AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I expected some sort of comment or quip in return.Something. But when I glanced up at him, I caught the tail end of a head shake before he bit his lower lip and continued walking.
“What?” I squeezed his hand at the same time my stomach clenched uncomfortably. “What’s that face for?”
“There’s still a mark on your neck.”
My free hand drifted to my collar, making sure it was more or less covering the remnants of the bite mark. “So?”
“I hurt you.”
I tugged him to a stop, frowning. “You didn’t hurt me. I would have told you if you did.”
“Would you?” He didn’t look convinced. “Or would you suffer in silence as you always do?”
“I told you I would tell you if something went too far.”
He dropped my hand and unwound the scarf from his neck quickly, looping it around mine. It smelled amazing and it was so warm, I almost melted. But then he touched my face and gave me a sad smile. “Now maybe I won’t feel so guilty.”
“Man, you’re really bothered by what happened…” I stared up at him, trying to figure out the reason why. “Why didn’t you say something?” Since he didn’t answer, I found it myself, replaying that night in my head. “Because you were doing what I asked.” I let out a slow breath and took both of his hands in mine, surprised that he kept looking over my head instead of at my face. “I thought maybe you wanted to. You’re always so… controlled. I wanted you to know you didn’t have to be.”
“I appreciate the gesture and I’m not saying it didn’t feel good. That’s not what this is about.”
“Then whatisit about?”
“I care about you too much to treat you that way.”
I grabbed his lapels and pulled him closer, stretching up on my toes. His gaze crawled to mine but he still looked upset. “Stop,” I said softly. “It was a stressful night. I wanted to get out of my head. I love that you’re a gentleman but you don’t always have to be. I don’t alwayswantyou to be. It’s like you put me on some kind of pedestal that I don’t deserve to be on and it doesn’t matter what I say, you think I’m perfect. I’m not.”
“I know you’re not perfect. No one is. It’s not about treating you like a porcelain doll.” His eyes fell and his breathing picked up under my hands, puffing out in little icy clouds. Watching him struggle with whatever it was, I waited, dreading the truth even as my inner critic prepared the “I told you so” speech.
When he finally spoke, he still didn’t make eye contact. It seemed he found a spot on the ground and refused to look away from it. “I don’t ever want you to think I’m using you like that, that I don’t care about you and your well-being. Or that I’m… like the men who came before. I would kill them all if I could. Every single one. Anyone who did that to you.”
“We probably shouldn’t talk about murder on our date,” I whispered, glancing around at the hundreds of people nearby. When I looked back at him, he’d lifted his gaze to mine, revealing the depth of his distress.
“I don’t care. It’s true. I’ve been wanting to bring it up since that night but I didn’t know how. The last thing I want is to make you remember something you wish you hadn’t. But with your permission, I’ll make it up to you tonight.”
He looked so serious—andsad—that I felt like I had to lighten the mood before this so-called date totally crashed and burned. “Should we pencil it in? Nine o’clock, DTF.”
“I don’t know what those letters mean, but yes. Pencil it in. When we leave here, I’m going to take you home, strip you naked, and make love to you until sunrise. The way Ishouldhave.”
“Sunrise?” The word came out all breathy, probably thanks to the little flutter in my chest.
“Fine. Noon. But we’ll need to eat.”
I laughed, relieved the heaviness of the prior conversation was behind us, but it was cut short when he pressed his lips to mine, stealing the breath right out of me. We were inpublic. Very much in public. Even though we were in an entirely different neighborhood than where we normally were, I couldn’t help but worry someone would recognize him. Instead of pushing him away and reminding him of that, my fingers curled into his heavy coat and pulled him closer.
His lips against mine produced a strange combination of warmth and cold. My skin was granted a reprieve from the winter night, only to be left freezing again the second he pulled away from me, wrapping me in his arms.
“I’d be happy doingthatuntil sunrise,” I murmured, nuzzling against his throat, getting a direct hit from his intoxicating cologne.
“Whatever you want, detka.”
“What does that mean?” I pulled back to look at him, narrowing my eyes. With my luck, it probably meant “Asshole” in Russian. “You’ve called me that before.”
If it was possible for him to blush, he probably would have, but his golden skin revealed nothing. Instead, he touched the tip of his tongue to the corner of his mouth and averted his gaze. “It, um. It translates to ‘babe,’ but the meaning is… more. You would neverevercall a baby ‘detka.’ It’s too sexual of a word.”
“Should I start calling you that?”
He shook his head quickly, laughing. “Please don’t. If any of my men heard you, I’d never hear the end of it.”
