She's quiet for a moment as her thumb traces a circle on the back of my hand. "I've thought about it. Especially after everythingwith Marko. This city doesn't feel like home anymore. It feels like a trap."
"Where would you go?"
"I don't know. Belgrade is all I've ever known." She glances at me. "Why do you ask?"
I sigh and breathe in the faint hint of her perfume on the air. "Because I wondered if you'd ever think of returning to Russia with me. To St. Petersburg where I live…" I don’t want to pressure her. That's not why I'm asking. But if I don't ask her, how will she ever know I want her to come with me?
Her eyes go wide and starry in the moonlight and I see the exact moment she lets herself believe this could be real. The hope in her expression is so raw it makes my chest swell, and I don't give her time to second-guess or question or pull back.
I lean in and capture her mouth with mine.
The kiss starts gentle, but Danica responds immediately. Her lips part and she makes a soft sound that goes straight through me. I cup her face in my hands, my thumbs brushing along her cheekbones as I deepen the kiss, tasting the wine from dinner.
She shifts closer, her hands coming up to grip my shoulders as I feel myself swelling. God I want to take her right here on this beach and show her how my whole world revolves around her.
"Vadim," she breathes against my lips when we break apart for air. It's intoxicating.
"Come here," I murmur, pulling her into my lap so she's straddling me. Her dress rides up her thighs as she settles over me, and I run my hands up her bare legs, feeling the smoothness of her skin and the way she shivers at my touch.
She rocks against me and I groan, my hands tightening on her hips. I can feel her heat through my pants and it's driving me insane. I want her. I've wanted her since that first night we were together, but this feels different. This isn't just physical need or a way to forget the chaos around us.
This is something deeper, something that terrifies me as much as it draws me in.
"Is this okay?" she asks, her voice breathy as she continues to move against me.
"More than okay," I manage, my fingers digging into her flesh as she grinds. I'm rock hard now, ready to consume her and possess her in one breath, and she is giving me every signal that she's eager for it.
She kisses me again, more aggressive this time, her teeth catching my lower lip. I let her take control and set the pace, but when she grinds down particularly hard I groan loudly and bite down on her skin.
"The beach is empty," I say against her throat, trailing kisses down the column of her neck. "No one's around."
"I don't care if they are," she whispers harshly against my mouth.
I reach between us and work my belt open, then my zipper, and her eyes never leave mine. There's trust there, and desire. This woman drives me to the edge and I'm ready to dive off into the abyss with her.
When I free myself, her hand wraps around me and I hiss at the contact. She strokes me slowly, and I have to close my eyes for a moment to keep from losing control.
"Danica," I warn, catching her wrist.
"I want you," she says simply, and those three words undo me completely.
I pull her underwear to the side and guide myself to her entrance as she lifts her hips up slightly, and when she sinks down onto me, we both groan. She's tight and hot and perfect, and it feels like home.
Then she starts to move. She rolls her hips in a maddening rhythm, taking me deep and then rising up until I almost slip out before sinking back down. I grip her hips to help guide her, to set a pace that won't have this ending too quickly, but she's in control here and she knows it.
"God, you feel incredible," I tell her gruffly, wishing her tits were in my face. But we're risking enough just like this. I can have her again later if she lets me.
She leans forward and kisses me, never stopping her movements, and I slide my hands up her back under her dress to pull her closer. The position changes the angle and she gasps into my mouth and clenches.
"Right there?" I ask, and when she nods I thrust up to meet her, hitting that spot again and again.
"Yes," she moans, her nails digging into my shoulders. "Don't stop."
I wouldn't dream of it. I watch her face as pleasure builds, the way her eyes flutter closed and her lips part, the way she bites her lower lip to keep from crying out too loud. She's beautiful like this, uninhibited and free, and I know without a doubt that I've fallen for her.
It started when Marko had that gun to her head and I felt genuine fear for the first time in years. The thought of losing her before I even really had her was unbearable, and that's when I knew she'd become more than just a convenient wife or a woman I was obligated to protect. She'd become someone I couldn't imagine my life without.
And now, watching her take her pleasure from my body, feeling her clench around me as she gets closer to the edge, I know I'll never let her go. Whatever it takes, whatever I have to do, I'm keeping her. She's mine now in every way.
