“I was just about to wash when you knocked. Will you wait for me? I won’t be long.”
“No problem,” I said quickly.
And he disappeared into his bathroom.
I stopped for a moment to think of whether I would be too overbearing if I followed him. I’d been too worried, felt too guilty, too scared and terrified of never seeing him again to care if he thought me too overbearing. I just needed to be near him. My bare feet were soundless as I headed into his bathroom. Inside the marble space, I saw that he was already in the massive shower stall.
Through the frosted glass, I could see his lithe, silhouette under the cascade of hot steaming water. His body was made for the kind of fucking that I had enjoyed only with him … raw, primal, possessive and utterly addictive.
Unbridled lust soaked my underwear as I watched him, the anxiety at even being here given the tension brimming around us, and the vividly clear memories of exactly what his mouth and cock could do to me set my blood ablaze. I definitely could not, and would not leave. I still held one more card and I was certain it would be more than enough to shatter the distance that had sprung up between us.
I pulled off my night shorts, underwear, and then pulled my t-shirt over my head. Letting it all fall to the floor. When I arrived at the glass door, I pulled it open without hesitation.
He turned then, sweeping the water out of his face, his eyes roving over my naked body.
The look in his eyes made my heart pound like crazy. Before he could say anything, I stepped into the stall. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you. I’m sorry I went to Bogdan, Levan,” I whispered. “I know I’ve caused you much pain in the last week and the last thing I want to do is cause you more trouble, but once I saw the video of Aldie being slapped around by those brutes, I lost my head. I couldn’t let her suffer for me. She doesn’t deserve that. She’s always been the one light in my depressing life. Please understand I had to help her no matter what. I love her like she is my own flesh and blood. I never expected that any of this would happen.”
“It’s okay,” he said softly.
He was so forgiving my heart broke a little. “I feel really guilty and horrible. You went to jail for God’s sake, and I’m so terrified of what is going to happen to you. I’m afraid you’ll end up in prison and start to hate me,” I said on a sob.
He reached out a hand. “I’ll never hate you, Bianca.”
My eyes filled with tears. “Are — are you going to prison?”
He shrugged. “Maybe. I haven’t heard the charges Sarah has made, but it’ll be hard to walk away from this without doing time.”
“Two years ago, why did you leave without a word? Was it because of the message I sent to you? You saw it and decided I was too desperate for you.”
“I told you …”
“I know you got shot, but what about afterwards? What about after you healed?”
“You were the most perfect human being I had ever met and I didn’t want you involved in my violent world, Bianca.”
I understood the context of his words, especially now more than ever, but it still hurt. All those years of thinking he’d just walked away from me. I bit my lip. “Wasn’t that choice mine to make?”
He shook his head. “No. It was my duty to protect you from danger. Getting shot made me realize more than ever the danger I would be putting you constantly in. The life that I would be forcing you to live. I couldn’t do that to you.”
“But that was my decision to make,” I insisted.
He looked at me sadly. “I watched my mom constantly look over her shoulder, in fear for her life. I watched her wither away in constant worry for the lives of her husband and children. Is that what you would have wanted?”
I want you and I don’t give a damn if I get killed in the process, I wanted to scream back at him, but I didn’t have the courage to say it out loud to either him, or for that matter, myself.
When I didn’t answer, he slid the door of the stall open to step out, but I slid it back shut, and forced him to face me. “Why exactly are you helping me, Levan? Is it just to ensure I’m safe, before you toss me back into the world, or are you planning to keep me for yourself?”
To my surprise, he placed his hands on the sides of my face. I melted into his touch.