My heartbeat still pounds hard against my ribs while I rest my head over his heart, listening to the deep rhythm beneath my ear. Outside, the rain taps against the windows.
I tell myself this is crazy, that men like Alexei don’t belong in lives like mine. But curled against him in the darkness while his fingers move slowly through my hair, I can’t seem to make myself care. And somewhere between the sound of the rain and the warmth of his body, sleep finally pulls me under.
Morning comes slowly, wrapped in gray light and rain tapping against the window. I stay half asleep for a few seconds, warm beneath the blankets with Alexei pressed against my back, his arm heavy around my waist like he plans on keeping me exactly where I am.
Every inch of my body feels marked by him. My muscles ache in the sweetest, most embarrassing way possible, and just thinking about the way he touched me makes warmth curl low in my stomach all over again.
“You’re mine, Maggie.”
Heaven help me for the way those words still linger.
His mouth brushes against my shoulder. “You’re awake.”
His voice is rough from sleep, deeper than usual, and the sound sends a shiver down my spine before I can stop it.
“Barely,” I mumble.
He laughs softly against my skin, then turns me in his arms until I’m facing him. The morning light falls across the dark hair hanging over his forehead and the faint scrape of stubble along his jaw. He looks different lying here in my bed, younger somehow and less untouchable.
His fingers glide slowly along my hip beneath the blankets while those icy-blue eyes study my face with far too much attention.
“You’re sore,” he says quietly.
I snort quietly. “You say that like you ain’t the reason.”
He smiles slowly. “I regret nothing.”
“That makes one of us.”
“You’re a terrible liar,kotyónok.”
He’s not wrong. I try to roll my eyes, but I can’t help smiling as I snuggle closer to him. The warmth of his chest surrounds me.
For a moment, neither of us speaks. His fingers move lazily through my hair while my thoughts drift back to yesterday. The shelter break-in. Mama’s car. The growing feeling that my life is getting tangled up in Alexei’s world, whether I want it to or not.
My muscles tense a bit, and Alexei notices right away. His fingers grip my chin, tipping my face upward gently. “What is it?”
“Nothin’ important.”
“Maggie.”
The warning in his voice makes me sigh slowly. “I’m thinkin’.”
“That usually leads to trouble.”
I laugh despite myself.
“I meant what I said last night,” he says. “I want you more careful at the shelter.”
There it is. That protective streak of his that somehow manages to be aggravating and comforting at the same time. I rest my hand against his chest, tracing my fingers lightly across skin.
“Alexei, somebody broke a door and vandalized a few things.”
“And your mother’s car?”
The question wipes the teasing right out of me. I stare down at the blankets between us.
“I don’t like it either,” I admit.
