I wait by the door for Sienna while still processing what she said at breakfast. I didn’t make all those choices. Some were made for me. Sure, I could have been a better person in high school, but so could everyone. Hormones, the urge to fit in when I knew I’d live the rest of my life separately from people, and the validation I got made me mean and greedy. I wanted every experience. That meant plenty of flings, getting through classes by bending and testing rules, being at every single party, and not missing a damn thing.
But I missed Sienna. I knew that when I was home from the hospital. People wished me well, told me they wanted me to come back, invited me to parties, but never asked how I was. No one visited. Sienna would have. I knew it back then.
If I’d told her, she would have come, but my father refused to allow that. He was sure that it would put a mark on our family and tell everyone where I was while I was weak and easy to take out. I didn’t choose to miss our date. I was forced to do that. I was forced to cease communication with anyone that mattered, anyone I didn’t want to be hurt.
Not that I can tell her. She’s perceptive and if I’m not careful, she’ll figure out why I’m so cagy and why my world is so dangerous.
“Annik,” I call, barely raising my voice.
My most dutiful housekeeper is never far. She’s pretty, with blonde hair, a lithe figure, and a cold face. Her eyes go molten when she looks at me and I’ve seen her sneak in when I’m showering, but I won’t ruin things in my house by fucking her.
“Get Ms. Reid down here.”
“Sir?” she asks.
“I don’t care if she’s dressed if she tries to say no. Have her in front of me in less than five minutes,” I order.
She hurries to do just that. I hear Sienna complaining loudly, squeal, then Annik returns, holding Sienna’s ear between her fingers. Sienna’s half bent over, giving me a hell of a view down her shirt, but I don’t want anyone touching her.
Annik delivers her to me and inclines her head.
“Don’t touch her again,” I say darkly. “Use your words instead.”
Annik’s lips part in confusion, but I motion for Sienna to walk out of the house. She gets into the waiting limo and huffs. “That was rude, Lev. You’re not adding any points in the ‘pro’ column right now.”
I continue watching her. “You ask to go shopping, then try to stand me up?”
Her face goes red. “I didn’t do anything. You should have left me up there and saved your money.”
“I’d rather-” My phone rings. I sigh. “It’s Ana.”
“By all means. I know where I rank,” she says, but I notice her eyes flick to the ground as she leans back into the seat.
I answer the phone. “Make it quick, Ana.”
“You left the party after causing a scene!” She yells.
I pull the phone away from my ear. “Ana-”
“So now you’re going to make it up to me. I’m having a party at your house tomorrow.”
“You are not,” I growl in Russian. “My house is not available.”
“It’s not like I’ll be bringing business people. It’s my friends and fun. It’s a nice way to apologize, Vasily,” She says before continuing about the plans, how much better my house is than our parents’, how they never let her have fun and I always got to in high school, how it’s not fair.
I burst. “Katenka, I will do this and you are going to leave me alone for the rest of the week.”
“I love you,” she says before hanging up.
I rub my forehead. “We’ll be having a party tomorrow.”
“Great. Want me to serve food?” Sienna asks. “Or take pictures? Might as well put me to work while you have me.”
I move closer to her and almost touch her. Curling my fingers into my hand, I take a breath. “You’re a guest, Sienna. I want you to have fun and enjoy yourself.”
“Enjoying myself isn’t something I’m good at,” she whispers.
“Practice today. Make me pay for kidnapping you by draining my bank account. Any store, anything you want and you’ll leave with it. There’s an old-fashioned camera store we can check out. Or we can go to a newer place. It doesn’t have to just be clothes or shoes or bags or ... what else do women shop for?”
“I’m going to get the ugliest underwear possible and wear them nonstop for the entire week along with sweats five sizes too big and hoodies,” she says.
Sighing, I nod. “If that’s what you want.” Her eyes flick to me from behind her wild hair. I smile. “I like your hair free.”
“I didn’t do it for you,” she moves further away.
“Promise me you’ll try something beyond comfortable clothes. You can get them, but I want you to enjoy this. Treat it like some fantasy shopping spree,” I say. She doesn’t budge, just stares out the window. “You can sell it all when you leave if you want.”
She faces me and narrows her eyes. “I don’t appreciate you trying to buy forgiveness or my smiles, Lev. I’m not your damn sugar baby.”
“Trust me, I know,” I grumble. “I already offered to let you torture me, but I can’t change the past. If you hold that against me, fine, but there’s nothing I can do. Even with my money and friends, I can’t time travel.”
“And if you could?”
“I’d ignore my father’s warning, steal my sister’s phone and text you the second I got out of the hospital,” I answer. “To tell you I fucked up was an idiot, and I shouldn’t have teased you, let anyone else tease you, or let you wonder why I didn’t show up.”
I let the ride continue in silence until Sienna straddles me. I gape at her, but she grabs my wrists and holds them down. I take a slow breath. She should not be on top of me. Already, I’m going to struggle not to blind every man that looks at her when that lingerie is so damn obvious through her white dress.
“Sienna-”
“I will torture you. I’m going to keep up the trend of not having locks when I’m in changing rooms. You either have to hold the door shut or everyone gets to see what I have on under this dress.”
“Haven’t I made it clear that I will spank you?” I hiss, despite how hard I am.
“Sure. And that makes you hard. That’s what’s going to happen whenever I’m angry with you. I’m going to make you hard and I won’t do a damn thing about it. I’ll do it in public. I’ll do it in your house. I’ll walk around in lingerie and nothing else in front of Karik just to piss you off.”
I glower at her and bite out the words. “I’m going to punish you.”
“Lucky for you, I don’t need a translation for that,” she says with an evil twinkle in her eyes. “Because I heard, “that’s fair”. And don’t think about getting your rocks off to someone else in public. You step away from my side, I run.”
She leans closer, her nose brushing mine as her lips part. I want to touch her. I’m aching to take control, to fuck her senseless, to edge her until she screams and begs me to come.
“You put me through hell, Vasily Lev Ogievich,” the fact that she can pronounce my full name flawlessly makes my heart beat double time in my chest. I’m so hard it fucking hurts. “I’m going to make sure you know what hell feels like, especially because you went and made me a promise.”
“Karik, put up the partition,” I snarl in Russian.
Sienna’s eyes darken and she lets out an uneven breath. She may like to tease me, but I see her hard nipples, I see her panting. I know she’s just as turned on as I am. The second the partition is up, I grip her dress and manhandle her over my knee.
She squeaks. “Lev!”
“I warned you, multiple times,” I snarl before I bring my hand down on her ass.
Her ass jiggles and I almost moan. I spank her again, and again, listening to her groan and whimper as she tries to free herself from me. I can see her ass blooming red under the sheer fabric and swat her again before pinching her thong in my fingers.
“You’re cheating!” she yells.
I pull her thong tight over her clit, playing with her mercilessly. She whines and digs her nails into the seat. I chuckle. “I’m only touching your clothes, Sienna. There are so many ways to take advantage of this. The more clothes you wear, the more I can touch. So get the hoodies, get the sweats, get leggings, get all of that and I’ll be able to do more than spank you and tug on your thong.”
She whimpers as I snap the thong against her skin. I pat her ass. “Tease me again. I dare you.”
Sienna climbs off my lap and tries to sit, but keeps adjusting and glowering at me. Let her pout all she wants. I know she’s wet. I know she was moaning as much as she was fighting me.
When we get to the shopping district–only high end stores, she gets out first. I step out behind her and nod to Karik. He’ll take care of parking, then join us.
Sienna walks into the first store, her face still red. I notice a few people whistle, but I shoot them one warning look and they back off.
Sienna looks through the boutique. She touches a few necklaces, then some dresses, some shirts, shorts. Anything she touches, I demand in her size. She goes to the changing room and leaves the curtain open as she takes off her dress.
The attendants whisper, but I notice a guy trying to get a better view. I stand in front of him. “Do you have something to say to my girlfriend?”
He opens his mouth, looks at me, then ducks away. I walk over and jerk the curtain shut. Sienna opens the other side. I hold it shut in retaliation. She plays the same game as we go from store to store. I get her everything she considers in the dressing room. She gets heels, flats, plenty of things. She looks at a lingerie store, then at me.
“Don’t tempt me,” I growl.
My patience is gone. I’ve been fucking hard all day and I’m ready to spank her again. She grins and walks in. Karik arches an eyebrow at me. “Sir?”
“Take the bags to the limo. I’ll take care of the girl,” I hiss.
I follow her in and find her backing down right away. One of the attendants sighs. “I’m sorry, honey. I don’t think anything in here will fit you. The largest size we have is-”
“Is for who?” I ask.
The woman looks at me and her eyes focus on the scar. I’m not helping matters. I step up behind Sienna. “You’re saying there’s nothing here for my girlfriend? Is that because you don’t want money or because your designers are incompetent?”
“Um, what are your sizes again?” The woman asks Sienna.
“XL bottoms, 38 D for bras,” she murmurs.
The woman takes off and I tug on the hem of Sienna’s skirt. “Don’t let them talk down to you. Them failing on sizes isn’t because of you.”
“It wouldn’t be an issue if your girlfriend worked out, but I bet she’s skilled in another area, huh?” A guy says.
I take a slow breath and meet Sienna’s eyes. “Sólnyshka, go wait in the dressing room for the attendant. If you like nothing, we’ll leave.”
“Lev,” she whispers.
I nod once, “Go, baby.”
The second she disappears, I turn on the man. Looks like my fighting days aren’t over yet.