Chapter 28

Anya clutched at the slabs of muscle in Ash's back and shoved herself up so she could see where they were going. Ash opened the laundry room door and strode into what looked, from her upside down point of view, to be a kitchen. Bane came bounding toward them, but one harsh word from Ash had the dog sliding to an undignified stop where he watched them pass silently, his heavy tail thumping against the floor.
"Ash" Anya said tentatively, "what are you doing?"
"What does it look like?" he replied. "Taking my woman to a proper bed where I'm going to fuck that slippery, tight pussy until neither of us can stand for at least a day."
"Oh," she said, feeling her pussy gush just a little more at his crude words. "It's just, I can walk you know. I think I would prefer to walk actually."
"Not a chance. Every time I let you use those beautiful legs, you use them to walk away from me. Not this time babe. This time I'm staking my claim good and hard so you know who you belong to."
Anya's temper flared and she smacked his back with an open palm. "Fuck you, Ash! It wasn't my ass that walked the last time I saw you."
Ash's hand came down hard on her bare ass in response. She yelped and jumped against his unyielding shoulder.
"You gave me no choice," he snapped back. "You played games with me, refused to tell me who you were and then, when you finally chose to reveal yourself, you do it in the presence of three Russian enforcers. Getting myself shot on the doorstep of my place of employment didn't fit in with my life plan, so I let you walk."
"You didn't let me walk, asshole! You left me!"
"It was only ever temporary babe, you were always going to come home to my bed." With a grunt he lifted her off his shoulder and tossed her onto a massive bed with fluffy quilted blankets. "It was just a matter of when."
Anya shrieked and bounced as she hit the mattress. She lay stunned for a moment looking up at the naked man standing by the end of the bed. His erection was thick and engorged, ready once more to take a piece of her. She had been sore after their last time together. It was no wonder, that thing was as much of a monster as the rest of him!
"You would have come after me?" she asked hesitantly.
His eyes pinned her to the bed. She stared back helplessly.
"I will always come after you Anastasia. I fell for your pain-in-the-ass the first moment I saw you at the fights." Ash kneeled on the bed and came down over top of her, letting her feel his full weight as he crushed her.
"Ash"
He cut her off with a kiss. This one was full of passion, but it was also tender. He took her lips carefully, sucking the bottom one into his mouth and licking the seam of her lips with his tongue. Anya opened her mouth without hesitation. He took advantage, plunging his tongue deep into her mouth, staking his claim on the woman in his bed. She tasted incredible, like sugar and sex.
Ash wrapped his arms around her knees and lifted her legs over his wide shoulders. She whimpered in expectation as he lined his cock up with her vagina and screamed when he thrust himself deep into her body. She wiggled her hips, trying to adjust to the pressure and fullness of him. Ash tightened his grip on her and grunted.
"Feels too good when you move like that babe," he said through gritted teeth. "Can't hold out."
She moaned and bit her lips.
She wanted more, even if she had to take a little pain with her pleasure. She wiggled her hips again.
"Fuck!" he snarled dropping his head into her neck and biting down. "You asked for it woman."
He began thrusting his hips, slamming into her body with his much larger one, crushing her into the mattress. Anya held on tightly as he rode her hard, fucking her unresisting body as though he was branding himself into her flesh. She loved it and she feared it. She lifted her hips to meet his as much as she could and revelled in the pagan sounds erupting from his throat as he struggled to hold himself in check from savagely taking her the way he so desperately wanted to. Her pussy fluttered around his cock as her orgasm began to build higher and higher. Closing her eyes and tossing her head, she chased after the white streak of pleasure.
Finally she reached it, screaming out loud until Ash slammed his lips over hers, owning her screams.
"Anya!" he shouted following her over the edge, thrusting so hard into her she was sure he was hitting her cervix.
He collapsed on top of her, his big sweat streaked body crushing hers into the soft bedding. She closed her arms around him and ran her hands up and down his back, exploring the ridges while both of them floated down from the heights of intense pleasure. She felt him relax beneath her fingertips and smiled. She felt certain this big man, right hand to one of the city's most dangerous men, never lowered his guard.
"Am I crushing you?" he mumbled, turning his head to the side and pressing his lips against her throat.
Anya shook her head. He was actually crushing her, but she wanted him on top of her more. She continued to trace her fingers up and down his back while his breathing grew heavier. With his last vestige of wakefulness he rolled off of her and then pulled her toward his chest, tucking her against him. His hand circled her wrist, as though subconsciously pinning her to him so she couldn't leave while he slept.
Anya watched him fall asleep, the harsh lines around his mouth and eyes gradually relaxing. She knew he was thirty-one, but he looked older, closer to Vlad's fourty years. She had a complete dossier on Ash and his background. At the time she had read it, before she had met the man, the facts had registered on a professional level. Now she felt ashamed that she knew facts about his past without learning them directly from him.
Ash had lived a hard life. The drugs in his late teens and early twenties were not the worst of it, but they were the turning point in his life. She pulled her wrist from his loosened grip and very gently turned his arm over. Holding her breath, she very lightly traced her fingers up his arm, feeling the slightly raised scarring at the crook of his arm from old track marks. In the dim light coming from the street she could barely see the serpent tattoo that she knew would render the marks invisible to a casual observer.
When his boss Khalid had discovered him and seen the potential within, Ash had been on a downward spiral that would likely have ended in death. Either by knife in a street fight, or bad heroin injected into his collapsing veins. Her heart ached for him, but she knew he would despise her pity. Ash was as tough as they came.
Grateful to Khalid for a new lease on life, he proved himself to be an effective enforcer and rabid bodyguard. His loyalty had never wavered, earning him the distinction of being the only man to stand by Khalid's side. Anya also knew something about Ash that few others did. He was more than an employee of Khalid's, he was also a minority business partner. He just preferred to keep a low profile while Khalid, who had more of a head for business, grew their combined assets.
Anya sighed and very gently moved Ash's arm, placing it on the sheets between them. Slowly, so as not to wake the sleeping giant, she rolled off the bed. She walked naked into the dark kitchen and made her way to the laundry room without turning on any lights. She squeaked in surprise when a cold, wet nose nudged against her bare butt cheek.
"Bane!" she whispered, stopping to stroke his silky ears. "You pervy boy, keep that nose out of my business."
Bane whined quietly, as though sensing her effort not to wake up his master, and pushed his head into her hand. When she obliged him with some excellent head scratches, he decided to take their relationship to the next level by throwing himself into a roll and giving her his belly to rub. His massive body hitting her legs unexpectedly sent her flying into the kitchen island. She grabbed it for support and giggled.
"You are a handful, my friend," she whispered in Russian, and continued on her path to the laundry room.
She gently closed the door behind her and flipped on the light. Rooting through her stuff she found her purse and quickly recovered her cell phone. There were no messages from Claudia, which concerned her. There were, however, three from her brother, as well as two missed calls, at which she rolled her eyes.
Quickly, she texted Claudia: What happened to you? Everything okay? Text me back ASAP.
Then she read her brother's texts with growing irritation.
You were seen leaving a certain building with Asher Bowles. Your car was left behind. Tell me where you are.
Answer me Anastasia. Where are you?
I am sending Boris to Asher Bowles' home , he will get answers for me.
"Geez," she mumbled, texting back. Her brother was taking this protective older brother thing to a whole new level.
Yo, stalker bro. Am fine. Do NOT send goon.
His response was instant and unsurprising: Come home now.
Anya sighed in annoyance.
This was not our agreement. I can do whatever I wish with my life. Stop dictating to me. I'm staying here tonight.
And again. Come home now. Too dangerous.
Anya was about to put her phone away and ignore her grouchy older brother, when she glanced at the next message: Boris is there. Either leave with him or he breaks down door, puts bullet in boyfriend and brings you home anyway.
"Fuck my life," Anya snarled.