Page 30 of Devious Truth (Vicious Sinners #3)

I t’s past ten before Ivan comes home. After they were alerted to one of their warehouses burning, they bounded from the dining room as though their own chair were engulfed in flames.

I’m sitting up in Ivan’s bed scrolling through my phone when the bedroom door softly opens and he steps inside. The immediate stench of smoke fills the room.

“You’re back. It’s late.” I slide off the bed, leaving my phone behind.

His hair is tousled, as though his thick fingers have been raking through it all day. He moves to the closet, the smoke smell trailing behind him.

“What happened?” I ask, leaning back against the bottom post of the bed while he’s in the closet.

“Our warehouse on the river is gone.” He reappears in the doorway in a pair of black boxer briefs.

I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to seeing him like this. He’s all raw dominance and sex, and all he’s done is stand in front of me in his underwear.

“Was anyone hurt?”

He nods. “We lost two men.”

I sink back onto the edge of the bed. “Did they…did they have families?”

He frowns. “One has a girlfriend, the other just arrived here from Russia last month—as far as we know he had no family here or back there.”

“That man’s girlfriend. She’s going to need help, someone to help her?—”

“Vee.” He’s in front of me in a moment, capturing me in his arms and holding me tightly against him. “We’ll take care of it.”

“She’s going to be so––” I can’t even say it. “It’s hard when you hear it; it gets worse when you finally know it.”

He squeezes me tighter. “We’ll make sure she’s okay.”

The chaos in my mind quiets, and I lean into him. I can’t remember a time in my life that my soul was this easily soothed.

Ivan hugs me, and it’s like the whole world goes still. All the craziness out there stays away from me, from us.

We’re untouchable.

“You need a shower,” I say on a sigh.

His chest rumbles with a small laugh. “Yes, we do.”

He lifts me in his arms and carries me to the ensuite.

“Ivan!” I playfully wiggle, but in truth I don’t want him to let me go.

He puts me down, the tiles chilly beneath my bare feet. “Take that shirt off.”

I look down at his white undershirt I found to wear. “This one? I kinda like it on.”

His chin lowers, and he brings his face closer to mine. “I said take it off, or I’ll tear it off.”

I smile, tucking my bottom lip between my teeth. “But it’s your shirt, Ivan. You don’t want to ruin your own shirt, do you?”

There’s a twitch on the side of his mouth. “You spent too much time with Megan and my sister today. You’re turning into a brat.”

“How am I brat? I’m only thinking of your clothes.” I try to retreat a step, but the bathroom, even as large as it is, only has so much space before my ass backs into the vanity.

Ivan leans into me, pressing his palms flat on the countertop on either side of me, cornering me like prey about to be devoured.

He runs his nose over my cheek, until his mouth is at my ear.

“Do you want me to tear it from your body? Is that why you’re playing with me? You need me to show you who’s in charge here? You want me to bend you over this counter and teach you a lesson?”

My throat tightens.

He trails his lips over my cheek, until our gazes are inline.

“You’ll have to ask, baby. Be my brave girl and ask me for what you need.”

I’m in over my head here.

“I just need you, Ivan,” I whisper.

“You need me to what?” He presses. “You need me to fuck you?”

It sounds so vulgar, so impersonal the way he says it.

“More than that.” I swallow—my pride, my fears, I’m not sure exactly.

“Then take off the shirt.” He shoves away, going to the shower and turning the water on.

I grab the hem of the soft cotton and pull it over my head, dropping it onto the counter beside me. Steam billows out from the shower, warming the air.

Still, goose pimples appear on my skin as I stand, waiting for him to turn around again.

Keeping himself faced away, he shoves out of his boxers, leaving them puddled on the bathmat as he steps into the shower.

Uncertainty chills me, and I wrap my arms around my middle.

“Did you obey me?” He asks from inside the shower, the door still open.

“Yes, sir,” I answer.

A moment slips by, then another, and the only sound is the water running.

From the reflection in the mirror, I can see him lathering up his hands and running them over his body, washing away the smoke smell from his skin and hair. His cock hangs heavy and erect between his legs.

More time passes, and he still hasn’t called me to him. Then I remember what he said. I need to ask. I need to be brave and ask for what I need. What I want.

“Ivan?” I clear my throat when his name gets stuck. “Ivan.”

His head pokes out, water dripping down his face, from his dark locks of hair.

“Can—I’d like to join you?”

“Try again.” He disappears into the water stream again.

Frustrated, I fist my hands and chew on the corner of my mouth. He’s not looking just for bravery, he wants more.

He wants my submission. My willingness to give over to him without his interference.

I pad over to the bathmat and toe his boxers out of the way before I sink down to my knees. Calming my breath to a steady cadence, I lay my palms down over my thighs, spreading them as wide as is comfortable before raising my chin.

His blazing stare heats my skin.

“Sir, I’d like to join you.” Mist from the shower sprays across my face.

More drops of water land on my naked breasts as he leans over my kneeling form. He cups my chin, bringing my lips to his. Droplets fall across my cheeks and into my hair, but all I can focus on is him.

“Such a brave girl,” he whispers against my mouth. “Get in here.” He releases me and steps back into shower.

The water is warm, the perfect temperature, as he turns me around to step beneath the stream.

His hands, large, controlling, and gentle, run over my hair, soaking every strand. He pushes my chin back, until I’m tilted backward into the water. It runs over my face.

“You’re beautiful like this,” he says, wiping the water from my cheeks. “So fucking beautiful.”

He kisses me beneath the water, pressing me further back through the stream until my back is against the wet, tiled wall. Hoisting me up, I wrap my legs around him just as he plunges into me.

I break the kiss, crying out the from the sudden stretch around his size. He bites at my chin, my neck.

“Oh!” I grip his shoulders, digging my nails into his skin.

“Fuck, yes, baby.” He squeezes my ass, driving further into me with more force.

My back slides against the wall as he plows harder into me. Hot water beats down on him as he leans into me, kissing my neck, nipping at my earlobe.

“All day, this is what I wanted. To be here with you, like this. Fuck.” His voice is raw, like he’s just been running a marathon.

“Me, too.” I roll my head to the side, giving him better access to my throat. As his teeth sink into my tender flesh, shocks of pleasure roll over my body.

“Fuck!” He growls, suddenly ripping himself from me and planting my feet back on the slippery shower floor. “Turn around. Stick your ass out.”

As I spin around, my hands flattening against the wall, he slaps my ass. The snap of a second smack fills the shower. I cry out with the third smack.

“You wanted to play around, didn’t you?” He fists the back of my hair, pulling my head back while shoving my chest into the wall. “Is this what you wanted?”

Another volley of spanks crosses over my ass. Several to one cheek then the other and then he starts over again. I wiggle beneath his punishing hand, arching my back more, seeking the pain he’s doling out.

“Good girl,” he coos in my ear, squeezing my ass cheek until I’m raising up onto my toes trying to get away from him. “Are you? Are you my good girl?”

“Yes, sir!” I slap at the wall, water splattering back at me. His grip is unrelenting.

“Say it.” He lets go of my ass, wrapping his arm around my waist and pulling my ass back at him. The fat head of his cock poises at my entrance. “Tell me you’re my good girl, that you’ll always be my good girl.”

There’s no hesitation now. “I’m your good girl! I’ll always be your good girl, oh fuck–– yes, I’m your good girl.”

He drives into me from behind with such force, I nearly lose my footing. With his arm wrapped around my waist, he holds me steady as he takes me. He drives me to the edge of utopia and dangles me over the side.

Releasing my hair, he reaches over us, grabbing the shower head from the holder and bringing it down to us. A few clicks on the handle, and the shower stream turns into a powerful jet stream.

“I want you to come for me, Vee. Come hard.” He brings the shower head around our bodies, aiming the powerful stream at my clit.

“Oh god!” I throw my head back as the strength of the water hits my clit. “It’s too much.”

“No, you can handle it.” He bites down on my shoulder, still plowing into me.

My body tightens. Sensations blast through me, stealing my breath–– I don’t even care if there’s air, I just need him. His touch, his warmth, his dominance. All of it. It’s him.

Everything goes black for a split second before white bursts of light flash in my vision and my body shakes uncontrollably. His arm tightens around my waist as he increases his thrusts, driving me through the tsunami that is my orgasm. My throat burns, and my screams ricochet off the shower tiles.

“Such a good girl,” he mutters behind me, dropping the shower head to the floor and using both hands to grip my hips. He drives me back toward him, harder and harder, until he stills, unleashing his release into me.

I drop my head between my arms, sucking in the wet air. A lock of my hair falls forward, getting stuck against my cheek. The shower head sprays at our feet.

“Easy.” Ivan grabs hold of me as he slips from my body, helping me turn around on my wobbly legs and sets me down on the built-in bench on the opposite side of the shower.

My heart jackhammers against my ribs. My mind is lost in a sated fog.

He turns off the water and brings a thick towel to me. Draping it over my shoulders, he picks me up, cradling me in his arms before settling me back on his lap while he takes my seat on the bench.

“I just need a second.” I breathe, cuddling into his neck.

“Take all the time you need,” he leans back, resting his chin on the top of my head.

“It wasn’t like this with Derek,” I find myself saying. He stills beneath me.

“What do you mean?”

“I loved him, I really did, but it was different than this. When he held me, I didn’t feel like it does when you do.” I pull the towel around my shoulders tighter.

“What does it feel like when I’m holding you?” He brushes wet strands away from my face.

“Safe.”