Broken Wolf: Moonbound Series, Book Seven (7 page)

Andrea wanted him, but she needed to know that he wanted her.
Really
wanted all of her. Wolf
and
woman. “I told you I could take care of myself.”

“What you said to your brother…”

She paused, pain mixing into her desire. “What? Your
Babushka
doesn’t have a snappy proverb for ‘preparing for the worst’?” She pushed closer, pressing her chest against his.

The
thump-thump
of his heart steadied hers. The layers of clothing between them needed to disappear. She wanted to
feel
his rock hard body skin-to-skin.

“I have regrets, Vadik. But you’re not going to be one of them.” Andrea slid her hand down his torso and across the front of his pants. He was like granite and needed her every bit that she needed him.

“We are playing with fire.”

She cupped his erection through the leather and squeezed. A groan rumbled from deep in his chest and she shuddered with anticipation. “Lucky for you, I don’t burn easily.”

Andrea unzipped the big black parka Natalja had borrowed for her. Her shirt was next. She wasn’t wearing a bra. Her nipples were already in tight little points and she wanted to feel his skin against them.

“Andrea, we can’t do th—”

She put a finger against his lips, shaking her head. “No regrets.”

He nodded.

Finally.

His hands slipped around her waist tugging her flush to his warm body. He cupped her ass and lifted her from the floor, dragging her throbbing clit over his erection in the process. She shuddered and wrapped her arms around his neck, arching her back and lifting her breasts high enough to give his mouth easy access.

A satisfactory growl of appreciation preceded his mouth locking onto one of her granite nipples.

Pleasure shot from her breast to her clit and she wrapped her legs around his waist, grinding hard against his erection. Pants. She was still wearing pants.
Shit.

Shivers of pleasure crisscrossed through her body as Vadik switched from one breast to the other, nipping and sucking and licking until she had to struggle to keep from relaxing completely.

This wasn’t enough. She wanted more. She wanted all of him.

Andrea tightened her legs around his waist and moved her hands to grab a handful of his hair.

She opened her mouth and his tongue slipped inside. Perfection. His tongue danced with hers and the magick pulsing around her energized even more.

“Bed,” she mumbled into the kiss.

He walked forward, carrying her while their mouths remained fused in an erotic dance. Her blood hummed with energy that desperately needed a release.

His hesitation disappeared, and they sank to the bed in a tangle of arms and legs.

Stripping out of clothes, while continuing to assault the other with possessive kisses. Vadik pushed her down against the coverlet, shoving pillows out of the way. His skin sizzled beneath her touch.

Her body tightened and coiled, waiting for that release only he could give her.

“I need you inside me.”

He pushed her thighs apart and settled into the cradle of her hips.

Before she took her next breath, Vadik surged inside, filling her completely. She’d been so wet, there’d been no resistance. He slid in like they’d been rolling around kissing for hours already.

Damn
. He felt so good.

He stroked slowly the first couple of times before he slid his muscular arms beneath her and locked his palms over her shoulders.

Harder and deeper.

Andrea wrapped her legs around his narrow waist, giving him even deeper access to her body.

Vadik rocked her back and forth, burying his face in her neck as he thrust. His hard chest pressed her down into the mattress, pinning her in place. In. Out. In. Out. His growls of satisfaction melted into groans as the muscles in his shoulders tightened.

He was close.

So was she. She panted, digging her fingers into the meat of his biceps as pleasure streaked through her, curling her toes, and dragging a ragged scream of release as she came hard.

As his name left her lips, he came along with her. The pulse of his cock inside her pushed her even further over the edge, stealing Andrea’s breath, draining her of any thought but how happy she was in his arms.

A huge sigh slipped from his body and he rolled them to the side, slipping from her slowly. She shuddered at the loss, wishing their moment could’ve lasted hours instead of minutes.

She didn’t think she’d ever get enough of him.

Andrea ran her fingers through a lock of his hair. He shivered beneath her caress and she leaned forward kissing him sweetly on the lips.

He tensed and grabbed her wrist. “I can’t give you more than this, Andrea.”

“Shhhhh, just sleep,” she murmured, pulling her arm free. She ran her fingertips down his arm and pulled the blanket at the foot of the bed up over their naked bodies.

The chill would be back as soon as her temperature cooled.

I’ll take what I can get right now.

She snuggled closer to him, breathing a sigh of relief when his arms folded around her, pulling her body tight into his.

His heart rate had slowed and his breathing was even. Vadik had fallen asleep and reached for her.

Whether he wanted to give her more or not, she’d give him everything of herself. Even if it was never more than this—sleeping soundly next to him—Andrea was okay with that.

This was enough.

V
adik pulled
on his boxer briefs and listened to the rhythm of Andrea’s sleep. The ridiculously expensive clothing he’d shed the night before lay on the floor, still. Putting it back on felt like a lie.

The fact that he’d managed to get out of bed without waking her had amazed him. Hell,
she
amazed him. He’d been on a lot of assignments with women where there had been attraction before. Something about pumping adrenaline and life-or-death situations seemed to bring out the hard-on.

But this was different. In an unnerving way.

Andrea, unlike the women he’d been with in the past, was soft and happy and almost indulgent in her humor. She didn’t snap or push him away. And even with her black hair and demure costume, she was a ray of sunshine.

She rolled over and groaned, reaching into the empty space where he’d just been laying. Her eyes barely opened in the low light coming in under the heavy curtains, and she glanced around the room. When she saw him, her smile unfurled like a big flag, until it danced widely on her gorgeous features.

His heart flipped over and he felt something pulling on him, like she’d activated a homing beacon and was calling him home. He offered a small smile in return. “I didn’t want to wake you.”

“You didn’t.” Andrea pushed herself up and the blanket fell from her shoulders, revealing alert nipples.

Vadik’s tongue slipped between his lips. He wanted to taste her again. “I was going to go for a run.” He gestured around. “But I appear to only have expensive suits in here. I should head to my room.”

“I heard my phone buzz. I think that’s what woke me.” She looked around, her breasts swaying with each movement. His hands flexed with the memory of their weight on his fingertips.

“I didn’t hear it.” He lifted the now-wrinkled suit pants he’d discarded the previous night.

She tapped the side of her head. “Wolf hearing.”

“Right.” He shifted in the chair. “I guess you probably have some abilities I don’t have, then.”

She leaned over the other side of the bed and came back up with her phone in her hand. “Our senses are more sensitive, when we really need them, and of course, the long life.”

“Long life?”

She swiped at the screen. “Yeah, we heal supernaturally, so we have longer life. Plus, y’know, if you bond. Then you get a hundred years.”

“What does that mean? Bond?” He folded the pants and his own phone slid from the pocket and thudded to the carpet. On the screen, he saw a notification from Luther pop up, and reached for the thing.

“It’s Niko,” she said absently, typing something into her phone. “We need to meet him downstairs.” She shook her head, as though remembering. “Yeah, bonding. When you meet your mate, you bond your life force together, and then you have a hundred years together. It’s…” Andrea looked up and her expression tightened. “It’s part of the original curse.”

Vadik nodded. “Wolf stuff.”

“Sorry. I just don’t usually talk with humans about this stuff.” She pulled the blanket up to cover her breasts. “My father drilled in to us from an early age, we never talk about it with humans.”

“I get it.” He opened up the text message from Luther.
Meet us in the lobby when you’re up
. “Luther said the same thing as Niko.”

“Maybe your phone woke you, too.” Her smile was automatic, like she was trying to cheer him up.

“No. I was awake for a while before I got out of bed.” He picked up the silky shirt he’d been wearing the previous day and slung it over his arm.

A flush crossed her cheeks. “You didn’t have to stay on my account.”

Vadik grabbed the suit coat. “I didn’t want to leave, or anything. I just get restless when there’s someone in my bed.” He froze, glancing up at her. “I’m not used to waking up with someone.”

Her hands tightened on the blanket. “Trust me, I get it. I haven’t woken up next to someone in years.”

He leaned against the dark wooden armoire and watched her whole body tighten at some memory. “He must’ve been something else.”

Her blue eyes met his, all innocence, but there was something behind them. Something she was holding back. “Who?” she asked.

“The guy you woke up next to.” Vadik crossed his arms, clothes hanging from them like wash on a line, and something heavy caught in his throat and stayed there. Flashes of some other guy in Andrea’s bed. His shoulders tensed. “He snagged you, so he must’ve been something else.”

She stepped out of the bed and the blanket fell away from her body. She had the long, lithe body of a runner, but her breasts were full, and, if he hadn’t felt them himself, he would have sworn they were fake. They were so perfect.

Andrea lifted a hand to his cheek. “You’re somethin’ else, Vadik Nabatov.”

A long silence hung between them, and the place where her skin touched his sizzled with heat. Vadik caught himself dipping toward her and stopped. “Not that I want you to cover up, but I saw your shirt on the other side of the bed. We should get down to Luther.”

Her smile made him want to smile back. She slapped his chest and he jumped. “Did Luther say what was up?” She walked around the bed, her perfect ass bouncing with each step.

Dammit.
He wanted to grab that ass.

“Only that we should come down as soon as we’re ready.”

“So they all assumed we’re together.” Andrea sighed. “Of course, they can probably tell.”

“Is that another wolf thing?” He picked up his shoes—or rather—Ilya’s shoes, and walked toward the door.

“It’s more like a nosy thing.” She opened her suitcase and threw the previous day’s discarded clothes in. The bags of Sasha clothes were littered around, some empty and some untouched.

He nodded at the bright red
Diva Dallas
bag at the foot of the bed. “You’re going as Sasha? Or as Andrea?”

By the time he looked up, she was fully clothed. Jeans, light t-shirt, and she had the coat in her hand. She picked up her shoes and gestured to the door. “I’m always Andrea. Even in Sasha’s clothes.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know.
Babushka
would say, ‘a song without one word is not the same song’
.
”

“You’re Vadik,” she added, closing her door, “Even in Ilya’s clothes. That’s why we failed at training. We are who we are, and dressing us up as someone else doesn’t make us someone else.”

He smirked and walked into the hallway, all of Ilya’s clothes in his hands. Bright lights illuminated the tiny pinstripes in the pattern of the fabric. He was lucky he even knew what
pinstripes
were. “Maybe you’re right.” Vadik pulled the hotel key card from the pocket of Ilya’s pants and opened the door to his room. “But I don’t know if we
failed
at training.”

“Let me guess,” Andrea said, leaning against the door frame and holding the door open. “You never fail at anything.”

“Oh, I fail constantly. Failure isn’t the problem.” He set Ilya’s clothes on the bed and reached for his duffel bag. “It’s
how
you fail.”

He pulled on a pair of jeans and looked over his shoulder.

She was openly checking him out, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. “So we failed wrong?” Her hand moved up the door jamb, stretching out the length of her body.

Vadik clenched his fingers, willing himself to stop looking at her body. Instead, he yanked a t-shirt over his head and picked up his bomber jacket. The fur lining was plush under his skin. “I don’t know yet.” He slid the jacket on and sat down to pull on his socks and shoes. “I guess it depends on where we end up.”

Andrea slipped one shoe on—a graceful move, like a dancer—and then leaned on the other side of the door to put on the other. There was such an ease to the way she moved and he found himself wondering if all wolves were like that, or if there was something special about her.

Other than…well…everything.

“Shit balls, you two.” Luther’s voice echoed from somewhere behind Andrea and soon, his friend was also framed by his door. “Are you still having sex up here? Or what’s taking so long?”

She laughed, almost a giggle, and it sent little shards of energy racing through Vadik’s body. She turned to Luther and kissed his cheek. “Good morning to you, too, jerkface.”

“Seriously, we need to go.” He thumbed behind him. “We’ve got to get back out to the airport before the jet concierge is too full.”

“Why?” Vadik rose and crossed his hotel room, slipping his phone and wallet into his pocket. “I thought we didn’t have anything until Niko’s grandma’s.”

“We’re not doing more training. Are we?” Andrea’s pout was…
let’s face it
… adorable.

Dammit.

“No more training for a while.” Luther nodded at Vadik. “I need his help, mostly, and the rest of us are along for the ride, I guess.”

“Ah.” He nodded and pushed the two of them out into the hallway, closing his door. He looked around to be certain no one was listening. “The body.”

“Right.” His buddy gestured for them to follow. “Dr. Lee said it’s not quite cold enough on the plane, although they’ve opened all the vents.”

“It’s going to be gruesome.” Vadik glanced at Andrea. “Are you sure you want to come along?”

“If it gets me out of pretending to be somebody else for a couple of hours, I’m in.”

V
adik glanced
around the concierge intake room. Only two people huddled in one corner, the woman dressed in a thick fur coat, and the man in an expensive suit. Two uniformed staff sat at a desk in the far corner, but they were too engrossed in their own gossip to notice Luther and Maggie standing in front of them.

“Go on,” Andrea said from behind him, but Vadik held up a hand.

Between the two of them sat a large suitcase with Sasha inside, and she had more of a smell than he’d anticipated.

“As soon as both staff are busy,” he said, pretending to check something on his phone. He and Andrea stood just outside the door to the jetway, trying to look inconspicuously engrossed in technology. “I can’t risk anyone coming too close.”

“What about those two?” She nodded at the ritzy couple in the waiting area.

“I’m not worried about them. They’re in their own world.” He typed at the blank phone screen. “Just tell me when the staff are busy.”

Her phone buzzed. “Niko’s right outside. We need to go now.”

Vadik took a breath. The first uniformed staffer glanced up at Luther and smiled, and the second one looked around the room. He flipped his eyes back to his phone screen. “Just wait.”

Maggie interrupted whatever Luther was saying and pointed at the second staff woman. Finally, both of their focus was elsewhere, and Vadik whisked the door open. He kept looking at his phone screen, but his attention was focused on the staff. He quickened his pace when one of them stood.

Maggie’s laughter cracked the air and Vadik tried not to move too quickly.

“Can you get in front of me and open the door?” he whispered to Andrea, slowing just a touch. The weight of the suitcase dragged behind him and Andrea’s steps clipped a bit faster as she scooted in front of him.

She pulled the door open just as one of the staff called out to them, “Excuse me!”

Vadik kept walking, leaving Andrea holding the door, but he didn’t slow until he hit the sidewalk.

Niko had the back of a black SUV open and Vadik threw him a nod. He reached the curb, and Niko hefted the suitcase into the back.

Andrea clambored after him, calling his name, and when he stopped, he turned to face the staff with a tight smile. One he imagined Ilya would have worn.

“I’m sorry, sir, but you can’t leave the jet in temporary parking more than twenty-four hours.” She handed him a packet of papers and gestured at Andrea. “I was just explaining. We need to have flight arrangements registered if we’re going to leave your jet where it is.”

Andrea gave the woman a sweet smile and took the paperwork. “Let me just handle that.” She walked to the front of the SUV, where Dani was waiting, and climbed in.

Vadik saw Dani’s head move and his chest tightened.

Good thinking
.

“We intend to take off in the morning. But I have a meeting I’m late for, currently. Is there someone I can call?” He forced all the
bastard
into his voice he could muster. If Ilya didn’t care for his own slave, he certainly wouldn’t have cared for the staff at a jet concierge.

“It shouldn’t take your pilot long to fill out the flight request.” The uptight woman folded her hands in front of her. “Where will you be traveling, Mr. Petrov?”

Vadik waved at the woman like she was a nuisance bug flapping around his head. “My assistant handles these things.”

“Well, as long as your pilot knows.” She offered a tight smile.

Niko’s foot tapped a rhythm against the curb and Vadik could feel the ramping tension in his body. The cramped quarters would begin to smell like decaying flesh soon, and they needed to get a move on.

Andrea fluttered to his side and handed the paperwork back. Vadik turned on his heel without acknowledging anyone and climbed in to the vehicle. A collective sigh of relief took the whole car as they pulled away, leaving the staffer there to stare after them.