I had no idea what was happening, and I was a little afraid by the intensity of it.
“You act afraid but we both know that’s not the only thing you feel.”
I swallowed and felt my heartbeat jump into my throat. Thump-thump. Thump-thump.
“Why don’t you tell me what else you’re feeling?”
I tightened my fingers around my shirt and whispered, “You know.”
I thought I’d said the words too low for him to hear, but the low chuckle he gave me was loud and clear.
“Didn’t you know I would have gladly torn the entire fucking world apart just to have a gaping hole where my love for you would fit, where the pain of losing you could live?”
His words were so raw that I felt like I was being cut in half, my insides being opened up and sacrificed to some higher power. I even clutched up my abdomen, swearing that he left a wound inside of me.
“I bet you’re conflicted right now, aren’t you?”
I didn’t answer, because I didn’t know how to. I wanted to be truthful, because that was what I’d told myself I’d do when I came out here.
But now faced with that reality, the words were stuck in my throat.
“Go on, sweetheart,” he taunted. “Tell me those warring emotions in you, the ones that make you hate yourself but also make you want to do more.” I saw a glimmer of something dark and deadly and… delicious in his gaze. “Tell me the things that will embarrass you, but will ultimately turn you on.”
God, the way he said that had parts of my body tingling, throbbing, heating and growing wet embarrassingly quickly.
“How about I help you with that, baby? How about I make it easy for you?”
My heart was racing, as if I were a rabbit rushing through the woods, running faster than the fox that chased me because my life depended on it.
“How about I take the indecision away from you? Would you like that?”
I bit my bottom lip hard enough it stung, knew it would be swollen and bruised.
“Use your words, sweetheart.”
I could’ve moaned from the endearment that spilled from his lips, because it didn’t sound sweet or gentle. It sounded like the crack of a whip across my body.
“Yes.” It was the only thing I could come up with, the only word that would form on my tongue and spill from my lips.
He stayed silent for so long that I started to get antsy, slightly embarrassed. What was I doing?
I opened my mouth, about to tell him to take me back to the city, that I couldn’t do this, that I didn’t want to… although that would have been a lie.
But before I could say anything I felt the air change, saw something in his expression shift.
“Come here.” His voice was deep and dark, and there was a touch of dominance that I’d never heard before, not in the way he said the words, how he pronounced them, or the tone in his voice.
I must’ve stayed there too long, longer than I thought, because a low growl left him, as if there were an animal in the house with us.
“Be a good girl and come here, Anastasia.”
The feminine side of me should’ve felt offended at how he just spoke to me. But that part was taking a very deep back seat inside of me, and in its place was the need to just… feel good.
I ran my tongue over my bottom lip and took a step closer, knowing I shouldn’t, but here I was, moving closer and closer to him.
When I stood just a few feet from Kostya, he leaned forward to brace his forearms on his thighs and stared at me.
And for long seconds he didn’t speak, just let his gaze travel from my head to my toes, then slowly back up, pausing at the junction of my thighs, then at my breasts, and stopped when he got to my eyes.
“Take off your clothes.” He leaned back, rested his arms on the back of the chair, really spreading out that big, very male body, and watched and waited for me to obey.
“Why?” It was a stupid question. I knew why he wanted me to get undressed—and I wanted to—but a girl had to act like she had her shit together and question the questionable things in life, right?
“Why?” He cocked a dark brow again. “Because I want to see what you look like naked, princess. I want to look at your tits and pussy, because although my imagination is pretty fucking vivid and lewd, the real thing is always better.”
My heart nearly stuttered at his crude words.
“So… fucking strip, baby.” He flicked a finger between us. “Now, baby girl.”
I should have told Kostya to go fuck himself for speaking to me in that way. But God, I had to be just as dirty as he was because I was so wet, my pussy tingling, my nipples stiff, my breasts feeling more heavy and ultra-sensitive than they ever had before.