by SR Jones
“Thank you, beautiful,” he smiles, earning a huffed breath from Konstantin.
We meet the other men in the waiting room and wearily trudge out to the two cars we came in.
On the way back to the house, Konstantin turns to me. “I got the paternity result tests today.”
“Oh yes?” My heart is in my throat. I’ve told myself I don’t care, but truthfully, I do.
“The baby isn’t mine.”
“Oh,” I say. “How do you feel about that?” I ask.
“Relieved. If I have kids the only person I want to have them with is you.”
He says this so casually. He doesn’t take his eyes from the road to even glance at me, but it’s a huge thing for him to say.
I look out the window to hide my giddy grin. Konstantin is thinking about us so seriously, he’s thought about the possibility of kids. It isn’t something I want right now. Not for a good few years, but I like that he’s at least thinking of it.
We arrive back at the house and head up to bed together. When we reach the end of the corridor, I glance at the stairs leading to the turret and stare at the mess there. “What happened here?” I ask.
“Grenade,” Konstantin says in a matter-of-fact tone.
My God. “Oh, erm, okay.”
He laughs and pulls me into his side.
We stroll into the bedroom, and I take a shower first, then Konstantin goes after me. We’re both hot and exhausted, but as he showers, a naughty thought occurs to me, and it grows and blossoms until it’s a full-blown fantasy.
He said he wanted me to crawl, and I’d love to crawl for him, if it’s in the right way because it turns us both the fuck on.
I go to the wardrobe, drop my towel, and take out one of the skirts he purchased for me. I never wore it as it’s short and flippy. Now, though, I put it on and roll the waist to make it shorter. I don’t put any underwear on. Next, I find a white shirt of his and put it on, tying it in a knot under my bust. I giggle to myself as I pull my hair into a high ponytail, and then I position myself outside the bathroom door. On my hands and knees.
I wait, and thank God Konstantin has such deep, comfortable carpeting because he takes a while.
When the door finally opens, I throw a glance over my shoulder, and then I slowly, and purposefully crawl away from him.
I exaggerate the swing of my hips and ass as I do so. All he’ll see from his perspective is my legs, ass, and pussy.
The thought has me wet and aching for him.
“Well, well, well,” he says. “Isn’t this a nice surprise.”
“You said you wanted me to crawl for you, sir.”
“Stop there,” he says. “Put your head down, to the floor.”
I do as he says and wait.
Each footstep reverberates through me as he approaches. He bends down and runs one finger over my pussy, over my clit.
“You’re so wet you glisten,” he says.
“It’s all for you,” I tell him.
“Are you sore?” he asks.
“No,” I lie. I am, a little, but I want him so much. We can take it easy for a few days after this.
I lift up, but he pushes me down. “No, don’t move; this is perfect.”
I still and wait to see what he’ll do. He doesn’t do anything other than rip his towel off, throw it on the floor, and push into me in one long, deep thrust.
He moans as he bottoms out, and it makes me moan too. I grind my ass against him as he holds me to him. He covers me with his body from behind and fucks me hard. I can’t get purchase on the floor, and his thrusts move my body. It’s burning my knees on the carpet, but when he reaches around with one hand and pinches my clit, I can’t bring myself to care about my knees anymore.
He keeps pinching it between his fingers, and I cry out as I come. He follows, sagging against me, but making sure to hold me up.
He picks me up and carries me to the bed, placing me on the side of it. He undoes his shirt, taking it from me, and palms the weight of my breasts in his hand. The skirt comes next. He kisses me as he undresses me, and strokes at my skin, as if he can’t stop touching me.
He pulls the duvet back, and we climb into bed, him immediately pulling me in.
“I love you, Cassie Sunshine,” he says to me.
“I love you too, sir.” I reply with a smile.
He kisses my neck and holds me tight.
I close my eyes and start to drift. Safe in the harbor that is his arms.
Epilogue Part One
Konstantin
The sun is ferocious, but I love it. My skin is tan, and my body is languid as I lie by the pool watching Cassie swim lengths. The air is clean and clear, and nothing like the dirty smell of London. I don’t miss it. I don’t miss it one fucking bit.
In fact, I’ve surprised myself by not missing the life over there at all. If I’d come out here simply to laze by the pool all day, I’m sure I would. I haven’t, though. I’ve come here to build something new. It’s a challenge I needed. Andrius, Reece, and I have had confirmation the land is ours. Now, we need to finalize the building plans and then start recruiting men.
So far, there’s myself, Reece, Andrius, and Bohdan, but we need more men to help us train the first tranche of recruits. We’ve put feelers out into the world of special forces and mercenaries. This will be a seriously high-paying gig, and we’re only going to take on the best of the best.
Violet comes out of the house, sans baby for once. The child is the love of her life. Andrius too, of course, but she dotes on the baby. Cassie adores her too, but not as much as I’d have thought. We had a talk last night, and she told me she wants children one day, but she’s nowhere near ready yet. That works for me. I feel the same way about it.
I do have a surprise for her arriving today, though.
I’d deleted her Facebook page, for security reasons. She has to stay in touch with friends by more private means now. Before I did, I took a brief look. I noted she’d commented on a post about a dog in Romania. A Golden Retriever called Gulliver. She said how much she’d like to give him a home. Today, she’s going to.
He should be arriving here around four this afternoon. I can’t wait to see her face.
The guard dogs I purchased live with us here, but they’re working dogs, and though we love them, they aren’t purely pets. Gulliver will be a pet. He’ll be Cassie’s new baby, until she’s ready for the real thing.
I’ve gone from being seriously conflicted about the idea of being a father to looking forward to it. I look forward to most things with Cassie.
Violet stretches and comes to sit on a lounger next to me. “The dog will be here soon, won’t he?” she whispers.
“Yep, in about an hour.”
“I can’t wait to see her face.”
Violet speaks softly, and she looks soft. Big doe eyes, clouds of pale blonde hair, and a petite figure. She’s not soft, though. Deep down she’s got a core of steel within her. It’s a core of steel I don’t know if Cassie has. I think Cassie is soft. Vulnerable to the harshness of the world. That’s okay, though, because I’ll be her steel. I once told her, hard protects soft. Now I’m going to prove it to her every day.
I’m nervous and excited as the clock strikes four. I want to show her what she means to me, and I know that for Cassie designer clothes or fine jewels won’t work. One day soon I’ll be buying her diamonds, on a ring. I’m going to propose to this girl in the next couple of months. First, though, I want her grandparents here with us, so we can all celebrate together. For now, this gift is the best thing I can think of giving her. A rescue dog that needs a loving home.
That’s my woman. That’s who I love. Someone who will be more touched to take in a needy creature than to get thousands of euros worth of clothes or jewels.
I look over to where she’s sitting in the shade, chatting with Violet.
The two of them get on well, which is a relief. I imagine for a brief moment bringing Liza here, and I shudder. What did I ev
er see in all those vacuous women?
My phone buzzes, and I glance at it to see a text from Michael. He’s got an interview, it says, with one of London’s top investment banks. I smile. Typing back, I tell him I’m proud.
He and Lucia delayed the wedding. They decided they wanted to wait and get married after the baby is born. He swears they’re still in love and happy, but they want to take it slow. Make sure it’s right. I don’t think Bianchi senior was too happy, but I don’t care what that fucker thinks so long as he treats Michael right. The day he stops, Michael has a place here.
The buzzer sounds from inside the house, telling us someone is at the gate. Andrius grins at me, and he and I set off down the drive. He’s packing, of course. One of us always is, and there’s now an armed guard at the gate twenty-four-seven.
Cassie eyes me curiously as I walk by her, and I shrug. “Delivery,” I say.
When we reach the gate, the pet taxi is idling, the driver chatting to Maurice, the guard on patrol this afternoon.
We chat for a while, and then the man opens the back of the air-conditioned van and hands me a lead. On the other end of it is the most beautiful dog. Gulliver. So named because of his travels.
He was found in Romania but with a collar from Bulgaria. When the rescue called the number on the collar, they were told the person who had lived there was dead. They didn’t know anything about a dog. So Gulliver stayed in Romania while he received treatment for malnutrition and other health issues.
You’d never know his hard start looking at him now. He’s a beauty. Only two years old too. He jumps down out of the van easily and greets me with a whole body wiggle.
“She’s going to cry; you realize that, right?” Andrius says.
“Yeah, she is. But good crying I can deal with.”
We head back up the drive, Gulliver dancing by my side as I walk toward the woman I love.
When Cassie sees us, the happiness in her face is worth all the money in the world.
She stares at Gulliver, her eyes wide. She claps her hand over her mouth and comes over to me. “Who is this?” she asks, her eyes alight with excitement.
“Don’t you recognize him?” I ask. She probably doesn’t now because he looks so different compared to the wretch she saw on Facebook.
She frowns. “No, but he’s beautiful. Is he … is he staying here?”
“Baby, this is Gulliver. The dog from the Romanian rescue you wanted to give a home to.”
She makes an odd sound, a cross between a sob and a laugh, and then she bends down and opens her arms. “Gulliver? Is that you? Oh, you look amazing. Come and say hello, boy.”
I let go of his lead, and he runs up to Cassie as if she’s his long lost mother. He wiggles around her, his tail thumping, his tongue lolling out, and she hugs him to her. Sure enough as she holds him, she starts to cry.
Violet comes over, and Gulliver leaves Cassie for a moment to go and say hello to her.
Cassie throws her arms around me and gives me a wet kiss. “Konstantin Silvanov, this is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me. Thank you so much. Thank you.” She hugs me, and she’s all warm, and glowing, and happy.
She’s my sunshine, and I’m never letting her go.
Epilogue Part Two
Bohdan
I stare at the image on the screen in front of me. Outside it’s bright and sunny. The guys are around the pool. I love it here. I love that Konstantin let me come stay with him, Cassie, Violet, and Andrius. As if I’m family. The business isn’t up and running yet. Reece comes and goes, but I stay with them, helping out with the plans as best I can.
Joyful laughter reaches me, and normally it would warm my heart, but today it doesn’t. Today that sunny, happy outside world seems a million miles away, not just through the kitchen door. I’m watching the cameras I’ve had set up in Dasha’s house, courtesy of Damen and a fuck-ton of begging and pleading on my part for him to find someone to do this for me.
On the screen in front of me is Dasha. Tiny, petite, red-haired Dasha. She’s on the floor. The piece of shit who is her husband is dragging her over hard, uneven stone in their kitchen by her gorgeous red hair. She’s crying out in pain, and I wince as if I’m being dragged over those stones myself.
Her husband is Jasper Felix. He’s her manager and her abuser. I get no satisfaction in knowing my gut instincts were right. The man is a monster.
He aims a half-assed kick at her naked buttocks and leaves the room. “Get cleaned up, showered, and presentable; we have guests this evening.” With those words, he leaves her alone.
She curls in on herself and sobs quietly.
That sound. My God. It tears me apart.
I’ve spent so many years hating her, I’d forgotten how much I loved her. I don’t know what I want with her. Whether I want to punish her, absolve her, despise her, or love her, but I know I want to save her from this.
I had a long talk with K last night. Told him all about Dasha and me. The whole sordid story. He was surprised I don’t want to leave her to her fate. The thing is, I can’t. Somehow this girl is part of me. Always has been, if I’m being honest. Every woman I fucked, I imagined Dasha watching with pain in her eyes. Every kill I made, Dasha was there, fear etched on her face.
When I counted my money, I imagined her wide eyed and impressed with what I’d made of myself.
Her damn ghostly presence influenced every fucking thing I did. She’s been a passenger in my life all these years, and now? Now, I’m about to come crashing back into hers.
It seems there have been threats made against her recently. Threats that may, or may not, have originated from me. Those threats have her husband beside himself. It seems no one gets to threaten his little cash cow except for him.
Dasha, the world-famous ballerina, of legendary beauty and extraordinary grace. The girl who came from nothing to wow the richest in the world. Her story is a fairy tale, only her prince charming turned into the frog.
I’ve been monitoring her and her husband’s communications with the help Damen gave me. The piece of shit is trying to find some help to defend against these threats. Help that someone in his close circle will provide when they give him the name of an excellent close protection firm. The most highly trained soldiers in the world, they will tell him. They aren’t truly operational yet, but I know the man who runs it. Let me talk to him, see if he can spare someone.
Of course, that someone will be me.
I’m about to save Dasha from her hell, but I don’t know if I’ll simply be plunging us both into a new one.
Thank you so much for reading. To read Bohdan’s story and see more of K, Cassie, Andrius, and Violet, as well as Gulliver, you can pre-order The God, Bohdan’s book. Info here: https://skyejonesauthor.com/
MORE BOOKS BY SR JONES
RAW HEROES SERIES
RAW
HARD
FAST
DEEP
RAW HEROES BOX SET
BRATVA VOWS SERIES
THE TRAP
THE GIFT
THE HIT
MAFIA VOWS SERIES
THE CONTRACT
THE DEBT
THE PROMISE
THE PLEDGE
THE BETRAYAL
BRATVA BLOOD SERIES
THE SOLDIER
THE KING
THE WAR
