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  With a forced lightness, I turn my attention to her, acting as though I’m happy to have found her at last and not running away. “There you are. I’ve been looking for you.”

  She nearly bumps into me. “You have? But I’ve been in the same shop the entire time.”

  I shrug, feeling ridiculous. “Perhaps you were hidden from me.”

  “I guess.” Giving me an uncertain smile, she asks, “Why didn’t you stop when I called your name?”

  “I didn’t hear you,” I say firmly. “I was lost in my head.”

  “Your grandfather?”

  “Yes, he’s doing much better.” My phone vibrates and I pull it out, noting a new text from Viktor/Victoria. I shoot off a reply, letting him know Petrov is dead by my hand.

  Everly’s lips twist. “Must be so hard talking to Victoria.”

  “What?”

  “You know, Victoria—the woman who just had to get something from you while we were on our date. Otherwise known as coitus interruptus.”

  “Are you jealous of Victoria?” I ask, though I suspect the answer is yes. However, if Everly were ever to find out Victoria’s true identity as Viktor, then she wouldn’t be so put out.

  “No,” she says quickly. A little too quickly.

  “I think you are.”

  “Well, I think it’s ungentlemanly of you to say so,” she says primly, turning up her nose. “Anyway, I’m ready to go back to our hotel.”

  For some reason, her reprimand spurs me into action. I don’t give a damn about not being worthy to touch her. I have to touch her. I need her.

  Without saying a word, I crowd her into a dark alley. “Roman!” she says, looking around. “What in the world are you doing?”

  “Showing you how ungentlemanly I can be.” I cup her face with both hands and slant my mouth over hers, forcing my tongue inside. I lick and taste and take from her, until she responds in kind.

  I grind against her, showing her how hard she makes me, as one of her legs wraps around my hip. My hand leaves her face to slide down her neck and then over one breast. I palm it, rubbing my thumb over her already hard nipple.

  “Wait,” she says, breathless. “I can’t, not in public.”

  “As you wish,” I say, and then kiss her again. I force away the urgency I feel, the need to take her here and now. I trace the outline of her top lip, then slip my tongue inside her mouth once more to twine with hers. My body goes harder than ever before, like steel being forged for battle.

  Everly softens against me, her full breasts rubbing against my chest. She sighs so sweetly that I pull away and gaze into her eyes. Somehow they are highlighted by a trick of the streetlights.

  “You are infinitely special to me, do you know that?”

  “I do now,” she says softly. “You’re special to me, too.”

  Forcing a calm breath, I turn from her appreciative gaze and hail a taxi. It carries us back to the hotel in no time. Anticipation makes my nerves come alive. I’m dying to touch her, to taste her, to claim her. Actually, I’d give my last breath to be inside of her again.

  I shut the hotel room door behind us and turn to face her.

  She looks up at me. Slowly, she peels off her clothes, one agonizing piece at a time, until there’s nothing hiding her lush body but her bra and panties. Then, she raises her hands above her head and waits.

  I pin her wrists against the door with one hand, using my free one to unfasten my trousers and pull out my cock. Gripping it at the base, I stroke myself while she watches avidly.

  “Get down on your knees. I want to see your mouth wrapped around my—”

  She’s on her knees, taking me into her mouth before I can blink. Her small hand is wrapped around the base of my cock where mine had just been. She looks up at me, her pink lips stretched wide as she takes all that I have to give to her. Her little tongue darts out to lick the head and I let out a low, approving moan.

  My hips thrust forward on their own. I can’t help it. She rewards me with a long, slow lick from tip to base. Her cheeks hollow out as she pulls me deep and I punch out my arm, connecting with the door. It sounds as though I’ve put a hole through it.

  Don’t fucking care.

  I dig through my pockets and pull out a condom. While she sucks me, I tear it open and then close my eyes.

  “Your mouth is paradise,” I growl.

  My balls start to draw up, and I know I’m close. None too gently, I push her away and she fights me.

  “I wasn’t done,” she complains.

  Jesus. She was fighting for more. “Greedy girl. I’ll give you what you need.”

  She pouts. “But not what I want.”

  “It’s the same thing. Trust me to see to your pleasure. Trust me to take very good care of you.”

  I roll the condom on and help her stand. Then I drop to my knees and run my hands along her soft, inner thighs, looking up at her. “Spread yourself for me.”

  Eyes locked on my face, she does as I ask. I gaze at her where she’s soft and pink. “Very pretty,” I say right before I lick her.

  She makes a little noise in the back of her throat.

  I take my time eating her out, take my time savoring the taste of her pussy. I want to draw her pleasure out, make this last forever, because I have no idea how much time we have left together.

  My fear for her makes me desperate. Another pass of my tongue and I stand, bending my knees a little to reach her core. Her hot, inner muscles clench me tight as I push inside.

  She gasps loudly, and I adjust my stance, bringing one of her legs over my arm. “Hush, love, or everyone will hear you.”

  She whimpers, and I smile.

  “You want that, don’t you? You want everyone to hear you.”

  “Yes,” she moans.

  “Louder.”

  “Yes!”

  I pump into her so hard that her breasts nearly bounce out of her bra. I yank the cups down and pinch her nipples. “Say my name.”

  “Roman.”

  I grimace. Roman isn’t my name.

  “Roman,” she moans.

  Damn it. “Don’t say my name.”

  “What?”

  “I want to play a game, yeah?”

  “O-okay.”

  “I’m Nikolai, a Russian assassin who’s been sent on a mission to—”

  “Save the world from an evil dictator!”

  In this moment, I wish that were true. “Yes.” I bite her bottom lip. “Now, try again. Say my name.”

  “Nikolai,” she breathes, and my dick swells up so big that I curse.

  “Louder.” I pinch her nipples again.

  “Nikolai!” she screams.

  Something inside of me snaps, and I’m no longer making love to her. I’m fucking her. There’s only the heat of our bodies, the wetness of her pussy, and the hard tips of her breasts. There’s only acceptance as she takes what I give her. There are only her hands gripping my shoulders, her teeth scraping my neck.

  There’s only us. There’s only where we are joined.

  I look down, watching as I disappear inside of her and pull back out, slick with her juices. Ruthlessly, I slam into her and then spin us around before stalking to the bed. Automatically, she tightens her legs around me. I lower her onto the edge of the bed and pull her legs over my shoulders, before pistoning into her like a machine.

  She moans and grabs her breasts, rubbing them. I can’t look away. I can’t stop fucking her.

  “What about dessert?” she pants. “You said you wanted to paint me with—”

  I rub her clit, making her eyes flutter closed as she sucks in a breath. With a low growl, I pull out of her and bury my face between her thighs. “You taste so good.”

  Her hips buck wildly as I slide two fingers inside of her. “Not fair.”

  “You want my cock?”

  She grabs my wrist and pulls it to her mouth, then proceeds to lick her juices off my fingers. Giving me a heavy-lidded look, she says, “You weren’t sharing.” />
  “Hot little piece,” I murmur before crawling up her body. I flip her to her stomach and pull her to me, sending her heart-shaped ass into the air. Grabbing the belt from her robe that’s lying on the end of the bed, I yank it off and tie her hands at the wrists, pulling them behind her.

  Positioning myself at her entrance, I sink deep inside while simultaneously shortening the length of the belt.

  She lets out a low wail. “Oh God. Please, Roman.”

  “It’s Nikolai, and please what?”

  “I don’t know.” Then a heartbeat later, “Please, Nikolai, help me.”

  Nikolai. My name on her lips is a powerful aphrodisiac. I slip my hand around her, to where she’s hot, wet, and swollen for me. “Shall I rub you here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Shall I make you come?”

  “Yes!”

  I continue to torture Everly with measured thrusts. “I’m going to allow you to come, but you have to be quiet.”

  “I can’t!” she wails.

  “You can. The neighbors are already complaining. I hear them through the walls.”

  “But this is a suite. No one else can really hear us,” she pants.

  “Perhaps I left the window open. Or the doors to the balcony.” She grows wetter, coating my cock as I tease her. “Everly, you naughty girl.”

  “Please don’t make me go out there.”

  “Hush, love, and remember our game.”

  “Whatever you say, Nikolai.” She pushes back against me, sending my cock deeper. I run a finger between the cheeks of her ass, playing with her there. Ever so gently, I slip the tip of my finger inside. “Oh,” she chokes out, her arms straining against the belt.

  With my free hand, I find her clit and begin to massage it. She shatters around me, calling out my name.

  “Nikolai, Nikolai,” she chants into the mattress.

  With a curse, I thrust deep and hold myself still as wave after wave of my orgasm washes over me.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Everly wakes me up with sweet kisses to my face and neck. Her hair tickles my chest as she works her way down my stomach.

  “Good morning,” I say, just as her hot mouth wraps around my cock.

  She hums in response and I grab her hips, twisting her around while pulling her up and over me. I bury my face between her thighs and she startles. I slip from between her lips.

  “Shall I stop?” I ask, teasing the tip of her clit with my tongue.

  “No,” is all she says, before taking me deep.

  In no time at all, our new positions have both of us coming.

  “That was unexpected,” she says, climbing off of me and sitting down. She draws up her knees to her chest and wraps her arms around them. She looks satisfied and pleased, but there’s an undercurrent of…shyness.

  Cocking my head to one side, I study her. This makes no sense to me. Ah, yes, the ex… “Have you done that before?” I ask.

  “No. You’re the first.” Her gaze skitters away. “I’ve never, uh…swallowed, or had that done to me at the same time.”

  I grab the back of her neck and pull her down to capture her mouth. “Sexy woman.”

  Grinning, she says, “I’m going to take a shower. Alone. So I can actually get clean this time.”

  Last night, I made love to her in the shower. I don’t think I touched the soap once she had washed me from head to toe.

  “Have fun.”

  My phone buzzes while she showers. It’s a text from Vladimir. I exhale in relief as I read it. My father wants to meet at 2:00 p.m. at a popular café that I am familiar with. Perhaps now I can put an end to this madness.

  I text him back to let him know I’ll join him.

  There’s no further communication after that, not even an acknowledgement. Then again, my father has always been a supremely arrogant man. Always expecting others to do his bidding, no matter how inconvenient or distasteful.

  I suspect that’s one of the reasons my grandfather has never put him in a position of power. Only, I know the truth. Vladimir wants this kind of power, with its undercurrent of secrecy and deals written in blood. Yet, he also wants respectability, to flaunt his title and aristocratic friends to the world. He craves their acceptance and approval so much that he paid a man to relinquish his claim on a centuries-old English title so that Vladimir could file a petition to claim it himself.

  Another weakness my grandfather disapproved of.

  You can’t serve two masters, he would remind me every time Vladimir came to visit.

  Everly emerges from the bathroom as I set the phone down. She is wearing nothing but a smile and a white towel around her lush curves. Instead of getting dressed, she sits down beside me on the bed and begins to trace the intricate patterns of the tattoos on my forearm.

  “I’m not complaining about the time we’ve spent together, but when do you think we’ll go see your grandfather? I’m sure you must be worried. If you want to go first to see if he’s up to having visitors, then I’m sure I can find something to do while you’re gone.”

  She’s just offered me the perfect excuse to meet with my father while I feel like utter shite for deceiving her.

  “Are you worried about me?” I ask, avoiding her compassion-filled gaze.

  “Yes.” Her finger touches my knuckles. “It can’t be easy to have someone you care about in the hospital. Not knowing if they’ll live or not, and being powerless to help in any way.”

  I jerk my gaze back to hers. Is she thinking of the time when I was in the hospital and she watched over me? “Because you have personal experience with this?” I ask roughly.

  “What do you think?” she replies, and then starts to leave.

  Grabbing her arm, I give it a tug, sending her tumbling into bed with me. The towel falls away, giving me an unimpeded view of her luscious body before she falls on top of me. Her weight is warm and welcoming.

  She leans up on her elbows and stares down at me, her mahogany hair falling over her eyes. Slowly, I brush it back from her face and try not to imagine her lifeless body. Try not to imagine her bruised and battered should I fail to protect her.

  Perhaps it’s time to tell Everly the truth. Perhaps it’s time to show her how to defend herself and be prepared for what’s bound to come.

  Leaning down, she kisses the tip of my nose. “My very serious Roman,” she breathes. “Of course I’m talking about you.”

  “Why?” I can’t help but ask.

  She gives me a tender smile. “I don’t know exactly, but there’s just something about you that makes me feel things I haven’t felt in a really long time.”

  “All good things, I hope.”

  “Yes. And some very wicked things, too,” she says with a laugh. “You make me feel safe and wild, all at the same time.”

  I cup the side of her face, rubbing my thumb along her jaw. I don’t deserve an angel like her. She sees me, not for who I really am, but who she thinks I am. Who I’ve been to her. It’s not the worst deception I’ve perpetrated, but it’s the only one I’ve ever regretted.

  “Actually, I was thinking of going to see my grandfather today.” Not a total lie. I do need to contact him. I’m desperate for his help. There’s no way Vladimir will provide anything useful.

  “Then that’s what you should do,” Everly says, ending her sentence with another soft kiss, this time on my lips. “I can keep myself busy.”

  I roll her on her back, settling myself between her thighs. “I can think of a few ways to keep you busy right now.”

  She stretches, sending her breasts bobbing as her hands grab hold of the headboard. “Show me.”

  Determined to exhaust her, I begin to kiss my way down her body.

  *

  Everly is sprawled on the bed, sleeping the sleep of the shagged-to-the-point-of-no-return. There are stubble marks along her inner thighs, her breasts, and her throat. My marks. “I don’t think I’ll be able to walk,” was the last thing she said to me, before her beautiful
eyes fluttered closed.

  Normally, I’m not a man to have his ego inflated by such a compliment, but normally I don’t have a woman like Everly in my bed.

  I stare at her a moment, memorizing every detail of her body. If this should be the last time I see her, I want to remember her like this—full of life while she sleeps in my bed. The hint of a satisfied smile on her lips. The rosy glow on her cheeks.

  Careful not to disturb her, I slowly pull the bed sheet up and over her, tucking her in as if she were a small child.

  “I’ll miss you,” I murmur.

  “Miss you, too,” she replies in her slow, southern drawl.

  With a grunt, I check my weapons and then head out the door. My cousin Ben emerges from the shadows. It is not a total surprise to see him, since he’s always followed me around like a puppy. Besides that, he’s a hacker and can track anyone around the world, if he sets his mind to it.

  He grins at me, his blue eyes full of mischief. “I know. I know. Be serious, Benji. Keep her safe or you’ll fuck me up.”

  “You’re one of the few I trust,” I say solemnly. I mean it, especially after he helped me recuperate from the injuries I sustained from the gunshot wounds. He’s also my favorite cousin, but I will never tell him that, because I would never hear the end of it. “But I heard you’ve been following Petrov’s lead.”

  The grin fades from Ben’s face. His eyes are no long mischievous but murderous. This is a good thing. “Govoryat, shto kur doyat.” Don’t believe the rumors.

  I level him with a look. “If anything should happen to her, the rumors about your death by my hand will not be exaggerated.”

  He inclines his head. “Duly noted.”

  Always a smartass, this one. Then again, he’s only nineteen, and thinks himself to be indestructible. “I’ll be back no later than four.”

  “Plenty of time to play Minecraft.”

  I frown. “Minecraft?”

  Ben waves me off. “Leave the games to the young.”

  At twenty-seven, I’m hardly old, but Ben has a way of making me feel ancient.

  “Covert operations are for the old, Paxon,” he adds with a cheeky grin.

  Like when he says things like that. Old man, indeed.

  I smack him on the back of the head, and he grunts. “Remember what I said.”