Midnight Lies (Tasarov Bratva 2)

ADRIK

She thinks I don't know.

Emery is sitting next to me, flushed and nervous and fumbling for words. She thinks I don't know about the baby.

One day, perhaps she’ll learn not to keep underestimating me.

"Okay,” I rumble, playing dumb for now. “What is it?"

Emery wrings her hands and comes up on her knees. She tucks her legs under her and her shorts ride up, revealing the long, lean stretch of her thighs. My dick stiffens.

"I should have told you sooner," she says, shaking her head. "But I was… scared. And there was so much going on."

"You kept something from me?"

She snaps her eyes up to mine. They're a vibrant, emerald green. And right now, they're ringed in white, open as wide as I've ever seen them.

"I was waiting for the right time. I wasn't—I didn't want to lie. I just…" She sighs and looks away.

I reach out and grab her chin, forcing her eyes to mine. She licks her lips. It takes everything in me not to lean forward and claim her mouth with mine.

"Tell me," I command.

“I’m… I’m pregnant.” She holds my gaze for a few seconds, waiting for me to respond. Then she looks away. “I know I should have told you. You like to prepare for everything and keeping things from you isn’t safe. But you told me how dangerous pregnancy can be for a Bratva wife, and you have so much else to worry about. I didn’t want to add on.”

“You’re right.”

Emery looks up at me. “Right about what?”

“I do like to plan,” I say. “And pregnancy can be dangerous for a don’s bride. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. It’s vital that I know what is going on with my own family as soon as possible.”

She twists her mouth to one side, looking ashamed.

“Thankfully, Toma told me the second he got your positive test result.”

Emery jerks her gaze up to mine. “What?”

“Toma told me,” I repeat. “I knew before you did.”

If possible, her eyes widen even more. “You knew this entire time and you didn’t say anything?”

“I could say the same to you.”

She frowns. “Didn’t Toma take some kind of oath? What about… about… This is a HIPPA violation!”

I laugh. “Toma works for me. The real violation would have been if he’d kept important information a secret.”

“But that is my medical information. It’s private!”

“Your cholesterol is also a little high,” I remark casually. “Toma says it’s genetic, but still, you should watch—”

Suddenly, Emery lunges forward like she’s going to slap me. I laugh and grab her arm out of the air, pinning it to the bed. She tries with the other arm, even more frustrated. Within a second, both of her arms are pinned down, and I’m straddling her hips, gazing down on the stubborn, fiery little kiska and wondering if she knows just how much she has come to mean to me.

“Get off of me,” she grunts, struggling against my hold.

I lean down and press a kiss to her neck instead.

Emery shrieks, trying to break her arms free. “Let me go!”

“Not a fucking chance.”

She sinks into the bed with a huff, eyes bright and angry. “Toma shouldn’t have told you.”

“Yes, he should have,” I say simply. “Because Toma seems to understand something you are still unwilling to recognize.”

“And what would that be?”

I lean over her, looking directly into her eyes, my lips whispering against hers. I feel her sharp intake of breath. I feel the way she arches into my body without even meaning to, without even knowing she’s doing it.

“You are mine,” I whisper. I clasp both her wrists in one hand and drag the other over her shoulder and the swell of her breasts. I press my palm to the still-flat plane of her stomach. “And so is this baby.”

Emery’s expression softens. The furrow of her brows eases. Her chest rises and falls beneath me and I can see the steady thrum of her pulse in the delicate arch of her neck.

People are such fragile creatures. So full of vulnerabilities and soft spots. Places where the blade can slip in and twist, ending it all.

And Emery Tasarov is my biggest weakness yet.

Suddenly, she arches off the bed and kisses me like she’ll never get to do it again. I meet her lips and press her back into the mattress, easing her down with my lips and my roving hand. I follow the curve of her waist to the swell of her hip. I grip her hard, my fingers digging into her soft flesh.

It's a reminder that she's here. We both are. All the shit that has been thrown at us, and we're still standing. Still fighting.

As long as I have my way, we always will be.

I curl my hand around to the front of her pajama shorts, slipping my fingers under the waistband. Emery lifts her hips in invitation. Slowly, I cup her warm center, and she eagerly grinds herself into my palm, whimpering softly into the kiss.

I feel her try to tug her hands free, but my hold is crushing. She isn’t going anywhere.

I kiss her harder as I feel her heat. Her bucking grows more feverish, her breathing becoming labored, and she tries to free her hands again.

“Let me go,” she protests. “I want to touch you.”

I shake my head. “Not until I give you permission.”

Her eyes snap open. “Adrik!”

“Emery.”

“What are you doing?”

“I think it’s pretty fucking obvious what I’m doing.” I smirk and slide my hand inside her silk panties.

The frown on her face dissipates into an open-mouthed O as I drag my finger over her slit and circle my thumb over her aching center. Emery’s protest dies on her lips as her eyes flutter closed again.

“I’m teaching you a lesson.”

She stiffens, trying hard to fight the pleasure I’m coaxing into her. “Adrik, I’m sorry. I told you I’m sorry. I should have told you—”

“Why?” I ask as I work a finger inside of her. “Tell me why.”

I stroke her insides, and she moans, spreading her legs to give me better access. She shakes her head, her eyes firmly closed now. With every stroke of my finger, she’s lifting her hips, meeting me halfway.

“I asked you a question. Why should you have told me about the baby?” I ask. “Answer me.”

“Because it was… d-dangerous,” she gasps, biting down on her lower lip as I slip a second finger into her. “I could have been… Someone could have… It was a… Oh my god.”

Emery clamps down around my fingers, her body contracting with an orgasm.

“Coming already?” I smirk. “Tut, tut, kiska. That’s very greedy of you. We still have so much ground to cover.”

I’m sure she has something she’d like to come back with, but she’s a little incapable of speech at the moment. Her arms are still pinned over her head. She tries in vain to free them, but she doesn’t stand a chance. Her back arches off the bed, and she twists from side to side, trying to escape the overwhelming pleasure I’m still pumping her with.

My cock is rock-solid between my legs, pulsing with my own need. Emery looks incredible. She’s still dressed, for fuck’s sake. But the way she moves, the way her body responds to mine… I never grow tired of it.

I could fuck this woman forever.