Page 40 of In Her Blood
“Saying it that way sounds like you want a camera in here,” Lina chimed in, another teasing glint in her eyes.
Otto wasn’t entirely sure what expression his face made, but he knew how he felt aboutthatidea. “Not unless you’ve changed your mind about turning me into an executioner.”
She smacked a hand over her face. “Bozhe moy, Otto!”
Artem let out a low chuckle. “You two are going to have a fun weekend, I see.” He turned toward the door. “I’ll get with my tech crew and get started on that. No promises it’ll be fully installed by the time you’re home, but we’ll have eyes up as soon as possible. In the meantime, I promise, we’ll keep this suite secure.”
Otto stayed quiet as Lina bade him farewell and the door shut again, leaving them temporarily alone. For another two seconds, silence held.
Lina exhaled as if she were tired and turned toward him. “So, was it my imagination, or did you not like me letting Artem in here for that little impromptu meeting?” She kept her voice low as she sauntered closer, the edges of a smile tipping her lips.
Otto fought the impulse to pull her fully against him. “It’s your space,” he said. “Your choice.”
Her freshly glossed lips twisted up at one side in a grin. “I don’t think that’s what I asked.” She took a step closer and trailed the tips of her fingers up his chest. “I asked if itbotheredyou.”
He moved one step forward, wedging his thigh between hers and looping an arm around her back before she could retreat, and flattened her against his chest. His other hand dove into the mane of free-falling light brown hair, holding her head at enough of an angle to keep her widened, heating gaze. “Yeah,” he admitted gruffly, “it bothered me. Because I’m a fuckin’ caveman and this is the cave I share with my woman.” He lowered until his lips were a hair’s breadth from hers. “I’ll deal.”
She giggled and looped her arms around his shoulders. “I’ll try not to make it a habit, ‘kay?”
He responded by kissing her, sucking her tongue into his mouth and then chasing it back to hers. He was aware that she had only a handful of minutes to spare, and that her body was certainly too sore for more than kissing regardless, but none of that kept his blood from heating. His body should have been ready for a break, too, frankly. It wasn’t like he was used to spending any length of time getting his dick wet. But he’d been semi-literally hard for this woman for at least half a fucking decade. A few hours’ worth of sex was not enough.
Still, Otto managed to retreat without ripping her clothes from her skin.
Lina opened her mouth to speak, her beautiful cheeks flushed, and her phone began singing from the coffee tablewhere it rested. She let out an exasperated sigh and slumped her head to his chest. “That’s Kat.”
He grunted, adjusted his grip to her hips, and settled her properly on her feet. “I’ll grab your bags. You packed what you need for that PI?”
“Yeah, in the smaller one.” She was already turning toward her phone. “Can you also snatch my gloss from the bathroom?Someonemessed it up, although the shiny mouth thing is weirdly hot on you.”
His mind flashed promptly back to the taste of her pussy and the sensation of her release flooding his mouth, her orgasm ringing in his ears. “Brat,” he grumbled, stepping wide and trying in vain to will his cock to calm down. It’d serve her right if he took an extra minute to rub one out instead. But hell, in all the years he’d guarded her, he’d managed to never stoop so low as to useherbathroom for his lustful needs. Seemed stupid to become so weak only after blurring the lines.
So, he resisted, cleaned himself up instead, and grabbed the items she needed. His own travel bag was already waiting in the other room, where he’d left it that morning, and she was off the phone by the time he returned to her side. As always, she required no less than double the number of bags he did.
Lina held out an arm expectantly.
Otto raised a brow. “You want me to carry you, too?” He moved around her to swing his duffel over his other shoulder. “Might be an awkward fit, especially since I still I need an arm mobile enough to grab my gun.”
She gave him an exasperated look. “You really are a barbarian, damn. You know I’m perfectly capable of carrying at leastone bag.” She flexed her fingers in a childlike grabbing motion for emphasis.
He met her exasperation with a smirk and tilted his head. “Your purse is technically a bag. Help yourself. I made sure to lock the closet entrance and shut the drapes, so we’re good to go.”
She muttered under her breath in Russian, almost successfully disguised her wince as she shrugged the purse up her injured arm, and finally raised her keys for unnecessary effect. “Okay, okay. My one bag is secure, let’s go.”
Otto hooked his fingers into her belt as she attempted to step past him and bent down to her ear, lowering his voice on the off-chance their words carried through the door at this distance. “You might want to check your snark with me, baby. I’m keeping score.”
Lina dragged in a shaky breath, but the smile she offered him was nothing if not teasing. “Yeah? Sounds fun. Let me know what I win.” Then she popped up to her toes, pressed a kiss to his jaw, and pulled away from him as if she hadn’t just thrown fuel on the fire.
Otto had to fight off a grin as he followed her out into the hall. He needed to remember which role took precedence whenever Lina stepped out in the world—really, it never didn’t take precedence, there were only times it was easier to set aside. And while she’d acquired a brigade full of allies in Artem’s crew, and a small assortment of individual others, most of those immediately surrounding them were unknowns. All of which meant that quite literally from the moment she exited her bedroom suite, she was entering precarious territory.
This weekend trip was both terribly timed and a great show of confidence.
“There you are!” Lina’s closest friend, Katenka Orlov, called as soon as they stepped into the garage. The twenty-five-year-old had her dusty blonde hair cut shorter than her shoulders again and parted off-center, creating what she had once described as an ‘edgy’ aesthetic that she seemed to enjoy.
Otto didn’t think it suited her at all, but thankfully, no one ever asked.
“I was starting to think I’d have to go in there and drag you out or something,” Katenka said with a grin as the women embraced briefly. She clamped both hands over Lina’s upper arms then and looked her square in the eye. “Okay, seriously, you good with this? Because I know I kind of ambushed you with it, and that was before the whole shooting incident.”
Otto didn’t need to see her face to know Lina was smiling. He could hear it in her voice.
