AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Damn.
She swallowed around her desire and touched her bottle to his. “Who needs sleep.”
It had been their toast the last few nights.
He started the movie and picked up the bowl of popcorn, setting it between them.
She tried to focus on the movie. She really did. But she was all over the place, hyperaware of Roman’s nearness, her breath too shallow to be natural.
Their movie routine had started with a shit ton of tension, eased into a nervous camaraderie, and had now come full circle back to tension.
Except this wasn’t I-hate-being-stuck-here-with-you tension.
This was I-want-to-fuck-you tension.
Bad, bad, bad.
She forced herself to focus on the screen, then wondered if it was her imagination that Roman was breathing louder than usual.
Did he feel it too?
It was worse than the sexual tension that had built between them on their first date to Great N.Y. Noodletown. They’d had some release valves then: conversation, laughter, food.
This was like being suspended above an inferno by the finest of filaments.
One wrong move and she’d catch fire.
She was afraid to even reach for popcorn, afraid if their fingers brushed against each other it would all be over.
You cannotfuck Roman Kalashnik. Not now that you know who — and what — he is.
She repeated it silently, like a mantra, willing her body to get the memo.
He shifted on the couch and cleared his throat.
She thought he might say something, but he didn’t, and they watched the rest of the movie in silence.
When it ended, the credits rolled on the TV, but instead of reaching for the remote on his phone to turn it off, Roman remained frozen in place on the couch.
Get up, Ruby. Say goodnight. Go to sleep.
Then his voice, anguished and low, broke through the silence. “Do you want to talk about this?”
“About what?” The question sounded dumb even to her own ears.
“Aboutthis, Ruby.”
She hated how much she loved the sound of her name in his mouth.
A caress.
She considered playing dumb, denying the chemistry between them was real, but lying had never been her vibe.
“There’s no point,” she said.
He reached across the space between them and took her hand. His skin was dry and calloused and his touch sent a zip of electricity to her already-throbbing center.
He tugged gently on her hand, urging her closer. “You’ll have to come the rest of the way on your own.”
