Page 26 of Bribed & Bred By the BRATVA
“You can watch him from the window,” Aleksei murmurs behind me. “Your room in the south side faces this way. You’ll see the pool house from your bed.”
My throat closes again. “You planned that.”
“Of course.”
I don’t know whether to thank him for thinking of everything, or to fall apart from the relief that he did.
I follow him back outside. The sun glints off the water. I pause, looking back through the glass door. Mateo is already asleep, curled under fresh sheets, color in his cheeks.
Tears sting my eyes. I swipe them away quickly, before Aleksei can see.
But of course, he does. He always does. His hand curves around my jaw, tilting my face up. “He is safe. You are safe. Say it.”
The command shivers through me. My voice trembles, but I manage the words. “He is safe. I am safe.”
“Good girl,” he murmurs, and kisses me like the truth is sealed on my lips.
Aleksei
The house is quiet. Mateo sleeps in the pool house. The guards have rotated twice; the grounds are still. For the first time in days, there is only her and me.
She sits on my bed, hair loose around her shoulders, nightdress soft against her skin. Her hands twist in her lap, nervous and uncertain, though her eyes betray the truth. She wants me.
I step closer, slow enough that she can feel the weight of every inch I close between us. My hand cups her jaw, thumb stroking her cheek. Her lips part, soft and trembling.
“You think I only want to take from you,” I murmur. “That all I know is roughness. But I want to worship you, Isa. Every inch. Every breath. Until you understand there is no part of you I don’t claim.”
Her breath hitches. “Aleksei…”
I kiss her before the fear can take root. Slow. Deliberate. My lips moving against hers like I have forever to teach her what I mean. She sighs into me, her hands lifting hesitantly to clutch my shirt.
“Lie back,” I whisper against her mouth.
She does, stretching across the dark sheets, pale skin glowing under the lamplight. I strip slowly, letting her watch, letting hersee the hunger in me that doesn’t waver. When I join her on the bed, I don’t rush. I take my time.
I kiss her throat. Her collarbone. The slope of her shoulder. I linger at each place until she squirms beneath me, until her voice breaks on a gasp. My hands map her body like territory, not to conquer, but to honor.
“You are mine,” I tell her, pressing my lips to the soft underside of her arm. “This skin. This blood.”
My mouth trails lower, across the swell of her breast. She arches, a moan spilling from her lips. I take her nipple between my teeth, gentle, teasing, then soothe it with my tongue until she’s trembling.
“This,” I growl softly, “will change when you carry my child. Heavier. Fuller. You’ll ache, and I’ll be the one to soothe you. I’ll fuck you and suck you with until your milk spills sweet across my tongue.”
Her whole body shudders, torn between shame and heat. “Aleksei—”
I don’t let her hide. I move lower, kissing every inch of her stomach, my hand spreading wide across her belly. “And here. I’ll fuck you when you’re round and swollen, when your body shows the proof of me. I’ll watch you walk through these halls with my seed heavy inside you, and I’ll never let anyone forget who put it there.”
Her hands clutch at my hair, her thighs opening for me without thought. Her breath is ragged, begging even as the words stick in her throat.
I slide lower, settling between her legs, kissing the inside of her thigh. “Even here,” I murmur, “I will worship you. Every night. Every day. Until you know that your pleasure is mine to guard, to build, to break.”
My tongue finds her, slow and reverent. I taste her like she’s communion, savoring every flicker of heat. She gasps, writhing, but I hold her steady, drinking in every sound. When she breaks apart, it’s soft and desperate, her body trembling under my hands.
I don’t stop. I rise over her, sliding into her slowly, inch by inch, until she’s filled to the hilt. Her nails bite my shoulders. Her eyes lock on mine.
“Breathe,” I whisper. “Feel me. Every part of you was made for this.”
I move slow. Deep. Each thrust drawn out, giving her time to feel the stretch, the fullness, the inevitability. She clings to me, whimpering my name, her body answering mine with every shiver.
