I hug her close. She returns the embrace so tightly it’s hard to breathe.
When she pulls away, she gives Evgeny one more appraising glance up and down, pausing on the expanse of chest beneath the black T-shirt.
“I’ve got my eye on you,” she says, pointing to her eyes and then to him before turning and leaving. We watch her go until her long, dark ponytail disappears around the corner.
“So, your sister, the cop.” He sounds curious. “How attached is she to playing by the law?”
I roll my eyes, take my empty cup from him, and shut the door in his face.
“I thoughtI told you if you’re going to come here, you couldn’t get in the way of my work.”
“I’m not getting in the way of your work. You’re very capable of doing that all on your own. I seem to rememberyoucoming on tome.”
“Only because you kept trailing your hand up and down my thigh,” I accuse.
Matvei and I are in my bed, both entirely naked, clothes thrown everywhere, my hair a mess, our bodies drenched in sweat.
I might not be getting any work done, but I am deeply satisfied and relaxed. Matvei seems to be too. It’s not his natural state, and I take a little bit of pride in that fact. He’s not the only one who can work magic.
He just grins.
“I really do have to get back to work. The deadline to file is eight a.m. tomorrow.”
I try to brush my hair back with my fingers, then give up and snag a hairband from my nightstand, tying it all into a knot at the nape of my neck. I start to get out of bed when Matvei grabs my hand, his long, confident fingers weaving between mine. He pulls me back to him, and our mouths crush together like we didn’t just spend the last hour ravaging one another in every way we possibly could.
This man drives me wild in ways I’ve never experienced or imagined. It’s like he has a map of my body and reads it like an expert navigator. The man knows exactly what will drive me to new heights of pleasure, and make dirty, filthy things and screams tumble from my mouth that I don’t remember afterward.
I don’t know what to think of the past two months.
Months.
I can’t believe it’s been that long since that fateful meeting at the airport.
Matvei has been at my apartment nearly every day. At first, he would only pop in, saying he was there to make sure I was still safe and alive.I didn’t buy it because he was in constant contact with Evgeny and he knew damn well I was fine.
Popping in became pastries from a cafe I now know he owns and take out from an expensive restaurant. Our getting closer has felt as easy as the long autumn days slipping into crisp nights, the sky that bright, brilliant shade of blue you only get in late October and early November. And when night comes, it’s not just the radiator that warms me, it’s him.
Even if we haven’t actually defined anything.
We kiss until I’m out of breath again, and I finally have to push him away.
“Seriously. Unless I get this done, her bastard of an ex will win.”
“You know,” Matvei pushes himself up on one elbow, “there is another way to deal with people like that.”
I stare at him for one heartbeat, then two. “Are you seriously suggesting I put a hit on him?”
Matvei shrugs like he’s made a joke, but we both know he’s serious. Doing my best to ignore what I can only assume is a discrete offer, I clean myself up and get dressed.
Matvei is already back in his three-piece suit by the time I’m done, perched on the couch with a takeaway cup of coffee, as if we hadn’t just been doing scandalous things to each other twenty minutes ago.
I turn to the kitchen to make myself some tea to wake up my brain when I notice the gigantic bouquet on my side table by the door. It’s the biggest I’ve ever seen, much less ever received, and I gasp.
“Did you get these for me?”
Ignoring the fact that this takes whatever is between us to another level—something I don’t want to think about right now—I move toward the flowers. I start to reach out, but Matvei blocks my way.
“Don’t touch it.”
