Page 63 of Guarded Rebellion

“I will.”

“Do you think you could keep… me? Keep this, whatever this is that we’re doing?”

“For good?” I asked.

“I doubt that.”

“Me too.” I opened my eyes and found her staring up at me. “Are you afraid to meet your uncle’s expectations?”

She lowered her gaze, letting her lids hood her eyes. “No. But I’m not looking forward to it now that I know what it’s like to be yours.”

“You're not,” I reminded her gently. I cupped her face and kissed the top of her head. She relaxed against me, tucking her cheek on my chest as I stroked her hair back.

“What do you want?” she asked sleepily. “What’s your future?”

“To have a family,” I replied. “This family—the Baranovs. Oleg took me in as an orphan, and I will prove my worth to him so he’ll never change his mind about that decision.”

“You had a life like Kelly? Going through the system and foster families?”

“No.” I was smart enough to run away and never go through that hell. “I was on the streets.”

She continued with the light circles on my chest, and under her sweet, comforting touch, I opened up and talked. And talked. About my past. About my determination to be a good soldier. I assumed I’d put her to sleep, just talking, but she piped up too, talking about a fantasy future she’d never have. To be a teacher. To wait before having kids. To travel or have a chance to take classes on preparing dishes of different cuisines.

Lying together, sleepy and secure, we talked well into the night, painting visions of what we desired, which somehow filled my cold heart more than the gritty physical rush of having sex with her.

As I drifted to sleep, I challenged myself to give up the ridiculous thoughts of love that danced in my mind.

She’s not yours.

She’s supposed to be just a job.

26

EVA

Iwoke in the morning plastered to Lev’s body. We’d fallen asleep just talking late into the night. Neither of us had gotten up to take our clothes off, too cozy and comfortable to think about climbing off the bed.

My dress was on the short side, so I wasn’t too confined, but he’d slept in his pants and shirt, fully clothed. This rumpled look made him seem more human, more relatable. Like he, too, could get so wiped that he’d relax into sleep. Sometimes, he seemed more like a machine than a man, always so tough and with such stamina.

Before I could settle in and stare at him sleeping for long, I smiled and brushed his hair back off his face. He jerked slightly but didn’t open his eyes.

“You weren’t kidding about needing to find the right pillow.”

He groaned sleepily, hugging me to him as he rolled me onto my back. “The right pillow.” He kissed me soundly. “The right bed.”

I looped my arms around his neck and pulled him back down for another kiss. We didn’t kiss yesterday, but it seemed we’d make up for it now. Space was good for the previous day. So wasthe simple companionship of just talking and listening to each other.

He stroked his hand down my side until he cupped my bare ass, my panties shoved up with his touch. “The right woman…”

Again, he deluded me with those deep, drugging kisses.

“You don’t have to go to class soon, do you?” he asked as he leaned up so I could hurry to unbutton his shirt.

I shook my head. “No. But I need to go to the dorm to get some papers to scan and email for Kelly.”

He grinned, peeling my dress off me. “No need to rush, then…”

And he didn’t. With an agonizing slowness that threatened to be my undoing, he made me come twice. We only got out of bed once he’d shot his cum into me. In the shower, it dribbled out, but he tried vainly to push it all back in.

---