hot and unrelenting. I was sure once I had it, this obsession would subside.
Then I could have my cake and eat it too.
“She has a hickey on the inside of her thigh,” Kristian mentioned casually.
My gaze could kill a lesser man. I should have rolled Mila into a nun’s habit instead of leaving her naked, though even if I had, my brother would still come away with provoking observations. I was now regretting his open invitation.
“Normal people have normal hobbies,” I said. “Why don’t you find one that doesn’t include dissecting everyone around you?”
A smile played in his eyes. “You’re twice as fucked up as I am.”
“The fact you find the idea of me going down on a woman more concerning than her being my prisoner tells a different story.”
“I just find the former a bit out of character. And interesting.”
“You find infomercials interesting, so forgive me if your curiosity about my sex life doesn’t hold much weight.”
I could count how many times I’d given oral on one hand. All of those encounters happened when I was a young, horny teenager; when I couldn’t stop myself from eating the pussy spread out in front of me. But once I’d gotten familiar with it, the desire waned beneath the cold, childhood memory of seeing the sexual act through a cracked closet door—including my mother’s day job as a whore and the sick perversions she and her clients forced upon my brother. I could only blame almost going down on Mila on the fact seeing her naked, tied up, and at my mercy really fucking turned me on.
Gianna slipped into the room and moved to her suitcase near the couch. My gaze followed her movements as she grabbed something from the chaotic pile of clothes inside. She glanced at me. My expression darkened, telling her if she was clothing my little captive, I would teach her daughter every Russian curse word I knew. And between living on the streets and prison, I knew a few.
She glared and disappeared out the door.
“Your wife better not be freeing my collateral,” I said, biting my cigar between my teeth.
“It’s not like she’ll get far.”
Eighty acres of remote land surrounded the house. It was a four-hour walk under the best conditions. Even if Mila managed the snowy jaunt before I could catch her, I’d have all five-thousand men in my arsenal on her tail. She’d never make it out of Russia.
My brother worked for the corrupt director of the FBI and could probably find Alexei if I asked him to. Then we would be done with this whole charade. But this was my fight, not his.
“How’s the one-pussy life treating you?” I drawled.
His gaze hardened.
A smile touched my lips. He was so touchy about his little wife. He was never exactly a sharer before her, but now all locker-room talk was completely off the table. He didn’t even seem to give a shit a woman had him by the balls. I never thought I’d see the day. Our mother had fucked all of the love right out of us—figuratively at least. Although . . . the analogy hit so close to home, dark amusement rose in me.
“I haven’t exactly heard of any of your recent exploits lately,” he said. “Well, except for the teenager in your bed.”
I tapped my cigar on my desk, holding his gaze. “I’ve been busy.”
“Too busy for Nadia Smirnova?”
When we were younger, I was the sidekick standing next to my brother’s ridiculous face. I always had to put in a little effort with women, but it only made me excel at the chase. It’d taken fifteen minutes to fuck opera singer and spank-bank legend Nadia Smirnova facedown on my desk a year ago. She was easy and up for anything, though her jealousy was becoming more trouble than she was worth.
“Nadia likes to be slapped around when she comes. It’s starting to kill the mood.”
“Charming.”
I chuckled.
His eyes settled on the claw marks on my neck. “It seems you haven’t tamed your pet yet.”
I rocked back in my chair. “Good things come in time.”
He stood, lifting Kat in his arms. “Your revenge is in your hands.” He stopped in front of the door and turned to me. “I’d advise you to take it and stop playing with your food before it bites back.”
I held in my response. It had to do with assuring him I wouldn’t eat my pet—at least in the way he suggested—and saying that would just give him more ammo