The Mafia and His Obsession, Part 2 by Lylah James

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 2

 

 

Viktor

 

Valerie stirred in my arms, forcing me to loosen my hold on her waist. She nudged her head up and stared at me through sleepy eyes. My myshka gave me a smile and she stole my breath away, right from my fucking lungs.

Valerie was a soul catcher. Once she had her grip, her fingers digging into the depths of you, there was no escaping. She trapped me in a reverie, and just like that, I was drowning in her. Her smiles had a way of making my heart stop and then beat with a frantic rhythm. It’d dance the same way Valerie would, intense…free…like a poem telling the beautiful tale of a mad, delicate love.

“Hi.”

The sound of her voice was throaty, and she brought me back to the present. Her speech patterns were almost as natural as everyone else. The way Valerie spoke her words, you wouldn’t be able to tell she was deaf if one didn’t pay close attention.

But I did. I always caught the way she couldn’t tell how loud or soft she was speaking. A few times, her speech turned out a bit slurred if she spoke too fast. I also noticed that now she would always place her hand over her throat while speaking. Valerie said it helped when she vocalized. She felt the vibration through the palm of her hand, so it helped her control how loud or soft she was speaking.

“Hi,” I replied, watching her blink up at me with those hazel eyes I had learned to adore so much. They followed me even in my dreams, taunting me, holding me captive, and begging me to steal my myshka away.

“How long have you been here?” she questioned lightly.

“About an hour. You were sleeping when I came in and I didn’t have it in me to wake you up.” I brushed away the stray strands of hair from her forehead. When I tucked them behind her ears, Valerie smiled again and then snuggled closer into my arms.

“You looked so peaceful,” I whispered before kissing her forehead. My lips lingered there, and Valerie released a soft sigh.

“So, you decided to stare at me while I was sleeping? Not creepy at all,” she teased. I felt her lips on my chest through my shirt. She placed a kiss there before tucking her face into my neck once again. A soft…sweet kiss, almost like she did it unknowingly.

Valerie and I had found a comfortable pattern. We had settled with what we had now, living in the moment, stealing little pieces of happiness. It was dangerous, forbidden, but my soul craved danger. It craved the darkness that came along with it.

Valerie was part of it, the danger…she was the fucking center of it. And I kept crawling to her on my knees, like a damn sinner at church, begging for mercy. Yet I wasn’t begging for mercy. I was begging for every kind of wrong that existed in this world.

I was begging for corruption, for blood, and fucking passion.

Valerie played with the buttons of my shirt, her fingers rubbing circles over my chest. My heart thumped. When she placed another kiss against the side of my neck over my throbbing vein, I smiled. I loved the way she couldn’t stop touching me. Almost like she had to remind herself I was here, real…and hers.

My arm tightened around her waist, and she hummed in response. In my arms, she was happy. I wished I could keep it that way. Forever.

I wished I could steal her away right fucking now. Throw her over my shoulders and march out of this goddamn estate. Fuck everyone who would come into my way, I’d put a bullet into their skulls.

Valerie lifted her head up and stared into my face. Her brows were knitted together, looking thoughtful as she searched my face. “You are silent. Your face has hardened and you lost your smile. What are you thinking about?”

“I am thinking of stealing you away. Right now,” I admitted. I cupped her face in my hands and swiped my thumb over her lips. They parted with a tiny breath, and Valerie shivered at my touch. I felt it against me.

“If I steal you away, then you will never lose your smile.” My whispered confession hung heavy into the room.

Valerie squeezed her eyes shut for a second, as if she were in pain, before opening them again. My gaze met her hazel ones. She leaned down and pressed her forehead against mine.

“One day…one day you’ll steal me away. Our day will come, Viktor. Right?” she murmured.

She looked at me for confirmation. Almost as if her sanity depended on my agreement.

I nodded. A simple nod and that was all she needed. “I will be yours. And you will be mine,” she confessed.

At her words, I gripped the back of her head. Her eyes widened and she stared into my face, curious and suddenly nervous.

“You are mine, Valerie,” I growled. My rough, angry voice sounded grating and unfamiliar even to my own ears. I clenched my jaw, fighting the urge to claim her right now…to show her she was really mine.

I gripped the back of her neck tighter, bringing our faces really close. I knew my hold wouldn’t hurt her or cause any discomfort. It kept Valerie grounded. It kept the fucking beast inside of me grounded.

Her eyes went to my lips. She watched with rapt attention as I spoke, taking in every single word.

“These lips are mine, aren’t they?” I muttered. Valerie swallowed and shuddered on top of me. Her eyes held a hint of heat and a hidden need. Her eyes had the power to bring me to my knees.

“My lips to kiss,” I continued, my lips feathering over hers. “Right?”

She nodded, but it wasn’t enough for me.

“I want to hear you say it.”

She jolted at my demand. “Yes,” she breathed.

I grinned. And then I pressed the softest kiss to her mouth. It wasn’t a hard kiss. It was sweet, like her. She seemed surprised at first, but then she returned the kiss, just as sweetly.

I could feel her heart beating against mine. Loud, and a little out of control. Just like mine.

“Viktor.” She said my name like a whispered prayer.

This crazed obsession could get me killed. But my heart was just too dark to care. I was a bad man and I did all the wrong things…all the wrong, forbidden things. They pulled me in, like a moth attracted to a red, shining flame. They made me sin.

And for Valerie, I would gladly sin.

“Valerie, say it,” I growled, possessive of her words, hungry for her, begging for her to say it.

“Yours. I am yours, Viktor.”

I grunted in response. This time, I devoured her lips. She moaned into the kiss. When we pulled away, we were both breathless.

“You are mine to worship, to caress, to love—”

Valerie breathed against my lips, and I tasted the saltiness of her tears. I licked them away, kissed them…and made love to her lips again. My sweet, beautiful myshka.

Her body rubbed against mine. She gasped and then stopped. My cock was hard and straining against my slacks. She felt it.

Her eyes opened. When I was sure she was reading my lips, I said, “And Valerie, you are mine to fuck.”

Her red, swollen lips parted in surprise. Valerie blinked and smiled and then let out a small, silent laugh. “You have a way with words, Viktor Ivanshov. Truly. A silver-tongued devil you are.”

Before I could respond, she leaned down and gave me a hard kiss. Fuck, she knew how to steal my breath away. Literally and figuratively.

“Viktor, I remember, you were watching me behind the door. I was knitting. I saw you, briefly. I couldn’t stop thinking about you after that. You were a mystery. I thought it was my imagination until you made your appearance again. You came into my room, waltzed in like you belonged here. I became yours the moment you handed me that notebook and your pen, and you demanded I speak,” she whispered into our kiss. “Fate has a strange way of playing with us.”

Valerie snuggled back into my arms. She nuzzled her nose into my neck, breathing me in. I buried my face into her hair and closed my eyes.

She was right. Fate did have a strange way of playing with us. We were its unwilling victim. But now, I didn’t regret this chance encounter. I believed everything led to this…this moment; it led me to her, my sweet Valerie.

Fate played matchmaker.

It was almost a laughable thought. Viktor Ivanshov fell into a little trap. Alessio would be laughing his ugly ass off. No, on second thought, that would make him a hypocrite. That fucker was living his own definition of happily ever after.

“I’m going to take a shower.” Her voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I blinked my eyes open, watching my woman closely as she got off the bed and walked into the bathroom. My gaze found the clock, and it appeared that I had dozed off for about an hour.

I eventually got off the bed too. Valerie hadn’t locked the bathroom door, and I walked in, knowing this was her unsaid invitation. I closed the door behind me while my eyes found her in the shower. The glass doors were a little foggy, but I could see every single inch of her beautiful lithe body.

A tempting sight that made me want to sin all over again.

She turned toward me. When our gazes met, her movement faltered for a brief second. Her arms wrapped around her middle, almost as if she were trying to hide her nakedness from my wandering eyes.

I stood there, unashamed. In my head, she was my woman. Every part of her was mine. And I would take my fill, as much as I wanted.

If I couldn’t touch, I would look.

If I couldn’t touch or look…I would feel her. Deep in the core of me. She was in every blood cell, stuck deep in a place I didn’t know I had. In the little forgetful place of my heart. A place I thought was dead and only filled with darkness. But she found her way in there.

I waited to see if Valerie’s shyness would win. I walked deeper in the immaculate, dainty bathroom and stood in the middle. The longest minute passed between us. The water continued to cascade and glide over her naked skin, leaving a glistening afterglow.

My myshka had an allure around her that captured me. When she was within my sight, I couldn’t take my eyes off her. Valerie was silver stars shining brightly in the dark sky. She had permanently left her mark on my soul.

Finally, her arms fell away.

She appeared nervous, but under my gaze, she slowly grew bold. I watched as she lathered up her body, her fingers gliding expertly over every inch of her, slowly, teasingly…tempting me.

I watched and had her memorized in my brain.

Wet, wavy, blonde hair. Hazel eyes that fascinated me. Creamy skin that demanded to be kissed by my lips. I couldn’t help but stare. She had me hypnotized.

When the water finally stopped running and she opened the doors, I went on autopilot. Grabbing the nearest towel, I walked over to her. She averted her gaze shyly, choosing to stare at my chest instead. But I didn’t miss her smile, oh her beautiful smile.

Opening the towel, I waited for her to sink into my embrace. She did, without a word, without a thought. She came to me willing and as if it were natural. I wrapped the towel around her petite body and held her close.

She burrowed into me, and I absorbed her perfect love in this imperfect sublime moment.

Valerie shivered against the cold air. I hoisted her up over the counter and sat her down. She spread her legs enough so I could stand and settle between them. A giggle escaped past her lips when I took another towel and started to squeeze the water from her hair.

After making sure her hair was somewhat dry enough, I went to push the towel around her body away. My gaze found something else instead, and I stopped, my hold tightening around her lush white towel.

Where her collar started around her neck, her skin was red. On the side, the color was starting to turn a light purple. I saw the fingerprints. Always like her neck had been gripped hard.

I hadn’t noticed it before, when we were in the bed. The darkness had hidden those marks, but now I could see them clearly. They marred her beautiful pale skin, causing my blood to boil at the sight.

“Valerie—” I started to say, but she shook her head.

Her eyes turned sad, and it fucking hurt. “Please—”

My lips parted with a low snarl, and she flinched.

“Was it Valentin?” I hissed before pushing the towel away. I assessed the damage, tracing my finger lightly over her bruised neck. The collar was in my way, and I fought against the urge to rip it off her.

She shouldn’t have been collared. Ever. Yet this bastard kept her leashed against her will. He had her trapped in this room, hidden away from everyone but me.

“Who else would it be?” Valerie murmured, looking away from me. Her voice cracked over the whispered words, and it made my heart ache in a dangerous way.

Fuck. When did her pain become mine? When…fucking when did my heart become wounded at the thought of Valerie being hurt?

While I was gone to investigate about Irina, Valentin had slipped in and taken another piece of my myshka’s soul. Knowing that Valentin had come to her last night when I wasn’t home, he had touched her…hurt her…it had me raging. My jaw clenched and I closed my eyes for a brief second, breathing in Valerie’s sweet scent in an effort to calm me.

“It’s okay. I’m okay.”

I stiffened, biting the inside of my cheek to stop from saying something I would regret. My anger was meant for Solonik, never my beautiful Valerie.

My eyes opened and I stared her down, forcing her to accept my words. “No, it’s not okay,” I said, shaking my head. “It’s. Not. Fucking. Okay.”

She touched my shoulders, and then her fingers glided upward. Her nails scraped the back of my neck before she cupped my head. Her fingers ran through the strands of my hair, just the way she knew it soothed me.

I glared at the mirror behind her. I glared at the angry, useless man.

Valerie grasped my face and brought my gaze back to her. Her chest heaved, her eyes softened. “Viktor, I’m fine. He didn’t use me like that…I mean, last night he didn’t…”

She swallowed and then looked down before whispering. “He only made me pleasure him. That’s it. He didn’t use me in the other way. Not like he always does. He left after he…”

Her sentence was left unfinished, but I knew exactly what she meant. I could almost taste her agonized words.

I shook my head and moved closer. My hands were shaking as I brought them up to palm her soft cheeks. My throat grew tight, and I growled the words out. “That doesn’t make it okay. It’s not…”

She leaned in and kissed me, stopping my tirade of words. “Please. Can we not talk about him? Can we not…taint us? I feel if we bring him between us, if we speak of him, we are somehow tainting us, our moments. You make me forget, and that’s all I want.”

Her lips feathered over mine again, stopping me from speaking any further. The silence stretched between us, her words left hanging, creating a hollow pit inside of my stomach.

Valerie breathed shakily and wrapped her arms around my neck. Our lips met again and again, kissing away our pain.

I took her mouth in a soft kiss. A tender kiss filled with promises. She kissed me back as if she understood…

Valerie knew, one day Valentin would meet his end at my hands. I would make him bleed at the feet of my woman. And she knew that.

We breathed into our kiss.

I made a silent vow.

She believed me.