Bloodlines: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance (The Snake Eyes Series Book 4) (6 page)

It’s the first time I’ve ever heard her speak. Her voice fights to soothe every bit of resistance in me but I swallow the forbidden notion down where it belongs. “If they catch you—”

“The last time you spoke to me, I was whipped for it,” she says, keeping her smile even as I cringe. “Believe me, I know the consequences of this better than you do. The guards don’t patrol this far into the garden. We can speak freely here.” She steps closer and the light reflects her brown eyes back at me, bewitching me even more. “I need your help, Mr. Lutrova.”

“Luka,” I say.

She pauses.
“Luka…”

Her silence lasts several long moments. “What?”

“That’s…” she exhales. “That’s the first time I’ve ever addressed a man by his given name. I’m sorry, I…”

“Sofia…” I stare at her, noticing every little flinch in her face as I speak her name. “They don’t even let you say a man’s name?”

“It’s a sign of disrespect,” she says, her eyes grazing the floor. “Only
equals
may be so
informal
.”

“Not even Gio’s?”

“Especially not Gio’s.”
To my surprise, she chuckles. “I’m sorry—”

“Stop apologizing. You’ve done nothing wrong to me.” Sofia looks up and nods. “You said you needed my help.”

She licks her red lips, giving them the slightest sheen in the dim light. “You come from a very different world,” she says. “I can see it in your eyes. You find this family repulsive, don’t you?”

“Yes,” I answer.

She sighs with relief. “So do I.”

And there she is. That little girl with adventure in her eyes. “You want to escape.”

She shakes her head. “That’s not possible. We’d never make it off the grounds — unless you feel like you can dispose of nearly fifty armed men on your own tonight. No, the only real escape would be a quiet, self-inflicted death in the middle of the night, but…” Her eyes harden with purpose. “I have a better idea.”

“I’m listening.”

“I despise the Zappia family,” she says. “Them and everything they stand for. I will not dedicate my life to it. I refuse to. Gio…” She pauses on the name. “Gio desires an heir to continue his family’s legacy and he’ll take it from me. I want to deny him that but even more… I want to humiliate him.”

I study her eyes, so full of hatred and loathing but they glimmer with silent hope. “How?”

Sofia hesitates. “I will have a child… but it won’t be his. A little dirt in the blood will be enough to sully the family’s reputation for generations and tear Gio to shreds.”

“And where do you plan on finding this
dirt
?” I ask, furrowing my brow.

She falls silent and her cheeks glow with the slightest pink. “From you, Luka Lutrova...”

I take a step back.
“Sofia…”

“I won’t ask you for anything else ever again,” she says, her voice full of desperation. “You have my word on that.”

“Why don’t you just
leave
?” I ask.

“You think I haven’t
tried
?” she replies. “Every exit is protected. The wall is too high to climb. I haven’t seen the ocean since I was five-years-old.”

I pause, trying to imagine a life like that but I honestly can’t.

“Even if I did make it out,” she continues, “there’s
Rosalie
. She was just a baby when they brought us here. This family is all she knows in the world. She’d never leave and I couldn’t live with myself if I abandoned her here. As a madam of the Zappia household, I can move her into the main house and she’ll no longer be a servant here. It’s not much, but it’s certainly a better life and if I… if I took my life, then she’d surely take my place next to Gio and I’d rather she be dead than suffer that.”

“Sofia, what you want from me… it’s considered
treason
— to
both
of our families.”

“No one will ever know the child is yours,” she begs. “Only me and you… not even the child, if that’s what you want.”

“And if I refuse?”

She inhales a shaking breath. “All I ask is that you forget this conversation ever happened and you go on with your business.”

My chest tightens. “Then what happens to you?”

She looks down. “I will not live my life in chains. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep that from happening. I’m not sure what, but—”

“This won’t change anything, Sofia,” I whisper. “Even if I help you, you’ll still marry him tomorrow.”

“I’m a very patient woman,” she says. “I will give him my body if it means that my soul laughs every time he looks into our child’s eyes and he sees nothing of himself staring back. That betrayal will see me through until the end.”

I breathe a soft laugh. “Sofia, you are
sinister.
”

“Thank you.”

“I didn’t mean it as a
compliment
,” I argue. “This
humiliation
is harsh and cruel.”

“As it should be.”

“I’d love to watch the Zappias fall as much as anybody but there are other ways—”

“As a Zappia woman, my womb is the only power I possess.” Her lip trembles but she stills it with a quick breath. “I have no say. I have no rights. I have no choice but to comply with the will of Zappia men. Tell me, Luka… do the Russians treat their women this way?”

“No.”

“Then,
please
…” she whispers, “give me one night of reprieve. I promise our secret will die with me.”

I press my teeth together, feeling everything tug in different directions inside. Sofia is
beautiful
— even more so than I thought she’d be — and I’m a warm-blooded man. Of course, I want her. Of course, there’s nothing I’d like more than to take her for myself, but…

“Why me?” I ask. “You don’t even know me, Sofia.”

She turns and her eyes fall to the table in the corner. The tablecloth is old and ragged but it’s still there, hanging down full of rips and holes. “You extended your hand to me once. There was more kindness in that act than any other in my entire life.”

Years of blood and scars pass through my mind. “I’m not who you think I am.”

“And I ask you for nothing more than this, I promise,” she says. “Please don’t condemn me, Luka.”

Her chest heaves, completely wiped out of argument and I can’t hold my desire for her at bay for much longer.

“If he ever finds out, it will start a war,” I say. “You know that, right?”

She smiles. “I’m counting on it.”

The spark in her ignites one in me. “Where? When?”

“Here and now,” she says with a quick wave of her gloved hand. “It’s the safest place.”

I shake my head at the old shed. “This isn’t what you deserve.”

“I’m used to it.” She doesn’t even blink and I know it’s true.

Sofia.
Who knew that cute girl would grow up into this? Strong and determined. Patient and brave. Years of cruel tutelage couldn’t break her. The Zappias made her this way. It’s hard not to appreciate the irony.

“All right,” I say, swallowing hard. “I’ll do it.”

“No one will ever know,” she says again. Finally, her voice trembles. “And… I know how it works. You can be quick.”

A Zappia bride must be as pure as freshly fallen snow in every way.

I remember Gio’s words and guilt stabs at me but not as much as anger does. Sofia should never have had to make this decision at all. Fate stripped her family from her and dropped her on the Zappia doorstep. To any outsider looking in, they’d think that was a dream come true; a fresh, new beginning for the two young orphan girls.

Now, she has to rely on a damn coin toss to stay alive. There’s no guarantee any of this will go the way she wants it to.

But it’s enough to keep her alive and I won’t deny her that hope.

My pulse races, firing blood so fast through me that my fingers turn numb. I slide my jacket off and she blinks with subtle fear as I gesture to the table.

“Sit down, Sofia.”

Chapter 7

Sofia

I do as Luka says and walk over to the table.

New fear pumps through my veins. It hasn’t been twenty minutes since this idea sprouted fully-formed into my brain. I never once made it this far into the plan. I know what I ask of him, I know what’s expected of me, but I hadn’t prepared for the terror pumping through my veins.

Luka hangs his jacket off a nail on the door and steps over to me as I lift myself onto the table. He stares at me but I keep my eyes down, trying not to make it too obvious how terrified I am.

“Sofia, look at me.”

I force my eyes up and feel a quick jolt of warmth as Luka smiles at me.

“I won’t hurt you,” he says, flashing my memory back in time. Twelve years ago, he looked at me just like he is now. He has the same gray eyes, soft and caring without a hint of malice in them but his calloused hands tell me a different story; the story of a mafia man.

My breath rattles within my lungs. He leans in and I feel his body heat in the air around me. It warms me to the core and my body responds in ways I’ve never known it could. I melt with surging blood in my veins, throbbing and aching all over.

Luka lays his hands on my waist and my skin twitches beneath his touch, even through my thick, black dress. He looks at me with soft, seductive eyes and I can’t help but get lost in them.

As he drifts closer and licks his lips, my heart stops. I turn away from him, my cheeks flushed with blood. “We don’t have to…”

His fingers graze my chin, guiding me back to him. “I want to,” he whispers.

Luka leans closer, gently pushing in until our lips finally touch. Lightning fires down my spine but I sit here, frozen in the flames, as he kisses me softly. He takes it slow, never once heaving an impatient breath while I adapt to the new sensation.

Instinct kicks in my gut and I purse my lips against his, drawing a more passionate kiss between us and I ache for him to teach me more. He lays his hand on mine and I release the viselike grip I have on the table beneath us. I let him move me and he places my hand on his chest, giving me permission to touch him. I hesitate, my attentions torn between to feel of his tongue in my mouth and my twitching fingers, and I rest my hand on the taut skin of his torso. Muscles poke through from his abs and arms and my core throbs with anticipation.

Luka’s own hands constantly move, triggering blooms of pleasure wherever he touches me. They slide downward from my face to my neck and my breasts, all the way down to the thick, black skirt between us. He pulls away and leans down to raise it up to my thighs.

I quiver, red-faced and exposed, but one glance from his haunting, silver eyes brings me calm.

“Sofia, have you ever touched yourself?” he asks.

I hesitate. Answering with the truth would bring me great punishment if it were to fall on Zappia ears but I have no urge to lie to Luka Lutrova. I nod and he kisses me again, softly flicking his tongue against mine.

He smiles in the dim light and lays his warm hands on my shivering knees. “Will you do it for me now?”

An answer twitches my tongue but my voice never quite surfaces. Luka looks down to watch me inch my hand beneath my skirt. I push through all the ingrained shame involved with the act, utterly floor by the desire in his eyes. My clit throbs even harder as I touch it, shooting sparks down to my ankles. I bite my lip, silencing myself as pleasure quickly rises to the surface.

“Shh…”
Luka whispers, leaning closer to brush his lips against mine.

My hips push off the table, gently grinding against my fingertips and I feel the smile grow wider across his face. Each breath fuels the heat in me, growing wilder with each rub. I open my mouth, silently moaning, and Luka traps the sound with his lips. He lays his hands on my waist to hold me steady as I climb even higher.

“Don’t stop,” he says, staring into me.

He wants me to finish; to release the deluge just begging to burst out of me and I want it, too. I can already feel the wetness staining my panties, dripping more every second, just waiting for him to enter me and fill me with his seed.

The tension mounts and he holds me tighter as the euphoria overwhelms my core. I keep silent, hiding my orgasm from all ears as I always have, but I let out a soft whimper for Luka before pushing forward to steal a kiss off of his perfect lips.

He pulls me closer to him and I feel the hard bulge pressing against my inner thigh. It’s frightening and strange but the instinct to run is nonexistent. Even as he reaches for his belt and pushes his zipper down, I keep still, waiting with a throbbing anticipation.

I wonder when it will become too much. I wonder if I’ll chicken out completely and rush out of here in a flurry that will surely get us both caught.

But I don’t. The forbidden urge for him never leaves me. It blends with my fear, igniting an even powerful lust and shutting out all of my other senses.

He pulls out his cock and my breath catches in my throat.

“Sofia, look at me.”

I fall even harder into his eyes and he holds them with ease.