Torrid

by Nikki Sloane

  “Luka.” It came from the smaller of the two men. “We heard a Markovic popped by. Wasn’t expecting it to be you.”

  There was an undercurrent of tension to the man’s words. He’d been trying for a friendly, casual tone, but there was malice buried there. The larger man was perched on his chair, and his eyes scanned around the room like he expected it to burst into flames at any moment. Was he security?

  Luka smiled as much as he typically did, only this one didn’t even reach his eyes. “Sorry to disappoint, Ivan.”

  Ivan leaned back in his chair like he was getting comfortable, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve been hearing things about you.”

  Luka raised an eyebrow. “What things?”

  “You’ve had several meetings with Goran. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing you’d be interested in. Family stuff.”

  Ivan’s scrutinizing gaze swung toward me. “Who’s this? You going to introduce your friend?”

  “No.” Luka’s tone was clipped.

  Ivan uncrossed his arms, and the change in posture was a signal to the man beside him, who shifted as if going on alert. Ivan’s expression screamed he’d been offended. “I thought we were friends. You won’t tell me her name? That’s rude.”

  Luka didn’t hesitate. “You’re right. Her name is Avery.”

  23

  ICE CREPT ALONG MY SPINE. Whoever this Ivan was, he wasn’t a friend. The entire restaurant had gone quiet at the two men’s appearance.

  “Avery,” Ivan repeated. His eyes were beady and his face unattractive. “I’m sorry for interrupting your date.”

  “It’s not a big deal,” Luka said. He refused to look at me, and his focus rested squarely on the silent man beside Ivan. “If anything, you’re saving me from it. She’s dumber than a box of rocks.”

  I sat still, unsure of what type of reaction to display. The real Avery would lose her mind being called that. Even though it didn’t apply to me, it still kind of stung.

  “Ouch!” Ivan chuckled and stared at me incredulously.

  “See what I mean?” Luka said. “I just insulted her and she’s still just sitting here.”

  He wants you to go. I shot to my feet and channeled Avery as best I could. “You know what? Go fuck yourself.”

  I hurried out of the restaurant and into the cold night, striding past the shops decorated for Christmas. What now? I didn’t have a phone. Should I use this opportunity to run?

  No. There was no running. They’d come after Jonathon or perhaps all of my family, and I didn’t know the first thing about how to disappear. And . . . Johns Hopkins. I wasn’t ready to give up now that I was closer than ever.

  What if Luka’s in danger?

  I wrapped my coat tighter around myself as the winter wind lashed at my bare legs, and I made my way toward the BMW in the parking garage. Not that I had a key. When I reached the car, I leaned on the front end and huddled for warmth. At least here I was out of the wind.

  How long should I wait for him beside the car carrying the terrifying stuff in the trunk? Ten minutes? I considered my options. I could go back to the restaurant and act like I’d forgotten my purse. Or maybe I could return and say I wanted to give Luka another piece of my mind. I hated the worry that balled in my stomach and weighed me down like a stone.

  What happened if Luka was gone? Would Dimitrije send someone to kill me?

  I was torn with what to do, until I heard fast approaching footsteps. Someone was running. I sank down, trying to hide between the wall and the front bumper of the car, making myself as small as possible.

  “Oh, Christ,” Luka said, relief coating his voice. “You’re here.”

  I put my hands on the hood and pulled myself to stand, feeling the same relief he had on his face. “I wasn’t sure where to go.”

  He sprinted forward and swept me up into an embrace. His kiss burned across my lips, and warmth crawled through my body, heating me all the way to the tips of my toes.

  “Who is he?” I asked.

  “It’s complicated.” Luka released me and pulled open the passenger door. Once we were both seated inside and the heater was going, he gave me his full attention. “Ivan used to work with my uncle. Now I think he works for the Russians. Even if he doesn’t, he had some big ol’ balls to walk in there."

  We didn’t talk much on the ride back to the freeway. Once we were heading for the suburbs under the orange-yellow lights of the highway, Luka spoke again.

  “I’m sorry our dinner ended like that.”

  I wasn’t sure how to feel about how the evening played out, and forced a joke. “Hey, I did get to tell you to go fuck yourself.”

  He grinned widely, and I wished I could see all of it rather than just his profile.

  “You should do that more often,” I said.

  “What?”

  “Smile. It’s so rare, but you look amazing when you do it.”

  He took his eyes off the road for a moment, glancing at me. “Maybe I will.”

  My pulse flared. What was happening to me? Everything was hopelessly twisted.

  We were still twenty minutes from the house when Luka suddenly exited the freeway. I sat up in my seat, confused, and saw how on edge Luka appeared. “What’s wrong?”

  “The same car has behind us for a long time.”

  Anxiety tightened my voice. “You think someone’s following us?”

  “No.” His gaze locked on the rearview mirror. “Fuck, maybe. He’s exiting, too.”

  There wasn’t enough air in the car to breathe. I clenched my hands around the seatbelt strap and hung on as Luka drove the car down the dark and rural road. A single pair of headlights followed behind. We crested a hill and he turned off into a new subdivision that was in the beginning stages of being built. Only the model home was up, the rest had probably been cornfields three months ago.

  The car didn’t follow us.

  Luka snaked the BMW through the maze of roads, circling in a cul-de-sac, and parked. We waited for someone to appear, but after a stressful minute, it seemed unlikely. He undid his seatbelt and massaged away the crease in his forehead.

  “I’m all wound up,” he said. His hand came down, and he adjusted as if an idea had just occurred to him. “Get in the back seat.”

  “What?”

  “I’m not waiting until we get home. I’m gonna fuck you with my fingers right now.” His voice grew with intensity on each word. “Work you until your pussy’s dripping wet.”

  It sent a rush of heat straight between my legs, and my mouth fell open. Would I ever get used to his vulgar mouth?

  “Then,” he added, his gaze on my parted lips, “when you’re good and ready, you’ll slide down on my cock and I’ll fuck you until you’re screaming.”

  My chest rose and fell with each enormous breath I pulled in. The desire for him was overwhelming. Too powerful to resist.

  “And I know how to make you scream, don’t I?” His voice was velvet. “Answer me.”

  “Yes,” I breathed.

  “Get in the back seat.”

  I shrugged out of my coat, got out of the car, and darted into the spacious back. He moved just as quickly as I did, and we were both sliding over the leather bench of the back seat at the same time. I heard the snap of his fingers, and instantly my legs parted. I spread wide for him as he covered my mouth with his.

  Being with Luka was insanity. I was crazy and perverted, but I liked the feeling.

  He’d stolen my virginity. He controlled me. And I was beginning to wonder if he might love me.

  “Oh,” I whimpered. He pushed my panties to the side and drove a finger deep inside while his tongue traced the edge of my ear. I clutched at his arm, holding on to his strong bicep while his finger pumped in and out.

  “You need another,” he said. A second finger pushed inside. “Such a good girl. You love how my fingers fit inside you. You’re clenching so tight on them.” Because his mouth was close, it was like his words were inside
my head. “Say it. Tell me how much you love it.”

  I gasped. “I love it.”

  “You love what?”

  I undulated my hips to make him move faster. “Your fingers inside me.”

  “Anywhere, too, you fucking slut. You go wild when I press my thumb against your tight asshole. You squirm, just begging me to slip it in.”

  I closed my eyes against the rush his visual gave me. “Yes.”

  “You’re so goddamn perfect.” He growled it. “There’s no one else like you. No one,” he took a breath, “except for me.”

  I trembled right on the edge, but Luka didn’t keep me waiting long. His other hand got to work, stirring and teasing, hurling me into chaos. I came hard, bearing down on the fingers buried inside and moaning his name.

  Bliss was still dissipating from my core when he grabbed my panties and yanked them down. “Off.”

  I lifted my hips, slipped the underwear down my legs, and abandoned them on the floorboard. Outside it was freezing, but under Luka’s intense look I might as well have been standing in the Sahara. I was so hot, I wanted to rip my dress off. He had entirely too many clothes on, too.

  But rather than remove anything, he fitted his hands on my waist and urged me to get on top, straddling his lap. He pushed the curtain of my hair out of his way and kissed me with his hot mouth. Beneath me, he was hard and ready, and I ground against his erection, but it didn’t satisfy. It only made the want in me stronger. His hands crushed against my breasts, pinching and twisting, stealing my breath. It made me swivel my hips and slide my tongue against his.

  His tone was sinful. “You’re making a mess on my pants, rubbing on me like that. You want me to go to work tomorrow wearing your dirty cum on me? Are you marking your territory?”

  I’d done it because it felt good, but his corrupt idea got my blood to boil. “Are you my territory?”

  His teeth were sharp at my neck. “Like my cock wants anyone else. Undo my pants. I fucking need to be inside you. I’m about to run out of patience and I won’t be nice when it happens.”

  “You’re not nice,” I said.

  His mouth curled into an evil smile. He’d warned me of that our first night together, and now I believed it, but I also knew I didn’t want nice. I slipped a hand between the space of our bodies and fumbled with his belt buckle. He didn’t help me. Worse, he got in my way as he tried to undo the zipper at the back of my dress, making the space to work in smaller. I slid the end of his belt free, dropped his zipper, and shoved my hand inside, closing it around the hot and hard bar of flesh.

  The windows had frosted over so we could no longer see out of them, but foreign white light grew from outside, lighting the car interior. Another car was coming.

  Suddenly, bright light poured in, and not just white. It strobed red and blue as well.

  24

  LUKA DUMPED ME out of his lap and hurried to do up his pants. “Fuck, fuck!”

  I yanked up the zipper on my dress so quickly it jammed, and smoothed my hair down, tucking the sides behind my ears. Blood roared through me and my heart pounded. When my gaze went to the floorboard, I saw my discarded underwear. There wasn’t time to put it back on. The cop car had parked and a door thudded shut as the officer got out. I kicked the panties under the seat and pressed my hands into my lap.

  Luka was all the way on the other side of the back seat, sitting still and calm, even though he was breathing rapidly. He looked emotionless, as if whatever was in the trunk wasn’t a terrifying concern.

  The cop, a man in his forties, hadn’t reached the BMW when Luka rolled down the window as much as the safety feature would allow. The officer accessed the situation, peering into the back seat with his blinding flashlight.

  “Evening, folks,” he said, his voice gruff. “Are you having car trouble?” His tone left no doubt he knew what we’d been up to when he’d arrived.

  “No, sir,” Luka said. “We just stopped to have a conversation.”

  “Hmm. You kids have IDs?”

  Luka dug his wallet out, and handed over his driver’s license. “She left her purse at home.”

  The cop stared at Luka’s ID, and then the flashlight focused in on my face. I squinted against it, unable to see anyone. Don’t look guilty, Addison.

  “Everything okay, miss?”

  I swallowed thickly. All it would take was one word from me. I’d had an opportunity to run tonight, but this . . . This could end it all. Not just set me free, but put Luka away. His fate rested entirely in my hands, and as my vision adjusted and I saw his face, it was clear he knew this. His eyes were desperate chaos.

  I could tell myself I was doing it for trust, or out of worry for my family, but it was a lie. Faced with the sudden decision, my dark connection to Luka had grown too powerful to sever.

  “Yes, sir,” I said. “I’m fine.” I squeezed out a tight smile.

  It did the trick, because the officer handed the plastic card back to Luka. “You can’t park here. Find somewhere else for your conversation.”

  “Yes, of course. Thank you.”

  We hurried to the front seat, and as soon as I was buckled, we were off. We rode in total silence until he was back on the freeway and I could breathe again.

  His word was gentle. “Why?”

  “What?”

  “I could be sitting in the back of his squad car right now.”

  I watched the reflectors on the guardrails blur past as I assembled my thoughts in my head. “I don’t want that.”

  “Why?” He repeated it with more urgency, and perhaps it was tinted with hope.

  Because I cared about him. “Because you and I,” I said, taking a deep breath, “are similar creatures.”

  He rewarded me with his perfect smile.

  π

  Goran Markovic’s Christmas Eve party started in less than an hour. I put on my blue dress and finished getting ready, but apprehension bounced around inside me like a dozen pinballs. Luka was in the walk-in closet, his collar up, and he was balancing the ends of his tie when I appeared in the doorway.

  “I’m not sure I can do this,” I admitted. His family was criminals, and I wasn’t anxious to meet any more of them.

  “Why?” He looped the end of his tie over the other.

  “I don’t know. Probably because the last time I saw your father I was naked from the waist down. And, oh yeah, he threatened to kill me and my family.”

  “That won’t happen.” Luka slowed to a stop, abandoning his goal, and the tie fell open. He encased me in his arms so his hands were warm against the exposed skin on my back. “That’s over. You’re mine, and they know it. No one would touch you, so don’t even think about them.”

  It was hard to do. I had a lifetime of caring about other’s opinions to brush off. His family was going to look down on the poor farm girl who had no business being in their lives.

  Of course Luka could read the thoughts going on in my head. “Fuck them, whatever they think. You’re smart, and beautiful, and pure.” His eyes filled with intensity. “They’ll be envious. Maybe even jealous of what you have, but it doesn’t matter, because they’re beneath you, Addison. Every last one of them, including me.”

  I squeezed my grip on his shoulders to support myself, and gazed at him with disbelief. He was the most confident person I’d ever met, and he thought I was better than him?

  “We make an appearance,” he added, “and then we’re out of there.”

  The party was strangely normal. The Markovic family was large, and the main living area was packed with adults talking while kids darted through parents’ legs and stole cookies from the dessert tray before dinner. The nine-foot-tall Christmas tree was decorated exclusively in gold and looked like it belonged in a department store rather than a home. I’d always preferred the trees littered with homemade ornaments in various states of wear. Plus, the gold was gaudy and over the top.

  Luka kept his arm around me as we made our rounds. I was introduced to dozens of people,
but never spoke unless directly asked a question. Not only was I extremely uncomfortable, but this would speed along our exit.

  Vasilije lingered in the kitchen, drinking a beer and talking with two men, one of whom I recognized. Michael, Dimitrije’s bodyguard. Vasilije glanced at his older brother, then to me, and a smile quirked on his lips.

  The relationship between brothers was strange. Luka rarely talked about Vasilije. He’d seemed just as envious of his younger brother as I was mine, when it came to being popular and well-liked. But like me, he was also fiercely protective. Vasilije was eager to get involved in the criminal side of the family business, but both Dimitrije and Goran made it clear they wanted Luka to step up. As reluctant as Luka was, I sensed he’d do whatever he could to prolong the inevitable for his brother.

  “Hey there, naughty schoolgirl,” Vasilije said. His gaze wandered over my dress, and . . . holy crap, was he checking me out?

  I tried to emulate Luka’s confidence. “Hey there, Satan.”

  Luka laughed. It was brief, but it was amazing to hear the genuine sound. Vasilije laughed as well, but his was wicked. His expression was lecherous, and instinctively I shifted closer to Luka.

  “Her name’s Addison,” Luka said.

  “Yeah, I know.” Vasilije’s face melted into boredom. “Dad’s told me all about your wife. I’ll try to keep out of your way.”

  “What?”

  Vasilije took the final sip from his bottle of beer and dropped it into the recycling bin nearby with a loud clank. “I’m coming back to the house after the break’s over.”

  “Why? What’s wrong with your frat?”

  “Nothing. But you have to be a student at Randhurst, and I’m currently not anymore.”

  Anger seeped into the corners of Luka’s face. “You flunked out? Jesus Christ, Vasilije.”

  His brother was indifferent. “College isn’t for everyone. I tried it, and determined it’s not for me.” Displeasure smeared on Luka’s face and Vasilije rolled his eyes. “It’s a big fucking house, get over it.”