Page 7 of Craving Dahlia

And then I turn sharply on my heel, striding towards the door, knowing she’ll follow.

3

DAHLIA

My entire interaction with Alek has left me shaken.

I’m beginning to wonder if doing this really was the smartest idea. There’s something violent about him, something primal and dangerous—which I knew, theoretically, as soon as I saw the tattoo on his hand. If he’s Bratva, then those things are a part of his nature.

But I’ve met other Bratva men. My best friend is married to one. And while Dimitri is undoubtedly a violent and brutal man, there’s something…else to Alek.

Something that makes every instinctive alarm that I have go off in my head, those warning bells that every woman has that tell her that a man is dangerous. That she shouldrun, not towards him, but in the other direction.

My alarms have always been a little faulty. And with Alek, they keep getting silenced by the overwhelming flood of how thoroughly he turns me on.

Seeing the scar when he turned into the light should have made me run. If he got that in a fight, it was one hell of a scuffle. It looks like someone tried to open up the side of his face. I can only imagine what it looked like when it was fresh—but healed,it only adds to the dangerous sexiness of him that apparently draws me like a moth to the flame.

Do you want to play games? Or do you want to get fucked?

The moment he said that, I knew I was dealing with a man who is undoubtedly toxic for me in every possible interpretation of the word. And also, that Alek is a man who will fuck me like I’ve never been fucked before. Like I’ve alwayswantedto be fucked. He’ll give me the night to remember that I was hoping for. And even if I decide that I have to go back to D.C. and marry Jude, every time he’s inside of me I’ll have something to fantasize about instead.

There was never really any chance of my telling Alek no. But if he thinks this entire night is going to be about what he wants, he should think twice. Because I know whatIwant, too. And I intend to rock his world as thoroughly as he seems to think that he’s going to shatter mine.

The moment we step outside, the blast of frigid air that hits me, cutting through my blazer and silk blouse and sending cold bumps prickling over my legs, I question how I ever thought that getting on the back of his motorcycle was a good idea. The wind chill alone is going to turn me into an icicle by the time we get back to my apartment. But I’ve always wanted to get on the back of a gorgeous man’s bike, and I know I’d regret taking an Uber back instead. The thought of riding behind him, wrapped up in his spicy cedar scent, the smells of leather and oil and grease heating the cold between us, makes a flood of arousal sweep through me that momentarily banishes the chills.

He’ll warm me up once we get to my place. It’ll be fine.

I’m already anticipating brunch on Sunday, when I’ll get to tell Genevieve and Evelyn all about this. Genevieve especially is going to demandallof the details.

“I’m parked just down here.” Alek pauses long enough for me to catch up, his gaze sweeping over me once again. “Are you sure?—”

“I’m fine,” I say quickly, even though I’m already losing feeling in my feet, and I can feel how slick the ice is under my thin stilettos. I’m not about to admit defeat, even if my pride might result in hypothermia. The last thing I want is for this man to think I’m easily beaten.

A small smirk tugs at the corners of his mouth, as if he’s seen right through me and knowsexactlywhy I’m insisting that I’m not already on the verge of freezing to death. Without a word, he steps to the edge of the curb, raising a hand into the air. In a matter of seconds, a yellow cab swings up to where we’re standing.

“Alek—”

“Get in.” He opens the door, and I slide in, slightly chagrined and torn between being irritated that he read me so easily, and unreasonably turned on by how demanding he is.

Alek follows me into the warm, slightly stale interior of the cab, and immediately that cedar scent floods my senses, overwhelming everyone else. “Give him your address,gertsoginya,” he demands, and I frown slightly. But I lean forward, quickly giving the driver my address.

The last word has no sooner come out of my mouth than Alek’s hands are on my waist, spinning me around as he drags me into his lap, one hand coming up to twist in my hair as he yanks my mouth to his.

The kiss knocks the air out of me for a moment. My legs are splayed on either side of him, his fist pressed against the back of my scalp, his other hand on my hip pushing me down onto the impossibly thick ridge of his cock.

I can’t speak. I can barely breathe. I’veneverbeen kissed like this before, forcefully, but in a way that gives as much pleasureas it takes. His thumb presses into the divot below my hip bone, his fingers curved around me with a grip that’s almost painful as his teeth nip at my lower lip, his tongue instantly soothing the spot before it plunges into my mouth.

He kisses like a drowning man in need of air. The kiss alone has my panties soaked, and the fact that he’s doing this in full view of the cab driver is more of a turn-on than I ever would have thought it would be. I rock my hips down onto his, the feeling of his thick length grinding against me through his jeans and my clinging panties sending jolts of pleasure through me, and I angle myself so that my clit is rubbing against him, moaning into the kiss.

Alek jerks my head back when he hears the sound, breaking the kiss as his hand tightens in my hair. “Quiet,” he growls. “No one hears your moans tonight but me,krasivyy.”

I have no idea what he’s saying, only that I don’t want him to stop—and the things I never thought I’d allow a man to say to me are making me dripping wet instead. I nod to show that I understand, staying silent even just to speak, and a dark heat fills Alek’s eyes as his mouth tilts up at the corners.

“Khoroshaya devochka,” he murmurs, his eyes flicking from mine to my mouth and back again. “Good girl.”

I clench my teeth together to stop another moan, the words sending a shudder of pleasure through me. I grind helplessly down onto his cock, and Alek shakes his head, spreading his legs wider as he pushes me down onto the floor between them.

“No one sees you orgasm tonight but me, either,” he growls. “You’ll have to be patient,gertsoginya.But for now, you can keep on showing me what a good girl you are,net?”

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