Page 44 of Bratva Daddies for the Single Mom

“Yes.” She screamed around Fyodor’s cock. “Harder. Oh, God, I’m going to explode. Give me more.” Fyodor shoved his cock back into her mouth and fucked it like a dying man given one last wish.

His back bowed, a grimace twisting his lips.

Ilya and I nodded to one another and gave Annie exactly what she asked for. My body seized in the grasp of pleasure so powerful it locked me up, my cock so deep in Annie’s ass that I felt her heartbeat. Or perhaps it was mine, channeled into her. We were connected, our bodies bound tightly as we came, the four of us riding the crest and crashing together. I reached past Annie to grasp the back of the couch and shifted my hips in tiny thrusts, emptying everything inside her in an orgasm that seemed to last forever.

Annie collapsed onto Ilya’s chest after releasing Fyodor, who dropped onto the couch beside Ilya and threw both arms over his head. We all worked on catching our breath. I smoothed both hands up Annie’s spine and back down, enjoying the feel of her softness to contradict all the rough in me. I’d grown up sharpand quick. My father called me ill-tempered and quick to anger, something he took pride in. Ilya and Fyodor balanced the chaos of my mind, and Annie balanced my heart and soul. No woman had ever come close to touching me the way she did. I’d do more than kill for her. Killing came too easy to be a compliment for what Annie gave me. I would love her. I would take the risks that came with exposing what little softness I possessed. I would do my best to cultivate my world into something that pleased her and made her want to stay.

“I may not be able to walk for a few days.” Annie chuckled into Ilya’s shoulder. “My knees feel like jelly.”

“Take a few days off work to recover.” I slid out of her and forced my weakened legs to carry me a step closer. “Come.”

“I don’t think I can. I came so hard I still feel it.” Her hands fluttered around in soft pats that tapped her head and shoulders, then her belly. “I’m full of butterflies.”

“Then I’ll carry you.” It was simple enough to slide my hands beneath her knees and back and lift her to my chest. I carried her to the bathroom attached to my office, going all the way to the glass shower before I stopped and lowered her onto a stool. “Annie, I’m sorry.”

“For what?” She stared at me, her gaze soft and her body going limp.

I turned on the shower and washed us both, being careful not to scrub her soft skin too hard. “I’m sorry I lost my temper with you. I am not proud of my actions.”

“You’re a proud man.” She tapped my nose with her index finger. “I’m sorry you lost your temper too. But the make-up sex was almost worth it.” Holding her thumb and forefinger a millimeter apart, she held it up in line with my eye. “Almost. It was great sex. Maybe even the best yet, but sex doesn’t heal wounds like that. Apologies do.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and kissed my cheek.

If I hadn’t been with her the last several hours, I’d think her drunk. Perhaps she was drunk on sex and pleasure. The giddy feeling bubbling around in my chest suggested I was right. “What are your daughters like?” After discovering their existence, I’d experienced a deep need to know all about them. Not knowing who their father was didn’t matter. Annie was part of our lives, and so were Hailey and Hannah. I craved knowledge where all three were concerned.

Annie took the rag from me and ran it across my chest and shoulders. “They’re amazing. Too smart for their own good sometimes. They have my sense of humor, which I’m sure I’ll regret when they’re old enough to understand sarcasm.” Her smile turned wistful. “They are the single most incredible gifts I’ve ever been given.”

Questions threatened to burst from me. Questions I had no right to ask because they insinuated things about her that I knew were not true. My own mother abandoned me. My father told me never to trust a woman because they would not accept our life. Annie knew us. Perhaps she didn’t yet know the darkest parts, the true depths of what it meant to be Bratva, but she gave herself to us time after time, showing us new ways to love and be loved in return. Sex was not love. I knew that. But her willingness, her open vulnerability, the way she loved and protected her children, and her damned refusal to let me control her life showed me she was nothing like the woman who birthed me.

“What is your favorite memory of them?” An innocuous enough question, but it had depth to it that caused Annie to stop and think.

She finished washing my shoulders and made a twirling motion with her finger. “Turn around and let me get your back.”

“I’m supposed to be taking care of you.”

The smile I’d grown to love dimpled her cheeks. “You did. You are. And you need someone to take care of you. Let me do that. It’s not much.”

“It’s more than you know.” It was more than anyone else had ever offered. I gave her my back, something I’d never done before except to Fyodor and Ilya. No matter the meeting, the situation, or the circumstance, I always made people stay in front of me.

Her hands moved back and forth, taking the rag from shoulder to shoulder and down my spine. Water crashed over us, the warm spray loosening my tense muscles and sending steam billowing out to fill the room. “My favorite memory. Most women probably say the minute they laid eyes on their children. I fell in love with them, don’t get me wrong. I loved them from the minute I held the positive pregnancy test in my hands.”

I tried to imagine a pregnant Annie. The sight of her stomach growing with child landed in my chest with a visceral punch that tore my heart and wrenched the protective aspect of my personality to the surface. Would she stay with us long enough to have our child? We’d never used protection. She’d been given something the night of the auction, but what about all the other times? Another question for another day.

“My favorite memory is from a year ago. I’d been working long hours to help cover rent, and I came home completely exhausted. The kind of tired that sleep can’t fix. We always struggled with money. I was stressed and all I wanted was to go to bed, cover my head, and cry.” Her movements slowed and her arms slipped around my neck until her cheek pressed against mine. “The girls ran into the living room, grabbed my hands, and pulled me into their bedroom. They’d spent hours creating a blanket fort. They picked a movie for us to watch and begged me to stay with them all night. That was when I realized that their happiness didn’t hinge on money. They had no concept of it. Allthey wanted was my time, my love.” She squeezed just enough for me to feel her arms constrict. “I still worry about money. I don’t want us to end up homeless, but I’ve been able to fight back against that sense of hopelessness. Nothing is hopeless unless you give up, and I’m not a quitter.”

“No, you’re not.” I turned and kissed her. I had been given the exact opposite of Annie’s girls. My father gave me anything money could buy. The only time I held his attention was when he trained me to take over for him. It was a painful, lonely existence made tolerable by Ilya and Fyodor. If my father knew how much they’d meant to me, he would have gotten rid of them.

“Your girls take after you. You’ve shown them true happiness and love. They’ll never forget that. They will grow up loving and kind, as you are.” I stood, bringing her to her feet along with me by gripping her arms so she dangled down my back like a monkey. “I look forward to the day you let us meet them.” Stepping out of the shower, I lowered her to the floor and found towels for us in the cabinet. Annie started to take one from me, stopping when I shook my head and held it out, motioning for her to step into it. I wrapped it around her twice, tucking the end into the top and framing her face in my hands. She stared up at me, eyes bright with what I dared to dream might someday turn into love. I asked about her and her children because it intrigued me. My response was a surprise, though I should have seen it coming. I was falling for this wonderful woman.

23

ANNIE

I’d expected the men to pick up me and the girls and take us back to their mansion, but I hadn’t expected them to lead us down a second hallway I’d never noticed and into a three-lane bowling alley.

Hannah and Hailey bolted to the row of bowling balls and started turning each of them around, picking them up from the racks, and arranging them by color.

Fyodor chuckled when Hailey complimented Hannah on finding the right color to match her bowling ball, and the two of them giggled incessantly, their joy bringing a whole new level of happiness to the room.

“Food is almost here.” Ilya checked his watch. “I’ll bring it in.” He wiggled his fingers toward Hailey. “We’ll start a game when I return.”

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