Page 70 of Essence of Fear

And so free.

He kept her pinned to her side on the ground, and yet tucked safely into his side, too. Arms locked around her body. Kisses covered her throat, the line of her hair, and everywhere he could reach. She came again, faster the second time, and harder, too. It was only when she felt his body tense against hers and the way he growled her name against her throat that told her he was close, too.

He came deep in her pussy, fingers digging into her flesh hard enough to leave marks behind, but she didn’t mind those. She’d wear them and be happy about them. She asked for these marks, after all.

It was only after he’d pulled out of her body and rolled to his back, did she let out a weightless laugh. Weightless, because that’s how she felt, too. His dark chuckles echoed, too, but just as fast, she rolled over and hovered above him. She didn’t miss the way his gaze traveled to the junction between her legs.

His eyes darkened as her hands dipped between her legs. She felt his cum slip from her sex to slide between her fingertips, coating her fingers with them.

“Fuck,” he muttered thickly.

Viktoria grinned. “Want to do it again?”

“You don’t even have to ask.”

• • •

Viktoria edged closer to the window of the bedroom she was using at the estate and peered down over the backyard. There, she found Pav and a mean-looking Rottweiler making friends, if that were possible. It was almost amusing to see him shaking a stick only to make the dog crouch back on his hind legs like he was going to jump for the wood.

She didn’t know who the dog belonged to—it was one of three that regularly walked around the property. They weren’t nice dogs, either. More than once, one had pinned back their ears and growled at her when she’d passed them by. Usually, one of the guards on the property would whistle to the dog in question, and it would back off.

At the moment, though, one of the three Rottweilers looked like a giant puppy with Pav on the grass. Pav tossed the stick, and the dog went after it the second it left his hand. She caught sight of his grin just before he turned his back to the house, and watched the dog run after his new toy.

She smiled, too.

A lot of things about Pav seemed … strange, at times. He sometimes seemed out of his element, but especially around a lot of people. He was always more comfortable being still and quiet, and lingering behind a crowd. He never wanted to be the center of attention, and even a conversation could really test his lines, at times. And yet, he could make friends with a nasty dog like it was nothing for him.

A throat cleared behind Viktoria, and she spun around to find her father standing in the doorway of the bedroom. Usually, she would close it, but after her talk with Pav in the woods a couple of days earlier, she was trying to settle in here a little more. Who knew how long she was going to have to stay, right? She might as well get used to it.

Unlikely.

“What are you doing up here?” her father asked.

Viktoria peeked over her shoulder, and watched the dog run back to Pav with the stick hanging out of his mouth. “Nothing, really.”

She turned back to her father in just enough time for Vadim to come stand beside her. There was no hiding the fact she had been spying on Pav as he played with the dog. For a long while, her father stayed quiet as he too watched the scene playing out on the grass below.

“Do they know about this? Your brothers, I mean?”

Viktoria’s brow dipped. “Know about what—”

“This. You and this man. That he clearly has an interest in you, and you are returning it. That it’s been physical.”

“How do you know—”

“I know many things,” Vadim muttered. “I did not ask you a question for you to reply in kind, Viktoria. Answer me, yes?”

God.

“They know,” she said quietly.

Vadim tipped his head up as though he were looking at Pav down his nose. Looking down at him, even though Pav couldn’t possibly know it. Her father stayed quiet for another minute, his gaze narrowing on the man as the seconds ticked by slowly.

Finally, Vadim asked, “Is that how Konstantin is controlling Pavel now, then? With you. Give the beast something he wants, and he’ll do anything you want him to do, I suppose.”

She blinked.

What?