Page 35 of King of Malice
I arch my head back giving him more access. Dimitri’s touch frightens me less and less, his hands bringing comfort, joy, not worry or anxiety.
I slide my fingers into his hair, holding his head in my hands as I kiss his forehead. “Dimitri.”
“Say my name like that again and I’m not letting you out of this bed.”
I still for a moment. He makes me feel so wanted. Men have wanted me on first blush, but they didn’t stick around when my real self was revealed. Not like Dimitri. “Don’t tempt me,” I whisper back, my eyes fluttering closed.
“Are you tempted? Because if you are—” The sound of Anna crying through the monitor interrupts whatever he was about to say.
My eyes fly open. “Poor thing.”
He lets out a long breath. “I’m sorry to have to cut this short.”
“Don’t be,” I say automatically as I slide off him. I can’t resent Anna. Not only is she the cutest little girl, but maybe being a fathermakes him ideal for me. Patient. Kind. Willing to fit himself around my needs just like he’s doing for Anna now.
He gets up, nothing but his boxer briefs hugging his hips and thighs, showing off every delicious, rippling muscle.
My mouth goes dry as I pull the blankets up my body. He looks like a marble statue of a god.
He turns back to me, even as he tugs a pair of athletic pants up his legs. “Don’t cover up. Let me see you one more time.”
A flush climbs up my cheeks but the ache between my thighs throbs too and I find myself slowly lowering the blankets.
I’m on my side but my shoulders are flat on the mattress, the swell of my hip on full display.
I watch his eyes darken, but this time, it doesn’t frighten me, in fact, my breath hitches as his gaze slides down my body. “Do you know how gorgeous you are?”
I must be bright red as I turn away, biting my lip. “Stop.”
He slides back on the bed, but he doesn’t cover me, which I appreciate. Instead, he kisses my hip bone, looking up at me with an intensity that steals my breath. “I can’t. I want you too much.”
I’m so hot, my breath is coming out in short gasps. I want him too. I want him so much.
He licks at my skin, one of his hands sliding over my knee.
The idea of him shifting his mouth to kiss me where I’m aching makes this pulse of need move through me.
I reach down, wrapping my fingers around the back of his neck as my legs open in invitation.
I feel him smile against my hip as Anna gives another cry. “The downside of sleeping with a man who has a child.”
Is that what we’re doing? Sleeping together? “I’d fire me if I weren’t the boss.”
And if my boss knew, I’d be out on my ass. “We can’t have that.”
There is so much more I want to say about the future, my fears, as he pushes off the bed, pulling on a t-shirt before he heads out the bedroom door. But I have no idea what would happen if I did tell him the truth.
I pull myself from the bed as well, putting my shirt and leggings back on before I pad to my own room and into the bathroom, where I turn on the shower. The guest bathroom here is more than twice the size as my bathroom at home.
I’ve been saving every penny, but maybe it’s time for me to upgrade my apartment. I basically live for work and Cadence and since coming here, I’m feeling like my life before this has been a bit hollow.
I love Cadence so much.
But there has been some distance between us, and I’ve been working harder than ever to remain close to her. I will always love her, but maybe I was choking her with how much I need her.
I’ve been holding on so tight, even before she left. We’ve always gone through periods where we fall apart more than stay together.
She’d disappear on some adventure, or I’d bail her out of some situation that made her resentful instead of happy.
