Page 50 of Reign of Four

“Mikhail, let me go.”

He loosens his grip a little, allowing me to turn around and face him. The tub is wide enough that straddling him is easy, and I loop my arms around his neck as I settle into place. He’s still rock hard, and it takes strategic maneuvering not to sink down onto him.

He won’t look at me. But I still catch the stubborn clench of his jaw and the wounded glint in his eye.

I cup his jaw and turn his head towards me. I never would have taken Mikhail for the needy type, but he might be the neediest of my husbands. Ezra’s calm and steady. Andrei’s confident and clear. But Mikhail—he’s turbulent. Arrogant.

And he might not like sharing as much as he lets on.

I run the pad of my thumb across his jawline. “Did you know that the first time Ezra and I met, he didn’t say a word to me? At first, I thought he didn’t like me.” I think back to the hot summer day we met. He’d just been assigned to me, and his first duty as bodyguard was to keep me safe as the women of the family went dress shopping. It was supposed to be an uneventful afternoon.

“But he followed me around all day, as my father ordered. We were walking all around the city that day, from boutique to boutique, for hours. It was miserable. My feet were killing me. I stopped watching where I was walking, and I misstepped off the sidewalk and nearly tumbled into the street. But Ezra was watching. He grabbed me right before a taxi sped by. Pulled me back onto the sidewalk before my foot had even touched the ground.”

Mikhail’s frown deepens, but there’s a point I’m trying to make.

“Ezra’s always been observant. He can tell when I’m at the edge of something—like danger, or a really fantastic orgasm.” I press the tip of my thumb against Mikhail’s bottom lip. “He’s cautious. He wants to keep me safe before I go past my limits. But you, Mikhail, are meant to push those limits.” I press my thumb between his lips, past his teeth, and he nips the tip. “I need to expand my safe zone and learn what I’m capable of—what my body is capable of. I need you, Mikhail. But I don’t need you to be safe. I already have a safe man.”

He sucks my thumb into his mouth and licks the flat edge, curiosity sparkling in his eyes like flecks of gold. A shiver rolls down my spine, settling between my thighs. His cock twitches, stirring my desire, and I lift my hips to align him to my entrance. Our eyes meet, and I lower myself over the head of his cock. “I need you to be wild, Mikhail. I need you to teach me my limits and help me surpass them.” I pull my finger from his mouth to steady myself on his shoulders, getting ready for the drop.

A mischievous smile curves across his lips. “Lesson number one, baby. Sit on my cock.”

I lower myself over him slowly, biting my lip as he sinks deeper. But then he flashes that smile, and all of a sudden his hands are on my hips and he slams me down, splashing water all around us. I cry out as pleasure zings through me, but Mikhail’s already moving, bouncing me on his cock with renewed rigor. He thrusts up to meet me each time I slam back down, punishing me with a promise to deliver exactly what his queen asked for: something wild.

I love every gasped breath, every smack of our hips, every splash of water and powerful beat of my heart. The way he grabs my ass hard, digging into my flesh to make it hurt, to make me feel even more. All of my senses roar at once, overwhelming me.

This is when Ezra would pull me back. My body screams as alarms go off in my head, telling me that this is too much, this is crazy, I shouldn’t allow him to handle me like this.

But this wild side is still Mikhail. My husband. My lover. I trust him just as much as I trust Andrei and Ezra, and it’s time I show him that.

He tosses his head back but keeps his eyes open, watching me. “Say it again,” he hisses, slamming me down. “Tell me you need me.”

“I need you!” I wrap my fingers in his hair and tug hard. “I fucking need you, Mikhail. Yes! Oh, yes.” I lean forward, giving Mikhail complete control and holding on for my life.

My pussy’s bruised. My ass is on fire. My knees hurt like a fucking bitch.

But holyfuckingshit I’m about to come?—

I scream as my walls clench around him, just how he likes, and my body gives in to the pleasure-pain of being thoroughly fucked. “I need you,” I whine loudly, “I need you so fucking bad, Mikhail, please?—”

He grabs my face and crashes our lips together, slamming his cock inside me just in time for his release. He groans into my mouth, pushing his tongue inside as his cock pulses inside my pussy, filling me with his seed.

“I need you, malyshka,” he murmurs, stroking my cheek. “I need you so fucking bad, it hurts.”

I hold him close. I don’t know that he’s ever been loved before—not like this. Not for who he is, crazy parts and all. “I need you too, Mikhail, so much. I love you.”

He exhales slowly, wrapping his arms around my waist and pressing our faces together, cheek to cheek, nose to nose. He kisses my lips, my cheeks, my nose, my forehead, everywhere he can touch. “I love you too, Valentina.”

Chapter 18

Valentina

When Andrei tells me that Anton survived the dinner party, at first I’m relieved. One less body to count. One less life on our hands, ratcheting up our tally of victims. Mikhail’s the one who tells me about what happened in the wedding chapel—a dozen dead, he says, killed in a sacred space, cowering like trapped animals who know they’re about to die.

None of them died with dignity, Ezra tells me. When they were caught, they turned belly-up and begged for their lives.

None were granted mercy.

All the other guests at the wedding lay witness to their screams, their cries, the sounds they made right before they died. I can’t imagine the heartbreak. The trauma. But my men see it differently.

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