by Ker Dukey
“Thank you,” I utter. “Have you seen Mr. Vasiliev?”
“Senior?”
“Uh, no. Vlad.”
He shakes his head as he stalks my way, a wolfish gleam in his eyes. I’d once thought he was cute, but now I just want to get away to find Vlad. I have a bigger game to play than hooking a handsome guy. I need to make sure my sister doesn’t get herself killed.
Stepan stops inches from me and stares. “Allow me to escort you to dinner.”
I step away from him, bumping my ass against the wall. “I…uh…”
“I’ll be escorting her to dinner,” a cold, masculine voice bites out. “Run along to the basement and check on my Darya.”
Stepan stiffens and flashes me a worried look before he steps away, not sparing me a second glance as he storms off. I’m left staring straight into the cold eyes of Yuri Vasiliev. Tall, broad-shouldered, dark hair with streaks of gray—he’s an older version of Vlad, handsome and regal. But something in his eyes screams violence. Whatever monster Vlad is, his father is a million times more vile.
“Sir,” I greet with a forced smile.
He approaches me, his eyes raking over my dress as he sizes me up. With no expression as to what he thinks, he offers his arm to me. “The dress suits you. Although, I do prefer the one last night over this one.”
A flash of memory assaults me.
Shiny and threatening.
A knife.
Not just any knife—Vlad’s scary hooked knife.
The small cut on my hip smarts at the thought. I’d wondered what had happened, and now it’s all flooding back. Images of Vlad on top of me. Pressed against me. His cock rubbing against my clit through our clothes.
I came.
Dear God, I came.
Heat floods up my throat and paints my flesh what I imagine a brilliant red. Yuri says nothing as he escorts me to the dining room. I’m freaking out over last night when a new feeling surges over me.
Awareness.
Furious rage ripples through the air so palpable, it makes the hairs on my arm stand on end. When I lift my eyes from the floor, I lock gazes with Vlad’s enraged amber glare. Everything about his posture and expression states otherwise, but I’ve learned to read his telling eyes.
His eyes are saying everything to me.
Not saying, screaming.
Get. Away. From. Him.
I start to pull away from Yuri, but his grip tightens.
“Ah, child, not so fast. We’re playing a game. Do you like games?” He turns his head and lifts a brow at me.
“What sort of game?” I murmur.
The heat of Vlad’s stare burns my flesh. I want to glance over at him again, but I’m snared in Yuri’s demanding stare.
“My game. They’re all my games, after all.” His lips lift on one side. This is the same man who beat the ever-loving snot out of Darya. Did he rape her too?
I straighten my spine and lift my chin. “I don’t want to play games with you.”
“Father,” Vlad says coolly. I’m surprised he reached us so quickly.
Yuri smiles at him in a polite manner. “Son.”
“Allow me to escort Irina to her seat,” Vlad growls, his voice slightly on edge. “I insist.”
His father chuckles. Low and deadly. “Not tonight, son. She’s mine for tonight.” He regards me with a devilish grin. “An old man with a young, beautiful woman on his arm for the evening, I can’t think of a better way I’d like to spend dinner.”
Vlad flashes me a warning glare. Something glimmers in his amber eyes. Fear. I’m struck by the glimpse and nearly stumble when Yuri guides me to the table. He pulls out a chair and motions for me to sit.
I take my seat and guzzle down the water in the goblet. I’ll avoid wine. The last thing I need is to lose my head while in Yuri Vasiliev’s grip. I saw what he did to Darya. I’ll be damned if he does that to me. He doesn’t take his seat right away as he talks to Veniamin Vetrov’s father, Yegor. Yegor is as old as Yuri but he’s not fit like Yuri. Yegor has a giant belly that strains against the buttons of his dress shirt. Yuri is powerful and scary next to Yegor, who is pudgy and breathing too heavily. I notice Veniamin sitting across the table wearing a knowing expression, his narrowed stare on me.
I’m suddenly struck by a horrible realization.
Ven.
My sister is sleeping with Ven.
Older, and she’s known him forever. He’s always at the Vasiliev home. As if clued into my thoughts, Ven smirks.
Oh God.
I remember being a kid and seeing them kiss in the hallway of our home. Back when he’d recently grown his beard and attended university, but far too old to be kissing a teenager. I’d been stunned, but Diana never spoke of it again.
Because he was her secret.
Crap!
This will cause a war. If my sister is screwing Ven while engaged to Vlad, that’ll put three families at war with each other.
His attention darts to the doorway, and I follow his gaze. Diana enters the dining room wearing a confident smile and a fashionable scarf that goes well with her black dress hugging all her voluptuous curves. I let out a sigh of relief noticing her hickey is hidden. Anton follows behind her, ever the good watch dog. Ven rises and struts over to them, causing my stomach to hollow out. When he reaches her, she flashes him a brilliant grin. He takes her hand and kisses the top of it.
Double crap!
Why would she blatantly flaunt this in front of everyone?
Ven has completely brainwashed my sister.
I start to rise to my feet to stop whatever it is that’s happening, but then everyone takes their seats. Ven sits back down across from me as Yuri sits to my left. Vlad sits beside me, and Diana sits across from him with Anton at her left.
My eyes are glued to them as Ven scratches his dark beard, a flirtatious grin on his face as he leans in and whispers something to Diana. She giggles, and it sets my teeth on edge. I can sense Vlad beside me staring them down.
Triple crap!
“Miss Volkov,” Yuri says, startling me. “Have you considered entering the next V Games? You’re certainly old enough. Vlad entered when he was much younger than you are now.”
Surprised by his words, I jerk my head to the left and gape at him. “W-What? Me?”
He shrugs as a server sets down a steaming plate in front of him. She then serves me and Vlad, who’s engaged in conversation with a man beside him, before moving along. I swallow, the scent of baked salmon invading my senses.
“I know about your father. About that bastard son of his he now favors over his daughters. I know everything, dear girl. How you now rely on that of the Vasiliev to secure your future and well-being. Am I incorrect?”
I stiffen, but don’t respond. I stare down at the delicious looking salmon and try not to recoil at Yuri’s words.
“I could train you…” he mutters lowly.
Jerking my head his way, I glare at him. “Like you trained Darya?”
He smirks, ignoring the bite in my tone. “No, Darya is good for a violent fuck. She screams, and boy, does she scream loud. Those screams will entice even the most focused of fighters.” He leans forward and runs the tip of his finger along my outer arm. “But you’re way too strong and smart for that. Brilliant girls who can run their daddy’s businesses with their eyes closed deserve to be much bigger players than ones who lie on their back with their legs spread open.”
“No thank you.” I level him with a hard stare.
“We’ll see.”
I turn away from him and pick up my fork. I’m about to take a bite when I see Diana glaring at Yuri.
“Irina is far too valuable to risk in The Games,” she bites out, overhearing our conversation despite flirting with her lover. “Our father may be smitten at the moment with his newfound son, but he’s always been a fickle man. His love for us hasn’t changed, and he’s always known assets such as us can’t be risked on the appetites of the depraved within The Games.”<
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Yuri’s eyes flare with fire. His jaw clenches as though he’s barely able to keep vicious, uncontrolled words from spewing from his mouth.
Vika bites into a strawberry she’s plucked from her champagne flute and asks while chewing, “If you’re loved so much by him, then why has he cut you out of his businesses?” The glint in Vika’s eyes, like she won a prize, makes me want to jab my fork into one.
How can she possibly know anything of this?
Diana tuts, a smirk on her lips. “Vika, who fills your head with such things? It’s true that dynamics have changed, but our father trained us. He prepared us for the cutthroat world and I’ve been running the business for quite some time. In that time, shares have been moved over into my own name. Volkov Spirits is a company Irina and I built from the ground up. He can have the rest to pass on to Vas, if that’s what he chooses, but Volkov Spirits is and will always be ours.”
My heart pounds in my chest.
Vika turns a pink color and downs the rest of her drink in one gulp. Just when I think she’s going to shut up, she speaks again. “Lots of families send their children into The Games. It’s an honor and a sign of strength. For almost a decade, since The Games have been around, it has been this way. Most of the young men sitting at this table, like my brother, entered The Games as a rite of passage into adulthood—into leading their families. Are you saying your family is better than the rest of us? Why? Because you’re a woman?”
She’s such a bitch. Why does she always have to create conflict?
“I’m not saying that at all,” Diana replies with a lift of her chin. “I’m saying we don’t need to prove our worth that way. Female or not.”
“She’s a businesswoman. I like it,” Ven says with a grin, playfully tugging at Diana’s scarf. Their blatant flirting is going to get her killed by the time the night’s over. Before I lose my nerve, I do something I can’t take back:
I make my move.
My attention is wavering from the scene before me as Arkady Orlov drones on beside me about a new cocaine supplier. The Orlovs are the biggest drug runners on this side of Russia. I’ve been wanting to steal a piece of their market and have been watching them closely.
Except now.
Now I’m watching my fiancée and Ven making a fool of the Vasiliev name as they practically play grab-ass at the dining room table in front of everyone. I accused her of it, but it’s looking apparent that he’s fucking her.
All thoughts of the Orlovs and cocaine and murder dissipate when a foot nudges mine. At first, I think Irina accidentally touched my foot, but when I look over at her, her cheeks are pink as she does it again. A bare foot slides up my ankle and playfully rubs against the side of my leg. My cock responds with a jolt.
“Irina,” I growl under my breath.
She looks up at me from under her heavily darkened with mascara lashes and smiles. So damn innocent. A little angel flirting with the devil. Naughty girl. Naughty, naughty girl. “I want to paint you.”
I stare at her in confusion. In one simple sentence, she’s rocked my entire world. I find my mask slipping as I indulge this little princess. “Oh?”
She nods, tucking a blonde strand of hair behind her ear. Her toes continue to playfully tease me under the table and my cock strains in my slacks. It may as well just be she and I in this room. Nobody else matters. Not Diana. Not the marriage. Not the Vasiliev name or my awful father.
Just Shadow, brilliant like the sun.
“Why?” I ask, curious of her sudden flirtations.
She shrugs. “Because you’re something beautiful. I like to paint beautiful things.” I don’t sense deception in her words. Just honest to God truth.
“Perhaps one day,” I tell her, turning my head toward the sound of Diana’s laughter.
A slender leg hooks over mine under the tablecloth and I jerk my head back to Irina. Her icy blue eyes blaze with determination. Full, pouty lips that have been painted a seductive red part and entice me. Those lips were mine this afternoon. I owned and teased them. I’ll have them again. Knowing she’s spread open under the table drives me mad with need. Slipping my hand under the cloth, I palm her bare thigh above her knee hooked over my leg. She shivers, but doesn’t pull away.
“Why the sudden change of heart?” I ask as I take a bite of salmon with my free hand.
She mimics my action and gasps slightly when I caress her silky flesh. “I have needs,” she states bluntly.
I chew slowly and stare her down. She’s gorgeous tonight in a demure but short black dress that showcases what a knockout she is. I nearly came unglued seeing her at my father’s side earlier. If it wouldn’t have caused a scene, I would have plucked her from his grip and tossed her over my shoulder like a goddamn caveman. I’m still tempted to do just that.
“I could see to those needs,” I murmur, my hand slowly sliding up her naked thigh.
Her breath hitches and she trembles. “Vlad.” The needy whine of her voice has me blind with lust. I’ve never wanted something so bad in my entire life.
I am going to fuck sweet little Irina. The idea of it almost steals the air from my lungs. I told myself no. Committed myself to the idea of marrying Diana and not taking what I really want. But after sitting through a dinner of Diana laughing and touching Ven every few seconds, I’ve decided I don’t owe her a goddamn thing, and what she doesn’t know can’t hurt her anyway. Right?
Oh, sweet, little Irina will come for me. She will spread her milky thighs and I’ll explore the treasures no man has ever seen or touched before. Then, maybe it will get her out my system and I can move on and become the husband I’m designated to be to her sister.
Don’t worry, Shadow, you will get what you so desperately crave.
That’s matter of fact.
She must know this by now.
It’s happening.
“Your sister is watching,” I taunt, gaging her for a reaction.
Her brows furrow and she quickly looks over at Diana. She smiles at her sister until I slip my palm higher up her thigh, stealing that smile right from her face.
Dinner continues, and I keep my palm firmly attached to her. I bet her panties are dripping with excitement. I’m craving to taste her arousal.
As soon as she finishes, she touches my bicep. “I’d like to paint you.” Fire blazes in her gaze. “Now.”
I lift a brow in question. “Now?”
“Now,” she repeats.
“Paint?” Father inquires from beside her.
“A wedding gift for Diana,” Irina says flawlessly, the lie unnoticeable to anyone but me. She untangles herself from me and stands. “Excuse me.”
“Your studio isn’t ready,” I tell her, “but I know of a place.”
I rise and offer my father a nod. Diana is too engrossed in what Ven is saying to notice I’m leaving to put my dick inside her sister. Irina rushes from the dining room, her black dress bouncing around her. I stalk her like she’s my prey. As soon as she enters the hallway, she pulls off her shoes and takes off in a sprint. It takes a moment for my mind to catch up with the fact that she’s running from me.
The chase is always my favorite part.
I’ll catch her.
I don’t waste any time and charge after her. It may be goddamn cold in Russia, but I still put at least eight miles a day running on a treadmill. Indoors. Where it’s warm. She’ll never outrun me. I hear a door slam. She’s gone into my father’s wing of the house. My sweet little Irina is lucky I’m here to protect her. Left alone in Daddy’s lair is an awful place to be.
I push open the door to Father’s sitting room and find her with her back against a bookcase. Kicking the door behind me, I prowl her way. Her blue eyes are wide and frightened, making my heart race with excitement.
“Vlad,” she starts, her voice hoarse and terrified.
“Shhh.” I stalk over to her and grasp her delicate neck in my hand—the same hand that was up her dress earlier. Her shoes fall to the wood floor wi
th a clatter. “You can’t tease a lion and not expect to get eaten.”
She cries out when I pin her to the bookshelf and attack her mouth with mine. My thumb strokes the side of her neck, reveling in the way her pulse goes wild beneath my touch. At first, her kiss is clumsy and unsure, but then she’s clawing at the lapels of my jacket. I abandon my grip on her throat to touch her in other places. My palms skim along her ribs, then slide around to her ass. I lift her and groan when she spreads her slender legs to allow me where we both know I need to be.
My cock is painfully hard, and I grind against her soft center as I nip at her bottom lip. Her moan is needy. A sweet beg. “Do you remember last night now?”
She moans again. “Yes.”
“Your body is so receptive. You want this, Irina. You want me to destroy every part of you. You’ll love it.”
She nods, sliding her fingers into my hair. Her grip tightens around my thick locks as she deepens our kiss. We both fight desperately to have the upper hand, and hell if she isn’t winning. I’m consumed by the need to have her. I buck against her, eager to see her come apart again because of me. The little bad girl loses control and rocks with me in anticipation of her release. I pull a hand from her perfect ass to grip her perky tit through her dress. The sounds coming from her are wild and crazed.
“I’m going to fuck you,” I snarl, my teeth nipping her lip, then chin. She cries out when I bite her throat. I move my mouth near her ear and nibble the skin there as well. “I’m going to fuck you right here against my father’s books.”
She whimpers, my words sending her over the edge. Her body shatters with an orgasm. If she comes so easily just from a little rubbing, I can’t wait to watch her lose her mind when I use my tongue.
Before she comes down from her high, I slide my hand between us and find her panties. Wet. Soaked. She’s so hot for me, she’s making a mess. It makes me fucking crazy. I slide her panties to the side, and a choked sound escapes her.
“Vlad…I…this isn’t…I’m…we can’t do this.”
I yank at my belt, then unfasten my slacks. She’s gasping and writhing, but not trying to get away. When I free my thick, aching cock and rub it against her clit, she jolts in my grip. “Then tell me no,” I beg, my mouth a whisper over hers.
