Chapter Ten
Jelena sat in the lobby of Alexis’s bordello with grim determination. She was going to have sex—not all that big a deal since by this time, sex had lost its risqué novelty. Now, however, she was going to pay for it. Honestly, she didn’t want the sex. She was paying for a different service altogether: revenge against the man who had turned her sister into a complaisant, even willing, slave.
If it came with fucking, so be it.
A well-dressed, prim-looking young woman, wearing a severe black suit, her hair in a glossy French twist, walked up to where she was sitting. “Do you have an appointment?” she asked, not impolitely. More like a receptionist, all cool smiles and bored friendliness.
Jelena pulled Alexis’s card out of her purse, and handed it to the woman. “I was invited.”
The woman’s eyes widened fractionally. “I’ll have to see what we have available,” she said, with a nod. “In the meantime, can I get you anything? Wine?”
“Do you have any vodka?”
“Of course. Gray Goose all right?”
Jelena took a deep breath. “If you’ve anything Russian…”
“Of course,” the woman repeated warmly. “I’ll be right back.”
The woman went back to her ebony desk, quickly picking up the phone. Her voice was too low for Jelena to hear, but from the quick movements of her lips and the tightness of her expression, she got the feeling that Alexis’s card was something special.
She only imagined what that meant, in the context of this place. Were the men extra well-hung or something? Talented?
What the hell am I going to have to prove now?
The receptionist had disappeared. When she returned to the lobby, she had a small selection of shot glasses, sitting like an arrangement of flowers in a bowl of crushed ice. “These are our best Russian vodkas,” she offered, putting the bowl on an occasional table by Jelena’s chair. “We’ll have your room ready momentarily.”
“No rush,” Jelena found herself murmuring. She sampled two of the glasses. It was obviously expensive, going down smooth as silk before blooming fire in her chest, warming her throat. Her nerves calmed fractionally.
Until the receptionist returned. “They’re ready for you now.”
They are? What “they” was she referring to?
Jelena got up, following the girl down a maze of hallways. It was completely, almost eerily silent.
Soundproofing. Her heart started to pound.
The woman finally opened a door, ushering Jelena in. Alexis was sitting there, looking impeccable in a blood red dress with matching heels. She surveyed Jelena with amusement.
“You’re not police,” Alexis said. “I checked.”
Jelena nodded. “I want…”
“Not so hasty.” Alexis’s voice was twice as smooth as the vodka. “You might not be on their payroll, but there’s nothing to say that you wouldn’t be working for them, nonetheless.”
“If you knew anything about my family,” Jelena said sharply, “you’d know helping the politzya is the last thing on my mind.”
“Easy to say.” Alexis stood. “You’ve come here. I imagine you’d like to sample the services.”
Jelena shrugged. “Not particularly, but if that will convince you, then by all means.”
Alexis’s smirk was cold. “You’re willing to fuck to get what you want. That’s easy enough.”
Jelena shrugged again, nerves causing her stomach to bunch. “And then we can discuss the real business at hand?”
“So professional.” Alexis’s tone was openly mocking. “I want to see how serious you are.”
She opened a door. In walked one of the most handsome men Jelena had ever seen…totally nude.
She gasped in surprise. He was gorgeous—all of him. Chiseled muscles, gleaming with some kind of massage oil. Other than the abundant gold locks on his head, he was completely bare. Completely.
Strange, that of all the things involved in this scenario, that was what made her blush.
But the door didn’t shut behind him. Instead, another man walked in. Equally gorgeous, only this time more exotic-looking. Asian, she wanted to say, perhaps mixed with Hispanic? His eyes were almond-shaped, his coloring a deep, burnished bronze. He was as tall as the blonde.
She felt her mouth go dry.
“Both?”
Alexis nodded.
“Concurrent,” Jelena said, her voice cracking slightly, “or consecutive?”
Alexis burst out laughing. “As you like.” She went through the door, her hand on the doorknob. “I’ll give you an hour with my boys. Let them give you a good time. Then we’ll discuss business.”
The door shut quietly behind her.
Jelena studied the nude men. Good lord. She had no idea how to proceed on this.
“What are your names?” she asked slowly.
“Tom,” the blonde said.
“Blade,” the exotic one said. She noticed the blonde rolled his eyes, ever so slightly.
“Tom, Blade,” she repeated, shaking her head. “Okay. What does she want me to do with you?”
“Whatever you want,” Blade said, and the blonde nodded in agreement.
She stepped close to them, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I need her help,” she said, low, fierce. “What will impress her?”
Tom’s eyes narrowed. Then he looked at Blade, who shrugged.
“Maybe some music,” Tom said. Blade went to a Bose stereo system, on the nightstand by the king-sized bed that now seemed to dominate the room. Music, something instrumental and jazz-fusion inspired, poured out.
To her surprise, Tom moved forward, wrapping her in his arms, pressing kisses on her face, then on her neck. He nibbled at her jaw line, her earlobe.
It felt marvelous.
“She’s listening,” he whispered in her ear. “Watching. You’re being videotaped.”
Jelena stiffened, and he covered her motion by biting her ear, causing her to gasp more audibly, her head tilting back.
“Don’t let on,” he whispered. Over his shoulder, she could see Blade, pulling back the bedsheets with a businesslike briskness. “If you want her help, she wants something she can blackmail you with. This is her insurance.”
Jelena gritted her teeth. Of course. But what difference would a sex tape make? She wasn’t running for office. She was trying to save her sister from a fate worse than death.
Worse. She was trying to save her sister from herself.
“All right,” Jelena said, trying not to notice how good his hand felt as it cupped her ass, massaging her. He reached for the zipper on her skirt, undoing it, letting the garment drop to the floor. “Anything else?”
He looked into her eyes, kissing her deeply. He was an amazing kisser, she couldn’t help but notice. Her nipples hardened despite herself.
“She believes that sex is power,” he whispered, burying his face in her hair.
“Lot of that going around,” Jelena muttered back, thinking of Phillipe.
“If you put on a good show…if you act like you believe the same thing…” He undid the buttons of her blouse. “Then she’ll respect you.”
Jelena shivered as he nibbled her neck. “All right.”
She nudged him away, unbuttoning her blouse and tossing it aside. She removed her bra and panties and heels, and went to the bed. Blade was already stretched out, looking bored, she noticed. It was rude, really. What if she were a customer?
He wasn’t hard, either: another sign of disrespect. She shoved him back onto the pillows. He looked a little surprised.
She kissed him as she grabbed his cock, brushing her rock-hard nipples against his bare chest. The feel of his shaven balls was strange, like rough silk under her fingertips. He groaned against her lips.
She felt Tom move behind her, his cock already stiffening, pressing against her buttocks as he spooned behind her, pressing hot, insistent kisses on her back. He seemed to know every strange, insistent erogenous zone she possessed. Without thinking, she stroked Blade’s now-perky erection with more insistence, rubbing her thigh against his, feeling Tom’s leg stretching behind hers.
Blade’s breathing had sped up slightly, and he was kissing her back, his tongue invading her mouth. She grunted with irritation, shoving his face away. “Not like that,” she said sharply, and he scowled at her. “You’re here for my pleasure. You serve me.”
She turned her back to him, reaching for Tom, kissing him. Tom’s lips were warm, firm, pliant. He kissed her with gentle insistence, and the heat of nerves in her stomach turned into a different type of heat altogether. Sighing, she curved against him, his leg parting her thighs.
Blade growled with irritation. She didn’t turn from Tom’s face. “Blade,” she said, against Tom’s lips, “you’re not pleasing me.”
“But I will.” His voice, low and rough, actually made her shiver. Then she felt him, kissing her back much as Tom had. Then she felt his hand cupping her bottom, his fingers delving gently for her cleft.
She let out a rough exhalation when he found what he was looking for. With more care than she would have given him credit for, he parted the folds of her, caressing the delicate inner flesh. She took a deep, shuddering breath as Tom moved from her face to her breasts, kissing first one, then the other…then suckling one gently as his hand traced the opposite nipple with a delicate, experienced hand. She arched her back slightly, pressing her breasts deeper into his wet, hot mouth. Blade spread her legs, and she felt the prickle of his short haircut between her thighs, the blaze of his breath against her quickly dampening flesh.
When he suckled on her clit, she moaned loudly, closing her eyes. The sensation was unbelievable, more than she ever would have imagined. Her hips gyrated against his insistent, mobile tongue. He laved her, his tongue tracing her every line, every hidden crease. Jets of heat shot through her, from her breasts, from her pussy.
“Yes,” she said, mindful of her audience. “Yes.”
She spread her legs a bit further, and Blade edged upward, his chin moving, making way for…she felt a broad finger trace the opening of her pussy, then delve deep, as his teeth grazed her now rock-hard clit. She cried out at the sensation, and he nibbled, making it increase ten-fold. It was almost too much.
His finger stroked carefully, in and out, as if he were simply taking her measure. Then, after some searching, he finally found the sensitive spot, high and inside. She growled, letting him know what he’d discovered. Tom laughed, nipping at her throat.
“Suck on me,” she said, not sure which man she was ordering. “Hard.”
Both did as requested. Tom kissed her throat, his mouth drawing enough pressure to cause pain, surely enough to leave a mark. It was eclipsed by the pleasure brought on by Blade’s determined pull. He stroked, suckling on her clit, his mouth pressing on the mound just above the nubbin. She hadn’t realized that it, too, was a pleasure center. His keen, knowing pressure, combined with the pain, combined with his suckling, combined with the stroking of her G spot…
She screamed as the orgasm tore through her, letting out a flood of wetness.
Blade retreated, his expression smug…and gratified, she noticed. She reached for him, ignoring his hands, reaching instead for his hips. She only saw his smugness drop in surprise when she took his cock into her mouth, tracing the head with her tongue, quick as lightning. She took him as deep as she could without gagging. Turned on beyond belief, the orgasm still resonating through her system, she sucked gently, then twisted her face, stroking him in a gently gyrating motion. Using her saliva as lubricant, she stroked the rest of his impressive length with the slickness. She smiled around his girth when he made a low noise, his hips arching toward her.
Tom had moved behind her, and she heard the sound of a condom being rolled on. She wiggled her hips, eagerly, shamelessly. For the moment, all sense of purpose was gone. She was in the moment.
Alexis was right. Sex was power. And right now, Jelena was a goddess.
She was still sucking Blade when Tom entered her, his penetration eased by the juices of her previous orgasm. He was large, and gratifyingly broad, she realized with a moan of pleasure. He moved carefully, his cock tip circling her inner lips, his fingers still working her still-quivering clit. Then he eased himself in with a deep glide, and she moaned around Blade’s cock, gripping him hard. He growled, his hand knotting in her hair, holding her captive to him.
She moved away, shaking her head at him, and he looked at her with something between a sneer and a plea. She nudged him down on the bed, then moved between his legs. Tom moved with her, sinuously.
She was on all fours, hovering over Blade’s enormous, tumescent erection, glistening from her attention. Tom covered her back, his hips against her ass, his cock buried deep in her pussy.
“My pleasure,” she chastised Blade, and he closed his eyes as she massaged his cock between her breasts. Then Tom started to move, his hips pressing against hers, his hands pulling her flush against him. She spread her legs a little more, accommodating him. “Yes,” she murmured. He was good…so large…so intent.
Blade made a growl of protest. She flashed a glare of her own at him.
He moved up, kneeling in front of her, cupping her breasts in his hands with almost painful insistence. He kissed her fiercely. His tongue tangled with hers, and she let him, pulling him roughly to her. The sensation of his hard, hot cock nestled against her stomach as Tom pressed inside her was thrilling. She nipped at Blade’s lower lip. His moan in response, his kneading massage of her breasts, was enough to make her shudder with the pleasure of it.
Tom started moving faster, harder, his hand reaching between her body and Blade’s, searching out and finding her clit. She moaned, leaning her head against Blade’s shoulder, meeting Tom’s every thrust with an equal backward thrust of her own as Tom’s hand massaged her clit mercilessly. She was muttering incoherently now, writhing between the two men’s bodies, sweat starting to dew over her skin. “I want you,” she said. “God, I want you both.”
Tom stopped, and she cursed. “Can you?” he breathed.
It took a moment to understand what he was asking. “No,” she said, feeling some of her pleasure ebb. “Not…no. I’ve never…”
He reached between them. Sweat slicked, he parted her buttocks, his finger probing gently.
She tensed, pulling away from him, pushing even closer to Blade. He was large, but not as large.
“It can be enjoyable,” Blade whispered now, his voice surprisingly gentle against her ear.
She froze. She knew what they were proposing.
No. Not this. Nothing was worth this. She could enjoy sex, even with two men, but she was not so far gone as to…
Before she could stop him, Tom pressed a little deeper. It was uncomfortable, but not horribly so.
“It would impress her,” Tom said, but she sensed the reluctance in his voice.
She bit her lip. Thought about it. Closed her eyes.
“Take me,” she said, then repeated it even more loudly. “Both of you. Take me.”
She’s not coming back.
He would have to hunt her down. The thought sent adrenaline pulsing through his bloodstream. Hunt her, find her, capture her. Punish her, in such a way that she was screaming with pleasure. At least then, he knew, she wouldn’t be contemplating leaving again. As long as she was mindless, lost in the release of the physical, she wouldn’t consider life outside of his home…which was exactly what he wanted, because he wasn’t letting her go, ever again.
God, you’re fucked up.
He closed his eyes, sitting in the dark in his room. He glanced at the fireplace, at the mantel of his private bedroom suite, at the ornate clock. Ten o’clock at night.
Max made a little whimper, pacing.
“She’s not coming back tonight, boy,” Dominic replied, figuring out the source of Max’s anxiety. He’d gotten used to her staying, sleeping in Dominic’s bed, becoming a part of their house routine. She even gave him his treat at night. Max didn’t like change.
Neither do I. And she might not be coming back at all.
Dominic stood up, stripping down, climbing into bed. One day, he’d given her, he swore to himself. One day. After she broke her promise on that, he’d be within his rights to go and bring her back. Drag her back, if need be—she’d given her word, too, after all, and he had a reputation to maintain. But he had to keep his word, no matter how he felt, or else he really would be The Beast, as everyone claimed he was.
She had asked for a day. He wanted to give her anything she asked for.
Anything except her freedom.
He winced as conscience slashed at him like a razor. She was growing to care for him. She seemed to like him. And she certainly liked making love to him—having sex, he corrected himself. He’d been open about his sexual practices, and he felt like he’d introduced her to a whole new level of pleasure. Of course, her innocent acceptance had taken him to a whole new level as well.
He could make her care for him. He would offer her anything in the world if she would only stay. And if she didn’t want to…well. He’d just work harder.
That’s not fair.
“Fuck fair,” he said to himself, tossing heavily in the empty king-sized bed. He didn’t care if it was fair or not. He had never responded to a woman the way he had to Nadia, not ever. He’d never experienced the joy that he had with her. He was a selfish bastard, and he wasn’t ever going to let her go.
He was still telling himself that when he heard the door open.
Instantly, he grabbed for the gun that was mounted on the wall by his bed. His eyes adjusted to the darkness. He saw Max tense as well.
After a moment of sniffing the air, Max relaxed, resting his head back on the carpet.
“It’s me,” a soft voice cautioned him.
“Nadia,” he breathed, relief flooding through his body.
She walked over, stripping off clothes as she made her way to the bed. She crawled under the covers with him, pressing her naked body against his. He enveloped her in his arms.
“You’re crushing me,” she said, with a breathless laugh.
Contrite, he immediately eased off. I missed you. Though of course, he would not say that. “I wanted you,” he said instead, kissing her neck, her jaw. Then her mouth, thoroughly and passionately, loving the little gasp of pleasure she made against his lips. “You came back early.” He was stunned by this. “Were you afraid I’d come after you?” He tried not to think about how appealing that plan had been.
“No, of course not. You gave your word.”
She wasn’t mocking him. She actually scoffed at his question.
“I’m not complaining,” he said carefully, “but why are you back early?”
She was silent, still against him, and he sensed something was wrong. “I wanted you, too,” she said, although she didn’t mean it the way he meant it, he felt quite sure. There was something more complicated in the way she said it—some note of sadness.
He stroked her cheek. “What happened?”
She sighed, leaning against his palm, as if trying to get comfort from him. Then she snuggled against his chest. He was floored by her trust. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had come to him for comfort. He hoped he wasn’t screwing it up.
“My family is complicated,” she replied softly. Then she propped herself up, looking into his eyes in the dim light. “Do you think it’s wrong that my father has survived off of the money he’s gained from—well, selling his daughters?”
His grip unintentionally tightened, and he forced himself to focus, not to hurt her. He thought her father was a coward and a bastard for selling his daughter…but that hadn’t stopped him from buying her. It was a delicate balance.
“I know I’ve done enough shit in my life to probably be the least qualified to judge somebody,” he said slowly. He kissed her, behind her earlobe, in the sensitive spot that made her shiver. “Whatever else I can say about your father, I can definitely say I’m glad he stole my car.”
“Your Ferrari?” She let out a surprised laugh. “You weren’t glad at the time.”
“That was before I met you,” he said. “You’re worth a hundred of those cars. More.”
She stared at him silently for a long moment. “You mean that,” she breathed.
“I don’t think your father’s right in taking money from you, especially if it meant giving you to men who mistreated you. Part of me would gladly kill him for that. But they are your family.” He shrugged. “You love them. I can’t change that.”
He held his breath. He hadn’t meant to be that needy, that vulnerable. But he did desperately want to know her reasoning.
There was a long moment of silence.
“My sister thinks that I’m addicted to abuse.”
“What?” He sat up, incensed. “She thinks I abuse you?”
“She doesn’t know you, really,” Nadia said quickly. “She thinks that I’m just…rolling over, giving in to whatever you want. Acting like your slave. She doesn’t understand…”
“Doesn’t understand what?” Dominic felt furious, almost nauseous with it. He wanted to kill her sister.
“How much I care about you.”
Just like that, his emotions changed again. It was a damned roller coaster.
She reached for him, and his emotions changed yet again. She kissed him, not just with passion, but with…he couldn’t describe it.
No game-playing tonight. His desire for her, mixed with the powder keg of emotions, was too volatile for something like that. He pressed his naked body to hers, his mouth finding hers in the darkness. He’d know her taste if he were separated from her for a thousand years. His tongue stroked the side of hers, caressing it as he savored the feel of her breasts dragging across his chest, her soft palms smoothing over his shoulders. One leg hooked over his hip, and his cock sprang to readiness. He adjusted himself, easing his way inside her. He slid into her snug passage like coming home, and he groaned against her lips. She sighed into his mouth, and her hips swiveled enough to tighten the small circlet of muscles enveloping the base of his shaft. He shuddered against her, tugging at her knee, drawing her closer. Pushing himself deep enough to feel his balls fit snug against her ass.
Slowly, sinuously, they rocked against each other, each tiny caress a masterpiece of ecstasy. Nothing hurried, or frantic. A murmur of pleasure here, a fraction of movement as their hips swayed apart, then together, then apart. She rippled against him. He cupped her breast in one palm as he tugged her hip with the other. She rolled against him, throwing her head back, her slight, breathless sighs urging him to go even slower, to revel in every frozen moment.
He’d never had this before, this kind of closeness. He wanted to feast on her, yes, but nights like these, he just wanted to have her, slow and tight and reverent.
She shuddered against him in orgasm, and he shivered but stopped himself from joining her. He slid out, turning her over, then covered her like a blanket, entering her from behind. Still slow, still languorous, he withdrew his cock slowly until only the tip remained, then moved forward, like a yoga pose, until he was buried flush against her bottom. Sweat lubricated their bodies, and he slid over her with each movement. She gasped softly as he pressed deeper, her hands bunching in the sheets, her hips lifting up to meet his relentlessly slow thrusts.
“Dominic,” she breathed. “Oh, my God…”
He couldn’t speak, every ounce of control focused on her body. He kept up his strokes, holding her hips, pulling her tighter against him.
She cried out again, and he felt her body clench around him. He gritted his teeth until he thought he’d grind them into powder. He went completely still, until the aftershocks subsided.
Then he turned her, yet again, resting one of her heels against his shoulder. He penetrated her even more deeply this way, and he felt her embrace his entire length, slick with the fluid of her climaxes. He moved carefully, his hips moving like a tango dancer. He’d always felt too large and too brutish to be particularly graceful, but making love with Nadia was like Tai Chi, something almost beautiful in and of itself, without any end result.
She made the low, throaty sounds he loved, and her match ing balletic movements seemed to caress and massage his already engorged cock past the point of endurance. Knowing he couldn’t hold on much longer, he reached down, circling her clit, rubbing it with firm but gentle circles as his tempo increased inexorably, his hips starting to move with a rougher, uncontrolled force.
When she came again, he let her shuddering contractions milk him to his own release. He didn’t shout, or groan. Instead, he silently shook, his hips jerking as his body emptied itself inside her. Then he lowered her leg, lowering himself onto her. He kissed her deeply, and she held him as he did.
Finally, he curled around her, sleep fogging his brain. He wasn’t sure when he’d felt happier. He didn’t care. It was enough to have her back.
“I wanted to come home to you, Dominic,” she whispered, as he started to fall asleep.
“I always want you to come home to me,” he replied, not thinking. “I love you.”
He felt sleep close in around him, just as his conscience whispered treacherously:
Wait a minute. What did you just say?