A silent reckoning sinne.., p.23
A Silent Reckoning: Sinner's Empire, page 23
He lifted her against his body as he deepened the kiss, thrusting his tongue into her mouth and sipping at the sweetness within.
She clung to him, kissing him back with equal hunger. She wrapped her legs around his waist, holding him tight, welcoming him home with her warm embrace.
“I kept dreaming you were dead,” she whispered against his lips. “I hated that you were out there, putting your life at risk.”
Jozef couldn’t respond, couldn’t reassure her. His arms were around her, holding her up. He didn’t know what he’d say anyway. How could he reassure her without lying? His job was risky and there would always be a certain amount of danger. He loved what he did for a living and he wasn’t ready to give it up. If she asked him to, he didn’t know what he’d do. He wanted to think that the strength of his love would make the decision easy, but he was learning, from Shaun, that love, no matter how strong, didn’t make life easier. Instead, love was messy, complicated and exhilarating.
She broke their kiss. “Please fuck me.”
Jozef didn’t need to be asked again. He turned to carry her into the bedroom, but she protested.
“No, do it here, out in the open,” she said breathlessly. “I want to watch the lights while you fuck me.”
If Jozef’s dick had been hard before, it was now stone. Her words, her sexual assertiveness, it made him want her with a new kind of desire. He wanted to touch her wildness, wake it up, revel in the barbarism that surged through them when they came together.
He set her on her feet and reached for the hem of his shirt, stripping it from his chest. She did the same, pulling her pajama top over her head and tossing it across the room. He saw her teeth flash in a grin as she hurriedly shoved the waistband of her pants over her hips and down her legs.
Jozef got his belt unbuckled and his jeans unzipped before Shaun launched herself at him. He barked with laughter as she jumped into his arms and nearly knocked him backwards onto the couch. Her impatience infected him, and he realized he wanted inside her as badly as she seemed to want him there.
Shaun rained kisses all over Jozef’s neck, face and shoulders as he tilted her back, resting her ass on the top of the couch so he could reach between them and pull his straining dick from his jeans. Her breathing hitched as he spat on his palm and reached down to stroke himself, before lining himself up against her pussy. She was wet and ready for him as he pushed himself through her tight passage.
She moaned, tipping her head back and closing her eyes, enjoying the sensation of him filling her.
He bit her neck, tasting her flesh, licking her sweetness. She tasted like strawberries, warmth and woman. He held himself still inside her, savouring the sensation of her tight squeeze on his cock. She wiggled her hips, trying to get him to move, but he refused. He loved that she was so needy, that she wanted him with such passion.
He’d thought of her often while he travelled, her image lingering no matter where he went or what he did. He thought he was holding Shaun close to his heart but being with her now showed him that the real woman was so much better. She was everything he wanted in life and then some. An unexpected gift he would never stop thanking god for.
“Jozef!” she exclaimed, hitting his chest. “Fuck me now.”
He chuckled at her impatience and lifted her in his arms, deliberately bouncing her so she was forced to take all of him. She let out a yelp, then, gripping him tightly, moaned her approval. He moved her to the kitchen table and set her ass on top, tilting her so he was at the best angle to fuck her as deeply as she appeared to want and need.
He began thrusting, slow at first, then building to a furious crescendo. She flung her arms wide across the table, arched her back and took everything he was giving her. The slap of flesh, the grunts and moans, they were a symphony to his ears. He gripped her hips so tight he was sure he would leave bruises. He didn’t care. He loved seeing his mark on her, loved knowing that she begged for it.
He pulled out, which made her cry out in protest. He lifted her off the table and pushed her against the window, pressing her hands against the glass. He lined himself up behind her and slammed himself home. His thrusts were shallower, but the tight squeeze of her pussy gripped him so hard it didn’t matter.
He wrapped one arm around her waist, holding her tight against him, while he twined the fingers of his other hand with hers. She was trapped between him and the window, but she didn’t notice or care. She was so lost in sensation, the moans spilling from her exquisite lips as she begged him to keep going.
He moved his hand from her waist down to her pussy, and strummed her clit, which was slippery and engorged. She keened wildly, throwing her head back into his shoulder.
“I’m coming, Jozef!” she yelled.
He bit her ear, thrusting his tongue into the delicate shell and forcing her over the edge of her orgasm.
She screamed with the force of it, bucking in his arms and smashing their entwined hands into the glass.
He marveled at her strength when she was in the grip of her orgasm. She nearly threw him off, but he was determined to follow her over the edge of bliss. He needed the release, had dreamed of it whenever he fell asleep with her image plastered across his mind.
When they fucked, it was more than fucking. So much more. It was the meeting of their souls. No matter how hot, how dirty, or how frantic, they were in unison during these few moments. They didn’t need language because they were so connected that words were unnecessary.
Shaun collapsed, but Jozef held her tight, thrusting, driving toward his own orgasm. Using her constricting muscles to milk himself inside her.
Pleasure shot down his spine, settling in his tight balls and then releasing. He grunted, filling her with his seed and continuing to pump until he was empty. He pulled out of her and bent to lift her into his arms.
“I can walk,” she protested with a laugh, gripping his shoulders so she wouldn’t fall.
He strode with her into the bedroom, then into the ensuite. Setting Shaun on the edge of the vanity, he rifled through a basket beside the sink, coming up with a clean facecloth. He wanted nothing more than to lay down in his own bed, resting his head on his own pillow and falling asleep with his woman at his side, but he had to take care of her first. He didn’t want her to wake up uncomfortable and sticky.
Jozef ran the sink until the water was warm enough, wet the facecloth and pressed it between Shaun’s thighs. She moaned and tilted her hips. Despite his exhaustion, lust shot through him as she involuntarily fucked the facecloth.
He pressed harder, pushing the rough fabric against her sensitive clit.
She gripped the counter tight and tilted back until her torso was resting against the mirror.
Jozef continued to stroke, cleaning her and driving her toward another orgasm. This one hit her within seconds, coming fast and hard. A gush of liquid soaked the already wet facecloth as she came, her face strained, and her mouth opened in an ‘O’.
Jozef’s cock was ready for another round, but he ignored it. He was pleased to give all the orgasms to Shaun. She deserved them and he loved watching the concentration on her face as she fought her way toward the shining peak.
As she collapsed back against the mirror, Jozef tossed the washcloth in the sink and picked her up. She didn’t complain this time as he carried her to the bed. He set her down and sprawled out next to her. She rolled to face the city lights, her favourite position.
Jozef wrapped an arm around her, their hands twined over her beating heart. They fell asleep together, the city below casting a warm glow over their naked bodies.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“I’ve seen that man before…” Shaun trailed off as she stared after the man who’d abruptly turned away and left the bustling Christmas market.
Karl glared after the man. “When?”
Shaun racked her brain until she came up with the answer. “Here, in Prague, a year ago. I saw him watching me when Havel came to my hotel to talk to me, right before I left for Canada. I pegged him for law enforcement.”
“Good eye,” Karl grunted. “He’s Interpol.”
Shaun gaped at the place where the man had been standing. “How do you know?”
Karl looked at her. “We have eyes on everyone who thinks they have eyes on our boy.”
“Jozef?”
Karl nodded. “Interpol is interested because Jozef often crosses international lines when on the job. While our officials are corrupt as hell and unwilling to pin anything on Jozef, especially after the chaos he caused in prison, Interpol would love to get their hands on him. Charge him for some of the shit he’s done while out of country.”
“Why don’t they, if they know he’s committing crimes?” she asked, idly picking up a beautiful tree ornament from one of the craft tables and turning it over in her mittened hands.
Karl grinned at Shaun. “Jozef is too good to pin anything on. He never leaves evidence. Only once, and he paid for it.”
“When he kidnapped me.”
Karl nodded his agreement but didn’t say anything. Suddenly the day, and Shaun’s special outing to buy Christmas gifts, seemed less joyful. She was taken back to the tiny basement, where Jozef had demanded she save a man’s life, only to turn around and take that life. He’d left fingerprints on a bucket.
And he’d allowed Shaun to live. Perhaps his biggest mistake, although she knew he didn’t see it that way.
“You said Jozef caused chaos in the prison.” Shaun handed the shopkeeper a handful of Koruna, still unsure of the conversion on the currency. The shopkeeper looked startled and then started making change. While Shaun waited, she asked, “What did he do?”
Karl cleared his throat and shook his head. “You know I don’t participate in idle gossip.”
Shaun glared at him. “It’s not idle curiosity. I think it’s important for me to know for my understanding of the mafia.”
“I’m not buying it,” Karl countered, reaching out to take her change from the shopkeeper who was watching them curiously.
“Okay, if you insist, then it’s idle gossip,” Shaun admitted. “But as the daughter of the woman you are trying to have familiar relations with, I insist you tell me. What did Jozef do while he was in prison? Did he… did he hurt anyone?”
Karl ignored her question, instead turning an alarming shade of red and sputtering the words, “Familiar relations?”
Shaun was a little worried about Karl’s diet if his system couldn’t handle the shock of a fairly innocent question. If he was going to date her mother, Shaun would have to insist on him going to his doctor for a health check. Fatima’s heart couldn’t handle another man in her life passing too young.
“I have it on good authority….” Her nighttime guard, who wasn’t afraid of idle gossip, had told her, “… that you spent four hours in my mother’s apartment on Tuesday night after you got off shift. I’m sure she convinced you to watch an Audrey Hepburn movie, but what were you two doing with the rest of the time?”
Karl was staring at her like she was about to whip a chainsaw out of her purse and take him out at the knees. She covered her mouth so he wouldn’t see her giggling.
“We were talking.” Karl’s voice was a mixture of lofty defensiveness and horror. Shaun suspected if he could’ve run away, he would be streaking through the Christmas market to escape her questions.
As if on cue to save his sensibilities, a voice piped up from behind them. “Shaun, is that you?”
Shaun turned on the spot while Karl went on the defensive, his hand going beneath his jacket, no doubt landing on the butt of his gun.
He relaxed almost immediately as they both recognized Dasha Koba.
Shaun took a speechless moment to remember how perfect the other woman was, no matter where she went. She wore a fur hat perched on top of her long, loose chestnut curls. A grey fur coat was wrapped loosely around her body, while a calf length cherry red pencil skirt peeked from beneath the edge of the coat. She wore soft grey leather gloves and high-heeled leather boots.
Shaun was engulfed by Dasha’s perfume as the older woman seized Shaun’s arms and pulled her in for a hug, kissing both of her cheeks.
“It’s so wonderful to see you,” Dasha said brightly. “I’ve missed you.”
“Uh….” Shaun accepted the hug, kissing Dasha on both cheeks, as was expected. “I’ve missed you too.”
It was a lie, and Shaun felt guilty for telling it. She’d actually forgotten about Dasha, Krystoff and Leeza. They had drifted to the periphery as her life was filled with settling herself and her mother into Jozef’s apartment building and purchasing necessities. Of course, she knew the Koba family still existed, but aside from Saskia, she didn’t see or spend time with them. She suspected Jozef was acting as a buffer.
Despite his insistence that he wasn’t at war with his family, there was a gulf between them, one that Jozef didn’t bother to try and bridge. He seemed content building a life for himself and his fiancé outside of his family’s influence.
“Please, you must have lunch with me,” Dasha insisted, pulling her arm through Shaun’s and then turning until they faced away from Karl.
“Well….” Shaun hesitated.
She’d come to the Christmas market to spend some time alone outside of the apartment and find some gifts for her loved ones. Now it looked like she was being commandeered.
“Oh please,” Dasha begged. “I don’t know when I’ll see you again. Consider it my Christmas gift to spend a little time with my soon-to-be niece. You can tell me all about your wedding plans.”
Shaun wanted to laugh, but held it in. So far, the wedding plans consisted of Jozef insisting they would be married soon while Shaun was insisting she needed more time. Jozef was too busy to set a date and stick to it and Shaun was taking advantage of his distraction by never mentioning her upcoming nuptials.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to marry him. She wanted to marry him whole-heartedly and without reservations, which wasn’t possible yet. Though he was impatient to make their union official, Jozef cared enough about her wants and needs to give her more time, which was how she’d managed to avoid the alter. She suspected when her time finally ran out, and Jozef was ready to act, she’d find herself in a church and married in short order.
“Alright,” Shaun gave in gracefully. “I’ll have lunch with you.”
Dasha was being kind and it felt churlish to turn her down for a simple lunch.
“Where should we eat?” Shaun tried to peer through the crowd of shoppers, assessing the nearby eateries.
“Let’s go to Kuchařský Stůl,” Dasha said, naming the Koba owned restaurant, which translated to Chef’s Table. Jozef had once taken Shaun there on a date. “It’s not far; we can walk.”
Shaun nodded her agreement but glanced back at Karl.
“I’ll have the car brought to the restaurant,” he told her, pulling his phone from his pocket and texting their driver.
“You seem to be settling well,” Dasha murmured slyly.
Shaun knew what Dasha meant. Shaun was settling well compared to the previous year when she’d fought her role as Jozef’s fiancé. Shaun wasn’t sure what to say to Dasha so elected to change the subject.
“How is Saskia doing with her classes?”
Dasha’s nose wrinkled, but she immediately smoothed her expression. “She’s doing well, of course. Saskia was always a good pupil. A little wild, but intelligent.”
Dasha’s description of Saskia was spot on, but Shaun couldn’t detect any note of parental pride in the other woman’s tone.
“She has an aptitude for languages,” Shaun pointed out, watching Dasha carefully.
Again, Dasha’s gaze turned brittle, but she didn’t comment, other than to say, “Yes.” She led Shaun to the door of the restaurant at the same time as Shaun’s vehicle pulled up to the curb. Shaun waved at her driver but followed Dasha inside.
Dasha greeted the concierge coolly and asked for her usual table. A wave of vulnerability washed over Shaun as they were led into the depths of the restaurant. It was starting to feel less and less coincidental that Dasha happened to run into her in the market and decided they should eat lunch at the Koba owned restaurant.
When Shaun caught Karl’s eye, she realized he felt the same. His brow was wrinkled in a deep frown and he was on his phone, no doubt texting Jozef. Shaun felt better knowing that Jozef would know where she was.
They were shown to the same table Shaun and Jozef had shared and Shaun felt a pang of longing. She wished she were about to sit down with Jozef, rather than his aunt.
The maître d’ took their coats and seated the two women. The server arrived as they were settling in.
“Let’s have the most exclusive wine on the menu,” Dasha said, smiling at Shaun. “We don’t get an opportunity like this often. Let’s celebrate.”
Shaun wasn’t sure what they were celebrating but murmured her agreement. She didn’t want to drink wine when it was barely noon, but she couldn’t politely decline when Dasha seemed so excited.
“So, tell me….” Dasha placed her elbows on the table and her chin in her hand. It was a smooth move that made her look truly interested in what Shaun was about to say, but Shaun knew the move was an affectation. “Have you set the wedding date yet?”
Shaun should have known that Dasha would want to talk wedding details. The woman was nothing if not single-mindedly focused on her next big party.
Shaun shook her head. “No, we haven’t really had time to talk about it.”
Dasha frowned. “But my dear, you’ve been here for almost two months now. Surely you’ve given it some thought.”
Shaun sighed and took a sip of her wine when it was set on the table. She almost instantly regretted it. Not because the wine was bad. In fact, it was incredibly delicious; light and fruity. No, she regretted taking a sip because her mind immediately jumped to a year earlier when she was poisoned. Though she was in a restaurant, surrounded by people, which should be safe, it was Koba owned and controlled.
She discreetly picked up her napkin and used it to spit out the liquid in her mouth, wiping her tongue. She dropped the napkin in her lap and glanced over at Karl who was standing near the table, not bothering to look like anything other than a bodyguard whose entire focus was on his principal.
