by Rose, Bella
“I appreciate the compliment,” he told her. “Now. Can you find your keys?”
“They’re in my hand.”
“Can you put them in the lock?”
Mary screwed up her face, trying with shaky hands to slide the right key into the bolt. “Got it!”
“Very good. Now turn.”
She unlocked the door and turned the knob so he could carry her inside. “Hey!” she giggled so hard she thought she might pee her pants. “You totally just carried me over the threshold. See, now we have to have sex. It’s like a wedding night.”
“I don’t have any response to that.” He kicked the door closed behind him. “So you’ll forgive me if I don’t comment.”
“No. That’s okay. I feel like if I had all my marbles I might be pissed that I just said that.” Mary smiled at him. “You’re really nice. You know that?”
“Would you like me to take you to your bedroom?” Vlad locked the door behind him.
“Yes!”
“Then I’m going home.”
“No.” Mary didn’t want the night to end. “I’ve had such a good time. Don’t spoil it by leaving.”
“The night has to be over sometime.”
“No. It can go on forever if you just stay in my bed with me.” Mary decided that this was the best solution to everything. “Then when I’m not drunk anymore you can fuck me.”
“What?” He looked faintly alarmed.
Mary snuggled closer to his chest, winding her arms around his neck. Then he went to lay her down on her bed. She didn’t let go. “Come on. Lay with me for a while. Please?”
“Only for a few minutes,” he finally conceded.
Mary felt the bed move as he settled himself against her pillows. She didn’t care how long he thought he was staying. She was going to keep him there. Curling up beside him, she wrapped her arms around his waist and laid her cheek on his chest. It felt absolutely right.
“Vlad?”
“Yes?”
“My clothes are itchy. Plus, this skirt will be ruined if I try to sleep in it.”
He started to move. “Then I had best go home.”
“No!” She squirmed and struggled, finally getting her skirt off. “I don’t mind. You can stay.”
Now her naked legs were pressed against his jeans. She didn’t like that. She wanted to feel him skin to skin. Picking at the button on his pants, she wondered what he’d do if she actually tried to remove them.
“What are you thinking?” he asked, sounding suspicious.
“I was wondering what you would do if I tried to strip you naked,” she told him. “You know, would you scream like a girl and run out the door? Or would you maybe decide that being naked with me could be fun?”
“Mary,” Vlad growled. “You’re playing with fire.”
“That’s because I want to get burned.” She wiggled around until she was half laying on top of him, staring up at his face in the near darkness. “I know I’m a little tipsy. Frankly it feels amazing not to be obsessing over every little detail all the time. And since I’m not obsessing, I’m fully aware of how much I want to have sex with you.”
“You can’t know that,” he argued. “You’ve no experience for comparison.”
“Not true.” She tried to order her fuzzy thoughts, giving up after a few minutes and just saying what she felt for once. “It isn’t that I haven’t had the chance to have sex. I’ve just never wanted to. I’ve never felt like the guy would be worth it. I know you will be. Maybe it’s because you’re a little dangerous and I feel like all that experience out in the world is bound to make you good at everything. I don’t know. I just know I want you to be my first.”
VLAD COULD BARELY speak. It was wrong on so many levels to consider having sex with Mary here and now. In fact some of his reasons had nothing to do with her. He was still being pressured by his father to seduce Mary and make her more willing to go easy on Ioann at school. How could Vlad even consider being with her under that pall?
Mary’s clever little fingers plucked at the fastenings of his jeans. Before he could protest, she’d slid her hand inside the fly. Her cool fingers measured the length of him. Blood rushed to his groin and he realized his breathing had grown ragged. He was having a tough time remembering why this was a bad idea.
“Your skin is so soft!” There was almost a sense of wonder in her voice. “I want to see your cock, Vlad. Please?”
He should have said no. He really should have. Yet he found himself unable to stop her as she began dragging his jeans away from his waist. In fact he lifted his butt and helped her slide his pants down his legs. Then he went the extra mile of stupidity and pulled his shirt off over his head.
She made a low, animalistic sound of pleasure as she rubbed her cheek against the skin covering his ribs. The sensation of her touch was exquisite. He had never been this turned on before in his life.
“Mary,” he managed to say through clenched teeth. “Are you sure?”
“Yes!”
“Do you even understand what you’re asking?”
“I want you to put this”—she wrapped her hand around his shaft and squeezed gently—“inside my pussy and make me scream.”
That was plain enough, but Vlad still had the feeling she was going to hate herself and him in the morning. Or maybe she wouldn’t. It was difficult to say with Mary. She was unlike any other woman he’d ever met.
“Vlad,” she moaned. “Please?”
He rolled her onto her back. Picking at the buttons on her blouse, he let it fall open over her chest. He leaned down to kiss the swell of her cleavage. Following the line above the cotton cups of her bra, he used his tongue to tease her sensitive skin. She arched her back and pushed her breasts closer to his face.
Vlad let one hand delve beneath her back until he found the clasp of her bra. He unsnapped it, releasing her beautiful breasts so that he could kiss her nipples. He licked one and then the other. Her skin tasted like honey and lavender. The feminine scent of her was driving him absolutely wild.
He nuzzled her chest. She stabbed her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer still. Sucking and licking her breasts until she was writhing beneath him, he let one hand drift down her belly toward her mound. His fingers brushed the hair between her legs. She was already damp. When he parted her sex and touched the folds hidden within he discovered that her core was drenched in cream.
“Vlad!” she cried out. “Yes! Do that. It feels so good.”
He smiled because she couldn’t see his face. Had there ever been a woman so responsive? Gently circling her opening with the tip of his finger, he felt every muscle inside her channel clench hard. She was so ready. Still, she was also virgin. He had no desire to hurt her during this first experience. The wine had made her soft and relaxed. He wanted to make her scream with passion.
Mary gave a high-pitched cry of surprise when he slid his finger inside her pussy. Her muscles squeezed him tight. Twisting his hand, he curled his finger around her pubic bone and found the pad of muscle just inside her body that would bring her the most pleasure.
Only seconds later she gasped and bucked her hips. The spasm of her climax took his breath away. Then he felt a spurt of wetness in his hand and realized that this surprising woman had come for him in this most intriguing way.
Mary grabbed his shoulders. “Please fuck me, Vlad. Please!”
Vlad wasn’t quite ready. He settled himself between her legs on his knees. Adding a second finger to the first one he’d slipped inside, he stretched her in hopes of helping her accept his cock into her body. He rubbed the smooth elastic surface of her channel. Her hips began to move with the motion of his hand. When a new gush of cream drenched his fingers, Vlad knew it was time.
He positioned himself carefully at her entrance. It was hell to hold back. He wanted to thrust inside her sweetness as hard as he could and just soak up the satisfaction, but hurting her was not acceptable. So Vlad forced himself to go slowly.
Gaining inch by agonizing inch at a time, he slowly penetrated her tight sheath. The friction was glorious. He ground his teeth together and watched Mary’s face. Her expression shifted from anticipation to wonder until he finally seated himself completely inside her body.
Vlad began to move with slow, measured strokes. Then Mary wrapped her legs around his waist and he realized that she was taking control of their pace and making it her own. She pumped against him, rocking her pussy against the root of his cock until she was grinding his shaft against the walls of her channel.
Heat gathered at the base of Vlad’s spine. He was spinning quickly out of control. He needed to come. His release burned in his veins. His cock throbbed and he knew it wouldn’t be long.
“Come for me, Mary,” Vlad growled. “Come again and let me come with you.”
She cried out, flinging her head back against the mattress and scoring his shoulders with her nails as she reached her second orgasm. Vlad let go, filling her with his seed as his cock pulsed again and again. His head was fuzzy and his heart was pounding with myriad mixed emotions he could not begin to understand.
Chapter Eight
Mary rolled over in her bed and tried not to moan as a strip of sunlight stretched across her bed and dared to brush her face. It felt as if a brass band was playing inside her skull complete with batons stabbing through her eyes. There was a fine coating of cotton on the inside of her mouth. All in all she was heartily glad it was Saturday because she felt like crap.
She tried to sit up and realized she was pleasantly sore between her legs. The entire night came back in a rush of movie quality images that made her blush and press her palms over her cheeks in chagrin. She had totally thrown herself at Vlad. There was absolutely no question in her mind about it.
Mary flopped back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. Somehow she’d always thought that she would feel different after losing her virginity. She didn’t. There was no regret and no wishing she’d done things differently. Vlad had been amazing. He had made her feel things she couldn’t imagine wanting to forget.
Vlad. Where was he? She had a vague memory of him leaving the bed sometime in the small hours of the morning. She didn’t have his phone number or address or anything. It was almost as if it had never happened.
Panic took hold almost immediately. Mary rolled out of her bed and nearly threw up. She took great gasping breaths to calm her stomach. Eventually the urge to vomit was gone. That left her trying to figure out what she should do now.
Ioann’s school file.
Mary crawled to her dresser and yanked open the bottom drawer. She rummaged for a pair of sweat pants and an old hoodie. Still feeling weak, she actually rolled around on the floor pulling on her clothes while trying to use the least amount of effort possible.
When it came time to stand up, she grabbed the edge of the bed and attempted to pull herself upright. She swallowed back the bile that threatened to overtake her. Finally she felt well enough to shove her feet in a pair of old shoes and rummage for her keys.
Her purse was on the floor with her clothes from the previous night. She didn’t even remember getting undressed. Although she did remember everything that came after that. Her cheeks flamed red hot as she thought about exactly how forward she’d been with Vlad.
Stumbling out of her apartment, she managed to make it to her car. The drive to the school happened in a haze. It was Saturday and the place was basically deserted. She pulled haphazardly into the bus lane, not even bothering to park in the lot.
She used her key to enter the building not far from her classroom. It was dim and close inside. The heat had been running overnight, and the scent of paper and the musty smell of the old building were almost overwhelming.
Distracted as she was, it didn’t really register that she didn’t have to type in the alarm code. There was no beeping and she figured one of the janitors had forgotten to set the thing on Friday night. It had no affect on Mary’s goal.
When she finally arrived at her classroom, she reached for the door handle. It was ajar. Mary pulled back and plowed her way through the fog in her brain. She knew she’d closed her door and locked in on Friday after classes. There was no question in her mind.
Cautious now, she very carefully pushed the door open a tiny bit at a time. Fortunately she was absolutely anal about having the janitorial staff oil the hinges so it was quiet. She held her breath. The silence was almost oppressive. It was tempting to throw on the lights and scream like a banshee, but her recent brush with the Sokolov’s had changed everything for her. The world was a scary place and she didn’t quite know what was around the next corner.
A rustling noise caught Mary’s attention. She crouched low and slipped into the classroom. There was a shadow by her desk. The muted metal clank of her desk drawer was followed by the sound of someone coughing and trying to cover it up.
There was a prowler in her classroom!
Mary ducked behind a bookshelf in the reading center and tried to decide what to do. She couldn’t confront this person. That would be insane. What if she got attacked? It wasn’t like she had a weapon other than her queasy stomach. Was she going to vomit all over someone to send them away?
“I know you’re there.” A low voice drifted through the still air. “I can hear you breathing.”
Mary squeezed her eyes shut, trying to control her fear. “Why are you here? What could you possibly want in this school?”
A low laugh made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. “You have quite the variety of students, don’t you?”
“They’re just kids!” She was powerless to stop the note of panic that entered her voice. “They don’t have anything for you.”
“You’re wrong.” The voice got closer, the owner moving through her classroom on silent feet. “Children with ties to very powerful people have much that I’m interested in.”
Someone grabbed her hair, wrenching her up onto her feet before flinging her across the room. Mary landed with a thud. Her hip slammed into the hard concrete beneath the industrial carpeting and she groaned in pain. Then her head bounced off the floor and she felt herself losing consciousness. Mary fought to stay awake. Her vision curled in at the edges, turning black as she slipped away.
“Stay out of my way and you’ll be safe,” the voice promised. “Get between me and what I want and you will die.”
Then Mary faded out and knew no more.
***
“Ah, Vlad! There you are,” Sokolov remarked. He took a seat at the breakfast table and helped himself to a large portion of the blini left on a platter for his enjoyment. “I noticed you did not come home until quite early this morning.”
Vlad had been perusing the morning paper. He lowered it long enough to frown at his father. “I hardly think my love life or lack of one is more important than the news. Did you see this?” Vlad set the paper down and pointed to a column below the fold on the front page.
“Eh.” His father shrugged dismissively. “They appoint new council members practically every week.”
“This isn’t just a council member. This is an Orsini.” Vlad clenched his teeth, wishing he could impress upon his father that just because they were Sokolovs did not make them untouchable. “The Orsini organization is growing. They have high ranking law enforcement officials and now a council member who heads up a committee that controls imports. This is bad.”
Sokolov waved his fork around. “If they become troublesome, we’ll send some of the men to take them down. Simple.”
“We can’t run around Boston shooting public officials.” Vlad couldn’t believe he actually had to say that out loud.
“You never did have the stomach for this business,” Sokolov said derisively. “From the time you were a little boy you could not stomach the violence.”
“No small child can stomach that sort of violence.” Vlad took a deep breath and struggled with his patience. “I was six. You wanted me to shoot a man. I couldn’t do it. That should
not surprise you.”
“Take Sasha over there.” Sokolov waved a hand at the lump of a man standing near the entrance to the dining room. “He would have happily pulled the trigger at age four I bet. No problem.”
Vlad had to admit that his father was probably right. But that was also because Sasha was a very disturbed individual. “Sasha tortured baby squirrels as a child,” Vlad pointed out. “That’s hardly a good example. If you ask him now to administer a beating or do a small task, the victim generally ends up very dead. How is that a good thing?”
“Good or bad wasn’t my point,” his father said airily. “And back to the thing that really matters, how goes the seduction?”
“I prefer not to think of it in those terms,” Vlad said irritably. “She’s a very nice person. Not a piece of meat.”
Sokolov muttered something uncomplimentary in Russian. “I don’t care if you teach her to be a whore! I told you I want that woman seduced to our side and Ioann’s visits to the principal’s office to stop. Is that understood?”
“You’ve made yourself quite clear,” Vlad said, standing up.
Sokolov pointed to Vlad’s seat. “Where do you think you are going? Sit down.”
“I think we’re done discussing the morning’s business, don’t you?” Vlad couldn’t imagine what else they had to talk about.
“Ioann’s class is going on a field trip this coming Monday.” Sokolov shoved a large portion of blini into his mouth. “I want you to chaperone.”
“Okay.” This was not necessarily unusual. Vlad had gone on field trips before to provide security. “Is there something particularly special about this trip?”
“I’m thinking this could be a good time for you to demonstrate to Miss Reilly how Sokolovs interact with the world at large.” His father reached for the paper, smearing food all over the print.
“And how do you see that playing out exactly?” Vlad wanted to know.
“Show her that Ioann gets special treatment, always. And that he is free to do what he pleases no matter how the other children behave.”
