Virtue Saved, page 3
Her first orgasm crested, and she moaned, pulling his hair as he continued to lap at her. When he finally lifted his head, his glossy lips smiled, and she realized that was her all over him. Pride filled her as he moved up her body.
“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked, concern in his gaze.
“Ya hochy tebya vnutri menya,” she moaned.
“What?”
Shit. She spoke Russian, giggling she pulled him closer, catching his mouth with hers and tasting her sex on his lips. She could not believe how erotic it was to kiss him after he made her come with his talented mouth.
“I said, I want you inside me, moy bogatyr,” she whispered, reaching between them, and placing his engorged cock at her entrance.
“Fuck,” Eduardo growled, closing his eyes as he flexed his hips, pressing an inch inside her. “So tight, mi fiera.”
Alina gasped, clutching his shoulders as he moved in another inch, then back again, She knew she was tense, but Eddie was gentle when he needed to be, attentive to her needs. He cupped her face, kissing her until she relaxed. Then he moved fast, a single thrust that did away with her maidenhead.
Her Tigress snarled, the beast rejoicing in being taken by him. Alina had read about sex. She thought she knew it all, but nothing could have prepared her for the profound joy of being physically connected to the man she was destined for.
Her gums ached, her fangs descending, and she wanted to claim him then and there, but all rational thought left her body as Eduardo found the perfect rhythm. She felt out of control, positively wild with desire. But above that, she felt safe, cherished by him.
“Eduardo,” she moaned, eyes wide as a familiar tug of pleasure began deep in her core.
His big body, so hot and heavy, pressed her down onto the mattress, and she loved every damn minute of it. Not submissive by nature, there was something absolutely freeing in giving him the reins. Eduardo was a fantastic lover. Her first, and if he would just cooperate, her only.
Eddie raised his head, capturing her gaze with black eyes that showed her his bear was in charge now.
Good. That was good.
“Please, Eddie,” she moaned, and he growled his response.
That miraculous body of his moved, instinctively knowing how she needed him. And she did. She really and truly did. His cock seemed to swell even more. The massive thing speared her relentlessly as he flexed and thrust. It was so good, she could have cried. Biting her lip, she buried her face against his neck, holding on for dear life as another orgasm slammed into her.
She writhed and groaned, feeling him everywhere, and Christ, it was perfect. Her body was on fire, like tiny lightning bolts of ecstasy had struck every which way and where. Panting, she opened her legs wider, meeting his downward thrusts with her hips.
“Eddie,” she said his name when it started to happen, and the man grunted, as if he knew she was right at the edge.
“Look at me,” he growled, and she obeyed.
Alina met his black stare as he moved his cock deep inside her with shallow thrusts that brushed against her clit just right. Mouth open in a silent scream, she felt her world implode on a thunderous wave of pleasure. Eddie growled as he continued rocking into her, his mouth opened, flashing fangs, and turning her on even more.
In the midst of her orgasm, her Tigress took control. Alina could not help it, she moved up to his neck, baring her own fangs, and she struck. Claiming the big Bear as hers with the fierce bite of her Tigress. Eddie roared as his own pleasure slammed into him. She sucked his blood down her throat, reveling in the way he coated her insides with hot jets of his cum.
When they were both completely wrung of their passion, Eduardo slumped against her, dropping soft kisses on her shoulder and neck. He cradled her in his arms, and Alina sighed, sated for the first time in her life. He didn’t claim her, but she was not going to worry about it then.
Her reluctant Bear was marked now, and she was not about to let go.
Mine.
CHAPTER FIVE
Eddie paced outside Konstantin’s office. He could not believe what he’d done last night. Fucking Bear. He closed his eyes, aware that he still smelled her delicious orange cinnamon fragrance clinging to his skin.
Sweet, sexy Tigress.
Fuck. Fuck. FUCK.
He’d crept out of the guest house sometime before dawn. Alina had been softly asleep, her pretty body bruised from his rough handling of her. Shit. That was why he was no good for her. Couldn’t she see that?
His Bear chuffed and growled inside of him, but he shut the beast down. It was hard, though, knowing his neck bore her bite. The female did not know what she was doing, claiming a monster like him.
The blood on his hands was too much to wash clean. She just did not understand, a monster like him was never going to change. His Bear was a fucking brute. The violence deeply ingrained in him. Hell, maybe it was part of his chemical makeup. What the fuck did he know? It didn’t matter, anyway. Konstantin was going to kill him the second he realized what he’d done.
“Come in, Eddie,” Konstantin said from inside his office.
Eduardo inhaled a steadying breath and opened the door to the Siberian Tiger’s work sanctuary. The place sure had changed. From sterile opulence to a warmer, homier feel. It was all polished wood and cream-colored walls where framed photographs of him and Yasmin, Mikey, their son, as well as his mother and sister, lined the walls. There was even one from the wedding with Eduardo.
Fuck. he owed this man a lot. How was he ever going to explain what he had done? Was it enough to admit his Bear was losing it over the female? All he knew was he would give anything to make it right with Konstantin. He would even bleed for it.
The male Tiger sniffed, turning his bright, familiar eyes on Eduardo. His face, like steel, remained trained on him, then it changed. A smile broke out and Eddie canted his head, confused.
“Ha ha! Brother! Congratulations. You finally did it, then?”
“What?” Eddie asked.
“My sister has been moping for weeks, man. I am glad you both got this settled. And from the bite on your neck, not a moment too soon. Damn, she really took a chunk out of you,” Konstantin noted.
Eddie’s hand reached up and touched the still healing wound. Yeah, he supposed, the male was right. Alina had torn his shit up. Not that he minded. Just the memory of her sexy little body writhing beneath him had his cock hard enough to punch through a brick wall.
“So, you gonna marry her, too? These females all dream about their wedding, you know,” Konstantin was saying, his gaze back on his work.
“Fuck, Kon, I mean, aren’t you mad? I bedded your sister. She was a virgin, and I put my—”
“Geezus fucking shit, bro. No details,” the Tiger snapped. “I mean, look, no man wants to think of his sister having sex. I mean, that’s fucked up. But, she is a woman, an adult, and after the rescue, we all kind of knew she was yours and you were hers, right?”
“I’m not good enough, man. She deserves more—”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Konstantin argued.
Eddie’s shoulders slumped as he sat down, head in his hands. How could he explain it to a man he admired so much just how unworthy he was? Alina was a fucking princess, and he was as low as a dog.
“Dude, you are the best male I know,” Konstantin said from right in front of him and Eddie startled.
When had that big motherfucker moved? Feline fucking grace, my ass, he thought. Those Big Cats were humongous, and their silence made them all the more deadly. Still, Konstantin was wrong about Eduardo.
“Listen to me, Eddie, There is no one else I would ever entrust with protecting and caring for my sister.”
“She’s barely twenty-one,” he started.
“Yes, she is an adult, Eddie. And do not forget, she was born and raised in Russia. Life for a Shifter is much harder there than here. Alina is tough as nails, bro. You would be doing her a disservice to think she doesn’t know her own mind.”
Pride filled Eduardo as he thought of all she had been through and overcome. Kon was right. The female was fierce and strong. Mi fiera, he thought with a grin.
“Besides, you claimed her, so what are you upset about?”
“Actually, I didn’t. She claimed me, but I withheld my bite. Fuck, man, I thought she deserved better!” Eddie explained. But by the look on Konstantin’s face, Eddie knew he had really fucked up.
“Shit. You better think of ways to make it up to her, Eddie. There is nothing like a pissed off Tigress, I promise you that. Except maybe a pissed off Lioness,” he replied and winked. “Now, before you think of ways to grovel to my sister, how about we get some work done.”
“Yeah, man. Sorry about all this. It’s been fucking with my head.”
“Love can do that to a man, Eduardo. We are good, I swear. Now, about the security for tonight’s re-opening event,” Konstantin began.
The phone ringing drew their attention, and Eddie waited as Konstantin answered. Using his supernaturally enhanced hearing, he listened as a familiar voice spoke to Konstantin.
“Mr. Petrov, this is Detective Sergeant Rami Llewellyn, from the 135th Precinct. Our sources have received a viable threat to you and your family, and I was hoping you would have a moment to talk in person?”
Eduardo stood, calling for the car to be brought around the front. Konstantin had already hung up and was on the phone with Yasmin first, then his mother next.
“I got Alina,” Eddie said, before dialing her number.
“Hello?” she answered breathlessly, and he knew she was practicing.
“Alina, it’s Eddie.”
Her silence told him all he needed to know. She was pissed about his skulking off after they had made love, and rightly so.
“Look, I know you are mad at me, and you have every right to be. I promise, I am going to make it up to you, but first, there’s been some kind of threat against your family. I am on my way with Konstantin to find out what it is. We are sending extra guards to the house.”
“What do you care what happens to me, Eduardo? The way you left this morning, I did not think I mattered all that much.”
She spoke without heat, and the lack of emotion was even worse than the words themselves. Eddie closed his eyes and inhaled.
“We will talk about all of it, I swear. I owe you an apology and an explanation and you will get them both. But first, I need you safe, Alina.”
He waited a full minute before she replied. Hope and despair warred within him, and he prayed like fuck, he hadn’t messed up his one chance at happiness. Finally, she did reply, the honesty in her voice was like the sun coming out for him.
“Okay, Eddie. I will give you a chance to explain,” she said.
“Thank you, Alina.”
She hung up without a goodbye, but that was alright. He didn’t really expect one. Konstantin waited at the door, and Eddie went with him to the precinct. Whatever this threat was, hopefully, it would not be too bad.
Famous last words, he mused a half hour later when Detective Sergeant Llewellyn explained what they were facing. The Lion Shifter seemed just as upset as they were at the news that the Ivanovich brothers had been released from holding.
“I don’t understand. They were guilty of kidnapping, aiding, abetting, and a slew of other charges!” Konstantin raged.
“Their lawyers got the charges thrown out. Seems they were able to pin everything on their father and had alibis for the crimes they’d been accused of. As for your sister’s kidnapping, Mr. Petrov, all the evidence pointed to Gleb Ivanovich, not his sons. I am very sorry.”
“So they are out already?” Konstantin growled.
“Yes. I am afraid they are.”
Rage filled Eduardo as he followed Konstantin back to the car. The justice system was fucked, far as he was concerned. Maybe he was not the animal he thought he was. Maybe the world needed people like him to do what the law could not.
That sort of philosophical debate was above his paygrade. One thing remained clear. He needed to see Alina with his own eyes. To know she was safe.
“If Grigory, Evgeny, and Gavriil are all out, they will seek revenge. We must get the family home safe,” Konstantin told Eddie, his accent thick as his anger.
“Yes, boss,” Eduardo replied, already sending notice to his team.
“And Eduardo, that means you, too. I want you back home,” Konstantin demanded, and something inside Eddie clicked.
For a long while now, Konstantin Petrov was the only family Eduardo had known. But it was more than that, it was like his Bear heard the order and was ready to obey. The beast in him looked at Konstantin as Alpha and Eddie’s blood hummed with the knowledge.
“It is time I think we make this official, second,” Konstantin stated, meeting Eddie’s stare with his eyes shining bright with his Tiger.
The Bear maintained eye contact for a few seconds before willingly averting his gaze and baring his throat, a sign of submission. Fuck, this was real. Eddie had just been made Konstantin’s Beta, and that was a huge fucking honor.
The Petrov Pride was now official, and it would be Eddie’s pride and joy to serve under such an Alpha. Even better, he could claim Alina the way he wanted to, knowing she was safer with him than with anyone else.
Yeah, Eddie had a lot of groveling to do, and he would do it on his fucking knees for that woman. She was everything to him and it was time to take what was his.
Mine. Mate.
CHAPTER SIX
Alina had arrived at The Stripe Club an hour before Eduardo’s phone call. Heck, she might have been there before he even left with her brother. Waking up alone had not been ideal, but she was a consummate professional and the show must go on.
Her body had been deliciously sore after the night she had shared with Eddie, her brain full of dreams. But when she looked in the mirror and saw the truth staring her in the face, she could not help the hurt that had risen.
She had been thoroughly loved, but was still unclaimed. Shame filled her, the hated emotion threatened to topple her, but that changed the second her mother had seen her.
“What is it, malyshka?”
“Oh, Mama, he does not want me,” she whispered, her heart breaking.
“Nonsense. I saw the Bear watching over you, Alina. His heart was lost the second he saw you. Now, you have the heart of a Tiger and a Bear. If you want him, get him, daughter,” Mama said.
So, Alina steeled herself and got ready. She went into the city, to the club where she was to perform that night.
“You are such a taskmaster,” Rosie grunted after they went through the whole number.
“But it is worth it, yes? This level of dance is like nothing New York has seen,” Alina said, smiling though she was trying to catch her breath, too.
The routine was phenomenal. Yasmin had choreographed most of it, and the result was fantastic. The stage was immaculate, prominent in this section of the club. Small tables for the audience filled the floor and a large, semi-circular bar graced the back. Alina could picture it now, the lights dimmed, the crowd’s eyes glued to the three women.
It was a thoroughly modern routine. Even the costumes were sleek and simple, with clean lines and little pomp. Alina had worn some pretty incredible ensembles throughout the course of her career, but this was unlike anything else.
Each dancer would wear the same thing. The costumes were two pieces, tops and bottoms composed of three layers that would be removed throughout the dance. All black and glitter, the opaque fabric would give way to a sheer layer, which would also be stripped away until all that remained would be strategically placed jeweled appliques covering the most intimate parts of their anatomy, i.e. their sexes and breasts.
Risqué? Perhaps. But it was art, and it was tasteful. Alina felt empowered and beautiful. Her talent and skill as a dancer would not be wasted here. She wondered if Eddie would mind, but decided she would cross that bridge when she came to it.
“Um, I’m going to go outside a moment,” Marcella said, and the female looked at her phone, biting her lip.
“Are you okay?” Alina asked.
“Actually, would you mind coming with me? I have to meet my boyfriend, he says he has a present for me, but I am nervous,” she confessed.
“Sure, I can walk with you. How nice to have a boyfriend bringing you surprise gifts!” Alina replied happily.
Maybe someday she would have that. She pictured Eddie showing up with flowers or some such thing after a show, and her heart ran away with her. Maybe she was foolish for wanting such things, but then again, maybe not. It was only natural, she supposed.
“Well, he is a new boyfriend. But you are right, it is nice to get gifts. Still, I don’t want to wait outside alone, you know,” Marcella replied, and shrugged.
Alina nodded, sipping from her bottle of water. She had her phone in her hand and was scrolling through her messages when she heard Marcella gasp and shake her shoulder.
“There he is,” the woman hissed, and Alina smiled, but she didn’t look up yet. “Hi, baby!” Marcella said to the man.
“Hello, koshechka. So nice to see you again,” a familiar voice said, and Alina froze. She looked up, frightened to find she was face to face with that bastard Evgeny Ivanovich.
“Ev? What is going on?” Marcella said, her stricken face going from that hated male to Alina.
“Ah, Marcella, you played your part well. Now, I must say goodbye,” he replied, smile in place as he revealed the gun in his hand.
“Don’t!” Alina screamed a second before he squeezed the trigger.
Marcella crumpled to the ground, but before Alina could get to her, the Tiger reached out fast as lightning, striking her on the back of her head with the butt of the gun he’d just fired. She had one clear thought before the darkness took her, and that was of Eduardo.
She only hoped he could forgive her for leaving him so soon.
