The sensation forced her to close her eyes, her hands found his black hair, and she pulled at him. Her hips jerked as he played with her, rubbing all the right places inside her.
“You are mine, Deva. Do you fucking understand? Your body, your soul. I can’t breathe without you, and you can’t come without me.”
“Aleksei, please.” Shedding any form of shame, Deva decided that going after what she wanted was much more important than anything else. “Then take me, mark me, brand me, but don’t leave me alone in the dark. I can’t stand being without you.”
As he unfastened his pants, Aleksei’s fierceness and anger were slowly being replaced by need and something she saw as a ragged vulnerability. When he plunged into her in one swift movement, his body shuddered, and he leaned over, placing one arm on each side of her head.
“Damn, Deva. I’m too rough, insane. I’m hurting you.”
He was right on all fronts, but she was past the point of rescue. “Fuck me, Aleksei. I want it. I need it. I need you!”
The fire returned to his eyes with a vengeance. It was his time to move his hips, and he slammed into her. Over and over again, he pounded his hard cock inside her, smashing his pelvic bone onto her clit, fully clothed and eyes burning so hot, there would be nothing of her when it was over.
The tempo increased, and Deva framed his face covered with sweat, desperate to kiss him, but he evaded her lips.
“No, not before you come, not before you scream my name and submit, Deva.”
And then he twisted his hips, increasing the friction inside her until she couldn’t do anything but let go. Orgasm rendered her blind to the world as she was swiped by a pleasure so intense, it was impossible for her to think. Her body tensed until she thought she would break in two, and when finally falling back into herself, Aleksei came with a gut-wrenching groan that propelled her on another wave of pleasure. He repeatedly jerked, lost, and collapsed on top of her, Russian words purring in her ear between two gulps of air.
Dizzy, but content, Deva circled his shoulders. As she reveled in the heaviness of his spent body over hers and his cock still pulsating inside her core, Deva moved her hand to stroke his hair. The inky strands were damp and so soft, such a stark difference with his hard, muscled frame. This strong man. One she’d almost never had the chance to see again. Deva fought against the images of the cell that invaded her mind. The fear that had almost consumed her and the sadness of never seeing this man again. And the doubts still lurking inside her. Tears clogged her throat, and she tightened her hold on him, burying her face in his shoulder, inhaling his scent as his hair tickled her cheek.
Sensing her distress, Aleksei tried to pull away, but she only tightened her grip as tears started falling and a sob escaped her lips.
“Deva?Lyubimaya?”
But she didn’t say a word, his tender voice breaching the dam of tears and agony even more. Holding him like a lifeline, as if she would die if not touching him, she sobbed even harder, tears streaming ceaselessly now. Not fighting her anymore, Aleksei rolled them over until she was on top of him, and his arms were holding her tight. One hand in her hair, he mumbled senseless words, a mix of English and Russian, until all her fears, sorrows, and anger had left her body, replaced by the coldness of reality. Spent by their lovemaking and the tears, Deva finally relaxed, her breath calming down while Aleksei never stopped caressing her hair and her naked back. Long minutes passed, and she just listened to his heart beating in his chest.
Then, gently, his hand cupped her cheek and forced her to look at him. She had frightened him, and there was also doubt in his stormy eyes. “Lyubimaya? Tell me why you are crying. Have I...”
She stopped him immediately. “No, it’s not you. I never regret anything I do with you. Even though I may be a little pissed off later when I see the extent of the bruises and love bites you left on me.”
But he didn’t smile at her pitiful jest. “Tell me why the tears, Deva.”
There was no way to hide from him. “I remembered the hours I spent in that cell after Semyon knocked me unconscious and kidnapped me, and the thoughts of never seeing you again. It was unbearable. And I realized that...”
The words got stuck on the edge of her lips. The three words that she had vowed to tell him if she ever survived and had the chance, and now her courage turned into cowardice. There he was, looking at her with his mercury eyes, waiting patiently for her.
“I realized that if I died, I would regret one thing. Not telling you one thing. I love you, Aleksei.”
It took a moment for him to register the words. When he did, his mouth opened, astonishment clearly etched on his handsome features. He licked his lips, about to speak when someone knocked at the door, Gabrielle’s voice coming from the other side.
“Deva? Aleksei? We need you now. We have news about Sasha.”
