Page 39 of The Bratva's Sold Bride

A swipe of his tongue along the side of my neck as he moved his hand to tease me from behind had me throwing back my head and screaming again. All I could do was hold on and enjoy the ride until moments later, he was roaring just as loud, crashing into me with a fury that drove me wild all over again.

“More,” I said, barely able to breathe.

His eyes flew open, and he grinned. He was exhausted but never one to give up on a challenge. With one hand holding me tight, he found my clit with his fingers and watched with smug satisfaction as he made my eyes roll back.

Perfect. How did he know exactly how to work my body, turning me into nothing but a blob of quivering mush? I was completely lost in the sensations that coursed along every nerve, the only thing keeping me from begging for another was the fact I was breathing too hard to speak.

The next thing I knew, we were settled on the steps in the shallow end, his arms wrapped around me and holding me close to his chest. I blinked several times and looked up at him, making him laugh.

“I carried you,” he explained.

“If you hadn’t, I probably would have drowned,” I said. Seriously, how did he do that?

“Never,” he told me. “Nothing’s going to happen to you when I’m around.”

Reminding me that this all came down to my safety and that I was little more than his prized possession—for the moment, anyway—brought me back to reality a little too swiftly. No, just a little longer. Didn’t I deserve a break?

“You know, we really ought to try that in our bed,” he said, still joking around.

But I was no longer in the mood for laughs. Every time we did this, shared this otherworldly experience, it only dug me deeper into a situation I was doing my best to get out of. Wasn’t I? After all, I was the one who’d stripped off my clothes and shimmied my way to the pool first. Reality was back, and hitting me hard.

“Don’t you have a background check to do?” I asked.

“It can wait a bit longer,” he said, running his hand down my arm.

So much for reverse psychology. I really thought that acting like I didn’t care would get him to forget about it, but of course, he was determined. Not even mind-blowing sex could get him to stray from his course. That was me who kept straying.

Frustration nearly had me crying again. If there was anything slightly suspicious in Zoey’s past, so much as an overdue library book, I might not be allowed to see her again.

“Are you going to run a check on every new person I meet for the rest of my life?”

“Of course,” he said, leaning back to grin down at me. “I’m pleased you finally seem to get that we’ll be together for the rest of our lives.”

Well, hell, I walked right into that one. There was no more hiding my irritation, so I shoved away and splashed up the steps and out of the pool.

“That won’t be very long if you keep acting so controlling,” I threw over my shoulder as I stomped into the house.

Damn it, this was exactly what I feared would happen if I let myself give in. We were back at square one.

Chapter 24 - Dimitry

What just happened? One minute, Olivia was screaming to the heavens in ecstasy, and the next, she was storming off into the house, probably holed up in her guest room again. So much for getting a round two in our bed. In her current mood, I’d be lucky if she didn’t throw something at me if I dared try to speak to her. Better to let her cool off.

Which left me time to do that security check on the American woman who just happened to show up in the town we were hiding out near. Sure, that first guy had been a coincidence, and yes, the small village did get the occasional tourist. Wasn’t I counting on its charm and hospitality to make me another fortune when my new resort got off the ground?

Drying off and following the trail of my clothes, I put them back on and headed to my office, where I logged onto the computer and sent a message to my head of security. Then I called my brother.

“You’re lucky this town has a motel at all, let alone a vacancy,” he said, the sound of music in the background.

“That sounds more like you’re the lucky one,” I answered. “Why would I need a motel when I own a house down here? Now get your ass somewhere quiet and tell me everything you learned about that woman in the coffee shop.”

Ivan’s naturally friendly and flirtatious ways were perfect for secretive interrogations. The young woman wouldn’t have known she was getting grilled for information that could help in finding out a past she might be trying to hide.

The music faded into the background, and as Ivan rattled off everything he had learned during the afternoon they hadspent together, I passed it on to my security expert, who never seemed to sleep and was always glued to his system.

“Hang on, I even got a picture of her,” Ivan said. A moment later, my phone pinged with a surreptitious shot of the woman’s profile.

“Hmm, just your type, pervert,” I said, shaking my head but grateful for the photo as it would keep her from being confused with anyone who had the same name.

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