The Killer’s Vow by Aria R. Blue
Vera
2 months later
“You’re being creepy again,”I announce.
“I’m not doing anything, though.”
“That’s the problem,” I say, looking back at him. “You’re just staring at me.”
He takes my breath away every time.
It’s the fire between us—it’s relentless, even after we spent an entire week cooped up in a hotel room together after we got back.
“Can you blame me?” he asks, pushing off the wall and stalking closer.
I turn back to the book in front of me.
Plant Taxonomy.
The smell of coffee infiltrates my lungs. I’m back home now, back in the greenhouse.
I had to do a lot of pruning when I got back, but otherwise, the plants remained healthy and strong.
Simon’s heat burns my back as he slides his hands down my arms, stopping at my wrists.
“Simon, I’m trying to read a book.”
He leans down to whisper filth in my ear. “I was minding my own business, I swear. I came here to speak with your father about something. But I saw your sweet ass looking all tempting in a sundress, and I couldn’t help myself, you know?”
“Simon—” I moan his name now.
His face is pressed against my throat now. “All I have to do is kiss your neck to get your panties wet. You’re fucking irresistible, tigritsa moya.”
The book is forgotten as he throws me over his shoulder and carries me up the stairs.
“I thought you hated these stairs,” I say, smiling against his broad back.
“I’ve learned that the reward is well worth it,” he replies, squeezing my ass from over my yellow sundress.
We pass Inessa’s study and head to the solarium at the very top.
With all the glass walls, this is the brightest place in the entire greenhouse.
Simon likes to look at every part of me when he fucks me. Also, it’s one of the only places where we can get privacy.
The sun has already begun its descent, painting the small room orange.
“I bought something for you,” he says, placing me back down on my feet.
My toes sink into the plush carpet.
“Oh?” I ask, glancing up at him.
Simon’s been working so hard these days.
He started teaching competitive shooting and mixed martial arts to kids in Chicago. He’s been busy trying to build a life for himself, and…I have a feeling he’s doing it for me.
He no longer kills for money.
He still works on his "personal projects,” though. He told me about the network of organizations he found worldwide that profit by trafficking children and women. Those people deserve what’s coming for them.
I’m proud of what he does, even if it’s unconventional.
He pulls out a jewelry box now and opens it in front of me. A ruby necklace glitters under the fading sun.
Quietly, I turn around and hold my hair up.
His fingers burn mine as he secures it around my neck.
When I turn back around, there’s an intensity to him that I’ve never seen before. And it’s more than desire.
“Beautiful,” he says, reaching into his pockets and pulling out matching ruby earrings.
As I put the earrings on myself, it’s not lost on me that the jewelry he bought me is red.
Red.
The traditional Russian color for marriage.
His fingers trace my collarbone. “I was going to ask your grandmother and father for their blessing first, but you look so beautiful right now. I don’t want to wait anymore.”
He reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a ring. It’s a small diamond with tiny rubies studded around it.
“It…it belonged to my mother,” he says, getting down on one knee and looking up at me. “I know it’s not much, but...”
I press my hand against his cheek and bite down on my lip.
He leans into my hand. “Will you marry me, Vera?”
“Yes.” The word is barely out of my mouth before he spins me around and presses me up against the wall.
His body crowds against mine, dominating me in the most delicious way possible. His cock is branded against my ass.
His hands rip at my clothes until I’m wearing nothing but the rubies he gave me.
My nails dig into his bicep as he wraps an arm around my breasts possessively. I twist my head to catch every groan that falls from his lips.
His fingers delve into the valley between my thighs, gathering all my honey.
“Aren’t you going to take your clothes off?” I ask him.
“I can’t wait to be inside you, Vera,” he says, plunging into me as he plays with my clit. “How are you trying to milk me already? It’s like you want to snap my control.”
His pumps are merciless.
His fingers attack my clit as he fills me with his big cock over and over again.
When I’m about to come, he spins me back around.
He likes to look at all of me when I’m about to come.
“Shatter for me, Vera,” he says. “Shatter so I can put you back together again only to wreck you.”
His cock is the only thing I know.
I wrap my thighs around his waist and take every punishing drive of his hips. I scream his name as I come.
He buries his head in the crook of my neck as his seed fills my womb.
Rubies wink up at me.
Diamonds sit pretty on my finger.
And this brutal/sweet man is about to be my husband.
For once, it feels like everything is exactly as it’s supposed to be.
We lie down on the floor next to each other.
We watch the colors of the sky morph into beautiful darkness. I kiss him until the stars twinkle down on us.
“I have to go,” I say, pulling away from him. “I promised Inessa that I’d watch a movie with her tonight.”
Simon is still reluctant, but he lets me get dressed.
“I want to rip it all off your body again,” he says.
“I’m going to leave before you actually do that,” I say, leaving him in the solarium and making my way down the stairs to Inessa’s study.
Another man is heading into the study at the same time. Papa’s senior-most guard.
“Konstantin.”
“Vera.”
He’s carrying a box in his hands with his stuff in it. He steps aside to let me pass.
“I wanted to tell you something,” I say. “You don’t need to worry about your secret. I’ll take it to the grave.”
His eyes widen for a second before he composes himself.
“Spasibo,” he says. Thank you.
A few years ago, I had seen him making love to a woman with curly black hair at one of the mafia parties. She looked familiar to me. It wasn’t until I got home that I realized that I had seen her at last year’s Christmas dinner.
The woman was none other than his cousin Esmeralda.
And I held it over him as blackmail every time he overstepped boundaries.
But I know now that it wasn’t right to do that.
Instead, I had him fired after I got back from Russia.
It’s another one of my new rules. I don’t put up with disrespectful men anymore.
Feeling carefree and light, I walk into the TV room. Babushka and Inessa are watching old family tapes, snacking on air-popped popcorn.
Lion is curled up at their feet, sleeping. My dog stayed in Mexico for a week with Maya Rivera.
I glance at the TV.
“Is that—?”
“From your old video camera?” Inessa finishes. “Yeah.”
It’s all in there.
Every video I ever took as a little girl. All of the memories of my childhood, even the ones from the dacha.
Simon joins us halfway through, sitting down next to Lion and leaning against my legs.
“That’s the OG Lion,” I say, pointing at the golden goat we only knew for a day. “His name was Lion too.”
“Lion heart,” Inessa explains.
“He really is the G-O-A-T,” Simon says, making us all roll our eyes.
We grow somber as we watch the moment when Babushka asked us girls to always look out for each other. Inessa had been recording this moment back then.
“So this is how you remember everything,” I say, turning to my little sister.
“I never forgot,” she says, resting her head on my shoulder. “I used to watch these old videos of Babushka and you all the time. I never forgot any of it.”
I made a vow to myself to look after Inessa.
But she did one hell of a job at looking after me too.
She saw that the light inside me was dimming. And she took it upon herself to restore that.
And having Babushka back changed everything.
It’s insane how much of a change one person can make in our lives.
I saw my father cry for the very first time. He didn’t know that Babushka had been alive all this time.
Mamahasn’t changed much, but Papa is more open-minded now.
He even invited Ivan’s American girlfriend to lunch when Ivan broke the news that they were expecting. There weren’t even any guns drawn or anything.
And having Simon here makes it all complete.
He belongs in my life, making everything sweeter and better.
I’ll tell my family about our engagement at dinner tonight. But for now, my heart is content being exactly where it is.
I lean down and kiss the side of Simon’s forehead.
“Ty moye serdtse,” I say. You’re my heart.
“Ty moye yse,” he replies. You’re my everything.