Page 118 of Thorns of Death

I kissed her with the same rhythm of my thrusts, sucking on her tongue.

“Oh… Oh… God…” She panted, holding on to me, her channel strangling my cock as she fell apart, crying out for me.

Her soft moans and clenching pussy had me orgasming soon after. Hard. She drew out my pleasure, milking my cock. I buried my head into her hair, my groans reverberating as spurts of my cum dripped all over her warm, welcoming pussy.

She held on to me as my thrusts turned shallow. “I love you.”

Her words sent a jolt through me. It was like a dream come true. “For you, Isla, I’d start a thousand wars.” I kissed her lips greedily. “And negotiate a million peace treaties. Just to hear those words again.”

She nibbled on my lip. “You can have them for free. The words and my love.” Her grip tightened around my neck and she sought out my eyes. “But if you fuck with another woman, I’ll cut your dick off and shove it up your ass.”

I chuckled. “It’s a deal, then. I love you,dolcezza.Always and forever.And by God, by the end of this year, we’ll be trying for a baby.”

She grinned. “I’ll remove my implant the moment she’s out of our lives.”

Now all I had to do was finish Donatella for good.

FORTY-ONE

ISLA

Beep. Beep. Beep.

The next day I was back in Tatiana’s hospital room, listening to the sound of her heart rate monitor. It was strange how soothing it was because it meant she was alive and breathing. And all the while my husband waited for me outside.

My brother hadn’t moved from his spot, and even when the doctor came to check on her, he refused to stray too far. It was like he needed his strength and only Tatiana could give it to him.

The doctor had repeated the words “thebabies are healthy and safe” numerous times, but I worried that if Tatiana didn’t pull through, my brother wouldn’t either. I’d take care of my nieces and nephews—I suspected the Nikolaev family would too—but it’d turn into another vicious cycle. Two more children growing up without parents simply wouldn’t do.

“I can’t believe she’s having twins,” Sasha blurted out of nowhere, his big frame looking comically large in the single chair in the corner.

Dr. Sergei—the man on my brother’s payroll—performed another sonogram, mainly to assure the four men in the room. The Nikolaev brothers refused to leave until their baby sister was awake, and something about their tight-knit family reminded me of my own relationship with my brothers. Well, with Illias, since Maxim was dead.

“Not that shocking,” I muttered, my soul aching for Maxim. “After all, my brothers were twins. Unless you’ve forgotten.”

“We didn’t forget,” Sasha growled. “He tried to kill my wife.”

My brother’s battered face flashed in my mind and the bullet in his skull shot rage through me.

“He needed help,” I snapped at him. “Not a bullet in his skull.” If Maxim had threatened Sasha’s wife, I suspected it was the Nikolaev family who ended him. They weren’t the kind to take any threat lightly. “Which one of you did it?” How could Illias put up with these men being here? More importantly, why would he be okay with it? Family was everything to my brother. Yet, he wasn’t avenging Maxim. “Maybe you’d like a bullet in your little brain?” I challenged.

Okay, that was not the best way to talk to your brother-in-law, but I couldn’t help it. Sasha, the unhinged brother, glared at me, his expression darkening. Well, fuck him. I could hold my own and he didn’t scare me. I thought I heard Vasili hiss something under his breath at Sasha, but my ears buzzed loudly with adrenaline.

It was Dr. Sergei who broke the tension.

“Twins are usually from the mother’s side. But as you can see, it’s possible to have surprises.”

“Maybe we’ll get to beat those Morrellis who breed like rabbits after all,” Sasha remarked. I had no idea what he meant and I didn’t ask. I honestly didn’t care.

“Don’t you have a wife to go back to?” Illias snapped at Sasha. “You know, the one you kidnapped.”

“She’s at the hotel. I’m not leaving until Tatiana wakes up.”

My brother’s shoulders slumped. Maybe he was relieved, or maybe he’d just given up. Either way, silence followed, and with eachbeepof the machine, my own worry grew. With increased connection to the underworld, I worried that the dead body we chopped up years ago would come back to haunt us.

Agitation itched underneath my skin at feeling so inadequate. Obviously, the men in this room had committed crimes. But they knew what they were doing. My girlfriends and I didn’t. Google wasn’t a good guide when it came to covering up a murder. Reina insisted if it came up, she’d be the one to take the blame, but that didn’t sit well with me either. She had suffered enough.

The beeping sound went off and everyone’s heads snapped in the doctor's direction.