Sovereign (6 page)

CHAPTER SIX

S
TELLA

“
Y
OU SURE YOU WANT
to fight me?” I re-tightened my hair in the bun, taking my time as I tried to figure out how to best him.

“I want to take you down.” He gave a predatory smile as his gaze raked my body again.

“You no hurt her.” Dmitri stabbed a finger at Sin.

“But she likes it when I hurt her.” Sin smiled.

Dmitri glowered and stepped toward him.

I put my palm to Dmitri’s chest. “I can handle him. Go on inside. This won’t take long.”

Dmitri mumbled some curses in Russian. “Come, Teddy. Let’s eat more cake.”

“Go easy on him. He’s not as tough as I am.” Teddy swiped the rest of the grass off his shirt.

“Come. Come.” Dmitri led him away as Sin circled me, sizing me up.

Teddy threw a worried glance over his shoulder as Dmitri herded him into the house.

“Why was Sophia here?” Of so many questions that bounced around my mind, the pettiest one came out first.

“Because she was my date for Teddy’s party.” He dashed toward me.

I backed up, trying to time what his moves would be.

“Nice decorations, by the way.” He smirked and circled me slowly, like a bird of prey.

I wouldn’t wait for him to come to me. I rushed him and gripped his shoulders, throwing my weight forward and swinging my legs up. It would have been the perfect take down if he hadn’t seen the move coming and twisted so I couldn’t maneuver my legs around his neck.

He held me for a moment before taking me to the ground, his heavy wait crushing me as he knocked the wind from my lungs. The sun was high overhead, and I remembered this. I remembered the first day when I’d run for freedom but found only him.

Not this time
. I wrapped him in my arms and did the same move on him as Teddy. Though Sin was bigger, he flipped just the same until I was straddling him, my hands at his throat. I pressed hard, far harder than I’d done with Teddy.

Sin didn’t fight back, only slid his hands up my thighs.

“Where have you been?”

“Wooing Ms. Sophia Oakman.” His voice was terse, the words barely passing my palms.

“Do you love her?”

His hands roved higher until they were at my waist. He pulled me down onto him, rubbing me back and forth against the hardening length in his pants. “No. Just courting an alliance, something like a business arrangement.”

I eased my grip as he kept rocking my hips against him. “Are you dating her to help us win?”

“You’re getting smarter the longer you stay with us, Stella. I applaud your love for learning, even at this late juncture.”

I slapped him hard across the cheek and he growled before flipping me and pinning my hands next to my head.

“Asshole.” Tears stung my eyes as he stared down at me, his brows drawn together. “You didn’t have to stay away. You could have said something. You just left.”

“No. I did what you needed me to do. You’ve been here, training every day and getting stronger and better. I would be a distraction. I already am, and I’ve only been back for a few hours. My time was better spent away, trying to catch Sophia’s eye, and your time was better spent here with that fuckwad Dmitri.” His jaw tightened. “Has he touched you?”

I laughed, the sound maniacal. “Yes. Every day. We spar and swim, and he gives me a massage.”

“You know what I mean.” He leaned closer, his sapphire eyes becoming my whole world. “I will kill him with my bare hands if he’s tried anything.”

I glared at him. “You show up here with that psychotic bitch on your arm, treat me like I’m beneath you, and then have the nerve to ask me if I’m fucking one of my only friends?”

“I have more nerve than that. I want to fuck you, and I have half a mind to strip you right now, flip you on your stomach, and punish you until you scream. So, answer my question. Has he touched you?”

“You wouldn’t dare!” Heat rushed through me at his threat. Because I was fucked up. Because I wanted him to want me. Because he was all I could think about—his face, his body, his scent, his twisted mind.

“Wouldn’t I?” He got to his knees and pulled me up before throwing me over his shoulder.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I beat at his back as he got to his feet and headed away from the house and toward the oaks that lined the driveway.

He ran his hand up my thigh and pressed hard against my pussy. “Hot and wet, just like I thought.”

“Put me down.”

“I will.” He strode into the shade of the oaks and pushed me up against one of them. The oak’s wide trunk hid us from the house.

I pressed my palm against his chest. “I’m not—”

He kissed me, pinning me between his chest and the tree. His hands roved me, and before long, he had one up my shirt, palming my breast through my bra. I dug my nails into his chest, but he only leaned in harder, as if he wanted my violence.

He ripped up my bra, exposing both breasts, and groaned into my mouth as he squeezed them. My knees went weak at his touch. Every thought of anger or hatred burned away as he consumed me as surely as fire does black powder. Breaking our kiss, he whipped me around to face the tree.

“Pull your pants down or I’ll do it myself.”

I glanced over my shoulder as he unfastened his belt. He ripped the elastic from my hair and tossed it aside.

“Do it, Stella.” He growled and slapped my ass.

I fumbled with my button and unzipped my pants. He did the rest, ripping them down my legs to my knees.

He pressed his palm flat to my back, bending me over as I braced against the trunk. In one harsh movement, he entered me, his cock embedded deep as I moaned.

“Give it to me.” He thrusted hard and slapped my ass, the sting mixing with the pleasure until I was panting, my pussy slick and wanting. “This is how you like it, isn’t it?” He gripped my hair and pulled me to him, walking me forward until my breasts pressed against the bark as he fucked me in punishing strokes. His lips blazed a hot trail down my neck as he cupped my breast. “Tell me.”

“Yes.” I craned my head back and kissed him, his tongue darting in and setting the same pace as his cock.

“Touch yourself.” He pushed me harder into the tree, the bark scraping against my nipples.

I ran my fingers down my stomach and rubbed them against my clit. He kissed my neck, sucking my skin between his teeth and biting down, his hand still tangled in my hair. I moved lower, brushing my fingertips along his cock as it surged inside me.

“Fuck.” He groaned and squeezed my nipple, twisting it between his thumb and index finger and pressing me into the tree. “This is all I could think about. Every day. Every night. Every time I closed my eyes. You.” As if the admission made him angry, he bit my shoulder.

My body was drawing into itself, the pressure sweet and tense between my thighs. I stroked my clit to his harsh pace. He maintained the bite on my shoulder, like an animal in heat, a wolf pouncing on its mate.

“Give me your fingers.”

I pulled them away and lifted them over my shoulder. He sucked them into his mouth, his tongue licking them clean as he groaned and pounded me harder. My body was strung tight, his tongue on my fingers kicking my heat up a notch.

Once satisfied, he released them. “I want you to come on my cock.”

I snaked my fingers back down and rubbed my swollen nub. He sank his teeth into my shoulder again and fucked me roughly as I cried out and scraped against the tree. My pussy constricted and my hips tensed.

The tiny explosions grew inside me until I couldn’t stop the cresting wave.

“Sin!” My body shuddered as I came, and my mind went completely blank.

He growled into my skin and slammed inside me, staying deep as his cock kicked and shot in strong spurts. I let my hand fall and leaned my head against the tree. He grunted and thrust one more time before kissing the vicious bite mark that would surely bruise.

“I needed that. You. I needed you.” He rested his forehead against my shoulder and steadied his breathing.

I turned to him. “I needed you, too.”

He kissed me softly, his lips a gentle melody instead of the crashing crescendo of a few moments earlier.

“Stella?” Dmitri’s voice drifted on the warm air.

“Shit.” I pushed back against Sin.

He didn’t move, just shoved his hips forward, his half-mast cock sending a tingle through me.

“Krasivaya? We train?” His voice sounded closer.

“Sin, he’s going to see. Get off.”

“I already got off once. I’d like to do it again.” He smoothed a hand down my stomach and rubbed my too-sensitive clit.

“No.” I jerked at his touch.

“I like it when you fight.” His voice was a low rasp.

“You haven’t seen me fight. Not yet.” I tried to buck him, but it only pushed him in deeper.

He grunted and pulled my hair, still thrusting his cock slowly inside me. “You’ll have to do better than that.”

“Krasivaya?” Dmitri was close and getting closer.

Panic rose right along with my embarrassment at the thought of getting caught.

“Fight some more. Come on. You know I enjoy it.” Sin’s voice in my ear was hell, his mastery of my body, heaven.

“You asked for it.” I reached over my head and grabbed a fistful of his hair, yanking viciously while I simultaneously threw my elbow back.

He grunted and backed off enough so I could spin to face him. The move dislodged his cock, but I scraped my side on the tree bark as I went.

His eyes were full of amusement, even as he tilted his head to the side because of my grip of his hair. He shoved me back into the tree. “What now?”

“Now she throat punch you.” Dmitri walked around the trunk, and I scrambled to pull up my pants. My shirt had thankfully fallen to cover my breasts.

Sin, not caring about his state of undress, glared at Dmitri. “Get the fuck out of here. We’re busy.”

“She need practice.” Dmitri looked everywhere but at me.

“No shit. You’ve been teaching her to pull hair? That’s it?” Sin tucked his cock back in and zipped up. “That’s not good enough.”

“Not good enough for what?” Dmitri exploded forward until he and Sin were almost nose to nose. “What you do to her? What?”

“Fuck off, Russian. This won’t end well for you.” A wave of menace rolled off Sin like heat rising from pavement.

“Stop.” I pushed at their shoulders. Neither man backed away.

“Stay out of this, Krasivaya. If he will not tell me truth, I beat it from him.” Dmitri’s scowl would have made even the fiercest fighter balk, but it seemed to only make Sin angrier, more ready to spill blood.

“Let’s show him. Come on, Dmitri.” I backed away from the shadow beneath the tree and out into the sunny grass. An ache shot between my legs thanks to Sin’s attentions, but I had to separate the bristling men before they fought. “Let’s spar.”

“I rather
spar
with Sinclair.”

Shit.
“Please?” I tried my best wheedling tone. “Don’t you want to help me get better?”

Soft-hearted Dmitri broke his death stare with Sin and glanced at me. “I do.”

“Come on then.” I brought my fists up. “I need help.”

Dmitri snarled at Sin. “This not over.”

Sin grinned. “Go on. Show me the tricks you learned in your Russian gutter. Let me see what I’ve been paying for.”

“Sin!” I hissed.

“What?” He shrugged as Dmitri turned and entered the sunlight with me. Crossing his arms over his chest, Sin tilted his chin up. “Show me what you’ve got besides hair pulling.”

“Position one, Krasivaya.”

I bent slightly at the knees and kept my hands up, palms open. Dmitri ran at me. I shifted my weight to the side, let him barrel past, and aimed a kicked at the back of his knee. He stumbled and then straightened.

“Good. Position Two.”

I straightened, hands still up, as Dmitri approached. He drew back his right fist and aimed it at my face. He jabbed and I dodged, slapping his fist away and shoving hard against his arm to throw him off balance. He took a step and caught himself.

“Attack.” He bent at the knees and waved me to him.

I edged to his right and darted in, aiming the tips of my straight fingers at his throat. He swung when I got close. His fist grazed the top of my head as I ducked and stabbed upward with my hand, but he caught my wrist before I made contact.

“Good.” He grunted his approval.

“Your greatest strength is surprise. Your greatest skill—speed. Do not forget, Krasivaya. You look weak. You small.” He tapped the side of my head. “Use to your advantage.”

Sin approached. “She’s got a few moves. I can see that. But I think you could have done more to—”

I exploded off the ground and kicked my legs up. Sin wasn’t quick enough this time, so I was able to straddle his neck and take him down. Landing on his back, he tried to shove me off. I tightened my legs around his neck as I sat on his chest, pinning him.

I pulled my fist back and smiled in triumph. “I could break your nose if I wanted to.”

He glanced between my thighs, his eyes sparkling in the sun, before staring up at me. “I think I like this brand of training.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

S
INCLAIR

I
RAN MY FINGERS
through her hair, sifting the strands while my mind did the same with memories. She slumbered at my side, snuggled up to my darkness as if it gave off some sort of heat. The only warmth I had was a reflection of hers. Nothing more.

Sun streamed through her bedroom windows, lighting the bed and the quilts along the walls. Mother still asked every so often if I would make one to commemorate my Acquisition, as if it were a badge of honor. I enjoyed disappointing her each time she brought it up. If it were up to me, I’d destroy every one of them.