Chapter 29 KISSES AND FEARS
JASMINE:
Nikolai's grip was firm, unyielding, yet not forceful, more like a plea wrapped in command. His lips crashed against mine this time, no hesitation, no ghost of a touch. It was fire, raw and consuming, igniting every suppressed spark of desire I'd buried for days.
I'd hidden it so well, this aching pull towards him, the mafia Don who commanded the city of New York but looked at me like I was his only weakness. And God, I'd wanted him too. But admitting it? That would shatter the careful walls we'd both built.
My hands fisted in his shirt, pulling him closer as our mouths moved in desperate harmony. His tongue swept against mine, tasting of whiskey and restrained hunger, and a moan escaped me before I could stop it. I felt heat in my belly, my body arching into his without permission. Nikolai's other hand roamed down my side, fingers digging into my hip as if anchoring himself against the storm we'd unleashed.
"Jasmine," he growled against my lips, his voice rough, laced with the same yearning I'd sensed in every tense argument between us. It sent a shiver through me, straight to my core.
I didn't respond with words, I couldn't. Instead, I nipped at his bottom lip, my fingers working frantically at the buttons of his shirt. His clothes parted, revealing the hard planes of his chest, scarred from a life I both feared and craved. He shrugged out of it, his hands never leaving me, and then he lifted me effortlessly onto the edge of his massive desk. Papers scattered to the floor, forgotten, as my dress rode up my thighs.
His eyes darkened, devouring me with a look that said he'd been fantasising about this as much as I had. "Tell me to stop," he murmured, his breath hot against my neck as he trailed kisses down to my collarbone, "and I will."
"Don't you dare," I whispered, my voice breathless, needy. No more denying. I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him flush against me, feeling the hard evidence of his desire pressing insistently between us.
Nikolai's hands slid under my dress, fingers hooking into the lace of my panties and yanking them down with a rip that made me gasp. Cool air hit my skin, but it was nothing compared to the heat of his touch as he explored me, his thumb circling my clits with expert precision. Pleasure shot through me like lightning, my head falling back as I gripped his shoulders. "Nikolai... please."
He didn't make me beg long. His belt clinked as I helped him undo it, my hands trembling with anticipation. When I freed him, he was hard and ready, pulsing in my grasp. Our eyes locked, the air thick with unspoken confessions, all boiling over. He positioned himself at my entrance, teasing for a heartbeat that felt like eternity, before thrusting in slowly, inch by inch.
The stretch was exquisite, filling me completely, and I cried out, my nails raking down his back. He groaned, burying his face in my neck, his hips rocking forward in a rhythm that built with our shared desperation. Each thrust was deeper, harder, as if he was claiming what we'd both denied for so long. I met him move for move, my body clenching around him, the friction sending waves of ecstasy crashing through me. His hand slipped between us again, stroking me in time with his thrusts, pushing me closer to the edge.
"I've wanted you like this," he confessed between ragged breaths, his voice breaking with vulnerability I'd never heard from him before. "Every damn day."
"Me too," I gasped, my world narrowing to the feel of him inside me, the scent of his skin, the way our bodies fit like they were made for this. The yearning exploded, and I shattered first, my release ripping through me in shuddering waves, pulling him deeper as I clenched around him.
Nikolai followed moments later, his thrusts erratic, a low moan escaping as he spilled into me, his body trembling against mine. We clung to each other, breathless and spent, the study silent except for our heavy breathing and the distant patter of rain.
He didn't pull away immediately. Instead, he rested his forehead against mine, his hand still tangled in my hair.
Rain tapped gently against the study’s tall windows, and for a long moment neither of us moved. Nikolai was still leaning over me, with one of his hands braced on the desk beside my hip, and the other resting at the back of my neck. Our breathing slowly began to steady, but the air between us was still thick with everything that had just happened.
I was the first to laugh quietly, not in a mocking way, but in disbelief.
“Well,” I murmured breathlessly, “that escalated quickly.”
Nikolai’s mouth twitched slightly.
“That is one way of putting it.”
He straightened slightly, though he didn’t step away yet. His eyes were still fixed on my face like he was trying to memorise it.
“You realise,” I added, brushing a strand of hair from my face, “this is a terrible conflict-resolution strategy.”
His brow lifted faintly.
“On the contrary,” he said calmly. “It resolved several things.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes.”
“And what exactly did it resolve, Don Morreti?”
His hand slid from the back of my neck to my jaw, as his thumb brushed lightly over my cheek where the bruise had begun to fade.
“That I was right,” he said quietly.
“About?”
“You came back. Matthew thought you ran away.”
I rolled her eyes slightly. “You’re insufferable.”
“And yet,” he replied smoothly, “here you are.”
That earned him a look from me.
“You dragged me back into that kiss.”
“You leaned into it.”
“That was an accident.”
He gave me a slow, knowing look.
“Was it?”
I opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. Instead I slid off the desk, smoothing my dress down as I avoided his eyes.
For a few seconds the room was quiet again. Then Nikolai’s tone changed.
“Now,” he said.
I felt the shift immediately. His gaze had darkened again, the earlier heat giving way to something more dangerous.
“Tell me who took you.”
My stomach tightened. Here it was. The question I’d hoped he’d never ask.
I kept my voice casual. “I swear, I don’t know.”
His expression didn’t change.
“Not a face, voice even?”
“I was hit on the head in the middle of a panic,” she said, shrugging lightly. “Everything after that was… blurry.”
“Come on, Jasmine. You had to have seen something, anything, anyone.”he pleaded, as if hungry to avenge me.
“I heard a voice, but it was dark.” I explained. “I didn’t recognize them. I wish I did.”
Nikolai studied me for several long seconds. Like he was peeling through every word I said.
Then he turned away slowly and walked toward the bar. He poured another glass of whiskey.
“I will find them,” he said calmly.
My chest tightened. I feared for Dante.
“You don’t have to.”
He looked back at me. His voice was quiet.
“I do.”
“Nikolai—”
“No one,” he interrupted, “takes something from me and walks away.”
His words were soft. But the threat in them was unmistakable.
“And they hit you,” he continued, his jaw tightening slightly. “They dragged you somewhere. They kept you away from me for three days.”
He took a slow sip of whiskey.
“I will not rest until I know who they are.”
I felt a flicker of panic. Dante’s face flashed in my mind.
If Nikolai could cut off a man’s finger just for disrespecting me… What would he do to someone he believed kidnapped me?