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“Men aren’t known for it.”
He grinned a little, savoring Daria. “No argument. But you are deeply introspective. I’ve seen you go there often. It’s in your eyes.”
“I’m a sniper by trade,” she agreed, her hand stilling over his heart. “Details make a life-and-death difference to me, and I can take that skill and apply it to anything. Even you. People interest me, Nik. I’m forever curious about why they do or say the things they do. I always wonder what is behind their actions and decisions. What sent them in that direction?”
“You would be a good police detective,” he grumped good-naturedly, opening his eyes, sliding his hand through her hair, feeling its silkiness slip like a whisper between his fingers.
“Maybe…” Daria looked up, folding her hands on his chest and settling her chin on them, holding his hooded stare. “But you fascinate me. You have from the moment I saw you.”
“A bug under your microscope?” he teased, his lips lifting wryly.
Her smile blossomed. “Not hardly, Morozov. When I saw you in the church, I knew you were my contact because I’d been given a photo of you. But the difference between the photo and seeing you in person? My breath caught in my throat.”
“Now, that’s an American slang I haven’t heard before. What does it mean?” He liked the sparkle in her eyes. Nik saw the desire pent up in them. As soon as he recovered, he would take her, love her, and make her fully his, the way he’d dreamed of doing. His five-year drought had ended and he was positive he could control himself the next time around to give Daria the pleasure she deserved. The gift she’d just given him earlier had shattered him emotionally in a new way. She’d selflessly given herself to him with no expectation of reward. He would never forget her generosity. It told him how powerful the connection that was alive and growing between them every day truly was.
“It means you rock my world,” Daria whispered, smiling into his eyes.
“And so, you felt this connection between us, too?”
“Did I ever. I felt euphoric, Nik. I couldn’t control my body, my desire for you. It was the craziest response I’ve ever had to a man. It was as if I were in animal mating heat.”
“Confession time,” he admitted, smoothing her hair aside, running his fingers lightly across her the sensitive nape of her neck. “I was having the very same reaction to you. It surprised the hell out of me. I didn’t know what to think. I didn’t know what was going on.”
“Amazing,” Daria agreed in a confused tone. She shook her head, still baffled by the reaction they’d initially had with one another in that church.
There was so much Nik couldn’t put into words. He enjoyed dropping into Ukrainian, his first language, with Daria. His heart swelled as he moved his fingers slowly across her long, firm back. Nik didn’t want to think about the future beyond kidnapping Korsak. But he dreamed of so much more since meeting Daria. His hand drew to a halt on her back. “I don’t know what we have, except that it was strong from the beginning. I’m paralyzed by it in some ways because I have no experience with how I feel toward you, Daria.”
“It’s the same for me,” she admitted softly, caressing his chest, feeling his skin tighten wherever her fingertips traced his flesh.
“I wish,” he said thickly, “that I had met you at any other time than right now, Kitten. We live in chaos. Neither of us has control over anything.”
She pressed her hips against him suggestively. “We have control over ourselves and that has to be enough, Nik. At least, for now.” Daria lifted her head and looked at the clock on the bedstand. “It’s nearly fivep.m. The chicken should be done. Are you ready to eat? Get your strength back?” and she gave him a wicked, teasing look.
There was no sense in diving down the rabbit hole of uncertainty about where their lives were at right now. Wisely, Nik nodded. “Yes, let me get a quick shower? Would you join me?” He saw her eyes light up.
“If I did, I’m afraid we’d get otherwise engaged and that chicken would catch fire in the oven.” Daria rose to her knees, sweeping her hand outward in a lingering movement from his neck, down his torso, her fingers wrapping around his semi-erection. “Let’s eat. Then we have energy to last through the night?”
Her warm fingers wrapping around him instantly made him tense up with pleasure, his breath a sharp intake. He liked what he saw in her gold eyes, the heat simmering in them, and knew she was more than ready. “Keep that up,” he growled, gently easing her fingers away from himself, “and we aren’t leaving this room.”
She laughed lightly and climbed off the bed. Holding out her hand, Daria smiled and coaxed, “Come on, let’s go get some fuel?”
As they atethe chicken, the sweet green beans and tasty potatoes, Daria wanted to imagine that she and Nik were in their own home, enjoying a meal together. Her military experience hovered in the halls of her mind. There were all kinds of danger surrounding them. Her heart, however, was centered on Nik. He ate voraciously, complimenting her cooking. The man sat naked except for a towel wrapped around his waist and his lean, hard body was dessert for her eyes whether he knew it or not. Everything about him shouted relaxation. Daria couldn’t imagine a five-year drought of no sex.
Did she dare to dream of a time when they were past this point in their lives, beyond their random crashing together on this op? The last two years of her life had been a desert. She’d felt herself dying little by little throughout them. Humans weren’t meant to live alone as solitary monks. Daria stole a look through her lashes at Nik as he ate with relish. That ache centered again in her lower body, a promise of things to come.
“I hope Brudin doesn’t come knocking at our door later,” she grumped.
“Doubtful,” Nik murmured, pushing the empty plate away and wiping his mouth with a paper napkin. “Korsak has all of them getting whipped into shape at the hotel. He’s ordered them all to stop drinking and whoring. To get cleaned up, showered, shaved and look presentable.” He thumbed toward his medical ruck near the door. “I have everything I need right here.”
“So? That means Brudin won’t be around to harass us tonight?”
“No. I’m to meet them at the hotel at 0600 tomorrow morning.” Nik met and held her gaze. “Tonight is just for us, Daria.”
She rose from the table. “I need to get a shower first.”
“Go. I’ll clean up here in the kitchen.”
“You’re easily house-trained, Morozov,” she teased, grinning down at him. Her heart mushroomed as Nik gave her a heated look, his gaze turning predatory upon her.
