His hand moved faster now, his fingers slamming into my wet sheath with such speed that there was no holding back. I surrendered to the incredible sensations he evoked. When he went into alpha lover mode like this, there was nothing to do but submit and trust. I closed my eyes and welcomed wave after rapturous wave.
"I need you," he growled and shoved between my thighs. He was hard again. I didn't know how that was possible, but somehow, some way, he always was.
For me
. He grasped the base of his wide shaft and dragged the ruddy head through my lower lips, gathering my wetness on his skin before lining up and thrusting into me. "Yes."
Using his brute strength, he clasped my waist and canted my hips to a higher angle. He took me with long, hard thrusts that left me babbling like a fool. Panting, shuddering and slapping at the tile floor, I writhed under his huge body. I peered up at Sergei—
my
Sergei—and grinned. There was no other man in the world who could make fucking on the kitchen floor seem so special.
Because he's with me.
And that was the truth of it. When we were together, everything was special. Everything was perfect. As dinner cooled on the counter and the sounds of our lovemaking filled the house, I couldn't imagine a better way to end our day.
"Did you pack your entire closet?" Sergei teased Bianca as he hefted one of her suitcases out of the back of his SUV. He wasn't entirely joking though. The thing probably weighed sixty or seventy pounds.
"I didn't hear you complaining when you were hauling Mama's shopping bags around," she replied while pushing her sunglasses into place. "You better not let Ivan hear you whining. He'll probably have you doing push-ups all the way across the Atlantic."
Laughing, Sergei grabbed her smaller suitcase and set it between the two larger ones. He extended the handle and let her take it with some reluctance. In the back of his mind, he knew that he was overreacting when it came to Bianca carrying things or pulling her smaller, much lighter rolling suitcase, but he couldn't help himself. That positive pregnancy test had ignited every protective male instinct within him.
Scanning the parking lot, he discovered a familiar vehicle parked close to the terminal. It was one of the SUVs from Nikolai's fleet. There was one man sitting in the driver's seat. Boychenko, he realized, when the younger man waved once. Lifting his hand, Sergei suspected the other guard—Ten—sat inside the building with Vivian.
"This will be fun." She smiled excitedly as they crossed the parking lot to the terminal of the executive airport. "We get to see how the one-percent live."
He chuckled at her enthusiasm. With any other woman, he might secretly fear that she would impressed by the luxury a man like Yuri Novakovsky could provide and want more of that, but he knew enough about Bianca's spending habits and life outlook to be sure that wasn't the case. From what he had witnessed between Yuri and his girlfriend, Lena didn't much care about the money either. It was probably the reason Yuri loved her so much. She never asked for or expected anything but his love and emotional support.
A sky cap met them on the sidewalk and took their bags. Bianca checked her purse for the hundredth time to be sure their passports were in there before she let the man head off with their luggage. When they stepped inside the bright, airy terminal, Sergei tugged off his aviator sunglasses and tucked them into his pocket. His gaze immediately landed on Ten who stood just inside the entrance.
Arms crossed, he wore a blazer that covered the prison and gang ink Sergei knew colored his skin. No doubt that had been at Vivian's insistence. He and Ten shared a long look, one that was wary but respectful. When Ten's interested gaze fell on Bianca, he swallowed the growl that threatened to erupt from his throat and the alpha need to show possessiveness toward her. She wouldn't like it, and he was determined not to upset her this early in their vacation.
Ignoring Ten, he eased Bianca farther into the terminal. He spotted Vivian, Erin and Lena sitting in leather chairs off to the left. Two of them were chatting and laughing, but Vivian checked her watch and stared at the entrance. When she noticed him looking at her, she smiled thinly.
"I'll be with the girls." Bianca gave his arm a squeeze and started to move away, but he caught her hand and dragged her back for a quick kiss. He liked the way she blushed and enjoyed the view of her curvy hips swinging as she joined her friends. He didn’t think a pair of white capris had ever looked that fucking good on any woman.
But she's not any woman. She's
my
woman.
The thought filled him with heat. Soon, he would make sure that she really was his. She would share his name and wear his wedding band and everyone would know that he was the luckiest fucking man in the world.
A quick glance around the terminal, and he found Ivan and Yuri talking nearby. As he drew near, he noticed both men looked worried. He didn't know Yuri that well but the billionaire businessman had always treated him like a friend. Even so, he made sure to approach slowly, just in case the pair needed to wrap up their discussion without him overhearing any of it.
Yuri was the first to welcome him with a handshake and a warm smile. "You're looking much better than the last time I saw you."
Considering the oligarch had last seen him after two nights of fighting in a cage, Sergei believed it. "It's good to see you again."
Ivan clapped him on the back. "Are you excited to see your family?"
He couldn't stop the grin that pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Yes."
"How long has it been?" Yuri asked.
"Five and a half years," Sergei said. Actually, he could tell Yuri down the very minute he had stepped onto that plane in the middle of cold Moscow night, but he didn't. "It feels longer."
Ivan squeezed his shoulder and exchanged a glance with Yuri. Stepping closer and lowering his voice, he said, "Listen, there's a problem."
Ears perked, Sergei frowned. "With?"
"Vivian."
He fought the urge to look back at her. "What sort of problem?"
"Nikolai called me a few minutes ago," Yuri explained. "He can't get out of the…
meeting
….he's in so he's going to miss our flight. I offered to hold the jet but he told us to go."
Sergei's chest tightened. If the boss was missing something this huge, it had to be serious. Being out of the loop suddenly didn't feel so freeing. Not knowing what was happening on the shadowy streets of Houston's underworld made him nervous. "Have you told her yet?"
"We were about to tell her. He didn't want Ten to be the one to do it." Yuri frowned at the ex-con guarding Vivian. "I can see why."
"I'll go," Ivan offered.
Sergei shook his head. "I'll tell her. She's used to hearing this sort of news from me."
He didn't miss the sad looks the two friends exchanged as he left them. In the months he had spent constantly at her side as her bodyguard, they had established a relationship that resembled that of siblings. He had learned how to let her down easily.
Don't make her cry
. He repeated the words to himself as he sat down next to her.
Vivian's bright blue eyes fixed on his. Long seconds stretched between them as they stared at one another. Finally, in softly spoken Russian, she whispered, "He's not coming."
Sergei's heart fucking shattered in his chest. A memory came to him of the morning Vivian had woken to an empty house after spending her wedding night alone. Instead of the beautiful, romantic breakfast she had envisioned, there had been only her bodyguard waiting for her. She had cried that morning, and he had been so angry with the boss for putting the family before her. It was an irrational thing to feel. Nikolai hadn't put her second because he didn't love her. He had put her needs behind those of the family because he
did
love her and he had been trying to keep her safe.
"If he could be here," Sergei said gently, but she didn't let him finish.
"I know." Resignation darkened her voice. Her eyes turned so cold that he felt the iciness deep in his soul. Plastering a fake smile into place, she grabbed the leather messenger bag she loved so much. "Tell Yuri we're ready to go. London's calling."
His stomach twisted as he realized that she was changing—and not for the better. The idea that there might not be a happy ending for the couple whose lives had seemed fated to cross left him feeling hollow and raw. He had never wanted to hold and kiss Bianca more.
Never
, he swore silently as he returned to Yuri and Ivan.
I will never make Bianca feel like that. I will never let her doubt her importance to me.
He noticed the curious looks the women exchanged as they realized Nikolai wasn't coming with them on this leg of the journey. Yuri muttered under his breath as they made their way to the jet waiting on the tarmac. Sergei didn't hear all of it, but what he did catch assured him that Nikolai would be getting an earful from his friend once he finally made his way to London.
Ten lingered on the tarmac until he saw Vivian disappear into the plane. Sergei had to give credit where it was due. He might be rough around the edges, but Ten was taking good care of Vivian. If it hadn't been for the travel restrictions that were part of his release, Ten probably would have gone with them.
When they settled into their plush seats aboard one of Yuri's private jets, Sergei reached for Bianca's hand and interlaced their fingers. He couldn't see Vivian from their position in the cabin, and he wondered if he should let Bianca go sit with her. As if reading his mind, Bianca squeezed his hand and shook her head. "She wants to be alone."
"Not for the entire flight," he murmured.
"No," she agreed. "We'll take care of her. Don't worry."
"I can't help it. It was my job to worry about her. I can't simply turn that off."
She lifted their joined hands and kissed the back of his. "That's because you're a good man."
Holding her gaze, he said, "Bianca, if I ever make you feel—"
"You'll know it," she promised with a wicked gleam in her eye.
Glad they were on the same page, he chuckled softly and leaned back against the surprisingly roomy seat. The last time he had flown across the Atlantic, he had been stuffed into a coach seat. Thankfully he had been able to grab a spot in an exit row, but even that extra bit of leg room had barely made the flight tolerable. Tonight would be different.
Bianca's quip about living like the one-percent proved true. After take-off, an incredible meal was served. Flight attendants catered to their every need. The bathrooms were three or four times the size of the ones found on commercial flights. Once dinner was finished, he settled into a section of the plane modeled after a media room to watch a baseball game with Yuri and Ivan.
His gaze skipped toward the front of the aircraft every now and then to check on Bianca and Vivian. The women were sitting together playing poker. By the size of the stacks of chips in front of her, Lena was winning every round. Vivian seemed to be in second place and Bianca wasn't far behind in third. Poor Erin had a tiny stack of chips left.
On his way to grab a bottle of water, Ivan seemed to notice the sad state of Erin's game. Taking pity on her, he crouched down beside her and slid an arm around her waist, hauling her closer so he could study her cards. He nuzzled her neck and whispered strategy in her ear.
Or maybe not strategy
, Sergei thought with some amusement as Erin's ears and neck flushed a scarlet shade. Later that evening, when they reclined in their seats under warm blankets and caught some much needed sleep, he pretended not to notice when Erin first left her seat to use the restroom and then Ivan a few minutes later. He didn't blame Ivan one bite for wanting to cross that one off his bucket list. When the couple returned a long time later, he smirked knowingly and burrowed down deeper under his blanket.
They landed early the next morning to a surprisingly sunny and beautiful London day. Yuri had taken care of all the transportation arrangements. After clearing customs, they were whisked away from the airport to the oligarch's outrageously opulent Knightsbridge penthouse that spanned the top floor of a historic mansion. When they had been planning their trip, Bianca had mentioned that Yuri's London home was nearly ten thousand square feet of prime real estate. He couldn't even begin to comprehend how pricey that must have been. Tens of millions of pounds, he was sure.
But it was beautiful. The Victorian era mansion had been restored to period detail on the outside but the interior was a different story. The penthouse apartment had been redone with clean modern lines and open, bright spaces. There was a quarry's worth of white and black marble across the six bedrooms and seven bathrooms. He didn't particularly care for the interior design choices that had been made, but he could appreciate the way the space flowed from one room to the next.
As they enjoyed breakfast on the rooftop terrace, he thought of Bianca's Queen Anne home and the improvements they were making during the slow restoration process. She had wanted to stay true to the home's origins, and he agreed with that. The master bathroom they had recently completed was true to the period with modern tweaks.
He suddenly thought of the nursery they would soon have to decorate. He assumed they would turn the guest room next door to the master suite into their baby's room. Thinking of the wall that existed between the rooms, he wondered if a door might be possible there. It would make it easier to reach the baby in the middle of the night. As overprotective as he was with Bianca, he was probably going to be a nervous wreck once they had a baby in the house. To have an open door between their bed and the crib might be the best thing for his nerves.
When he caught Bianca yawning after breakfast, he thanked Yuri and Lena for their hospitality and excused them from the activities the other couples and Vivian had planned for their first day in London. Traveling across time zones was hard enough without being pregnant. Safely tucked into the back seat of a cab, he slid his arm around Bianca's shoulders and kissed her temple. "Why don't we spend the rest of the day in bed?"