Page 34 of Savage Little Secret

I just want to be here with him and forget about everything else.

Dmitri presses a lingering kiss against my forehead before grabbing the bottle of citrus-scented soap and lathering his hands up. He moves them up and down my arms, gliding over every inch of my skin.

“You’re so damn beautiful,” he tells me, finally speaking for the first time in what feels like forever.

My heart skips as I gaze at him. “Thank you.”

He trails his hands down my sides, and I take that opportunity to soap up my own hands and run them over his bare chest. Our touches roam and linger, exploring and caressing.

We’ve shared a lot of vulnerable moments together, but I don’t think that I’ve ever felt so close to him. He seems unguarded. Willing to expose himself to me and only me.

Maybe he’s realized that I love him, and that he can trust me. That my loyalty no longer belongs to my father, if it ever did.

After we rinse and dry off, Dmitri grabs us both a fresh pair of clothes so that we can get dressed. When I’m finished, I linger on the spot, unsure of what happens next. I’m scared to ask.

Dmitri takes my hand again and leads me back to the guest bedroom, making my stomach flip-flop. What if he handcuffs me again? What if he just wanted to have sex and nothing more?

My fears are quelled when he pulls me into bed with him and covers us with the blankets. My muscles are stiff, but I let him pull me down next to him so that I can lay my head on his chest.

He wraps his arm around me, holding me close under the sheets. Turning his head, he presses a gentle kiss against the top of my head. “Get some sleep.”

I want to ask him what happens tomorrow. The Bratva Council still wants him to kill me, so are we going to run? Stand up to all these people? Try to weather out the storm?

Gradually, my racing thoughts slow and fade into the background. Being held by him is so comforting that it makes me sleepy. My eyelids grow heavier by the second.

I part my lips to wish him goodnight, then I sink into his comfort as sleep overtakes me.

13

Cara

Warmth encompasses me when I wake up the next morning.

I’m curled against Dmitri’s side, tucked under his strong arm in the gentle light of early morning.

For one perfect second, this feels like paradise.

Then reality crashes back in.

The Bratva. My father. And whatever is going on between Dmitri and me.

After last night, I don’t know what it meant to him.

I lift my head as Dmitri starts to stir, my spirits lifting as he opens his eyes. I gaze down at him with a small smile on my face, deciding to ignore the rest of the world for at least a little longer so that I can enjoy this moment in bed with him.

“Morning,” I tell him. “Last night was nice.”

Dmitri reaches up and brushes my hair away from my face. “Yes, it was,” he says. But something flickers in his eyes.

“Did you sleep well?”

“I always sleep well with you,” Dmitri replies. His tone is softer than his eyes as his fingertips trace the curve of my cheek.

Moments like these are ones that I want to experience all the time with him. Normal. Loving. Simple.

I’m tired of the constant chaos and bloodshed. They might’ve been constants in my life for the longest time now, but I want things to be different. I can only hope that Dmitri wants that too.

Isn’t he tired of the expectations of his family? They’ll take and take until there’s nothing of him left.