Drago stepped forward and gripped my jaw, his expression far from seductive. In fact, it was deadly serious. “Katya, listen closely. If you ever need to use any of these moves, the goal is to be able to get away and run, not to engage in a fight. If you manage to land a blow to any one of these areas, you fucking run. Do you understand me?”
All sexual tension drained from my body as I considered the circumstances that would require me to utilize this information. “I understand.”
He gave my chin a little squeeze. “Okay, good. Now, I’m going to show you some basic maneuvers,” he said. “The first is what to do if you’re approached from the front, then what to do if you’re attacked from behind.”
He had moved our coffee table and cleared a space for us between the couch and a couple of chairs. He positioned his body, and I was hard-pressed not to admire the flex and bunch of his muscles as he demonstrated the moves that he wanted me to replicate. My body started to hum with sexual tension again as I nodded my head mindlessly to whatever he was saying.
His brows became two dark slashes above his eyes. “Katya!” he barked. “Are you paying attention at all?”
I cleared my throat, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment. “Uh, yes, you told me to make a fist, right?” I guessed based on the position of his hands.
He made an annoyed sound in his throat. “Yes, make two fists. No, not like that. Don’t tuck your thumb. You can break it like that. Now, if I were to come at you, the first thing you do is a kick to the groin, that would take most people down. If that doesn’t work, you swing for my throat or my nose. If you have something like a set of keys in your pocket, put them between your fingers. The idea is to inflict as much damage as you can. I’m going to come at you, and I want you to punch me.”
“What if I hurt you?”
Drago dropped his hands and gave me an over the top are-you-kidding-me look. “I’ll be fine, Katya.”
I wrinkled my brow. “You didn’t have to quite so insulting about it,” I grumbled as I took my battle stance.
“Before I come at you, throw a couple of punches at my hands so I can make sure your form is okay.”
I threw a quick series of punches, feeling quickly out of breath. God, I had to start working out again.
He nodded. “Good job, Katya, but try to step a little closer to what your punching so there is more force behind it. Better! Good job,” he said encouragingly. “Okay, I’m going to come at you now. I want you to punch at me any way you can. After you throw a couple of punches, kick me, do whatever you can to stop me. Understand?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, let’s go.” He started stepping toward me like he was going to attack me, and for some reason, I just stood there. It was weird “protecting” myself from him. “Katya!”
“Sorry! I’m not used to seeing you as the bad guy. It’s hard to push you away.”
Drago stopped short and took a deep breath. “Katya…Jesus, the shit you say,” he muttered.
“What?”
“Nothing. Let’s re-focus. Okay, defend yourself this time.”
I nodded. He came toward me again. This time his expression was much more menacing. It sent a little thrill through me, but I knew I had to defend myself instead of letting him grab me, which is what I truly wanted to do.
When he got close, I swung out, and he dodged my punches, letting a few of them land in harmless places.
“How was that?”
“Not bad…” he said slowly, but I could tell he was trying to be nice.
I slapped him lightly in the arm and laughed at his attempt at diplomacy. “It’s okay to tell me I suck at this—I’ve never done this before.”
“You don’t suck. It’s just…you’re weak. You don’t have enough strength. I think you should focus on kicking in the groin, scratching, maybe eye-poking. Really focusing on the weak areas. It would probably be your only shot to stop someone,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Gee, great pep talk, coach,” I replied jokingly, though he was undoubtedly correct.
He sighed. “I’m not trying to demoralize you, only make you aware of your deficits so we can minimize them. Let’s try again; this time I want you to kind of go off. I want you to react like I’m trying to kill you. I want to make sure you can target the weak areas of the body.”
I did as he asked, really trying to bring him down and attack him in the areas he designated as weak, although it was hard to imagine any part of him that was weak. I also went easy on the groin area out of self-interest.
“Okay, that was much better. I’m going to attack you from behind this time. This is going to be a little more challenging. The same basic premise still applies, though. Attack anywhere you can reach, but you have to be a bit more strategic with this position because you don’t want to tire yourself out needlessly attacking an area that will have no impact or result in your freedom.”
He came behind me and wrapped one arm over my chest and the other around my waist. “Okay, if something like this happens, the idea is to startle him into loosening his grip. If you feel it loosen, drop your weight to break the hold. Start by stomping their feet and kicking their shins. Then, snap your head back as hard as you can. The back of your head is hard, so getting him in the face will hurt him. As soon as you do that, lean forward and twist into whatever arm has the strongest grip on you. If you do it quickly, he’ll be busy reacting to you smashing his face, and you use that opportunity to throw him off balance. Got it?”
“Okay,” I said. I’d listened to him, but I’d also breathed in his sandalwood scent and slowly caressed the arms that were encircling me, my nipples hardening against his forearm. He wasn’t unaffected—I could feel his erection against my right buttock, but he did not comment on it. He was all business right now.
He tightened his arms, and I did a fairly good facsimile of what he’d just described. “Good job, kotyonok. Let’s run through it a couple of more times.”
I nodded and repeated the routine until I was making the moves more fluidly.
“Nice, well done.”
After rubbing against him and his hard cock pressing into me so many times, I was ready to climb him like a tree. All the sexual desire I had banked from earlier came roaring to life. The final time he grabbed me from behind, instead of doing the maneuver, I turned and jumped into his arms, my legs wrapping around his waist.
Instead of scolding me, he lifted a brow. “I hope this isn’t how you plan to deal with someone who is trying to attack you,” he murmured. “However, it is the quickest way to get me to kill him.”
I grinned and dipped my head toward his neck, running my tongue up his neck to his ear, his salty taste making me crazy. “Drago…” I pleaded as his hand slid down up my dress, gripping my bare butt cheek.
“Fuck, Katya, you aren’t wearing any underwear?” Drago said, his face a mix of exasperation and lust. “It’s a good fucking thing I didn’t know that when we started,” he said, throwing me down on the couch and pulling my hips to the edge of the cushion, my back reclining on the pillows. He pulled me up and tore my dress off and threw it to the floor.
Initially, this caused me to blush in self-consciousness, as the morning sun blazed through the windows, illuminating every inch of my naked body. However, all my concerns fled as Drago’s fiery gray gaze consumed every inch of my exposed flesh, his expression filled with reverence and savage lust as he kneeled before me.
“Katya, you are fucking gorgeous. Lie down and spread your legs.”
Heat once again filled my cheeks at the thought of spreading my legs in the brightness of daylight, but I leaned back on the pillows and spreading my legs enough to allow him to kneel between them.
He gave me a chastising look and slapped my thigh. “Wider, Katya. Put your heels up on the cushion and spread,” he demanded, his voice guttural with lust and power.
I was incapable of resisting his intense stare and direct command, and my legs spread as if they had a mind of their own.
“Fucking beautiful. Everything about you is so beautiful, kotyonok. I am so fucking lucky,” he uttered, his accent once again becoming more pronounced.
He reached down and spread the lips of my sex apart, but before embarrassment could take root, it was obliterated by pleasure as his tongue swiped up from the opening, stopping just short of my clit, making it throb with impatience.
I felt lightheaded as his tongue mercilessly thrust inside me, finding every nerve, and lighting it on fire. He continued to tease me by only giving my clit the faintest brushes of his tongue, even as he slid two fingers inside and started pistoning them in and out of me. I slid my hands in his hair, trying to direct his attention.
“Drago, please…”
“Please, what?” he asked as his tongue danced around my pulsing center.
“You know!” I accused, thrusting my hips up to get the contact I needed.
“Ah, but Katya, I think I remember something about punishment,” he said casually as he pulled his wet fingers out of me and casually swiped them over my needy clit. Before I could say anything, he gave a sharp slap to the sensitive skin of my inner thigh, causing me to yelp in unexpected pain.
“Are you going to listen to me from now on, Katya?” Instead of responding, I just stared at him, dumbfounded. Before I could properly process the sensation, he swiped his thumb over my straining clit and thrust his fingers back inside of me, causing my back to arch in ecstasy.
“Are you going to control your impulsiveness? Make certain you are safe in the future?” he asked silkily, giving my other thigh another stinging slap. I gasped in pain, waiting for his thumb to ease the pain, but it didn’t happen. I opened my eyes saw his heated, intense gaze trained on me.
Waiting.
“Yes, yes, I swear. I won’t do anything like that again, I promise,” I babbled out.
His fingers continued to lightly play over my heated flesh—taunting me and driving me mad. “Let me give you a short lecture about following orders.”
I groaned in misery as my hips once again jerked, seeking relief.
He smirked but did not relent. “In my life, every organization I was with, if you didn’t follow orders, there were consequences. Sometimes severe consequences. Katya, what you did yesterday, running off to Anya’s, was fucking reckless and totally unacceptable. You can’t go off doing whatever the fuck you want because I will go goddamned crazy worrying about you. This is just a small consequence for your behavior, but maybe you’ll think twice before you put your life, and my sanity, at risk.”
He had me on the edge of losing my mind. His fingers had returned to my pussy, three now, thrusting wetly inside of me. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Drago. I know I did the wrong thing. It won’t happen again,” I promised in a rush, and though my sentiments were sincere, I was desperate to get his fingers where I needed them most.
He rewarded me with his thumb ghosting over my heated engorged flesh, his fingers picking up their thrusting tempo inside me. I was so close, I was tempted to reach down and rub myself, but I knew that would not be well-received.
He leaned up, his hand reaching up to grip behind my neck, his eyes trained on mine. The hand between my legs finally gave me what I needed as his thumb gave my clit a bit more direct stimulation and his fingers pounded my pussy. I was nearly delirious with pleasure, my hips riding his hand shamelessly.
Drago’s grip behind my neck tightened. His face carried an expression I had never seen, a mesmerizing grimace communicating pain, adoration, possession, fear, love. It was all there for me to see. I had terrified him, and he was letting me know I couldn’t do it again.
“It had better not, Katya. You are everything to me—irreplaceable and infinitely precious. You are mine to take care of, and I’m going to do it, even when you don’t like it.”
He slammed his mouth down on mine, his hand increasing its pace as I ground against his pleasure-giving fingers. I screamed and groaned as ecstasy burst through my body, my sheath spasming around his still thrusting fingers.
He quickly removed the hand from around my neck, and I watched through blurry eyes as he yanked his pants down and gripped his huge, hard cock, giving it several hard pulls. “I can’t get enough of you, Katya. You make me crazy,” he said between gritted teeth.
I had half a mind to reach down and help him but was mesmerized watching his strong, rough fist pull on his dick. He pulled his fingers out of me and used my come to lubricate his shaft, sending a pulse of renewed desire shooting through me.
I could tell he was close. His jaw clenched as he aimed the head of my drenched pussy.
“Moya. Mine, Katya,” he roared as jets of come landed across my pussy and stomach. As he continued to jack his jerking cock, he used his other hand to rub his come into my pussy, even pushing some inside of me, as if he needed to be embedded in me.
He slumped on top of me, kissing my up my neck, biting my earlobe briefly before whispering in my ear. “Did you like your punishment?”
I smiled. “Yes…and no.”
He pulled back with a grin. “Perfect.”
Before I could reply to his arrogant response, the chirping of a ring tone had Drago tugging his pants back up and searching for his phone. I should feel more self-conscious as I sprawled on the couch, but it was if my skeleton had been removed. This kind of punishment definitely had its rewards.
Chapter 35
Drago
“Boss, someone punch you in the neck?” Although Maxim had asked with a straight face, I could tell he was making a joke.
“What?” I asked irritably.
“I think you have a hickey on your neck.”
“A hickey? What?” I marched into the bathroom and, fuck, he was right. Katya had given me a fucking hickey.
“I taught Katya self-defense today. She must have clipped me,” I grunted as Ivan sailed in the door.
“With her mouth?” Maxim asked sarcastically.
I shot him a quelling look, but he just grinned.
“You taught Katya self-defense?” Ivan asked as he took a seat in front of me. He looked tired, more so than usual. “I tried that when she was younger. She sucked.”
“She’s a little better. She got it well enough to at least get away. What have you been doing, Ivan? You look like shit.”
He ran a tired hand over his face, his features a masculine version of Katya’s. “I’ve been going to some dives on the south side, trying to get information. Heard from more than a few people that Yuri’s left town.”
I shot him a dubious look. “Why would he do that?
Ivan shrugged. “Who knows why that asshole does anything.” He paused then shot me a look. “Mikhail wants him taken out. Makes us look weak that he’s dodged us for so long.”
“No shit.” It was fucking infuriating.
“Where the fuck did he go? It’s like he’s waiting for something, but what?” Maxim muttered.
I shook my head, anger and frustration bubbling up in me like a slowly erupting volcano. “He’s waiting for us to fuck up again. He’s waiting for his shot at her, at us.”
“We need bait,” Ivan said.
“No fucking way,” I growled. “You know the only thing he wants is Katya.”
Ivan shook his head. “No, he wants to be leader again, mighty Pakhan. He’s as power-hungry as any other megalomaniac.”
“Leadership is not a tangible item, like a carrot or breadcrumbs. How do lure him anywhere with the promise of regaining his position within the Bratva?”
“What about that other girl? That girl he took before? We could use her,” Maxim suggested.
Ivan’s head snapped around and shot Maxim a murderous look. It was the most intense display of emotion Ivan had ever shown. “Emmy? Not a fucking chance. We’re not doing that to her again. She’s off the table.”
Maxim held up his hands in a mea culpa gesture, obviously not anticipating Ivan’s reaction.
“No, we won’t use the girls. What we need to d
o is get to someone who might have access to Yuri’s crew,” Ivan said.
“How the hell are we going to do that?” Maxim asked.
I nodded my head. “Alfonsi.”
Maxim snorted. “There’s hardly enough left of him to meet up with anyone. And Yuri probably knows we have him by now.”
“No, the father. Alfonsi senior. We’ll spare the son if he helps us get contact with some of Yuri’s men.”
Ivan shot me a look. “Is the son still alive.”
I shrugged. “Yes, barely. He may be missing a few parts, but most of him is there. Alfonsi is aware his kid is a fuck up. He won’t hold it against us that we went hard on him.”
“Well, then let’s get the ball rolling. Maybe we should include Callahan in this since he had the original relationship with them.”
It irritated me to include the Irishman in any of our business, but Ivan made a valid point. Callahan had already dealt with the Italians. Perhaps he could facilitate this operation. The sooner we got things in motion, the sooner the threat to Katya would be eliminated.
*****
A couple of hours later, we set up a meeting with the older Alfonsi, and we were seated in another dive bar.
Alfonsi appeared to have aged ten years since I’d last seen him. He was flanked by his top man, Paolo Martoni. Martoni was about the only competent leader in Alfonsi’s outfit. If he’d been Alfonsi’s son, he would have undoubtedly taken over, but Alfonsi had tried to leave his legacy to his kid. He had obviously either been left out of or opposed the deal with Yuri, but now it looked like Gianni saw the writing on the wall and was promoting him.
“How is my son?” Alfonsi asked, his face grey with stress.
“He’s alive.”
Alfonsi blew out a breath and nodded his head. He knew he was lucky his kid didn’t have a bullet in his head right now.
“What do you want for him?” Alfonsi asked warily.
“I need information about Yuri and how he is running his people. We need to find a way to either get someone close to him or lure him out.”
Drago (Dangerous Love Book 3) Page 21
