Page 75 of Fractured Ties

Not his wants.

No, this wasn’t a position he found himself in very fucking often, and yet, more than anything in the world right then in that moment … he wanted her. Whatever she was going to give him, and anything she might offer, he was the starving man ready and willing to get on his knees and beg her for it.

Maybe that was why a kiss on the veranda turned into a blink, and Maya was suddenly nearly naked and on her back underneath him. Kolya very rarely found things he wanted, but when he did—and when he was given those things—he was lost to the baser nature he did well to keep hidden.

Except …

He didn’t want to do that right now.

He didn’t want to lose himself right now.

Not with her.

“Hey,” Maya whispered.

Soft fingertips grazed his jawline—a ghost of a touch, really. Like angel wings sweeping over his skin and touching every single one of his nerves all at once. His gaze cut to hers again, and he found that she was smiling at him.

“Don’t freeze up on me now,” Maya said.

She sounded so serious and so damn soft, too. And yet, at the same time, he heard the note of fear underlying her tone, too. Like she was scared she’d made a mistake, and he was second-guessing this.

Jesus.

Didn’t she know?

He wanted this.

So badly.

Too much, maybe.

The longer Kolya was quiet, the more Maya fidgeted. Her gaze darted away from his and he saw the way her throat constricted with a nervous swallow. That hand of hers that had touched him was quick to rest over her chest, and hide the swells of her small breasts at the same time.

Like she didn’t want him to look.

Like she didn’t want to be seen.

What was she doing that for?

Why?

“Maya,” Kolya said gruffly.

Her teeth abused her bottom lip as she said, “Hmm?”

Still, she wouldn’t look at him.

That couldn’t be had.

That was a shame.

“Dushka,” he rumbled, “stop hiding from me.”

He saw her blink and her tension softened a bit under his weight. Still, though, she chewed on her bottom lip and wouldn’t look at him. He’d had enough of that—he used the tip of his thumb to gently tug her lip out from the abuse of her teeth. Then, though she put up no resistance to his urging, he turned her head so she was looking at him again.

“That’s better, Maya.”

“I don’t know what happened. You were good, and then you—”