Andrusha was gone all night. I was cooking eggs for breakfast when he came in to grab a shower.
“Do you want breakfast?”
He wrapped his arms around me from behind. “I have a meeting to get to.”
“You seem to have a lot of meetings.”
He grabbed some bacon off my plate. “It’s a busy time of year.”
I moved the eggs off the burner and followed him to the washroom.
Without hesitation, he stripped down and stepped into the shower. “What are you doing today?”
I perched on the toilet lid and watched him lather his chest. I loved how corded and muscular his body was. It felt bigger and stronger than a dancer’s body. “Can you tell me what’s going on?”
He glanced at me as he poured shampoo into his hand. “What do you mean?”
I could tell things were escalating in his world, but he never talked about it. And I think part of me was afraid to ask. “How are things going with Bunko?”
He avoided my gaze. “Same.”
I had picked the most seductive and elusive man to have my first sexual relationship with. And I felt absolutely addicted. Some nights he never came home. Or worse, he came home bleeding and hurt. I never knew where he was or when he would show up. This whole situation made me feel emotionally out of control. But every time he got into the same room as me, none of that mattered. He became irresistible on so many levels.
I watched as he got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. “I just feel worried sometimes.”
He moved towards me, towering over me before he pressed a hot kiss on my mouth. “Things are okay.”
I stared up into his face. “You promise?”
“I want some of that bacon.”
“That can be arranged.”
The day dragged out. I played with Sasha, cleaned the kitchen, and when I couldn’t stand it anymore, I went looking for him in his office.
He was sitting at his desk, working on something.
He glanced up. “Come in and shut the door.”
Curious, I did as he said.
He finished writing something before he leaned back in his chair and tossed his pen. “Lock it.”
A thrill shot over me. I locked the door and then sauntered over to the window.
My entire body shivered when he wrapped his arms around me from behind and his face burrowed in my neck, his words muffled. “Take off your pants and come sit on my cock.”
Who even had a chance against that?
I felt him step back and watched as he sat down on his chair.
Feeling nerves jangle over the daylight that streamed through the window, I stood there.
“Take off your shirt.” He sat, staring at me with those blue eyes.
I peeled off my shirt and slowly slid my pants down my legs. His eyes feasted on my body.
“Now your panties,” he told me.
I hooked my thumbs on the fabric and slid them down my legs before kicking them off.
I watched as he unbuttoned his pants and fisted his huge cock that was hard and ready.
“See what you do to me?” His voice was hypnotic. “I can’t get enough of you.”
I licked my lips. “What now?”
“Now you come over here and sit on my lap like a good girl.”
I moved over, and he snagged me around the waist and pulled me down so I faced away from him. I sighed as I felt his mouth on my neck. His hands pushed beneath my bra, rolling my hard nipples with a firm touch.
I cried out when his fingers stole between my legs.
“So wet already,” he murmured against my ear, and he played with me until I was squirming with impatience. He was teasing me into a frenzy, never letting me find the release I craved.
“I want more,” I begged.
He stood, lifting me with him. He grabbed my hands and put them on the edge of the desk, before a big warm hand pressed on the center of my back, bending me over.
I was panting with anticipation.
His foot kicked mine out, so my legs were spread wide.
A big hand slowly smoothed over my bare ass. “I don’t know if I should spank you or fuck you.”
“Fuck me,” I suggested in a strangled voice.
Two large hands grabbed my hips, and then I felt the head of his cock at my entrance. I whimpered.
He entered me with one long slow push that felt so good my eyes rolled back in my head. I felt him gather my hair with his hand before he tugged my head back. My back arched, and it made his length hit something inside me that almost made my knees buckle.
His strong thrusts drove me to near madness. My fingers clung to the desk as my entire body radiated such a glorious feeling, I wasn’t sure how I was still standing. My orgasm started to roll towards me. I was coming close to that point of no return.
“You’re not going to come without my permission, are you?” He nipped below my ear with his teeth.
“What?” I asked, completely dazed.
He tugged my hair back and murmured, “You don’t come until I tell you.”
I tried to hold my orgasm back, but it was an impossible feat. When I finally let go, everything felt that much more heightened and intense. I felt him jerk hard against me as his head pressed against my back.
“Oh fuck,” he breathed.
He pulled out of me. He sat back and pulled me onto his lap. I curled up in his lap, my head on his chest. I played with one of the buttons on his shirt.
I jolted in his arms when someone pounded on the door.
“Busy,” he yelled, before bending his mouth over mine. “Ignore them.”
His phone started to ring. Which made us both freeze.
He touched my cheek. “Let me handle this, okay?”
He lifted the phone and spoke in Russian. I heard Viktor’s voice on the end.
Andrusha listened to him speak and then, without saying a word, he clicked off his phone. “This has to be handled.”
“Right now?”
“Shortly.”
“What’s going on?”
“Nothing.”
“Are you safe?”
He pushed me into a hot, fast kiss before standing and lifting me to my feet. “Yes.”
I didn’t see him for a day and a half, and then I woke up to him lying in bed, watching me sleep. He was wearing his clothes.
“Are you coming or going?” I asked sleepily.
He gave me a lazy smile. “Coming. I thought we could have a date.”
I lifted my head and looked at the clock. It was 6:15 a.m. “Right now?”
“Yeah.”
“Does it involve shooting a gun?”
He shook his head. “Nope. More casual than that.”
“I’d be okay with an early morning date.”
“Go get dressed.”
He drove me to the seawall in Stanley Park. Andrusha, the Russian businessman whom I met during a gunfight, held my hand while we walked in the misty, cool morning air. He always seemed to find these stolen moments of normalcy for us, making me wish that every day, every moment, could feel like this.
He tugged me to sit on a bench that overlooked the water. “I brought you out here because I need to talk to you about something.”
I didn’t like the tone in his voice. I turned to him, on high alert. “What?”
“This situation with Bunko is complicated.”
My heart started to pound. “What does that mean?”
He squinted out over the water. “I’m not sure this is going to get to trial. I think there are things that are going to happen before we can get there.”
“What kind of things?”
He glanced at me. “Not the good kind of things.”
He was scaring me. “Why are you telling me this?”
“My goal is to get you out of this life. And once you are out, that’s it. No contact with anyone from your old life.”
I tried to process what he was telling me. “You want me to run?”
“I want you to be prepared for the contingency that you have to run.”
“You’re scaring me.”
“Mica and Viktor are the only two men I trust. If something happens, those are the only two men you trust, okay?”
I leaped to my feet. “Stop talking like this.”
He grabbed my hand. “This is important, Olivia. I need to know that you understand.”
“This is your worst date yet.” My lips trembled.
He stood up and put his hands on my face, tilting my head back. “Tell me you understand.”
“I understand.”
I didn’t understand. Up until this point, Andrusha’s world seemed safe from outside threats. For Andrusha to talk like this with me told me that things were not going as expected.
He nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”
To make my day even worse, as we walked back to the vehicle, he looked over at me. “Mica is coming to pick up Sasha today.”
“They called because they want him back?”
“I asked Mica to take him for the next few days.”
“Why?”
“He’s safer with them.”
I thought about my mom’s warning. About how Andrusha was a bad man. She was wrong about him. Andrusha was one of the most honorable and strong men I had ever encountered, but he lived and operated in a bad world. Violence, threats, guns, contingency plans.
I looked over at him, anguished. “I brought this to your doorstep.”
“It was coming to my doorstep with or without you.” He gave me a mild look. “Besides, I recall picking your unconscious body off the front lawn.”
“I’m scared,” I said quietly.
I felt his hand come around my neck. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”
I didn’t have the courage to tell him that it was his safety I was worried about.
Sasha and I were playing ball outside when Mica drove up.
Sasha took one look at Mica, dropped his ball, and headed inside through the open bay door.
“Sasha, where are you going?” I called.
Mica picked up the ball. “I promise we don’t beat him.”
I studied him. “You don’t mind us borrowing your dog?”
He threw the ball in the air and caught it behind his back. “Pretty sure Sasha decided he was your dog.”
“I wish.”
He gave me an amused look. “So, how are things going with you making Andrusha your business?”
I looked up at his face, wondering how much to tell him. Mica seemed like the kind of guy you could tell anything to. “Good, but complicated. How long have you known Andrusha?”
“All my life. He lived in the same village as me. He was my best friend growing up.”
“So, what was he like growing up?”
“Wild as fuck. If there was any trouble to be found, Andrusha found it. All of my detentions, all the trouble I got into in my youth, was because of him.”
This was fascinating. “He’s hard to get to know.”
“Who is Andrusha to you?”
I thought about my answer. “He’s kind, intelligent, extremely protective. Has lots of secrets. I always feel like he’s got this edge to him, but he never tells me what is going on, and I never know if he’s coming or going. But when he turns his attention towards me, it’s the best feeling in the world.”
“You know him. That’s the Andrusha I know.”
“I used to be a stripper,” I blurted out, feeling like I needed to confess. “I mean, I was a dancer, a real dancer, but I got injured and started stripping. And all of this has happened because of what I saw at the club. And now Andrusha’s being dragged down into it.”
“I don’t judge people by their jobs. I get paid to chase a frozen puck on the ice with a stick.” He was trying to make me feel better. “And as far as Andrusha being dragged into anything, that’s impossible. You can’t make him do anything he doesn’t want to.”
“I did. I dragged him into my mess.”
He gave me a look. “Maybe he wanted to get in on your mess.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that, so I shifted my gaze away for my final confession. “My mess is dangerous.”
“Andrusha can handle himself. Better than anyone I know.” He whistled at Sasha, who lay in the middle of the bay, watching us. “Come on, Sasha.”
Sasha lay his head down on the cement.
“His last protest,” I murmured. This would be me if Andrusha ever decided to send me away. I would literally lie down and refuse to get up.
I walked across the bay and crouched beside Sasha, bending to kiss his face. “Three days, and then you can come back.”
