“You really want to marry me, don’t you?”
He nodded once. “I do.”
“And you’ll do anything to make that happen?”
“I will.”
“What if I told you to give away all your money? Renounce your Oligarch position?”
“I would. No hesitation. Though I’d keep some so that we could escape overseas.” He kissed my neck. “I have a lot of enemies.”
“You do realize the sort of power you’re giving me?”
“I’m aware.”
“I might be drunk with it.”
“Go ahead, drink deep.”
“You trust me that much?”
“I do.”
“I don’t know why.”
“You don’t see yourself clearly.”
I let out a breath. “That’s such a cliché.”
“But in your case, it’s true. You’ve been through so much. You think trauma is normal.” I chewed on my lip and tried to pull way, but he wouldn’t let me. “Don’t go anywhere.”
“I don’t think trauma is normal.”
“But you do. You’ve been steeped in it for so long. Why do you think we do the things we do? Why you think we love to hurt so much?” He pulled my hair as if to prove a point. It tingled. Hot and cold. Pleasure and pain.
“You think you know better then?”
“I think I can try to give you a life without compounding on your past. I want to take you out of the cycle, Penny. Take you away from the Oligarchs.”
“Then you really will renounce your family?”
“No,” he said, kissing my lower lip. “But I’ll keep you safe. You will be my priority. Nobody else.”
“I don’t know what to think.”
“You don’t have to think anything right now. You know how I feel about you. That isn’t going to change.” He kissed me slower, deeper. I felt him stirring again, his cock hardening at my touch. “Right now, we have each other. We can focus on finishing what I started. And then after that, we can worry about your sister and everything else.”
“Or we can focus on this, right here and now.” I pulled away and got to my knees. He looked at me with utter dedication and fervor as I took his cock and began to lick his length. I tasted myself still as he stiffened, then took him into my mouth.
He groaned with bliss. I loved how hard he felt in my lips. My tongue rolled and I expected him to fill my mouth with cum, but instead he pulled me up with a grunt and I rode him, faster and faster, my pussy needy and slick, and we came together in a burst of moans and pleasure, his arms around my skinny back, my ass grinding and working, sweat rolling along my arms. I nuzzled into him, keeping him inside, and kissed his neck.
“Tell me what to do,” I whispered. “And I’ll obey. I promise.”
He held me and said nothing, only breathed, and I was so deep in the moment that there was only him and this room left in my world.
26
Kaspar
Present Day
Chicago
I shot the first guard in the head.
His blood splattered against the wall behind him.
I smelled smoke. Screams echoed from further in the house. I was a painter, and these bodies were my medium.
I ripped them to shreds. My gun was hot in my hand. I was death, stalking through the hallways like an angel.
Penny was my guiding light. Without her to focus on, I would’ve been lost a long time ago. I would’ve given in to my baser instincts. Power and lust and glory would’ve driven me.
Instead, I had revenge and love.
I killed two more guards. The house took up half a block. The entry hall was opulent, built in marble, covered in gold. The priceless statues, paintings, tapestries, and furniture were broken to pieces beneath my boots.
I killed again, and again. My men flooded around me. Redmond strolled past, laughing as he fired on a group of guards huddled near a barricade. We smashed through them, slaughtering as we went.
Once, before I knew Penny, this would’ve been the highlight of my life. I loved violence back then. I lusted after it.
Now, I cared only for Penny. A day of killing paled in comparison to a night of fucking.
She hadn’t given herself to me completely. Not yet at least. But she was getting there. Moving in the right direction.
I shivered at the thought.
I’d make her my wife.
I killed a guard as he leapt out. He tried to surprise me. I shot him in the skull and kicked his body out of my way.
“The place is empty,” Michaels growled as I reached the second floor.
“Looks full to me.” I frowned at all the blood. The stuff drenched the floors. This place would have to be leveled after we were finished. It was a shame. The building did nothing wrong.
“Soldiers, but nobody important.” He scowled, shaking his head. “If she was here, we just missed her.”
I grunted in acknowledgment. “Keep looking. Take a few men alive. I want someone to question.”