Aleksandr

by S F Draven

  It smelled like cheap alcohol and Checha, but I didn’t mind. It felt good to be let out of the confines of four walls, even if we were possibly always going to be in immediate danger from now on. I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder, worried that someone was going to come out of the shadows ready for a fight. It was quite possible that we were being followed, and given everything that had happened, I wouldn’t have put it past Edik to have eyes just about everywhere possible. Though, after about twenty minutes of just sitting around and drinking, the man Aleksandr was waiting to see just slunk in through the front door. I realized it was him because he looked over at Aleksandr the moment he entered, looking rather shocked to see me sitting next to him.

  “I didn’t realize that we were having company. The name’s Jack,” he said, and I shook his hand politely.

  “Things have unfortunately gotten to be a bit more complicated since we last spoke, Jack, but I assure you that everything is in order to make this strike go down without a hitch,” said Aleksandr, and right then I started to feel my stomach turn. I let them have their chat, discussing things that I wasn’t really clued in on, but I didn’t care much because I trusted Aleksandr’s judgment. He’d tell me what I needed to know when the time was right, but it seemed that this Jack person was on our side and ready to do whatever it took to take down Edik.

  “Who may this be?” asked Jack, staring back at me.

  “This is Irina, and up until a few weeks ago, she was Edik’s girl. He was treating her terribly for such a long time, that when I arrived to take care of the contract he gave me, he had her there doing his dirty work,” he said.

  “What a fucking coward,” said Jack.

  “I couldn’t agree more.”

  “Is she going to be sticking around? If you’re trying to protect her, shouldn’t you be keeping her somewhere where she’s not going to get her head blown off?” Jack asked, and I looked over at Aleksandr so he could explain why we decided to keep me with him, but he was already starting to do so.

  “The cabin where I was holding Irina was infiltrated by Edik’s men, and I still don’t know how he managed to get the location of that place. No one, not even my family knew where that cabin was, so it boggles my mind that he was able to get to it so quickly,” said Aleksandr.

  “It seems to me like you have a mole on your hands, Aleksandr.”

  “Well, Jack, I’m going to ask you politely to sniff out that mole for me, and make sure that it pays for giving up my location. After all, that’s what I’m paying you for,” Aleksandr chimed in again, as the two men clinked their beer glasses together, and I began to see a sort of camaraderie start to form. It was strange to see Aleksandr so indulgent to a conversation where his abilities were being questioned, especially by someone like Jack who supposedly had to answer to him anyway, but it was refreshing to see. In all of this, I was quite glad that I had the chance to see many different sides to him, and to be quite honest, it was turning me on.

  The meeting was over now, and Jack had taken off. It was just Aleksandr and I alone in the sleazy bar, on opposite sides of the booth, waiting to see what the other was going to do. We were always on the same page, and for some reason, since we managed to say those three little words, we couldn’t seem to keep our hands off of each other. I certainly wasn’t complaining, because it was the most alive I’d felt in ages, and I wanted to feel that kind of pleasure any chance I’d get. I removed my feet from the slippers I was wearing, running them along his leg under the table, and he looked up at me with a glimmer in his eyes that told me he wanted me the same.

  He eyed the back entrance, leading out into a hallway where we might have the chance to be alone for a little while, and I watched while he rose from his seat, leading me there. Our fingers intertwined as I held onto his hand, following him through the crowd of drunk people drowning their sorrows while we ventured off to exchange ours for a few moments of pleasure. We wanted to escape our reality even if it was just for a short time, because there was a part of me that was afraid that we’d eventually run out of these spontaneous chances the moment things began to get worse. Every time I stepped out of the house, even with Aleksandr by my side, I couldn’t help but feel like our days were numbered, like the walls around me were beginning to close in, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

  Right now, I just wanted to lose myself in Aleksandr the way I did countless times before. Every time I was with him, the rest of the world around us simply didn’t exist. We finally managed to make it out of the hot, sweaty bar, falling into each other as he brought me close for a kiss, taking me back behind the curtain of the stock room. We were certainly going to get thrown out if we were caught back there, but that was what made it so exciting. I ran my fingers along his chest, feeling his muscles protrude from the dress shirt he was wearing. It was my turn to show him what I was capable of, and I knew he could see the hunger in my eyes this time.

  We could barely make out each other’s features as the single lightbulb in the room went out, but that didn’t matter. I bent down to meet him at his waist, unbuckling his pants myself, as I pulled his dick out and held it between my hands. It was the first time I had the opportunity to really feel it for what it was, every inch in its glory before I slid it into my mouth. It was rather large, with a considerable amount of girth, that always left me feeling like I couldn’t walk right after he fucked me. I sucked lightly on the head, running my tongue up and down the shaft, as he held my head in place, while I took it down my throat. I let him face fuck me, driving it deeper with every thrust, and it felt incredible to please him in that way. Ever since he told me he loved me for the first time, I found myself wanting to please him the way he’d been pleasing me from the very start, and I finally had the chance I’d been looking for.

  I sucked him, feeling his rock solid dick between my lips before he finally helped me to my feet, guiding my legs up to his torso as he lifted me up. He placed my back against the wall of boxes behind us, slipping his length inside of me as I moaned upon entrance. The thrill of it all really got me going, and I was dripping wet waiting for him to fuck me with every ounce of force he had left in him. It amazed me how hard he managed to thrust while holding me up, knocking over cases of beer and packaged food while he did it. I tried my best to contain my screams, but I found it rather difficult. He fucked me so hard I was hit with an unending amount of pleasure, and I didn’t know what to do. He held my head steady, his hands traveling over my lips, before they covered my mouth. He muffled the sounds of my screams, moving together with the perfect rhythm, and the tension started to build inside of me.

  I struggled to stay upright, my legs starting to shake, and he rested me down on the ground so he could finish what he started. My clothes were now littered all over the floor, while he laid down next to me, so I could climb on top of him. I guided his dick back inside of me, pressing my hands to his shoulders, and I felt my ass bounce over his length. I could feel the pleasure shooting through me, his hands raising up to grab my breasts, taking a nipple into his mouth as he bit down lightly. I threw my head back, my hair flailing everywhere, giving it everything I had, coming up on my orgasm while he finished inside of me. We were both a mess, but the happiest that we’d both been in such a long time, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. However, right as we were struggling to get back into our clothes, we heard an argument happening just outside, like a fight that maybe broke out in the bar. We tried to shrug it off, until we heard the gunshots.

  Chapter Eleven: Aleksandr

  My first instinct was to find a way out of there, but we were backed into a corner with nowhere to go. The only way out was through the bar, and something told me that whoever was there, hadn’t been there to start a fight, but to get information on someone. The hopes that they would leave without answers were slim to none, and the only chance we had of getting out was if we shot our way through the crowd. This was the point where the danger truly began to set in, where the bubble aro
und the both of us popped, and we were transported back to reality. I hated having to drag Irina in the middle of all of this, but if I left her holed up somewhere where she’d be a sitting duck, things could only get worse.

  “Irina, do you have your gun on you?” I asked her, hoping she’d stuck it in her holster before we made it out here.

  “Yes, I do. Do you think that’s about us?” she asked, pointing to the door.

  “I have a feeling that’s right. I need you to stay alert and stay behind me. Don’t shoot unless you’re absolutely certain that the person in your direction is trying to hurt you. We don’t need to upset the general public while we try to make our way out of here,” I said firmly and she nodded at me.

  “It’s now or never,” she said, as we walked out into the hallway with our guns ready, waiting to hear what was going on on the other side of the back entrance door. I listened for a while, hearing our names thrown into conversation, and I knew it was only a matter of time before someone ratted us out that we were hiding back here. So, the only way forward would be for us to open fire first.

  “Get ready to shoot, Irina,” I warned, watching her gear up, and as soon as the doors swung open, we began firing.

  The men who were looking for us ducked for cover, trying to use civilians as shields, as though that was going to faze us. We shot straight through to them, watching as they all dropped like flies, and miraculously managed to leave the innocent untouched. We ran out of the bar and quickly into the car as the remaining men started chasing after us, and I stuck my key in the ignition, starting it up. We managed to pull out just as the second round of gunshots began to fire off, breaking into our windshield, and I heard Irina shriek next to me.

  “Are you okay? Are you hit?” I asked, worried, but knowing I had to get us out of there as fast as physically possible.

  “Not hit, just scared.”

  “Hang on tight, sweetheart. This is going to be one hell of a ride,” I said, expertly navigating us through back streets, trying to lose the men who’d piled into a big SUV, following us with just three inches of space between each vehicle. We managed to stop abruptly at a passing, turning the corner right before they had the chance to, and leaving them stuck behind for a moment.

  “I need you to grab the wheel when I tell you to, and keep your eyes on the road so I can turn around and shoot,” I said to her.

  “What?” she asked, genuinely confused and very frightened.

  “You know what you have to do. There’s no way we’re going to lose these guys if I don’t start returning fire,” I explained, and she gulped.

  “Okay,” she said finally, and I started to take one hand off of the wheel to retrieve my gun, getting it ready as I lowered the driver’s seat window. It was hard to see under the streetlights because of how dim they were, but I tried my best to hit the vehicle behind us as accurately as possible.

  “Grab the wheel, Irina!” I shouted at her, and she took the wheel in her hands, just as I stuck my body out of the window so I could return fire and hopefully blow out one of their tires. Just before I was beginning to give up hope that I was going to make the shot, Irina looked over at me with genuine fear in her eyes.

  “We’re coming up on the pier, Aleksandr! What do I do?”

  “I need you to turn at the very last second.”

  “I-I don’t know if I can do that,” she said.

  “Trust yourself, Irina, like I trust you,” I said, and I hoped that would be enough.

  I was running low on bullets and I sat back down in the driver’s seat, watching the open water get closer to us with every passing second, and just before we went flying off the edge, Irina managed to turn at the very last moment. I turned around to see their SUV fall into the water, and that was the end of our chase for the evening. When I finally took the wheel back from her, she found it quite difficult to let go, and I knew that was to be expected. It was the first time she’d ever had to deal with anything that dangerous, and I could see that her fear started to dissipate as it was replaced by a look of utter triumph.

  “Did we really just pull that off?” she asked, probably wondering if it all had been a dream.

  “You pulled that off, Irina. I told you to give yourself a bit more credit. You’re very good in a crisis,” I said, with a chuckle.

  “Fuck, and to think I’ve spent so many years locked away thinking I was never going to amount to anything, or better yet, manage to do something like that,” she said, shocked.

  “I’m glad you’ve found your true calling,” I teased.

  While we were safe for the time being, I knew the measures that Edik was taking were only going to get worse with time. We already had a hard time staying out of sight, and the more men he got to spy on us, the harder it was going to be to make it through the city unnoticed. The fact that he had his men find us in a dive bar outside of the city told me that someone had to be feeding him information. There was no other way he’d be able to locate us. Something isn’t right. This shouldn’t be happening as often as it is, I thought, wondering whether I’d missed something and hoping that Jack managed to uncover a clue that would lead me to put a bullet in that man’s head. I wondered if the location we were staying at was still secure, but I knew we couldn’t go back there directly. I had to check in at the warehouse to make sure that the people I put on the job gathered enough intel that I could use in the upcoming strike. I had a feeling I was going to have to do a bit of the digging myself, otherwise we’d be in the dark for far too long.

  I drove us both down to the abandoned building, explaining to Irina along the way why we were there in the first place. It was the first time I was going to show anyone what the inside of my business looked like to someone who didn’t work for me, and there was a part of me that felt rather content that I had the opportunity to share this section of my life with someone. The more I saw Irina in action, the more I thought that Edik made a grave mistake by letting her go, or simply playing on her beauty versus her other capabilities. She was far stronger than any woman I’d met before, and I could certainly say that I’d met my match.

  Once we got in through the front doors, the air inside of the building was rather heavy, and there was a metallic scent that wafted through, leaving me to believe that business was being conducted as usual. I was met at the door by Damir, and when I shook his hand right then, something began to click in my mind. He was the one I’d called when I checked in on Irina the night when the cabin was broken into, but he wasn’t lying dead outside like the rest of the men. It seemed that he had to have abandoned his post to avoid the struggle, and it made me start to think that maybe he was the one I had to look out for. I didn’t say anything, letting him update me on all aspects of the business before I took Irina on a little tour of my operation. I pulled her aside, whispering in her ear that she needed to look out for the man we’d just met, who had been so kind to her up until this point.

  “There’s something strange going on, Irina, and I’m starting to think that Damir has something to do with it,” I said, quietly enough that no one would be able to hear me.

  “What makes you think that?” she asked.

  “He was the one I had check in on you the night that you were attacked, but when I called, everything seemed to be fine. However, hours later, Edik’s men knew exactly where you were, and Damir was nowhere to be found,” I said.

  “Are you going to confront him about it?”

  “That’s really not going to do me any good, because he’ll either just deny or open fire when we don’t need it. So, instead, we’re going to launch a little sting operation of our own, and keep tabs on him for a while to see where he ends up. If my calculations are right, we can start scoping out Edik before we thought, and that would make all of our lives a little easier,” I explained, and she nodded as one of my guards passed her by, and she pretended to open up discussion about the shipments, so no one would catch on to what we really needed to talk about.

  I had to say t
hat she was an incredibly fast learner, and she picked up on the necessary context clues to keep both of us out of trouble. It was that kind of quick thinking I needed by my side when I followed Damir into the depths of all of this, hoping that he would lead me right to the lion’s den, where I could start to unravel everything Edik had ever built. Taking him out wouldn’t be enough to crumble his entire empire, because if I wanted to do that, I was going to have to start attacking from all angles. I was going to have to infiltrate his weapon drops, steal his cargo, and take out his contracts before he could get around to them. That was the only way that I was going to be able to send a message to him, letting him know that there was someone better, ready to take his place.

  Something like that would only send him into a blind rage, acting entirely out of impulse, and it was that kind of unpredictability that I was counting on to pull all of this off. I needed him to feel like he was losing control of everything, having to relinquish control to his men in order to focus on dealing with the problem at hand. We wanted to be front and center to watch it all go down, and to reap the benefits that was going to come with watching him fall apart before our eyes. I knew that Irina had been waiting for an opportunity like that for quite a while, and I promised that when the time came, I was going to let her have the honor of killing him herself.

  Later that very evening, we stopped outside a local restaurant where I ordered take-out for us to eat in the car while we parked a bit out of the way so we could keep watch on my building. I wanted to see the very moment that Damir took off for the night, because that would be our ticket to learn where he was going or who he was reporting to. I could tell that Irina was getting a little more comfortable with all of this because she kept asking all the right questions, throwing out possible theories that certainly made sense. She tried to think back to all of the people she’d seen at the final parties before she left, but she couldn’t remember anything that would point us in the right direction. I wondered whether Damir had been there the night I met Irina for the first time. If he had been working with Edik all along, it was quite possible that Edik never planned to do business with me, but uproot my plans to become far more successful than he’d ever be.