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I nudge him playfully and he squeezes my ass. Then he spends the next few minutes caressing me. We just lie there, on the carpeted floor of his office, naked and glistening and covered in each other’s scent. Just taking the time to learn every curve, every angle, every ticklish spot on our bodies.
Something catches in my throat. I need to say it. I don’t know if I’m really ready to, but it feels wrong to hold it back.
“I love you, too, you know,” I breathe. I’m almost too scared to look him in the eyes, but I manage.
Demyen’s gaze is so full of warmth and love. “Clara…” He sighs and tucks a wild curl behind my ear. “You don’t have to say it just because I did. If you’re not ready?—”
“I’vebeenloving you.” I stop him before he starts spiraling down a path we both don’t want to go. “I just… I was too scared of being vulnerable. Of being taken advantage of.”
His brow furrows. “What changed?”
“You did.” I think about it for a moment, then let out a soft little sigh. “And I did, too.”
Demyen kisses my brow, then my eyes, then my lips. His hand glides over my waist and I get this insane idea to just tell him. Tell him that we will always be connected no matter what happens. Tell him that a part of him is growing inside me, waiting to be just as loved and cherished as their big sister.
I open my mouth to say it, but before I can?—
“We need to go see Tolya.”
My train of thought screeches to a stop on the tracks. “What?”
His face darkens. “I have to tell him.Wehave to tell him. About the case, about what we’ve found, the Yakuza, your father… and us.”
Us.
Fuck. Tolya isnotgoing to like that.
I sit up faster than I intended and it makes my head spin. Or my anxiety does. Probably both. “I don’t… I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go.”
Demyen sits up behind me. “Clara…”
“I mean it. Hehatesme. How do you think he’s going to react when he finds out my father’s the one who put him in there? And that you’re… you’re…”
“Dating his daughter?”
I turn my head to peer at him. “Is that what this is?”
A laugh bursts from his lips. “Well, it sure as fuck isn’t casual. What else should we call it? Courting?”
Damn it. This is supposed to be a very serious discussion, but once again, this man has managed to fuck me into a state of liquid bliss. Even my anxiety and fear are no match for his charm. Or his dick.
“Whatever we call it,” I say when my giggle fades, “you know your brother is going to hate it.”
Demyen rests his chin on my head and thinks about it. “Either he deals with it, and accepts it, or he can sulk in his cell until he does.”
I turn all the way around to stare at him. “What?”
“I mean it,” he insists. “I’d rather leave him there than let him lay a finger on you. We’ll go see him tomorrow and tell him everything. If he’s good with it, great. If not, I’ll take my sweet time until he comes around.”
“But—”
“Clara, I told you: I’m not choosing between you. I love him, yes, but I love you, too. I swore to never let anyone lift a finger against you—and that includes my own brother.”
I tilt my head to close the distance between us, pressing my lips to his. Then, despite every whisper of fear in the back of my mind, I agree.
“Okay. Let’s go see him.”
20
