Russian Mafia Boss's Heir (5 page)

“Perhaps.”

Dimitri shrugged. “So use it against her. Show her what her body wants. Arouse her. Make her want you. Soon enough that stubbornness will be overcome by lust, and you won’t have to worry so much about the rest. It will fall into place.”

Mikhail looked askance at his friend. “Is this your brilliant solution to problems with women?”

“Sure.” Dimitri shrugged.

Mikhail elbowed his friend. “I can see it’s working so very well with Mara.”

“Nobody ordered her to marry me. Therefore I can’t exactly drag her to my bedroom by her hair and fuck some sense into her.”

“Classy,” Mikhail grunted. He didn’t like the idea that anyone would think he had to drag a woman to his bedroom in order to convince her to like being with him.

“Stop being so nice.” Dimitri pursed his lips. “It’s not in your nature, and it must be damned exhausting.”

Mikhail had to admit that the scenario Dimitri had painted was far more accurate than Mikhail might like to imagine. He had no patience for wooing. Generally his methods involved doing what he wanted and asking forgiveness later—if he even bothered with that part.

Chapter Six

“You can’t just hide under this arbor indefinitely,” Mara pointed out. “Eventually you’re going to have to face your husband.”

“Watch me,” Tori said, feeling sulky. “He’s a brute. Look at him! He hasn’t even glanced over here once. So what, he’ll just stomp over, grab my hand, and then drag me off to the bedroom to consummate the union?”

Jamie seemed fascinated with this notion. “Wow. So you really think you’re going to have sex with that guy tonight?”

“You sound like you’d like to take my place,” Tori mused. “I’m not really looking forward to it.”

“You should be,” Mara retorted. “Look at him! He’s crazy attractive and probably knows how to show a girl a good time.”

“Yeah,” Jamie agreed. “I bet he’s a tiger in the sack.”

“I’ve had good sex plenty of times,” Tori said airily. “That doesn’t mean I want a Neanderthal in my bed. I’d rather spend my wedding night with a vibrator.”

The girls started giggling. Once they began, they couldn’t stop. Tori knew that for herself it was nervousness making her act like a twit. She was so scared to death of what was coming. As the afternoon wore on, she began to think that her stepfather had every intention of doing what he had said and making her live with her new husband. What was she supposed to do then? She’d be at Mikhail’s home, under his protection and subject to his whims.

And why did that make her
excited
?

She shut her eyes, and her brain immediately conjured a mental image of Mikhail standing in the doorway of their bedroom and demanding that she remove her dress. He would pick her up, throw her on the bed, and ravish her. Or something like that. She didn’t exactly have the particulars because she wasn’t nearly as experienced as she pretended to be. She’d had a few lovers, of course, but it was inconvenient and difficult to do with an overprotective stepfather and his men constantly hovering about.

“You’re blushing,” Jamie cried. “What are you thinking?”

Mara was a little more astute. “You’d be blushing too if you were imagining what it would be like to have a guy like that ripping off your clothes and staking his claim like some medieval warrior.”

“Oh.” Jamie fanned herself. “Yeah, that’s
hot
!” Then she turned to stare at Tori. “So you really
do
want him?”

Tori shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s complicated. I might want him. Maybe. But I hate being told that I have to be with him. You know? I don’t like feeling as if my choices were taken away from me just because my stepfather is super paranoid.”

“He’s always been good to you,” Mara pointed out. “Maybe you should give this marriage a chance. Maybe he really thinks you’ll be happy.” Mara gave her a quick hug. “Maybe you will be.”

Jamie poked Tori in the ribs. “Don’t look now, but he’s coming over here.”

Tori put on her cool, I-don’t-care expression and turned to face Mikhail. Her friends were right. The guy was seriously sexy. In fact, she could actually feel her lower belly knotting up with sexual tension. Her pussy was getting wet just watching him walk this way.

She was so doomed. Why fight it?

***

MIKHAIL COULD NOT decide if what he was seeing on Tori’s face was good or bad. Since it didn’t matter, he discarded it as something he’d think about later. Whether she liked it or not, she was coming home with him. And he was ready to leave now. He was irritable and he was horny. He had a wife he was now responsible for, and it was time to stake his claim and show her exactly what that meant.

“We’re leaving,” Mikhail told Tori. “Say goodbye to your friends. You can see them later.”

Jamie mimed putting a phone to her ear. “Call me,” she ordered Tori. “I want all the juicy details.”

Details
? Mikhail stared at the brazen young woman, dumbfounded. She was obviously referring to details of the wedding night. Did women
do
that? He knew men did. Frequently. But he’d never thought women were into that sort of bragging behavior.

“Whatever,” Tori said dismissively. “I’ll call you both. We need to hang out. I can’t lose my best friends just because I got married. Married life can’t be that much of a suckfest.”

Mikhail clenched his teeth. He was not going to comment. He had a feeling she was just trying to goad him with her words anyway. The woman was incredibly foolish like that.

He anchored Tori’s hand in the crook of his arm and began striding toward where Stanislas was speaking in a tight knot with several other bosses. His legs were much longer than hers, but she seemed to be keeping up just fine. Besides, when she was focused on walking she had no time to open her mouth and say outrageous things. It was a bonus as far as Mikhail was concerned.

“Ah, Mikhail!” Stanislas leaned forward and kissed Mikhail on both cheeks. “Are the two of you excusing yourselves already?”

There was a round of polite coughs and a few chuckles from the assembled men.

Mikhail didn’t care. He was done with this dog and pony show. “Yes. I thought it would be prudent to take my bride to her new home while it was still light outside so she might explore a bit.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” Stanislas’s eyes were gleaming. Then he turned to Tori. “You will submit to your husband in every way. Do you understand?”

“Yes.” Tori’s tone was so bitter that it made Mikhail cringe. “Spread my legs for your choice of husband and provide heirs like a good girl. I’ve got it.”

“Crass,” Stanislas muttered. Then he turned back to Mikhail. “Be firm with her. She is headstrong, but she will settle down to marriage nicely with good training.”

Beside him, Mikhail could feel Tori’s temper boiling. He quickly nodded to the men then left before his wife exploded like a stick of dynamite.

***

TORI COULD NOT be certain what pissed her off more. Her stepfather’s insinuation that she was nothing more than a broodmare, or the fact that he had essentially given Tori’s new husband permission to beat her. Well, Mikhail could try, but she would rip his arms off.

“Your stepfather has your best interests in mind,” Mikhail said quietly as they left her father’s home. “He may not be eloquent about it, but he’s old and set in his ways. To him, this is what is best for you. A husband should be obeyed because he will keep you safe from danger.”

“Then you understand that if you even attempt to overpower me physically, I will spend the rest of my days finding a way to rip your limbs from your body.” She spoke through gritted teeth. “I’m not some horse to be bred and then discarded.”

“That isn’t my intention.”

“But you do intend to breed,” she shot back.

They were getting into the car. Apparently he was driving; she wished she could just walk or take her own car. She didn’t want to be stuck in a car with him for some unknown period of time.

“I intend to fuck my wife. Yes.”

His words shocked her. More than that, they excited her. Somehow, that rude word on Mikhail’s lips was like the promise of fulfillment. She swallowed and buckled her seatbelt. Her nipples were hard. Why? And why could she feel every inch of her skin as though it had been electrified?

He didn’t speak again until he pulled into the driveway of a small townhouse just a few blocks away from her father’s home. It was a neat brownstone building.

Mikhail gestured to the structure. “This is all one unit now. So the entire house will be your home.”

“It’s big.” They were the only words she could come up with.

Getting out of the car, she walked slowly around the front of the house. She stared up at the four story structure and wondered if there was a basement too. Then she wondered if she was going to be responsible for cleaning it.

“Do you have a cleaning lady?” She belted the words out before she could reconsider how they might sound. “I mean, if I’m expected to take care of all this, I suppose I’ll just deal, but I’m not good at that kind of thing.”

He was laughing. “Yes. I have a housekeeper and a cleaning lady.”

“Oh. Good.”

“I gave the housekeeper the night off. I thought you might like privacy your first night home.” Mikhail gestured toward the front steps. It was both commanding and gentlemanlike. How odd. “Please, let’s go inside. I don’t like standing out here exposed like this.”

The sad reminder about the
mafiya
lifestyle and all that it entailed didn’t do much for Tori’s confidence. She had always secretly believed she would be able to avoid that life for herself. That she would marry a man outside the family and syndicate. She’d wanted a husband with a normal job who could help her raise their normal kids in a world that didn’t involve guns, gambling, and money laundering.

So much for that dream.

***

MIKHAIL WATCHED TORI enter his home and felt the oddest sense of satisfaction. This was his woman now. He would take care of her and cherish her as he saw fit. In exchange, she would provide him with the family he had always wanted. He would protect them. He might not be able to make up for the mistakes of the past, but he could damn well prevent any future mistakes from happening.

“Please feel free to explore.” Mikhail waved his hand to indicate the house itself. “If you have any questions, I’ll be in my study at the end of the first floor hallway.”

She looked dumbfounded. “Why are you going to your study?”

“I have a few matters of business to take care of before I retire for the night.”

“Retire for the night?” She snorted. “Who talks like that anymore? Sheesh!”

Mikhail didn’t comment. She was rude, but he’d already known that. Soon enough she would respect him and what he could do. For now, she was afraid and trying to exercise her independence. But soon she’d be in his bed and under his power.

He answered a few emails, took care of some financial issues, and listened to Tori putter around his house for nearly thirty minutes. It was now five o’clock. The fall days were getting shorter, but there was still plenty of light. That was good. Mikhail intended to see every single detail of his wife’s passion when he claimed her for the first time.

Leaving his desk for the hallway, he listened until he discovered Tori’s location in the house. It was almost too perfect. She was in the bedroom on the fourth floor, and she was obviously curious about her surroundings.

Mikhail made his way up the stairs and finally found his new wife wandering about the corridor on the fourth floor.

“Did you find everything to your satisfaction?” he asked.

“It’s a nice house.” Was it his imagination, or did the word ‘grudging’ apply to her tone of voice? “I suppose I won’t mind living here. Do I get my own quarters?”

She was obviously pushing boundaries, but he didn’t let that get to him. “No. Your quarters are with me in my bedroom. There’s even a closet all for you.”

“I’d rather have my own rooms.” She lifted her chin. “That way I have privacy.”

“You’ll have no privacy from me.” Mikhail figured she needed to learn that now. “In fact, take your dress off. Now.” He didn’t bother to hide the naked order in his voice. She would do as she was told, and he would love every single minute of rewarding her for obedience.

Chapter Seven

Tori froze when Mikhail ordered her to take off her dress. Her fingers reflexively went to the hem of the sassy skirt. It was as if her body wanted to obey even though her mind felt completely the opposite.

“You heard me,” Mikhail said quietly. His tone was deadly. It sent a riot of chills across her skin. “I wish you to take off your dress. I want to see your beautiful body. And I’m going to pleasure you thoroughly, Tori. But you need to do as you’re told before that can happen.”

The promise of sexual fulfillment sent the blood rushing to Tori’s groin. She pressed her thighs together in an effort to maintain control. Taking a deep breath and exhaling raggedly, she pulled her dress off over her head and tossed it to the floor. She stood there now in nothing but her bikini underwear and her heels. She hadn’t been wearing a bra, and she’d deliberately not worn panty hose just to mess with her stepfather. Now she was almost sorry.

“Beautiful,” Mikhail murmured. “You’re exquisite.”

He began to circle her, staring at her body in a way that made her even more excited. How was that possible? She should be outraged! Instead, she felt her nipples plumping into little points, and her skin tingled with the desire to be touched.

Her husband—she had to remind herself of that—stood before her. She watched as if it were happening in slow motion as he reached out with his hand. His fingers brushed her left nipple, and she had to bite her lip to keep herself from groaning in pleasure. He stroked her, circling the tiny bud again and again until it was throbbing with the need for more.

Mikhail kneaded her breast. Her nipple stabbed his palm. He gently tweaked the taut skin, but didn’t give her the hard pinch she wanted so badly. It was frustrating to feel the need for something harsh and satisfying and receive only a taste instead.