Russian Killer's Baby (2 page)

“You haven’t seen how much the idiot loves his daughter,” Orlov sneered. “He will listen when she is dead. He will know that he crossed the wrong men, and he will come to us and beg to become a part of our organization.”

Feliks felt the first stirring of something in the vicinity of what might have once been called his heart. He quickly pushed the sensation aside and affected a disinterested shrug. “As this council wishes. The public officials will rue the day they argued against you, and the woman will die. Then I will lead.”

***

Annika Polzin slammed the shot glass down on the bar and threw her head back with a howl of glee. “Pay up sucker!”

“No fair!” Wren managed to speak even though she looked as if she were about to vomit all over the bar. “You cheated.”

“No, I’m Russian. There’s a difference,” Annika said proudly.

Wren snorted. “It’s great that you’re all proud of your heritage and stuff, but you cannot keep using that as an excuse for the gross consumption of alcohol. It’s bullshit.”

Annika leaned into her friend, feeling as happy as she could ever remember being. It could have been the vodka. Annika would have liked to think it was because her life was finally starting to get back on track. Her father had finally backed off on his distaste for American education, and she had just enrolled at Boston University for her first year of undergraduate studies.

“Did you ever decide what you’re going to major in?” Wren asked, shouting to be heard over the music blaring out of the jukebox.

“Not yet.” Annika sighed with satisfaction. “I just registered for general education courses. I’m so glad my papa said yes. I don’t want to waste one minute.”

“Your dad is really overprotective,” Wren observed. “Are all Russian parents like that?”

Annika shrugged. “I just know my papa.”

“So now that you’re a college student,” Wren said dramatically. “It’s time to get you
laid
!”

“Yeah baby!” Annika wailed. “Bring it on!”

The bartender rolled his eyes. “Ladies, if you’re looking for a man, I believe you’ve already gained the attention of one.”

“Where?” Annika spun on her barstool, looking for potential guys.

The bartender made a gesture to indicate a dark corner of the bar opposite the jukebox and a good number of the patrons. “That guy has been watching the two of you for the last thirty minutes. In this business that usually indicates interest.”

Annika waggled her eyebrows. “Yeah, but what kind of interest?”

“No joke,” Wren agreed. “That guy looks dangerous.”

“And yummy.” Annika tossed her long, curly blonde hair. She shot the handsome stranger a come hither smile and waited to see what would happen.

“Good God, he’s coming over here,” Wren said in a strangled tone. “Did you just send him a bouquet full of pheromones or something?”

“No. I’m just that good,” Annika told her friend.

“Girl, I am not letting you go home with this guy. He looks like the demon lovechild of a serial killer and a mobster.” She grabbed Annika’s arm and squeezed.

“I know.” Annika didn’t even bother to hide her eagerness.

The giant of a man was easily over six feet tall. His biker boots were scuffed and scarred as though he’d walked through Hell with them on. His shoulders were broad, but he was lean through the waist and hips. Annika wondered what he would look like with his shirt off. She wanted to run her fingers down those killer abs until he begged her to slide her hands lower.

“He looks like a criminal,” Wren decided. “Who wears all black? The dude is wearing black jeans, a black T-shirt, and a trench coat. A
trench coat
, Annika! Seriously!”

“Uh huh, I am serious,” Annika assured her friend. “Serious about running my fingers through all that black hair.”

“Shut up,” Wren hissed. “He’ll hear you.”

The stranger raised an eyebrow, suggesting that he had indeed heard her. Annika didn’t care. Why hide what she wanted? It wasn’t like she was trying to play house with the man. She just wanted to take a ride on his bike—or whatever he was willing to offer.

“Hello.” There was an unmistakable Russian flavor to the man’s words.

Annika cocked her head to one side, utterly fascinated with the sexy timbre of his voice. She returned his greeting in Russian. “Good evening. Do you come to this bar very often? I haven’t ever seen you here before, and I thought I knew all the locals.”

There was a brief flare of surprise in his dark eyes. “I’m new in town,” he returned in flawless Russian.

Wren cleared her throat loudly. “Excuse me, could the two of you speak some English so the rest of us can keep up?”

“Sorry,” the man said in a low, pleasant voice. “My name is Feliks. And you ladies are?”

Annika smiled so wide she thought her face might split open. “My name is Annika. This is Wren.”

“And we were just
leaving
,” Wren told Annika pointedly.

“Oh, you have to leave?” Annika asked her friend with over exaggerated sadness. “That’s too bad. I guess I’ll call you in the morning.”

“Annika!” Wren snapped.

Annika gave Wren a quick hug. “I’m fine. I promise.”

Feliks put his hand over his heart. “I swear to behave myself at all times. Although I’m not entirely certain how I might vouch for my status as a
non
axe murderer.”

Wren chuckled. “Which is exactly what a murderer would say.”

“I know.” Feliks gave her a long-suffering sigh. “There is simply no way to assure you of my good intentions.”

“I think she’s actually more worried about
my
intentions,” Annika told him with a laugh.

“You’re incorrigible,” Wren scolded. “You better call me first thing tomorrow morning. No. Actually, you’d better call me late tonight. Understand?”

“Yes, mama.”

Wren left the bar and Annika behind. Feliks watched her friend go with an almost sad expression on his handsome face.

“She means what she says about calling her,” Annika told him.

The ghost of a smile touched his features. “Then she’s a good friend.”

“Would you like a drink?” Annika waved to the bartender.

“I think that’s my line.”

“Pardon me for stealing it then.”

Feliks leaned back against the bar, resting his elbows on the smooth mahogany surface. “I’m actually thinking I might like to get out of here.”

“Really?”

“What’s my next line?” he asked, leaning in close and whispering the words right next to her ear.

Excitement and arousal twined their way through Annika’s veins. This was exactly what she’d been looking for tonight. “Why don’t you come back to my place?”

“Perfect,” he breathed. “I was just going to suggest that myself.”

Chapter Two

Annika couldn’t help but think that she might be making the biggest mistake of her life. Unfortunately, she couldn’t bring herself to care. Feliks was a warm presence behind her in the narrow hallway leading to her apartment. There was nothing menacing about the feel of this man, though. She was confident that if he’d harbored ill intentions of some kind, her instincts would have warned her somehow. She was the daughter of Vadir Polzin. If anyone could spot ill will, it should have been her.

Her key stuck in the lock. She gave it the requisite jiggle, and the old door popped open. She led Feliks into the dim interior of her tiny studio apartment. The space somehow seemed to shrink with him in it.

“Nice,” he murmured. His dark gaze travelled toward the futon she slept on. “I especially appreciate the easy accessibility of the bed.”

Annika felt a blush heat her cheeks. “I’m not the greatest housekeeper.”

“I intend to mess it up anyway. Don’t you?” He  shrugged.

The laugh bubbled up and once started, she couldn’t seem to stop giggling. She felt ridiculous, but she was excited and nervous, and somehow all the emotional turmoil had resulted in a complete giggle breakdown.

Feliks smiled. Then he wrapped his muscular arms around her body and silenced her with one long, deep kiss. She quit laughing and sank into the warmth of contact with this incredibly sexy man.

He smelled amazing. Like mint and sandalwood and
man
. She twined her arms about his neck and let her fingers play with the hair at his nape. It was silky soft. She slipped her fingers through the dark strands and scored his scalp lightly with her nails. He responded by sliding his tongue across the seam of her lips. She gave a little gasp, and he took advantage by pushing his way inside.

Liquid heat pooled in Annika’s belly. She was on fire. Everything below her waist melted, and she pressed herself as close to his hard body as she could. Lifting her leg, she let her calf slide along his. It occurred to her that she really wanted to get rid of her jeans. She wanted to feel this man skin to skin.

She let her hands slide from his neck to his chest. She found the edges of his coat and pushed them over his shoulders. He never stopped kissing her. The contact grew hungry, desperate almost. He let go of her long enough to remove his coat. It pooled on the floor with a soft
swish
and a slightly louder
thunk
that sounded oddly incongruent.

She didn’t have long to think about his coat. Feliks grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and dragged it over her head. He threw it aside and put his lips to the joint of her neck and shoulder. She groaned and threw her head back. The rippling sensation of his kisses made her wet with desire. She squirmed with need.

Annika was dying to get a look at this man’s hard chest. She hastily pulled his T-shirt out of his pants and stood on tiptoe to get rid of it. The cotton got stuck on his head and he chuckled, reaching up to pull it off. The motion left her with a full view of the hard body that had lurked beneath the black cotton. He was utter male perfection, and for now he was her playground.

He reached behind her back and unfastened her bra. Her breasts spilled into the open. Her nipples hardened in the cool air of the apartment. Then Feliks cupped each breast in his hands and lowered his mouth to the warm flesh. He kissed and fondled her until Annika thought she might die of pleasure. She stabbed her fingers through his hair and pulled him closer. She wanted to be very close. She needed this.

She let her fingers dance over his chest. She loved over every dip and groove of the hard muscles she discovered there. The sheer power of him was so exciting! The tips of her fingers brushed the light dusting of hair at his waistband before dipping lower.

He groaned as she unfastened his pants. Foreplay was all good and fine, but Annika longed to feel the length of his cock with her hands. She slipped a hand beneath his waistband and banded her thumb and index finger around the base of his thick shaft. His hips jerked, and she realized just how hard he really was.

“I want you,” he whispered. “Can I fuck you, Annika?”

She moaned, the sound wanton and completely transparent. “
Please
.”

Feliks scooped Annika right off her feet. He hungrily devoured her lips as he carried her the short distance to her bed. A quick swipe of his hand and the pile of clothes occupying the middle of the bed hit the floor. Then he set her down and gave her a long, heated look of desire.

“Those jeans have got to go,” he growled.

She twirled her finger at him, feeling sassy. “Yours first.”

He held her gaze as he began pushing his pants and boxers down his legs. Annika’s mouth went dry as each inch of his taut flesh was revealed. His legs were thick with muscle and dusted with dark hair. There was a nest of short, coarse hair at the base of his cock. She licked her lips as she visually took in the thickness and length of him.

“A man could get decadent ideas when a woman looks at him that way,” he told her.

“Show me,” she demanded.

HER IMPERIOUS DEMAND sent a shot of pure lust through Feliks’s system. This woman was incredible. He loved women as a rule. They were soft and warm. He loved to get lost in the welcome of their bodies, but his deeper instincts told him that being inside Annika was going to be a singular experience. It was really too bad he had no choice but to end her life.

He toed off his boots and removed what was left of his clothing. Then he slowly reached down and unfastened her jeans. He dragged the denim down her legs. He stopped at her calves, smiling as her eyebrows rose expectantly.

She twirled her feet, laughing when he grabbed her shoes and pulled them off. Feliks tossed them over his shoulder and listened to them hit the wood floor. Then he finished undressing this woman who would be his escape for one night.

“You are exquisite,” he murmured. “I want to kiss every inch of this delectable skin.” Placing his palms on her thighs, he tested the warm resilience of her flesh.

“I’d say yes,” she told him playfully. “But I’m a little too eager to have you fuck me.”

Her words undid him. Feliks growled, putting his knees on either side of her hips and covering her body with his. He kissed her deeply, making love to her with his mouth. He mastered her in this way, feeling her submit to his possession with every fiber of her being.

His skin slid against hers. He felt the heat of her thighs as she spread them to welcome his cock into her body. The sensitive head of his penis brushed the narrow strip of hair covering her mound. He ground against her, feeling his shaft nestle between her nether lips. She was so incredibly wet for him. It was intoxicating.

She moaned and thrashed beneath him, bucking her hips as if demanding he enter her. He held back. He didn’t want the encounter to be over too quickly. It had been weeks since he’d taken a woman and a decade or more since he had come across one like Annika. It was time to savor the decadence.

He feasted on her breasts, sucking her nipples until her back bowed and she arched up off the bed. Wrapping an arm around her, he held her close as he moved between her legs, reaching down between them to fit the head of his cock to her opening.

Her pussy was tight and smooth. Feliks enjoyed the press of his cock into her sleek body. Then she wrapped her legs around his waist and locked him into place. He laughed as he realized that this woman would never be passive. She ground herself against the root of his erection until he felt her inner muscles hovering on the edge of orgasm.