Release (Off Balance 3)

I rested my head back on his chest, willing him to continue.

Finally, he spoke.

"Katja had always been a beauty, but when she hit around sixteen she blossomed into something else entirely. Men and women looked at her everywhere she went. She turned heads, she still does. We were both teenagers with hormones. I would catch her staring, watching me, just like I did her. Not that I want to go into detail, and I am sure you do not want to hear, but we experimented a lot…until one day we eventually lost our virginity to each other."

An overwhelming burn of bitterness bubbled in my chest. I never gave much thought to Kova’s first time, but if I had to guess, I would have thought it was with some random hookup at a party. A total clichéd assumption, but I should have known better. Nothing about Kova’s life had ever been clichéd.

I should have prepared myself, but I hadn’t.

* * *

"You went still on me," Kova said. He pulled back and looked down at me, but I wouldn't meet his gaze. God, why did I have to be so irrational? I saw his lips curve up from the corner of my eye, but I couldn't look. "You are mad," he stated, amusement filling his voice.

"I'm not. I'm fine."

"You are." His voice rose, pleased with my anger.

"I'm not," I chewed out, causing Kova to laugh. He pinned me, his arms over mine, the weight of his body between my spread legs holding me down. I glared up at him and all he could do was smile like he’d won the damn lottery. "Get off me, Kova," I said, and used my hips to push him off, which only resulted in nudging him closer to me.

"You are jealous. Admit it." He chuckled, and I wanted to punch him in the throat.

"I'm not. I don't get jealous."

Obvious lie.

Kova grinned even more. "Then why do you look like you are ready to castrate me?"

My lips flattened, remaining silent. Kova leaned down with a smile on his face, his happiness striking me hard. It was totally irrational of me to behave like this and yet I couldn't help it. His mouth angled toward mine. Just as he was about to close the distance, I turned my head to the side. The tip of his nose grazed my cheek, the heat of his laugh tickling my skin. Sliding his hands, he laced his fingers with mine again as he peppered kisses along my jaw and down the length of my neck. My chest burned and my heart pounded. Just because he and Katja had a deep history didn't mean I had to like it.

"I think my Ria is jealous," Kova said, his voice almost singsong and proud. "I kind of like this look on you. Admit that you are and I will get off," he said, nipping my collarbone. My back arched, pushing my stupid hardened nipples into his chest.

"There's nothing to admit."

Kova pulled back and looked down at me, tightening his hands on mine. "Then kiss me. Prove to me you are not jealous."

"What? No."

"Why not? You gave me a birthday kiss earlier. This can be my good luck kiss."

"You don't believe in that crap."

"I had a change of heart."

A laugh burst from me. "Yeah, right!" I said, and Kova smiled. He nestled closer. We stared at each other, the warmth of our bodies pressed so close together it was difficult not to think about how perfectly our bodies aligned in all the right places.

It was too comfortable. Too natural. Too right.

Leaning down, Kova's lips softly met the corner of my mouth. Slowly, he took his time, kissing all around the edge of my lips with the same tenderness, until he was hovering above me. I looked at his mouth as he waited.

"Maybe I am a little jealous," I admitted in a whisper.

Kova's eyes softened. Tilting my chin up, I gave him the consent he sought to close the distance between us. Right before he kissed me, I said, "Okay. I'm a lot jealous and I don't like this feeling inside me."

He grinned and it electrified my blood. Kova's kisses were unlike any I'd ever had, erotic and as seductive as black lace.

"I would feel the same way you do if the roles were reversed," he said. "The thought of another man with you does more to me than make me jealous, Adrianna. It makes me downright murderous, and it terrifies me. You are mine, and mine only."

A knot formed in my throat as the times I’d slept with Hayden flashed in my mind. I prayed to every god I could think of that Kova never found out.