Finally—
“Sergei, wait.”
His hands came down on my shoulders, pushing me back. I froze, breathing hard, my pulse roaring in my ears as I looked up at him. His eyes were wide in his face, the color in his cheeks high, and his lips wet and bruised from our kiss.
“Let me suck you off, Leo.” I was panting from the effort it took not to take him into my mouth.
“I can’t,” he said, his voice rough.
Confusion flickered through me, and I shot to my feet. Was he playing more of his games to mess with me? “What do you mean, you can’t?”
“Not, not like this.” He shook his head slightly, dragging a hand through his damp hair. “I can’t pretend I don’t want you anymore. The evidence is pointing you right in the face.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I—I can’t have sex with you here.”
I reached for his hand and tugged. “Then we’ll do it in the bedroom.”
He flinched and dug in his heels. “That’s even worse. I meant, not in this house.”
A sharp pain lanced through my chest. “Why?”
His gaze dropped for a second before meeting mine again. “This was my home with my husband. Our bed…everything here—” He exhaled. “It’s not right. I already feel terrible enough that, of all the men in the world, I’m having sex with you.”
Jealousy flared, filling me with heat. A hot retort rose to my lips, but I gritted my teeth and pushed it down. I would just piss him off if I made any disparaging comments about his late husband. What was so fucking good about Bradley anyway?
“Then where?” I asked because I wasn’t going to let a little thing like location stop me from being with him again.
He hesitated. “Maybe…a hotel?”
“That’d burn a hole in our pocket with how many times I’ll want you.” Not completely true since I was loaded, but that arrangement wouldn’t be sustainable. “Plus, it’s too impersonal. That’s not what I want from you. Not a random hookup or a booty call.”
His brows pulled together slightly as he studied me. “Then…your place?”
My mind immediately went to my apartment. It wasfunctional, close to Maxim, and barely lived in. It wasn’t somewhere I’d ever imagined bringing him. He was too good for the place. Maxim had always told me I should buy a house. Maybe it was a good time to invest in some real estate.
I shook my head slightly. “My place isn’t suitable.”
“Oh God,” he muttered. “Don’t tell me you’re living with someone. I didn’t even think?—”
“No,” I said quickly. “I’m not. Leo, are you still not believing me when I tell you I’ve never really been intimate with another man?”
“You’ve had sex, so?—”
“I’m not talking sex.” I exhaled, rubbing the back of my neck. “I meant kissing and sharing a living space, having a relationship, staying in bed with someone after the act, falling asleep together. I’ve never had any of that before. Never wanted any of it either. Before you.”
He swallowed and glanced away. “Then why can’t we go to your place?”
“It’s just…not suitable. I got it because it was close to Maxim in case he needed me for an emergency. I didn’t choose it for comfort.”
“Oh.”
He seemed upset at that, so I pulled him closer. “I’ll figure it out. Just give me a couple of days. In the meantime?—”
He placed a hand in the center of my chest and shoved me back. “No.”
“It’s been two weeks.”
