Midnight Sanctuary (Bugrov Bratva #2)(58)

But for as long as she’s pregnant, exploding heads is precisely what I have to avoid. So I control myself. I look down at the beautiful woman beneath me who has somehow managed to work her way into my head and heart, and I put her needs above my own. I curb all my own desires and focus on hers.

Never thought I’d see that day, either.

She clenches tight around me. “Uri,” she breathes, her eyes fluttering open and closed again and again. “God, I love… this.”

For a second there, I was sure she was about to end that sentence differently. It’s bizarre how my body thrills at the thought. How my skin seems punctured with excitement, my extremities buzzing with need.

Love was not on my radar before now. I saw my parents love each other and lose each other. I saw Dimiv give up his entire life here for a quiet one in Moscow. Love is a liability, not an asset.

And besides, plenty of women have passed through this room before Alyssa, but I never cared about a single one. So what makes her so special?

Answers flood my brain.

Her kindness. Her patience. Her compassion. Her capacity to forgive. Her bravery. That blush. Those maternal instincts. The sight of a grinning orange cat peeking out from where her thighs meet…

She starts thrusting her hips upwards to meet mine. “More,” she moans, her head tossing to the side, fanning the side of her face with sun-kissed strands of hair. “Yes, Uri… harder, please. Harder.”

“It’s not safe,” I say, bending my lips to her ear and licking the lobe. “You know what the doctors said.”

“Fuck the doctors,” she snaps. “Take me like you want me.”

She starts thrusting upwards harder, faster and I think I’m gonna lose my mind. The woman is relentless, undeniable, and completely out of my control. I didn’t ask for love and I didn’t ask for a wild woman—but somehow, I’ve found myself falling for both.

The moment she starts to clench around my cock, choking out all rational thought, I erupt inside her. My whole body roils with shivers as I give it two more savage thrusts before rolling onto the bed.

“Ahhh,” she sighs dreamily. “That was amazing.”

Her eyes are closed when I turn to her. She’s breathing softly, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips. I want to freeze her right here, right like this. I want it etched in marble so I can stare at her to my heart’s content.

But I can’t freeze time just yet. Our story isn’t over. It might only just be beginning. Because I can’t rest easy while there is someone out there who’s hunting me down, desperate to rip all this away from me.

For me to be able to breathe again… Sobakin needs to die.

I sit upright and see that Alyssa has fallen asleep already. I press a kiss to her cheek and cover her properly with the blanket. Then I twist off the bedside lamp, grab my phone and clothes, and sneak out of the room.

I can hear laughter floating down the corridor as I dress in the dark and close the door behind me. I walk downstairs to find Dimiv and Nikolai once again on the back porch, sipping vodka and smoking cigars.

“Come, brother,” Nikolai calls over when he sees me. “Join us.”

For some reason, seeing them this relaxed pisses me off. “I’ve got work to do.”

Both of them turn in their seats to look at me. Nikolai’s smile falters but Dimiv gives me a carefree wink. “We got Polly back. Today was a victory, cousin. Come and celebrate with us.”

I shake my head. “Don’t you get it? Sobakin is still out there. Someone helped him escape. Someone on the inside. Which means we’re vulnerable.”

Dimiv looks too drunk to care. “That’s tomorrow’s problem, eh?”

“No, it’s today’s. Tonight’s. And it’s only going to get bigger the longer we put it off. The two of you can go ahead and celebrate—but until Sobakin is dead, I’m not celebrating shit. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got work to do.”

I turn and walk away, leaving them sitting on the porch in a far less celebratory mood than when I found them. A part of me feels like an asshole. Another part of me feels justified in my annoyance.

I suppose they get to take some time off, unwind, talk, laugh. The weight of responsibility doesn’t sit on their shoulders; it sits on mine.

I’m the pahkan. I don’t have the same luxuries.

I step into the study at the far end of the ground floor. I pull out my phone to find a message there from Kruger.

Sobakin’s trail has gone cold. It’s like the man disappeared into thin air. I’ll keep looking and if I find anything, you’ll be the first to know.

“Fuck,” I mumble.

I look out the exposed windows at the mass of waving trees before me. I have to protect them all, all the innocent lives hiding out behind these walls. If I can’t, then who am I? What is the point of my crown if my kingdom is open to any vulture who wants to rip off a hunk of it for themselves?

I walk over to the window. I’ve been trying to do this single-handedly from the moment Lev was taken. But true strength is admitting when you need help.

I may be the pahkan, but I can’t protect the family all by myself.

Perhaps the first step to victory is accepting that.





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ALYSSA