Alexei: A Mafia Love Story: Dark Erotic Romance (17 page)

***

Tara rushed out of the Murphy mansion and down the marble steps as the limousine crested the hill. Patrick had told her less than a minute ago that Alexei was arriving, and here she was running to greet him. She didn’t care if it made her look like a pathetic puppy. She couldn’t stand to be away from her husband a moment longer.

As soon as the car stopped, she opened the car door before either Alexei or the driver could. Tara didn’t wait for him to get out. She simply climbed over his lap, closing the door behind her as she went. She sat on the seat beside him, suddenly feeling nervous and a bit shy in spite of her enthusiasm. “Hi.” That was it? After six days, that was all she had? She shook her head at her own lack of articulation.

His lips twitched, and he echoed her greeting with a hint of teasing. “Hi.”

She clasped her hands in her lap. “Is it over? Am I safe now?”

Alexei nodded. “You don’t need the details, but suffice to say they believe Vasile was in a car accident. No one knows you shot him.”

Relief rushed through her, but she couldn’t help saying, “I didn’t really have a choice about shooting him, you know? Are you angry that I did?”

Alexei’s eyes widened, and he burst into laughter. “Angry? No, of course not,
lisichka
. I’m proud and amazed, but I’m certainly not angry. You probably remained unaware, but I had a gun on my lap and was preparing to do the same thing a second after you shot him. You simply beat me to it.”

She sighed with relief, her eyes closing as she dragged in a harsh inhalation that threatened to turn to a sob when she exhaled. “If you aren’t angry, why did you send me away?”

He said something in Russian she didn’t understand, but it sounded gentle. She opened her eyes just as he lifted her onto his lap, his knuckles brushing against her cheek to wipe away the stray tear that had escaped.

“I didn’t send you away, Tara. I simply sent you to safety for a few days. I knew
bratva
would be crawling through the area in search of him once they realized he was missing. I didn’t know they would send someone from Russia, but they did. I didn’t want you exposed all those
vory
, simply because you’re better than that, but also because I didn’t want anyone to suspect you had something to do with Vasile’s death. Patrick kindly offered to allow you to stay for a few days until everything died down and they all went home.”

Her heart lifted at his words, and she bent her head to kiss him. She was surprised when he put up a hand between them, his fingers brushing her lips, but his hand providing enough force to keep her from bending forward. “What…?”

“I want to take you home with me, Tara.” She started to nod, but he ignored her sign of affirmation. “However, it has to be your choice. You’re no longer a risk to me. I know you would never testify against me, but I have something on you now too. In the world I live in, we hold each other over the same barrel, so to speak, so there’s no reason to keep you my captive.”

She frowned, confusion whirling through her. Her heart had jumped at the idea of returning home with him, but now he seemed reluctant to take her with him. “I don’t understand what you want, Alexei.” Lyosha seemed too intimate in the moment, with the uncertainty between them.

He wore a sad expression. “It’s not what I want,
lisichka
, but what you want this time. I’m offering you the choice of going home and forgetting about this, of returning to the life you had before, where you’re safe. If you choose to come with me, you’re choosing everything. I won’t be leaving the
bratva
, and we’ll never have a typical life. There will always be danger to you and to me, and even danger to any children we might have. It’s a fact of our life. Before, I was prepared to force you to accept all that just to be able to keep you, but now…”

Her lips trembled, and she forced back the reaction, drawing on a reserve of inner strength. “Now you can change your mind and don’t want me anymore?” she supplied for him in a tone that was almost lighthearted, and almost hid the pain underscoring her words. Almost.

Alexei shook his head, and his hands tightened on her hips. “I’ve never changed my mind, Tara. I want to keep you forever, to make you my wife in every sense of the word, including a ridiculous ceremony packed with people we barely. I want to give you everything, and that everything includes the ability to choose. Until now, that’s one thing you haven’t had from the night I first took you. I’m simply giving you back the power to decide what you do with your life. I hope it will include me, but it isn’t right not to let you pick for yourself.”

Tears burned her eyes again, and she blinked heavily to keep them in check. This time, they were one hundred percent happy tears, with no sadness or ambiguity. “I don’t know how it happened, Alexei, but my heart chose you a long time ago. I appreciate the gesture, and I’m thrilled to know that I have autonomy restored, but if it really is my choice, then I choose for you to take me home.”

His expression was tense, and he seemed partially confused. “Your home or my home,
lisichka
?”

She smiled at him as she burrowed closer, bridging the gap between them now that his hand had dropped to her hips. “Our home, Alexei. Take me home, and then just take me.”

They moved together simultaneously into a deep kiss, his mouth ravaging hers as they learned the taste of each other all over again. It had only been six days, but it felt like six years to her, and sitting on his lap, her mouth pressed against his, was like coming home again.

He lifted his head. “To hell with waiting until we get home for that.” He took a moment to speak into the intercom, relaying directions to the driver to return them to his home.

Tara thought briefly about returning to the Murphy household long enough to thank them for their hospitality and let them know she was going home, but she knew Lauren would understand why she had left so abruptly. Later, much later, she would connect with her new friend again and thank her for everything. She hoped Lauren would continue to be part of her life, but right now, her thoughts were too consumed with being near her husband to be concerned about manners.

As they pulled away from the Murphy household, she was already stripped below the waist and in the process of taking off her shirt. Alexei wriggled around on the seat to slide down his slacks, letting them pool at his feet, clearly too impatient to remove more than that.

She was already dripping for him, feeling like she had been waiting forever. Just being near him was enough to make her wet and prepared for his cock, and she sank onto him with no resistance despite a lack of foreplay, other than their kiss.

As she rode him, moving slowly and gently to prolong their connection and enjoy the simple pleasure of just touching him, their gazes locked, and she stared deeply into his eyes. She was certain she recognized the emotion there and was just as certain it was reflected in her own gaze.

Apparently, Alexei wanted to ensure she had no doubt. “I love you,
lisichka
.”

She flexed her in her muscles around him as she sped up her pace, digging her nails into his shoulders as she clung to him. “I love you too, my big bad
vohlk
.”

******

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R.E. Saxton is the pen name Kit Tunstall uses when writing dark erotic romance. It’s simply a way to separate the myriad types of stories she writes so readers know what to expect with each “author.”

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