My mind kept circling back to her, her sharp tongue, her sharp mind, her sharp everything. A beautiful, dangerous, fiery little thing, and I couldn’t forget that Viktor had touched her first, which only made the need settling in my gut even more infuriating.
I snarled under my breath and headed straight for the bathroom.
The shower sprayed cold water first. I stripped and stepped under it, letting the icy shock slap my skin and drag me backto reality, but the cold didn’t do a damned thing. Her voice still echoed in my ears. That sarcasm. That heat. The look she gave me before she fled.
I twisted the knob most of the way to scalding hot. The water flipped from ice to fire, steam filling the glass enclosure. I braced my palms on the tiles, letting the heat sink in and the tension push out through my spine.
My body didn’t care about my attempts at control. My desire for her wasn’t weakening. It was strengthening with each passing second.
“This is absurd,” I muttered to the steam.
I shut the water off, dried myself with rushed, irritated motions, and threw on clean clothes. Black shirt, black trousers. Simple, easy, something I could move in if necessary. Something that wouldn’t betray the storm unfurling underneath my skin.
I needed to confront my brothers. Not about her, but about the mission. The only thing that mattered.
Or so I kept telling myself.
The living area hummed with the muted tones of soft music and glasses clinking. Viktor was sprawled across a couch like he owned the whole space. Andrei was perched on the armrest beside him, scrolling on his phone.
Both looked up the moment I entered.
Viktor’s grin spread slow and wide. “There he is. The brooding king of self-control.”
Andrei smirked. “You took a while. Shower, drink, or both?”
“None of your business,” I snapped, taking a seat across from them.
Viktor laughed. “Oh, it’s absolutely our business.”
Both of my brothers exchanged a knowing look.
Andrei put his phone away. “Mikha. You need to stop.”
“Stop what?”
“Stop pretending,” Viktor said. “You’ve wanted to fuck her since you first laid eyes on her. Everyone in this hemisphere could feel it.”
I glared at him. “Watch your mouth.”
“Oh, so you don’t deny it?” Viktor shot back with mock innocence.
Andrei leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “Look. We get it. She’s… a prize.” His mouth quirked. “More than that even. But the way you talked to her? You can’t throw out lines like that and then go hide in a shower like a Victorian maiden.”
“I was not hiding.”
“Sure,” Viktor drawled. “And I didn’t sleep with her.”
I didn’t hit him.
That’s how I knew I still had some restraint left.
Andrei snorted. “He’s flustered. I’ve never seen you flustered. Not like this.”
“I am not flustered.”
“You are,” Viktor said cheerfully. “And honestly? It’s adorable.”
I shot them both a glare so lethal it would have cut down lesser men. They ignored it.
