Misha: Lanning's Leap (9 page)

“I
didn’t mean to take you that way. I’m sure I hurt you, but it won’t hurt the next time.” She turned to look at him, and he laughed. “You didn’t think that would be the first and only time, did you?”

“Yes. I had hoped it would be.”
He frowned but said nothing as he pulled his shirt over his head. “I’d like to leave now, please. I should have left before now.”

“First, you have no shirt to wear.
Secondly, I’d like to talk to you about why you’re upset. Did I hurt you that badly?” She shook her head. “Then why are you trying to get away from me?”

“I don’t want to be with you
, period, Mr. Lanning. I’m only here because I was told you’d go rogue if you didn’t have me as your mate.” He sat down and stared at her. “You don’t love me. I don’t love you. We’re here because someone thought it would be funny for us to be together. You said yourself that we’re not going to be a good match. And I think that’s as good a reason as any to not have sex again.”

“I want you
again right now.” She flushed hotly when he pulled the sheet off her body. “Right now I could take you, bury myself deep inside of you, and have you screaming out a release. Don’t you want that?”

She did and she was pretty sure that he knew it. But all he did was pull the sheet over her and step back.
When he left her, closing the door behind him, she let the tears fall. She wasn’t even sure what she was crying for. When the door opened again, she wiped quickly at the tears and stared at Mrs. Lanning.

“He said that he hurt you.” Hannah nodded. “And I’m not thinking it was just with him taking you, was it?”

“I’d like to leave here now.” Maribel nodded and reached into a bag she had and handed her a pretty green blouse. “I’ll make sure you get this back.”

“I bought it for you. I knew you
didn’t have much in the way of clothing and I wanted you to have this.” Hannah nodded and held the gift to her heart. “People aren’t very good to you, are they? They’ve crapped on you for a very long time, and you just don’t know how to act when someone is truly nice to you.”

“My mother hated me but for the
things I could give her. Rent money and things. Well, more often than not it would be for her clothing and hair and nails, but that’s all. I’ve never had a boyfriend because as soon as someone started to show interest in me, she’d tell them what I was.” Maribel asked her what she thought she was. “Insane.”

“You’re not insane
, child. I thought Carter proved that to you.” Hannah nodded. “I’m sorry he hurt you, Hannah. Truly I am.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. We’ve made our lives what they are and little can be done about it now.”
Hannah knew the futility of trying for something better. “If you could give me a moment, I’d very much like to leave here. I would like a bath.”

As soon as Maribel turned her back, Hannah slipped the blouse over her head. There were no tags on it so she had no idea how much it had cost
, but she knew it was a good deal more than she’d ever paid for anything she had, as most of it had come second hand or more from friends of her mother or Goodwill. As she was helped into the wheelchair again, Hannah tried to think what she was supposed to do now.

The plane ride back was made mostly with Misha talking to his brothers. When he tried to get her to talk to him, she pleaded a headache
, which wasn’t a lie. Everything about her hurt right now, especially her heart. When they got to the house, she was lifted from the back of the limo by Misha and carried into the house.

She
could see a car in the drive but had no idea whose it was, nor did she care. Moving slowly to the room she’d taken when she got there, she was surprised to hear her name. Turning, she looked at Misha.

“I’m sorry.” She nodded but said nothing.
“I don’t know what to do about you. I’ve never wanted a mate and now that I have one, I have no idea what to do with you.”

A million things came to mind
, but she didn’t voice any of them. At the top of the list was to let her go. But she didn’t have anywhere to go if he did, and living with her mother after what she’d done to her was out of the question. When he sat down on the chair, she didn’t move but did look toward her room.

“I’d like to talk to you. I have…I want to tell you something I’ve never told anyone before.”
She asked him why. “I don’t know. But after the way I treated you, I suppose I feel as if I owe you something.”

“You mean like a prostitute.” He looked shocked.
“I know how it works, Mr. Lanning. A man makes all sorts of promises to a woman. Then, when it comes to sex, things get all screwed up. I don’t want anything from you. I’m well aware of what my duty is to you.”

“Duty?” She nodded
, and he leaned back in the chair and chuckled. “Do you have any idea how I’m…? No, you don’t. How could you when all I’ve done is shove you away? Christ, you must really hate me.”

“I don’t have any feelings for you one way or the other. And I’d like to keep it that way.”
She felt her heart take an unexpected twist and tried to ignore it. “Loving people is painful, as you’ve said to me before. Not in those words, but it was the same thing. I don’t have anything in my chest that will let me love anyone. It’s too…it hurts too much.”

“You
can’t ever love me.” She shook her head, and her heart twisted harder until she couldn’t breathe around the pain. “I’m sorry for that then. Because as much as I wanted to keep you out of my heart, you’ve managed to seep in.”

“You haven’t known me long enough to love me, Mr. Lanning. We’ve only just
become acquainted.” He stood up and began pacing the room, and she watched him.

She
could see him as a large cat, sleek and huge. And that wasn’t just his cat. The man himself was huge, too. And though she knew very little of men, Han knew that he would be considered ripped. His muscles had muscles, and she wondered if he could lift large cars without breaking a sweat. He was wearing a shirt now, but she’d felt them ripple beneath her fingers when she’d held him, felt them tighten when he’d come. The tightly trimmed beard had burned against her breast when he’d suckled at her, and when she’d curled her fingers into his hair, all she could think about was how his fur would feel when or if she ever got to feel it. The man reeked of sex and sex appeal.

But it was his eyes that mesmerized her the most.
They were the most beautiful shade of blue she’d ever seen, crystalized and clear. She thought if she ever saw the ocean, it would pale in comparison. And when he looked at her, sometimes she had a feeling that he could see into her very soul, deeper maybe.

When he turned
to her, she wanted to back from him, but she wasn’t sure she could. He had trapped her there as if he’d held her with his hands. Flushing slightly when he smiled, she did move back from him.

“
I’ve made a terrible mistake. I hurt you. I know that…all of this is my fault, but I’d very much like to make it up to you. Hannah, we’re going to be spending the rest of our lives together, and I don’t want you to hate me.” She started to tell him she didn’t hate him when he continued. “I’m going to do everything in my power to have you fall in love with me. I’m going to show you how much love can do for you. And I’ll be learning that with you. If you don’t, then it’s the very least that I deserve. But trust me when I tell you, I have fallen in love with you.”

“I don’t want you to love me.
I’m not…I just don’t want it.” He pulled her out of the chair and to his body. The kiss he gave her was breathtaking and she held onto him, afraid that he’d do more than kiss her…or worse yet, push her away. When he lifted his head but held her to him still, she looked up at his smiling face.

“Christ, you’re
beautiful.” She shook her head. “You are. And you’re all mine. Forever. As of right now, I’m going to prove to you and to myself that I can love you more than either of us have ever been loved.”

“No one
loves me.” He kissed her again and picked her up in his arms. “You have to put me down. I will need my chair later.”

“I’m going to give you a bath. I’m
betting that after me taking you so hard today, you’re sore. If you’d let me lick you again, that would take the pain away.” He wiggled his brows at her, and she shook her head. “Oh well. Maybe next time.”

“I don’t want you to give me a bath. I’m capable of giving myself a bath.”
She squeaked when he put her on the counter. “Mr. Lanning, you can’t—”

“Misha.” She stopped talking to watch him as he pulled his shirt over his head
while the water splashed into the big tub. “My name is Misha. You’re Hannah. Do you have a middle name?”

“Marie.
And what do you think you’re doing? You put your clothing back on right now.” He just grinned at her as he pulled his pants off, leaving his boxers on. “Mr. Lanning, you have to—”

He pressed her back on the counter and moved between her legs.
When he rocked into her, she moaned and grabbed his shoulders. She tried her best not to enjoy what he was doing, but when he cupped her ass in his large hands and pulled her to his cock, she moaned again.

“Could you call me Misha?
Scream out my name while I make you come? Say my name while I bury my cock deep into your heat? While your body ripples around mine when you come?” She felt her body expanding at his words, her nipples tightening under the silken blouse, and her pussy thickening with need much like his cock was at her opening. “Say it, Hannah Marie; say my name and I’ll make you come.”

He rocked harder and faster. Her legs lifted up on their own
, and she wrapped them around him as he leaned her back on the counter. When he started to open her blouse, she stopped him with her hands and unbuttoned it for him. She didn’t want him tearing her first gift.

“So lovely.
Your breasts are so lovely that I could suckle them all day and never get enough.” He took her nipple into his mouth and chewed gently on the tip. “Do you like this? I can smell that you do, but tell me.”

“Yes.” She did
, too, and curled her fingers into his hair to bring him back to her. “I don’t want this.”

He laughed
, lifted her up, and pressed her to the wall. His cock was rubbing her clit so hard that she felt her entire being readying for him. When he pulled her pants down, over her ass then the cast, she knew that he was going to enter her again, and she stiffened at the thought.

“I’m not going to hurt you. Relax for me.” He moved his fingers down her body to her pussy and slid inside of her.
“You’re so wet. And hot. Christ, I don’t know whether to eat you until I have my fill or slide deep inside of you and stay there.”

“It’ll hurt. You’re too big.” He moved his
fingers, and she felt his cock then. It was so thick and hard that she tried to pull back. “Don’t hurt me.”

“Come for me.” He pinched her clit
, and she screamed. It was overwhelming and unbelievably amazing. When he filled her, his cock moving inside of her, she could only feel how he fit her and looked at him.

“You’re wrapped around me so tightly.” He moved as he held her ass over him.
“Come for me, Hannah. Come hard and let me bite you again.”

Her body responded to his command. She not only came, her body soaring up over an
incredible peak, but it fell back down twice more before she could catch her breath. He licked her shoulder, and Hannah knew that he was going to bite her again. Her own need to bite him reared up, and she sank her teeth into him before she could think that it was a bad idea.

He came then, crying out her
name as he pounded into her. Hannah tasted his blood, and felt it run down the back of her throat as he sank his teeth into her. As soon as she screamed, he pulled her tighter and tore at her flesh. Hannah felt her world center then, her mind snap into a different place, and her heart beat harder in her chest. Then as she came again, crying out his name this time, she knew that she was going to faint. Her body simply slipped away as she came a fourth, then a fifth time.

Chapter
9

“Found it.” Bella crawled out from under the bed and sat on the floor. She’d destroyed Han’s room looking for the information, and now she had it. The envelope also had the key and the information to the post office box as well. “Damned kid. How the hell was I supposed to find it if you hid it like that?”

She’d had to crawl into the broken bathroom window to get into the apartment.
Bella didn’t mind that so much except that someone had been there before her. The entire house was emptied of nearly every piece of her good stuff. The only thing that they didn’t bother was Hannah’s things. Her room had been as nasty cleaned up as ever.

“Or it
was.” Smiling, Bella got up and moved out of the trashed room, thinking she’d take a nice long shower and change into one of her dresses before going to the store. She knew the guy down there would give her cash for the food money on the card. She might be able to get her nails done, too, if she gave him a little extra.

She’d never understood
the child. Hannah hadn’t just been a disappointment to her but had also been a stick in the mud when it came to having fun. Even before the thing with her being committed, she’d been sort of strange to her. If she had to do it over again, Bella might have just left her with her dead mother.

Always wanting to read
instead of watching Bella’s programs with her like a good child should have, Han had been good in school and never had to have any calls from the teacher. Which, she supposed, was good, but Bella wanted her to be bad, and to be sexy like her. Even her lack of style had been a mystery to her. She preferred things to be orderly and white rather than colorful and eclectic. Bella liked color and a great deal of it. Purple and pink were her favorites.

Bella was standing in her closet when she heard the door open. She knew the voice of the one man but not the other.
Pulling the door closed behind her, Bella stood in the closet with her dress in her hands as the men moved about the rooms. It wasn’t until they were in her room that she could actually understand what they were saying.

“…today
, but that was a done deal even before all this. I liked the kid. Quiet and all, but that mother of hers…well, she wasn’t anyone I’d want raising me.”

“Hannah is in good hands now.
We’re going to be married in a few days. I’m glad that I found her. It’s really too bad that the mother is such a piece of shit.” Bella grabbed the door to open it and tear into the man. But his next words, chilling and delivered with such calmness, had her pause. “If I ever get the opportunity to meet her, I’m going to show her just what it’s like to be beaten within an inch of her life.” He sounded as if he were standing right in front of her.

“I heard that she beat that girl of hers up.
I was off that day, or you can bet I would have been right there helping them find her. No cause for that. None at all. Hannah always made sure that she told me right up front when the rent was going to be late. She never said why, but she’d be wearing bruises when she’d tell me. I just knew that mother of hers had spent it all.” The door closed again and the voices faded away. Bella stood there as still as she could for a long time. She had no idea why, but she thought the man knew she was hiding in there.

Shivering
, she finished dressing when she heard the front door close, then went to put on her makeup. Bella took several steps back from the counter, enough to be plastered against the wall, when she saw what was laying there. Her shoe, the one she’d had on when she’d beaten Hannah that day, and a business card.

“Misha Lanning of Lanning Search and
Rescue.” She snorted and put the card back on the shoe. “What’s he going to do, rescue me? I don’t need nobodies recusing me. I’ve gots my shit together.”

She was putting on the pretty black eyeliner when she thought of something else.
She wondered, just for a moment, if her daughter was going to be better off than she was. When a person could afford a business card, especially one like this, maybe he had some money. She moved toward the kitchen again with only one eye finished and pulled out the phone book.

The ad was huge
, almost the whole page. And there in the middle of it were six of the most beautiful men she’d ever laid eyes on. Right there at the front of the line of names was Misha. Bella smiled.

“Gotta love a man that is looking like that one.
Maybe I’ll just pay him a visit after all. He did leave me his calling card.” Moving back to the bathroom, Bella paid extra care to the rest of her makeup. Going calling required that she looked her best, and something that Bella always prided herself on was looking her very best. Looking in the closet again, she pulled out her best dress. Not bothering with a bra or panties, she pulled the other dress off and slipped the fresh one over her head. Sex was all men thought about, and she knew she was the sexiest thing he’d ever see on high heels.

Bella
moved back and forth in front of her mirrors and smiled at herself. “Damn, I look good.”

Her dress
was a pale blue and nearly see-through. If she pinched her nipples hard enough, a person could see them just fine. And her pussy, all clean shaven, was visible just an inch or two above the short skirt of the dress. With no back at all, it draped over her body like a wetsuit. She even thought the tat she’d gotten the other day looked fine peeking out on her thigh. She was as ready as she’d ever be to see her man.

“What would Hannah do with a man like that anyway?
Stupid girl wouldn’t know how to please a man. Hell, she’s not even tried out any of mine when I was willing to share.” Bella snorted again when she pulled out her nicest purse and stuffed her food card and keys in it. “Maybe I can get him to have me in some apartment when he gets bored with the little bitch, and I can show him what a real woman does for her man.”

Bella shivered when she thought of what this man might have below his belt.
She’d bet anything a man that big would have a cock that would make her enjoy sex. And him riding her? Damn, it was making her all wet just thinking about him. Bella stood at the front door, then hurried back to the bathroom. She’d almost forgot his token for her. The card was put in her purse with her other things, and she moved out the door.

The trip to the post office was done on foot. If her calculations were correct, she should have one of them government checks in the mail.
She got her Social Security check sometime during the month and never used it much for paying bills. She was going to splurge this time and maybe get herself a nice new pair of shoes with some of it. But she needed to get it first.

The post
office was busier than she remembered it being before. But then Bella rarely went there unless it was to get her check when her daughter couldn’t. But it had been years since that had been a problem. Hannah knew better than to hold out on that one ever again.

Bella stood in front of the long rows of boxes. Some of them were huge, some not much bigger than what would hold an envelope.
And she had no idea which one was hers. Staring at them for a long time, she tried to remember if Hannah had ever told her, but knew that she wouldn’t have. Hannah liked her secrets. And even though Bella had set up the box, she had long since forgotten what the number was. She went to stand in the line to get some help.

People were staring at her. Twice she wanted to pull out her compact and see what it was. Maybe she had something in her teeth or a hair out of place, but she’d forgotten
the compact on the counter. She smiled at one young man, and he backed from her so quickly that she laughed. Men were always blown away by her looks and her sexual appeal. When her turn came, she smiled at the person at the counter and told him what had happened. Or at least her version of what had happened.

“And I don’t have any idea what has happened to my little girl. And for the life of me, the number isn’t coming to my mind.” She smiled her best watery smile at him
, and he didn’t even blink. Her first thought was she’d gotten a queer. Then he looked her over.

“Ma’am, you have to know your number before I can help you.
Do you?” Bella shook her head, then sniffled again. “Then I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Especially since you have no identification on you as well.”

“But I needs my money. I gots to go and see the big man in the picture.” She reached into her bag for his card again
, but the man in front of her was telling the next person he could help them. “I’m not done here. I needs for you to open my mail thingy up and give me the check. It’s the first of the month.”

“It’s the nineteen of the month. And as I’ve said, I can’t help you without you having the number or any kind of identification
. You’ll need to move along or I’ll have to call the police.” She glared at him for several seconds until he picked up the phone. Bella wasn’t stupid enough to think that the cops would be on her side, so she left. She supposed she should have thought of Hannah as making sure she was down on her luck. The kid had been nothing but trouble since that woman, child really, had squirted her out…however many years ago it had been. Damned girl.

The bus would only take her as far as downtown. They wouldn’t take her directly to the address on the card
, and she argued with the driver for five minutes before he, too, threatened her with the police. What the hell was wrong with people nowadays? Didn’t anyone ever want to do something because it was nice?

Bella walked the last five blocks and was pissed off by the time she got to the big building. Then looking at the door,
she saw that it said that they didn’t open until noon. The fucking bastard could have told her that when he’d left her his card. She looked around for something to tell her the time and stopped a person.

“It’s gone five-thirty.
They won’t be back in until tomorrow.” She looked at the times again and wasn’t surprised to see that they worked until five. Mother fuck, now what the hell was she supposed to do?

Looking for an abandoned building, Bella found one about five blocks from the office.
She was going to have to have him give her something nice for all the trouble she’d been through to get to him. Bella thought of all the really nice things she’d be getting and smiled.

Taking off her dress so it wouldn’t get mussed
, she lay down on the newspapers that she’d gathered up from around the rooms. Too bad there wasn’t a nice bed, but she realized that beggars couldn’t be begging. “Or something like that.”

She was sound asleep within minutes and thinking about how much she was going to enjoy going down on
her big Misha. And maybe if her daughter was nice to her, she’d let her join her so she could learn a few things from dear old Mom. Bella was going to be set for life.

~~~

Misha knew that she was going to be sore, incredibly so, but he couldn’t help but smile every time he thought of how she’d said his name when she’d had her climax last night. He knew that it wasn’t much, but to him, it was as if she’d handed him the world. He watched her sleep on the little bed and tried to think how he could get her to sleep with him every night for the rest of his life. Well, not sleep, but make love. He’d never even made love to her in a bed yet, and he could see them together in his bed.

Going
to the bathroom, he emptied the tub and started to refill it. She would need a warm bath more than ever now. As it filled, he thought of the one in his room and hoped that soon he’d be able to get into it with her. Going back into the bedroom, he found her awake.

“You should sit in some warm water for a while.” She nodded
, and he could see her blush. For whatever reason, that made him smile as well. “I’ll help you. I know you can’t get your casts wet, so I’ve put a stool in the tub to hold it up for you.”

“I can manage.” He heard her brisk tone but knew it was more
due to embarrassment than anger. She’d get used to him soon enough. When she winced, he moved to the bed to help her up. And that’s when he saw her back. They’d torn open some of the wounds.

“I should have remembered these and taken better care with you.” Instead of picking her up, he had her lay on her
stomach while he looked at them. “I’m sorry, baby. I should have done something about these sooner. Let me heal them.”

“How?”
Instead of answering her, he simply licked a path along the one still bleeding. She cried out but he knew it wasn’t from pain. Her arousal hit him like she’d slapped him with it. “Stop that. It’s not healthy.”

“I can’t catch any
thing even if you had something. Lie still. I need to do this for you.” He wanted to roll her over and taste her breasts this way, but he knew she had to be hurting more than she was showing him. Besides, he had to get to work today. He’d been taking too much time off as it was.

“I can do this.” He wanted to swat her ass but just resisted the urge. “I’m…will you just stop that?”

He’d licked them all closed but the one. It was just at the curve of her ass and he’d been trying his level best to avoid it. It was simply too tempting not to lift her up and take her like that. Instead, he ran his tongue over her and nearly gave in to his temptation when she moaned.

“They shouldn’t give you any more trouble.”
She turned over and stared at him as he backed from the bed. “I’d like to have you sleep in my room from now on.”