“I considered taking off this morning,” Violet said softly.
Kaz barely reacted to that, but he did lift a brow and stared at her over the fork he was lifting to his mouth. “I would have been severely pissed off, had you done that.”
“Oh?”
“Very.”
“Well, I didn’t, so no need for that.”
“But you thought about it,” he pressed.
“Wouldn’t it have been easier?” she asked.
Kaz tipped his head to the side slightly, asking, “Easier for whom?”
“This.”
“And this is … what?”
Violet pursed her lips. “You don’t have to make everything difficult, Kaz.”
“I’m not making it difficult. I’m asking a question, Violet. You should answer it.”
Fair enough.
“This,” she repeated, waving a hand between them. “We hooked up once, and then again—”
“Hooking up is a one-time thing. When you start seeking the same person out to fuck again, it no longer falls into that category.”
He’d said a similar thing the night before. And he had a good point.
Violet wasn’t exactly able to say with confidence that it wouldn’t happen again between them, because honestly, she was already wondering how she could get him back into his bedroom after he was done eating. She didn’t think she would have much trouble convincing him, but she was still thinking about it.
And that in itself said a lot.
“My point was that I thought about taking off and just … letting it be what it was,” she said.
Kaz stopped eating entirely, discarding his fork to the side and picking up a napkin to wipe at his mouth. He didn’t look pleased at all over her statement, and for the first time all morning, he wouldn’t look at her. “Is that what you want to do, then?”
She was there, wasn’t she?
“I didn’t leave,” Violet settled on saying.
Kaz nodded once. “About last night, when you woke up.”
Violet frowned, not wanting to go into specifics about why she’d woken up. It was enough that he had been able to pull details from her mumblings to make a story and go with it. She didn’t have to confirm it.
“Let’s not go there,” she said.
“I have to.”
“I don’t want to talk about the dreams again, Kaz.”
He chuckled, but the sound came off entirely dry and not the least bit amused. “No, not that.”
“Then what?”
“I didn’t grab a condom, and—”
Oh.
Violet’s wide eyes and growing smile was enough to quiet him. “It’s fine.”
“Is it? Because I’m not sure that it is.”
“Worried about making some illegitimate babies with a woman your father doesn’t approve of?” she asked, smirking just enough to tell him she was teasing.
Kaz scoffed. “Babies, yes. My father, not in the least.”
Violet didn’t entirely believe that. “You sure?”
“Partly,” he said, shrugging. “For someone else, it probably wouldn’t be an issue to my father, as long as shit was handled. But since it’s you … Yeah.”
“Huh.”
“Wouldn’t be different for your father, no?”
Violet’s smile melted away instantly. “Point taken.”
“I thought so.”
“Still, it’s fine. I have regular shots to take care of that, so no illegitimate babies to worry about. My father overlooks men in my life as long as I don’t … ‘shame him’, as he says.”
Kaz’s expression remained aloof and impassive as he watched her from across the island. “Shame is an interesting word to use between a father and his daughter.”
“My life in a nutshell?” she offered.
It was truer than she wanted to admit.
And she could tell, just by the flashing disapproval in Kaz’s gray eyes, that he didn’t like it at all.
She didn’t know what else to tell him.
“That’s not my only concern,” Kaz said quietly.
“The birth control shot?”
“Yes, that and more.”
Violet didn’t know what else there was. “Table’s open, so to speak.”
“Are you seeing someone else?”
She damn near choked on the sip of coffee she had just taken in as he asked the question. Putting the cup down to the island, she cleared her throat. “I beg your pardon?”
“Someone else. I want to know if you are fucking someone else,” he clarified calmly.
“And if I was?”
“That would be a problem.”
Violet steeled her spine, irritated in a blink. “We’re not an item, Kaz, or a couple. You don’t get a say in any other relationship I may or may not have, just because we had sex.”
His tongue peeked out to wet his lips, and he laughed a husky sound. “You’re right, I don’t.”
“Then don’t ask if you know.”
“But I intend to,” Kaz said just as fast, his gaze cutting to hers. “Us, and this. I intend to be something with you, and I think, based on the fact you keep coming back and also last night, that’s exactly what you want, too. And so, no, I won’t have other men to compete with or concern myself over that you might be seeing.”
Violet swallowed hard, but she appreciated his candor. “What I said still stands, though. We’re not something. You don’t get to ask.”
“And I still want an answer.”
“Kaz.”
He cocked a brow at her, never wavering. “An answer.”
“What if I asked you the same thing,” Violet shot back.
“I would answer.”
“What would it be?”
“One that would please you,” Kaz said simply, still unbothered and watching her. “And probably surprise you.”
Violet sighed. “What are you trying to say here?”
“Exactly what I already told you. You’re going to keep coming back here. I’m going to keep letting you. And that makes us something. Answer me, please.”
“There’s no one else,” she said, letting the confession slip out before she could think better of it.
Kaz straightened on the stool, his smug grin firmly back in place. “Good.”
“Good?”
“Perfect,” he said.
She didn’t quite know what to think as he picked up his fork and began eating again. But she couldn’t deny that his intentions were entirely too appealing.
Kaz understood far too well how quickly things could change—because of a look, a conversation, or even a thought. He shouldn’t have been surprised that it happened to him and Violet, not when he knew better.
Yet, ever since their conversation over breakfast, everything had changed.
Over the span of two weeks, Kaz had made sure that he always made time for Violet, no matter when she reached
out. It could have been mid-afternoon, the wee hours of the morning, and occasionally when he was in the middle of a meeting, it didn’t matter. He kept his phone at his side like a lifeline, never letting it out of his sight.
“You’ve been busy a lot, Cap,” Abram commented, glancing over at Kaz from his position in the driver’s seat.
It wasn’t often that Kaz let anyone drive him—most people were shit drivers in his opinion—but Abram refused to let anyone else behind the wheel of his truck. Besides, he wasn’t letting the man in his own, not when Violet was regularly riding in it, and while they were careful, there was still no guarantee that she hadn’t left some small trace of her presence.
“Oh?” Kaz didn’t want to indulge in the conversation, but if there was one thing he knew, if Abram asked any questions, somebody else had asked them first.
“Yeah.”
“I have better shit to do than to sit around asking about things that don’t concern me,” Kaz responded absently, his mind elsewhere.
Abram, now smiling, looked back to the road. “You see, my guess is, it’s a woman. You seem like the type to keep that kind of thing pretty hush.”
Were they really having this conversation? “Then why are you asking?”
“Can’t hurt to try. Never be afraid to ask questions you want answers to—someone once told me that.”
Kaz, feeling the beginnings of a migraine coming on, counted backward from ten in his head. “I told you that, Abram.”
He snapped his fingers. “Of course you did.”
“Just park the fucking car so we can get this done.”
“So about—”
“Fuck off, Abram.”
The man had no shame, laughing even as he swung the truck into a smooth parallel park. Kaz was out in seconds, crossing the short distance into the restaurant owned by a good friend of his—Abram stayed behind to watch his truck.
The restaurant was located just a few miles outside of Little Odessa, and was one of the few places outside of his circle that he frequented on a semi-regular basis. He was a friend of the family—not a part of the Bratva however—that dabbled in trade. If a person needed something from another, he was the man to go to.
