He has the nerve to grin. His fingers find my ponytail and twirl a strand like he’s testing how far he can push me.
“Isn’t that what you told me? I make you feel safe. That we’re a close-knit family, and we protect our own,” he says, throwing my words back at me.
“You’re not family,” I bite out.
There’s a small twitch in his grin, barely there, but I catch it. It almost makes me feel guilty.Almost.Then he laughs, and I take it back immediately.
“You’re insufferable.”
“Why? Because I care?”
“No.” I glare up at him. “Because you storm in here out of nowhere—seriously, where the fuck did you even come from?” That earns me another laugh, which makes me angrier. “You literally throw me over your shoulder like a caveman staking his claim but then stand me up when it matters because you think you’re protecting me. You’re not my dad. Or one of my uncles.”
Maybe it’s the way my voice drops at the end, anger softening into something that sounds too much like hurt, but his laughter dies. What replaces it is darker.
Before I can react, he moves. One smooth, effortless motion, and I’m lifted off the desk, settling onto his lap as he drops into my office chair. His arm slides around my waist, and his breath skims my throat.
“That’s bullshit,” he rasps, pulling me flush to him by the nape of my neck. “I know I’m nothing like them. You know why?”
I shake my head slowly, pulse hammering. “Tell me.”
His eyes dip to my mouth, then drag back up.
“Because I’m the only one who wants to bend you over this desk and split you open on my cock.”
Oh, fuck.
His teeth graze my jaw.
“Then I’ll watch that pretty mouth fall open while you take every inch, Kolibri…deep and messy, until you’re dripping and screaming for more.”
“Do it,” I whisper, almost begging, squeezing my thighs together.
“You keep grinding on me like that…” His voice is thick, the sound of a man losing his grip on control.
Good.
This is the moment it all tips. The point of no return. Where want becomes need, and I’m ready to fall, and drag him down with me.
“Maksim,” I breathe, hips shifting, his cock hitting the right angle through his jeans. “Don’t fuck with me. Just fuck me like you mean it. Be with me because there’s nowhere else you’d rather be right now…and no one else you want.”
His thumb presses against my bottom lip. “When I fuck you, you’ll never have to question if I mean it.” He kisses up my neck,the pace agonizing, then hovers over my mouth. “There’s no one else. You’re all I want. All I see…even in my dreams.” A pause, and a breath. “And I don’t even fucking dream, Valentina. Not until you.”
The confession shatters the last shred of uncertainty holding us back. I move against him in a soft grind.
“Again,” he growls, hands locking around my hips as his mouth crashes into mine.
The kiss is messy, desperate, his lips rough like he’s trying to brand me from the inside out. And I give it back just as hard because the truth is simple.
I’m already his. I always have been.
Twenty-Five
MAKSIM
Ican’t kiss her hard enough. Can’t feel her deep enough. I swallow every moan and every gasp, like I’m trying to breathe her in. My fingers are too rough, and my grip far too fucking tight. But I can’t stop. It’s like I’ve been starving my whole life, and now I’m finally allowed to eat.
“This is crazy,” she murmurs against my mouth.
