Page 54 of The Primary Pest
“Nothing is pretend here. Bartosz gave me a hard time about you from the beginning. He knew I wanted you. And before you ask, I’ve been with plenty of men. I haven’t done a good job hiding what I feel today because for a minute”—he winced—“in the restaurant, I thought I’d lose you.”
Ajax remembered that desperate, terror fueled kiss. “I thoughtyouwere hit. Oh my God, I thought you were hit, and my heart just stopped.” Ajax blinked away his shock. “So… you’re into me? You’ve been lying to me all along?”
“I’ve been lying to myself.” Dmytro didn’t look happy to reveal this. “I have always lied to myself.”
“I see.” Ajax swallowed hard. “What happens now?”
Dmytro picked up his hand. “Nothing can happen.”
“Why?” Because one kiss was not enough. Ajax wrapped both hands around Dmytro’s.
He should have been anxious, allowing someone to see that deeply inside him. He should have been uncomfortable in the long silence that followed. Yet he gave Dmytro access to his very essence, just as he’d given Dmytro the truth of his anxiety the night before.
“Malen'ke norka.” Dmytro cupped his jaw and rubbed a gentle thumb over his split lip. “My little mink.I’m sorry you got hurt on my watch.”
Breathlessly, he whispered, “It’s nothing.”
Dmytro narrowed his eyes. “You know I can’t simply turn off my job, become the lover at a certain hour as if I’m punching a time clock. Whatever we have here cannot happen. Do you understand?”
“But we have something?” Ajax’s heart fluttered. “That kiss—"
“Aren’t we on the same page?” Dmytro suppressed a smile. “Even if you only want me because I look like Anton?”
“I never felt about Anton the way I feel about you.” His cheeks got hot just thinking about it. “He was a mirage shimmering in the distance. Something not quite real. I wanted him, but I knew he wasn’t for me. You’re solid. Flesh and blood. You steal my breath. And on top of that I like you.”
“Stop.” Dmytro shut him down. “You’re far too tempting.”
Ajax gave him a little shove. “Not so you’d know it.”
“Ajax,” Dmytro warned, “I can’t—”
“Until we find whoever is trying to hurt me. I understand. But we’re on pause. You need to give me a chance.”
Dmytro gave a nonanswer. “I’ll protect you. Trust me.”
“It’sboar.” Ajax hid a laugh. “A male mink is called a boar.”
“How very fitting, because from the moment we arrived, I said, ‘Bartosz, this job is going to be a wretched bore.’”
“It’s spelledb-o-a-r. Just so you know.” Ajax lifted a smug brow. “Boars are stubborn, sometimes vicious animals.”
“I am forewarned.” Dmytro pushed him down on the bed. “Be good. Get some rest now. I’ll go find out what’s happening from Bartosz.”
Ajax’s body trusted Dmytro. He listened when Dmytro gave an order. Dmytro had won over his heart, too. It seemed even his mind was ready to turn everything over to a man he barely knew, if that man was Dmytro, in whom all of Ajax’s fantasies had come to life.
Ajax’s rational mind said he shouldn’t trustanyoneright now, but Dmytro had earned his trust with his gentle hands, his words, his actions.
This was no time to be an idiot, but he trusted Dmytro all the way. He wanted Dmytro with him, especially in this claustrophobic closet of a cabin where breathing required his full attention when he wasn’t distracted.
“I’ll be here if you want to hang out.” Heat crept from his neck to his cheeks. There were people working on the other side of the flimsy walls.Talk about dumbassery.
“We’ll talk more.” Dmytro’s lips quirked. “I’ll be back, but it won’t be until much later.”
“In that case, leave the vodka.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Dmytro
