“You don’t understand,” I snap. “He’s going to think I’m—” The words knot in my throat. “Like her.”
Dmitry’s brow furrows. “Like who?”
“My mother.” The word tastes bitter. “She cheated on him. All the time. She couldn’t stop herself. He said she was addicted to men. She slept with a new guy every week, even though she was married. She neglected me, left me alone at home.”
I wrap my arms around myself. “When she finally ran away, he looked at me like I was her reflection. Like I’d grow up and become just like her. That’s why I never bring guys home. I can’t give him a reason to think he’s right.”
Dmitry’s gaze softens slightly, though his tone stays level. “You think he’ll see me and assume the worst.”
“He will. He’ll think I’m reckless. Weak. Like her. That I need men to feel good, just like she did.”
He studies me, then shakes his head. “That’s not weakness, Callista. You’re allowed to want connection. A lonely girl like you, whose dad doesn’t care about her, whose step-mom hates her. You’re all alone in the world. You’re exactly the type of person who needs a boyfriend.”
I glare at him. “You don’t get to psychoanalyze me.”
“Then stop making it so easy,” he says, voice dropping lower.
I open my mouth to fire back, but he catches my wrist, tugging me closer until I can feel his breath on my cheek.
“You’re not like her,” he says quietly. “You’re not like your mother at all.”
“How do you know?” I ask, tears welling up in my eyes. Dmitry’s gaze is so sure, like he believes me. Like he knows I’m different. I want to cling to his certainty, to be the woman he thinks I am.
But he doesn’t know that I masturbate to him at night. Or that even now, all I can think about is grinding my pussy against his cock until I orgasm.
“I know.” He brackets my face, pulling me down until our mouths are only inches apart. “I’m your stalker. I know you better than anyone else.”
“Shut up,” I whisper, punching his chest.
“Make me.”
The words hang between us, daring me. I act before I can think.
There’s barely an inch between our lips. It’s the greatest opportunity. I can’t resist.
I lean in and kiss him.
It isn’t soft. It isn’t planned. It’s raw and impulsive and messy, and for a moment, everything else—my father, my mother, the endless pretending—falls away. All that’s left is the sharp rush of finally taking something for myself.
Power pulses through my veins. I kissed him because I wanted it. And there’s no one to judge me for wanting him.
When I pull back, my pulse is wild and my hands are trembling.
Dmitry looks up at me with something unreadable in his eyes—approval, challenge, maybe both.
“You do realize you’ll have to meet my parents in two weeks,” I remind him. “I know you were trying to bully me, but you miscalculated. This ‘fake dating’ thing between us is only so you can get into coveted social circles in college. Now you have to waste your time on my parents.”
“I won’t be wasting my time,” Dmitry replies, squeezing my ass. “Watching you squirm will be worth it.”
SIX
Dmitry
The screen glows softlyin the dim light of my room, casting long shadows that dance macabrely on the walls. I'm supposed to be going over the new recruits' first missions, but my eyes are glued to the video feed from the drone outside Callista's window. She steps out of the shower, hair wet and glistening, face scrubbed clean of makeup. She looks fresh, innocent, and so fucking edible that my mouth waters.
Her towel is wrapped tightly around her, but it doesn’t hide the curves that I’ve memorized. She walks to her bed, and I lean forward, my breath catching as she begins to dry her hair. The way she moves, the way she tilts her head—everything about her is elegant, even in this private moment.
I’m looking forward to witnessing the perfect swells of her breasts when she drops her towel and changes into her pajamas.
