Chapter 172: 172

One by one, I grab her hands and pin them to the mattress. Her body is stretched long, her swollen breasts laid bare before me. I lower my head and swirl her nipple into my mouth.

“Oh,” she moans, her eyes fluttering closed. “I’m so… I’m so sensitive. The hormones, I think.”

The fact that the baby I put in this woman is changing her body is more alluring than I ever would have imagined. Somewhere deep in my chest, I hear a primal echo.

She’s mine.

I flick my tongue across the pebbled skin of her nipple until she’s arching off the bed. Her wrists strain against my hold, but I don’t let go.

“Please,” she begs, squirming from side to side.

Slowly, I lower my hips until I’m pressed against the damp warmth of her opening.

“Yes.” She lifts her hips, taking in the very tip of me with a groan. “Yes. Like that.”

I’m tempted to sheath myself inside of her, to bury myself to the hilt and never come out.

Instead, I pull back.

Instantly, Piper frowns, ready to protest. But I inch in again. In and out, in and out. I tease her with a little more of my length on every pass until she is trembling.

“This is torture.”

“I want to make it last.” I kiss the soft skin between her breasts.

She growls in frustration as I tease into her opening again. “You don’t need to make it last. We have all the time in the world to do this, Timofey.”

Her words shouldn’t be an epiphany, but they are.

We have all the time in the world.

She isn’t going anywhere. Fuck knows I’m not. This thing between us isn’t temporary, and I can make sure I make this woman come in every position known to man.

What a gift.

I look down, and Piper is flushed. She looks nervous.

“I didn’t mean—I know we aren’t, like, together. I just meant—” She stumbles over the words, feeling self-conscious over nothing.

So I silence her by finally burying myself inside of her.

Her lips part in an “O” of pleasure as I settle deep inside of her. And the primal echo in my chest claws its way up my throat.

“You are mine,” I growl, grinding down into her. “You are mine, Piper Quinn.”

She tugs against my hold on her wrist, and I let her go. Her hands slide over my shoulders to my neck. Then she’s holding my face between her hands, sighing with every slap of our bodies.

“My don,” she whimpers. “You’re my don, Timofey. Mine.”

And that’s all it takes.

I grit my teeth and spill into her just as I feel her body clamp down around my length, milking my erection until I collapse on the bed next to her.

“Holy fuck,” I rasp.

She laughs and tucks herself against my side, her head on my chest. “My sentiments exactly.”

I tug on the ends of her hair and stare up at the ceiling. “We should just stay here forever. My men can handle the Bratva. Viktorov Industries obviously thinks they can operate without me. So I’ll just stay here with you, endlessly searching for new ways to make you tremble in my arms.”

She shivers. “Don’t tempt me. It wouldn’t take much to keep me in this bed forever.”

“Good.” I kiss her forehead. “Because that’s the plan. Fuck work. Fuck galas. Fuck—”

Piper gasps and sits up. “The gala! The gala is tonight. The important one. Right? Isn’t that what they said in the boardroom? It’s a big deal for the company.”

“The company that removed me as CEO,” I remind her. “I’m not going to that party.”

“But they’ll come to their senses and reinstate you. I know they will. Once everything about Kreshnik comes out, then they’ll—”

“They’ll still be a bunch of mudaks who doubted me. They doubted my judgment and my leadership.” I hold her chin between my thumb and forefinger. “But you never did, Piper. Not once. You always had faith in me.”

She holds my wrist, resting her adorable chin in the palm of my head. “If you want to go, I’ll be right by your side. Not like this,” she says, gesturing to her sex hair and gloriously naked body. “I’ll do my hair and get dressed. But you know what I mean. I’ll be there for you and with you if you want to go.”

I sit up and kiss her full lips. Then I slide off the bed and stretch. “I don’t want to go. Viktorov Industries can burn for all I care.”

“But Timofey—”

“I’m going to shower.” I pad to the bathroom, but pause in the door frame to look back at her. “And to answer your question, I don’t like making you come, Piper. I love it.”

She flushes from head to toe. I know, because I can see every inch of her. I wink and step into the bathroom.

43

TIMOFEY

I meant what I said about Viktorov Industries. The place can fucking burn.

But as I climb out of the shower, I feel the gnawing urge to do something. I’ve never been good at sitting still, but that’s all I’ve been doing for the last twenty-four hours.

I don’t regret letting Piper rest. And I’ll never regret a single second spent buried in her silky vanilla skin and warmth. Still, none of that eases the restlessness in my bones.

Maybe I could go to the gala. Making a scene in front of all those know-nothing suits might make me feel better.

Then I step into the bedroom and find Piper balled in on herself, softly sobbing in bed.

“Piper?” I’m across the room in an instant, my hand on her back. “What is it?”

She sits up and swipes at her eyes. It almost seems like she’s surprised to see me. “It’s nothing. I’m being silly.”

“This doesn’t look silly, Piper. It looks sad. What happened? What—”

Then I see it. The pink and blue striped blanket from the hospital.

After Benjamin’s surgery, the hospital sent him home with us covered in that blanket. Piper swaddled him in it that night at the penthouse. She tucked him into his bassinet and cried happy tears over his tiny body.

“I can’t believe he’s going to be okay,” is what she said. “It’s a miracle.”

Now, there are teardrops on the empty blanket.

And no Benjamin in sight.

“Piper… where did you find this?”

Her chin wobbles, and a fresh wave of tears roll down her cheeks. “It was in the bottom drawer of the dresser. I was looking for a shirt to wear, and I… It still smells like him.”

She presses the blanket to her face and dissolves into a puddle.

My heart aches. I’ve never felt an emotion like this. It’s a physical pain that wrenches me apart. The fact I know Piper feels it, too, and I can’t do anything to help her only, makes it worse.

“He’s your son,” she sobs. “You’re the one who should be upset. I’m sorry that I—”

I roll her onto her side and swallow her body with mine, wrapping her in my arms and tucking her against the curve of my legs until she stops shaking.

“You loved Benjamin as much as I did. You don’t have to apologize for crying, Piper.”