Page 127 of Ruby Mercy

“Something interesting out there?” I ask.

She flinches, but doesn’t turn. Instead, she nods. “Riveting. I just saw an entire trash bag in the ditch.”

I check the rearview mirror. Yuliana is asleep in her car seat. Late last night, she woke up screaming again. Rayne was in her pajamas and out the door before I could pry my eyes open. I assumed it was a mother's quick instincts. Now, I think she may have been lying awake, waiting for a reason to slip out of the room.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"About the trash?" she asks, incredulous.

"About whatever has you seconds away from flinging yourself out of a moving car.”

She shifts in her seat, sliding more to the center. Still, she keeps her arm away from the center console. “I’m just tired, I guess.”

“We can talk about that, too,” I say. “Your lack of sleep. Or the activities you were involved in during those periods of non-sleep.”

Rayne whips around to look in the backseat, alarmed.

“Yuliana is asleep,” I reassure her with a chuckle. “I already checked.”

When she settles back into her seat, she keeps her eyes straight ahead. “I told you I didn’t come to your room for…that.”

“I think it matters less what you came for and more who you came for.”

“Can we be mature about this?”

“I am being mature. I’m trying to have an open and honest conversation with you. It’s actually a first for me, so I’d say you should take advantage of the offer.”

I have never in my life sat with a woman the morning after sex and tried to have a heart-to-heart about it, but Rayne doesn’t seem to appreciate the novelty of the situation.

Finally, she turns towards me, tucking one knee up into her seat. Again, she checks that Yuliana is asleep before she speaks. “I don’t see what there is to talk about.”

“For starters, we could break down why you were able to straddle me fully naked last night but can’t bring yourself to look in my eyes now.”

Slowly, and with obvious effort, Rayne looks at me. Her brow arches in a way that says,How do you like that?

“Good,” I say. “That’s progress. Now, maybe you can tell me why you never came back to bed last night.”

Whatever courage Rayne managed to slap together falls away. She turns back to the windshield and crosses her arms over her chest. “Yuliana needed me. You heard her crying.”

“You slept on the couch, not in her room.”

“In case she needed me,” she snaps defensively. “I can’t be at your beck and call whenever you need to get your rocks off, Kirill. I have other responsibilities.”

I bark out a humorless laugh. “Is that what you think this whole thing is? I didn’t follow you to your dad’s hometown because I needed a release. Fuck knows I could find a woman who’s easier to get into bed back home.”

“Then go find one of those women! No one is stopping you!”

Exactly!I want to roar.No one is stopping me, but I’m still here. With you. What the fuck does that tell you?

But I refrain. Logic doesn’t work with a woman as stubborn as Rayne.

“You said you didn’t come to my room last night for sex,” I explain. “I didn’t follow you to this godforsaken shithole of a town to have sex, either. Though it was a nice bonus.”

It was more than nice, actually; it was unreal. I’ve never wanted anything the way I want Rayne. Even when I’m inside of her, I want more. Whatever she thinks, this isn’t about fucking.

This thing between us is bigger than that.

She snorts. “Good to know you enjoyed yourself. Maybe I should set up a roadside attraction. You can be my first verified review.”

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