Page 32 of Corruption

And then I stole a lip gloss set.

Alik takes the explanation and asks, “Why isn’t it happening any time soon?”

“I don’t imagine Vaughn is going to let me after we get married. I’m supposed to do my duty as a good Russian mafia wife and have babies for him, right?”

“That’s what will be expected of you. But every now and then you can find ways to break expectations in this lifestyle.”

“You say that like you’re someone who did.”

“I did.”

“How?” I know he’s not going to answer that before he doesn’t. So I ask, “Was it worth it?”

“I like to think it was.”

There’s a story there. I can see it in the way he looks at me with his dark eyes. But before I can ask, he continues, “You seem like the type of person that defies expectations.”

“What makes you think that?”

“You’ve defied mine so far, Kitten.”

“How’s that?”

He doesn’t answer, but not because he’s decided not to answer I sense. Because suddenly the air feels thick with what he hasn’t said yet. Things he can’t reveal to me. Things that would defy what’s expected of him. Things that even if he wanted to reveal them to me, he wouldn’t have the words. And suddenly, IgetAlik. Everything about him falls into place. He’s like me. A man forced to live up to the expectations set upon him except for this one time that he won’t name.

I see the moment he decides not to answer, so I say, “You’ve now defied my expectations too.”

“And how’s that?”

“I asked first.”

“You did.”

I notice how close he is. I don’t know when that happened. Because he wasn’tthatclose before. He's so close to me that—

Suddenly there’s no space between us. Then his lips press on mine. My first real kiss. Because the stolen kiss from his brother doesn’t count. I didn’t wantthatkiss. I want this one. Even though I didn’t know I wanted it before. I just know that when I feel Alik’s lips on mine, something shoots through my entire being, and I need more of that feeling.

I don’t know what to do. So I focus on the way his lips move against mine, and when I think I’ve got it, I copy his movements. Press. Open slightly. Wet. Glide. I repeat that a couple of times, until I’m comfortable just doing what my body feels.

His hand comes to the small of my back and he pulls me flush against him, changing the angle of the kiss. He presses his lips harder. Uses his mouth to pry my mouth open at the same time as he opens his. My tongue darts into his mouth first. He presses me closer to him. I fist my hands into the side of his shirt to pull him closer. But we can’t be pressed any closer together than we already are, not without getting rid of the layers of clothing between us.

Just the thought of getting out our clothes sends that jolt of pleasure through me. Right to a knot forming in my stomach. An ache between my legs. Because I feel so much heat and so much… so mucheverythingeven through the layers of our clothing. So I can’t even imagine what it would be like if we were naked. Like he was and I almost was when I walked in on him and Nadia—

Nadia!

I break the kiss in alarm but don’t let go of the grip I have on his shirt. He doesn’t release me from his hold around my waist. We just look at each other, breathing hard as we recover from what we just did. As I contemplate throwing caution to the wind and—

No. Nadia. Because what happened in Alik’s office was one thing. That was more or less him teasing me. Like Nadia, Alik likes to mess with me. Just in a different way from her, I’ve realized. She showed me porn, and he pretended he was actually taking me to their sex room. He would have backed off if I told him to.

But a kiss? That’s a lot more than just teasing. And it’s not just Nadia. It’s Vaughn. I’m supposed to be engaged. Albeit, to a man who threw me out and doesn’t want anything to do with me until we’re married and I have no choice but to let him rape me. Yet. Still…

“We should try to see the rest of the exhibit,” I manage to say, barely above a whisper.

“We should,” Alik agrees.

He lets go of me, and I let go of him. We continue through the exhibit without any more words between us.

13

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