“I want you inside me,” she panted, her shaking fingers finding and freeing the button.
I pushed off her and finished stripping, grabbing a condom from my pocket before tossing my pants aside. When we were both naked, I paused to simply drink her in, my eyes devouring her soft perfection. So beautiful. And all mine.
I sheathed my dick and settled my weight over her once again, lining up my shaft with her wet opening. Her thighs parted, offering herself to me. I pressed my cockhead against her velvet heat, and pleasure shuddered down my spine.
“Allie.” I released her name on a shaky breath, bracing my trembling hand on the bed for support. She felt so fucking good. So warm and soft.
“Mine,” I said through gritted teeth, forcing myself to press into her virgin channel with aching care.
Her entire body quivered beneath me, and her eyes tightened with pain. She whispered my name, and diamond tears slid from her gemstone eyes. I kissed them away, the salt tasting sweet on my tongue as she gave herself to me in every way.
When I pushed in to the hilt, she hissed in a sharp breath, and I forced myself to still inside her. I reached between us and rolled her nipples between my fingers, stimulating her in the way that drove her wild.
I watched with awe as she melted, her body softening and the tension easing from her delicate features. Her arms twined around my neck, and she moved her hips against me, drawing me impossibly deeper.
A low growl slipped between my teeth, and I withdrew slowly, until only my cockhead remained inside her. Toying with her breasts, I pushed back in. She gasped, and her eyes flew wide as the pinch of discomfort finally faded into pleasure.
I began to move within her, taking her with slow, careful strokes at first. But as I continued to play with her nipples and claim deep kisses from her lips, she started to rock against me, urging me faster.
She wrapped her legs around me, drawing me deep inside her virgin pussy. This part of her would always be mine. She would always be mine.
My Allie.
I snarled and drove in hard, rocking her entire body with the force of my possessive thrust. She cried out, her fingers flexing against the back of my neck as she held me close with a desperation that mirrored my own. Her lips were taut against mine for a few brutal thrusts, but as pleasure overtook pain, she began to relax once again.
I pulled back so that I could look down into her lovely eyes as I claimed her for myself. Her cheeks were glowing, her lips swollen from my kiss. Her lashes were dark with ecstatic tears, and her voice hitched as the truth was drawn from deep in her soul: “I love you, Max. I love you.”
Something tore at the center of my chest, a gaping chasm where my heart had been. The full horror of my sin struck me with cruel clarity.
I had betrayed the woman I loved. I’d used her, lied to her. All for power.
Her eyes flew wide, and she gasped my name as her core began to contract around me, forcing my own orgasm from my shaken body. I shouted out in pleasure and anguish, my mouth crashing down on hers so that I didn’t have to meet her shining gaze.
She shuddered beneath me, sighing in bliss as she held me tight.
“I love you,” she murmured, the words cutting me like knives. “I love you.”
I’d betrayed her because I’d wanted to prove that I was worthy, but I’d made the worst mistake of my life. I’d chosen my pride, my bloody birthright, over her. And I could never take it back.
I would never be worthy of Allie.
NIKOLAI
My father sipped at his vodka, eyeing Ron Fitzgerald with his usual stony expression. I knew him well enough to read the contempt in the slight twitch of his upper lip, but Fitzgerald would likely see only a cold, powerful Pakhan. The beloved mayor was fully aware of just how dangerous Mikhail Ivanov was, despite their publicly friendly façade.
We owned Ron Fitzgerald, and he knew it. He knew his place, no matter how hard he tried to relax back into his green leather armchair as though this was a casual meeting between friends.
I sipped at my own vodka, watching the mayor squirm ever so slightly as he fidgeted with his tie. The warm golden lighting in my father’s study glistened over his sweat-beaded brow, and he swallowed hard.
“What’s this about, Mikhail?” To his credit, he managed to sound nonchalant, at least.
“Your daughter, Alexandra, has ended her relationship with my son,” my father said with the weight of condemnation.
Fitzgerald didn’t quite manage to conceal his exhale of relief. He didn’t want his precious daughter getting involved with the Bratva.
A few weeks ago, I wouldn’t have cared either way. But now that I knew Allie, I wished that she’d steered clear of the Bratva, too. She was innocent and soft, but shockingly strong and insightful when I least expected it. She’d surprised me and challenged me. By the end, I’d truly wanted her. She was the first woman to actually intrigue me in a long time, and all my other prospects now seemed fleeting and far too easy.
It was better for her that she’d gotten away.
“Allie is an adult,” Ron asserted. “She can make her own choices. What do you expect me to do about it?”
“I expect you to give a shit,” Mikhail bit out. “Your daughter has been sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong. First, she was looking into your old case against the Mafia. You know I didn’t like that.”
“She’s only interested in studying the case to build her career,” Fitzgerald insisted before my father could continue with his litany of Allie’s sins. “Besides, there’s nothing in the files that recorded the connection between you and me. I didn’t so much as write your name on a scrap of paper when you were feeding me intel about Michael Ferrara’s gas scheme. You know that.”
“If she only cares about the case for academic reasons, then explain this to me,” my father hissed, reaching for the remote on the table beside him. He turned on the big screen TV mounted above the empty fireplace and pressed play.
The confusion on Fitzgerald’s face was probably mirrored on my own. I had no idea what the fuck my old man was about to show us, but judging by his thunderous expression, it wasn’t anything good.
The recording was taken from above, clearly footage from a security camera. Allie’s copper hair shined, distinctive even at a distance from the camera. She stood amongst towering bookshelves, and she was reaching for a book high above her head.
It figured that Allie would be at the library, and that she’d be too stubborn to ask for help. She was wickedly smart and fiercely independent, despite her soft nature. It was one of the contradictions I found so fascinating about her.
On the screen, a darker figure rounded the corner. The man was massive, dwarfing Allie’s much smaller frame. My muscles tightened with a protective instinct the moment I saw him grab her. Fitzgerald made a pained sound.
“When was this taken?” he asked, panicked. “Is Allie okay?”
“This is from three days ago,” my father responded tightly, irritated. “I’ve had someone watching over her, but it took me a while to get the footage I needed to show you. She’s not in distress. Look.”
Allie’s arms twined around the man’s neck, and she pulled him closer, deepening a fierce kiss.
“What is this?” Fitzgerald demanded. “Who is that man?”