Page 56 of Surrogate for the Bratva
After an hour—at least—of staring at the ceiling and counting sheep, counting stars, counting down the days until this baby and this crazy life was out of my life, I got out of bed and…sat for another twenty minutes. And then I shoved my feet into my slippers, grabbed my e-reader, and went downstairs. Without the hustle of Igor’s employees the house was eerily quiet, and I found that I liked it.
The quiet.
The solitude.
I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and a bowl of grapes—already washed,of course—and sat out on the terrace. It was relaxing under the moonlight.
Itwasrelaxing. It should’vebeenrelaxing. Jacob was back at home with Kelsie, he’d even sent a text and a photo to ease my worried mind. It should have worked, and I should’ve been sound asleep in a bed that was much softer and more comfortable than my own. But adrenaline was a hell of a drug, and it lasted longer and the come down was harder thanrealdrugs.
“Ugh,” I groaned and snatched up my e-reader. Getting lost in the world of small town romance was just what I needed. Reading for a while would hopefully make my eyelids tired and droopy, which would—again hopefully—make sleep come easily. A few chapters later it was starting to work, my lids grew infinitesimally heavier.Great in an hour or two I’ll be totally asleep.
Still, it was peaceful and that seemed to be enough to quiet my mind and let me get lost in small town love.
Which, of course meant it didn’t last long.
“Why are you outside?” Igor’s voice was low and harsh, he was clearly angry for some reason.
Don’t take the bait, I told myself as I sat the e-reader in my lap before I looked up at him with my brows arched. “I am out here enjoying the fresh night air, or is that not allowed unless I promise the air is for me and not the baby?”
His brows dipped into a frown that was somehow both scathing and confused. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“You know what? Never mind.” There was no point arguing the point, so I turned back to my e-reader.
“April,” he growled in my direction.
I kept my focus on the story. The hero and heroine were about to kiss for the first time, and I did not want to miss it.
“April.”
He slid his hands through her hair and cupped the back of her head. “Hey!” Igor snatched the story right from my hands andthatpissed me off. I glared at him, but I managed to keep my voice even and calm. “I’m not playing your games Igor. Enjoy the book.” I stood and narrowed my gaze in his direction before I left him out on the terrace. I was furious as I stormed through the kitchen and then the living room. I marched up the stairs and slammed my bedroom door behind me. “Stupid, infuriating man.”
Almost immediately the door flew open, and Igor stood there glowering at me. “April,” he said again, this time his words came out on a low growl.
“No!” I waved my hands in the air, gesturing to the set of rooms I stood in the middle of, like a crazy person. “You don’t get to come inside these rooms without knocking. That is a serious fucking invasion ofmyprivacy.”
“This is my house,” he growled. “The whole damn property ismine,” he emphasized the last word, in case there were any doubts as to that.
“Yeah, you own the place Igor. Congratu-fucking-lations. But this ismyroom for as long as I am here, which meansyouneedmypermission to enter. If that’s changed, then I’m happy to go back tomyhome where I can do whatever the hell I want!”I don’t even know why I was arguing with him, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.
Igor grabbed my upper arms and yanked me close but not close enough to touch. “You are not going anywhere, April.”
I struggled against his grip in vain. “Then get the hell out of my room.”
“No.”
“Igor,” I growled. “Get the fuck out. Now.”
“Or what?” His question was so cocky I found my hands balled unconsciously into fists.
“You can’t keep me here against my will, Igor. That was not in our agreement so show me some fucking respect. Or else.”
His lips tugged into a smile so arrogant, so beautiful that it momentarily hypnotized me and in that brief moment my anger temporarily evaporated. But I was desperate to hang on to it and I reached for it, dug down deep to find it before that smile worked its magic on me. “Or. Else. What?”
I sucked in a deep breath ready to unleash a string of expletives that would even make a man like Igor take a step back. But before I could expel the breath, Igor’s mouth was on mine. He devoured me with slow swipes of his tongue across my lips, back and forth coming closer and closer to the seam. Finally his tongue made it there and teased the seam until it opened and he slipped inside easily.
A groan escaped him the moment our tongues made contact and his arms banded around my waist, dipping me over his arm so he could devour me down to the very depths of my soul. The way Igor kissed me was alarming and satisfying all atonce, like he’d actually missed kissing me. Not just the act of kissing and touching a woman, but me specifically. His kiss laid claim to me, mind, body and soul and I let him.
A smarter woman or maybe one with a better survival instinct and not with pregnancy hormones flooding her body might have pushed him away, stomped on his foot and smacked his gorgeous face to make the point thatthiswas not happening. But tonight I wasn’t that woman. I didn’t do any of those things. Instead I pressed my body against his, letting his hard chest soothe the ache in my nipples, his large hands on my back set me on fire.
