by Monica James
When she realizes what she just said, she bites her lip, but it’s too late. Her honesty coupled with her uncertainties have me wanting to protect her, have me wanting to prove her wrong.
Before she has a chance to speak, I slam my mouth over hers, savoring her sweetness because I’ve become addicted to her taste. Her lips are slack, stunned by my actions, but within a second, they reciprocate, and we begin to kiss madly.
She bites me, threading her fingers through my hair, forcing me to kiss her harder. Ella likes rough play, a fact which pleases me immensely. I comply, devouring and owning her mouth because it’s mine; she is mine, and that’s why I haven’t called Santo.
I can’t deliver her to him because I protect what is mine. She may be a goddamned liar, but I want her all the more for it. I never was satisfied with the women in the past because they surrendered too easily. They were too eager to please.
I want a challenge. I want someone to drive me mad with their defiance. And that someone is Ella.
With frantic fingers, she unfastens my zipper and takes hold of my straining shaft. Groaning into her mouth, I pump my hips, desperate to bury myself inside her heat.
Reaching under her dress, I grip her underwear into my palm and tear them to shreds. She whimpers, her body trembling in need. As I sink two fingers into her wetness, her back arches off the ground.
“Fuck me,” she pants from around my lips, her crudeness stoking the animal within.
I release her, practically ripping the dress off her as she props up on her knees, fumbling to get it over her head. Once she’s bare, I reach around and unhook her lacy bra. Her nipples are erect, begging for me to take them into my mouth. And I do.
She bows her back, offering me everything, untroubled that she’s kneeling on the ground. With a nipple in my mouth, I slip my fingers into her sex, working her body into a frenzy as her pussy grips me tight.
“Oh, Alek,” she moans, bucking her hips.
When we were last this way, lies lay between us. But now that the veil has been lifted, I want her so much more.
Letting her nipple go, I kiss her longingly, unable to get enough, fast enough. I fist her long hair, angling her neck back as I continue to sink my fingers into her sex. She is so incredibly wet for me, and that fact pleases me greatly.
“I want you. Please,” she pants from around my lips, yanking down my pants and pushing me onto my back.
I’m taken aback by her aggression, not because I don’t like it, but because I like being controlled by her, which has never happened before. She doesn’t give me time to adjust to this realization as she straddles me, gripping my cock in her hand.
I don’t usually like the girl on top position, but with Ella, it feels different.
With eyes locked, she guides my length into her slowly, her mouth parting in surprise as I stretch her wide. When we last united this way, she was bent over an altar, so this is a lot more personal. Inch by inch, she takes me inside her, and all I can do is look between us, mesmerized by our coupling.
Gasping, she peers down also, trembling as she’s taken my entirety into her body. She doesn’t move. She places her quivering hands to my stomach, tracing over each bump in my abdominals. I allow her this because this is the first time we’ve been united with no barriers between us.
She continues to stroke over my stomach and chest while I fist the ground beneath me. She is driving me wild.
“I wanted you this way from the first moment I saw you,” she confesses as she begins to rock slowly.
I slam my fist into the dirt because she feels so good.
“Did you want me?”
“Yes,” I hum. Gripping her hips, I encourage her to move faster. But she doesn’t.
Her movements are slow, taking me deep as she milks every inch of my length. I don’t remember ever being this turned on before.
“Why?”
“Why did I want you?” I ask, wishing she’d stop torturing me and move.
“Yes.” She palms her breasts and arches her back, looking like a goddess under the night sky.
“You were a challenge,” I confess, grunting when she lifts her hips, only to slam back down on my cock.
She’s mad, but she asked for the truth.
“Because I was dressed in a habit?” Her stilted rocking has me clenching my jaw because the torment is a heady punch between pleasure and pain.
“At first yes, but I soon realized something about you awakened me in ways I haven’t felt in a very long while. Even wearing that habit, you defied me, and that intrigued me.”
She begins to pick up the pace, anchoring her hands to my chest for balance.
“I couldn’t read your motives,” I confess, watching the way her breasts bounce and her stomach ripples. “And for someone who prides themselves on making that their livelihood, you just became more and more…special.”
“I’m no one special,” she replies, arching her neck, her long hair falling around her shoulders.
“Oh, Ella,” I discord, reaching up and cupping her neck as I meet her thrust for thrust. “You have no idea just how special you are.”
Moaning, she wraps her fingers around my wrist, squeezing tightly. She rocks against me, her slickness drawing me deep. Stones and sticks dig into me, but I don’t care. Out here, naked in the wilderness, we’ve stripped back the bullshit and exposed ourselves; just how this act between two people can.
I tighten the hold on her neck, my go-to move because I like the control of feeling one’s fluttering pulse beneath my fingers. With one squeeze, I could choke the life from her, but I don’t feel that way with Ella. I rub my thumb along the column of her neck, coercing her head to tilt further back.
Her pert breasts jut forward, and the sight of her taking pleasure from me, riding me like she wants me and only me, constricts my heart, and I can’t breathe.
She had every right to fight for her freedom tonight. It’s one of the many things I like about her. She isn’t a quitter. She isn’t afraid to back down, and when she cries out, clawing her fingernails over my chest with nothing but love and devotion, I know my choice is made.
It always has been.
I can’t give her to Santo because she is mine. She always has been.
Seizing her hips, I lift her only to slam her back down. I hit a spot deep inside her, and she groans. “Squat over me.”
She quickly does as I command, and the sight of her open to me this way is incredible. She begins to bounce on my cock, groaning when I grip her hips and encourage her movements—up and down, up and down. I’m hypnotized by the vision.
Her bare form is incredible. So are her moans as she milks my cock, taking her pleasure from me. Her hair falls around her breasts, so I sweep it over her shoulder, needing to see her unhindered.
A flush spreads over her.
“What’s the matter, красавица?”
“I know I don’t look like most women you’re accustomed to being with,” she confesses, startling me.
“And what are these apparent women supposed to look like?” I accentuate my question with a sharp pump of my hips.
Biting her lip, she rolls her body, sending me closer and closer to the edge. “Supermodels, I assume. Perfect,” she adds.
Tsking her, I rub my thumb over her clitoris. “Does it feel like you’re anything but perfect when I touch you?”
Groaning, she places her hand over mine, encouraging me to speed up the rhythm. “N-No. I feel beautiful. Wanted.”
“And that’s because you are,” I reply, sitting up and drawing her onto my lap into the lotus position. I do all this while still sheathed inside her.
She gazes into my eyes as she wraps her arms around me for support and begins to rock back and forth. This position is far more intimate than I’m accustomed to, but I like it. I brush the hair from her forehead, wanting to see her.
She leans forward, taking my mouth and claiming it because she owns it. She owns me.
Our kisses ar
e languid, and I cup the back of her neck to angle her mouth so I can dominate and destroy her. I want her wild with pleasure when she comes.
She grinds against me, rubbing her needy center in just the right way. Our skin is slick, and feeling her glide against every part of me has me desperate to come.
“Never doubt my hunger for you because right now”—I reach down and begin to circle her clitoris again—“you’re the only thing that can quench my thirst.”
“Oh, god,” she pants, bouncing wildly as I rub her center.
“And even then”—I bite her chin before working downward and sucking over her pulse—“I always want more.”
My actions, along with my words are her trigger, and as she throws back her head, a sated cry leaves her. She shudders and comes so violently that I hold her waist and move her backward and forward speedily. She sucks me in so deep, I want to lounge in the afterglow with her.
The moment the final tremor rocks her body, I hastily lift her and spill my seed all over my stomach. A primeval grunt escapes me because it feels so damn good.
It takes what feels like minutes to catch my breath and for my heart to return to normal speed. Ella stays cradled in my lap with her arms looped around the back of my neck. Usually, I would not be interested in the absurd notion of cuddling.
But with Ella, I don’t mind.
She cups my cheek and does what I can only explain as her looking deeply into my soul. I wonder what she sees.
With her thumb, she rubs over my beard, appearing lost in her thoughts. I guess she’s questioning what happens now. Will I give Santo what he wants to save the people I love?
But what she doesn’t know is that she’s beginning to fall into that category too.
I’ve known her for such a short amount of time, but when you’ve lived the life that I have, you come to learn that time is precious.
Rubbing over my lips, she smiles. “Maybe one day we will make it to a bed?”
The hope in her voice has me desperate to find a solution because right now, I’m out of ideas and that seems so far out of reach.
“There is no other way,” Pavel says bluntly, drinking his morning coffee calmly like he didn’t just tell me that giving Ella to Santo is the only solution.
“I will not,” I reply in an irritated whisper, not wanting to wake a sleeping Ella.
We ventured back inside after our outdoor tryst, and when I went to lie in my makeshift bed on the floor, Ella pulled back the covers, offering a place beside her. I accepted as staying away from her seems impossible, and although she fell into a deep slumber the moment I settled in beside her, I didn’t sleep a wink.
When the sun rose, I left her sleeping soundly to take a shower and then went for a walk. The fresh morning air did nothing to clear my head. and when I returned and saw Pavel was awake, I’d hoped he’d been struck with an epiphany.
He hadn’t.
“Well, then people will die,” he replies in Russian. “And Irina will be pimped out to any sick asshole with enough money.”
Groaning, I tug at my hair, frustrated. “Any news on Willow?”
“No.”
Pavel’s candor is something I usually like, but today, all I see is a roadblock.
Reaching for my cell, I decide to do the inevitable. “Hello, Santo.”
Pavel lowers his coffee cup in interest, listening to what I intend to do.
“Hello, my friend,” Santo warmly says, but nothing about this call is sociable.
“You’re right. She’s there.”
Silence.
Us criminals are a paranoid bunch, so I don’t give much away.
“I just need some time. We don’t want any unwanted attention. Trust me.” He said he wanted this done quickly, so I need to give him an excuse to give me some time to think this through.
“Of course,” he says eagerly, his excitement clear.
“Leave it to me, okay?” I press, not wanting him to get any vigilante ideas. He needs to stay far away from the orphanage.
“The place is busy with tradesmen and press. They are starting renovations, and the journalists want to do an exposé,” I explain, which is an utter lie. “You can’t be seen anywhere near there.”
“Yes, this is very true. Thank you for telling me,” he says, appearing to believe my story.
This buys me some time as Santo will stay far away, knowing he could be seen. He can’t be linked to the disappearance of a “sister,” which is what he thinks will happen when I bring him Ella.
“I’ll call with updates.”
“I knew I could count on you. Bring her to me, and I will tell you what you want to know.”
I clench my fist. “You know the coordinates of what I want?”
“Of course,” he replies smugly, which means he knows where Irina is. “But sharing is caring. Talk soon. Ciao.”
Slamming the phone onto the table, I inhale sharply, needing to calm down. I could end this all right now. But I know I can’t.
I won’t throw Ella to the wolves.
“You can only stall them for so long,” Pavel states the obvious. “Do you have any idea what you’ll do?”
“Not yet, but I shall think of something. In the meantime, I want to do everything we can to find Willow.”
Pavel nods as he too wants to find her.
Willow has a way with people. Everyone who meets her seems to fall in love.
I think of the satisfaction I felt when I brought her piece of shit stepfather to her. That vile animal got what he deserved. To put his hands on her…I shudder at the thought because if I don’t stop Serg, the children at the orphanage will be Willow.
Pavel digs into his pocket when his cell rings. When he looks at the screen, he takes his piece of toast and is out the door.
Sighing, I reach for my cold coffee and stare into it, hoping the blackness will reveal a magical solution.
My lie will hold Santo off for a little while. It’s Serg who I have to contend with. If he has hurt Irina…
Her cries haunt me because it’s my fault she’s in danger. I will never be able to make it up to her. No matter what I do, she will always associate me with that night. As will Mother Superior.
I let so many who trusted me down, all because I let my guard down.
I dial Mother Superior’s cell, knowing we can speak freely this way with no worry of it being bugged by Serg.
“Hello, Aleksei.” The fatigue in her voice is clear.
“Hello, Mother Superior. I would ask if everything is okay, but that would be a stupid question.”
“Yes, it would be,” she replies. Her response is clipped, so I don’t waste time.
“No one has attempted to come onto the grounds?”
“No. We have done as you instructed. How long must this go on for?”
And that’s the million-dollar question. “No longer than a week. I just need some time. Will you give it to me?”
“Yes, I shall. But what choice do I have? You’ve put the lives of all of us at risk. Where is Irina?”
She isn’t trying to make me feel guilty. She merely speaks the truth.
“I don’t know, but I will find her. I promise you. She won’t be hurt because my…half-brother, he is using her as collateral. As long as she’s alive, he has the upper hand over me. He knows I’ll do anything he asks.”
“And what does he ask?” Mother Superior inquires.
“I cannot tell you that.” Before she can argue, I add, “Because I’ll never allow it. I will not worry you with such troubles.”
“And what of Sister Arabella? The true sister.”
Mother Superior has worked out that Ella wasn’t who she said she was.
“She fell victim to an ill-fated event. I’m so very sorry.” I don’t know what happened to her body once Santo’s men found it. I suspect they discarded it. To them it was merely evidence and not once a human being.
Mother Superior utters a prayer under her breath. “By the hand of the woman who
wore her habit?”
“No, she hasn’t hurt anyone. She is a victim in all of this. If anyone is to blame, blame me,” I say, hating how the truth hurts Mother Superior.
“I do blame you, Aleksei,” she replies honestly. “Who else am I to blame for laying Sister Yali to rest in the orphanage churchyard?
“She was twenty-five years old. A mere child.”
A sob escapes her, kicking me straight in the heart.
“I understand you’ll never grant me forgiveness, but let me make it right.”
“How?” she asks as she realizes for me not to tell her of Serg’s plans, they are most dire. “If what you say about your brother is true, then what can you give him that will make him surrender?”
And just like that, the epiphany I so desperately needed hits me.
It shouldn’t surprise me that it occurred when speaking to Mother Superior. She has been my teacher for so long.
“I have the only thing he wants, and I intend to deliver. Please trust me. I’ll never let you down ever again. Stay safe.”
“Godspeed,” she replies before hanging up. But he can’t save me. He long ago turned his back on me when I turned mine on Him.
Placing my face into my palms, I exhale, pleased I’ve thought of a solution. However, if it fails…no, there is no room for error. I’ll need Pavel’s help because I can’t do this alone.
“Is everything all right?” Ella’s concerned voice sounds from behind me.
I need to pull it together because this plan will also save her. So, my mask slips into place as I remove my hands and turn over my shoulder to greet her.
Once again, I didn’t prepare myself for her beauty. She wears a white summer dress as the sun shines brightly, giving us a false sense of security. But nonetheless, she looks beautiful. Her long hair is worn down, and a white ribbon contrasts with the dark brown strands it secures.
Her feet are bare, so I can see her toenails are painted a pale pink. Her signature fragrance lingers in the air.
She reflects such innocence, but I know what obscenity lies beneath that virtue.
