by Helen Bright
3
Kolya
Tess wanted chocolate and ice cream so we stopped off at a supermarket on our way back to Jean’s house. I would have preferred to let one of my guards go into the store to purchase them but my wife had insisted she wanted to go in herself. So off all six of us went, with Lucas staying outside while the rest of us followed Tess around with her shopping trolley, which she eventually let me push.
“It appears the trolley is broken,” I told her while carefully trying to manoeuvre the wretched device around the numerous aisles. I hadn’t been in a supermarket since my years as a student, and I hadn’t enjoyed the experience then, either.
My guards at that time had found a great deal of humour watching Yannis, Chen, Imran and I load our trolleys up with alcohol and microwavable meals. This time, Franco and Nate kept an eye on security inside while Jonesy shopped from a list Ivan had texted him when he found out where we were heading. He and Jean had set up a barbecue in the back garden and wanted more steak and chicken. I overheard Jean insisting they had bought enough earlier, but I knew my cousin would have eaten half of what they had by the time we arrived.
Jonesy threw in a few extra items he said we would need, then we added the sweet treats that Tess had requested before making our way to the checkouts. Just as we got there, Tess said she’d forgotten something, and darted off quickly to the left. Franco and Nate followed her, despite her numerous protests. When they got back to the checkout, Tess looked a little angry and her cheeks were red. When I looked at what she’d placed on the conveyor belt I knew why. A box of tampons and pack of pads indicated why she felt the need for chocolate and ice cream.
I glanced at each of my guards, noting all but Jonesy had their eyes elsewhere.
“From what you’ve just put on there and the amount of chocolate you’re taking home, I’m surprised the detectives were still standing earlier. My auntie Annie’s a lovely woman, yet I’d have pit her against the devil himself whenever she was that way,” he said, gesturing to the tampons.
Both Franco and Nate momentarily flicked their eyes towards Jonesy before resuming their security detail.
“I wanted to stab them in the eyes with the pens they hadn’t used,” Tess declared. She breathed out slowly then looked from Jonesy to me.
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t. I’m not saying the mission to get you out of the cells when they locked you up for it wouldn’t have been fun, but then we’d have had to burn the station down. PC Foster would have been out of a job, and she seems like a nice bird, as well as being fit as fuck.”
“Jonesy,” I warned, though I couldn’t hide the smirk. I knew the policewoman had caught his eye. It was the swearing we were trying to curb around Tess. She needed little encouragement to use foul language. Jean said it was a way for Tess to let out her anger and frustrations with situations she couldn’t control, and she’d certainly had enough of those in the last few months. But Tess will be moving in different circles now. We would be dining with politicians and businessmen from around the globe in just over two weeks, so she had to learn to control her need to use profanity.
I took hold of her hand and brought it to my mouth, kissing the back of it before doing the same to each of her fingers. I’ve no idea why I do that. I don’t have a hand or finger fetish; I just cannot resist it. Tess’s hands are so slender and elegant. Even when she’d been sleeping rough on the streets of London they looked like they belonged in a hand cream ad.
She leaned into me and sighed.
“Are you tired?” I asked before taking my wallet out and paying for the items that Jonesy was dutifully packing into carrier bags.
“I am. But I’m also hungry and I need to shower away the smell and feel of the police station.”
“I know what you mean. I want to wash away the day too. I’m glad tomorrow is our last visit there and we can go home.”
“I’ll miss Jean so much, Kolya. Staying with her has really helped. But I think it’s been better having you and the guards there too. Especially after yesterday.”
“I would never have left you to deal with this on your own, Tess. You are my wife; it is my duty to be by your side whenever you need me.”
“But you’d have still been here if I wasn’t your wife. I want you to know how grateful I am, Kolya. For everything.”
To my utter surprise, as soon as she’d finished speaking she grabbed the front of my shirt and pulled me down for a kiss. It was just a quick peck on the lips, but it meant more to me than anything because she had instigated it. It was the first real kiss we had shared since our wedding day. I hoped it meant that she was coming around to the idea that our marriage could be more than the arrangement she had originally thought it would be.
4
Tess
Why anyone would want to eat their steak rare was beyond me. In my mind, if it’s still bloody or even slightly pink, it’s undercooked. Yet every man here other than Lucas had it either rare or medium-rare. Even old Mr Hancock from next door ate it that way. He’d been chatting with the guards over the fence, telling them about his past military experience. He was enjoying their company, and loved the fact that two of the guards were sleeping in his caravan. He seemed to think he was doing his bit in some military-style operation by letting them use it. He knew what had happened to Sarah and had seen who the suspects were in the news.
Mr Hancock swore he wasn’t racist by any means, then launched into a lengthy tirade about how there were more Muslims than ever in South Yorkshire, and how the government shouldn’t allow them to wear all their “garb” and build their mosques. “If they want to do that, they should bugger off back to where they came from,” he declared.
Jonesy pointed out that most of the Muslims who currently live in the UK were likely born here, and should be allowed a place to worship the same as any Christian. He said he’d served in countries where people’s ability to worship, vote, and even attend school had been taken away, and would hate to live in a place where that could happen.
Mr Hancock went quiet when the rest of the guards agreed with Jonesy. Ever the peacekeeper, Jean steered the conversation around to DIY, and complimented Mr Hancock on his new garden shed and water feature. He invited everyone around to take a look and tried to persuade them to try his home-brew wine and beer. Only Jonesy and Ivan had any alcohol. Franco went out to the caravan to keep a lookout over the front of the house with Dave, a guard I’d not met before. He and Lucas had stayed in the van while we’d been enjoying the barbecue in the back garden, though Nate had been delivering them food regularly.
By 9 p.m. I couldn’t stop yawning, so Kolya suggested we go up to bed. He’d been watching me closely since we got back from the supermarket and had taken every opportunity to touch me, whether that was holding my hand or stroking up and down my arm while we waited for our food. The way he’d been looking at me…it was different. His eyes seemed to take me captive—if that makes sense, and whenever I happened to speak to him or smile, the look he gave me seemed…well, it seemed like he owned every word and every expression. It felt like someone had removed all the oxygen from the air and I had to look away so I could catch my breath.
He held my hand as we made our way upstairs, never once letting go until he closed the bedroom door behind us.
“Kolya, is there something wrong?” I asked. He shook his head as he closed the small gap between us, backing me up against the door.
“You kissed me today,” he whispered, his breath hot as his lips ghosted against my ear. “I would like to reciprocate, if I may.”
“Kolya...” I had no words, just his name and a gasp as he placed a hand behind my bottom and the other at the back of my neck.
“Sshh, my love, I only want to kiss you. For now, anyway.” He thought I didn’t want it; he couldn’t be more wrong.
I turned my face to his so our lips met, loving the way they felt against mine. He slanted his head slightly, opening his mouth and running his tongue against my plump bottom
lip. I opened for him, flicking his tongue with my own, causing him to groan in my mouth before pressing his body into mine. His lips never left mine for even a second, devouring my mouth with a carnal hunger that had me grinding against him.
This wasn’t just a kiss; it was making love with our mouths. It had me wanting things I’d only read about in my steamy romance novels. My nipples had grown to hardened peaks pressed against his solid chest, and I was so wet between my legs it was almost embarrassing. Would this be the night I lost my virginity? Here, in Jean’s house with all the guards around. The thought that someone would know what we were doing cooled my ardour a little and I managed to pull away from our passionate kiss.
“Kolya, we can’t do this! Not here in Jean’s house with everyone around.”
“Do what, my love? It was only a kiss.” I felt him smile against my throat as he placed lazy kisses all the way up to my ear.
“You had me wanting much more than kissing, Kolya. You know that. But I don’t want our first time to be in a house full of people.”
“Our first time? Did you think I was going to make love to you tonight?”
He stepped away from me, running his fingers through his neatly trimmed beard up to his hairline. I didn’t know what to think. Wasn’t that what he wanted? On our wedding day he’d indicated he wanted more than just an arrangement. I’d felt his erection pressed against me so I knew he was enjoying our kiss.
“I don’t understand. I thought you wanted more. You said the vows we took meant something to you. Have you changed your mind again?” I felt so stupid. My inexperience had obviously given me the wrong impression. I turned to leave, wanting time to myself to clear away the confusion in my head, but as I placed my hand on the door handle, Kolya stopped me.
Once again he pressed me against the door; his chest to my back this time. His arms were either side of my shoulders, caging me in.
“Do not run from me, Tess. Ever! And don’t think that I don’t want you—that couldn’t be further from the truth. I want you too much. I have done for so long. But you’re going through a terrible time right now and you’re not yet eighteen. I could not live with myself if I took advantage of you. When we come together for the first time, my love, it will have to be the right time for both of us. I love you, my darling, and I only want the very best for you, always.”
“You love me?” I questioned, my voice quivering with emotion.
“I do. So very much,” he replied, sighing as though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders.
“I love you too, Kolya.” I turned around to face him. “But just so you know, I’m more than willing to take things further.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath in. “We can fool around a little, but I will not make love to you until you are eighteen. I know it is the right thing to do, Tess, so I must refrain from taking it further until that time. It will not be easy, my darling. After all, you are temptation itself. My very own goddess with wild, flaming red hair and eyes that capture my very soul.”
5
Kolya
Tess gave me a beaming smile and threw her arms around my neck. I bent slightly at the knee and picked her up, wrapping her legs around my waist before taking the few steps to her bed. I sat down on top of the covers, pulling her core flush against my hard length.
“Take off your T-shirt,” I whispered, then leaned back on my elbows, watching my teasing wife obey my order. She wore a white lacy bra which left little to the imagination.
Tess didn’t speak or move, as if awaiting my next command. How far should I take this? Which sexual act might tip me over the edge? What touch, taste or sigh could force me to take my young wife’s innocence?
In the end it was Tess who made the first move, leaning forward to place her lips on mine. Our kiss was slow yet sensual; my desire for her increasing by the second. I abandoned her lips to trace my tongue from her neck down to her lace-covered breasts, sucking on her pale pink nipples through the delicate fabric. She gasped then let out a breathy moan when I tugged on them gently with my teeth.
Tess began to rock herself against my erection; I felt the heat from her virgin sex even through the denim we wore. I grabbed her hips and ground her against me, causing her soft moans and sighs to become more audible. I noticed a red flush spreading over her chest and throat and followed it with my lips until they covered her own, enabling me to swallow her cries of pleasure as her orgasm hit.
As the last spasms of her climax ebbed away, she opened her eyes and gazed at me in wonder. In that moment, her beauty seemed almost ethereal.
She rested her forehead against my own and sighed contentedly.
“Was that your first orgasm, my love?” I questioned, though from her reaction I knew the answer would be yes.
“You know it is. I’m a virgin, remember?”
“You don’t need to have sex to be able to come, Tess.”
“Obviously,” she said with a shy smile.
“How do you feel?” I asked.
“Good. Relaxed. But ready for more.” She held her breath, awaiting my reaction.
“More?” I wasn’t sure I could take any more tonight. Not without forgoing my good intentions and sinking my cock into her tight, wet heat.
“You didn’t come. You could show me how to…get you off.”
“Sex isn’t a game where you take turns, Tess. Just because you came it doesn’t mean I have to.”
“I know that, but I’d like to touch you, if that’s okay. And I’d like to see you. Naked.”
I groaned out loud at the thoughts and images her words created in my mind.
“I can’t be naked, Tess. Not tonight. I’m tempted enough already.”
“Just let me touch you then. Show me what you like—how to hold you and make you come. Please, Kolya.”
How could I deny my wife such a request? My cock was throbbing incessantly, straining against my zipper as if trying to escape into her waiting hands.
“Very well. Undo the button and lower the zip.”
Tess ran the back of her fingers against my denim-covered length, causing my breath to hitch.
“Did that hurt?” she asked, pulling her hand away.
“God no,” I groaned.
She moved her hand back to my crotch and swiftly opened my jeans. After parting the fabric, she gripped my cock through my boxers, tugging gently.
“Take it out,” I commanded. I watched her pupils dilate before she dutifully began to do as I asked. It seemed my feisty young wife was going to be submissive when it came to sex. Or was it just inexperience that made her react this way?
Just as she slipped her warm hand inside my boxers there was a knock at the door, followed by Jonesy saying, “Boss, I think we might have a problem.”
6
Kolya
Tess moved off my lap and put on her T-shirt while I fastened my jeans. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment and when I told Jonesy to enter, she turned away and faced the window.
“What’s the problem, Jonesy?” I snapped, both frustrated and irritated by the intrusion.
“Dave and Nate noticed a car registered to Hassan Akbar’s father pass the house twice in the last ten minutes. They got a clear photographic image on the last pass.”
“What? Did you get a look at the driver?”
“Well that’s where we might have the problem, boss. The driver we couldn’t clearly see, but the passenger looked like Hassan Akbar.”
Tess let out a gasp and turned to face Jonesy, her embarrassment now forgotten.
“It can’t be him; he’s been arrested. They locked him up,” Tess stated. She looked up at me with fear in her eyes. “Kolya, please tell me they haven’t let him go.”
I pulled her into my arms and held her tightly, kissing the top of her head before resting my chin on top of it. I needed to call Oliver but comforting my wife took precedence for the moment. I looked at Jonesy and indicated with my eyes that he should leave. Seeing Tess so fearful h
ad upset him, I could tell. But until we knew if Hassan Akbar had been released, I could offer neither of them any reassurance that everything would be okay.
After holding Tess in my arms for a minute or so, I told her to go and see where Jean was and to put the kettle on. I had a feeling this was going to be a long night.
After numerous phone calls, an extremely irate Oliver informed us that Hassan Akbar had been released without charge with regards to Sarah’s murder, although there was a possibility he could face charges relating to various sexual offences including the rape of an underage girl. Even with all this stacked against him, he’d been bailed for three weeks while their enquiries continued.
I could not believe the injustice and neither could my guards. Franco in particular. He had witnessed firsthand Farid Ali’s recounting of Sarah’s death, so he knew what Hassan was capable of.
All my guards had read and listened to the signed confession, but to hear it in person made it seem even more chilling.
The fact that Hassan was cruising the street so brazenly only highlighted how crazy this man was. No one could fail to miss the many cars parked outside, and all six foot eight of Ivan as he stood in front of the door, arms folded, his glare menacing. Yet once again they had driven up and down the street without a care, making it obvious they were watching the house when they slowed down as they passed.
Did they think that would intimidate me?
It had certainly done so with Tess and Jean, but that had soon turned to anger. They had both been stood at the window peeking out through a gap in the curtains, each exclaiming how livid they were with the police for letting him go.
