Consumed by Deception (Deception Trilogy, #3)

by Rina Kent

the Adrian I think I’ve lost. Turns out I haven’t. Even as Winter, he came back to me. He treated me like I mattered. He kissed me. He sat down and smiled at me.

I want to fight. For him. For us. For the relationship we’ve never properly had.

I see it then. The closing off. The simmering anger that will eventually cool into indifference. That’s what happened before. He was so angry that he refused to touch me for fear he’d hurt me and then he drew away. I was stupid enough to let it happen in the past. And by doing that, I ultimately hurt myself. I gave up all control to my demons and let them dictate my fate and my life. That won’t be the case anymore.

I need to keep Adrian. I have to stop him from closing himself off to me. And the only way to do that is to use the methods he did when he wanted me with him. Before my nerves get the better of me, I lower myself on my knees. This time, I’ll be the one who gives.

I went so crazy that I thought it was a good idea to send a strange lookalike to him, and then I jumped off a cliff.

Wild times man

I feel that if I don’t do this now, I’ll lose him. Maybe not right away, but it’ll happen in the long run like before.

I freed myself in ways I never thought possible, and it’s only because of that freedom that I’m able to embrace my true self. I’m able to talk aloud about what I want. As much as I hated those couple of months and the loneliness I felt, I don’t hate my newfound freedom. Or my voice.

“You…shouldn’t have done that.” “Done what?” “Used Jeremy to force his hand. That’s what his mother did. She used Boss so his father would do things her way. Needless to say, he hates it.” Shit.

It’s ironic, considering I spent a great deal of effort trying to escape from being me.

He clears his throat. “That won’t be possible. Boss’s orders.” “Are you going to use force to stop me?” His and the other guard’s eyes widen at the suggestion. “Of course not. Boss would slaughter us if we touched you.” “In that case, let me in.” “I’ll have to report it to him.” “Do it then. Tell him to come and stop me himself.”

“I assume he watched me from afar?” “We all did. You have no idea how grumpy he was during that period—more than usual, I mean. Yours truly had to take his wrath. He beat everyone up during our daily workouts.”

“I’m sorry.” “Don’t apologize for a situation you had no control over. Mental illness isn’t something to be sorry about.”

“We ride together and die together, woman.” “Oh my God, Yan!” I shriek from excitement, a wide grin stretching my lips. “You’re Larry?!” He winks. “The one and only.”

Im smiling so big rn

I’m still laughing, overjoyed at the fact that Larry and Yan are the same person. They were the only people I could consider a friend, whether as Lia or Winter.

“Thank you. I’m so glad I have you.” “Me too. Or else my cause of death would’ve been boredom.”

He wouldn’t tell me either but it’s obvious. He’s protecting Mrs. Volkov.” “From me?” “Yes, sir. You know he’s still mad about how you drove her to the edge of that cliff.”

I got rid of every fucking member of the Rozettis who knew about your existence and then hid you from your father. Including the bastard you saw me kill that first day in your apartment’s parking garage. He was following you and I finished him.”

I believe what you said just now. I trust that you didn’t intend to use me, I really do. Now you have to believe me…please…please…” Because if he doesn’t, we’ll be caught in a vicious, toxic cycle that will destroy us both.

“Adrian…take it as if I’m begging you. Don’t do this to us.” “Do what?” “Kill us again.”

“But you ended up in mine.” There’s a softer edge in his tone and I nearly cry with gratefulness. “You said it yourself. I didn’t have a choice.” “And if you did have a choice?” A sob of relief leaves me. “I’d choose this, Adrian. I would choose you.” He closes his eyes for a brief second, grunting. When he opens them again, he rasps, “Fuck, Lenochka.”

I fall apart with no safety line. And at this moment, I don’t want one. I’m tied down, completely and utterly helpless, and yet I haven’t felt this free in such a long time.

Adrian is kissing me. I know he did it when I thought I was Winter, but this one is different. This one is meant for me. His tongue meets mine, and I kiss him with abandon, letting him devour me whole. So what if nothing is left at the end? I know he’ll be there for me. He’ll pick me up again. He’ll kiss me again.

His lips find the top of my head and they brush over my hair, creating a buzz of comfort, of…safety. My head rests on his chest as I catch my breath, burrowing into the hard ridges of his muscles, using him as my nook, my anchor.

After he takes a swig, he grabs my jaw. His mouth meets mine and he pours the water into it. He nibbles my lip, then his teeth tug on it and he sucks it inside his hot, wet mouth. By the time he finishes, I’m hyperventilating, my jaw open and my throat dryer than before he gave me the water. Holy. Shit. Can I drink that way for the rest of my life?

yeah that was hot as hell.

“I tracked you.” “Tracked me…wait a second. You have a tracker on me?” He taps my cheek. “Dental.” I try to pull away, but Adrian’s hold keeps me glued in place. “Since when?” “Soon after I married you.” “Oh my God. Were you ever planning on telling me?” “I just did.”

“First Yan is on your side and now Kolya? Are Boris and Ogla next?”

“Don’t do it.” “What?” “Don’t protect him with your life.” “I won’t. I have a family, remember?” “Didn’t stop your father.” “I’m not him, Lenochka. Never.” I hug him tight, burrowing my face in his chest.

“You say that as if you weren’t fooled by Winter.” “I wasn’t. One look into her eyes and I figured out she wasn’t you.” “That simple?” “That simple.”

“You have a crazy sex drive…so…it could happen.” The words burn in my throat on their way out. “Having a crazy sex drive doesn’t mean I’d stick it anywhere, Lenochka.”

I scrunch my nose, then mutter under my breath, “I bet you didn’t think they were short when you were stalking me.” “I heard that,” he says as I turn around and head to the changing room.

“Maybe I’ll buy him something…” “Please don’t.” Kolya stares at the bathroom door. “Yeah, don’t,” Boris agrees. “Unless you want to witness his murder at Boss’s hands.”

“You drove me to stand on a cliff ready to finish my life, too. Do you deserve to die for that?”

Adrian speaks with chilling quietness. “Probably. But I can’t die, because that will leave you and our son unprotected.” “It’s not…I…” He flattens his thumb against my lips, putting a halt to any words I can form. “Shhh. You’ve angered me enough for one day.

However, Adrian has never looked at me any differently. Not only has the hunger persisted in his gaze, but it also seems to intensify every time he touches me sexually. It’s been years, six long years, filled with all sorts of things that should’ve turned him off, but he’s never looked at me differently from how he does right now. With raw lust. With a furious need to touch me.

it’s not only my body that he’s able to possess in this exhilarating yet frightening way. It’s also my heart and my soul. It didn’t even matter when I thought I was a different person. I fell in love with him all the same and I’m starting to think there’s no way out for me after all.

“Understand this, Lia. I would kill for you over and over again if I have to, and you will never, ever question that.”

Maybe I am as defective as he is, because I’m orgasming while he’s promising to kill for me in the future. That he’ll never stop killing for me.

“Hell no! You’re not standing guard in this freezing cold.” Adrian glares down at me and I glare right back. “What? Surely you’re not making them go outside when there’s a storm coming. They’ll freeze to death.” “They will not,” he says with slight exasperation. “Of course they will. Have you seen all the snow?” “I have and so did they. We’re Russians, and we can handle the cold.” “No.” “No?” he repeats with clear skepticism, as if he doesn’t believe I just told him no in front of his men. “Yes, no.

While Adrian is too busy to have a lot of time for Jeremy, he’s there when it matters. And our son is such an understanding angel. He never bothers Adrian or demands things from him. However, he always looks up to him and my husband is never too busy to look back.

The man who showed me a different world, one where I’m cared for and I come before anything else. The man who fought for me when I didn’t have the will to fight for myself. The man who saved me, even when he tortured me. Who took my hand when I thought there was no hope left for me. The man who gave me the most precious gift in the form of Jeremy and nurtured him with me. He provided me light, even when he himself was always used to the darkness.

“Did you know, you’re sooo beautiful?” “That’s our cue to go.” Boris’s legs are unsteady as he stands. “It was lovely to win against you, Kolya. Mrs. Volkov.”

Adrian’s fingers glide over the ridge of my nose, then trace a path to my cheek as if he’s engraving me into some corner of his head.

“If something happens to you, it won’t push me away. If anything, it’ll bring me closer, Lenochka. Sex plays a part of who we are, and I love how you submit to my dominance, but it’s not the reason why I’ve been married to you for six years.” “What is then?” “You.” “Just me?” “Just you.”

I squeal as he sweeps me off the floor and into his arms, and then I break into a fit of laughter. Happiness. I’ve never dared to dream about it before, but this must be what it feels like to be happy, and now, I’m finally daring to experience it to its fullest.

I thought I’d gotten used to people leaving when I was a child. First Aunt Annika, then Mom, then my father. But the idea of Lia joining them strikes a completely different chord. One that keeps me awake at night, racking my brain to find a solution.

While I have constantly thought about making her take my dick at the back of her pretty throat, I’ve never acted on it, because I needed her to want it. I wished her to get on her knees for me, not because she had to, but because she wanted to. Like now.

Her words are the strongest aphrodisiac that’s ever hit me. The knowledge that she’s had me on her mind, probably as much as I’ve had her on mine, swells a dark corner of my heart with strange warmth.

She’s always felt like home, the one I think about going back to whenever I’m away from it.

My wife is the only woman who’s ever made me feel out of my mind with an animalistic sense of pleasure. One so carnal, I don’t ever want it to end. But it’s not only pleasure that beats under my skin whenever I’m inside her. It’s something deeper, darker, and would freak her out if I ever found the words to voice it.

Lia wraps her arms around my neck and smashes her lips to mine, kissing me with a desperation that flows in my blood and reaches into my fucking bones. “I love you,” she whispers against my mouth, her breath stuttering.