I reach for his belt. He lets me unbuckle it with fumbling fingers. I unbutton his pants and push them down his hips along with his boxers, freeing him. He kicks them off, and now we’re both naked, skin against skin, nothing between us.
He’s hard and thick and ready, and when I wrap my hand around him, he groans and drops his forehead to my shoulder.
I stroke him slowly, learning the weight and shape of him, running my thumb over the tip where moisture has gathered. He shudders, and I do it again, watching his face as his control starts to slip. His jaw goes slack. His eyes flutter closed. He’s beautiful like this. Vulnerable. Human.
He positions himself at my entrance and pauses as the head of his cock presses against me, but without pushing in.
“You’re sure?”
“I’m sure.”
He pushes inside me with one smooth thrust, and we both groan at the sensation. He fills me completely, stretching me in a way that borders on too much but lands squarely on perfect. He gives me a moment to adjust, holding perfectly still even though I can feel him trembling with the effort.
He pulls back almost all the way, then slides home again, setting a rhythm that’s slow and deep. I feel every inch of him, every drag and push, every pulse of heat where our bodies connect. I wrap my legs around his waist and pull him deeper.
“God, you feel incredible.” He kisses my neck, my jaw, and the corner of my mouth. “So tight. So wet. I’ve been dreaming about this. About you.”
“Less talking.” I dig my nails into his back, raking them down his spine. “More fucking.”
He laughs breathlessly and picks up the pace. Faster now. Harder. The bed frame knocks against the wall with every thrust, and I don’t care. All I care about is the way he fills me, the way his body moves against mine, the way his hands grip my hips like he never wants to let go.
“Look at me.” He frames my face with his hands, forcing me to meet his gaze. “I want to see you when you come.”
I stare into those blue eyes, and I feel something dangerous building alongside the pleasure. Something I don’t want to name. Something that scares me more than anything else tonight.
Then he reaches between us and finds my clit with his thumb, and I stop thinking altogether.
The pleasure builds again, faster this time, sharper. He matches the rhythm of his thumb to the rhythm of his thrusts, rubbing tight circles over that swollen bud while he drives into me again and again. I’m climbing, climbing, right back to that edge I just tumbled over.
“Come with me,” he breathes as his thrusts grow erratic. “Now.”
I fall apart in his arms, and he follows a moment later with a grunt that sounds like my name. We ride it out together, clinging to each other, and when it’s over, he collapses beside me and pulls me against his chest.
For a long moment, neither of us speaks. I listen to his heartbeat slow, feel the rise and fall of his breathing, and try not to think about how good this feels. How right.
“Stay,” he murmurs against my hair. “Stay with me tonight.”
I should go. Should retreat to my own room and rebuild my walls before he tears them down completely.
“Okay,” I whisper instead.
He pulls the covers over us, and I fall asleep in his arms.
Morning comes too soon.
I wake up alone in Menlow’s bed, surrounded by sheets that smell like him. For a moment, I just lie there, staring at the ceiling, trying to summon some regret.
It doesn’t come.
Last night was… I don’t even have words for what last night was. Earth-shattering. Mind-blowing. The kind of sex that ruins you for anyone else.
But it was still just sex. That’s all it can be.
I remind myself of this as I gather my clothes from the floor. He forced me into this marriage. He manipulated my signature on a contract. He’s Bratva, for God’s sake—part of a criminal organization that deals in weapons and god knows what else. It doesn’t matter that his branch is legitimate. It doesn’t matter that he’s been nothing but protective since this whole mess started. He’s still the villain in this story.
I can’t have feelings for him. I won’t.
The pep talk feels hollow, but I cling to it anyway as I slip back to my room to shower and dress for work.
