Page 9 of Shadow

“Going somewhere?” Rurik asked, arching a brow at me. I tried pulling away from him, but he just tightened his grip. The man might be small, but there was no denying the strength he had.

“Yeah, to get another fucking room,” I snapped. I tried pulling away again, only to growl in annoyance when he still didn’t release me. “Fucking let me go, Rurik.”

“No,” he said. He backed me up until the backs of my knees met the mattress, and when he pushed me down, I obediently sat, my jaw clenched so tightly, my teeth audibly ground together. “You’re not getting another room. You’re going to be right here where I can keep an eye on you.”

“Fuck that, and fuckyou,” I seethed, my hands shaking with rage.

Rurik calmly took my bag from me and set it in the armchair. Then, he turned to me and slid his hands into the pockets of his perfectly fitted slacks. I swallowed thickly when I noticed the hard outline of his cock, and it took quite a bit of effort for me to rip my eyes away from his impressive member.

“I’d love to fuck you, as you so eloquently put it,” Rurik said, making my entire body flush hot, “but I’m sure that’s not what you meant.”

Asshole.

“You attract trouble without even trying. I want you close where I can keep an eye on you and keep you in line. You can bitch and moan about it all you want, Malik. I’m fully prepared to listen. But it won’t change anything.”

For the second time in less than fifteen minutes, I had to sink my teeth into my tongue to keep from lashing out and saying something that would just land me in a heap of trouble with Rurik.

Standing from the bed, I snatched two of the pillows off the bed and tossed them onto the floor. “If I have to be in the same damn room with you while you treat me like a caged dog, then so be it,” I snapped. “But I’m sleeping on the fucking floor.Notwith you.”

I couldn’t sleep in the same bed as him. I’d never get rest. It was bad enough I would be in the same room as him forhours, forced to breathe in his scent and hear him breathing as he slept. But if we were in the same bed beneath the same cover with mere inches separating us, my self control wouldcrumble.

And I couldnotgive in to temptation. I couldnotgive in to Rurik. If I did, that’d be it. I knew without a shadow of a fucking doubt that Rurik wouldownme.

“Sure,” Rurik said, a slight smirk tilting his lips. I glared at him. He waved his hand toward the floor where I’d tossed the pillows. “Be my guest, Malik. I’m going to take a shower.” He nodded toward the room phone. “Order us some room service, yeah? I’m hungry. I’ll take a steak medium-rare. Tell them to charge it to the card on file.”

With that, he grabbed his bag from by the door and headed into the massive bathroom, quietly shutting the door behind him. My teeth audibly ground together, and for a good minute, Icontemplated telling him to order his own fucking food and that I wasn’t hungry. But my stomach rumbled, and IknewI needed to eat, or Rurik would be putting me on my ass tomorrow.

I was already hard to deal with on a good day, but when I was hungry? I was damn near intolerable.

Fuming, I made my way over to the phone. A menu was sitting beside it, so I took a moment to skim over it before ordering Rurik’s food and ordering myself a burger and fries. After hanging up the phone, I worked on finding extra linens, only to discover there weren’t any. Because of course, a fucking nice ass hotel like this didn’t just leave extra linens lying around.

Fuck my life.

When Rurik came out of the bathroom, steam billowing out behind him, I turned, ready to order him to get another blanket and sheets for me to make a pallet on the floor, but my mouth dried and the words died in my throat.

Rurik was clad in only a towel wrapped around his hips. Every hard, tight plane of his body was on display, and water droplets still clung to his pale, tattooed skin. I swear to fuck, I swallowed my tongue when he lifted his hand to rake his fingers through his wet, dark hair, slicking it back from his face.

“Shower’s free,” he told me.

“You don’t need your bag?” I rasped. My voice sounded like raw sex, and his eyes flared at the sound of it.

He smirked, his eyes taking on a dangerous glint that made me both hard for him and cautious all at once. There was something predatory in his gaze as he looked at me. A sensual promise.

“Nah. I like to sleep naked, Shadow,” he purred. My cock hardened so fast at the image his words painted in my mind that I swayed on my feet. He jerked his head in the direction of the bathroom. “Go take a shower.”

I literally had no words because all I could picture was him sleeping naked in the same room as me. So I silently walked into the bathroom and shut the door. It wasn’t until I was beneath the hot spray of water that I realized my bag was still in the room on the chair, which meant I had no clothes nor any of my own toiletries.

I thunked my forehead against the tiled wall and groaned, my jaw clenched tightly.

Fuck me with a brick.

7

Rurik

“Thank you,” I told the hotel employee as she placed mine and Malik’s food on the small table by the armchair. I handed her a twenty as a tip, and her eyes bugged a little. “Have a wonderful night.”

Once she left, I flipped the lock to the room and headed back to the food. I’d donned a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt after Malik escaped into the bathroom, not wanting to answer the door in nothing but a towel once the food arrived. I wanted to tease the hell out of Malik, especially after seeing him eyeing my cock through my towel with a hunger so visceral it made me lightheaded, but I didn’t want to scar the hotel employee.

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