I close my eyes for the briefest moment as a hum of pleasure escapes me.
So. Fucking. Affected.
By me. By my touch.
We’ll hash out our attraction soon enough, but first… the rabid little shit needs to be reminded exactly who is in charge here.
She’s the one who led us to her. If she wants to remain in control, she should have stayed lost to us. If my putting her in her place delivers pain, so be it. She’s lucky I don’t inflict more.
Oh, and I will… just not here. Not before prying eyes.
The hurt I’ll deliver won’t be a fraction of the agony I’ve been through searching for her.
“Be very, very careful, little girl,” I say, watching goosebumps bloom as my breath caresses her silky skin. “You’re not the only one who’s changed since we saw each other last. Push me hard enough and you may just find out the man who indulged you no longer exists.”
Her fingers curl into my shirt, the only thing keeping her nails from scoring my flesh. “I’m not my mother.”
I discreetly trail my nose along her hairline from temple to the shell of her ear. Her breasts heave with her rapid breaths, the round swells splattered crimson and straining against the edge of her bodice.
Blood rushe below my belt and I swell impossibly hard, the evidence of my want concealed between us. I discreetly press my length even harder against her stomach.
“No, Pcholka… you’re not. Not even close,” I say, knowing she’ll misunderstand my words, assuming I find her lacking when compared to her mother. The woman I thought I had loved, but it turns out, was nothing more than an object between two prideful, competing men.
Her breath catches. When it breaks free, she snarls with hatred. But it is the shaky exhale, the way she bites down on her lip as she pierces me with lust-filled eyes that give her away.
The encore? The feel of her body discreetly thrusting against my hard cock.
She can pretend she hates me, but her primal reactions to my proximity expose her for a liar. My goddaughter’s body craves me inside her.
If it comes down to a battle of wills between her head and her base animal instincts, those animal instincts will win every single time.
With every thrust, she’ll question if I’m fucking her or fucking the idea of her mother. And still, she’ll spur me on. She won’t be able to help herself.
Scenting the blood coating her, the urge to drag my tongue through the deep valley of her breasts swiftly follows. I yearn to savor the reckoning she so beautifully delivered, now a masterpiece painting her skin.
“You are so much more than your mother,” I say quietly, the words only for us. “You’re magnificent.” Releasing her from my painful grip, I tip her chin up just a bit more with my thumb. “Now, we go.”
She pulls her chin out of my grip with a firm shake of her head. “Not until we make arrangements for them.”
“Pcholka…
“No!” She yanks free of my grip and glares up at me. “Elijah owned this property… with him dead, these people will lose their home. For some of them, the only home they’ve ever known. If you want me, you have to protect them.”
I snake my hand out in a flash and wrap it around her wrist. With a quick yank, I spin and tug her back against me. Her back to my front. “You can march that sweet ass of yours out there, or I’ll haul you out in the least dignified way I can think up,” I promise, grinding my cock shamelessly against her with every word. “Either way, you are coming with me.”
Craning her neck to the side, she glares up at me and makes sure she looks me dead in the eye. My fierce little goddaughter will not hide, not from anyone. “You’re not the boss of me. You’re just my ride out of here.”
Tightening my hold, only our thundering hearts between us, I drop my voice low with warning, my lip grazing her ear, making her shudder in my arms. “Your ride? Just your ride, huh? You just wait, little girl. I’ll show you exactly what kind of ride I am. Now move it!”
A sexy little whimper breaks free. She tries to smother it with a frustrated growl. “Not without a promise from Nikolaj that he will make sure this land goes to them. Call him,” she snaps.
I maintain my hold on her, though I know if she attempts to break free and run, she’ll never make it past my men who have every exit protected.
Her pulse in her wrist hammers under my fingertips. Her golden eyes blaze with pure belligerence. I hope they’ll do the same when she stares up at me from her knees, with my cock choking the air out of her as I fuck her throat raw.
Because I will definitely fuck that throat raw, her tears and spit mingling before rolling down her chin under her jaw.
She’ll love every single minute of how I plan to filthy her up.