Page 158 of Ivory Oath

Being with him like this will never get old. I spent years alone in my bed, wishing someone else in the world could hold me like this. Wishing someone could know me. Not my fake name or the fake life I’d propped up like a facade, but me.

And here he is.

Slowly, my hand slides from his ribs to the taper of his waist. And lower still. Mikhail catches my wrist when I move for his waistband. “You need to rest.”

“This is how I rest.” I tip my chin up, pressing a kiss to the pulse in his throat. “Being with you is rest. It’s the only time I can just… be.”

His fingers splay across my lower back, laying claim to the skin exposed by my flimsy hospital gown. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Then take me slowly, Mikhail.” I thread my fingers through his and guide his hand to my hip. “Take your time.”

He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, watching his fingers move over my cheek. Finally, his eyes find mine. He leans forward until we’re a breath apart. I inhale the mint and citrus scent of his skin—the smell of home.

His lips are shockingly gentle against mine. It’s a slow, easy kiss that makes me desperate for more. But I’m desperate for this, too. For the press of his tongue against mine. For the way we explore each other slowly with teeth and lips and tongues like we have a lifetime.

Eventually, his hands slide down my body. He traces the dips and swells of me until I’m a pile of melted contentment in the bed. He hooks a hand behind my knee and curls my leg over his hip. When he finally presses into me, I sigh with relief.

“Tell me if I hurt you.” His whisper is breathy and uneven. He’s holding himself back.

I cradle his stubbled cheek and press our foreheads together. “The only way this will hurt is if you leave.”

He angles my hips and slides deeper. “I won’t leave, Viviana. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”

We move together slowly, our panting breaths mingling together between us. If the nurses notice my vitals spiking, they mind their own business. No one comes into my room to interrupt. It’s just me and Mikhail in a slow, relentless build to my climax.

When I whimper that I’m close, Mikhail claims my mouth. He seals our lips together and swallows every cry as I pulse around him.

When it’s his turn, I curl my fingers through his hair and he buries his groans in my neck.

He lifts his face to reveal that his cheeks are flushed and he’s smiling. But it fades when he sees the tears slipping down my face. “Did I hurt you?”

A watery laugh bubbles out of me. “No. I just… I even cry when I’m happy now.”

Amusement burns in his eyes when he presses a kiss to my forehead. “Then I see a lot of crying in your future, Viviana.”

I hope like hell he’s right.

64

MIKHAIL

“We don’t need to do this now,” Raoul says. His voice echoes in the empty parking garage below the hospital. It’s the crack of dawn and visiting hours are closed to everyone who hasn’t paid off the guards and the nurses. “We can wait until Viviana is home and?—”

I shake my head. “I’m tired of waiting.”

“It hasn’t even been a day since you told me about this plan.” There’s a tinge of annoyance in my second’s voice.

“You’re just mad that you haven’t had weeks to prepare.”

He shrugs. “I like my routines. And what we’re doing right now? It’s not part of my normal routine.”

There’s nothing “normal” about what we’re doing. Not for us nor any other pakhan in existence. It’s not every day that men in power cede all control of their life’s work to their long-time enemies.

I suppose that makes me a trailblazer.

“I want you here with me, Raoul, but I understand if you’d rather not be on the call. I know all about family drama, and I won’t make you face yours if you aren’t ready to?—”

“I’m ready,” he assures me. “It’s been a long time since I’ve spoken to my father. I’m ready to put this all behind me.”

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