A feral sound escaped him. “Dimitri. Damn it woman. Why is Joe always your first guess?”
He frowned down at her, but she was oblivious. Snuggling against him, like a kitten trying to find the perfect spot to curl up.
“Screwed up today,” she mumbled against his skin.
“I know. Go to sleep.” The reminder he might have lost her made him fight to relax.
“Won’t do it again.” It was barely a whisper, but it still made his heart clench.
“Sh, go back to sleep.” He wrapped his arm around her, cupping the curve of her ass.
Megan wriggled until her one of her legs was over his body and her hand was tangled in his hair.
“Bossy,” she said. It was barely a whisper. “You’re stealing my heart.”
He stilled at her words, but she was already asleep. Breathing deeply, he took the scent that was uniquely Megan into his lungs. “You’ve already stolen mine, Buffy.”
Dimitri kissed the top of her head as he gently stroked her arm. Smooth perfect skin under his touch. A fragile shell that betrayed a heart of steel. Although Megan would balk at the thought of not being able to fight her own battles, he still couldn’t stop his imagination from thinking of ways to get her out of danger. His family owned a small house in the south of Russia. No one would think to look for her there. He nuzzled her forehead, fully aware that the only way he’d get her out of London now would be if she was unconscious. Even then, as soon as she realised where she’d been stashed, she’d rip apart everything in her path to get back to the action.
His Megan was a warrior. The fact she was untrained, fearless and rash didn’t diminish that fact. Training could be fixed, and experience would help her to rein in her more impulsive tendencies. Then she would be glorious. A truly amazing field operative. A formidable opponent. A perfect partner.
If he could just keep her alive long enough to get her there.
He understood Megan’s need to protect her sister. The need that had driven her to take matters into her own hands earlier that day when she didn’t think the team were going to do it for her. In a lot of ways, they were exactly alike. When it came to safeguarding family they were feral in their determination not to fail. He couldn’t even fault her for putting her own life on the line for her sister—he would have done exactly the same thing. He chuckled. Well, maybe not exactly the same thing. The urge to cover his groin hit him hard at the memory of Megan’s warning to Rudi.
He pulled her tighter to him, making her hum in her sleep as she snuggled against him. Her warmth seeped into him, reassuring him that she was really there and she was fine. And he would do everything in his power to keep her that way. First thing in the morning, he’d talk to Callum about upping her training schedule—after he convinced the man not to carry through with his threat to fire her, that is.
Closing his eyes he took a few deep, settling breaths and let himself drown in her scent. How this woman had gotten under his skin so fast he didn’t know. But now that he had her, he had no intention of ever letting go. Holding her tight, Dimitri let sleep take him, confident in his ability to put himself between Megan and danger, if it should come for her in the night.
Megan woke to the feeling of lips on her spine. Dimitri. The man practically made her purr. Although letting him know that wouldn’t be good for his already humungous ego. A wicked smile tugged at her lips before she mumbled, “Joe?”
Her tease earned a sharp bite to the curve of her hip.
“Dimitri.” She felt the bed shift. Hands landed either side of her.
A hot and heavy body pressed against her back. Sharp teeth nipped at her earlobe. “Call me by another man’s name again and you’ll regret it.”
“Mm? What will you do?” She wriggled her backside against his hard length.
The hair on his legs bristled against her skin. The softer hair on his chest tickled her back. It was a caress.
“I’ll make sure you never forget who’s touching you.” It was a warning and a promise.
The words were a caress to the parts of her that were desperate for his touch.
“Show me,” she challenged.
“Not now.” There was a smile in his voice as he kissed his way down her neck to her shoulder. “I like you all sleepy and compliant. I want to play before you wake up and start fighting with me again.”
“Devil.” But it was more of a purr than an insult.
“Don’t move,” he whispered against her nape. “Let me do all the work.”
At last, an order she actually wanted to obey. She smiled against her pillow, vaguely aware that it smelled of Dimitri, green and earthy. It made her think of walking in leaf strewn woodland. Bliss.
He pressed open mouthed kisses down the length of her spine until he was kneeling between her legs. Warm hands trailed from her shoulders, over the curve of her behind to her thighs. She shivered as he caressed the sensitive inside of her thighs, before sliding over her backside to the flare of her hips.
“So soft.” The wonder in his voice warmed her soul.