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  Her body betraying her, pleasure started to fill her mind, breaking her shyness. Instead, riding on her increasing need, she planted her heels on the bed and tilted her hips toward his touch.

  “My dirty, dirty girl. You want this, you want my hand between your legs.”

  “Yes,” Deva answered before she thought about it. Desperation was riding close with her lust, both accelerating her need and messing with her brain.

  “And you want my fingers inside you?” And before she could answer, he pushed two digits roughly into her tight channel, and her lungs emptied, preventing her from emitting any sound. Before she could get used to the feeling, he pushed into her again, the palm of his hand smashing against her clit. Now, a deep moan fell from her.

  “Ah, how beautiful you are, my solnyshka, when you are chasing after your pleasure. When you are submitting to me.”

  The thought of submission rolled in her stomach, but her body was under attack, not allowing her rebellious thoughts to linger for long. Relentless, Aleksei released her hands but didn’t stop his assault. Sliding down between her legs, he kissed the inside of one thigh, then turned to the other. Deva leaned on her elbows to peer at the man, fully clothed, dangerous, incredibly handsome, looking back at her with the focus of a predator as his mouth descended on her. And when he smiled, her heart somersaulted, even if there wasn’t anything friendly about it. The proof of his threat lay his next kiss on the tender skin that turned into a fierce bite.

  Irritated, Deva was about to kick him off when his thumb came to her clit and strummed it. Pleasure battled with outrage once more, but she couldn’t help but submit to him. His bite, his marks, they were inconsequential. A few hours ago, she confronted death and now, her very soul craved life. Craved pleasure forced on her by the man she loved.

  He repeated it again, giving her love bites as he curled his fingers inside her.

  The sensation forced her to close her eyes, her hands found his black hair, and she pulled at him. Her hips jerked as he played with her, rubbing all the right places inside her.

  “You are mine, Deva. Do you fucking understand? Your body, your soul. I can’t breathe without you, and you can’t come without me.”

  “Aleksei, please.” Shedding any form of shame, Deva decided that going after what she wanted was much more important than anything else. “Then take me, mark me, brand me, but don’t leave me alone in the dark. I can’t stand being without you.”

  As he unfastened his pants, Aleksei’s fierceness and anger were slowly being replaced by need and something she saw as a ragged vulnerability. When he plunged into her in one swift movement, his body shuddered, and he leaned over, placing one arm on each side of her head.

  “Damn, Deva. I’m too rough, insane. I’m hurting you.”

  He was right on all fronts, but she was past the point of rescue. “Fuck me, Aleksei. I want it. I need it. I need you!”

  The fire returned to his eyes with a vengeance. It was his time to move his hips, and he slammed into her. Over and over again, he pounded his hard cock inside her, smashing his pelvic bone onto her clit, fully clothed and eyes burning so hot, there would be nothing of her when it was over.

  The tempo increased, and Deva framed his face covered with sweat, desperate to kiss him, but he evaded her lips.

  “No, not before you come, not before you scream my name and submit, Deva.”

  And then he twisted his hips, increasing the friction inside her until she couldn’t do anything but let go. Orgasm rendered her blind to the world as she was swiped by a pleasure so intense, it was impossible for her to think. Her body tensed until she thought she would break in two, and when finally falling back into herself, Aleksei came with a gut-wrenching groan that propelled her on another wave of pleasure. He repeatedly jerked, lost, and collapsed on top of her, Russian words purring in her ear between two gulps of air.

  Dizzy, but content, Deva circled his shoulders. As she reveled in the heaviness of his spent body over hers and his cock still pulsating inside her core, Deva moved her hand to stroke his hair. The inky strands were damp and so soft, such a stark difference with his hard, muscled frame. This strong man. One she’d almost never had the chance to see again. Deva fought against the images of the cell that invaded her mind. The fear that had almost consumed her and the sadness of never seeing this man again. And the doubts still lurking inside her. Tears clogged her throat, and she tightened her hold on him, burying her face in his shoulder, inhaling his scent as his hair tickled her cheek.

  Sensing her distress, Aleksei tried to pull away, but she only tightened her grip as tears started falling and a sob escaped her lips.

  “Deva? Lyubimaya?”

  But she didn’t say a word, his tender voice breaching the dam of tears and agony even more. Holding him like a lifeline, as if she would die if not touching him, she sobbed even harder, tears streaming ceaselessly now. Not fighting her anymore, Aleksei rolled them over until she was on top of him, and his arms were holding her tight. One hand in her hair, he mumbled senseless words, a mix of English and Russian, until all her fears, sorrows, and anger had left her body, replaced by the coldness of reality. Spent by their lovemaking and the tears, Deva finally relaxed, her breath calming down while Aleksei never stopped caressing her hair and her naked back. Long minutes passed, and she just listened to his heart beating in his chest.

  Then, gently, his hand cupped her cheek and forced her to look at him. She had frightened him, and there was also doubt in his stormy eyes. “Lyubimaya? Tell me why you are crying. Have I…”

  She stopped him immediately. “No, it’s not you. I never regret anything I do with you. Even though I may be a little pissed off later when I see the extent of the bruises and love bites you left on me.”

  But he didn’t smile at her pitiful jest. “Tell me why the tears, Deva.”

  There was no way to hide from him. “I remembered the hours I spent in that cell after Semyon knocked me unconscious and kidnapped me, and the thoughts of never seeing you again. It was unbearable. And I realized that…”

  The words got stuck on the edge of her lips. The three words that she had vowed to tell him if she ever survived and had the chance, and now her courage turned into cowardice. There he was, looking at her with his mercury eyes, waiting patiently for her.

  “I realized that if I died, I would regret one thing. Not telling you one thing. I love you, Aleksei.”

  It took a moment for him to register the words. When he did, his mouth opened, astonishment clearly etched on his handsome features. He licked his lips, about to speak when someone knocked at the door, Gabrielle’s voice coming from the other side.

  “Deva? Aleksei? We need you now. We have news about Sasha.”

  Chapter 33

  Gabrielle forced Deva to take a quick shower and change into clean clothes before joining the group in the living room. Aleksei hadn’t said anything about her declaration. He had fastened his pants and pulled his cell phone to make a quick call instead.

  She wasn’t expecting the same declaration from him, but not exactly a swift escape either. As she dried off and pulled on Evan’s sister’s clothes, she decided that if Aleksei returned her words or not, she was at peace with it all. So be it.

  As she rounded the corner to go into the living room, she realized that the group had moved into the kitchen. On the table was a pile of pastries, and from the discarded bags, it seemed that someone had made a trip into the nearest town. Lance and Damon were scarfing down donuts as if there was no tomorrow as Lazarus was pacing the room, a haunted look on his face. Gabrielle was on the phone and Aleksei leaned a hip against the counter, a cup of coffee in his hand.

  When she approached, he handed it to her. His expression was guarded, but his eyes blazing. Damn it, he was a hard man to gauge. Giving him a half smile, she returned her attention to Gabrielle, who growled as she ended her call.

  “So? Any news about Sasha?”

  Lazarus groaned as he continued pacing, and
Gabrielle sighed. “It’s difficult to pinpoint her location, or even know exactly who took her.”

  “There are rumors, but nothing solid. Liam is supposed to call us back, he said he might be on to something. Kai is still following Semyon, but so far the man is sketchy.”

  Aleksei pushed himself from the counter and went to take a muffin. “But as we are closing in on that front, we have news about the other one.”

  Deva froze. “About Finch’s inside job?”

  It was Aleksei who spoke first. “I made a couple of phone calls on my way here after we spoke to you. Hector, Andy, but a few more too. They all told me the same thing. None of their lieutenants have been picked from the old guard. They are men that came into the organizations no more than five years ago and who made such an impression, who produced such exceptional results, that they easily grabbed the second-in-command position in each of the syndicates.”

  Aleksei unfolded a piece of paper and placed it in front of Gabrielle. “Here are the names. And you can see that Semyon Kuznetzov is part of that pack.”

  Everyone leaned forward to look at the names. Damon whistled. “That’s bad. I’m starting to feel paranoid myself, and I would be worried if my lieutenant wasn’t a childhood friend.”

  Lance shook his head. “And what about others hanging around you? Until we have some sort of confirmation from Finch himself, I would doubt anybody and everybody.

  Deva rubbed her face. “That’s all good, but I don’t see how we can act upon it. How can you go in front of the mob bosses and tell them that? We have no solid proof.”

  Gabrielle checked the list and took a picture of it with her phone. “We don’t have a proof yet. I’m sending it to a friend of mine. If there is a possible link between any of them and Finch in this universe, she’ll find it.”

  Lazarus emitted a low growl, putting his fist through the white wall before resuming his pacing.

  Damon shouted. “Man! This is my sister’s house… you better have carpenter’s skills or money, because I’m not explaining this to her.”

  Lazarus whipped a deadly stare in his direction before growling some more. “Why isn’t Liam calling?”

  Deva put her untouched coffee mug on the table and stopped Oz in his tracks by a hand on his forearm. The man was so tense and tormented, it was no surprise when he exploded right in her face.

  “Why did you bring her with you? You brought her into a risky situation!”

  Unfazed, Deva didn’t move when he grabbed both her arms and lifted her off her feet. The sheer strength of the man made her gasp. Despite the violence, he didn’t hurt her.

  Aleksei moved fast, followed by Lance and Damon.

  “Lazarus put her down. Now!”

  Blinking, as if returning to himself, Lazarus exhaled and lowered her gently to the floor. “I’m sorry, Deva.”

  The men behind her relaxed, but Aleksei stayed close.

  Deva didn’t move away from him, being the one now to grab his arms. “Do you think that I don’t feel guilty about involving her? If I had known her life would be in danger, I would never have called her. Sasha is the only one who supported my decision to leave, to disappear. She had been my closest support when my brother died, my only friend.” As she said the words, the tears she had believed had died off earlier started falling once more. “If I could, I would take her place, I would die for her. Do you understand?”

  “Oh, Deva.” Lazarus shook his head before putting a hand on her shoulder. “If I had known the danger, I would never have allowed Beatrice to ask for your help. I would never have enforced the debt Bea had on you. And now your life is in jeopardy with the alliance you had to make with Evans. Your life isn’t worth that sacrifice, Deva.”

  “What alliance?”

  Deva’s heart dropped at Aleksei’s question when she realized that he didn’t know what had happened when Damon came to save her. How would she be able to explain that?

  She started to explain her abduction and the sudden appearance of the Storm Wayfarers president. She opened her mouth, scrambling to find the smoothest manner of explaining who he was, but Lazarus beat her to it. “Damon Evans was the man Mex Johnson had arranged for Deva to marry all those years ago, isn’t he? Finch already had Johnson and the Rows in his pocket, and he saw in Deva’s abduction a way to have a hold on the Wayfarers.”

  Damon stood on the other side of the table from Aleksei, and Deva was deeply aware of the rising danger. Especially with what was next. Damon Evans was the kind of man who didn’t shy away from anything, continued. “When I received the call, I thought at first it was some sort of prank, or worse, a trap. It took a few reassurances, but when they sent me pictures of someone who appeared to be Deva in a cell, I knew I had to act. When I got there, and they lead me into Deva’s cell, we had little time and opportunity to escape. Deva understood immediately what needed to be done and she was a champ. We had to convince those Russians that she had submitted to her father’s decision from all those years ago. It took some work as showing intimacy is never easy, but we succeeded. And she also knew that we had to form some sort of alliance too. Johnson needed to be brought down one way or another, and as his daughter, Deva is my ace in the hole. With her by my side, I’m certain I can bring back some sort of balance between the MCs.”

  As Damon spoke, Aleksei looked at her and took a step back as if he’d been slapped. Deva frowned, not understanding Aleksei’s reaction and when she tried to reach for him, he evaded her touch as if she had the plague.”

  “Was everything you did, or said, even real? Or were you only waiting for what you really wanted?”

  Deva replayed what Damon had just said, placing herself in the Russian’s shoes, and understood that Aleksei was making awful assumptions about her and Damon and what had happened. Worst of all was that his belief was etched clearly on his face, distorted by anger and disgust. He thought she had played him from the start and decided to return to the MCs by allying herself with Damon. Sleeping with him when he referred to their forced intimacy. Panic twisting in her gut, she wasn’t about to let him retreat without a fight. Ready to stand in front of him and clarify everything, when Lazarus’s cell rang.

  The room turned silent as he answered. The conversation was one-sided, Lazarus making noncommittal sounds. But it was his posture that told Deva that it was hopeful news on the other end. His energy changed, his body tensed, his gray eyes swirled in a way Deva hadn’t seen before. When he hung up, she thought he was about to sprint out of the house. Instead, he turned to the group.

  “That was Liam. They have found where Sasha is being held. After the incident at the hospital, Mex went underground but requested a nurse. Sasha outed herself to Semyon as being a doctor. In exchange for taking care of Johnson, her life was spared.”

  Gabrielle stood up. “So, we find Johnson, we find Sasha.”

  “My father has always been a man of habit. Wherever he is, it’s a place he owns, surrounded by men he trusts. A close guard.” Deva turned to Damon who looked at her deep in the eyes before wincing.

  “Damn, Deva. You’re asking for a lot. What if it goes wrong?”

  Lance frowned and looked at them both. “What are you talking about?”

  Deva bit her lip, praying Damon would come forward. The man didn’t disappoint. He looked at the ceiling for a second, pushed his wavy blond hair from his face and shook his head.

  “I have a man on the inside. Inside the Rows. If Mex took her underground, I can get you the location.”

  Gabrielle nodded. “Call him. Get the location.”

  Damon whipped out his phone, and in no more than two minutes, he had a location in the North Side. “Guys, I can’t go with you, it would ruin everything I’ve worked for. Or blow up into a war. But I have a stash in the basement. Take all the weapons you need.”

  Deva looked at Aleksei who ignored her as he followed Damon, Lance, and Lazarus downstairs. She grabbed his elbow, and he cursed, pulling away sharply from her grasp.

&nb
sp; “Aleksei, let me explain.”

  “There is nothing to explain. You have made your choice. I should have followed my first instinct and assumed that the woman I believed you were could never really exist. That everything you’ve said or done was with a hidden purpose that didn’t include me. That you are a liar.”

  It was as if he had spat in her face. She clenched her fists and tried to think of a way, of the words to get through to him. But nothing came, except blinding pain.

  Deva didn’t know what to do, and she was about to rush after him when Gabrielle stopped her.

  “I must go after him, Gabrielle, he got everything wrong.”

  The blond woman offered her a caring look that softened her expression. “I know, but time is of the essence, and the guys need to leave fast.”

  “Then, I’ll go with them to Sasha.”

  Gabrielle shook her head once more. “You know it would be a very bad idea to go retrieve Sasha with them. Mex has most probably put a bounty on your head with watchers around the area where he’s staying. He knows you would most probably go after her.”

  “So, you’re suggesting that I stay behind? Are you insane?”

  Gabrielle shook her head and checked to make sure the men were out of hearing.

  “I say that while very competent men take care of Sasha, we take care of the men’s problem.”

  Chapter 34

  The sky over Chicago was covered with clouds, a clear indication of rain. Deva could smell it even from inside the limo. And it wasn’t only rain that was brewing, but a storm. How quaint.

  Gabrielle was sitting beside her, finagling on her phone, looking incredibly smart in her pale cream suit. Her blond hair was slicked back, held by a mean-looking barrette. Deva guessed that it may very well be a weapon in disguise.

  Looking down at herself, Deva couldn’t believe that not even twenty-four hours earlier, she had been kidnapped by psychos, covered in grime and scratched with a nasty bump on her head. Now, she was wearing a suit that cost more than her last car. The deep copper color of her skirt and jacket offset her eyes and deepened the tone of her hair, the curls carefully tied in a chignon on top of her head. Deva Landry wasn’t there anymore. She wasn’t needed for the next step of the plan. Victoria Johnson, the daughter of the Dark Blood Rows’ president, needed to take the lead. That’s where her credibility lay.