“You take bubble baths?”
His lip quirks up, but he refuses to meet my eyes. “On occasion. Don’t fucking judge.”
I bite back a laugh and scoot up so he can slip in behind me. Leaning against his chest, I let out a sigh as my body relaxes in the hot water. His arms wrap around me, and when he lazily strokes my skin with his thumb, I sink even deeper against him. There are so many things I want to say to him, so many things I want to ask, but I’m afraid to do anything that might ruin this perfect moment. If he’s going to tell me that this can never happen again, then I don’t want to hear it right now. I’ve already made an ass of myself by crying after he gave me the greatest sexual experience of my life. I’m too exhausted to add to that.
When he grabs the handheld nozzle and starts to rinse my hair, I don’t say anything. I just tilt my head back, letting out an appreciative moan when he reaches for the shampoo. He washes my hair, taking his time and massaging my scalp until I’m so relaxed I know I could fall asleep in seconds. After rinsing my hair, he drains the tub and fills it back up again with fresh water before working on my body, giving it the same slow treatment. I hadn’t realized how sore the run through the woods had made me, but when he starts to rub my calves and feet, it becomes very obvious that I’m going to be feeling our nighttime fun for days.
Once he’s satisfied, I grab the nozzle and turn to face him. He lifts a brow at me. “My turn,” I say, but when he hesitates, I motion for him to turn around. “Please let me take care of you.”
His caramel eyes study me for several seconds before he scoots forward so I can get behind him. The man is massive and if he had a regular-sized tub, this would never work. Resting my hand against his forehead so I can tilt him back a bit and protect his eyes, I wet his hair and then take my time washing it. His dark hair is long enough to fist but still short enough that this should only take a couple of minutes, but I draw it out because I’m not ready to stop touching him. He groans when I massage his scalp, feeling his whole body start to relax. After I rinse his hair, I give his head a kiss and grab the sponge. Washing Volodya’s body feels like something I should have to pay good money to be able to do. My breath hitches when I run my soapy hand over his chest, and when I meet his eyes, he gives me a wink.
“So not fair,” I mutter.
“What’s not fair?”
“No one should be allowed to be this damn gorgeous. It’s unfair to the rest of us mere mortals.”
He cups my face, running his thumb over my cheek. “I think you’re beautiful,kiska, so fucking beautiful.”
I can’t look away, and I know I’m in way over my head, because I never want to be anywhere other than right here with him. I’ve fallen completely in love with a man who’s made it very clear that he wants nothing to do with love and relationships. Before he can read every damn thought in my head, I scoot back around and start to massage his shoulders.
“Goddamn,” he groans, letting out a soft laugh.
I smile and press my thumbs in harder, working out all the tension in his neck and shoulders before drifting lower to get the rest of his back. When all the knots are worked out, and he’s looking more relaxed than I’ve ever seen him, I pull him back against me and hook my legs over his.
“Thank you.” He grabs my hand and kisses the palm of it.
I kiss his shoulder and hug him tighter, memorizing every single detail of this moment because it’s perfect, and I know nothing else will ever compare to it. When the water grows cold, he grabs a couple of towels and dries me off, surprising me yet again with how gentle he’s being. In all honesty, I’d been prepared for him to just leave me in the woods after he’d fucked me. I was not expecting the royal treatment of being carried back and bathed. He runs a finger over the scratch marks the bark left on my chest, leaning closer to run his tongue up the one that’s started to bleed again, and I see a glimmer of something in his eyes that I don’t understand.
“What are you thinking?” I ask and then inwardly curse my own curiosity for not being able to leave well enough alone.
His finger traces the red line of the deepest scratch. “I was thinking that I should never be allowed to touch something as precious as you.”
I start to argue, but he cuts me off with his words.
“I’m not a good man,kiska, but you already know that. What you don’t know is how much I enjoyed chasing you down tonight, how much I enjoyed seeing the fear in your eyes, and how much I really fucking enjoy seeing the marks on your body that I caused and tasting your blood on my tongue, knowing that I’m the reason you bled in the first place.”
His hands slide down to grip my hips and pull me tighter against him. There’s a towel tied around his waist, but it does nothing to stop me from noticing that he’s getting hard again.
“I enjoyed it too,” I remind him. “In case you hadn’t noticed.”
“I’m no good for you,” he whispers, cupping my face. “If you had any idea how many people I’ve killed with that knife I just used to cut your clothes off, you’d run from me, but this time it would be in horror and not because you wanted me to chase you.”
I think about what he’s said, and then I tell him the truth. “I think you’re forgetting how we first met. I knew what you were the second I first saw you, and if I run from you, it’s only because Iwantyou to chase me.”
Gripping his wrists, I give him an apologetic smile when I yawn. “I’m sorry. I know this is important and that we have a lot to talk about, but the truth is that you really wore me out tonight, and I can barely keep my eyes open.”
“Do you regret it?”
His words are barely more than a whisper, and the earnest way he’s looking at me is so unlike him it catches me off guard.
“Never,” I whisper. Even if it ends with my heart in shreds, I will never regret a single moment with him.
He smiles, a genuine, full smile, the first he’s ever given me, and he’s so beautiful that all I can do is gawk like a love-struck teenager.
“Wow,” I murmur, reaching up to run my fingers over his stubbled cheek. “I’d almost convinced myself that you weren’t capable of a full smile.”
He gives a small shrug and picks me up. “I reserve them for special occasions.”
