Saved by the Outlaw: A Bad Boy Romance

by Alexis Abbott

  “Joanna won’t be home, she’s at work,” I say and he nods, exiting the vehicle and opening my door for me. I don’t have the keys, but I go to my bedroom window and wriggle it up. It’s never locked right, despite me complaining to the landlord a dozen times, and for once I’m grateful that she’s lazy.

  Dimitri slips in after me, glancing around my room. It’s plain, bare, and to him it must look pathetic. Like a poor college girl’s dorm, dank and slightly smelling of mildew.

  “I’ll wait,” he says simply, I guess because he wants to give me time alone to process what just happened. To give me an out, in case I want to run. In case I can’t handle who he really is.

  He has no way of knowing that I’ve known all along. That his violence, his connections, at once drew me in and repelled me, a powerful force keeping me in his orbit.

  “You can join me,” I say gently, and it’s the most surreal moment. Both of us covered in blood spatter, standing in my dark bedroom, and that tension between us growing to a fevered pitch.

  His hand clasps my face before I can move, his mouth finding mine. Seconds later and both of his hands are beneath my ass, hoisting me up and pressing me against the wall. I’m trapped between him and it, his heart pounding fast against his ribs.

  I feel his hardness throb against me, and I grind back, making him growl his approval. Pulling me from the wall, he heads towards the bathroom with my guidance, but we barely separate for more than a second as we turn the water on and strip free of our bloody clothes.

  Adrenaline is still pumping through me, and when we get into the shower, the warm water hitting our naked bodies, we’re like animals groping at one another. I just want to feel him on me, all over me. To know his body, his strength, and embrace how fucked up I am over him.

  My arms wrap around his neck and we kiss, hard and passionate, his erection grinding against my stomach.

  “Dimitri,” I whimper, and his arms tighten around me as if he instinctively knows what I need. That I want to feel his protection, that I want to know his strength.

  “I got you,” he murmurs against my ear before biting it hard. “I was afraid I’d never see you again.”

  I gulp, and he kisses down to the hollow of my neck, water pouring over his hair.

  “I was so scared you’d come home tonight and see it was too late. Why were you home so early?”

  “I’d just gotten back from the meeting with the lawyer and wanted to let you know how it went. When I saw the security guard knocked out, I worried it’d be you so I waited to see.”

  “I’m so glad you did. I was so scared you wouldn’t find out until tonight...”

  He suckled my clean skin in response, his hand running over my hips and ass, gentle so as not to hurt my bruised flesh.

  How can he be so considerate and kind while still being so cold? There’s not a hint of regret on his face, or in his actions. He’s justified, vindicated, and just having me in his hands is enough.

  “I’d never let them hurt you,” he murmurs into my flesh before he moves me, settling me onto the floor of the tub. The water pours over us like a warm rainfall, absolving us of our sins as his stiff erection prods my belly.

  It’s cramped, but neither of us minds as he presses into me, making us one once more.

  “Oh God,” I gasp, and he takes no time before thrusting into me harder, faster. There’s no teasing, no games, only our bodies meeting in a frenzy of need and desire. My legs wrap around him, slippery from the water, and I’m already so turned on that he meets no resistance.

  It scares me how horny I am, how much I need this intimacy in the face of danger. Maybe that’s all it is. I nearly died, and now I need to feel alive. But deep down, I know it’s something more than that. Something I can’t bring myself to dwell on.

  “I thought I almost lost you,” he growls, and I feel him swell within me. “I won’t let anyone take you from me, not ever!”

  My head rests against the rim of the tub as he presses me forward, his grunts and groans echoing off the walls of the shower. The erotic sounds fill my ears, my senses overcome with arousal.

  “Dimitri!” I whimper as his hand goes to my breast, rubbing my nipple until it's stiff before pinching and tugging it.

  The pain excites me, and I scream louder, the sound reverberating through me.

  And when we’re finally left in a writhing, pleasured mess, and cold water is pounding down on us, I finally feel that clarity I’ve been seeking. That I can accept him, for who he is. For the risks it brings me, for the anxiety and fear.

  I belong with him.

  Grinning, he helps me up, his skin covered in goosebumps from the chilly water, and he wraps his large arms around me.

  The knock at the door startles us out of our pleasant afterglow.

  “Sarah, you almost done in there? I gotta pee.” Joanna’s voice sounds strained, on the brink of a giggle fit, and I blush brilliantly.

  “Y-yea! Just a second.”

  I glance at Dimitri as I step out of the tub, and his dark eyes twinkle with devious delight. I toss him a towel before wrapping myself in one as well, picking up our blood stained clothes.

  “Sorry,” I mutter as I open the door, my face still burning with embarrassment. “Figured you were at work.”

  “Yea, but I come home for lunch, remember?” She pushes past me, though not before looking Dimitri up and down, the towel slung around his hips not leaving much to the imagination. He bows his head before he follows after me, back into the privacy of my bedroom.

  “Well, that was embarrassing...”

  “Why?” Dimitri asks, shutting the door behind us.

  “She probably heard everything.”

  He shrugs his heavy shoulders.

  “Not the worst thing we could have been caught doing today.”

  “Yea... Fuck, you warned me. I can’t say you didn’t.”

  “No, you can’t.”

  “I knew I should have just walked away, like, a million times. But after I saw you at the cafe, and realized you were involved with Slava again...”

  For some reason, that makes him pause.

  “The cafe... That day you followed me, in the rain?”

  “Yea. I mean, I saw that Slava was calling you again, and I had a bad feeling. When I saw him go into the cafe after you left, I figured out that the owner must be an intermediary and I just got really worried about what you two are into. I guess for good reason,” I say with a sigh, grabbing a simple t-shirt from my dresser. “I don’t have a change of clothes for y—.”

  I can’t finish my sentence as his heavy hand bears down on my shoulder and he spins me to look at him.

  “Sarah, you’re telling me you saw Slava go into that building?”

  His tone makes my blood run cold.

  “Yes. Just after you left. I figured it was a drop site.”

  His jaw tenses.

  “You took pictures of this?”

  “Yea...”

  “And you’re absolutely positive it was him? It couldn’t have been anyone else?”

  “No. I mean, I don’t think so. I remember him really well, Dimitri. He was always over at the house.”

  He sucks air through his teeth, his face reddening.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Slava isn’t supposed to have anything to do with that cafe. That is my contact for doing what I do. He’s not even supposed to know it exists.”

  “But... what does that mean?”

  “No one is to have contact with the Kassir but for the Avtoritet, hm? But he was a family friend. My father and mother go way back with him, and he always took care of us. So I take care of him, on top of what I give to the Avtoritet. Slava isn’t even to know he exists.”

  “What would Slava want with him?”

  “He handles all the money. If Slava was going to him and I didn’t hear about it...”

  “Dimitri... that was right before we found out Rebecca was killed. Only an hour or two had passed before we
got the call.”

  Dimitri’s face hardens into stone, his body rippling with muscles, hidden only by the towel still at his waist.

  “It was Slava’s guys that had you. I thought maybe Slava was tailing me again, and that’s how they knew you were there that night. That capturing you was revenge for you spying. But if he’s going behind my back...”

  “We need to find him and stop him, Dimitri! If he killed Rebecca and tried to have me killed...”

  He nods, grabbing for his phone.

  “We need to get back to my place. Now.”

  26

  His condo looks even worse than I anticipated. Apparently I’d done some real damage when I was captured. Worse still is the now stale smell of breakfast that reminds me how I still haven’t eaten.

  Dimitri’s talking on his phone in Russian, and getting angrier by the second as he starts throwing clothes into a suitcase.

  I grab a bag to start packing my own stuff, but he puts a hand on it and shakes his head no before motioning me out of the room. I’m too exhausted and hungry to put up a fight, so I grab something from the fridge, eating quickly to calm my gnawing hunger.

  I don’t know how long it is before he comes out of the room, but he looks angry as hell, and I can’t help but cringe a little from his rage.

  “Slava’s gone. He knows he fucked up, and he’s on the run.”

  “Well that’s good, isn’t it? I mean, if he’s not here to cause us more trouble...”

  “He won’t stop. Once he’s set his sight on something, that’s it, Sarah. I have to go after him.”

  I knew it was coming but it still stings.

  “Dimitri, you can’t.”

  “Yes, Sarah, I can, and I will. I don’t have time to argue with you. I have to head to the airport.”

  “Let me come with you.”

  His hands ball into fists and he stares at me.

  “If you’re there, I’m just going to be worried about you the entire time.”

  “And if I’m here, alone, surrounded by the mob? We don’t know who’s on his side, Dimitri!”

  That makes him stop for a second, so I keep going.

  “I know he’s not going to stop. I saw you, that night. After dad died, and you and Slava went to punish Anton. You took the truck for some reason, and I was in the back, sleeping. I know what he’s capable of. I know what you’re capable of. But I’m still here.”

  “Bozhe moi,” he curses that now familiar saying, and he takes a few steps towards me. For a second, I’m afraid of what he’s going to do now that he knows my secret, but instead he simply nods.

  “Fine. Go. Pack. I’m not leaving you here unprotected, and I don’t know who Slava’s polluted with his corruption.”

  I move quickly to the bedroom and he barks orders behind me.

  “Dress light, but bring some black with you. Your camera too, with the biggest lens you have. We’re going to have to play this careful. He’s being unpredictable. I’ve never known him to run from a fight before.”

  I nod, tossing everything I can into a bag.

  “So where’s he going?”

  “Cyprus. He has friends there. Friends that will hide him.”

  27

  Rebecca had a vacation home in Cyprus, though to call it a vacation home is an understatement. The modern villa has a beach lounge, a spa, and a Presidential Suite to die for. I’ve only been here once before on a family vacation, but now it all seems so different.

  When I was a kid, it was just another place, and I complained about the morning sun waking me up. Now I’m taken aback by the luxury and the ostentatious interior.

  But this is not a vacation, and the tension in the air infects even the most beautiful and lavish of rooms. Dimitri has been pacing since we arrived, calling his local contacts and trying to find Slava without Slava knowing. It’s harder than I anticipated, and way more boring.

  I’ve done a few stakeouts on my own, but it doesn’t feel right, being in such a beautiful place and not being able to enjoy it.

  Dimitri comes out of the room, giving me a half-hearted smile before he joins me on the couch.

  “This is going to take some time. He’s likely deep in hiding now.”

  I nod. “Sure, Dimitri. So what do we do now?”

  “I have some money in the bank here. I’d like to give it to you to tide you over before your trust kicks in. It’s untraceable.”

  “Dimitri, you don’t have to...”

  “I know. But no one knows of these accounts, and if something happens to me, I don’t want the money to disappear into banker’s pockets.”

  My lip quivers, but I nod. It’s a distraction, and that’s what we need. We landed hours ago and have gotten nothing accomplished. All we know is that Slava landed at Nicosia Airport just ahead of us, and he’s likely in Limassol. Apparently that’s where most of the Russian Mafia has property.

  “Fine, but can we grab dinner out?”

  His expression softens and he nods.

  “Of course, Sarah. I’d give you everything if I could. Anything that you want. And once Slava is taken care of, then we will be free, and mother will be vindicated.”

  “You’re sure it was Slava that killed her?”

  “Da. I had a feeling things had gotten strange between them, but had no idea why. The accountant, he had said some things that raised my suspicions, but I had no proof until you told me what you’d seen.”

  “I’m really sorry. I know you two were close.”

  “We were. But no one lays a hand on what’s mine without paying for it,” he says, reaching across and caressing my cheek with the back of his hand. “He will pay with his life for scaring you.”

  I bite in on my lower lip and Dimitri’s head tilts, his gaze trailing over my face before he stands.

  “We will talk more about this tonight,” he says before helping me up from the couch. “For now, go get changed, and we’ll go to dinner as if this the romantic date I owe you.”

  His mouth presses against mine, briefly, and though there’s still so much to say, I go and get changed.

  The sky is a brilliant navy blue, the moon peeking up from the horizon, and the coolness of evening meets the heat of the day. The restaurant Dimitri takes me to is gorgeous, and we’re sat outside, fragrant flowers illuminated under sparkling lights.

  The last twenty four hours has been terrifying, and there’s been a knot of tension in my stomach ever since, but as I let the warm, Cyprus air caress me, I start to feel like a human again.

  Dimitri’s dressed in a white button-down shirt, and he looks almost as good in clothes as he does naked. Almost. The shirt still strains against his muscles, and his smile twinkles to his eyes.

  “I was expecting we’d do this back in the city, but this is even nicer,” he says, relaxing back in his chair. “I will have to thank Slava for that one thing.”

  The fact that he’s speaking so casually about a man he’s planning on killing disarms me, but I’m not repulsed by it. I should be, but I’m not.

  It feels so wrong that it doesn’t feel wrong.

  I cross my legs and Dimitri leans in, his eyes sparkling. Our dishes are cleared away and we’re just waiting on our dessert. Everything is so terrible and perfect all at once.

  Sure, if you can ignore Dimitri’s involvement in the Russian Mafia, and pretend you’re both on vacation rather than planning to kill someone, life’s wonderful, my brain sarcastically muses.

  But when Dimitri reaches into his pocket, and takes out a small, black, velvet box, my thoughts go silent. It feels like the world has stopped, the conversations at the nearby tables fading into the background. Everything has grown quiet and slow.

  When he opens the box and reveals the most beautiful ring I’ve ever seen, my heart stops.

  “I know this is sudden, but the second you walked back into my life, I knew that was it for me. I wanted to do this last night, but I can’t think of a more perfect place to ask. Sarah, will you be mine?”
<
br />   Tears flood my cheeks, all of the tension and stress washed away with the tenderness of his words. The beautiful stone catches the light, little diamonds surrounding the blue sapphire. I reach out, my fingertips grazing over it, and never have I wanted something — someone — so bad.

  “Dimitri, of course!” I cry out, nearly knocking the table over as I lunge towards him, my arms wrapping around his neck.

  He laughs, picking me up and holding me to his chest as his mouth moves against mine. The restaurant bursts into applause, and I don’t even care that they’re all watching as we make out. I’m going to get married! To Dimitri!

  He lifts me up, spinning me around, and I’ve never seen him look so damn happy in my life. We’re reduced to giggling, giddy messes, and when the waiter returns, it’s with a bottle of wine and the most delectable pastries.

  Dimitri settles me back on the ground, putting the ring on my finger, and for the rest of the meal, all I can think of is getting him back to the villa and really celebrating.

  “I called in a favor,” Dimitri explains to me as a tired looking banker unlocks the building.

  It’s already after ten, and even with the jetlag, I’m buzzed. Excitement courses through my veins along with the wine, and I can’t stand still.

  Dimitri laughs, putting his hand on my hip before kissing me.

  “Calm down. We’ll be home soon,” he says with a smile. But when he stands up and looks over my shoulder, his entire demeanor changes. What he sees literally sobers him, and before I know what’s happening, he sets off running.

  Just like that our moment of peace, our brief little fantasy of being a normal couple, vanishes.

  “Dimitri!” I cry out in surprise. When I spin around I see Dimitri in fast pursuit of Slava. The dark, narrow streets don’t give either of them much leeway.

  “Where’s he going?” asks the banker.

  “Wait here!” I shout as I take off my high heels and sprint in their direction.

  Dimitri reaches for the back of his pants, grasping his gun.