Vow (Dark and Dangerous Book 3) Read online

  He was going to tell her who he really was.

  It would be rough at first, trying to explain everything to her, to help her see why he hadn’t told her his real name. But they’d get past that; their love would sustain them.

  Not now, though.

  Ivan looked into the man’s icy-blue eyes.

  Killer’s eyes.

  Eyes that reminded him of his father’s.

  And he knew that the life he’d dreamed of with Tru would never come to pass.

  “If you hurt her, I’ll kill you,” he said, the sound of his voice unlike any he’d ever heard.

  The words he spoke absolute truth.

  The man’s expression shifted slightly. He didn’t smile, but through his anger, Ivan sensed something like kinship.

  “What happens to her, and to you, is entirely up to you,” the man said.

  Though he knew he shouldn’t, Ivan looked back into the bedroom, taking Tru in for what he knew would be the last time.

  Then, as quietly as he could, he closed the bedroom door and left the only woman he’d ever love behind.

  Now

  Ivan

  At first, I’d been angry at Aras, had hated him, but the year after he’d killed my father had given me a different perspective. That year had been a bloody struggle to establish myself as the head of the organization, something that was only possible because Aras had given me a head start.

  But I’d never forget that he had taken me from Tru, and it seemed he’d never forget that I had more than enough reason to kill him.

  So, I understood his caution and was annoyed as fuck by it.

  Not that it mattered.

  I had bigger problems than my and Aras’s past, and that was what I would focus on.

  The tense seconds had ticked by, and Tru did an admirable job of staying calm, but I didn’t miss the way her eyes widened nor the way her gaze kept straying back to Aras and his gun.

  “You’re right. We should talk. In private. Is there somewhere she can go?” I finally said.

  “I—”

  I lifted my finger and cut Tru off.

  “Lake, can you show our guest inside?” Aras said after a long moment.

  Before he had fully completed the sentence, the door opened, and a heavily pregnant woman stepped out.

  I hadn’t seen her in ten years, but she looked just as happy as she had then, and I noticed that he did too.

  “Of course,” she said, approaching Tru with smile on her face.

  “One second,” Aras said.

  Aras approached Tru, who stiffened but otherwise remained admirably calm.

  “This is just a precaution,” he said, looking at Tru.

  He then patted her down, ignoring my disapproving frown.

  “She’s clean. You can get her settled and then go,” he said.

  “I still can’t believe you’re kicking me out of my own house,” Lake said.

  Aras didn’t respond, and none of us said anything until Lake ushered Tru in and closed the door.

  “I hope you’re not going through all this on my account,” I said.

  “Ivan, I’m not a fan of surprises. And I prefer not to be distracted while dealing with this.”

  “We have that in common.”

  “So why are you here?”

  “You remember the last time we talked?” I asked.

  It had been years ago, but I knew he remembered the surprise visit I had paid him. I’d shown up in the dead of night, the moment nearly the exact inverse of our first meeting.

  He nodded. “You said I owed you. I assume you’ve come to collect?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “And when this is over, our business is done, my debt repaid?”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  I hadn’t been sure I would be able to say the words, but right now, I didn’t have any other choice. And besides, I hadn’t exactly forgiven Aras for killing my father, didn’t know if I ever would, but I didn’t have any animus toward him. And if this was what it took to get Tru and myself out of this situation, it was what I would do.

  “Then how can I be of service?” Aras said.

  He leaned the gun against the house, but I knew he was still armed.

  “Somebody’s after me,” I said.

  “That’s nothing unusual,” he responded.

  “No. But this is something different. Someone close enough to compromise my personal security detail and put a tracker on my phone.”

  “A girlfriend?” Aras asked, mirroring Tru’s earlier question.

  “No. No girlfriends.

  “I can make a couple of calls, see what I can dig up.”

  “You still have connections?”

  “Enough.”

  “Then make the calls.”

  “I need to talk to Ezekiel. You should get settled. You could use the rest.”

  I hadn’t slept in more than a day, and apparently it was showing.

  “I appreciate the hospitality,” I said, my voice flat and without inflection, but the words honest.

  Aras nodded then stood silent, watching as I approached the front door.

  Before I could open it, Lake pulled it open and stepped outside.

  “I made a couple of plates and showed Tru the guest room. Please make yourself at home,” she said.

  “I’ll check on you and the boys later,” Aras said.

  Lake nodded, and then she kissed Ezekiel on the cheek, kissed Aras on the lips, and hopped into the giant SUV parked on the side of the house.

  I watched as she drove away and then looked at Aras.

  “Should she be driving in her condition, let alone be by herself with the kids?”

  He frowned. “I don’t think so, but I lost that battle. She says she’s already had four, so it when it comes to it, she could deliver number five by herself if she had to. And she won’t be alone.”

  Reading between the lines, I figured Aras had a safe house somewhere. As practical as I was, I could admit it stung a little that he found me that much of a threat. But then again, what wouldn’t I do for my family, for the woman I loved?

  Nothing.

  I looked at Aras, asking the question that had sprung up in my mind.

  “You have four children?”

  He nodded. “Boys. We’re finally going to get our girl.”

  There was a softness in his voice, a wistfulness, and I had never been more jealous of anyone in my entire life.

  Aras had pulled it off, had managed to walk away and live what seemed to be a simple and happy life with a woman he clearly loved.

  I couldn’t help but think of Tru, think of how that wasn’t an option for me.

  But I’d made my choice, and I would live with it.

  “Make those calls,” I repeated as I went to the house.

  I didn’t wait for him to respond and then instead went toward the kitchen.

  I remembered the layout from before, back when I had been obsessed with knowing everything there was to know about Aras.

  This time, I looked at the home with a different eye and saw that it was well-maintained but lived in.

  A real home.

  “Isn’t this place cool?” Tru said.

  She was sitting at the eight-person dining table, and I sat to her left.

  “Yeah,” I said, trying to keep the emotion of my voice.

  “Lake was really nice. Her guy’s a little intense though.”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  I couldn’t muster anything else to say, regret, sadness, robbing me of my words.

  “He reminds me of you,” Tru said.

  That got my attention.

  “Who?” I asked, taking a bite of the sandwich that was on the plate.

  “Aras. I can’t say what, but there’s something about him.”

  “I guess that makes sense. He is my brother, after all.”

  I’d never said those words out loud, and I saw Tru’s surprise.

  “You told me you didn’t have any broth
ers or sisters.”

  “I didn’t know I did.”

  “He’s your brother, but he killed your father?”

  “Yeah.”

  “That’s fucked up,” Tru said.

  “He was entitled. My father killed his mother.”

  “Jesus.”

  “Yeah,” I said, pushing the sandwich in front of me away.

  “So, you probably aren’t really cool with asking him for help.”

  “I’d rather eat glass, but that’s what the situation calls for,” I said.

  “I hope he helps.”

  “He will.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Aras is a man of his word. And we have something of an understanding.”

  “I’m not even going to ask you to explain that.”

  “Good,” I said, smiling.

  “You finished?” she asked, nodding toward the half-eaten sandwich.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  Tru grabbed the plates, emptied them, and then put them in the dishwasher.

  “Come on.”

  She extended her hand toward me, and I took it.

  I didn’t know where she was leading me, and I didn’t care.

  I was exhausted, but even more, the emotions of the day were starting to take a toll—the absolute joy at finding Tru again, touching her, the worry that she would get hurt, seeing Aras again, thinking about my father.

  The knowledge that this wasn’t over yet.

  All of it was a weight, one that I wanted to push away, ignore, if only for a few moments.

  I told myself that all that didn’t matter because here, now, in this moment, I had Tru with me.

  She entwined her fingers with mine and led me down a long hall.

  “Lake said that we could stay here,” she said as she led me into a large bedroom.

  She closed the door then gestured toward the chair in the corner.

  “She loaned us some clothes.”

  “How considerate.”

  “I thought so. Sit,” she said gesturing toward the bed.

  I did, and she kneeled in front of me, putting us eye to eye.

  The expression on her face was soft, dreamy, and I wanted to reach for her, but didn’t, somehow feeling like doing so would break this spell.

  She smiled at me and then began unbuttoning my shirt, pushing the buttons open slowly.

  Then she pulled my shirt off me and tsked when she looked at my arm.

  “I need to change that bandage,” she said.

  Then she placed a ghost of a kiss on my shoulder, bent down, and pulled off my socks and shoes.

  “You’ll have to throw those out.”

  I didn’t respond, didn’t care to, didn’t care about anything at all but being with her like this.

  “Stand,” she said.

  I did, and she stayed where she was, looking up at me from the kneeling position, a soft smile on her face.

  She worked my belt open and then pulled it through my belt loops and tossed it aside. Then she quickly opened and lowered my pants.

  I stepped out, my cock at half mast and hardening by the second as I watched her undress herself.

  “Come on.”

  She reached for my hand again and then led me toward the bathroom.

  “Sit,” she said, gesturing toward the huge shower with a seat.

  I did, kept my eyes on her as she turned on the water, tested it, and then nodded curtly when it reached a satisfactory temperature.

  She grabbed a cloth and soap and walked toward me, looking every bit pure angel and seductive temptress all at the same time.

  I still didn’t understand how she could be exactly what I wanted, be what I didn’t even know I needed, didn’t know how she had so fully and irrevocably captured me.

  But she had, and there was nothing that would ever change that.

  She rubbed her tongue across my chest and down my stomach.

  Her touch was simultaneously arousing and relaxing, leaving me in a state of both calm and intense desire.

  She kneeled in front of me again, the vision of her full body in front of me, yielding and commanding at the same time, testing the limits of my control.

  I wanted to bury myself inside her so deep that she wouldn’t know where I ended and she began. I wanted to stay that way forever.

  I wanted to change the world, make it so that I could keep her with me always.

  But I couldn’t.

  I had power, money, but I could never have her, not the way I wanted.

  “Stay with me, Ivan,” she whispered, her voice soft, coaxing, but also demanding.

  I lowered my eyes to meet hers, the image of my thighs framing her face, the head of my cock only inches from her lips chasing everything else away.

  Using restraint I didn’t know I had, I stayed still, my hands clenched into fists as she lowered her face toward me and brushed her lips against my cock.

  I sighed when she wrapped her fingers around the base of my shaft, a sigh that went from pleasure to frustration when she brushed her lips against me again, the featherlight touches doing nothing to ease the ache of my desire for her.

  I fisted my hands in her hair but froze when she opened her mouth and took me deep. The tip of my cock hit the back of her throat, but she breathed out and took me deeper still.

  She pulled back and looked up at me, the sight of her lips stretched around my shaft, the feel of her warm mouth against my skin almost enough to make me come.

  “I’m gonna fuck your mouth,” I whispered in a tortured voice, one that only gave the barest clue as to how close I was, how tattered my control.

  She nodded, her eyes going bright.

  “Put your hands on my thighs,” I commanded.

  She complied without pause, and I tightened my grip on her hair and pushed her head down as I rocked my hips up.

  “That’s right, baby, breath through it. You can take it,” I said, voice sounding guttural, twisted with the depth of my passion.

  She nodded again, inched forward to reinforce the point.

  I pumped my hips a little, pulled back, then moved forward again, setting a fast rhythm, one that Tru kept pace with.

  I felt dizzy, high with the sensation, the emotion, and soon, the sounds of the shower, Tru’s muffled moans, and my own grunts faded.

  The world became nothing but sensation, her hair against my hands, her mouth and throat squeezing my cock.

  I tried to hold out, but Tru, seeming to sense where I was, squeezed my thighs, her encouragement to let go.

  I did, breathing out hard as I came.

  My cum splashed on her tongue, then I pulled out of her mouth and released the rest of my seed on her tits.

  Had I ever seen anything more beautiful than my Tru, her lips wet and swollen, breasts glistening with my cum?

  I hadn’t.

  The beauty of the moment was soon chased away with sorrow.

  This wouldn’t last. I knew that.

  But how could I ever let her go?

  Ten

  Tru

  “Come here,” Ivan whispered.

  I was still kneeling between his legs, uncaring of the now-cool water that hit my back, the slight rasp in my throat from taking him so deeply.

  None of that mattered in the slightest, not when I felt so close to him. Earlier, I’d seen him drifting, getting caught in thoughts about the tumult that surrounded us. To give him respite from that made me happy, almost as happy as being with him again.

  On some level, I didn’t understand why.

  He’d destroyed me, shattered my heart.

  Had confessed that he was a criminal.

  Had killed right in front of my eyes.

  It said something about me that none of that mattered, but I didn’t know what.

  All I knew was that what I felt now, that connection to him, the taste of him still lingering on my lips, his seed still marking my skin, was perfection.

  “Tru,” he whispered, his voice raw with emotio
n.

  I met his dark eyes and let him pull me up. When I stood, he turned me, putting my back to his front, and settled me in his lap.

  His cock was nestled between my ass cheeks, still impressive even though he wasn’t hard.

  I let myself melt against him, reveling in the feel of his solid body behind me, his strong arms tight around me.

  “Hmm…”

  I moaned as he worked his hand down my stomach, let his long, thick fingers rest between my legs.

  The insides of my thighs were slick with my desire, and on some level, I wondered if I should be embarrassed that my need for him was so clear. I wasn’t, but I never had been with him.

  Even all those years ago when I’d been so inexperienced, I’d never even been kissed, I hadn’t been embarrassed with him.

  There was no reason to be now. Whatever might be happening around us, our pure physical connection couldn’t be denied.

  I cried out when he pushed two fingers inside me and teased my clit with his thumb. I was so raw, so close to the edge, it didn’t take much to push me off, and after a few more of Ivan’s expert caresses, I fell apart, giving myself to sensations that were bombarding me.

  “Come on,” Ivan said a few moments later.

  He turned off the water, dried me and then himself off, and then led me to the bedroom.

  We dressed in the borrowed clothes and then I changed his bandage.

  “Now sleep,” I said, pausing a moment to hold his face in my hands.

  I could see the exhaustion in his eyes just as clearly as I could see his resolve not to give in to it.

  “You need rest.”

  I’d pushed him back to lie down and then curled up next to him. Seemingly without thought, he curled an arm around my waist.

  “It doesn’t feel right, sleeping at a time like this.”

  I could barely guess at what he meant, didn’t really understand the weight of all he carried. But I squeezed him tight.

  “Anybody that comes after you has to get through me,” I said, trying to sound as tough as I could.

  He laughed. “They wouldn’t stand a chance.”

  He went quiet, held me a little bit closer, and bodies entwined, we drifted to sleep.

  Ivan