Pakhan's Rose

by V. F. Mason

  I was ready to be fully his, no question about it. I hesitated to share my body with his but… if these three months had proved anything, it was that he listened and respected me. Yes, waiting for words of love from a man like him… there was just no point in that. Each one of us occupied a place on the other side of the groom, and we sighed dreamily when Sapphire came into view.

  Truly she was a beautiful bride.

  Her wavy black hair was pushed over her shoulders where it was clipped back, leaving her graceful neck visible. Her sky-blue chiffon dress was an unusual design, ending just above the knee in front, but behind her, it draped down to the sand, creating the illusion of a long train. Sapphire's bare feet had anklets around them, and she gave off the whole fairy look. Once they reached the end of the aisle, Luke placed her hand in Damian’s as the two lovers watched each other greedily and so intimately that I almost wanted to turn around and not interrupt them. Then unexpectedly, Damian kissed her heartily, accompanied by whistles and catcalls from us, and the priest started the ceremony. "Dearly beloved—"

  Dominic

  Watching Rosa dancing with Kristina tugged on my heart, but I couldn't do anything about it. I barely contained the desire to snatch her from this party and go to Irkutsk. She had yet to visit the place I called home. With her studies and my responsibilities, we simply had no time.

  Her mocha hair would look splendid against my black silky sheets, not to mention her vivid eyes. My hands itched to lower the zipper on her dress and run my fingers over her skin while trailing kisses down her back.

  However, leaving my twin's wedding was out of the question, so there was nothing else to do but sip whiskey and count the hours for the party to be over.

  "Well, don't you look happy for me?" Damian teased, sitting on the chair next to me. He followed my gaze and smirked. "Sucks to be the one watching, doesn't it?" Ignoring his words, I continued to drink while he added, "Women talk, you know." Furrowing my brows, I glanced at him. "What's that supposed to mean?" Damian raised his brow while his mouth twitched, barely containing laughter that wanted to spill out.

  Blyat.

  Women talked.

  I’d never had a real relationship before, and this small fact sucked. The last thing I wanted was for people to wonder why she was still a virgin if she had been with me for the last three months.

  Little Rosa probably forgot to mention the sex was supposed to happen on her terms, and so far she hadn’t given me permission to touch her. Well, at least in the sense of her losing her virginity. Sometimes, it surprised me how much control I willingly gave her, just for a chance to prove she could be happy with me.

  Maybe I shouldn't have kidnapped her from her father, and instead, waited patiently. But my possessive nature was impossible to control; plus, I couldn't have my woman running around in New York when important business awaited me back home. What if some other fucker wanted to steal her? No one could be trusted with her protection but me.

  "Drop it, Damian," I said with a warning, because twin or no twin, I'd be damned if I’d discuss my woman with another man.

  "Trust me, I wasn't about to ask you about your sex life." He winced. "She's a sister to me. I’m still reining in my desire to smash your face for touching her."

  I rolled my eyes at this; apparently, everyone seemed to think they had some kind of right to my woman, when it fact, she belonged only to me.

  Not to her father.

  Not to Damian.

  Sure as fuck not to herself. My life and hers were forever entwined, so everyone better fucking get used to that.

  He held my eyes with his. His had a wistful expression. "I just wanted to know if everything was all right with you?" For the last three months, we had shared a few phone calls. I came to visit them once, but besides that, we didn't establish an amazing connection all of a sudden or bond over the experience. We just couldn't, even if we tried. I loved my brother and he loved me, but we simply couldn't ignore all the years we spent apart. Plus, we had a huge distance between us, the entire ocean.

  Before I could answer him, Don joined our table and sat down opposite us with a serious expression. "Can I have a moment with you two?" Damian and I shared a look. Since when did the man ask anything? The entire night he was busy flirting with Mary, Sapphire's single friend, and he hadn't paid much attention to us. We nodded, and he cleared his throat. "I still hold a grudge against you, ragazzo." He let me know with steel in his eyes that was easy for me to understand. I kidnapped his child, and our mafia houses were currently at war. We agreed to a truce during the wedding, but all bets were off once it was over. "But there is one thing I wanted to give to you. Both of you." He placed the brown, rectangular envelope on the table and motioned for us to open it.

  Since Damian made no move toward it, I picked it up, tore it open, and several photos slid all over the table. Pushing the envelope aside, I focused my attention on the vivid pictures that must have been taken at least thirty years ago, due to the quality of the photos and the wardrobe.

  A young couple in their early twenties rode on a motorcycle in the middle of the empty street with deserts and canyons surrounding them. A guy wearing a black Queen T-shirt and blue jeans along with boots held the handlebars and gazed ahead, while the girl behind him wrapped her arms around his waist and laughed happily with her head tilted back. Her hair was blown away by the wind, and the band around her forehead kept it from getting in her eyes. Her clothes were yellow and orange. She wore lots of jewelry on her neck, ears, and hands.

  The shot must have been taken from the car riding in front of them, because it captured the moment perfectly without them having to pose for it. There was something oddly familiar about the couple to me, but I couldn't name it. Damian appeared just as clueless. He just kept running his fingers over their faces as his brows furrowed.

  The next picture was the same couple during their wedding day. They seemed older. Gone were the hippie attributes, replaced with a black tux for the man and a long, white chiffon dress with small pearls on it for the woman. Her hand rested protectively on the small bump, clearly indicating pregnancy. The couple radiated happiness, which even the old-ass picture couldn't hide it.

  Another one was with them holding two babies in the hospital as the woman lay exhausted but happy on the bed. The man held his family protectively in the crook of his arm, creating a shield from the outside world.

  The man looked so much like my brother and me. The resemblance was impossible to ignore.

  Then it hit me, all at fucking once.

  "Are those our parents?" Damian asked with a hoarse voice, as the flat of his palm landed on the last photograph.

  "Yes," Don replied. "They used to be my friends. Mine and my wife’s, Sorcha." A ghost of a smile appeared on his face while remembering his wife. "Sorcha and Kristina liked to get into trouble, and we'd have to rescue them."

  "Is that why you allowed me to keep Rosa and watched me carefully?" Damian asked, his eyes still glued to the picture in the hospital.

  "Yes, it's hard to mistake those eyes. Plus, you do share some of his traits."

  "Why now?" The question came from me. I couldn't wrap my head around this information. Why couldn't he share all this before? Don shrugged, took out his cigar, and lit it.

  "Seemed like a good wedding present, and besides, it wouldn't have changed anything."

  "So Dad was part of the mafia?"

  "No, we were childhood friends. He was a lawyer and heir to an empire. He liked to protect the weak, though, so he was kind of a Robin Hood. Did similar stuff like you guys, and one of the reasons those men did what they did. I couldn't come help in time, even though I warned him not to mess with those men without backup." His hand fisted, but the pitch of his voice stayed even.

  "That's neither here nor there, though. The point is, the life you lead can destroy things you love the most." His narrowed stare burned into mine. "And I don't want my little girl to be collateral damage." Then he shifted his gaze to D
amian. "Or your sweet woman. So on your wedding day, I'll give you two pieces of advice. You forget about being Sociopath, and you"—he pointed his index finger at me—"learn to provide as much protection as you possibly can to my daughter." With those words, he left to join Mary on the dance floor while she blushed from his invitation, leaving us dumbstruck.

  Silence fell over us for several seconds, with Damian breaking it with a low voice. "Do you want the pictures?" I nodded, because who wouldn't want them? Remembering our parents was one thing, but having proof that they were happy and wanted us? Yeah, no one could say no to that.

  He split them evenly between us and then patted my shoulder. "I need to find Sapphire." He searched for her and finally spotted her near the bar, chatting with Luke. He darted toward her, leaving me sitting there alone with uncomfortable emotions I couldn’t name playing inside me.

  Who would have thought our parents used to be that fun-loving couple who fought for justice? Or that they had an Italian Mafia Don for a friend.

  A friend who was the father of the woman I desperately wanted to claim as mine.

  If it weren’t for S, John, Richard, and the whole human trafficking, I would have had a chance with her. She'd always have been close. No one would ever have harmed her or me, and she'd probably have been my wife the minute she became legal.

  Everything closed off in me. A red haze played in front of my eyes, and I barely restrained myself from standing up and running the fuck away. Building rage, which didn't go away no matter how much I tried, demanded me to fight someone and see blood.

  I was so disconnected from everything around me that the gentle touch on my cheek came out of nowhere and snapped me out of my stupor. My eyes traveled back up to the gorgeous vision in pink. I drank in her beauty and aura of serenity only she could provide for me. "Dominic?" Rosa asked softly, and without further words, I grabbed her elbow and sat her on my lap as she gasped in surprise.

  The bullshit of three months was over.

  I was fucking done waiting around on her. It made me a bastard, maybe.

  Made me an unforgivable human being.

  Maybe.

  But I was fucking done.

  "No, I'm not all right. I need you," I whispered harshly, probably scaring her, which would cement her views on not giving me a chance—not that I was going to wait for one.

  Rosa studied me then laced her hands through my hair, brought her mouth close to mine, and whispered in it, her lips touching mine in the lightest of caresses, "Okay."

  "Наконец то." (Nakonecto) Finally.

  After months of wanting, yearning, rejections, and heavy petting sessions, my woman was ready to be claimed and conquered.

  Rosa

  My arms and legs wrapped around Dominic, while he ground his hips against me, creating a friction I just couldn't get enough of, so I pressed my pelvis as close as freaking possible. With each step he took toward our room in this cozy, Victorian-style decorated inn, it was a mini slice of heaven. His fingers dug painfully into my thighs as we continued kissing deeply, his tongue seeking mine. Nothing existed for me but this man, his smell, just him.

  Nipping on his jaw, I murmured, “How do you even know where to go?” He licked along my bottom lip, tugging on it while my nails scratched his back under his white shirt. Why did he have to have on so many clothes? We’d already gotten rid of the jacket, throwing it on the floor somewhere on the way.

  “Trust me,” he whispered, and all the questions flew from my mind.

  I did. So irrevocably. So truthfully. Romance books just didn't do justice to the intensity one could have for another human who could become so vital to you, to the point you couldn’t imagine your life without him.

  He finally reached our room, carried me inside, and closed the door with his foot. The moonlight shone through the balcony French doors, bright enough to see every detail, but not enough to make me feel self-conscious about the moment. His hand fisted my hair while another possessively held my back. “I want nothing more than to push you against the wall and take what belongs to me,” he groaned into my hair. “But I can’t.”

  “I’m not stopping you.” Gasping, I shifted my hips firmer against his. God, why had we never done it before?

  “Shh, krasavica. I’m in charge tonight.” He walked us to the bedroom and placed me gently on the bed. “Take off your dress. Slowly.”

  Gulping, I rose on my knees and removed my dress over my head, leaving me completely naked, since a bra didn't fit the design and panties showed panty lines, which drove me crazy.

  His amber eyes ignited, as he growled, “Bare? While countless men danced with you?” Technically only four: Michael, Vitya, my dad, and Connor, but I didn't think clarifying was the best choice at the moment. My sexy caveman just didn't care who. If the person had a penis, he would get jealous.

  To reassure him, I whispered, “Nobody matters but you.”

  His gaze softened as he ripped open his shirt and removed his belt; his pants came off with one swift movement, and we were both naked. “Lie on your back.”

  Frowning, I did what he said, although I wondered why he couldn't have chosen something more adventurous. We had been in this position countless times before. He slid one knee onto the bed, pushing himself up, closing around me like a dome. Placing his hands on either side of my head, he bent down and kissed my neck, brushing his lips over the sensitive spot right under my ear.

  Gasping, my body hummed as if lightning struck it. I dug my nails into his shoulders while he trailed lower, murmuring, “Your skin is like silk, soft to the touch, and so delicate.” To prove his words, he bit me lightly and then immediately soothed the sting with his tongue, bathing the place with saliva. “One touch, and everyone knows you’ve been in my bed,” he said smugly.

  Shifting lower, he nipped around the cross on my collarbone. “Anytime my eyes land on your neck, it pleases me to know you belong to me. That no one had the privilege of this body before me.” He straddled me, gripping my hips and parting them to allow closer contact with his erection. To his satisfaction, a moan slipped from my lips.

  He thumbed my hardened nipples, blowing on them gently. Goose bumps ran through me as he captured one nipple with his mouth, suckling on it as though he were starving. His hands trailed lower to my waist, pressing on it as if he wanted to imprint himself completely into me. He repeated the same action with the other breast, making me arch further into his hold, right before he let go and flipped me over him. A squeal of surprise left me.

  “Come here, darling. Ride my tongue.” Such crude words sent a jolt of electricity through me as if someone charged me with a burst of energy. My cheeks heated when he raised my hips higher, and instructed, “Lower your pussy here, Rosa.” He tipped up his lips, and I had no other choice but to obey.

  The minute my core connected with his tongue, my skin felt as if tiny little needles were poking into it, antagonizing every nerve in my body as he licked my lower lips, sucked on my clit, and then plunged inside as his thumbs opened me up. Mimicking the act of lovemaking, he pushed it inside, held it still while his fingers ran up and down my thighs, and then pulled back, biting and nipping in the process. Not having much to do with my hands, I palmed my breasts and tweaked my nipples. Combined with his actions, I seriously thought I’d pass out from pleasure.

  Then his whole attention focused on my clit as he covered it with his lips and pulled gently at first, then harder, and then finally sucked on it as if he couldn’t get enough of me. The pleasure peak seemed closer and closer, as the familiar sensation took hold of my body, but right before I could reach it, he changed the position.

  He flipped me once again. We both breathed heavily as he loomed above me. “Dominic,” I pleaded, begging him to finish this, to give us the conclusion we so desperately needed.

  “Moya krasavica,” he whispered, as his bare cock nudged at my entrance. Then with one fluid movement, he pushed forward, stretching my tight passage. I gasped at the sensatio
n, the burn. He stilled, not doing anything. I don’t think he even breathed as he let me adjust to his size and the sensations. He wrapped my legs around him while I hugged him closer, our breaths mingling.

  Slowly, painfully so, his stillness started to become unbearable. This deep ache transformed into a deeper need, and I shifted my hips, jolting him in the process. I gasped into his mouth. My skin felt like it was covered with fire. “Again,” I whispered, and he pushed, carefully, but God, it was even better than the previous one. “Faster.” Withdrawing, he pushed back in then repeated it.

  With each thrust, I flew higher and higher. No one, and I meant no one, could describe sex to a person who hadn’t experienced it. I thought I wasn't so innocent after what we had done in the last three months, but I was wrong. The sensations that held me prisoner couldn't be compared to anything. I clenched my inner muscles, and he growled, picking up speed and hitting that perfect spot. Within a few seconds, it finally happened.

  I reached the level of freaking nirvana. My body shattered into tiny little pieces, as if I soared high above the clouds even. My vision went blank, and arching my back, my head fell to the bed and I moaned as he still pushed inside me.

  One. Two. Three pumps, and he joined me with a loud roar as he spilled his cum inside my heated flesh, and his mouth smashed on mine, delving his tongue as deep it would go, while my fingers laced through his hair.

  This was the moment, the moment all people should live for. “Dominic, it was—”

  “Yes,” he murmured, licking the inside of my lower lip.

  “I never imagined it could be so—”

  He interrupted again, still inside me as he bit on my chin, “Me neither.” Not wanting to bring the past into such an intimate moment, I decided not to comment that I was the only virgin in the room. “No one felt like you. No one had all this but you. No one compares to you. Do you understand me, Rosa?”