The green eyes in the reflection are dull. Vacant. “It will always happen. Things will always go sideways. There’s nothing you can do, Alexei.” Her voice hitches on my name, piercing me with a sharp spear of regret. “That’s just life.”
A mix of fury and pain flares beneath my sternum. “I can do something.”
“What?” She crosses her arms and hugs herself.
I pull her into an embrace, leaning down so my lips brush the shell of her ear. “I can keep you safe.”
Her gaze searches mine in the mirror. “What happens when someone comes gunning for me again? How can you protect me from every threat?”
“I won’t let you out of my sight.” Not until I’m certain that all threats are neutralized.
“But…” Her eyes flutter shut, and her chest rises with a deep breath as if she’s trying to ground herself. “Do you really plan to stick to me like a leech twenty-four seven? I’m sure you have plenty of other things to do. It’ll get old fast. Trust me.”
“If you doubt my ability to keep you safe,” I stroke my thumb down her belly, and her eyes fly open, “to be with you every time we leave this building, then you sorely underestimate me,lyubimaya.”
Aurora flushes at that last word, and the sight reroutes blood straight to my dick. “I don’t…doubt your ability.”
She starts to say more but snaps her mouth shut.
“You’ve been through a lot today.” I draw lazy circles on her hip. “Let me take care of you.”
She bites her lip, flushing an even deeper shade of pink. “Okay.”
My hand stills. Several beats pass as we study each other in the mirror.
Her head tips back, resting against my collarbone. Silent communication passes between us. She needs me.
No one has ever needed me like this.
No one has ever leaned into me the way she does, not after witnessing the darkness inherent in this life I’ve chosen.
Slowly, deliberately, I slide the robe up her leg. Past her knees. Her thighs. She doesn’t resist or encourage. Instead, the reflection shows her watching me with parted lips and lustful eyes.
I press a kiss against the side of her neck, nipping just hard enough to elicit a sharp intake of breath. “Touch yourself.”
Her eyes widen, and she unpeels her fingers from their death grip on her own arm.
“Show me.” I tug the silk robe open, exposing her beautiful body. “Show me what’s mine to protect.”
With a tentative breath, her hands flutter up to graze her breasts and tease her nipples.
The rush of desire that slams through me mirrors the desire hazing her expression.
I watch her fingers as they trail up her neck to touch her face, her lips, even her tongue as it darts out to meet them. “More than just that. Show me what’s mine to enjoy.”
Her lips tilt into a wicked little smile that suggests she knows exactly what she’s doing.
She repeats her movements in reverse, journeying over her throat, breasts, and then lower. With growing confidence, she slides her fingers beneath the top of her panties. With her eyes trapping mine in the mirror, she bends at the waist, spreading her legs and grinding her ass against me as she pushes her panties down. She straightens with a seductive sway, her every action teasing my cock.
Fuck.
I grind my teeth. “What else?”
Another devious smile. Aurora cups her pussy, the last of her shyness vanishing. She rubs herself with two fingers before they disappear from view.
A groan escapes me. I’m half tempted to spank her sweet ass for splintering my control.
“You want to see?” Her fingers splay open her pretty pink skin, exhibiting the glistening folds.
