Page 38 of Smoke and Shadows

“We. Try,” she repeated. “But sometimes, it’s beyond our control.”

“Finally, she gets it—”

“Stop being so sarcastic about it—”

“It only took you eight years—”

“It did not take me eight years—”

“Took you eight to come back to me.”

“I didn’t come back to you. You came to me. I didn’t want anything to do with you again, remember?”

“You’re in denial—”

“I am not in denial. Check your ego at the door, will you? You’re not God’s gift to women, Viktor.”

“Want me to prove it?”

“Oh, for God’s sake, weren’t you going to run me a bath?”

Instead of heading to the bathroom, Viktor crouched down in front of her. The intensity of his gaze made her uncomfortable, but she couldn’t look away.

“Tell me, sweetheart, do you regret getting back together?”

“I’m not exactly sure what we are, to tell you the truth.”

“You mean—are we just fucking?”

Marissa winced at his words, but said, “Uh, yeah. Crude as that sounds. Are we just sexual partners blowing off steam because we have to work together anyway?”

“Do you feel that way?”

“I asked you first.”

Viktor’s eyes grew stormy. His face hardened, and hisgravelly voice, when he spoke, was measured and controlled. “I feel things for you, Marissa. I realized that today. I don’t know what it means. I’m not sure I like it. But I’d rather have those feelings than lose you again. So while I’m dealing with it, I ask only that you allow me to blunder through it. I may not always say or do the right thing, but I’m sure you’ll have no problem letting me know.”

Despite his not-so-romantic declaration, Marissa’s heart soared with hope. “Viktor—”

He smirked. “And before I say something totally out of character, I’m going to go run your bath.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead, stood up, and headed to the bathroom.

He carrieda half-conscious Marissa to the bathroom and gently lowered her into the hot water-filled tub. Her green eyes, cat-like in depth and shape, opened briefly. Her cupid bow lips tipped up at the corners in a smile, and a satisfied moan deep in her throat caused his cock to twitch. She loved her baths; Viktor knew this for a fact. And he had no problem indulging her or joining her. He lightly gathered her hair in a messy knot and cursed himself for not taking care of this sooner. Now the ends of her hair were wet. At least he had the sense to wrap her injured leg in a waterproof bandage.

Viktor had never done this before, be tender and solicitous to a woman. He’d fully embraced the BDSM lifestyle after his brief affair with Marissa. To regain the control he’d lost with her, he took submissives, and gave them what they wanted as their Dom. It worked for eight years. He was emotionally detached, and when it came to a point that the submissive wanted a more permanent relationship, he would find her a new Dom. He knew he couldn’t expect the same from Marissa. For one thing, she didn’t have a submissive bone in her body. Well, maybe sometimes when he had her on thebrink of orgasm, he could order her to do whatever he wanted.

He lightly brushed her curls from her face, pleased that the steam from the water had flushed some color into her cheeks. He had been determined to keep an emotional wall between himself and Marissa, but his resolve crumbled the moment Agent Olsen called HQ to report that Marissa’s vehicle had exploded with her in it. The few seconds it took to confirm Marissa’s fate were the worst of his life. He felt like his chance for true happiness had been ripped from him anew, and he hadn’t cared to mask his panic at the datacenter.

Viktor stood up from his crouch and divested himself of his clothes to join the woman who had once again wormed her way into his life, the woman who managed to get under his skin. This morning, in the midst of not knowing whether she lived or died, he had actually vowed that if she did survive, he would never let her go and would do everything to keep her.

“Viktor?” Marissa mumbled sleepily when he slipped in behind her, cradling her body between his legs.

“Shh, kitten,” he whispered in her ear. “Let me take care of you.”

“Watch it. I might get used to it.”

That’s the plan. Viktor thought. His fingers stroked her damp skin, brushing the sides of her breasts, slipping down her torso, gently caressing the skin where her thighs formed a vee. She squirmed against him but didn’t utter a sound. He brought both hands up to cup her breasts, kneading them firmly, and watching them plump up above the water. Her pink, dusky nipples were visible, and Viktor couldn’t help capturing them between his thumb and index finger to pinch them lightly.

Marissa grew restless, and a low moan escaped her lips, her legs thrashing in the tub.

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