IT TAKES Reina three days to move out of Alexander’s house.
Three fucking days.
She had to have a sappy goodbye with that fucker Jason, who’s starting to get on my nerves.
If I watch him put his arm around her one more time, I’m breaking it and killing any chance of him going pro. Every time he watches a game on TV, he’ll think about me and wish he’d never laid a hand on what’s mine.
Reina had a small farewell gathering with Elizabeth and the staff then made sure Alexander was good with her move and that he stationed her new security at her apartment.
The old Reina would’ve never minded people surrounding her. She’d have made her decisions in a heartbeat and the world could suffer.
Well, it turns out she’s Rai or what-the-fuck-ever. I should’ve known Alexander had all this information. I just never thought he and Gareth could’ve hidden an identity switch this way.
Does her name matter? Does it change anything?
No, and fucking no.
I was never interested in Reina prior to her disappearance. The one I got entangled within all the wrong ways was the girl who returned with Gareth that day.
The girl who watched her surroundings every time she moved as if suspecting someone was chasing her. Turns out, she really had people chasing her all along.
I didn’t know how to feel as I listened to her conversation with Alexander a few days ago. She suffered in her childhood and was a kid on the run with no one but her mother—and even that support was taken away.
It’s sort of like Ari and me after Mom died.
No. I won’t think about Ari.
That’s the thought I’ve been pushing away since I found Reina unconscious in that cottage and after she nearly jumped off the balcony.
She almost fucking jumped.
My muscles tighten at the memory as if I can see her in front of me, shaking, eyes welling with tears and her leg threatening to give up on her.
Just like Ari.
I briefly close my eyes as I push the building’s door open. The concierge nods in my direction. He knows better than to question me. After all, Alexander owns the whole damn thing.
True to his word, the man who calls himself my father got her security. They’re stationed outside the building, and one of them is at the far end in the corner, near the concierge’s desk. Even the latter has some security training and would react fast in case of danger.
I press the button for the penthouse’s floor and enter the code. As the doors close, I lean back, placing both hands in my pockets and letting my mind roam around the endless fucking possibilities that arose out of nowhere.
Reina will never be safe unless her sister is. Even if her sister is dead, there’s no telling if Ivan will come after her. He’d want to eliminate the last descendent of Nikolai Sokolov’s bloodline.
So far, only Reina remains.
And Rai.
She lived amongst them for years, so I’m hoping she has a trick or two up her sleeve like her mother did.
True, there’s always that tiny possibility the twins switched back when they reunited that night. With the memory loss, Rai could’ve thought she was back to being Reina.
That possibility barely exists for me.
I recognize Reina no matter who or what she is. Her personality deviated a little—a lot—after the memory loss, but there are those few tells.
The way she shuts out the world by crossing her arms over her chest. The way she leads the cheerleading squad like she was born for it. How she dances, how she jumps, and how the corner of her mouth twitches when she smiles.
All those little details are enough evidence she’s still the same. It’s only that she’s more spontaneous now, more maddening.
Sometimes, I have no fucking clue how to deal with her.
The door hisses open straight into her living room, and I push off the wall to step inside.
The lights are on, but there’s no sign of her. I ignore the kitchen and go to her room. Reina would never cook even if you paid her for it. She says she doesn’t know how to cook, but I’m starting to think maybe it’s because she only knew Russian dishes before and didn’t want to expose that detail about herself.
Soon, I’ll get her to open up to me like she did on that balcony.
Like she always wanted to when we were pre-teens.
The sound of running water in the shower greets me as soon as I step into her room. Her clothes and purse lie on the chair in complete disorder.
I shake my head. Another thing about Reina? She can’t get organized to save her life.
My cock twitches at the thought of joining her, making her jump in surprise, feasting on her blushing face, and then sinking into her warmth.
I can fuck her against the wall or on the floor.
That has to wait, though.
She defied me, and that won’t go unnoticed. I sit on the edge of the bed, the same bed on which I had her for dinner—three times—before I exhausted the fuck out of her.
My cock strains against my jeans in remembrance. Since I started eating her pussy, I’m a fucking addict going through withdrawal.
The sound of the running water cuts off and soon after, she strolls inside. Reina doesn’t notice me as she readjusts the tiny towel around her. It barely covers the swell of her tits and the curve of her ass.
Her wet hair falls on either side of her shoulders, dripping down her neck and the deep line between her tits.
My cock bulges in my pants as I watch her every movement. It takes all my self-restraint not to grab her, throw her on the ground, and fuck her like an animal.
The only reason I’m stopping is because she needs to pay first.
A small voice in the back of my head tells me I shouldn’t be doing this. This isn’t my plan. This isn’t how Ari will rest in peace.
But I kill that voice like I always have since this new version of Reina woke up in the hospital, since she sucked my finger like she meant it, like she actually fucking wanted it.
A gasp falls from her lips as her gaze lands on mine. Those ocean-deep eyes, those eyes that could drown people with a look.
When I was a teenager, I yearned to own those eyes, to trap them somewhere and have them only look at me. Years later, nothing has changed, only now, I’m more forthcoming about my methods.
“W-what are you doing here?” She freezes and looks down at herself before her cheeks turn crimson.
Fuck me and the way she blushes. No one can fake that, not even Reina’s level of conniving manipulation.
I raise an eyebrow. “Did you think I’d ask you to move out if I didn’t plan to join?”
“Well, I thought you’d tell me first.” She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear as if she’s self-aware.
That’s what I like about this new version of her—she’s more real, human.
Breakable.
This Reina isn’t scared of showing her emotions, unlike the old one who did everything to smother them—even if it meant hurting herself and everyone around her to achieve it.
Her world was a constant battle of being a robot, being reactionless and blank. Maybe that’s why she’s now having these moments where she just breaks, letting the outside world crack her armor.
This Reina doesn’t remember why she needed to hide her emotions, and as a result, she’s more genuine.
More…fun.
“I’m here, aren’t I?” I ask.
“Well, obviously.” She peeks at me through her lashes. “How long do you intend to stay?”
“As long as I please.” I have all my stuff in my car and will bring it up later.
I’m not leaving Reina this time. I made that mistake before and she decided to escape. If I had been here beside her or even tormenting her, she wouldn’t have thought of that option.
She wouldn’t have been attacked by a monster that night.
“Whatever.” She huffs. “Can you leave the room?”
“Why?”
“I have to change, dude.”
Dude. Seriously, sometimes she’s an entirely different person altogether.
My lips twitch in a small smile. “No.”
“No?”
“It’s not anything I haven’t seen before.”
She nibbles on her lower lip, her face turning an adorable shade of red. “Fine, I’ll change elsewhere.”
“That’s not how it works, prom queen.” I tilt my head to the side. “We have something to settle.”
Her brows furrow.
“I gave you two days to move, and they have turned into three.”
Apprehension fills her gaze as her breath hitches, no idea whether it’s with excitement or fear.
Knowing Reina, it’s probably both.
I wasn’t sure before, but now I am. “You did it on purpose.”
Her only reply is to rub her foot on her other leg’s calf.
That’s all the answer I need.
“Come here.” My order is loud and firm. It works, too, since her movements freeze.
She stares at me with caution, but the spark doesn’t disappear as she slowly asks, “Why?”
“When I order, you obey, remember?”
Slowly, she approaches me. The heavy rise and fall of her tits distracts me from everything else until my gaze trails to the demure movements of her toned legs. Those legs were made to wrap around my waist as I thrust in and out of her hot pussy.
She stops in front of me, filling my space with the scent of her shower gel, lilac and something else that’s entirely hers.
She’s Reina, the only Reina I’ve ever known.
“Now what?” she whispers, her breathing hitching on the last word.
“Shhh.” I lean back on my hands. “Don’t talk.”
She watches the movement of my hands as if she’s a prisoner and they’re her wardens. If anything, she appears disappointed I’m not using them.
“Do you want me to touch you, Reina?” My voice drops in range.
She bites on her inner cheek but says nothing.
“Answer me or nothing happens.”
“I…” She breaks eye contact and focuses on her toes, which are curled in the plush carpet. When she speaks, her voice is barely audible. “I do.”
“I didn’t hear that.” I soak in her reaction as I continue, “Now, look at me and say it again.”
She swallows so hard I hear it as she slowly lifts her head. Her eyelids lower as she says, “I do.”
“Too bad you don’t deserve it.” My gaze trails up her legs, her perky tits, and her damp neck until I reach her face. “You think it’s fun to defy me, prom queen?”
“N-no?”
“Why did that come out as a question?”
“I don’t know.” She’s breathing harshly, and judging by the death grip she keeps on her towel, she’s turned on but doesn’t like to show it.
“Drop the towel.”
She sucks in a harsh breath as her gaze meets mine. There are a thousand questions in those blue eyes.
Why are you doing this? Aren’t you supposed to hate me?
Just like her, I have no answer, because that’s the problem with Reina.
I keep coming back to her whether I like to or not. She has me under some black magic. It’s in the way she looks at me like she never looks at anyone else.
Like I’m her one and only.
“This is so fucked up,” she murmurs, as if translating my thoughts.
“That we are.” I motion at her hand. “Now, drop the towel. I won’t repeat myself another time.”
I can feel her giving in before I see it. Another thing about this Reina? She lives in the moment no matter what her brain tells her.
She removes her hand, and the towel slides down her body before pooling at her feet.
Fuck me.
I’ve never liked looking at a naked woman as much as I love watching Reina.
The slender line of her waist, her hips that were made for my hands, her smooth pussy that’s begging for my cock inside it.
My gaze trails up. Her nipples harden under my scrutiny, seducing me closer. It’s a blasphemy not to touch her when she’s right here.
All mine.
Her tits are heavy and ready for my tongue and lips, or better yet, they could use my cock between them as she held them for me.
One day.
I have so many plans for her body. It was made for me. All of it.
I capture her heavy-lidded eyes with mine. Another thing about her that’s never changed—whenever she’s aroused, Reina barely manages to keep her eyes open.
It’s like she’s fighting herself to remain in the moment.
“How should I punish you now?”
“P-punish?” Her voice is spooked, but her features say something entirely different.
Excitement, thrill.
She can barely stay still with the building anticipation, fidgeting and curling both hands around each other.
“You defied me. I don’t care for being defied. So yes, Reina, you have to be punished.”
Her gaze strays ahead for a second as she sucks on the inside of her cheek. Reina always had a fucked-up type of sex appeal that attracted all the motherfuckers in her vicinity. I know because I always fought the urge to rip their eyes out for looking at her.
And yes, I may have beaten some up.
However, she’s emanating a different type of sex appeal now. My cock becomes rock fucking hard the more I soak in her uncertainty and subtle innocence.
She notices it when she focuses back on me, and just like that, she drops to her knees between my parted legs.
The view from the top is surreal. Reina, naked and submissive, kneeling between my legs.
I’ll never get used to this.
It was unreal the first time she did it, and it still is now.
I hide my sick pleasure as her flustered fingers undo the button of my jeans. It takes her longer than needed in her eagerness and my cock nearly bursts out of its confines every time her long fingers brush over my erection.
She finally manages to grab my dick with both her slender, tiny hands. I groan as she strokes from the bottom to the top.
The thought that she could’ve done this with another man makes my bloodstream hot red.
She’s mine.
Fucking mine.
And no one touches her but me.
“What are you doing, Reina?” My voice is hoarser than usual.
“You said you’re going to punish me.” She licks the crown of my cock, making sure to gather all the pre-cum on her tongue, and I groan like a fucking animal.
This woman is my hell and I’m ready to burn.
“I’m the only man you’ll ever get on your knees for, understood?”
“Yes, Ash.”
“Repeat that.”
Her voice turns sultry. “Yes, Ash.”
“Again.” I’ll never get used to the sound of her submission, of her words.
“Fuck my mouth, Ash.”
I nearly empty down her throat then and there.
Goddamn this side of Reina—it’s a one-way road to sin, to nothingness.
Who said it’s easy to find the right road? If Reina is the wrong one, I’m not leaving this fucking place for eternity.
I grab a fistful of her hair and wrap it around my hand so I have complete control of her. “Open that mouth.”
Still clutching my cock, she does as told and parts her lips for me.
“Put me inside.”
With one last lick, she slides my dick into her mouth…her hot, wet mouth.
“Now remove your hands. Place them on your thighs. If they move, we’ll do this all night, understood?”
She nods around my cock and drops her hands to her thighs. They’re so small and delicate and breakable just like her.
Still grabbing her hair, I thrust my hips forward. Her mouth is tiny and doesn’t take all of me. I thrust faster, hitting the back of her throat and grunting with the pleasure it brings.
Her eyes widen and tears form at the corners. Her hands rise, probably in an instinctive reaction to push me away.
“What did I say about those hands?”
She drops them back down, her frantic eyes begging for air. She shouldn’t have asked me to fuck her mouth if she didn’t know what she was in for.
“This is a punishment, remember?” I groan as she nods frantically.
I pull out and she coughs, spluttering. Drool trickles down the side of her mouth and her face reddens, but she parts her lips again, staring up at me with eagerness.
Fuck, this woman.
Her unconditional submissiveness does shit to the dominant side of me. Who’d have thought the tough, no-nonsense Reina would let me take liberties with her this way?
I thrust in again, hitting the back of her throat, suffocating her then giving her room to breathe, only to pump in and out of her again.
Just like she asked, I fuck her mouth.
I own another part of her that was off-limits before.
“Touch yourself,” I order.
This was supposed to be a punishment, but I want to see her orgasm face as I empty myself down her throat.
She doesn’t even pause to think about it. Reina parts her thighs and plays with her clit, making unintelligible sounds around me.
“Thrust a finger in.” My tone gets raspier with each pound into her mouth.
A loud moan escapes her as her hand disappears between her legs, working herself toward an orgasm.
“Add another one,” I order.
She complies, her eyes slightly closing with the move. The sounds she makes are enough to make a priest sin.
Reina is fucking temptation incarnate.
“Harder,” I groan. “Faster.”
Her hand moves in and out of her pussy in a rhythm that nearly matches my own. Then she freezes, eyes drooping as what seems like a full-body shudder takes over her.
There’s nothing more beautiful than watching Reina come, the way her back arches, her tits perk up, and her pink nipples turn as hard as tiny diamonds. Perspiration covers her brows and she looks like a sex goddess as she closes her eyes, head tilting slightly backward.
A sex goddess who’s all mine.
As her wave subsides, I pull out my cock and grab her hair hard enough that her eyes flutter open.
“Open that mouth.”
Her lips slowly part.
“Show me your tongue.”
Her brows furrow, but she does as told. I place the tip of my cock on her tongue and empty myself down her throat. My balls tighten with the force of my release as I enjoy how my cum coats her tongue and lips, how it streaks on the side of her mouth and down her chin.
Mine.
Fucking mine.
Reina never breaks eye contact as I own every inch of her, marking her so no motherfucker comes close to her again.
“Now, swallow. All of it.”
She does, even licking her lips to not miss a drop.
My fingers stroke in her hair as she stares up at me with a content expression, the expression of someone so pleased and boneless.
I release her head and pat my lap. “Come here.”
Standing on wobbly legs, she climbs up my body without protest and wraps her thighs around my waist.
I lift my shirt up, throw it beside the bed, and kick my jeans down my legs, letting my cock lie against her bare ass.
Her head rests on my shoulder like a tiny child who needs sleep. She must be tired after all the moving and today’s practice.
I wrap a hand around her back. I meant to fuck her, but now, as she lies so peacefully in my arms, I want this moment to last longer.
What the fuck?
Her finger trails up my bicep and my tattoo. She’s silent for a while, drawing slow patterns over my skin.
“What language is this?” she murmurs, her voice sleepy.
“Arabic.”
“What does it mean?”
My peaceful mood from earlier disappears. I can pretend none of it happened, can pretend all of this is fine.
But it’s not.
One day, I’ll have to wake up and do what I planned all along.
My fists clench by my sides. “Eye for an eye.”
