Page 32 of Hateful Vows

TWENTY-FIVE

IRINA

I f I thought brooding looked horrendous on Aleksei, it has nothing on Dante.

The betrayal of his father’s staff still rings hollow in his chest. My husband’s too used to love and I, maybe, too used to hate.

He grieves what could have been, what should have been, beating himself up for not seeing what was right in front of him.

For punishing the man with the ultimate price and leaving a widow and a daughter behind.

It has him questioning his capacity to lead, like his father’s murder is on him instead of the person who commissioned it. Especially since we are nowhere closer to finding out who threatened the cook’s daughter to get to Dante’s father. And succeeded.

It’s hard to watch.

We’ve only been married a few months but I have never admired anyone more. I’d never tell him, his ego is inflated enough. The person he’s spending his grief on doesn’t deserve it. And I refuse to let him wallow in misery any longer.

He’s doing his best by his men, by his father’s legacy and I’ll beat it into his thick skull if I have to.

I find him in his office in our penthouse, grey clouds above his head giving his shoulders a rounded edge when he usually stands tall and proud.

The elevator bell chimes in the distance, and though he’s more silent than a predator stalking his prey, I feel Aleksei’s presence before he even enters the room.

And when he does, my breath catches. His perfectly tailored charcoal grey suit is as perfectly pressed as ever, but the first button of his shirt is open to fully reveal the spider tattoo that has haunted my nights.

It’s uncharacteristic. And utterly mesmerising.

“What’s he doing here?”

Dante sighs. “I thought we were past this, Irina. Aleksei has a problem, we’re here to fix it, as per our contract.”

Both the use of my name and the reminder of our contract have my temper rising, the need to fight an instinct that’s hard to shake. “And I thought we were past pretending we are a contract, kozyol .”

“Is that why you’re here on a Tuesday afternoon instead of the shooting range you go to every day like clockwork? Is my wife here to cheer me up?”

“What good of a wife am I if I don’t?” I say, throwing the words I said to him the first time he took me in his office, back at the mansion.

The tentative uptick of his lips settles me. His gaze turns predatory, and though it wasn’t my intention, the direction of this conversation is much better than I anticipated. I’m no good at this emotional talking thing people do. Pain, fighting, even sex, that I can do.

A throat clears next to us and Dante turns his attention to Aleksei.

“But first, business, vipera . You have a lead, Lyosha ?”

“Not exactly. More of a hunch. Every man in the London bratva has challenged my authority since I killed my father. Some with verbal jabs, some with their fists. I’ve crushed any sign of dissent.

But Popov—” Aleksei shakes his head, thumbing the corner of his mouth where his scar beckons my eyes.

I barely remember the man he’s talking about, someone from the old generation blending in the shadows, never standing out.

“He’s too eager. He’s been helping me weed out the weak and the rats, shared some of his resources for expansion. ”

“You think he’s only pretending?” I ask.

“Yes. I want a full check and a tail on him.”

“Consider it done,” Dante says but his darkened green eyes aren’t speaking of business anymore. He slouches in his chair, the warm brown loose tee-shirt he wears over his elegant black trousers a deep contrast to Aleksei’s severe attire.

The silence is loud and full of dirty promises.

My skin prickles with goosebumps when Dante licks his lips, leisurely appraising me with a desire I’ve missed in the past few days.

He’s made an addict of me. I can’t get enough of his eyes roving my body like I belong to him and he can’t wait for a bite.

“Why don’t you stay, Lyosha ? See how much of a whore my wife can be when she wants to please me?”

Aleksei’s spine snaps up. He studies us with sharp focus, then walks the short distance to the sofa in the corner of the office by the window, lazily draping himself on it like a king on his throne.

His arms spread across the back of it, giving the illusion of devil’s wings. I want nothing more than to sin.

“Show me how good you can be, solnychko .”

The gravel of his voice has the fine hair at my nape rising and I have to press my thighs together to stave off some of the arousal. It does nothing but make me painfully obvious to the two men determined to unravel me.

“Kneel, vipera ,” Dante commands and I obey without thought. “Crawl to him.”

The delicate linen of my pencil skirt is restrictive as I get on hands and knees and crawl towards the man that has my heart skipping a beat.

His heterochromatic eyes are laser focused on my face and I almost pant with the force of his heady attention.

It isn’t the first or even second time we’re together like this but I still feel weak, like my body’s floating on a cloud.

Aleksei parts his thighs when I reach him and I position myself in between, exploring with eager hands. They travel his muscled thighs, the plane of his chest and my impatience grows. I want him naked. I want him naked and mine.

My movements are frantic as I remove the buttons of his shirt.

I kiss the scars on his pecs, lick a path down his stomach, under the navel, until I’m pawing at his belt, trousers and boxer briefs.

Everything falls around us. Then, Aleksei’s glorious body’s all mine to devour, under the watchful gaze of my devious husband.

“Perfect,” Dante whispers.

Still on my knees, I take my time. Worship can’t be rushed. I caress and kiss, and nip.

Aleksei’s holding himself still, poised like he, too, needs permission before fulfilling his darkest fantasies. I won’t have restraint. I want my violent, unhinged step-brother to enter the ring and ruin me for all others. Save Dante.

His cock throbs against his stomach, hard and ready for my tongue. Locking eyes with him, I lick a path up the underside of his shaft, owning curses and curled fists. Then, I rake my nails on his thighs as I take him deep into my mouth.

His pre-cum hits my tongue like a shot of luxurious alcohol, bolstering me to take more.

“Fuck. You’re doing so good, malyshka .”

The praise has me moaning around his girth.

“Don’t tell her that,” Dante counters. “She’s barely fitting it all into her slutty throat.” Then his scent envelops me, a Pavlovian reflex making my body supple and fully his to command. His voice slithers along the delicate skin under my right ear. “Take. More.”

Pin pricks in my hair are the only warning I get.

Dante fists my hair and pushes me onto Aleksei’s cock until I choke.

Aleksei’s grunts of pleasure reach my ears, emboldening me to swallow around him and get more of them.

He doesn’t disappoint and I’d smile if I could.

But I’m full of him and can’t get enough, his thighs muscles flexing under my fingers where I brace as he starts to take from my mouth.

Tears escape at the corners of my eyes and Aleksei uses his thumb to swipe one away, licking his finger as though he could taste my discomfort in the single, salty drop.

When he brings his hand back to my face, his caress is reverent and his eyes are glossy with something more than carnal lust behind his lowered lashes.

“You look so good like this, malyshka .”

I don’t know if it’s the new nickname, reverent compared to the mocking one he usually uses for me, or if he’s only talking about sex anymore, but I can’t focus. Dante’s fingers glide against my swollen clit from behind, above the delicate—and barely there—fabric of my underwear.

He chuckles darkly. My body recognises the sound.

“Such an eager little thing, vipera . So sweet when you want something from me, and so wet with your mouth full of your brother’s cock.”

The words aren’t true but their forbidden quality heightens my arousal. I push my pelvis against the digit harder while trying to make Aleksei come in my mouth. As always, Dante gives me exactly what I want, never one to deny me.

And I guess I can’t beg with my mouth full.

The fabric of my underwear snaps against my legs, the pain sharp and the sound loud when all the noises around us are Aleksei’s laboured breaths and lewd sucking.

I close my eyes and frown against the pain, and Aleksei soothes me with tender hands.

My heart soars at the gesture, our eyes colliding in a clash of unsaid admissions and unshed masks.

His attention diverts to behind my shoulder just before Dante’s cock enters me, agonisingly slow.

He gives me just the tip, just enough to crave him, and not to assuage my need.

My pussy clamps around what I’ve been given but it’s not enough, and he knows it.

I hear the smile on his face when he taunts me.

“You have to be good to be rewarded, cuore mio .”

With tremendous effort, I stop chasing his cock, holding still for him to take what he wants from me—and give me what I crave in return. The illusion of helplessness sends flutters into my belly, but his next words allow me to let go. “Remember to tap his leg if it becomes too much.”

I go slack in between the men I love. The realisation comes crashing down on me.

My heart’s too full, my chest too small to contain it all.

I’m untethered, thrown in the dark, but Aleksei’s continuous praise and delicate caresses in my cheeks, combined with Dante’s vicious thrusts into me send me straight into my peak.

I let go of Aleksei’s cock and cry out my release, too overcome to control the fresh tears marring my face.