Page 29 of Hate You Most

“Sanchez. Holy shit. I'm not sure I can…” Viktoriya breathed in. She was dangerously close to spilling over the edge already. If she didn't do something soon, she was going to crumble to the floor—her legs were already shaking, unable to support her weight. “Keep standing… Sanchez, I'm not sure I can…”

Instead of taking that as an invitation to slow down, Dakota picked up speed. Viktoriya's breathing became shallow. Her face was flushed, and she was hyperaware of the windows overlooking the skyline in the distance. Nobody could see them—nobody other than her knew how desperately close to heaven she was.

Viktoriya bit her lip hard, a small grunt escaping her lips despite her efforts to suppress it. She wasn't the type of girl to make a lot of noise, even when she'd fall onto the ice and bruise her entire thigh—but now, it was almost impossible to stay quiet.

She gripped the wall harder as a cry escaped her.

“Is something wrong?”

“Stop—stop,” Viktoriya hissed back, her eyes moving to meet her rivals. Before Viktoriya could say anything more, Dakota withdrew completely, sitting back on her legs. Viktoriya made a small sound of frustration she couldn't quite suppress.

“Stop means stop,” Dakota half-whispered. “Now, did you mean for me to stop, or do you want me to continue?”

“Sanchez, Please,” Viktoriya whispered desperately.

“Please what?” she asked. “Please stop? Or please more?”

Viktoriya leaned close to her ear. “Please… more… please⁠—”

With a pleased smile, Dakota leaned in and pressed kisses up the length of her thighs.

She ran her hand through her blonde hair. She was undoing every bit of composure that somehow remained inside of Volkova. Her head tilted back against the wall as Dakota's tongue entered her once more. It was beyond any feeling she had ever felt, and it only took a moment for her mind to fully leave the room. She didn't know anything anymore. Her mind was blank and her body filled with pleasure.

“Sanchez, I’m…” She gasped out. “Ty takaya krasivaya,” left her tongue without fully being aware of it. Her hips moved in tune with Dakota, who had added her hands in an attempt to fully send Viktoriya over the brink.

Her head spun into insensibility.

“Bozhe… da… mmmh, chort…” Viktoriya whimpered, collapsing forward as she came into Dakota's mouth.

Dakota moved away, wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.

Their eyes met. Viktoriya started smiling, she couldn't help it. This entire thing had been insane.

“What are you smiling about?” Dakota asked, wearing equally as large a smile.

“Nothing,” she said. “This day… insane.” Her accent was heavier than normal, it sounded nothing like English.

“I need another cigarette.”

“You can not smoke in apartment…” Sometimes she really hated the English language—why did pronouncing words have to be so difficult? “Not naked… also.” Okay, she was going to shut up until her mind had recalibrated back into English.

Dakota laughed. To Viktoriya's relief she understood her pronunciation. “Not naked, no. I should probably see if I can find where I left my socks, then.”

They got dressed side by side in silence. A stark contrast to the noise that had filled the apartment just moments before. Viktoriya wondered if Dakota was thinking the same things she was. In a perfect world she would've asked her to stay for the night—but now it just felt stupid. What they had just done did not exist in a perfect world. What they had done should certainly not happen again.

“You’re not going to tell anyone,” Viktoriya said as Dakota put on her jacket.

“Do you think I want the team to know who I fuck?”

“No?”

“No. Of course not.” Dakota stood for a moment, looking at Viktoriya the same way she did across the ice. Pure drive sparkling in her eyes. “I won't tell anyone, I promise.”

She moved to the door, stopped and then turned around. For a split second, Viktoriya thought the American would pull her into another breathtaking kiss. “You’re also not going to tell anyone.”

“Obviously not,” she said and swallowed her disappointment. “I’ll see you on the ice, yes?”

“Yeah,” Dakota nodded, opened the door and stepped into the hallway.