AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Levin
After the talk with Vladimir there’s nothing I need more than a stiff drink—other than maybe a woman, but that’s hardly an option right now. I sit down at the bar, order a top-shelf vodka on the rocks, and accept it gratefully when the bartender brings it over as I consider my options.
The only thing there is to do right now is press forward with Lidiya and the attempt to get information on Grisha. She seems amenable for now—the threat to her grandmother is keeping her in line, though I feel like shit every time I think about it. I’m not a soft man by any means, but I don’t relish the idea of starving little old ladies or putting them out on the street to achieve our ends.
I don’t think that’s going to be necessary, though. Lidiya seems to understand the gravity of the situation, enough that I felt comfortable leaving her upstairs for a little while—albeit with the door locked from the outside. And if she tries to fight again, I’ll have to use firmer methods, though I’m still adamant that I won’t hurt her.
Vladimir would disagree with me. And he’s not far—his compound isn’t more than half a day’s drive from Moscow. If he thinks I’m losing control of the situation, he’ll send other men, and then if that doesn’t work—he’ll come himself, with some of his brigadiers.
At that point, it’ll be out of my hands.
I’ve been working for Vladimir for nearly a decade now—more really. I was a grunt cleaning blood off of tiles long before I ever took the Syndicate’s oath and spilled blood for the induction. My father worked for Vladimir’s father, and his father before him for Vladimir’s father before him, and I’m sure it would go even further back, if I cared to look into it.
I don’t, though. I choose to look forward, because if I look behind me there’s far too much blood and far too many sins that would weigh on me if I let them. One day, I know they’ll catch up to me.
But not today.
Not yet.
And it’s not going to be fucking Vladimir who ends me because I let Grisha slip through my fingers. I just have to find a way to make this work while still doing itmyway.
I finish a second vodka, a third and then a fourth before I finally tell the bartender to charge it to my room. By now, Lidiya should be finished with her bath, and I shouldn’t leave her alone for too long. I have a pleasant buzz going, just short of being actually drunk, and it makes the prospect of getting through the rest of this night seem less daunting.
When I make my way back up to the room, unlocking it and stepping inside, I’m startled to hear the sound of the television. Lidiya is curled up on the bed in one of the fluffy hotel robes, her legs tucked under her and her wet hair thrown over her shoulder, a slightly darker shade of blonde. Her face is scrubbed clean, pale and slightly pink at her cheekbones and nose, and even like this I can’t help but think that she looks stunningly beautiful, delicate as a fairy, her blue eyes fixed on whatever she’s turned the tv to.
She doesn’t see me at first, which gives me a moment to just look at her. She looks incredibly innocent sitting there, sweet and simple, and I have the sudden urge to leave the room, find Grisha, and throttle the life out of him myself.
It’s because of him that she’s in this position. If he hadn’t seduced her into a relationship with him, there would be some other girl in this hotel room right now, being blackmailed and manipulated into his bed.She deserves better than this,I think, and it’s a ridiculous thought, because I don’t know that. I don’t knowher. But looking at her pretty, slightly flushed face with her bright blue eyes, pale eyelashes and wet hair tumbling over her shoulder, all I can think is that Grisha doesn’t deserve her, and she doesn’t deserve what’s being done to her right now.
She looks up then, as if she’s caught a shift in the air telling her someone else is in the room, and her eyes go momentarily wide with an expression that’s half fear, half something else that I don’t dare put a name to—and can’t, because it’s entirely unlikely that she would feel that way about me, and that I’m not just projecting my own desire onto her.
“Levin.” She says my name flatly, but the sound of it on her lips goes through me like a jolt of electricity anyway—and I would know. There was that time in El Salvador—
“You smell like vodka.” Her voice is faintly disapproving, pulling me out of past unpleasant memories involving drug gangs and car batteries. She narrows her eyes, and I smirk at her, just buzzed enough not to think through what I’m saying clearly.
“What are you, myzhena?If I want to come back tomyhotel room thatIpay for smelling like vodka, I will.”
She laughs, and the sound of it surprises me, clear like spring water, rippling over my skin in a way that feels distinctly refreshing. I’m not sure I’ve heard someone laugh so genuinely in a long time, and it surprises me that even in this situation, she can laugh like that at all.
“Are you paying for the room? Or is your boss paying for it?” She smirks at me, and my eyes widen slightly.
“I haven’t forgotten my threat to tie you to the bed,kotenok. I could gag you as well, if you don’t watch that mouth.”With my cock.The thought springs into my head, the image that follows it all too clear for my own sanity, and I force it down as quickly as possible. That’s not what either of us are here for, and the more I allow myself to fantasize about it, the more difficult this will be.
I hadn’t meant to call her the pet name, either. It had just slipped out, and I wish I could bite it back, but it’s too late now. Lidiya ignores it, though, scooting towards the edge of the bed. Her robe parts as she does so, giving me a glimpse of her toned calves and pale, slender thighs. The sight sends another jolt through me, and I can easily picture myself stepping forward between her slightly parted legs, pushing them wider, kneeling down beside the bed and sliding my hands up to the still-hidden, soft flesh of her inner thighs, spreading them so that I can see what she looks like between them—
She would be soft and pink, flushed just like those spots high on her cheekbones.Are there soft blonde curls between her thighs, or is she bare and smooth? Is she wearing panties underneath that robe? She doesn’t have anything clean, and after a bath—
Bladya.I grit my teeth, feeling my cock start to harden for the—I’ve lost track of how many times she’s gotten me hard today. And I can’t just go back to my room and take care of it, either, because she’sinmy room. For the foreseeable future.
I don’t know what she’s doing to me. It’s not like it’s been that long since I got laid—by women more exotic-looking and sensual than this university grad student. But something about her—
“Levin? Are you alright?” Lidiya is looking at me, her full lips crooked up on one side, mingled amusement and slight concern on her face. “You look like you’re a million miles away.”
No, mentally, I’m a foot in front of me, between your legs.But that might as well be a million miles for how accessible it is to me. I can’t touch Lidiya Petrovna. Not in the way I want to, anyway.
If I wanted to hurt her to make headway on the mission? That would be fine—even encouraged. But to touch her for my pleasure, and hers? That’s asking for censure.
“I’m fine,” I manage, and Lidiya laughs.
