Russian's Intense Love (Drobilka Family Series #2) (7 page)

As he contemplated returning the favor, Bethany’s stomach let out an angry rumble, and he felt her face flush against his chest. He rose to a sitting position, letting out a bark of laughter and taking her with him. Reaching behind him, he retrieved her shirt handing it to her as he hugged her to him. She bumped her head against his chest as she wrapped one hand around his neck. As she nuzzled his collarbone, Vadim closed his eyes at the innocent expression of affection.

Another angry growl of her stomach had him setting her on her feet as he reached for his pants. Slipping them on, he walked barefoot into the kitchen. He began pulling ingredients out of the fridge as Bethany joined him. He paused when he realized that she was naked. Lifting an eyebrow, he reached for an apron, placed the strap around her head, and pulled her against his chest as he tied it behind her. Stepping back, he smiled down at her.

“There’s a bottle of white wine in the fridge, why don’t you open it and pour a couple glasses while I make some omelets.”

Leaning up to kiss him, she turned to the fridge and he couldn’t resist swatting at her bare butt as she yelped in response. When she looked over her shoulder at him, any hint of innocence was replaced with a look of promise.

Vadim made quick work of the omelets while Bethany sat quietly and sipped her wine. They had agreed not to discuss his new commitment to the FBI until he had a chance to sweep his apartment for bugs, and the fact that she was sitting in his kitchen naked was making it difficult for him to focus. Flipping the omelets onto a single plate, he set it down on the breakfast bar as she looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He walked around to the other side and kissed her before scooping her up into his arms and settling her on his lap.

Taking a sip of his wine, he wet his lips as he leaned in to kiss her. Bethany kissed him back, licking the wine off his lips. With a groan, Vadim wondered whether this game was a good idea as he could already feel a growing discomfort where she sat. Reaching for the fork, he speared some omelet and held the fork in front of her mouth. Never taking her eyes off him, she opened her mouth and delicately removed the egg, closing her eyes in obvious enjoyment.

“Oh, that’s yummy,” she told him as he speared more egg and fed it to her.

“You’re just saying that because you haven’t eaten in more than twenty-four hours.”

Shaking her head, she adjusted her position as she obediently waited for him to feed her. As she took each bite from his fork, her enjoyment of the simple meal pleased him far more than anything else had.

He didn’t know what to think about his knew involvement with the FBI or whether it was a good idea, but if it meant keeping Bethany close, it was worth risking the wrath of his partners. He’d been through far worse at the hands of his father and the military, he could handle them. At least, he hoped so. In the meantime, he was going to take advantage of her current inhibition.

As they finished their meal, Bethany went to stand up to take the plate, but he stopped her. Tilting her head toward him, he kissed her as he slid his hand under the apron. He rubbed his hand up and down her legs and pushed her legs apart before cupping her mound. The heat from his hand coupled with her arousal had Bethany squirming as he worked his fingers inside to rub along her slit.

Moaning into his mouth, he deepened the kiss, sucking on her tongue as he explored everything she had to offer. His other hand brushed against her nipples as they strained against the rough fabric of the apron. He rubbed it along her breasts as she began to mewl and squirm on his lap. Her hip pressed up against his erection as he moved her over to keep her from causing any damage.

Putting his hands back where they were, he continued to stroke her until her body began to shake with need. He increased the pressure and sped up his strokes as he flicked casually at her nipples, causing the varying sensations to make it difficult for her to focus on one particular thing.

Bethany broke the kiss and pressed her forehead against his as she fought to control her breathing. Pulling his hands free, he handed her the wine before lifting her into his arms and carrying her into the living room. After setting her down on the rug in front of the windows, he grabbed a couple pillows and a blanket off the couch before reaching for the clasp on his pants. He stepped out of them as Bethany reached for the tie on the apron. Pulling it over her head, she tossed it aside as he joined her on the floor.

Before she could say anything, he captured her lips in a possessive kiss, growling as he nipped at her lower lip. Bethany was moaning as she wrapped her arms around his neck as he lifted her to straddle his lap. Facing him, she sat on his lap with her legs around his waist. He caressed her back as he lazily stroked her up and down. His hands were doing things to her as she squirmed on his lap. He soon found her breasts, and he held them in his hands and kissed her now rosy globes. Shifting back and forth, he licked and sucked at her nipples as she dug her fingers into his shoulders, kneading the muscles. As he lifted his head to kiss her lips, his thumbs continued to rub her nipples while she dropped her head back in pleasure.

Moving her feet so they were flat on the floor, he lifted her hips and he positioned himself. He bottomed out as he brought her down while she thrust forward, groaning lustily in response. Holding on to her hips, he began to lift her up and down as she rocked in his arms. He groaned at the sight before him, and he nuzzled her breasts, sucking her nipples as they bounced in front of him.

As her pleasure increased, Bethany pressed into the rug with her heels, forcing herself to land harder with each downward thrust. Moaning, she kneaded the muscles in his shoulders and back, digging in as her body began to tremble in anticipation. She picked up the pace as Vadim grunted and groaned in response. As he felt her orgasm near, he tightened his hold on her hips and shortened his thrusts, tilting upwards to bump against her g-spot. Bethany tilted her head back and cried out his name as his mouth once again found her nipples. Sucking hard, she shrieked as her orgasm rolled through her. He continued to thrust into her as she bounced and shook on top of him.

Growling, he flipped her onto her back and increased his speed. With a cry, his balls clenched tightly before releasing, and he jerked and twitched above her as her muscles greedily clutched him milking him dry. When he was spent, he slowly pulled out of her. Grabbing the pillows, he placed one under her head and took the other before cuddling up against her.

He placed gentle kisses on her as he stroked her skin. She turned on her side and looked up at him with a shy smile before she kissed him. Opening his mouth, she twined her tongue around his in a slow, lazy dance.

Chapter 11

Bethany spent the next day with Vadim, deciding to blow off class for one day. While she felt guilty not checking in with her handler, she knew that she would see her on Wednesday.

After he had swept his apartment for bugs, they talked quietly. Still not quite sure they were safe to speak aloud. After much discussion, Bethany had agreed to move in with him. The shift in the relationship would send a message to Boris and any others, and it would give them the opportunity to spend more time together.

Later that afternoon, he took her over to her apartment to pick up her things. Given that her rent was so cheap, they decided to drop that apartment and take one at the other end of the building with a better exit strategy in the event they needed a place to go. When he placed her two suitcases into the trunk of his car, he looked at her to see if she had any misgivings, but she was all smiles as he closed the trunk. Wrapping his hands around her waist, he pulled her to him as he kissed her.

“Can we really do this?” she asked him.

“We won’t know until we try,” he answered.

“Look at you being the positive one,” she teased as he opened the car door for her to get in.

* * * *

Wednesday morning, Bethany reported to her handler who was pissed that she hadn’t checked in.

“Where the hell have you been?” Marci demanded as Bethany set a sweetened coffee down in front of her and a cinnamon roll. Snatching the coffee, she took a long drink before opening the bag to see the roll inside. “And don’t think you can bribe me with breakfast,” she told her as she licked the sugar glaze off her fingers.

Sitting down in the chair opposite her, Bethany sipped at her coffee. “So, who is this Peter,” she began.

“Sasha’s handler. When she stopped reporting in, he decided to launch his own investigation to find out what was going on, and we simply got caught in the middle. He didn’t know we were FBI until Sunday, but he has grudgingly agreed to back off while we take the lead on this case.”

“Should we be concerned about him?”

Marci shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve no idea.”

Nodding her head, Bethany filled Marci in on her recent move, leaving out that they kept the apartment. There were too many changes taking place, and she decided that in the event the shit hit the fan, she needed a safe house to hide out in and regroup.

Before she left, she agreed not to miss any more meetings, and she assured Marci that she still had the panic button.

That evening, she pulled into the parking lot at the Rubicon. It was back to work for her. She hadn’t been back since the raid, and she was curious to see if anything had changed.

The first thing she noticed was the additional new cameras surrounding the parking lot. When she walked inside, it looked as though they had added several more bouncers. As she made her way into the main area, the same group of men was sitting in their usual spot. On her way past to the changing rooms, she was surprised when Boris waved her over. As she walked up, she nodded to the men.

“A little bird tells me that you might have a job with the FBI,” Boris commented.

“I’m sorry, what?” Bethany wasn’t sure what he was talking about as she worried that he already knew everything but if that were the case, Vadim would not be sitting so calmly next to him.

“A man named Sanderson is interested in your translation skills?”

“Oh, that.” Bethany had already forgotten about it as she wondered how he knew. “I’m not actually sure,” she ventured. “I only met with him once and after the raid, I figured he would have written me off.”
There, that sounded reasonable,
she thought.

“We have been talking, and we want you to contact him to see if the job is still available.”

“Um, why?”

“Because we think that you would be the perfect candidate to do some spying for us.”

“Wait, what?” Bethany stopped speaking when Boris held his hand up.

“Vadim will explain it to you later. You do not want to be late for your shift, now do you?”

Shaking her head, she looked at Vadim who shrugged his shoulders, before heading to the locker room. As she dressed in her uniform, she wondered at the sudden turn of events.

Could this even work?
she wondered, as she adjusted her belt.
This might be an interesting opportunity to gain more information, but the key question is how did he know about that offer? The only other person who knew was Peter, unless there’s another mole.

Straightening her shoulders, she walked out onto the floor and headed to the bar to pick up her tablet. Waving at Tiffany, she scrolled through the drink orders before turning to greet her guests.

The night was uneventful, of which Bethany was grateful, as she was anxious to speak with Vadim. When they were finally able to talk, he admitted that he had been as surprised as she was when Boris brought it up. Nodding her head uncertainly, Vadim dropped his head to kiss her.

Bethany looked up in surprise. “I thought that we weren’t broadcasting our relationship,” she stated.

Smiling down at her, Vadim responded, “We are when it suits me.” Giving her another peck, he walked her out to her car, promising to be home shortly.

Chapter 12

As Vadim rode the elevator up to their penthouse apartment, he smiled at the thought of a “we.” He knew that he didn’t lead the kind of life that would welcome a stable relationship and having one with a woman who was sent to spy on him didn’t bode well for any sort of long-term success. But for the first time in his life, he was hopeful at the prospects for a future.

When the elevator opened onto the top floor, he was surprised to see the living room cast in a glow as candlelight danced along the walls and reflected back in the floor-to-ceiling windows that banked two walls. Walking into the room, he spotted a trail of rose petals as he followed it around to the fireplace.

His smile grew wide when he found Bethany naked and reclining on the rug. Smiling up at him, she held out her hand as he joined her.

“A man could get used to coming home to such a feast for the eyes, Malyutka,” he told her as he kicked off his shoes before joining her on the rug.

With one hand to her lower back and the other around the back of her neck, he arched her back to kiss her as her hands reached for the buttons on his shirt. Sliding her hands under his shirt, she wondered if she would ever get tired of touching him as trailed kisses down her collarbone, nipping at her neck as he went.

Bethany rested on her elbows as she watched him pull his shirt off. When he went to kiss her again, she waggled a finger at him, “Uh uh. Pants, too, Mr. Sannikoff.”

Giving her his best seductive smile, he rose gracefully as he released the clasp on his pants and drew the zipper down. Stepping out of his pants, he bent to pull his socks off as he felt her soft hand rubbing up the back of his legs. He closed his eyes and swallowed hard at the emotions brewing inside him.

As he opened his eyes to look at her, he caught her rubbing her legs together as her body began to take on a rosy hue. Dropping down on top of her, he looked at her as he towered above her. The innocence and insecurity that he remembered when he first met her was slowly being replaced by the assuredness of a woman becoming comfortable in her own skin. She cupped his face as she arched up to kiss him. Opening his mouth, they continued to kiss as she began to moan.