"You're beautiful. And you're mine." He allowed his Russian accent to emphasize his declaration. He felt her little gasp and eased his weight partially off of her, reluctantly allowing his body to release hers. "Are you all right?" He went to his side, staying over her, keeping her from moving. His hand swept down her body, from the side of her breast down along her rib cage and waist to shape the curve of her hip.
She looked up at his face. "I'm not sure. I could have died and you're just an illusion." Her soft mouth curved into a smile. "I admit, it was a great way to go. I'm still feeling it."
He slid his hand around her thigh until his palm was inside, up close to the sweet junction between her legs. Her muscles still rippled and pulsed. He bent his head and pressed a kiss along the top of her breast. "In a minute I'll get a washcloth and take care of you, but I'm a little worn out."
She raised her eyebrow. "A Prakenskii? Worn out? What an admission."
Casimir knew she was struggling to figure out what she was supposed to do. She'd never taken a lover before. She hadn't given herself to anyone. She didn't trust. She avoided all relationships out of necessity. He knew, because it was the same for him. No woman had ever spent the night with him. He didn't sleep with others because he would be vulnerable in his sleep. Vulnerable equaled death in his world and in hers.
She started to slip out from under him, but the hand between her legs clamped down on her thigh. Her gaze jumped to his.
"We decided to do this thing, Giacinta. I'm not in it alone. I told you what to expect when you gave yourself to me. It was your choice. You don't get to take that decision back, not after that." He couldn't keep the harshness from his voice. She wasn't leaving his room. She wasn't leaving him. He didn't care if she felt vulnerable. He felt the same and she could just deal with it.
For the first time he saw indecision warring on her face. "I don't know what to do, Casimir. I really don't. I thought you'd want me to go to my own room. After. You know. After. I can't imagine you let other women stay with you."
"You aren't other women." He moved his hand from the warmth of her thighs to wrap his fingers around her wrist and draw her hand to him. "Lift up your palm."
Her breath caught in her throat. She tensed, curled her fingers into a tight fist and tried to pull her hand away. "No. I know what you're going to do and you can't."
"I have to. You're mine. You know you're mine. There isn't going to be another woman." He leaned over her. Close. His mouth inches from hers. His gaze holding her captive. "Can you still feel me inside of you?"
"Yes." The admission was low.
"I can still feel you wrapped around me. Tight and hot, Giacinta. You're in my bones now. Inside me. That isn't going away for either one of us. Open your fingers."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You get that I'm not a submissive woman, right? I don't let anyone tell me what to do."
"You get that I'm a dominant man, right?" he countered. "Being dominant doesn't mean I'm an asshole. I don't tell my woman to do something she doesn't want to do, and you want this every bit as much as I do. More, we need it. You're going after the man who betrayed your family..."
Her breath hissed out. "How do you know that? No one knows that."
"No one but you, me and your uncle," he corrected. "Open your fingers, Giacinta. I'm told this hurts for a moment, but then it's over and we're connected psychically. If I'm close, you can call me just by pressing your thumb into the middle of your palm. More, we can speak telepathically, which will help when we go after the man you need to kill and the Sorbacovs."
"You're going to be so annoying." She stilled her hand and allowed her palm to face him. "Just so you know, I can be equally as annoying."
"I don't doubt that for one minute." His grin flashed at her there in the dark.
His palm came up and he pushed air toward her and with it the energy rising like a tidal wave from his deepest core. She felt the zap like an electrical shock hit her palm and she cried out with surprise, while little sparks danced in the air between their open hands. She saw the mark, two intertwined circles blazing in the middle of her palm, fiery red and then golden before beginning to fade. Her skin itched all over her palm as the images faded. She could see the marks burned deep into his hand as well.
"I told my sisters I wouldn't let a Prakenskii claim me and now I'm a liar," she said with a little sigh. She pressed her head back into the pillows and smiled up at him. "I hope you know what we're doing, because I don't have a clue."
"We're going to find a way to come out of this alive. I hadn't planned on that when I made up my mind to take out the Sorbacovs, but now that I've found you, I have to figure it out." He brought her palm to the warm of his mouth and pressed a kiss into the faded image. "I'm sorry. I know that hurt. And I should have been more careful of your first time. I lost complete control."
She smiled at him, looking more temptress than angel. "I loved that you lost control, and I hope it happens many more times." She pulled his hand to her and pressed her own kiss over the mark. "I didn't have an exit plan either, not really. I didn't hold out much hope of survival, but the Sorbacovs put out a hit on the men in my family. I lost one family, I won't lose another."
"I'm good at what I do, malyshka. I've been in the business full-time. I know you're used to working solo. I am as well, but if we do this together, I think we have a much better chance of survival."
Lissa nodded slowly, her gaze turning thoughtful. Clearly, she accepted him already. It would be difficult for her to allow him to take the lead on accomplishing their goals, just as it would be for him to let her take the lead. It would take a little practice, learning to work together before they were ready to take on her first priority.
"Do you have everything you need to go after the man who betrayed your family?" Casimir kept his voice gentle. She had a difficult time talking about her family. Her body went tense and she avoided his eyes whenever the subject was brought up. He ran his hand up and down the curve of her bare hip soothingly.
"His name is Cosmos Agosto. He was young, just nineteen when my father hired him. He was really good-looking, at least to a six-year-old. My father and mother took him under their wing and made him a part of the family. I liked to spend time with him. He was really funny. He ate nearly every meal with us, and my parents really cared about him. If I wanted to play outside, if I was with him, none of the other men came with me, and I liked that. To this day, I'm uncomfortable with bodyguards."
"This man betrayed your family?" There was no way for Casimir to keep the menace from his voice. Loyalty was bred in him, deep in his bones. He hadn't seen his brothers more than once or twice in all the years that had gone by since Sorbacov's men had murdered his parents and the boys had been taken to the schools to train. Never once, in all that time, did he ever think of betraying his brothers. Not once. No matter what happened to him. He would endure whatever he had to in order to ensure their safety, even if that meant never seeing them again.
"Yes, he betrayed us all," she said, closing her eyes tight.
Casimir wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her body tight against his, needing to shelter her from the pain he heard in her voice. He knew about memories and how one had to lock them away to preserve sanity. "You don't have to tell me, golubushka." He bent his head to hers and brushed kisses along her temple.
"I do. You have to understand why I wanted to find him even more than I wanted to get to Aldo Porcelli."
"What exactly happened between your family and the Porcelli family?" He continued to soothe her with caresses along her hip. He knew it would be difficult for her to open up and share the information with anyone, after keeping silent for so many years.
"I was a child, but I remember a man coming on to my mother, trying to insist she go home with him. We were at a friend's house, and he came in with a lot of other men. I wasn't paying much attention until the room went really quiet. I could tell my mother was upset. She wanted to go and this man kept gr
abbing her arm and stopping her. No one said anything to him, not even when she told him he was hurting her. We left fast. She told my father, and right away, he told her to pack, that we had to leave immediately."
"It was Aldo Porcelli, not the acting boss, that made the pass at your mother? Because Aldo only recently came into power. His father died of a heart attack two years ago, and he stepped into his father's shoes."
"I was the heart attack," Lissa said quietly.
"What about your uncle? Why didn't he take out the Porcelli family in addition to the dog handler? Why put that on your shoulders?"
6
Lissa took a deep breath. She was uncomfortable discussing her family's history while lying naked in a bed with a man she'd just allowed to do all sorts of things to her. "If we're going to have this conversation, I need to get cleaned up."
"Your uncle very politely included a Jacuzzi in the bathroom. We can run hot water and soak with the jets on," he offered, sliding out of the bed immediately and extending his hand to her.
She took it reluctantly, felt his fingers close around hers and instantly felt safe. He seemed to be able to do that to her. Whenever she had conflicting emotions, if his hand was on her, she seemed to feel much calmer. She let him pull her from the bed and onto her feet. It wasn't as if she had tons of experience standing naked in front of men, but again, with his fingers tight around hers, she didn't feel as strange as she thought she might.
"It's essential my uncle doesn't know or even think that we're in a relationship of any kind, even if it's just having sex."
He stopped so fast that she bumped into him and he had to steady her. "Giacinta, I've had a lifetime of just sex, and what we did wasn't that."
She winced a little at the low, fierce note in his voice.
His fingers caught her chin in a firm grip, forcing her to meet his eyes. "I gave myself to you. The real me. I wanted to be gentle and tender and give you what you deserved, but with you, I lost control and that fire inside me I have to keep hidden at all times got loose. That doesn't mean what we did didn't mean anything."
"I know," she agreed instantly, giving him that. "I feel a little awkward, Casimir, because I don't know what I'm supposed to do."
He bent his head and skimmed his lips over hers. The light touch sent heat curling in the pit of her stomach and made her heart flutter. When he lifted his head, it was only a scant inch or two, leaving his silver eyes to pierce right through her, seeing too much. Seeing how vulnerable she felt.
"I just wanted to get that straight with you, Lissa. We're in this together."
She nodded her head, still very uneasy. She didn't know how to make him understand. He took them through to the bathroom and immediately turned on the dual faucets to fill the Jacuzzi. She wrapped her arms around herself, grateful he didn't turn on the overhead light. He snapped on a single nightlight that was plugged into the electrical outlet at the other end of the room.
"My uncle can't find out about us," she reiterated. "He would be upset. I don't honestly know what he'd do, but I don't want to chance anything going wrong."
"He won't find out. You can go back to your room before everyone wakes up. We both know where the cameras are and we can avoid them."
That was true. She could move all over the house and never be seen.
"Why didn't your uncle take care of the problem?" Casimir persisted. "And more to the point, why did the Porcelli family leave him alone? Your uncle had to have been the one to teach you your skills."
She bought a little time by deftly braiding the long length of her hair and tying the braid into a knot on top of her head. "Yes. Tio Luigi taught me the necessary skills to bring justice to those who murdered my parents. The Porcelli family was - and is - too powerful for the court justice system to work. They own half the police and judges."
"That doesn't tell me why Luigi didn't go after them himself." Casimir took her hand and helped her step over the side of the tub into the steaming water.
Lissa sank into the water, not realizing until that moment that she was shivering. She wrapped her arms around her middle and leaned back against the curved porcelain, watching him carefully. He was a beautiful man. Gorgeous. All rippling muscle. Very, very dangerous. She had known who he was on some level ever since she'd been around him. He had the same shape eyes and that watchful stillness and the confidence and graceful movements of his brothers. She hadn't caught it on the plane, and he'd been seated right next to her, annoying her every moment. She was going to have to get him back for that.
"Giacinta."
His voice was a gentle caress, playing over her skin and sinking into her cells until she felt him inside her. His voice was a weapon, just like everything else about him. She knew, from hearing what her sisters had told her, that the schools had including seduction and sexual training.
Casimir sank into the water and reached out a hand for her, spreading his legs wide. "Come here, malyshka."
She was already in so deep with him. She'd given herself to him. She'd trusted him, and by doing so, she'd put him in danger. Not just him, but her uncle as well. Luigi would never stand for this. Never. He wouldn't understand. He wouldn't even try. She shook her head.
"This was my mistake, Casimir. I wanted you so much, I wanted to feel real and I knew, with you, I could." It was only fair to give him the truth. "I didn't expect to have all the emotions I'm feeling right now toward you, but because I do, I have to tell you, we can't see each other again as long as I'm under this roof."
"Malyshka, I need you to come here to me." His eyes stayed steady on her face. His voice remained as gentle as ever. Gentle, but there was steel in it. He was a man who always got his way.
Lissa sighed and scooted around in the hot water until her back was against Casimir's chest and she was settled firmly between his legs. He wrapped his arms around her ribs, just under her breasts.
"Trust me to do what I have to do to take care of this. To take care of you. I've been alone my entire life, Lissa. Since I was a child. After a while, I couldn't even dream of having a life with a woman. You've handed me the most precious gift in the world. Do you really think I would screw that up?"
Lissa didn't reply. He'd handed her something equally precious. He'd seen past the mask she wore to her. He was the only person in her life... well... maybe his brother Gavriil had seen the real Lissa as well.
She let herself relax against Casimir's chest, and the instant she did, he buried his face against her neck, his teeth scraping back and forth against her sensitive skin. She was so susceptible to him, just that small action sent little darts of fire streaking like bullets through her body, straight to her core.
Lissa put both hands over his and let herself melt against him, surrounded by the steaming hot water. He touched a button and the jets activated, whirling bubbles around so that they popped and fizzed against their skin. Her body felt like a thousand tongues were teasing her.
"Tell me why your uncle didn't go after the Porcelli family."
He whispered the question against her ear, his lips brushing her lobe. Kissing the sensitive skin behind her ear. She felt his tongue stroke, tasting her, and she closed her eyes. He was a seducer, all right. She felt weak with wanting him - wanting to please him. "You wouldn't ever have to torture a woman for information. You could just hold her like this, in your strong arms, your mouth against her skin, and she'd blurt out every secret."
"I only want your secrets," he said, male amusement in his voice. "Tell me about Luigi. Your childhood. All of it."
She knew she was going to, she had known it all along. If she was going to become partners with this man, she had to tell him the truth about her family - even if that made her feel more vulnerable than ever. She didn't want to put her uncle in a bad light and she had a feeling Casimir Prakenskii wouldn't like what he'd done. The Prakenskii brothers were very protective men, especially around women and children. In some ways, in their characters, they were all very alike.
&
nbsp; "Giacinta."
Just her name. Her real name. A warning. Then his teeth found her lobe and he bit gently. A million butterflies took wing and her sex actually spasmed in response.
"Fine. Just don't judge us harshly."
"Malyshka, you're talking to a Prakenskii. My brothers hunted down the men who killed our parents one by one. They did it over time, much like you're doing with those who murdered your parents. If anyone is going to understand you, it will be me."
"Luigi was the enforcer for the family. He told me our organization was very small, only a few soldiers. We had a small territory and my father stayed allies with the Porcelli family because they were very large and much more violent. Luigi, when I was five, was diagnosed with MS - multiple sclerosis. He could no longer strike fear into anyone's heart. Once he was gone, my father was in trouble."
"He doesn't appear sick at all."
She shook her head. "He has long periods of remission and then without warning, the disease strikes and he can barely walk. My father insisted Tio Luigi retire for his safety. My uncle moved away from us because it was too difficult to be around my father without wanting to be a part of the business. He later told me he settled by the sea with the idea that he would find a way to get better. People forgot about him over the next two years."