Page 88 of Vendetta Crown

With her other hand, she reaches beneath the water, finding my cock and wrapping her fingers around it.

I suck in a sharp breath as she begins to stroke me, her grip firm yet gentle as she brings me back to life. The sensation of her hand underwater, slick and warm, sends electricity through my veins.

Her thumb circles the sensitive head of my cock. I groan against her lips as my fingers part her legs further, until my hand cups her pussy through the steam curling all around us.

She deepens the kiss, and her tongue sweeps into my mouth slowly. My cock throbs in her grasp. I groan into her mouth as her fingers tighten around me, working me with slow, deliberate strokes.

My fingers find her clit beneath the water, and circle the sensitive nub. She gasps against my lips, her body tensing briefly before melting back against my chest.

"Don't stop," she whispers, her voice catching as I increase the pressure of my touch.

I have no intention of stopping. Not when she feels this good in my arms. Not when her hand is working magic on my cock, stroking me from base to tip with a perfect rhythm that has my toes curling.

Our hands move faster, matching each other's pace. The water sloshes gently around us, tiny waves lapping at the edges of the tub as our movements grow more frantic.

Aurora's breathing quickens, little moans escaping her lips between kisses. Each sound she makes sends fire through my veins. I swallow her moans with my mouth, giving her my own in return.

"Ruslan," she breathes my name like a prayer. "Right there."

I keep my fingers exactly where they are, circling her clit with the pressure I know she loves. Her hand moves faster on my cock, thumb swiping over the sensitive head with each upstroke.

The bathroom fills with the sounds of our pleasure. Soft moans. Wet kisses. Ragged breaths. Through the window, the sky shifts from dusky purple to pale blue, bathing us in the gentle light of dawn.

We stay like this, locked together in our mutual pleasure as the world outside awakens. Golden light spills across her skin, illuminating the water droplets that cling to her shoulders like tiny diamonds.

The sky outside brightens further, casting long shadows across the floor. But I barely notice.

I'm too lost in her.

Too lost in us to care about anything beyond this perfect moment.

23

AURORA

SIX WEEKS LATER

I stareat the screen as the credits roll.

My fingers are locked so tightly around Ruslan's that I'm not sure where my hand ends and his begins. We've just finished watching the first cut of the entire documentary.

Everything about my life, my wounds, and my family's murder has been condensed into ninety harrowing minutes.

I feel like I can't breathe, even though my lungs are working just fine.

Ruslan's thumb traces circles on my skin, grounding me when I feel like I'm floating away.

The lights come up slowly, but I keep my eyes fixed on the screen, now just a blank canvas.

It was one thing to play my mother and walk onto the set. But it was another thing entirely to see the finished product like this.

Like I was being cleaved in two.

One half of me was Aurora Dragunov reciting lines and slipping into her role. The other was Jamie Fields, screaming and collapsing again as her world ended.

"Are you alright?" Ruslan's voice pulls me out of my own thoughts.

"I..." I swallow, trying to find words. "I don't know. Seeing everything laid out like this. My past, my family, Kristofer, and becoming who I am now. I think I'll need a minute to take it all in."

---