Russian Roulette (Russkaya Mafiya) (10 page)

I ask the first thing that pops into my head, “Which lake are we going to, anyhow?” I want him to know I appreciate everything he’s done and I’m really thrilled about it. I’ve never had any man be so thoughtful toward me before.

“We, my little pet, are going to Tellico Lake.” He grasps my hand, wrapping it in both of his larger palms.

He brings it to his face and kisses the top of it before continuing. “It’s about thirty miles southwest from here. There’s a retirement community, a private gated, wealthy community and lots of warehouses with loading docks available.”

“Oh that sounds cool.”

“Yeah, my parents actually have a house on one of the hills, I’ll show it to you when we pass by it in the boat. There are also lots of restaurants and a Calhoun’s really close that we can eat at when we dock, if you would like. You should have fun.”

Tate has definitely put some thought into this and planned an outing that sounds like so much fun. I swear he just made me swoon. I love a man who can take something I enjoy and plan a fun day of it. He actually looks excited to experience it all with me.

Tate looks edible in black board shorts with little white skulls in a line down each leg. He has on a white tank top with a little black Hollister logo on the left side and black leather flip flops. Ultimate beach boy but still looks manly. I can’t wait to see that shirt come off again. I hope I get to rub sunscreen all over that yummy body.

I love it that he dresses so differently than my ex. Tate always has a relaxed, rich look to him. He’s extremely well groomed and he appears stern, but he can also be friendly when he feels like it.

“You look really good in your boat clothes. I like that I can see your tattoos displayed, they are so sexy!” The sexy slips out and I shut my mouth quickly.

I’m supposed to be moving slow or not at all, but I find us moving a million miles a minute instead. I know I have issues and I’m messed up about some things. Tate makes me forget about any of it when I’m near him. It’s like I just exist and everything bad washes itself away.

He growls, pulling me closer, “Sexy, hmm? No, Krasaaveetsa, you look fucking sexy. I would love to kiss your neck all over and untie that top with my teeth. I bet you taste delectable, all that creamy skin, begging to be bitten.” He inhales deeply, and then moves himself further away from me. “Let’s get going before I push you too far.” I gape at what he says. I was not expecting to hear him talk like that at all.

Now that’s all I can picture: His teeth undoing my top and then his teeth and tongue on my nipples, sucking, swirling and biting. That sounded so erotic the way he said it and has me turned on.

I squeeze my legs together for a minute and imagine what it would be like to have him there; his hands, his face, his cock. It’s been years since anyone has been near my pussy. It’s been long enough. I take a deep cleansing breath and reel in my thoughts.

Everyone is finally ready to leave. We snatch up all our beach bags, heading out of the apartment.

We all file out of the apartment building to find Tate has a huge teal boat hooked up to his Tahoe in the parking lot. I get so excited inside when I see it. The boat is stunning.

“Ayyyyyy!” Nikoli hollers ‘Hey’ at us but it comes out sounding kind of like ‘A’.

He’s standing in the middle of the boat with a straw cowboy hat that has a big blue band around it advertising a brand of vodka. Leave it to the Russian to be advertising vodka.

Nikoli’s missing a shirt and has on some neon green and black board shorts. He looks like his body was made specifically to be without clothes on. His chest muscles and abs appear as if they are carved out of stone; they are so perfect and pronounced. He definitely spends many hours in the gym, honing in a perfect body.

“Niiiice! We are going to have a boat full of hot chicks! Hey, girls! Sun’s out, gun’s out!” He beams a huge smile at us and flexes his muscular arms.

We all burst out laughing. He chuckles, pleased he made us all smile and laugh. Nikoli has such a great, friendly personality you almost have to like him.

He jumps off the boat and gives me a mini heart attack, he’s up so high. He walks straight to Avery, kisses her hard and then picks her up and twirls her in circles while she screams. She might be yelling and complaining, but I know she loves it.

We start our drive to the lake, with me riding up front again.
Go figure.
Tate sure is stubborn. I remember how excited he got when I asked about his car, so I’m going to ask him about his boat this time.

“Your boat is really nice. What kind is it?”

Tate smirks, flashing a small smile at me then turns back to watch as he drives.

“Thanks, babe. It’s a Chris Craft Corsair 36 Cruiser. Are you familiar with boats?” I get a tingly feeling all over when he calls me babe. I’m totally falling for him and it’s only been a little over a month since I first met him. Is it really possible to fall for someone that fast?

I think back to the boat. The boat is huge enough to fit probably ten people up top. I had to get a tour before we all loaded into the SUV. It has all wood grain detail and a cabin. The cabin has a table that converts to a queen size bed, a small kitchen counter with water faucet and fridge. It even has a bathroom with a shower, sink and toilet. The boat itself is a rich teal color but the inside is all creams and grey leather.

“Nope, we usually would just swim at a little lake with friends at Travis County. Not much boating experience so I’m extra excited today!”

“Where was this? What’s Travis County?” He looks intrigued. Shit, I should have kept my mouth shut. I don’t want to talk about home.

“Oh, umm, just a place near where I used to live,” I answer vaguely and hope he drops it.

“And where exactly did you used to live, Krasaaveetsa? You haven’t told me much about where you came from and your friends there. I’m sure you must miss it; I know I miss my home.”

It’s Tate though, so of course he asks me more questions. After the past month of being together in class and for lunch, I’ve done a pretty decent job avoiding talking about my life. I’ve given him bits and pieces about my family, but nothing about the real reason why I’m in Tennessee in the first place. Now though, he is strictly able to concentrate on me and I should give him a little bit, considering how much closer we’ve become.

I stammer, “I just, umm, lived by a city called Austin, but in a smaller town, in Texas. Same as London and the only other people I really speak to there are London’s family. She has a brother who takes care of my granddaddy’s land for me.” I shrug.

Speaking of, that idiot Elliot, hasn’t returned my text messages or my voicemails. I’m talking to London about that ASAP when we get back to the apartment.

“Where is it you’re from, Tate? I’m assuming Russia?”

“Yes, I’m from the neighborhood called Andel, Prague, but stayed a lot in Moscow.” He smiles fondly, “Your family has land in Texas? I would love to see the state you came from. Would you want to visit? We could make a road trip or I could fly us?”

I feel myself pale at his words. There is absolutely no way I can go back there right now, if ever. I have been having crazy paranoid feelings already and then London showed up. I’m definitely going to find out what’s going on today, why she decided to visit, no more ‘relax and have fun.’ I know she’s procrastinating but if that
monster
is out then I have to do everything I can to prepare myself and to hide.

Maybe even take off running again if I have to.

“That’s so sweet of you, Tate, but I have no reason to visit, maybe someday though.” I close the conversation and try not to think of my past that is always haunting me.

After a short drive, we arrive at the stunning, glistening lake. It’s a lot larger than I was expecting and I can’t wait to get out on the water. I’ve heard a lot of these lakes around here are pretty dangerous for swimmers so you have to be careful. This is supposed to be the nicest lake around.

Tate peels his shirt off, reaching with one hand and ripping it over his head. His muscles clench and flex with each movement. He throws his shirt in the SUV before preparing the boat for launching. He looks magnificent with his shirt off; my mouth waters at the striking sight of him.

“Hey, girly, shut your mouth.” Avery comes up beside me and starts laughing when she sees my expression, staring at Tate.

“Yeah, no kidding. Thanks for stating the obvious, chickadee!” I chuckle, “I can’t help it, that man is unbelievable.”

His nipple rings glint in the sunshine and he has amazing hazel eyes that I know are sparkling, hidden behind his shades. Tate’s body is completely lickable. He has cuts and dips all over like he has spent serious time on some gym equipment.

He almost looks like he could be a brawler when he’s wearing one of his broody expressions. I wonder if he was a troublemaker as a kid. I bet he was a handful with his stubbornness.

He has a light tan going on. Nothing too dark, but it is noticeable especially since Tate is Russian. Nikoli for example is very white; I bet that man burns his tush off today.

I’m going to have to study Tate’s tattoos later and find out what they all are. I’ve had so many chances but I kind of go brain dead when I’m around him. Whatever they are, they are awesome. It looks like some Russian writing on his arm with swirls and shading, some bionic looking gears on his left pec, maybe the Russian flag on his other arm? I don’t know. It’s all together in sleeves so it’s really hard to pick it all apart when I’m not right next to him.

I’m watching him on the boat as he turns around.
Oh My God
. He has a tattoo spanning his whole back; wow that looks like it was painful. It’s stunning, like a painting on skin.

“Hey, hot stuff, what’s the tatt on your back?” I holler up at him from the dock.

“Huh? Oh, my back? It’s Ares, God of War,” he says and smiles big enough I see his bright white teeth.

Holy fuck, he’s hot. God of War? Yeah, I can see Tate causing a whole bunch of chaos.

We spend the day sun bathing, swimming, boating and just being goofy. Afterwards we take London to Calhoun’s so she can check out the deck and have some yummy food. There are lots of shots passed around, but none of us get hammered again. I am definitely exhausted from spending the day in the sun. I had so much fun and really hope we get to spend another day like this soon.

Tate was so thoughtful; he kept coming and rubbing sunscreen on me every hour and kept offering me drinks. He even stopped at the marina to run in and buy me a twelve-pack of sodas and M&M’s. Tate basically doted on me all day and I feel very cherished by him.

I’ve never really had that before when dating a man. I met the
monster
when I was fifteen and he was seventeen. I thought he was everything and continued to think that for a few years.

The changes in him started to show after a while though. I don’t know if they were changes or if he had been good at hiding from everyone and had been that way his whole life. I like to refer to him as ‘The Monster’ rather than his name, because that’s exactly what he is – a fucking monster.

After such an awesome day and a great dinner we make our way back to my apartment. Avery is staying with London and me for the whole weekend so the three of us unload and grab up all our stuff.

Avery and Nikoli look like they might suck each other’s faces off when they say goodbye and London gazes kind of bashfully at Cam. I wonder what that shit’s all about. My London never acts like that around a guy; she’s always calling the shots and I mean always.

Tate comes to me and pulls me into his arms in a warm, tight embrace. Even after being in the sun and water all day, Tate still smells divine. His face and body have a nice tan going on and his nose looks as if it got kissed by the sun a little too much. We had slowly gravitated toward each other all day and spent a lot more time getting to know each other.

“Good night my mallenkee Krasaaveetsa, I will see you tomorrow?” His lips graze my cheek delicately as he says this. I love hearing him speak Russian, it’s a total aphrodisiac.

Nodding, I agree, “Yes, you can see me tomorrow, as long as I can bring the girls. What was that you just said? It sounded so alluring; I love when you speak Russian to me.” I peer up into his eyes and our lips align but he’s much taller than me, so they don’t touch.

“I called you my little beauty: mallenkee Krasaaveetsa.” I beam at him because he is turning out to be pretty perfect.

“Oh, before I forget again, thank you for the flower this morning, it is beautiful!” I squeeze him to me as I say this.

“You’re welcome, little pet. I think someone dropped it in the hall this morning so I thought you might enjoy it.” He dips his head toward mine and places his lips on mine before I can respond. Tate takes his time and kisses me slowly, softly and deeply. I feel like I’m tasting him for the first time, like he is showing me a piece of himself. I wrap my hands around his firm waist and pull him closer to me. He has my face cradled in between his hands as he controls our kiss.

When he pulls back, I suck on his bottom lip and make him groan. Tate presses a chaste kiss to my forehead and gives me a little smack on the ass as he starts to walk to his SUV.

“Night, girls, keep an eye on my Krasaaveetsa for me!” he chortles loudly as he walks around the large vehicle.

Tate hops in the driver’s side and pulls out of the parking lot. As they start to drive away, Nikoli leans out of his window and wolf whistles at us. I chuckle at his silliness. We all wave and head inside.

SEVEN

EMILY

The girls are talking quickly and excitedly about
the day when we get to the apartment. I open the door and choke out a loud gasp as it hits me. Blinking frantically, I take in the entire area.

Every surface in the apartment is covered in white rose petals.
The smell.
The smell hits me and I lean over, resting my hands on my thighs as I gag. I knew my life was too good to be true today. The apartment smells strongly of the monsters body spray I used to love him wearing.