Page 71 of Crimson Fury

He pulls back, his eyes hooded and full of desire. With swift, sure movements, he strips off his clothes, revealing his taut, muscular body. He’s beautiful in spite of the gauze wrapped around his chest; if anything it merely emphasizes how broad he is. I can’t help but drink in the sight of him. Anton’s erection is thick and hard, and I can’t wait to feel it inside me, filling me completely.

“Fuck. I need you,” he breathes, his voice hoarse with lust. I gaze at him heatedly. I sense that this time, we’re about to cross an invisible line. A line we’ve not crossed before. And once we do, there is no going back.

“Come here,” Anton murmurs, his voice low and commanding. With trembling hands, I reach for him, allowing him to pull me into his strong embrace. His fingers thread through mine as he walks back toward the bed, drawing me with him as he moves. We stop when his thighs meet the edge and he sits down and looks up at me.

“Scarlett,” he breathes, his lips brushing my navel as he whispers my name. His hands roam over my body, leaving a trail of fire in their wake. One hand cups my breast, his thumb teasing my nipple until it’s tight and achy with need. The other slips between my legs, stroking my sensitive flesh until I’m panting and pleading for him.

“Please, Anton,” I beg, my voice thick with lust. “I can’t take it anymore.”

His voice comes out in a string of Russian and though I don’t understand the words, I somehow know what they mean. Pulling me onto the bed, he positions himself over me, then hooks his elbow beneath my knee, hitching my hips up high. Grasping his shaft, he slides the thick head along my slit until I’m mewling for more.

“Please,” I pant, thrusting myself up toward him.

Anton responds by pressing into me with exquisite slowness, stretching me open around his cock inch by inch. The sensation is overwhelming, pleasure and pain mingling until I can no longer tell them apart. My fingers dig into his shoulders as I wildly gasp for breath, clinging to him as he fills me completely.

For a moment, he remains motionless, our bodies joined as intimately as two people can be. I can feel his heart pounding against my chest, I can see the effort it takes for him to remain still.

“Good…so good,” he groans, withdrawing slowly only to slam back into me. I cry out at the sudden movement, clenching around him as he begins to set a brutal pace. The bed shakes beneath us, the headboard banging against the wall with each powerful thrust.

“Yes!” Thrust… “just,” thrust… “like,” thrust… “that,” I choke out as he plunges into me with such force it makes me see stars. Just when I think I’m about to explode, he rolls us over so that I’m straddling his hips, his hands gripping my waist tightly. I rise up on shaking legs and sink back down, relishing the feel of him sliding deep inside.

Anton meets each downward stroke with an upward thrust, pushing me closer and closer to the edge.

My release comes suddenly, without warning, pleasure rippling out from where our bodies join.

“God…Anton,” I hear myself pant as I clench rhythmically around his cock, milking him as he continues to drive up into me. With a shout, Anton follows, his hips jerking as he spills his juices inside me.

For a long moment, I remain where I am, sated and breathless in his arms. He strokes my back gently, his other hand resting against my belly.

As we lay there, a sudden, unexpected swell of emotion rises in my chest, and I press my face into the curve of his neck to hide the tears that threaten. I know then, without a doubt, that something happened between us tonight – and as unconventional and dangerous it might be, it’s something I can never regret. Without realizing it, his fingers are stroking over the tiny life that’s growing inside me. The life he put in there. The knowledge is so overwhelming I have to push it to the back of my mind.

Stop it.

Just stop it!

I pull back to study his face, tracing the line of his jaw and the fullness of his lower lip with my thumb. His eyes are half-lidded, his gaze heated as it rakes over my naked body. I feel exposed under his scrutiny, vulnerable in a way I’ve never been before.

“You’re mine now,” Anton rasps, fingers tightening on my hip. “Say it.”

I hesitate, pride warring with the truth I can no longer deny. This thing that has been growing between us has become impossible to ignore, yet still, I fight it. Cling to who I am. He sees it in my eyes, a flicker of defiance that has him smirking, which only serves to stoke the fire in me. But even as I open my mouth to argue, a soft moan escapes as his thumb grazes over the top of my mound.

“Say it, Scarlett,” he repeats, voice low and commanding. The authority in his tone sends a shiver down my spine.

“Fine,” I relent, my voice barely a whisper as I wonder what’s prompting me to admit it. “I’m yours.”

“Good.” Anton’s expression eases slightly, but the intensity in his eyes remains. “Now we sleep.”

I blink at him in confusion for a moment, though it occurs to me that there’s a blissful languor seeping into my limbs. But more troubling – his face is pale. Bloodloss? Exertion? Shit! I should have been thinking more clearly.

“Your chest!” I gasp, pressing a palm over the bandage that now has blood seeping through it. He makes a small snorting sound, his hand over mine holding my fingers more firmly over the padding of the dressing.

“I told you, it’s nothing,” he insists, then pulls me more firmly into the curve of his body. My cheek nestles perfectly into the space beneath his massive shoulder. “Sleep now,” he repeats.

“Tell me something first,” I ask, feeling myself melting against him.

“One thing,” he concedes, not loosening his grip on me.

“What does ‘Zayka’mean?” It’s been gnawing at me for days. He gives a chuckle that rumbles into my flesh.

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