Page 23 of The Tsar’s Obsession (Bratva Sinners #1)

All Of You

Kirill

Mia shifted beside me, the morning light barely peeking through the heavy clouds outside.

Like an angel, I felt her lean in and plant the softest kiss on my forehead. Her gentle hands traced my eyebrows before sliding down my cheeks and then cutting all contact.

"Fuck." Her little whisper was filled with anxiety. I peeked my eyes open to see her sitting on the edge of the bed, staring out the window, her hair tangled and wild after everything that happened between us.

She was sure I was asleep, but in fact, it was me who woke her up, unable to keep my lips off her shoulders.

Laying still, I observed how she moved around my bedroom, her body carved by God himself, and found her dress. She easily slipped it on before searching for her shoes and purse. She never found her thong.

She was leaving. Without even saying goodbye.

I'd experienced so much pain in my life. I'd been stabbed, shot at, had my ribs broken with a bat. I'd been burned; I'd been hit with a car. Nothing felt as painful as watching her sneak out when she thought I was asleep.

Keeping my eyes almost closed and not daring to move, I stilled my breathing when she approached my side of the bed. She kissed me. Soft. Hesitant. A goodbye. Not wanting to leave. Not wanting to break this. But doing it anyway.

But before she could pull away, I snapped. My fingers closed around her wrist, yanking her back into my arms, into my fucking orbit, where she belonged.

"Don't go," I gritted out, pressing her into me, afraid she might vanish. She giggled. That pure and light sound gave my soul the peace I so craved. " Don't go. "

Our bodies, so hot against each other, fit perfectly like two missing pieces of a puzzle that completed the picture.

"I can't find my thong. You can have that as a trophy for winning this game," she breathed into my ear, not daring to look me in the eyes.

"I don’t want the trophy. I just want you. All of you, Mia."

She was slipping away, reluctantly untangling herself. "I can't. Just one night, remember? And the night is over. Don't call me." Her voice broken with her own message, she abandoned me in my bed and walked out. Out of my apartment, out of sight, out of reach.

Everyone has their demons. Mia had her own, but I would take them, submit them, and kill them so she could see the light. It was me and her; she couldn't fight it.

I respected her rule. I didn’t call all day. But by nightfall, all bets were off. I called—she didn’t pick up. I texted, but Mia never responded. I gave her a week while Yuri reported her whereabouts.

I was dying. Sick. Unable to focus on anything. There was nothing inside me, and nothing fucking mattered. Absentmindedly, I’d stare out the window of my office, replaying every second of our time together.

Was this what she actually wanted, to never see me again? Then she made a mistake, and I would help her fix it. Thankfully, I had someone on my side. Viv asked Mia out for drinks, but I would be there instead. A whole fucking week after she left my apartment.

There she was, stepping into the bar in a little black dress with polka dots, casual and so fucking mesmerizing I almost drooled. She was under the impression that she would meet Viv, but her eyes widened when she caught me approaching her little table and taking a seat in front of her.

Fuck. I should have just been honest from the beginning. I should have told her who I was and why I was in her life. But I was too scared she wouldn't have given this a chance.

"Hello," I opened the conversation, but she merely nodded. "I don’t like being ignored, Mia. Especially by you.”

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to ignore you, but I also didn't want to..." She trailed off, not having any real reason. Keeping my eyes on her, I nodded while she shifted uncomfortably in her chair.

"Now. Tell me why you're doing this. Don't lie. Don't make up excuses. Just tell me.” I leaned in, finally getting a dose of her sweet scent.

Mia waited, something akin to anger blazing in her eyes. "Why don't you tell me who you really are first? Have we met before?"

She threw the question out and surprised me immensely. But we were here now. In a way, she was correct—I had no right to demand answers when there were things I was keeping from her. Slowly, I nodded.

"Yes."

Her plump and delicious lips parted, shocked that her suspicions were being proved correct. "Wha– when? Where?"

Fuck. In my little game, I somehow lost my way.

"You've remembered, haven't you?" For some reason I didn't want to tell her. I didn't want to pronounce the words and admit that I'd been keeping an eye on her for close to a decade. That I changed my whole self to come here. That I became who I was so I could have the chance to see her again.

"You're that man. From that club. With the beautiful eyes. That man I kissed...all those years ago.” The bar buzzed with Saturday night jovial laughter, and her words were barely above a whisper, but I heard every word.

I had to get closer—to smell her, to feast my eyes on her, to touch her. I grabbed my chair and moved to sit right in front of her, her shoulders shaking as she looked on at me in na?ve disbelief.

"Smart girl," I confirmed quietly, her naked knees trapped between mine. This was intoxicating. After the night we'd lived through and how abruptly she disappeared out of my life, this felt like a resurrection.

Being so close to her again, getting a mere trace of the smell of her skin, and looking into her eyes, I knew that no matter what kind of excuse she would produce, I'd make her see the only truth: we would be together.

"Why...why did you get in touch with me? Why did you barge into my life like that?”

My hands on her thighs, I leaned in just enough to pass the message along.

"Because...I want you. I've wanted you from the moment I saw you, Mia, all those years ago.

" I took a small pause to enjoy her stunned expression.

"I've waited a long time to see you, Sunshine.

Many years. I've escaped prison to get to you.

I've killed and robbed, cheated and lied, just to get my hands on you.

And now. Now I have everything I've ever wanted in life. But I still don't have you."

There, I finally fucking laid it out into the open, not feeling lighter in the slightest. Mia’s cheeks flushed red, her bottom lip between her teeth as she considered my words, blinking through the shock.

Her lips were so close to mine, I felt the heat she radiated. Dazed, her eyes lost in mine, she searched for any hint of a lie or a prank, but there was none. This was the most important and serious thing I’d ever been involved in, in my life.

“Kirill…” Every time my name left her lips, my whole body zi nged with oxytocin, demanding another dose immediately. “I– I don’t know what to say…what to think…what to feel.” She confessed a small part of what was on her soul.

I was alive. Beside her, I wasn’t a zombie, not just a mere corpse moving through the motions in the world of the dead. Life had color and taste, smell and sound, both loud and subtle. My lips on her soft and delicious cheek, I closed my eyes and breathed her in again.

"How did you find me?" God, she sounded so innocent, not truly understanding who was sitting in front of her and what I was capable of. "You didn't know anything about me, just my– just my name.” She pulled away, virtue and a plea for the truth mirrored in her eyes. I contemplated what to tell her.

"I can do lots of things, Mia. I knew who you were the day after I saw you. And I kept my eye on you...all this time."

Her eyes wide, her whisper pleading, she couldn’t believe it. "W– what?"

A sudden swoosh of air sounded beside us and ripped through our private little moment. And then, a wave of beer flew between us and hit right into her chest, spraying me and everything else in the process.

Mia gasped in surprise while some wasted punk began his apologies. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry, are you okay?" He quickly leaned in between us and reached for her breast, but before he made contact, his neck was already in my hand, dragging him away.

" Don't fucking touch her!" The words spilled out of me, his scared little eyes apologizing for the mishap.

"Just trying to help, man!” A few of his buddies came to the rescue, but I had no intention of engaging and turned back to Mia—only to see an empty chair.

Fuck.