Yes, There is something else I need

A Stimulating Beginning

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Disclaimer: I don’t own anything to do with any part of the IM franchise and I’m not making any money from this. I’m just writing this for my own perverse enjoyment.
A/N: Sorry to my readers for the short chapter but I wanted to leave you all wanting more…. :) Let me know what you think!

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“Come,” Vanko said, gesturing to the small table that served as the dining area, “sit.” He turned and grabbed a clean dishtowel and ran water through it until it was wet, squeezing out the excess. Reaching into the freezer, he put several ice cubes on the towel and wrapped them up. He came back to Kate and gently applied the cold cloth on her face.

“If you hold it against your face, it shouldn’t bruise,” Vanko said. His nostrils flared at the subtle yet modest scent of her perfume; it wasn’t overpowering, neither was it watery or weak—it was just enough to rouse his senses in anticipation of more intimate contact.

Kate jumped slightly when she felt his touch but relaxed as the icepack removed some of the sting from the hard slap Tom had given her. Vanko’s gentleness came as a surprise as she had fully expected his touch to be as hard and rough as his appearance.

“How does that feel?” Vanko asked, letting her take the towel to use for herself.
“It feels good, thank you,” Kate responded. “I think it’ll be okay now.”

Her companion sat down as well, his chin in his hand as he watched the small woman gently dab her face. Now that he had a closer view, he saw that she wasn’t as plain as he first thought.
Her delicate heart-shaped face was accentuated and framed by her brown hair, lightened by exposure to the sun and cut into a stylish bob. Vanko was glad she wore little make up. Her lipstick was a light taupe and skillfully applied eye shadow made her eyes appear hazel in colour.

She wore a smart, fitted jacket and skirt in a dark moss colour that suited her.

The more he looked at her, the more he concluded that this woman wasn’t a whore. A seasoned pro would have been enticing him either by grinding her body against his or by whispering crude sexual enticements in his ear. A seasoned pro wouldn’t be primly smoothing her skirt nor would she be caught dead with her hands folded neatly in her lap.

It was as if this petite woman seemed completely out of her depth--as if she had gotten herself into a situation that she didn’t know how to handle. Either that or she was so inexperienced, she was waiting for him to make the first move.

He was well aware that she was here strictly for his pleasure, but for the time being, he was content to continue as he was--being in the company of someone who made no demands of him. As well, here in his off-hours, he could drink as much as he liked and receive no criticism. There was no time like the present to do just that.

Reaching behind him, he took two glasses from the drying rack, poured two fingers of vodka in each, and set one down in front of Kate.

“Drink, please. It won’t hurt and will help you relax.”

“That’s true,” his companion said, grinning slightly, a dimple appearing in her cheek. She took a swig of vodka only to discover it burned like hell. She was too polite to spit it out but since it was in her mouth, her mind didn’t know what to do.

Vanko gave her a grin of his own when he saw her expression. “Vodka is meant to be, how would you say, chugged not sipped. Swallow. Don’t think how it tastes, it will burn going down but it is a good burn. Trust me.”

Kate swallowed hard and coughed as the alcohol made its way down.

Vanko showed her the example as he downed his vodka neat. “Why did you sleep with those two men at once?”

Kate blinked. “What…?”

“I was watching you from the moment you came in. I saw and heard...enough.”

His companion’s lower lip trembled and she stared at the tabletop for a long moment. Vanko noticed that when she raised her head to say something in response, her stubborn little chin was raised defiantly. Her eyes stared directly into his and her gaze neither flinched nor wavered.

“No, you didn’t. You have no goddamn idea what the real story is or what I’ve had to go through, all right?”

Kate’s response pleased Vanko in ways that he hadn’t foreseen…she was no pushover, nor was she afraid of speaking her mind.

Pluck was one particular personality trait that he valued in a woman. Her defiant persona was somewhat subdued in comparison to the women he had known in Russia in his younger days—like the unforgiving winter of his homeland, the opposite sex there had to be strong and hardy in order to survive.

“Why don’t you tell me what really happened?” Vanko asked. He did not mind in the slightest about her angry tone of voice.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout, but you have to know that I wasn’t paid to be with them. I was given to them. As punishment.”

“Why?”

“I made a mistake by misplacing a comma in a company contract bid. My error was discovered after the bid had been accepted and Hammer Industries was forced to honour it or lose face. It ended up costing the company millions.”

“And Hammer allowed those men to hurt you?”

“He sanctioned it. The only stipulation was that I wasn’t to be killed or permanently maimed.”
Vanko didn’t really want to know the answer to the next question, but he felt the need to ask. “Have you ever slept with him, your boss?”

Her lips drew up in a contortion between a sneer and an expression of unutterable pain. Kate nodded and lowered her head in shame. “He’s sold me to other men, mostly other businessmen as if I was nothing but a party favour.”

“Is okay if you need to cry,” Vanko said softly.

Kate shook her head. “I’ve cried enough and I’ve learned since then that tears don’t help. Booze does, though.”

Vanko took the hint and obliged, pouring in a modest amount. He didn’t want her to get shitfaced just yet, but it was obvious that she needed it. Besides, a little more alcohol would loosen her tongue and for reasons that were unknown to him, he had to know more about this most alluring and intriguing woman.

As Kate sipped her drink, Vanko was deep in thought about her. She had an appealing quality that demonstrated that in addition to being strong-minded, she was vulnerable. The combination of defiance and vulnerability was an intoxicating mixture. Liking what he was seeing and hearing from the young woman who sat across from him, Vanko filled his glass again.

Before she was degraded by Justin Hammer and his thugs and forced to be seen and not heard, Kate Brady had, at one time, possessed a backbone. However, even Hammer’s best efforts hadn’t removed it completely. He found himself liking her more and more because of it.
“And if I hadn’t said anything…?”

“Then they would have jumped me as soon as I got to my car or my house and hurt me again. In my car or my place, it would have ended the same. Either would have been suitable for their purposes.” A shudder ran through her small frame.

“Why do you allow yourself to be degraded like this?” Vanko asked, frowning. “Tell me the truth.”
Kate breathed deeply, mentally debating how much she should reveal about her personal life to this near-complete stranger. But since he had gently asked for the truth instead of harshly demanding it, she would oblige.

“When I was 16, I got pregnant. A girl. I had to give her up for adoption. I didn’t want to, but I knew it was for the best. On the day she was born, I only saw her for an instant and she was so beautiful. I never even got to hold her…I don’t want to be a part of her life now; I just want to know if she’s okay. I need to know if I did right by her. Mr. Hammer somehow found out about it and said that if I do certain things for him—for example, servicing men like I am doing now, he would help me find her, but so far, he hasn’t found anything. I am not going to give up.” Her voice became determined. “Can you understand that, Ivan?”

“Da,” he said, never giving any indication that he was aware Kate had called him by his first name. “I understand. Family is everything. Believe me, I know.”

Unlike a common streetwalker who would have used coarse words to explain her purpose and function, she refrained from doing so, proving his initial conclusion that Kate Brady had class.
He watched as she put her glass down on the table. Unconsciously, he did the same, his eyes never leaving hers. Kate nodded in a gesture of understanding. It was time.

She straightened up in her chair and began to undo the buttons on her shirt. Slowly, infinitely slowly, Kate undid two more buttons until the wisp of a lacy black camisole peeked coyly between her breasts.

His throat suddenly dry, Vanko could not tear his eyes away. It had been so long since he’d even seen a woman’s breasts, let alone caress them. She had a generous C cup, that was certain and Vanko’s groin ached with a vision of cupping them in his hands, holding their heavy warmth in his palms while his mouth suckled her nipples until they were hard.

In an almost hypnotic trance, Vanko watched as Kate’s hands went to her shoulder to remove her blouse, but the camisole prevented him from seeing the full magnificence of her breasts. Now that her shirt was off, she began to lower the spaghetti strap of her camisole from one shoulder.
He could stand this torture no longer; he abruptly got up from his chair and went to Kate. He took her small hands away from herself, preventing her from finishing her task.

“Let me,” he said, his voice coarsened by an ever-growing blaze of desire that threatened to overwhelm his sanity. “I need more room.”

Kate led the short distance to his bed, and Vanko saw how gracefully she moved; her hips gently swaying from side to side, her feminine curves an intoxicating enticement to any man over twelve years of age. Because of his height, he towered over her, and was pleasurably rewarded by getting a good look down her brassiere.

Unable to stop himself, he sat down as well and slowly reached out and touched her flesh for the first time.

***
In his office seven stories above, Justin Hammer breathed heavier and leaned forward in his chair in rapt fascination, unable to take his eyes from his monitor.
“It’s about goddamn time you made your move, Russkie. I would have been all over her by now.”
Hammer’s hand reached down to stroke his hardening cock as he watched the live video and audio feed from Vanko’s room.