Control

ALEKSANDR

I had hoped to trust her.

I had wanted to think that Kaia’s reasons for needing me were not harmful. That she genuinely required my assistance.

But that hope was shattered when Feliks rang me up, informing me that he’d discovered her in my office. Not just in my office, but at my computer, which she had evidently managed to access.

I had no idea how long she’d had access or what she’d seen. But it didn’t matter. Everything there was incriminating. If she was as innocent as she claimed, why did she snoop around my computer at the first opportunity?

There could only be one explanation. She was searching for something.

The string of Russian expletives that followed that realization even made Niko wince from the driver’s seat.

But it wasn’t just anger that was causing my emotions to surge. It was this girl in general.

~Everything~ about her unsettled me. Her mind. Her body. Her scent. Even her defiance turned me on so much, it took all my self-control not to respond.

Not sleeping with her was the only way I was certain I could maintain my control and not crave her beneath me every chance I got.

The issue was, now that I’d touched her. Tasted her. I couldn’t seem to get her out of my mind. It just made me crave ~more~.

I’d never experienced this kind of obsession before. Never desired a woman with such intensity that I was considering things like chaining her to my bed.

So when I’d returned to the house and found her asleep in her room, that incriminating phone lying next to her, the beast inside me growled to just ~take~ her.

That she was using me and now, she was the one going to be used.

For the first time in a long time, I let that beast inside me loose. When she’d woken up and pretended to be innocent. When she’d ~lied~ to me about knowing Russian. Something inside of me broke.

“You’re going to run, little kitten, and if I catch you, you’re mine.”

Fear sparked in her eyes. But not just fear. Desire. Need and a darkness that seemed to mirror mine but which she quickly concealed as if she felt ashamed of it.

But not fast enough. It was that brief glimpse that pushed me to do what I knew was inevitable.

Kaia moistened her lips slowly, sliding off the bed to stand, all the while watching me cautiously.

She was still in that nightgown and with her hair tousled and her eyes still heavy with sleep, she looked like a siren leading me to my downfall.

“Aleksandr, don’t do this,” her voice pleaded, lower lip quivering.

But her body was positively humming with the same need that pulsed through mine.

I didn’t even move, but kept my gaze on her, feeding off that blend of fear and desire that had my beast practically purring.

“I’m going to count to three, kotik,” I cautioned.

Her fists tightened.

“You said you wouldn’t fuck me!” she shouted. “Are you going to take me by force?”

My eyebrow arched because we both knew the truth.

“One.”

“You’re a liar, Aleksandr!”

“Two.”

“Fuck you.”

And then she dashed for the door.

I allowed myself a smile, cracking my neck from sitting for so long watching her, before I pursued my kitten out the door.

KAIA

I clung to the banister as I hurtled down the stairs, nearly stumbling in my rush.

I disregarded the front door, where I was certain Aleksandr’s men were posted, just waiting for me. I veered toward the kitchen when I heard Aleksandr’s footsteps on the staircase.

The house was dark, only faintly lit by the exterior lights. I had a feeling Aleksandr did this intentionally when he’d chosen this game.

I don’t know why I was running. There was no doubt in my mind that Aleksandr was going to catch me.

He knew this house like the back of his hand. My only defense was to make him believe that I didn’t want this.

~Liar.~

Even though my mind was screaming at me to push him away, my body had other ideas. This was all wrong. I wasn’t going to be one of those girls who let themselves be used and then tossed aside.

But maybe, if I could keep my emotions out of it, it wouldn’t be so bad. I wasn’t some naive girl who believed in fairy tales and soulmates.

Growing up in Lipeshin and witnessing my father’s treatment of my mother had crushed those illusions early on. And then there was what I knew happened at my father’s estate.

Sex was a transaction, plain and simple. You could either be the one who got used, or you could use it to your advantage.

“I can smell you, kotik,” Aleksandr’s voice, rough and low, echoed down the hallway where I was hiding in a small alcove.

He moved toward the kitchen, and I risked a quick glance around the corner before retreating back into the shadows.

Suddenly, a hand clamped over my mouth, muffling my scream, while another arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me against a hard body.

“Got you,” he whispered in my ear, his breath warm against my neck.

I could feel his arousal pressing into me, and I instinctively arched my back, rubbing against him.

Aleksandr hissed through his teeth and guided us into the sitting room, pushing me roughly over the arm of a chair.

He held me down with one arm across my back, finally releasing his hand from my mouth.

“Get off me!” I tried to throw him off, but he just forced my legs apart and lifted my nightgown, bunching it up at my back.

“I’ll scream, Aleksandr.”

His soft chuckle sent a strange thrill through me.

“Go ahead, kotik,” he murmured. “In fact, I’m hoping to hear you scream.”

His fingers traced the curve of my ass, then slid down to part my wet folds.

I moaned, my eyes fluttering closed.

Aleksandr made a tsking sound, his lips trailing down my shoulder as he continued to touch me.

“Look how wet you are, Kaia,” he whispered, and I felt a flush of guilt. “I think you wanted to be caught.”

I buried my face in the sofa to muffle my moans as his fingers circled my clit in slow, torturous movements.

My body squirmed restlessly against the sofa. I rose onto my toes, crying out as Aleksandr’s fingers plunged inside me at the same time his teeth bit into my neck.

Pain shot through me, but I couldn’t tell if it was from his teeth or his fingers, which were thrusting inside me without mercy. He didn’t seem to care that he was being rough, or that his pace was relentless. But from the ragged sound of his breathing, I could tell he wasn’t as unaffected as he wanted to seem.

“It hurts,” I whimpered, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“Only for a little while, kotik,” he soothed, leaning down to lick the tears from my cheeks. “I’m big, and it will hurt more if I take you before you’re ready.”

His large body pinned me down. He shifted slightly to position his thumb directly over my clit, curling his fingers inside me to rub against a sensitive spot.

I screamed, my body tensing as I came all over his fingers.

He slowed his movements but didn’t stop, whispering praises in my ear. I could barely make out the words over the roaring in my head. But he was saying things like how I was such a good girl, and how my pussy belonged to him now.

“Please, Aleksandr…” I didn’t know what I was begging for. I didn’t want him to stop, but I didn’t know how much more I could take. It felt like I’d been thrown into the deep end of a pool and told to swim or drown.

One thing was clear, though. Aleksandr had no mercy.

My pussy was throbbing, another orgasm building just beneath the surface as he played my body like a well-known instrument.

“One more, kotik. Give me one more and let me hear you.”

He withdrew his fingers from me just long enough to spin me around to face him. Then he plunged them back inside, his other hand squeezing a swollen breast.

As if on cue, my body tightened, back arching in pleasure, and I gripped the sofa hard as another wave of pleasure washed over me.

Once the thunderous noise in my mind subsided, I could make out Aleksandr’s labored breaths as he moved away from me.

A blush crept up my cheeks as I finally dared to look into his eyes. I watched him raise his fingers, shimmering with my desire and stained a soft pink with my naivety. He then pushed the damp fingers into his mouth and savored them.

My mouth fell open slightly as he hummed in delight.

Then, without uttering another word, he scooped me up into his arms and whisked me upstairs.