Lawless Read online

“You were hired to kill me,” she challenged. No matter how hard she fought, it was like trying to push against a stone wall.

  “I saved your life.” Viktor stared down at her, holding her gaze. “If it wasn’t for me, you’d have been killed by your adoring husband. If not by his own hand then by someone he’d hired.”

  As if she needed reminding. “That doesn’t mean I belong to you.”

  “That’s where you’re wrong. You’re in my home, living as my … guest. No one knows you live except me. And even if you wanted to return, what is there to go back to? And you honestly think that Mariano would let you live after all this?” Viktor lowered his head so they were eye to eye. “I very much doubt it.”

  Allegra shivered at his words. He was right. If Enrico would go this far to get rid of her, what was there to stop him from trying again if he found out she was still alive? “So I’m supposed to stay here with you for the rest of my life?”

  “Would that be so bad?”

  His voice was so mild she couldn’t help but search his eyes. As deep, dark and mesmerizing as they were, she refused to let herself get lost in them. “Why did you?”

  “What?”

  “Save me.” She tried to edge back to study him, but Viktor didn’t allow so much as a hair between them. Giving up with a frustrated groan, Allegra gritted her teeth against the feel of him against her. The sensation made it hard to think. “What’s in it for you?”

  “I’ve watched over you for months now.”

  “Because you were hired to kill me.”

  She caught the tightening of muscles in his jaw. “And it would have been a simple matter to do so. You’re too good. Too sweet. You were wasting your life with a bastard like Mariano. He didn’t give a damn about you other than the fact that you looked good on his arm and gave him a good story to tell people about how he met and fell in love with a lowly waitress. Elevated her to his world. He’s made you his personal charity case.”

  And that wasn’t how Enrico had framed it with her. She was his princess. His Cinderella. So why was it, when it came out of Viktor’s mouth, she felt shame? He made it sound so sordid. So dirty.

  “There’s nothing wrong with being a waitress. Or marrying up.” She’d done what was necessary to support herself and when she’d met Enrico he’d been her savior. “You don’t know what I’ve had to go through in my life. You have no right to judge me.”

  Her stomach lurched when he smiled.

  It lit up his face in a way she’d never seen before. Allegra knew she was in trouble at the impact of it on her senses.

  “What are you grinning about?”

  “That you’re showing some fight. At last.”

  Why did he sound so proud? Enrico hated it when she argued with him. Called her ungrateful whenever she’d questioned him.

  “You’ve let Mariano lead you around by the nose for so long I thought he might have driven it out of you.”

  Had she really become that compliant? That pathetic? The realization that she had let him take over every part of her life made something deep inside her shrivel up. It had made sense in the beginning to let Enrico guide her into a world she wasn’t familiar with. But when had it turned into her being just a pretty doll?

  Was that how everyone saw her?

  Viktor gripped her head between his hands. “You are more than that. More than he let you be.”

  She pushed his hands away. “This coming from the man who claims I’m his.”

  “Unlike some men, I treat what’s mine with respect.”

  As he spoke his face dropped lower as did his voice. Allegra fought the heat that licked her nerves at his tone. “Except you keep referring to someone with their own mind and agency as yours.”

  “But that’s what you are.”

  “Stop saying that. I’m not yours. I’m not a thing that can be owned.”

  “You let him control every part of your life.” Viktor traced a finger over her cheek and down her throat to toy with her collarbone. “Why not let someone who knows what he’s doing? At least when you’re naked?”

  She couldn’t stop the shiver of sensation that came from his touch. His words. Why was she reacting this way? Her treacherous body gravitated toward him as if he were the center of her universe.

  Which, strangely, was how he was looking at her. As if he saw nothing else but her. Allegra didn’t know how to react to that. She’d never been the point of anyone’s laser focus before. His dark eyes delved into hers as if he could read every inkling that flitted through her mind.

  A slight smirk curled the corner of his sensuous mouth.

  Perhaps he could read her mind after all.

  Stunned at the path her mind had taken, she lurched out of his reach. “I won’t let you…”

  “Let me what?” He loomed closer again. “Take you? Fuck you? Make you scream with pleasure?”

  She gripped the first thing she managed to curl her hand around to keep herself upright when her knees started to quake. There was no doubt that he could do everything he said he would and more.

  “I will have you spread under me screaming my name.” His voice had dropped, low and husky. Became cajoling. “Or perhaps you want me from behind pounding into you? Or in front of a mirror so you can watch yourself being taken by me…”

  How was it every word he said was like a brushstroke in her mind painting a very graphic picture of what he described?

  And why did she want him to do everything he’d just described and more?

  Allegra trembled harder as she forced herself to stop thinking about Viktor and the things she wanted him to do with her. To her.

  “Or maybe you prefer something a little more … stringent? The idea of putting you over my knee and spanking that beautiful ass…” He inhaled deeply as if he was trying to calm himself down. “Imagining it pink and hot from my hand…” Viktor growled.

  It seemed he had trouble finishing his thoughts as his imagination ran away with him. Not that she was doing any better fighting back the waves of heat coming from the images running rampant in her head.

  “You want me. I can see it. Feel it. You want my body as much as I want yours.”

  She did, but with everything that was going on in her life, was she crazy for even contemplating it?

  Allegra let her gaze wash over him. Because she really, really wanted him. But here she was, a woman married to a would-be murderer, imprisoned by the man hired to kill her, all because her husband didn’t want her anymore. She was a victim, yes, but was she going to let it define her?

  Was she going to let Viktor walk all over her to get what he wanted?

  What about what she wanted?

  Taking in all the available information, Allegra concluded that she needed to be safe and away from Enrico. As far as she could tell, she had both. To a point.

  A furtive glance into Viktor’s eyes told her he wouldn’t let anything or anyone hurt her. But would he?

  As a bodyguard he was protective. Overly so. But that had been his cover. A lie. What did she truly know about him? They’d never really had a conversation until now. The only thing she did know was that she was safe when she was with Viktor.

  His gruff voice tore through her thoughts. “I’ve spent months watching you, willing you to realize what an ass Mariano is.”

  He flipped her around to stare at them in the mirror. Allegra jumped when his hand grazed her thigh. Watched with deep fascination as his hand moved upward, taking the towel with it. Viktor curved a warm hand around the soft globe of her ass before dipping his fingers between her thighs.

  “I’m done waiting.”

  Chapter Six

  Allegra couldn’t breathe. The intensity in his eyes as he watched her wouldn’t allow her to do anything other than hold his gaze.

  Viktor smiled when he found her folds slick and ready for him. His eyes held hers as he slid his finger up and down. Never delving between them or going anywhere near her clit. Teasing her.

  Allegra’s
blood thickened with lust. When she tried to turn, however, Viktor growled.

  “Keep your hands on the stone. If they move, I stop.”

  She obeyed, gripping the marble countertop.

  Viktor returned to his exploration. His hand was rough against her skin. The hands of someone who knew how to use them.

  “Do you know how many hours I’ve spent imagining what your skin feels like?” He lowered his head to graze the delicate skin under her ear with the tip of his nose. “And obsessing over how you smell?”

  A shiver ran down her spine at his touch. His voice. There had been many nights that she imagined him doing exactly what he was doing right now. There had been shame that accompanied the thoughts. Shame and anger that she’d let herself imagine another man touching her.

  Making her scream with delight.

  Would he make her scream?

  He smiled as if he knew what she was thinking. From his smirk, she had no doubt he could and would.

  “You want me. I’ve seen it. You think no one noticed, but I did.” He whispered the words against her neck. She inhaled, ready to deny it, but he slapped her ass hard enough to bring tears to her eyes.

  “I want no lies from you. Ever.”

  “But will you lie to me?”

  “Have I?”

  Not that she knew of. She shook her head. “Not yet.”

  “Never.” He brushed his lips against her neck, sending shock waves of pleasure skittering through her. “I won’t lie to you.”

  She believed him.

  Why? Because he was turning her mind to mush from pleasure? Hell, he hadn’t even done anything more than touch her and she was turning to putty in his hands.

  What could he do to her if he really tried?

  She shoved back against him, trying to get some space between them, but he didn’t budge.

  “Impatient, are we?” He caught her gaze again. His lean features were drawn even more as he fought his own eagerness.

  “This whole thing is crazy.”

  “No, it’s not. This is two people giving in to fate.”

  His hands were moving again and her thoughts were getting harder to formulate. “Fate?” She shivered. “Of your making, I suppose.”

  He chuckled against the nape of her neck before he gave her a playful nip. “That’s the only kind I believe in.”

  The towel fell away before Allegra realized that Viktor had tugged it loose.

  “You will learn to love my touch. Even to crave it.”

  Didn’t she already? Allegra fought to keep from leaning into his hands. His body. It was completely insane to want someone’s touch so badly when she never felt the same way about her husband. Sure, she enjoyed being with him, but her body never burned for his touch the way it did for Viktor’s in that moment.

  “Look at me.”

  Allegra hadn’t been aware that she’d let her eyes close. Forcing them to open was hard, but facing the sensation of being studied so thoroughly by Viktor was harder. He delved into her eyes giving her the feeling that he was picking apart her brain and learning everything there was about her.

  His hands roved over her skin, drawing her attention to them. He was tan against her pale skin, his hands large and rough. Allegra couldn’t stop herself this time from pressing back into him and feeling the hard ridge of his arousal against the cleft of her bare ass.

  God, he was big. Much bigger than Enrico.

  She writhed against him, needing to feel more. His face remained impassive as he cupped her breast with one hand.

  “I’ve been dying to do this, did you know? I’d lay awake at night imagining what your breasts would feel like in my hands. My mouth.” He squeezed her, sending a jolt of excitement through her.

  “And this,” Viktor slid his other hand over her hip, along the little valley where her thigh met her body then slipped between them. He glided his fingers over her folds, dipping in shallowly as he held her gaze. “I often wondered how wet I could get you. How you’d taste. How you’d feel coming with me deep inside you.”

  Her knees sagged from the vivid images. The throbbing at her core intensified, leaving her feeling hollow in a way that she instinctively knew Viktor could assuage. She rocked her hips sliding his fingers against her clit and rubbing her ass against his cock now, begging wordlessly for what she needed.

  He groaned as he took a deliberate step back. “Soon. You’re still recovering. What kind of man would I be to take advantage of you in such a delicate state?”

  Definitely not the answer she thought he would give her. Or wanted.

  What the hell was she thinking?

  Shakily, she tried to reach the towel, but he beat her to it. Without a word, he wrapped it around her before sweeping her up into his arms. Something else that caught her completely off guard. After his rough treatment of her, it was a pleasant surprise.

  He sat her down on the bed, giving her the barest of glances before disappearing into the closet. What he returned with surprised her again. Allegra had seen the designer clothing, but she never imagined he would have bought the simple t-shirt and shorts he brought back with him. Allegra recalled a night a month back when Enrico had been away. She had gone down for a midnight snack and Viktor, of course, had been there. She’d been wearing an old pair of shorts and a t-shirt that Enrico never would have approved of.

  Viktor remembered.

  She was still reeling from the revelation when, with infinite patience, he helped her into them then into bed.

  “Get some rest,” were his raspy parting words as he closed the door behind him.

  Allegra lay against the pillows, more confused than ever.

  Her body thrummed with unreleased tension. How had he been able to wind her up so tightly with barely more than his touch?

  How in the hell was she supposed to get any rest when he’d left her clamoring for more? For him?

  What were the chances of him coming back? Would he come if she called him? He seemed pretty determined to let her recuperate before finishing what he started. She knew enough about him to know that when he put his mind to it, there would be no swaying him.

  Allegra listened for any signs that he might have hung around outside the door, but there was nothing but the faint crashing of the waves outside.

  Desperation drove her to quickly slip off the shorts. Not caring if he was just outside the door, she closed her eyes and teased her clit as he had been doing.

  In her imagination, Viktor was in bed next to her. It was his fingers exploring her body. Circling the aching bundle of nerves, sliding into her. Pinching her nipple with her other hand, Allegra drove herself to a fever pitch, all the while picturing Viktor as the one driving her crazy.

  Arching into it now, Allegra fought to keep quiet.

  Another circle of her finger over her clit and she exploded. Gripping a pillow over her mouth she keened out a dazzling orgasm while imaginary Viktor drew out the sensations until she lay unable to move.

  She could only wonder what the real Viktor could do to her.

  Chapter Seven

  The next several days were an exquisite torture to Allegra. Viktor was gruff but gentle and solicitous. He made sure her every need was seen to. His touches were gentle but few and far between. Though, to her consternation, always clinical. He did everything he could to help her and carefully engaged her in light conversation only. Nothing of importance was discussed as if he thought that any heavy thinking would put her recovery back.

  Who was he to tell her when she was ready to do anything?

  And it infuriated her more than the report she’d seen Viktor watching one night. She’d been unable to sleep and went looking for him, hoping for at least someone to talk to.

  She’d found him in the study, but she didn’t even make it to the door before she heard the voice of a reporter.

  “Enrico Mariano has made the news again. Just over a week after the death and funeral of his wife, he’s announced his engagement to heiress and sociali
te Helena Stanton, a close friend of his deceased wife. It was recently revealed that Allegra Mariano had been fighting opioid addiction before she fatally overdosed despite the help Helena and Enrico tried to give her…”

  It didn’t hurt her as much as she thought it would. In fact, Allegra was glad he was moving on with someone just like him. They deserved one another. How she could have ever fallen for someone so fake amazed her. She must have been overwhelmed by his glossy veneer, because the man underneath was rancid.

  Obviously, her ability to figure people out wasn’t as good as she thought it was.

  The one man she thought was the love of her life had turned out to be a louse while the man she had been afraid of turned out to be her knight in shining armor.

  Viktor was everything she had thought Enrico had been. Allegra knew there was more to him that she wanted to get to know as well. From what she had learned over the past few days, Viktor was wickedly smart and funny in a dry kind of way that made her laugh. Adding that to his looks and the way her body responded to everything he did—no matter how tiny—only made her want him more.

  She wanted to know what else he could do to her. And soon.

  So, she formulated a plan to get things moving along the path she wanted.

  After dinner, Allegra wandered around the house for a little while. Viktor had work to do in the study, apparently and he let her have full access to the building. She found herself quite pleased that he had so much trust in her to do whatever she liked. There was everything anyone could ever need or want all under one roof. A pool, a gym, a home cinema, gourmet kitchen, expansive gardens … she could go on and on.

  The added bonus was that the entire property was completely secure. Viktor had cameras as well as sensors that detected motion and heat everywhere.

  Allegra never had to leave if she didn’t want to.

  And that particular urge was becoming less and less of a concern.

  There were a few staff that included an amazing chef and cleaners who lived in a nearby village. Allegra had become friendly with them all. None had anything but glowing praise for their boss. And it all felt very genuine as well. They cared about him and were open about how happy they were that she had come into his life to alleviate his loneliness.