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“We shouldn’t,” I said quickly. “If there’s an emergency, you shouldn’t be without transportation.”

“We already planned for that. Arty lives around here and is a phone call away.”

I kissed Yelena’s head and hurried upstairs to get a suitable coat and a beanie from the closet. I put on my boots, slipped my wallet into my pocket, and met Yuriy in the hallway by the door.

“Ready to pick up some wood, Boss?” He spun Yelena’s SUV keys on his finger.

“Tree. We’re chopping down a Christmas tree.”

The cold hit hard outside, clean and sharp, but not sharp enough to clear my head. The snow wasn’t too bad, thank fuck. It wasn’t the best day to cut down a tree, but my daughter would get whatever she wanted. I hadn’t been able to do anything at all for her over the past five years. While I was here, she would have everything her heart desired.

We didn’t speak until we were inside the SUV. Yuriy just assumed he would drive, and I let him. I had too much on my mind. With me behind the wheel, we were bound to end up in a ditch.

“Why didn’t you tell Yelena what truly happened last night?” I drummed my fingers on my thighs.

He slid me a sidelong look, lips curving. “And ruin the fun?”

“Fun?”

“Sure. If she knew what really happened, you’d never forgive me, and there’d be zero chance I’d ever get to see that gorgeous ass of yours again. And that’d be a damn shame.”

“Yuriy—”

“Don’t tell me you changed your mind, Stas. Thought we agreed to have a secret affair while we were here.”

“A secret affair?” I snapped my head toward him so fast it almost hurt. For a second, I thought I’d misheard him. “We never agreed on that.”

“Yeah, we did. Last night, when you shared your cigarette with me.”

“Sharing a cigarette with you means I bend over for you again?”

He shrugged, grinning. “I don’t make the rules, Stas. I just follow them.”

“We’re not having sex again in that house. It’s a wonder the kids didn’t hear us.”

“Gotcha. No sex at the house. I’ll find us a hotel, then.”

“That’s not what—” I blew out a frustrated breath. It was useless talking to him.

“You’re getting uptight again,” he said softly. “Don’t worry, Stas. After we buy Yelena’s dream tree, we can come up with an excuse to leave the house and go to a hotel. You can sit that sexy ass on my face and smother me with it. Let me stick my tongue in that virgin hole, and you ride it til you come. How does that sound?”

My throat went dry. Heat surged through my body, pooling in my lower belly, and my pulse quickened at the crude mental image he’d painted. I cursed him silently, hating his effect on me. If only I could deny his words, but an honest part of me whispered it would love nothing more than to smother him, like he’d described.

What the fuck was wrong with me? Why was my brain turned on at doing gay things with Yuriy?

I gazed out the window, jaw tight, pretending to study the blur of snow and pine whipping past the glass. Maybe if I ignored him, the problem would go away. My erection would go away.

“I’ll take that silence as a yes.”

“There’s no reasoning with you. Do whatever you want.”

A second, then another ticked by. Yuriy dropped one of his hands from the steering wheel onto my thigh. Sparks shot up my leg and danced along my spine.

“Be careful with your words, Stas,” he said softly. “That’s exactly the kind of thing that can make a man get dangerous ideas. Next thing you know, I’m not just coming on you like last night, but fucking your ass and busting my nut inside you. You got no idea how much I want to break that ass in and turn you out. Make you fucking beg for it while I’m all up in that tight cunt of yours. Can’t you imagine how fucking hot you’d look spread out under me?”

My mouth went dry. I didn’t look at him. Couldn’t breathe. Because if I did, he’d see it, the truth flickering behind my eyes, the pulse pounding in my throat, the ache that hadn’t stopped since last night. The ache that only grew with every dirty thought he put into my head.

Yuriy was already destined for hell, and he was determined to drag me there with him.