“Repeat after me. ‘I, Ivan…’ Ivan what?”
“Shifflett.”
“‘I, Ivan Shifflett…’”
“I, Ivan Shifflett…”
“‘…do solemnly swear…’”
“…do solemnly swear…”
“‘…not to go against the wishes of one Uma R. Crane.’”
“What’s theRstand for?”
The hand in his hair tugged, harder this time. “Shut up and repeat after me.”
“Shut up and—”
Another tug elicited a groan from him, and her face moved in toward his, as if to eat the sounds right out of his mouth.
“You will not go against my wishes,” she whispered.
“I will not go against the wishes of the beautiful Uma R. Crane.”
“I’m not beautiful.”
“You’re fuckin’ gorgeous.”
“I’m not.”
“I can’t get enough of you.”
“Why? What’s wrong with you, Ivan?”
“You got all night?”
“Yeah.”
“Whatever. There’s no way we’re wastin’ it talkin’ ’bout me. Come ’ere.” He reached for her, pulling her down atop him.
This kiss was different. Like every kiss they’d shared, it had its own place in Ive’s mind, a catalogue of their time together. This one was almost unbearably tender. Gentle. He’d never been close like this with anyone. He’d been with women, and he’d even thought he was in love once—with Angela—so they must have shared something, but it had been nothing like this. How could you even feel shit like this from a kiss? And after only a couple of weeks of knowing each other.
The idea scared him suddenly. What the fuck was he doing, falling for a woman who’d leave him one day, just like the rest? The difference with this one, he figured, was she’d already warned him she had no plans to stay. At least she was honest. That was more than he could say about the others.
She’d leave him, eventually, but he didn’t think she wanted to.
Above him, Uma shimmied slightly, and he forgot, momentarily, the anger and the panic.
* * *
It happened amazingly fast between them. Every single time they touched, it was like a fuse igniting. A ridiculously short fuse. Only this time, there was something more there. She wasn’t entirely sure, but she thought it might be her story.
It made it all the more intense, more real, and, at the same time, completely reckless. It was in her, and she sensed it from him. Ivan the Terrible completely, madly desperate.For little ole me.
Strange how his desperation gave her so much power. There was something truly messed up about that. Yet, the titillation was so strong that she couldn’t even bring herself to feel bad. That’s just the way it was.
She pulled his hair, ground their hips together, and let their mouths move from sipping to licking to devouring each other. At some point, her hands managed to unzip and open pants, yanking his down slightly, and with his help, pulling hers off entirely.
