Panic crept in sharp and fast, whispering all the things I’d been trying not to think about. Brad. The past. The plan. The line I was already standing too close to.
Say something.
I just stared at him, my silence stretching too long. Sergei watched me for a beat, awareness flickering in his eyes before he moved.
He pushed off the counter with an easy drop, his feet hitting the floor with a soft thud before he crossed the space between us in a few long strides. Close. Too close. Close enough that I could feel the heat of him before he even touched me.
“Hey,” he said, quieter now, his voice losing that earlier edge of teasing. He uncrossed my leg from my knee and stepped between them. His hand came up, fingers brushing my jaw before settling there. “Don’t act like it’s a secret.”
I swallowed, my gaze still locked on his. I wanted to look away but couldn’t.
“You have to know I’m crazy about you,” he said, his thumb moving absently against my skin, grounding, reassuring. “Leo… the things you get away with?” A faint, almost amused breath left him, though his eyes stayed serious. “That’s because it’s you. I’d let you get away with murder simply because you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
“Don’t say that,” I finally managed to whisper. “You don’t know me.”
“I do know the parts of you that matter.” He held my gaze, unwavering, giving me no place to hide. “I don’t expect you to feel the same way about me right now. I know where you’re coming from. I know what you’ve been through—whatwe’veput you through.”
“Then why do you still keep pushing this?” I gestured wildly between us. “Aren’t you afraid that one night when we go to bed together, I’ll be the reason you don’t wake up in the morning?”
“I’ve thought about it.”
“And?”
“And I’ve decided it’s not in your nature to be cruel. You’re a good man, Leo. Maybe that’s why I’m fixated on you. You’re everything that’s the opposite of what I am.”
His hand slid slightly, cupping my face more fully now.
“All I’m asking,” he added quietly, “is for you to give us time for you to see you can love me back. I’m not a good man, Leo, but for you, I’ll be the best man ever.”
Not knowing how to respond to him, I leaned forward and kissed him. As long as our lips were busy, he wouldn’t expect me to continue our conversation. It was the one way I knew would work to disarm Sergei.
If only I weren’t as affected.
He was such a damn good kisser.
His mouth moved against mine as if he had all the time in the world. How could such a violent man be so gentle and sweet? He carried violence in his blood, but all I got from him was warmth. Just the slow press of lips, the quiet inhale we shared between breaths. It was sweet. Disarming, and my chest tightened for entirely different reasons than guilt.
And then it shifted, his grip on my face firming. His mouth pressed harder, parted, his tongue sliding against mine with desperate urgency. The kiss deepened, turned hungry, rougher, like he was losing whatever thin thread of control he’d been holding on to.
God.
I felt myself sinking. I gripped his shirt, dragging him closer. I wanted it. Wanted him. Wanted to push him back, pin him down, feel him open beneath me again like he had last night. Inside his body, there was no dead husband. No will waiting to be read. No grudge that existed between us.
But I needed answers.
I broke the kiss, pulling back to catch my breath. “We’re getting distracted,” I said, voice rougher than I intended. “Iwant you to tell me what happened last night. Who was that man you brought to my house?”
Sergei barely seemed to hear me. He leaned in again, chasing my mouth like he couldn’t help himself, like stopping wasn’t an option. I turned my head, catching his jaw instead, pressing a hand to his chest to hold him back.
“Sergei, focus.”
He exhaled sharply, frustration flickering across his face. “Just—” he muttered, voice strained. “Just give me a minute. I can’t turn this off as fast as you can.”
His tone was sulky with a hint of accusation levied at me. He dropped his face into the crook of my neck, breathing hard against my skin. One arm slid behind me and under my shirt, stroking my naked back. I closed my eyes and took comfort in his hold.
Until I felt his arm moving back and forth. My eyes shot open. I’d thought he was grounding himself, but his breathing sounded more labored. His lips found my neck, kissing and sucking on the skin as his hands moved even faster.
The rhythm. The tension in his body. The low, broken sound that slipped out of him.
