Page 89 of Dangerous Strokes

I lean back a fraction, dragging my gaze down her body, then back up into those steel eyes.

“And you thought it would be smart to come here, amongst all these men, dressed like… you want to be undressed.” I’m fucking thirsty. If Midnight wasn’t full, I would throw her over the bar and lick her cunt until she quenched this unbearable feeling.

“I just”—she drags her bottom lip into her mouth, unsure of her words—“wanted to make sure you still want to be the one to warm my bed.”

What the fuck?

I lean over her, but don’t touch her. Close enough that I can smell the orange juice on her lips, feel the heat of her skin, the desire coursing through her pulse. She thinks she can come here dressed like she wants to be fucked, with ridiculous notions that I might not want to warm her bed.

“Little witch, I want to set it on fire.”

At those words, her eyes seem to sparkle, before she closes them for a moment as she slowly fills her lungs with air. Her breath brushes against me, the air far too hot, my cock far too hard, her body a glowing vision of need.

“I wasn’t sure. After all this time…”

“Don’t confuse my patience and respect for lack of hunger. I can barely contain myself, Annika. You look insatiable right now, but you could be wearing a goddamn potato sack and I would still want to rip every inch of it off your body and bury myself in that tight cunt of yours.”

She gasps, a cute little gasp that quickens her breaths, her breasts twitching in a way that drives me even more mad. The pregnancy has started to fill her body in all the right ways, and I’m not sure she fully understands how fucking gorgeous she looks in her evolving form.

“You even got our new men mad with lust. They had their eyes on you from the moment you stepped foot in here. One of them almost came here, to this bar, to try to take what’smine.” A low rumble that sounds more like a growl escapes my throat.

“Yours…” she says on a breathy voice.

“I should introduce you. After all, they need to know who you are and who you belong to.”

She doesn’t question my words.

“And after that?”

“After that, you can show me exactly how much you and your greedy pussy need me.”

She swallows roughly, her skin bursting with goosebumps as a shudder passes through her, and I back up slightly. She breaks eye contact, gets her drink, throws away the straw, and downs half of it, before turning back.

“Okay, let’s go. Now.”

I can’t help the grin. I like the bossy side of her, the needy one.

When I look back in the corner where I left our men, the same two are still stealing glances, while others have joined. Some aren’t looking in our direction, but a bit beyond us—Ekaterina and Ashley.

“Katya,” I get her attention, “shall I introduce you two?”

She nods, picks up her clear drink that I can guarantee is vodka, and we all walk together toward our men. The two I left there straighten in an instant.

“Gentlemen, may I introduce you to Ashley”—I point to the blonde woman—“one of our valuable employees. She and her colleagues are to be protected and kept an eye on at all times. But Ekaterina”—I glance at the redhead woman who looks like she could eat them all whole—“is the one who will give you all the information you need to know about that side of the business. It operates a bit differently. She’s very protective of her girls, and she’ll cut you just as easily as she would cut a stranger. What she says goes. Understood?” More men gather before us, and they all nod almost in unison.

Otto and Stefan can barely contain their gaze from flickering to the women standing to my right.

“And finally, this is Annika Backstrom, future Mrs. Hennessey, and mother to my unborn child.”

I almost laugh when their faces drop, a sickly color taking over their features.

“Mr—” One begins to speak.

“Now, we’re going to leave, but I’ll see you boys tomorrow,” I interrupt.

“Yes, sir, of course.”

I spin on my heel, grabbing Annika’s hand and pulling her with me as we head toward the back.

---