Page 19 of The Bratva’s Innocent Sold Bride (Fokin Bratva #9)

I was in a foul mood when I returned home the day after our blowup.

It seemed that Anatoli had somehow found the location of my new storage facility.

This morning, I woke up to an urgent call from the guards who were relieving the night watch.

Two men dead, and the place was cleaned out.

After scouring the place, there were no clues to lead me to the source, but it had to be Anatoli’s people, if not the elusive man himself.

All I had was an outdated picture of his brother, which was seared into my brain at that point, as well as all my people.

Anyone who remotely resembled that man was to be on our radar, but so far, we’d come up empty on that front as well.

If we could have found his brother and dragged him in for questioning, either here or in Russia, we would have.

It was as if the entire organization was comprised of invisible wraiths.

I shrugged out of my coat in the hall, trying to toss off such fanciful notions. Anatoli was just a man, and I’d catch him eventually. Then he’d pay.

Artem bounded in from the kitchen to greet me with a stuffed toy in his mouth. “Who’s a good boy?” I asked, laughing, when he looked at me with rapt curiosity, as if I’d share the answer if he listened hard enough.

Playing with him for a few minutes took the edge off my intense anger, but when I put him out into the cordoned-off area in the back that CJ had set up so he wouldn’t get lost on the vast property, I was still tense and on edge.

It was a couple of hours before dinner. I could have still been out, fruitlessly scouring the city, or at my restaurant, or at the club I was in the final stages of acquiring, but my mood was so dark I didn’t want to risk taking someone’s head off when they didn’t deserve it.

It was better to be alone for a while. All I needed was a long, hot shower to wash away some of the tension gripping my neck and shoulders.

Finding CJ scrubbing the big walk-in shower didn’t do a thing to alleviate it or the bad mood.

She wasn’t wearing the sexy French maid outfit at least, but her snug white tank top was damp, and her soft cotton shorts clung to her perfect ass as she reached to wipe the top of the tile walls with her sponge.

She hummed tunelessly under her breath, pausing to wipe some stray hairs that had escaped her ponytail.

She was gorgeous. Everything I ever wanted. Even as the sight of her had me gripping my hands into fists to keep from grabbing her and yanking her to me, I was furious that she was still putting on her false good wife act.

“Still cleaning?” I asked, the ice in my voice betraying the heat coursing through my veins.

She jerked around, surprised to see me home so early.

So, maybe she wasn’t putting on an act after all.

“Well, let’s see,” she said. “I walked the dog. I answered a few text messages. I walked the dog again. Sent a few text messages. Then, even Artem didn’t want to go for another walk, so I started cleaning. ”

She planted her hands on her hips, soapy water from her cleaning sponge dripping down her smooth leg. She was as ready to fight as I was.

“Why don’t you have lunch with some of your friends?”

“They’re all working, that’s why,” she instantly snapped.

“Weren’t you on some committee at one of your family’s charities?”

Her eyes narrowed. “They were happy to be rid of me.”

“I fail to see why,” I said.

She didn’t miss the sarcasm, her eyes flaring. “Why am I allowed to work at the charity but not get a job?”

I winced at the emphasis. “Contrary to what you believe, I’m not trying to control you. You’d be able to have your security with you at the charity.”

“Sounds like control to me. I’m even under armed guard wherever I go.”

“You know what I do.” My voice was beginning to rise, but she showed no fear, not a single trace of it. She wasn’t afraid of me at all, and I loved it. I wanted to see her truly fierce. “You know how dangerous it is.”

“No, actually, I don’t. What you’ve shown me doesn’t seem so bad. You want to keep me caged here, plain and simple.”

She thought she was done with the conversation and tried to push past me to get out of the shower, but I reached in and turned the cold water on full blast. It rained down on her, drenching her to the skin.

“There’s nothing simple about it,” I said, blocking her exit.

Yelping, she started to curse me, splashing at the onslaught as she called me every name she could think of.

Finally realizing she wasn’t getting out until she calmed down, she reached for my shirt, yanking me toward her.

I let her drag me under the icy water, gripping her waist as she stumbled backwards.

“So now we’re both wet,” I growled.

Shivering, she looked up at me, blinking water out of her eyes. Out of nowhere, she laughed. “I guess we are.”

The sound of her laughter was infectious, and my shitty day receded into the background, fading like it never existed.

Joining in, I reached behind me and lowered the cold, cranking up the hot.

Her top was completely transparent, her dark nipples taut against the fabric.

Smoothing away the goosebumps on her arms, she still shivered, but her darkened eyes told me it was no longer from the cold.

She pummeled her fists against my chest, then gripped my shoulders, trying to shake me. “You make me crazy,” she wailed. “I just want to—”

Whatever she wanted to do, I wanted to kiss her more. The sight of her, the feel of her flesh under my fingertips, and that fire in her eyes made it impossible to do anything else.

Pulling herself close to me, she wrapped her arms around my neck, opening her mouth to my tongue. I delved inside, tasting sweet mint. Pulling away, I looked down at her glazed eyes, the lashes dotted with water droplets.

“You never got to tell me what you want to do,” I said, my hands moving down her thighs to the edges of her shorts.

“It’s something else now,” she murmured, running her fingers up into my hair and pulling my head back down to kiss her some more.

The weeks of wanting her had me wild, but I kissed her slowly, dragging my lips down her neck, behind her ear, feeling every change in her body as I explored.

She sighed and pulled closer as I slid my tongue along the delicate edge of her earlobe, gripped my hair like she’d pull it out when I returned to her mouth, and gently nudged my way between her lips.

I was the one going crazy, barely able to hold back when all I wanted was to have her up against the wall, her legs wrapped around me. Pulling the fabric of her shorts tight against her pert little ass, I dipped my fingers between her thighs.

With a shudder, she stood on her toes, grinding her body against my stiff shaft. Back down, then up again. The teasing motion had me groaning, pushing her panties aside so I could dip my fingers into her wet heat.

The feel of her juicy pussy, so ready for me after only a few kisses, had me pushing her against the tile wall, away from the waterfall. Her leg slid up around my hip.

“Mat,” she gasped, breaking away from our kiss.

Her eyes were half closed as she licked her lips, trying to focus.

Soap-scented steam rose around us, locking us into our own little world.

One, I would have been happy never to leave.

I tugged on her hair, pulling the elastic that held it in place.

It tumbled in long, wet strands around her shoulders, and I slid it away to kiss her near the strap of her top.

It needed to be off. I had to see her, every inch. With her body locked against mine, she arched her back, seeking the feel of my cock, bulging against the front of my pants. I pushed hard against her, lifting her so I could taste more of her.

“Mat,” she repeated, her voice a bit louder. She shook her head, sending water drops flying.

“What is it, my gorgeous wife?” I said. I was on the verge of speaking the dangerous promise to give her whatever she wanted.

Holding tight to my shoulders, she pushed me back an inch, moaning as I moved my hand from her backside and slid it to her waist.

“I’m a—I’ve never done this before,” she whispered.

My sweet angel couldn’t even say the word. Her cheeks had been pink from our kisses and the steamy water, but now they were blazing red as twin tomatoes.

“You’re a virgin?” I asked, loosening my grip. The world seemed to tilt upside down.

With a frustrated noise, she dug her nails into my shoulders. “I’m sorry. Does it matter so much?”

I lifted her up off her feet, growling. “Of course it matters. I’m not taking you backed up against a shower wall for your first time.”

Feverishly running her hands up the sides of my face to tangle in my hair, she said, “Why not? Please don’t stop again.”

I closed my eyes at the sound of the words. Had I been in a bad mood when I got home? Was I ever in a bad mood in my life? I couldn’t remember, because hearing my wife finally, finally beg me for more was everything I ever needed.

I kissed her worries away, carrying her to my bed.

Before I laid her down, I settled her feet on the floor, easing the straps of her soaked tank top off her shoulders and down her body, sliding her shorts and panties with them.

Before she could shiver or feel embarrassed, I pulled her against me, warming her with my hands.

With her arms locked around my neck, I lowered her onto the bed until I was on top of her lush body, her legs wrapping around my hips.

Rising up, I looked down at her, hair dark against the tan spread. “Hurry,” she said, reaching for me, gripping me with her legs.

“There will be no hurrying.”

As I kissed my way down to tease her nipples with my tongue, any complaints died in her throat, turning into a soft moan that had me harder than steel. When each rosy nipple was a tight bud, I moved lower, kissing down her smooth belly to the crux of her thighs.

“No one’s ever tasted your sweet little pussy?” I asked, spreading her legs wide around my shoulders.

Her head jerked up. “No. Of course not. I told you…”

“Good,” I said. I would be the first and only to press my mouth against her slick heat, delve my tongue inside her, tease her clit until she was shaking and grabbing at my hair.

Her hips rose at the first swipe of my tongue, and she cried out when I found her swollen clit, lapping relentlessly until she clamped her thighs around my head.

She made some nonsense sounds, pushing her pussy against my face until I held tight to her hips.

In another moment, she came, screaming like a feral animal, her hands just as wild as she grabbed for my shoulders to push and pull for more.

Easing my fingers into her tight hole, I groaned, finally rising up to jerk open my suit pants. My cock burst free as soon as I had them down around my hips. CJ raised herself on her elbows, half dazed as she reached for me.

As her fingers curled around my length, she gave me a look that was half-amazed and half-wary.

“You’re going to like it very much,” I promised. “Unless you want to stop?”

There was no way that could happen. I only wanted to hear her say she wanted me as much as I wanted her.

She tightened her grasp, shaking her head. “Don’t stop. Don’t you dare.”

“I like it when you threaten me, little girl,” I growled next to her ear, kissing the tender lobe.

She went still for a moment. “Are you sure you don’t care?”

How could I care? My woman was mine alone. After I was through with her, she’d never choose another man. “You’re mine,” I told her fiercely. “I’ve been craving you for weeks. From the moment you opened that door, you were going to be here, about to take every inch of my cock.”

Her eyes fluttered shut, and she pulled me closer with her legs so that my shaft rubbed against her slippery mound, teasing her swollen clit all over again.

“Please hurry,” she breathed against my neck. “Please, Mat. I want—”

“Tell me,” I said urgently, about to shoot all over her belly.

“I want you inside me. Please. Now.”

It was a command I couldn’t have denied.

With my hand on her thigh, the other planted beside her beautiful, glowing face, I rammed into her little virgin pussy.

With a squeak, she bit my shoulder, then we were moving as one.

In and out, slow and hard, until her back arched and she cried out, begging me to give her more.

I slammed into her so deep we both gasped, unable to catch our breath in the frenzy of claiming each other.

My roar was lost in her shout of pleasure as I shot my seed inside her, her pulsing cunt draining me dry.

I kissed her hard as she clenched her hands in my hair, holding me tight to her until we were both lying in a heap.

Her arms lay around my neck, her legs rested loosely against the back of my thighs. Our hearts slammed against our ribcages as we struggled to find breath. I turned my head to kiss her, finding the side of her jaw. Then I let my head fall to the pillows and rolled off of her.

“Nooo,” she whined, dragging herself so she was half on top of me. “Don’t go.”

“There’s not a damn thing that could get me to go anywhere. The house could burn down around us, and I’d still be holding on.”

She giggled, her eyes widening. “What just happened?”

“Did you forget already?” I reached between her sticky thighs. “It’s the same thing we’re going to do again in a few minutes.”

“A few minutes! That’s too long.” She burst out laughing at her own joke, and once again, all I could do was join in.

“I like your laugh,” I told her, trailing a finger across her cheek. “You’re beautiful always, but your smile takes my breath away.”

She blushed at the compliment. “I suppose a million women have told you how good-looking you are.”

“A million? How old do you think I am?” It delighted me that she was fishing for information about my past, but none of it mattered. There was only CJ now and forever. “Listen, my little genius, my computer is acting up again. Do you think you can fix it tomorrow?”

More of that musical laughter. “Was all this just so I’d do you a favor?”

“If you don’t want to, you don’t have to.”

“I do want to,” she said eagerly. “I’ll do a whole diagnostic on it so it doesn’t break down again.” She continued to ramble about what the problem might be and how she’d remedy it, her face shining.

She wanted something to do, that was all, and for the moment, a job was too dangerous. So I’d let her fix my computer, which wasn’t actually broken, but I’d smash it myself just to keep that smile on her face.