AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Enough, Polina.”
She sighs. “I just wanted to see if you were coming,” she says, in a much more polite tone.
“We will be there. I trust you’ll make the right decisions with the details. If you have any doubts, ask Lev. He’s the one that cares about this shit.”
“Actually? He doesn’t care. He’s the only one nice enough to humor me when I ask him.”
“Well there you go.”
Aria stirs, one eye opening. “I have to go. We’ll be there.”
I hang up the phone before Polina has a chance to reply.
“Mmm,” Aria says, closing her eye again. “I had the strangest dream.”
“Did you?” I stroke my hand on her bare shoulder. “Want to tell me about it? Or are you hungry?”
“Starving. I had no idea rough, toe-curling sex burned so many calories.”
“Rough, toe-curling sex…I like the sound of that.”
Her eyes still closed, she raises her brows. “Oh, I know you do. No doubt. Anyway, in my dream you were talking about tigers and dens and galas. What’s going on?”
I lean my pillows up against the headboard and reach for her, pulling her onto my lap. She curls in like a little kitten. I tuck a blanket around her.
“Every year, the Romanov family hosts this huge gala in the dead of winter. Why winter, I have no idea. Half the time it’s snowing. It’s called the Glacial Gala. Everyone comes to it. Makes us look good. We earn a ton of money and donate it and everyone thinks we’re philanthropists. It’s sort of Polina’s passion.”
“Ahh. So when you say everyone…who might that include?”
“Everyone who’s anyone of influence. Celebrities. Business leaders. Politicians.” I make a face. “Socialites.”
“Yikes. You’d probably rather have your fingernails pulled off one by one, wouldn’t you?”
“Hmm. That’d be a hard choice, but…”
Aria stills. Pressing a finger to her chin, I lift her gaze up. “What is it?”
“Those are the exact people I discovered, Mikhail. You know this, right?”
I nod. “I do. Why do you think I hesitated when talking to Polina? But she’s right. You can’t hide forever. Better parading in front of those who might want to pursue you while wearing your armor.”
“My armor?” she asks curiously, her head tipped to the side.
I bend and take her mouth with mine, a kiss that’s at once sensual and demanding. After last night, I suspected she’d be malleable and eager. I’m not wrong. “Me.”
“Oh, God,” she whispers when I move my mouth to the hollow of her neck. “What are you doing to me?”
“Worshipping you, obviously.” I nip her ear and her back arches. I lick the sore flesh and suck her lobe between my lips. “I love how you taste. I love how you feel.”
Rolling over, I pin her beneath me. “That’s so sexy,” she whispers in a low moan. “Calling yourself my…armor.”
“What else would I call putting myself between you and anyone that threatens or hurts you?”
She smiles against my lips as I take her mouth with mine. I touch my tongue to hers and relish the way she moans and responds, her fingers stabbing into my hair as she wraps her legs around me.
“So fucking beautiful,” I whisper in her ear. “I’d kill for you, Aria. I’d kill anyone that came between you and safety or happiness. Do you understand me?”
I want her to take me fully, as I am. I need her to know who I truly am. Finally, she nods, spreading her legs for me. A silent invitation for me to take her fully.
