“I love you.” The words tumble out of her like a confession. “I know it’s complicated and probably wrong considering my past with Alexei, but I love you. I’minlove with you, Dimitri. Completely. Desperately. I?—”
I cut her off with a kiss.
Because hearing her say those words—that she loves me—is like a gut punch and a salvation all at once.
My hand slides into her hair, tilting her head back as I capture her mouth with mine. She tastes like peppermint and home. Herlips are soft and urgent against mine, parting immediately to let me in deeper. When our tongues meet, she makes a small sound in the back of her throat that goes straight through me and right to my cock.
I pull her closer with my other hand, ignoring the sting of my shoulder until there’s no space between us, splaying my fingers against her lower back. Her body molds against mine, soft curves pressed to hard muscle and her hands fist in my shirt like she’s afraid I'll disappear if she lets go. I kiss her harder, deeper, pouring everything I can’t say into the desperate slide of my mouth against hers.
When we finally break apart, we’re both gasping for air. Her lips are swollen and kiss-bruised, but her eyes are bright with tears and wonder.
“It’s not wrong,” I tell her fiercely, my forehead pressed to hers. “Nothing about this—aboutus—is wrong.”
“But my past with Alexei,” she protests.
I shake my head. “Alexei doesn’t matter. He never mattered. The only thing that matters is you and me, and that baby.” I press her into me again, needing her warmth. “I love you, Vera. I have been for weeks but I was too stupid and scared to say it.”
“You were scared?” She actually laughs, looking shocked and amused. “You fight Konstantin’s entire security force without blinking but you’re scared to tell me you love me?”
I boop her on the nose. “Well, yeah,” I admit. “Because you—what I feel for you—it’s more than anything. It’s more than revenge, the business, even my own life. You’re everything.”
Her eyes well with tears. “Say it again,” she whispers.
“I love you.” I kiss her forehead. “I love you.” Her cheek. “I love you.” Her lips. “I love you, Vera Volkov. My wife. Mine.”
“Yours,” she breathes against my mouth. “Always yours.”
And then we're kissing again, but this time it’s different and desperate in so many new ways, with the relief of being alive, of having each other, and of saying the words we’ve been holding back.
My mouth moves to her jaw and her throat, tasting salt and gunpowder. She gasps when I find the pulse point below her ear, her fingers tightening in my hair.
I need to feel her.
My good hand tangles in her hair, angling her head back so I can kiss deeper, harder. My other hand (injured shoulder be damned) slides under her sweater, finding warm skin. She arches into my touch with a sound that makes me want to slide into her right there
Her fingers fumble with my belt, trembling with urgency.
“Dimitri, your shoulder—” she protests but I shush her.
“I don’t care.” I’m already pulling at her clothes and yanking her sweater over her head, tossing it aside. My hands find the button of her jeans, fingers clumsy with need. “I need you, Vera. I almost fucking lost you today and I can’t?—”
“Shh.” She places her finger on my lips. “You won’t lose me.” She's got my belt open, pulling down my zipper. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.”
I help her shove my pants down and it’s awkward and graceless but I don’t give a fuck. She's kicking off her jeans and thenI’m lifting her, pressing her against the desk. Papers scatter and something crashes to the floor.
None of it matters.
Her skin is hot against mine and her breath comes in short gasps against my neck before I capture her lips with mine again. We kiss as if our lives depend on it, rough and clumsy, teeth and tongues and shared breath. She arches into me as my hand snakes around her back to deftly undo her bra with one hand. I pull it off, dragging the palm of my hand down from her neck, over her sternum, and finally down to cup her breast. She rises up into my touch like the swelling of the tide, letting out a gasp as I tweak her nipple.
“I need you, Dimitri,” she breathes, moaning as my lips catch her earlobe. I push my body into hers, grinding my straining erection into her, loving her hoarse curse.
“You’ll have me,” I murmur, plucking at the edge of her soaked underwear before I yank it down, leaving her bare and ready for me. Vera wriggles her hips to help move the scrap of fabric.
Her breath comes in harsh pants now, her hands flying to my waist and palming me through my underwear for a moment before her patience disappears and she shoves her hand under the elastic to wrap her fingers around my cock. I let out a strangled groan and reach between us to drag my fingers through her folds. Vera canters her hips into mine, wrapping her legs around my waist and hooking her feet together at the ankles.
I move my hand to push down my underwear but Vera is already there, pushing them down far enough to free my cock as it springs out, aching and throbbing, desperate to be inside her.
I push into her in one thrust and we both moan together, voices and bodies melting into one another. Then we’re moving together with desperate intensity.
