Beyond Taken (The Beyond Series Book 5) Read online

  I would have done it on purpose, but my response was automatic. I had no way to stop the involuntary way I was squeezing his big dick. I could feel myself threatening to tighten with his motions and then it would slam through me, grabbing him in a snug embrace.

  "Yes," he rumbled.

  I whimpered as it happened again and again, each time bringing the inevitable explosion nearer. It was getting too close to deny and there was no way I was strong enough to hold it back. "I'll fall."

  "You won't," he responded with certainty. He wouldn't let me fall.

  He moved again and I cried out as the biggest shudder yet thundered through me.

  "Again!" I cried, grinding into his hand as he drove into me.

  My pleasure exploded around his cock and I clung to the pipe as he rode me hard, prolonging the wild spasms with each thrust. At some stage my hands slipped from the pipe, but I didn't fall. I barely shifted at all, such was his grip on me.

  When my body finally began to quiet, his hands stroked my breasts as he pressed his forehead to my spine.

  "Have you had enough for today, Natascha?"

  Shifting slightly, I moaned as I felt him still hard inside me. I hadn't felt the gush of his release against my womb and I craved it, knowing how good it felt.

  "No Niko. I am selfish today. Turn me around. I am wanting more."

  He released a rush of air as he laughed quietly. "Good. I want to give it to you."

  "Yes," I agreed, reaching up and grabbing the pipe again. "Give it to me."

  Releasing my hips, he slid out of me and came to stand in front of me again.

  "I will not be able to look at your cute monkey training the same way again," he said with a smile.

  "Is not cute anymore?" I asked, hooking my legs around him and dragging him back in.

  Dropping slightly, he angled his dick at my entrance and thrust inward as he straightened, smiling again at my intake of breath.

  "Way too sexy to be considered cute now, I'm afraid. Especially with this easy access outfit. Did I tell you how fucking hot it was to find you bare under this flimsy little thing?" Giving my ass a squeeze, he pulled himself deeper as he made an appreciative noise in the back of his throat. His eyes gave me a full assessment and his smile grew. "Wrap those beautiful arms around my neck before they get too tired," he said, reaching up to take one of my hands.

  Bringing it to his lips a moment, he kept his eyes on mine as he looped my arm around his neck until my fingers brushed against the hair on the back of his head. He smiled almost shyly and I nodded.

  He was showing me what he liked.

  When his hand rejoined his other one on my ass, I wove my fingers between his short tufts, massaging his head softly. His eyes closed and a blissful expression smoothed over his handsome face. Enjoying my touch, he began to move into me; a slow and steady rhythm. His lips dropped to my skin, alternating sweet kisses and scuffing over me with his stubble. Before long, I was closing my fingers to grip his hair tightly.

  He groaned and his eyes shot open, projecting a hunger so blatant that I trembled in his arms and held on even tighter. His low growl rumbled through me and he moved faster. Making a mental note of what he seemed to enjoy, I moved with him, loving the way his muscles worked to give us both such a pleasurable experience.

  There was a thumping at the door that I almost didn't notice, but the top of my head felt so light with pleasure the sound seemed displaced. I stiffened in Nikolai's arms and he viewed my face uncomprehendingly as he slowed.

  "What'd I do?" he asked, breathing hard.

  I shook my head.

  "Door."

  Squinting at me slightly, he glanced at the door. "Huh?"

  "Someone is at the door."

  Tensing all over, he looked me up and down and squeezed his eyes shut as he shook his head.

  The pounding came again.

  "No," he whispered.

  Grabbing his chin, I leveled his eyes with mine.

  "Yes," I hissed. "I am Saskia and you are Pachenko. Pachenko will not look kindly on being interrupted. He will get rid of them so he can continue to fuck Saskia while she is tied to the pipes." I reached for them and twisted in his grasp to loosen his grip on me.

  His eyes hardened and he swore in Russian. Scooping my tank top from the floor, he swung it over the pipe, twisted it, and looped my wrists through either side to help support me. Pulling my hair forward to cover my breasts, he gave me a hard look as he went for his gun.

  Unlocking the door, he swung it open and aimed the short barrel at the head of the man outside.

  The man was so shocked he dropped the box he was holding and chocolate bars spilled out onto the floor. The man seemed to apologize profusely as he dropped to sweep them back into their box whilst eying the gun pointed at his head and trying not to stare at the extremely impressive form of Pachenko as he stood tensed and naked, his dick still hard and shining.

  The man stood and offered the box to Pachenko with shaking hands.

  Muttering something, Pachenko accepted the box with one hand and kept the gun trained on the guy with the other as he nudged the door closed again with his foot. Setting the gun on the box, he locked the door. Twice.

  Taking a deep breath, he set his cargo on the desk and returned to me. Silently reaching up, he released my wrists and caught me as I dropped. Avoiding my eyes, he set me on the floor and examined my wrists. He rubbed them gently and brought each one to his lips before snatching his button-down shirt from the chair and draping it over my shoulders.

  As quickly as it touched my skin, it was wrenched away again and thrown in the corner with a growl. Stalking around looking for something else, he pulled a blanket from the bed and wrapped that around me before shutting himself in the bathroom.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  Having changed into regular clothes, I'd been nervously sitting on the bed waiting for him to reappear. My nerves did not settle once he did. I watched him stalk about the cabin in his jeans.

  Handling his duffel bag roughly, he pulled out a clean tank and yanked it down over his head. He tossed a fresh shirt over the chair before retrieving the one he'd fired into the corner and shoving that into the laundry sack. When he'd tidied things away, slamming drawers shut in the process, he grabbed his jacket and my heart sank as I waited for him to head out the door.

  He didn't. He took out his silver flask and threw his jacket back over the chair. Tilting it down his throat, he swallowed until there was clearly no more. Only when he lowered it did he look in my direction for the first time. Raising the flask to me, he winced as if in pain as he shook the empty flask and sighed. Re-capping it, he tossed it onto the desk and ran his hand through his hair.

  Not a word was spoken and he wouldn't meet my eyes. I was fairly certain he'd left the bathroom door open on purpose. A signal that he didn't want to talk to me. Yet.

  I wondered what was going through his head; which side of the cabin door he was fretting about the most – inside, or out.

  Several more moments passed, and his tension filled the room until it became unbearable. Huffing, I climbed off the bed and shut the bathroom door.

  Turning, I leaned against it as he watched me out of the corner of his eye, from the other side of the room.

  "We do not have to talk about it if you do not want to, but I am fine. What just happened was not ideal, but-"

  "Not ideal?" he spluttered, shaking his head in disbelief.

  Sighing, I shrugged. "The first part was very good, I thought."

  He grunted and scrubbed his hands over his face.

  "The next part was necessary," I continued. "I am not much enjoying this part, but I am thinking it will pass. Then you can make me feel less curious."

  Lowering his hands, he studied me a moment, his eyebrows drawn down in an intense V.

  "What are you curious about?"

  My eyes slid to the box of chocolate bars on the desk behind him.

  One of his eyebrows twitched and he sighed a
gain. A nicer sigh. One that held a hint of amusement and suggested that he might be beginning to relax a bit.

  "Natascha, I am fairly certain that you could rise above almost any situation. I don't know if it's because of your imagination or your general ability to restrict your emotions, but it astounds me each and every time," he said with another shake of his head as his eyes rose to the ceiling. "You transitioned seamlessly from one personality to another in the throes of passion, kicked my ass into gear to do the same, played your part beautifully by baring your vulnerable state to an enemy, and you recovered from it all faster than I did. Has anyone ever told you that you'd make a great actress, or a spy, or poker player?"

  Still watching him closely, I sat on the edge of the bed.

  "I am good at poker, but I do not like to play. My father..."

  His eyes softened again and he nodded as he moved cautiously toward the bed and sat next to me.

  I nudged him with my shoulder and he nudged me back.

  "I didn't like what happened," he said softly.

  "I know. Like I say, it was not ideal." I bumped him again and didn't move away this time. "But some was very good."

  His lips curled a little at one corner and he nudged my temple with his jaw before kissing my head.

  "Doesn't help me feel better about what I'm doing in here, Natascha."

  "Not even a little?" I teased, tilting my face into him and kissing his neck.

  He chuckled as he leaned away. "You can be very persuasive," he admitted with a low groan.

  "So you will tell me about chocolate?" I asked, following his retreat and climbing into his lap so he couldn't avoid me.

  His body stilled and his hands latched onto my hips, but he quickly released them, giving a gruff sigh as he flopped backwards onto the bed. Throwing an arm over his face as if to shield it from me, he pressed his lips together a moment before replying.

  "I'm good at poker too."

  "I am betting reading minds is helpful then." Staring down at him a moment, I laughed. "Criminals bet chocolate when they play poker?"

  Lifting his arm enough to watch me with one eye, he smiled. "Sometimes." His smile faded. "Sometimes not."

  I felt my own smile slipping, but refused to think about what else was being gambled at the hands of the other men on board the Moskva-Liis.

  "But you bet chocolate."

  "Chocolate. Cash. Vodka." He shrugged. He was shutting the conversation down again.

  "So, you like chocolate?"

  He shrugged again. "They think I do."

  Frowning, I leaned forward and pushed his arm out of the way so I could see his face.

  "You don't like chocolate?"

  "It's okay, I guess. I'm not a huge fan."

  "Then why do you play for chocolate?"

  His eyes scanned me quickly before moving away and landing on the box of chocolate. "I-" He paused a moment, his expression serious. "It's a high energy snack." Returning his gaze to me, he focused on my face.

  "Do you like chocolate Natascha?"

  He was playing along with me now and I wasn't about to disappoint him.

  Lowering myself to his face, I hovered my lips just above his.

  "I love chocolate," I whispered, using just the tip of my tongue to give him a quick lick.

  "Good," he whispered back before pulling me to him and rolling us both until he was the one on top. "Help yourself. I'm going out for more vodka."

  Pecking me on the lips, he was on the other side of the room in seconds, pulling on his jacket and stowing his empty flask away in the inside breast pocket.

  Sitting up straight, I glared at him.

  "Just like that? You are leaving just when I thought I was helping?"

  Drawing his bottom lip into his mouth, he released it slowly.

  "You helped. I promise. You're so very impressive in many ways, I just don't feel right about... things at the moment and I don't want to just bury myself in you because you want to make me feel better. I know what you're doing."

  Pouting, I leaned against the wall and folded my arms over my chest.

  "Better bring back enough vodka to share then."

  Smiling briefly, he grunted in agreement and cricked his neck at the door before leaving.

  HE RETURNED WITH A full bottle of fine Estonian sipping vodka. I waited for him to complete the rituals that cleansed him of Pachenko before I spoke.

  "Run into your chocolate friend again? Or you have to play someone else for vodka?"

  "Someone else."

  His succinct response let me know exactly what mood he was in.

  "Best open. We are both thirsty."

  Regarding me carefully, he opened one of the desk drawers and pulled out a glass. Handing it to me, he unscrewed the bottle lid and poured, filling my glass to halfway.

  Watching me take a long sip, he raised the bottle to his own lips.

  "No glass for you?" I asked, enjoying the slight burn traveling down my throat.

  "Wasn't planning for company in this cabin," he said, raising the bottle again and swallowing several times before lowering it.

  "You wish I wasn't here."

  Scoffing, he wiped his mouth. "Worse."

  Sinking into his chair, he exhaled roughly as he saw the question that was probably written all over my face.

  "Worse, because the opposite is true," he muttered before drinking again.

  I finished my glass and held it out to be filled.

  Rubbing a hand down his face, he leaned forward and topped me up.

  "I think that might make me a more horrible person than I thought I was to begin with," he said as if thinking out loud.

  "I don't think you are horrible."

  Laughing to himself, he nodded. "I know." Frowning, he drank again.

  "That makes you uncomfortable."

  "Yes."

  Sipping my vodka, I observed him carefully.

  "Why?"

  "Reasons," he said, taking another drink. "How can you not think a monster is horrible? It's as if I'm somehow deceiving you, even when I'm being honest. It's unsettling. Makes me think you're not understanding, only responding to your situation. Or that you like monsters. Unsettling any way I look at it." Downing more vodka, he studied me as I sat on his bed.

  "I have an idea," I said quietly, finishing my glass and shuffling to the edge of the bed. Setting it down on the desk beside him, I frisked his jacket for his flask. I found it full and smiled.

  Taking the bottle from his hand, I screwed the lid back on and set it next to the glass, pressing his flask into his palm instead. I grabbed his other hand and pulled him to his feet.

  "I don't understand this idea, but I do enjoy watching you play," he said with a lazy smile and I wondered how much vodka he might have drunk while he was out.

  Tugging him towards the bed, I tried to make him sit down. He didn't budge. I couldn't shift him if he didn't want to move.

  Looking up at him, I smacked him in the stomach with the back of my hand and he laughed. Sitting, he raised an eyebrow at me fully instead of restraining it to a twitch. "What's next?"

  "You get comfortable," I explained, trying to pull his tank up.

  I couldn't shift that either when he clenched his arms at his sides.

  Looking him straight in the eye, I snatched his flask, cracked it open and drank half the vodka. "You do it then."

  Watching me with interest, he pulled his tank over his head. I threw it behind me and pushed against his shoulder.

  Sighing, he stopped resisting and lay back on the bed.

  "Good boy."

  Handing him back his flask, I climbed over him. Or tried to. He dropped the flask and entertained himself by making it difficult for me.

  Fighting my way over his limbs as they continually moved into my way, I ended up floating above him, my stomach held up by his shins.

  I swatted him in the thigh. "Are you quite done? I am trying to cheer you up!"

  "It's working," he replied with a dev
ilish grin.

  "This is not what I had planned!" Swatting at him again, I hastily grabbed his legs as he started bounced me up and down.

  "I'll bet!" He laughed, still enjoying his little game, but quickly lost his grin when I altered his sure balance by spinning around to sit where my stomach once was. Gripping his legs with mine to keep myself upright, I stared down at him in challenge.

  His eyes darkened as he took in my disheveled hair, hot cheeks, and heavy breathing.

  Swallowing visibly, he cleared his throat. "What did you uh... have in mind?"

  I narrowed my eyes at him. "Not that."

  The disappointment on his face was priceless and I laughed.

  "Okay, maybe I was hoping it would end up there - but I was really just going to be nice to you because you are being strange!" I said, smacking him on the leg again.

  Frowning as he looked up at me, he reached up and took my hands. Keeping me steady, he straightened his legs and I slowly slid down to rest on his stomach. Bending his legs behind me, he encouraged me to lounge back into them as he took his hands back and tucked them behind his head.

  "I'm sorry. Continue."

  "You are still strange."

  "I am less bad-strange."

  "This is true," I agreed, eying the flask next to him. "Vodka helped. Is maybe not a good thing."

  "Feels good for now," he answered lightly, shifting beneath me as his appraising eyes took their fill.

  Ignoring how good he felt under me, I folded my arms.

  Rolling his eyes, he turned to the flask beside him and in his next movement, gave it to me.

  "Fine. No more vodka. What did you have in mind before?" he asked, frowning as I uncapped the flask and drank. "And how come you get to drink without guilt?"

  "Who said without guilt?" I asked, lowering it. "I am apparently sex brain even with everything going on. You think I do not feel guilt?" I took another sip and made another confession. "It never leaves, only getting worse."

  "The guilt or the... sex brain?" he asked with caution.

  "Both. They come together. Is getting bad." I held up the flask. "Just having mouth where yours has been is making me warm."