“I can take these off too,” he offered, his voice low and sultry.
Ivan’s hand drifted to Nix’s waist, fingering the lacy band of his panties, and then dipped just below, his light touch sending tingles along Nix’s skin. But he stayed silent.
Of course. In all the hubbub, Nix had let himself forget Ivan’s preposterous “one time only” assertion and his own annoyance with it.
Nix didn’t want one time. He wanted all the times. It had been the hottest thing in the world, to have Ivan’s harsh grip in his hair and his full cock in Nix’s mouth, his hips thrusting hard enough to bruise Nix’s throat (if he were human, that was). To have him lose control of that tight restraint of his, all at Nix’s hands.
No illusions. No tricks. Just Ivan wanting Nix exactly as he was, so fiercely he’d been mad with it.
“What will happen if you fuck me, Ivan?” Nix asked softly,running his hands along Ivan’s broad shoulders. “Will the world collapse?”
Ivan snapped Nix’s waistband against his skin. “Bratva men…they’re old-fashioned. Toxic, Sascha would say. It was challenge enough with Alexei and Sascha preferring men. But all three of us? The leader of the family? I’d be shot in my sleep.”
Nix scoffed. “I’m not sure if you noticed, baby, but you were just shot at in broad daylight.”
“That’s different.” Ivan shook his head. “I’ve spent my entire adult life trying to protect Sascha from the wrath of men too bigoted to—”
Nix cut in, impatient, “Then replace your men.”
Ivan stopped short, his fingers twitching against Nix’s skin. “What?”
“We’re already tidying things up around here, aren’t we?” Nix continued, eager to have Ivan finally listening. “Then let’s switch itallup, hm? Why shouldn’t you be able to do whatever you want?Fuckwhoever you want? You’re the one in charge.”
Ivan’s gaze snapped to his. “And the men who won’t follow?”
“What happens to Mafia men who disobey the boss?”
“Vicious,” Ivan murmured, repeating Nix’s assertion from earlier. His pupils were taking over his pale eyes, and the desire in the air was thickening.
Nix lowered his voice, letting himself sway into him. “They all knew what they were getting into, didn’t they? You can still have your empire. But it will be one ofyourmaking, not this mess your father left you.”
Ivan’s hand had dipped lower into Nix’s panties, his fingers practically brushing at the base of Nix’s cock. Nix stepped even closer, running his nose along the line of Ivan’s neck. “Does that turn you on, Vanya?” he murmured, already knowing the answer. “The thought of taking charge so absolutely?”
Ivan’s laugh had a bitter edge to it, even as he continued to stroke Nix’s skin. “It’s why my brothers hate me. The fact that I want it so badly. They think I should reject it all, not covet it.” He wrapped his free hand around Nix’s throat, stilling his movements and catching his eye. “Does that disgust you too?”
Disgust him? How could Nix be disgusted by Ivan? By a little thing like Ivan wanting a bit of power in a world that had proven to be harsh and terrifying?
Nix wouldn’t want to be powerless here either.
And Ivan seemed to keep forgetting that Nix had tasted his very soul—he knew all its sour and bitter pockets already. There wasn’t anything Ivan could say or do that would surprise Nix into hating him.
Nix had been around humans for many, many years. Ivan was hardly the worst of them.
“You think I care about human morals, Vanya?” Nix laughed, low and throaty. “I like that you’re vicious, baby. That you want to keep your crooked little kingdom. And if you go too far, I’ll be here to rein you in.”
There was another charged moment, the air between them electric, and then Ivan was tugging at the waistband of Nix’s panties. “Take these off.Now.”
Nix arched a brow. “No more one-time thing?”
“Fuck one time. You’remydemon,” Ivan growled, tightening his hand around Nix’s throat as he lowered his mouth to his. “I’ll have you whenever the fuck I want you.”
As Ivan claimed his mouth, Nix had to backtrack and give a bit of credit to their fake deliveryman. Because if Nix had known getting shot was the key to breaking down a few more of Ivan’s barriers, he’d have managed it day one.
“Off,” Ivan growled, repeating his demand and breaking the kiss to stare daggers at Nix’s offending panties.
Nix could have disappeared his underwear the same way he’d disappeared the rest, but he chose to slide them down instead, enjoying the way Ivan’s gaze was locked onto everything he revealed. Locked onto Nix’s dick, in fact.
It was a nice dick, if Nix did say so himself. Slimmer than Ivan’s, but long enough, and with such pretty colors, a dark red at the base lightening to a pale lavender at the narrowed head.
