Page 10 of Forced Bratva Hostage (Dubrov Bratva #15)

I’ve been so creative with my pranks over the past few days. It’s keeping me busy and helping me not go crazy while I’m stuck here in this place against my will. At least I get to stir up some drama here and there.

I’m really enjoying the pranks and coming up with incredible ideas. To put it bluntly, I’ve been putting in a lot of effort and thought, all with the single goal of annoying Andrei.

However, it’s not working how I want it to.

If I did half of this stuff to my brother back home, he’d be fuming and raging.

But Andrei doesn’t seem annoyed at all, and I can’t figure out why.

Perhaps it’s because he’s hell-bent on ignoring me, and that means I just have to try harder. I’ll have to come up with more intense pranks. Something a little more risky.

I’m standing in the kitchen, searching for the only coffee mug he ever drinks out of, when the housekeeper, Lisa, walks in.

“Hello, Miss Tia. Is there something I can help you with? Were you looking for a late-night snack?” The way she asks me makes me smile. She undoubtedly knows I’m up to something, because I’m always up to something lately.

“Um. No. I think I have it covered,” I say innocently.

She narrows her eyes at me while I close the kitchen cabinet and move away from the mugs.

“You know, the weirdest thing happened to me last night,” she muses.

“Oh really? What?” I ask, feigning curiosity. I already know exactly what happened to her last night.

“The book I was reading—the last two pages were glued together. I have no idea how it ends.”

“What in the world? Who would do something like that? That’s so strange.”

She raises her brows higher, the grin on her face growing wider as she eyes me up and down. “So strange indeed. I’ll have to go to the bookstore this weekend and sneakily read the last two pages there.”

I can’t hide my grin as I side-step towards the door. “Oh, that’s a good idea,” I say. “Sleep well!”

I move towards the door, hurrying out of the kitchen.

“You too, Tia,” she laughs, her voice carrying after me.

Out in the foyer, I’m smiling so wide my cheeks ache.

It’s so weird for me to admit it, but I love teasing the staff here, because they actually enjoy it. The staff have all taken to calling me Tia or Miss Tia. I like it. Boris always insisted that everyone call me by my full name, because it was more professional, but I like the nickname.

Back home, with Boris around, I think the staff just got terrified that they would get into trouble for my pranks, and they would get really upset whenever I did something.

Here at Andrei’s place, everyone goes along with it, and they’ve even started checking things before they use them.

I’ll be up in my room, and I’ll hear a squeal of laughter every now and then, and I know someone has come across one of my pranks.

They are all taking it really well.

It’s only Andrei who seems completely unaffected.

But that’s ok. I’ll come up with something more risky.

As I’m walking back up to my room, the thought strikes me.

Perhaps I have one more prank to do this evening before I go to bed.

Every night for the past few nights, Andrei has been out on his balcony, and the balcony just happens to overlook the pool. If I want to do something risky, this is the perfect opportunity.

I spin on my heel, changing direction and heading out into the garden. Thank goodness he gave up trying to keep me locked up like an animal.

A quick, sneaky glance confirms he’s there, standing near the edge with his arms resting on the balustrade, and my heart starts racing with excitement as I slowly walk to the edge of the pool.

I don’t want to look up and let him know I’m aware of him. I’d rather he thinks he has the upper hand here.

Slowly, I strip my clothes off, knowing that anyone might see me, but that’s part of the risk. The thrill of it adds to the fun.

I hesitate when I’m wearing nothing but underwear. I could dive in like this—but no, I wanted risk. I have to lose the lace as well.

When I wiggle out of the panties and bra, my heart is racing with excited satisfaction. He hasn’t moved. He’s watching me like a hawk.

There is steam drifting off the top of the pool.

I dive into the water. I’m so relieved it’s heated, because the nights are still on the colder side. I would have done the prank either way. Once I get an idea in my head, it’s very hard for me to let go of it.

The water feels incredible against my naked skin as I float on my back, staring up at the stars, waiting for Andrei to shout at me or finally show some kind of annoyance. I’ll be really disappointed if this prank doesn’t work, either.

How far do I have to go to get his attention? Does this man have an infinite amount of patience to use against me?

I scrunch my nose when I realize I’m not scared of him at all.

I’m scared of my own brother, and of his asshole henchman, Van—but I’m not scared of the guy who kidnapped me. I think that means there’s something wrong with me. Or maybe it’s a glaring truth about the place that I call home, one that I never wanted to admit.

Admit it or not, I know that the estate never felt like a home to me. My brother never felt like someone I could open up to or be safe around.

I feel more at ease in this mansion than I ever did on the estate. The staff is friendlier, and I’ve had the freedom to just be myself without worrying if my brother will get annoyed or tell me I’m in the way.

I always felt like I was in the way back home—like I should stay in my room because I wasn’t wanted anywhere else.

I haven’t felt that here. That’s pretty freaking weird.

Am I more welcome in the home of my kidnapper than in my brother’s house?

The pool light goes off, and I’m plunged into darkness. Only the small garden lights along the pathway are throwing a soft glow into the night around me. I tense, not sure what’s happening. My eyes adjust to the darker surroundings while they dart from one side of the pool to the other.

A splash and then movement in the pool gives me a fright, and I turn quickly towards the sound to see Andrei standing in the water, staring at me with his head tilted to the side.

Steam is rising off the surface around him, and he looks freaking gorgeous. His torso is chiseled perfection. The muscles ripple over his body as he slowly moves towards me.

My eyes drift over the tattoo that I’ve been dying to see.

It curls from his neck, over his shoulder, across his pec, and around the back of his ribs, out of sight.

The dark black ink shows a dragon, wrapped in fire or water—it’s hard to see the details, but it looks like everything is moving over his body as though it were part of him.

My heart is beating faster and faster as I watch him.

How can one man be so sexy?

His voice carries over the water.

“Why do you insist on continuing to drive me crazy with these stupid pranks, Tatiana?” he says.

“And now, you’re naked in my swimming pool, where any one of the guards might see you—don’t you care?

Do you want their eyes all over your body?

” He’s close now, the details of the dragon becoming clearer in the low light.

My body is tingling with excitement, my heart hammering against my ribs.

So, I have been getting to him with my pranks. I have been driving him crazy.

“It’s my body. I think I can make whatever choices I want for it,” I sass at him, determined not to let him know what effect his perfect body is having on me right now. I lift my chin and glare at him as he stares down at me with intense focus. I won’t look down, I’ll hold his stare.

He reaches out and touches my face, and it sends a bolt of electricity through me.

“No, actually, it’s not your body, Tatiana. It’s mine . You belong to me,” he growls darkly.

“ Excuse me . I do not belong to you. You don’t own me. You kidnapped me. That doesn’t give you any rights over me,” I snap.

“You are my wife , Tatiana. You signed the documents, and you agreed to the terms. You do belong to me. I am the one who controls you.” His words make me angry and send a dark thrill of excitement through me at the same time.

I shouldn’t want to belong to him, but right now I do.

This tall, mysterious man, standing over me in the dark water of his swimming pool.

“You don’t have any control over me,” I whisper.

My heart is racing because I doubt my own words.

The idea of teasing him with my naked body from a distance seemed like such a good idea at the time.

But now he’s right next to me, and I feel more exposed than I’ve ever felt in my life.

Self-consciously, I lift my arm over my breasts, even though I’m sure it’s too dark for him to see much of anything as long as I stay below the water.

I have to regain control of this situation.

“If I were really your wife, you would never be allowed to have a mistress, Andrei. Perhaps you should start looking at yourself before you try and tell me what I can and can’t do.”

He shakes his head, moving even closer, forcing me to drift back in the water to avoid touching him.

When he laughs, the deep sound vibrates through me and gives me goosebumps. Why, oh why does he have to be so gorgeous? It’s distracting me, making me lose focus.

“Maddie is an old friend of mine and has never been more than that. She helps me with the accounting. She is most certainly not my mistress,” he muses, his eyes piercing into mine. “Are you jealous?”

My back is right against the side of the pool, and I can’t move any further back. This doesn’t stop Andrei from coming even closer, so close that his chest presses against me and I’m forced to drop my hand away to hold onto the side of the pool to keep myself steady.

“I’m—I’m not—jealous—" I stammer.

But I realize that Andrei is as naked as I am, and I can barely speak.

His body pressed against mine leaves little room for imagination, and as soon as I feel him, every single cell inside me ignites with desire.

He brushes his hand over my side and the fire gets hotter.

I whimper, hoping like hell that he didn’t hear it, but the look in his eyes tells me he did.

He looks like he knows he’s in control.

Refusing to give in that easily, I turn my face up towards his and take a sharp, bold breath before I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him towards me.

My mouth crashes into his and he presses harder against me, my back pinned to the side of the pool and my skin alive with each touch. Our mouths move over each other.

I’m in control. I’m the one who kissed him.

Andrei’s hand drifts down the front of my body. It moves over my stomach, between my legs, pushing my thighs apart. His fingers brush over my clit as his lips move against mine. If I weren’t in the pool, I might collapse because my knees are so weak right now. Every inch of me is begging for more.

I should tell him to stop.

This is not what I planned when I thought up this prank.

But I can’t stop. I don’t want to.

He slides his finger inside me, dipping into my pussy, a sensation I’ve never felt before, and I moan, rocking my hips forward, inviting him to keep going.

Even though I’ve never been with a man before, I wouldn’t stop him from doing anything he wanted to me.

My judgment is clouded with lust.

My body is screaming for more.

My mind is racing, and my heart is beating so fast it sounds like a thousand wild horses running through my head.

Suddenly, Andrei steps back. My thoughts stammer in confusion.

What’s going on? Why did he stop?

Where his hand was a second ago, the water feels colder, and the absence of his body next to mine makes me feel ten times more exposed. I don’t understand.

Self-consciously, I reach up and cover my breasts again, confused and looking towards him for answers. Why did he stop?

“What’s wrong?” I stammer. Is it something I did? Did I make a mistake or do something wrong?

When I look up at him, my eyes wide with questions, the smirk on his face is an immediate answer. He’s playing with me.

I can’t believe it.

He was taunting me.

This asshole isn’t attracted to me. He was just making a fool out of me for fun.

My mouth drops open in horror. I want to scream at him, but no words come out.

He tilts his head to the side and laughs, a deep, low sound that rumbles in his chest. He’s so pleased with himself.

“I told you, cupcake, I am in control,” he muses, then turns his back on me and swims towards the steps on the other side of the pool.

Water splashes against the sides, and the surface of the water glitters, catching what little light it can.

My eyes are glued to him as he climbs out, completely naked for all the world to see. So, it’s fine for the guards to see him, but not me? That’s a double standard.

The dragon tattoo goes all the way around his back, over his ass. It’s fucking sexy, but I’m so angry, I don’t want to think about it.

My heart is racing, and my mind is spinning—he doesn’t even turn back to glance in my direction. Not once. He literally couldn’t care less about me.

He saunters off into the darkness and out of my sight.

Water splashes quietly around the edges of the pool, and it’s the only sound I hear. The rest of the night is silent, and it feels heavy as I stand in the pool alone.

I want to run after him and tell him what I think of his childish antics.

But I’m naked, and still in shock about what just happened.

I can’t believe how wrong I was when I read that situation, that I completely fell for his moves. My cheeks are burning with embarrassment, and the longer I think about it, the hotter they get.

It won’t happen again.

And I will make sure I get revenge on him for this.

He just started a war with me.

I’m not going to play nice anymore.

I’ll never let that man get the better of me again.