I narrow my eyes, shoot up from the lounger, and grab Kirill’s shoulder to turn him around. I freeze as all at once three black-suited guards come out of nowhere, their stances predatory; their right palms wrapped around the gun each of them had holstered to their black belts.
“It’s alright,” Kirill tells them, putting up a hand toward them. He then turns around, facing me.
“Did you want something?”
I’m still eyeing up the guards; reeling over the fact that this is my life now.
“Were they about to shoot me?” I ask.
“Their jobs are to protect me, just as Yana’s job is to protect you.”
“That doesn’t answer my question!” I shriek.
“They know better than to fire at my wife,” Kirill replies. “The very worst they would have done was fire a warning shot into the air. Now you came at me for a reason. Forget them and tell me what it is you want.”
I slowly turn my eyes away from the guards, still leery of them despite Kirill’s assurance.
“I don’t like that Yana is spying on me for you,” I say, sounding more defeated than I would have liked. “I know she’s here to protect me but I want- Ineedsome freedom, Kirill. I feel like I’m suffocating here and it hasn’t even been a full day.”
Kirill studies me for a long moment, then lets out a breath.
“Yana will back off a little,” he says at last. “But that’s all I can do.”
It isn’t exactly what I want, but it’s better than nothing.
“Thank you,” I sigh, running a hand through my long hair.
Kirill nods, then pulls me into his chest so quickly it makes me gasp. His kiss is deep and intense, giving me no chance to decide whether or not I want it. Suddenly my head begins to spin and my secret yearning intensifies - and then it ends before I can do anything about it.
“Have a good day with your family,” Kirill says, leaving me stunned and whirling from his kiss. “I’ll see you tonight.”
Chapter Sixteen
Kirill
“Prosnut’sya, devochka,”I murmur softly into Annika’s ear. I kiss her lobe, her neck, and my body hums with arousal as Annika stirs and moans softly.
Despite the day with her family, Annika came to bed angry, and slept on the opposite side of the bed all night. That just won’t do for me, so at midnight I called in a few favors, and by the time I’m finished getting dressed later that morning, my surprise is ready.
“What time is it?” Annika asks. Her voice hellishly sexy and full of sleep as she stretches in her blush-toned silk nightgown.
“Early,” I whisper, planting kisses down her neck as she rolls onto her back. I move with her, placing kisses over her collarbone, down her chest, to her breasts. Before I have the fortune of reaching her nipple, however, Annika fists her hands in my hair and stops me.
“No,” she mutters, frowning as she looked into my eyes, “I’m still mad at you.”
Despite the fact that my balls are starting to turn a light shade of blue, I chuckle, wrest my head from her grip, and sit her up.
“Maybe I can fix that,” I reply, reaching for her robe. “Here, put this on. I want to show you something.”
Annika raises a curious brow, but she accepts the robe and follows me to the elevator.
“Have you seen the solarium yet?” I ask as we ride down to the first floor.
“Yana showed me yesterday,” Annika replies, “Why?”
“Did you like the way it looked?” I ask.
Annika’s adorable expression of confusion only deepens as she shrugs her shoulders.
