Sean nervously licked his lips with a quick swipe of his tongue as Alexei stepped in close. “If you’re angry about what happenedtonight—”
“Not angry,” Alexei said as he pulled Sean’s hands away from his necktie and began to undotheknot.
Sean breathed in sharply, hands hovering in the air between them. “It was for the mission,remember?”
Alexei raised an eyebrow as he slid the silk tie free from around Sean’s neck with a sharp tug and tossed it on the ground, not caring where it landed. He undid the top button of the shirt, slipping his fingers beneath the loosened collar to glide them over the jut of Sean’s collarbone. Alexei pressed hard against the reddened mark he’d put on the right side of Sean’s neck that he hadn’t been able to stop staring at allnight.
“Think I do this just for mission?” Alexei asked in a rough, low voice, watching as Sean’s pupils dilated just afractionmore.
Sean shivered at his touch, but didn’t move. “We talkedaboutthis.”
“Youtalked.”
“Yes, and you don’t want this,” Sean said in a steady voice. “It’s just acover.”
Alexei started undoing the stupid buttons on Sean’s shirt, nearly yanking one or two off in his haste. “Not know whatIwant.”
“Alexei—”
The last button came undone and the shirt parted in the middle, finally revealing the smooth expanse of Sean’s chest. Alexei pressed his hands against Sean’s stomach before sliding them outward to curl around his waist. Sean gripped Alexei’s biceps but didn’t shove him away, looking worriedly upathim.
“Maybe Jansen got to you,” Sean saidworriedly.
Alexei snorted. “Nyet. I trust Katie’s shields. This notJansen.”
“It’s notyou.” Sean took a step back to slide free of Alexei’s hands. “I’m not whatyouwant.”
Alexei shook his head angrily. “You think I want you just for mission? Is wrong, if youthinkthat.”
“I’m ex-CIA and you don’t like spies,” Sean reminded himsharply.
Which was true, but Alexei was willing to make an exception here if Sean would stop being so stubborn. Alexei thumped a hand against his chest, glaring at Sean. “Think I be friends with you if I not like you? Think I not care? Not want you because of mission, Sean. Want you becauseIdo.”
He wasn’t sure if he was making any sense right then. It would be so much easier to get his point across in Russian, except that wasn’t a language Sean spoke. Alexei closed the distance between them, inordinately pleased when Sean stood his ground. It made it easy to fit his hands around Sean’s hips, to keep him from running awayagain.
“Not fake tonight I want you,” he said roughly. “Didyou?”
Sean swallowed, the sound almost too loud betweenthem. “No.”
“Good. Not want to be with you if you think this only for mission. Not want to take if younotgive.”
“Youwouldn’tbe.”
Alexei shrugged, rubbing circles over Sean’s bare hipbones with his thumbs. “Not know what you do as spy. Think maybe you do this before, but for mission, notforyou.”
Sean’s silence was telling, and Alexei had to rein in his anger at the way the CIA handled its officers and what that agency allowed them to do for the sake of their country. Anger had no place between themrightnow.
“Can say no,” Alexei told him quietly, nodding at the bed. “We sleep. Donothing.”
Sean’s gaze moved between Alexei’s mouth and eyes. “And if I say yes? Is this all you’re going to want? Just onenight?”
The idea of sleeping with Sean just to get off and lay to rest the need burning in his veins, never to touch him again, didn’t sit well with Alexei. He tightened his grip a little on Sean’s hips, pulling him closer until they were standing flush against each other. He tipped his head down, mouth hovering over Sean’s, so close Alexei could feel hisbreath.
“Don’t want just one night,kotyonok,” Alexeiconfessed.
He didn’t have it in him to do one night, and the only way to see if this desire between them was more than a brief physical need easily slaked was to try forsomethingmore.
“You’ve been calling me that all day. I don’t even know what it means,” Sean muttered right before he touched his lips toAlexei’s.
