Page 173 of Volik

She’s already nodding. “Yeah. Absolutely. Can you come here? I’m in Tennessee.”

Volik’s exhale is loud. And annoyed.

Keeping the camera on myself, I lift an eyebrow as I look up at Volik, who’s still standing beside me.

“Are you in the mountains?” he asks from out of view.

May’s eyes are back to being wide. “Yes.”

“Maleficus,” Volik grumbles.

“Is that him?” May asks quietly.

“Da.” I smile up at Volik.

He rolls his eyes at me but moves closer.

I expect him to kneel down next to me or take the phone. But nope. He steps over the seat of the giant chair and settles himself behind me. Legs spread; my ass nestled between his thighs.

His chin is above my head. His shoulders fill the screen. And when he reaches his arms forward, resting his fists on the desktop, I look completely caged in by him.

And I love it.

And May… looks like she’s stopped breathing.

“Give me coordinates, and we can be there tonight.” Volik carries on as though this is all normal.

May nods. “I can do coordinates. I’ll text them to you when we hang up.”

“Nix can give you our approximate arrival time later.” His voice rumbles against my back soothingly. “It will be after dark.”

“Okay, uh, I’m going to have you come directly to the place I’m renting. It will be our best bet for privacy. And I’m assuming I can trust you both not to share the location with anyone else.”

Volik hums in agreement.

May blows out a breath, that look of disbelief still on her face. “Alright, well… I’ll see you tonight.”

The call ends.

Volik shifts his hand and taps his finger against my background image. The photo of us in Jenny’s office. “I like this.”

“Me too.” I lean back against his chest. “Do you have a phone?”

His arms wrap around me. “Da. But I do not keep it on me.”

“Why not?” I can’t imagine Volik ever being in a situation where he needs to call for a ride. But I also can’t imagine not having a phone.

I feel him shrug. “No point. No one to talk to.”

Oh. Wow. That sucks.

I press back into him more. “You can talk to me.”

“Da. But I do not need a phone for that.”

Our reflection is in front of us, in the blank computer monitor. So Volik can see my soft expression.

He doesn’t need a phone to talk to me, because he’ll always be close enough that he can just talk.