“I can feel you coming!” His thick cock jerked inside me, pumping his essence.
I met his lips, crying out against them. Our tongues tangled as he emptied himself, and my mind turned over from the searing bliss. . . .
I collapsed against him.
“My God, Katya.” He brushed kisses all over my face, murmuring in Russian.
I adored his affection, shivering against him. “Gracias, mi amor,” I sighed.
“You thank me?”
I nipped his neck. “You like me when we get freaky?”
He gave a strained laugh. “You could say that,” he muttered, squeezing his arms around me so hard, I thought I would break.
CHAPTER 31
Early the next morning, I sat bundled in the window seat. Outside, snow fell like crazy.
Máxim slept on. I would get to spend the whole day lazing by the fire, snuggling in bed with him. With my wicked man. I shifted my position, feeling a twinge in my bottom, but it’d been so worth it.
He’d told me I was with him, that I was his—as in, we’d stay together! Maybe he’d gotten excited and said more than he should. Maybe he’d gotten as drunk as I’d been. Though now that I thought about it, I’d never seen him drunk. I shrugged. I’d know soon enough.
Before I crawled back in bed with him, I gazed out through the frosted panes, wanting to memorize every detail of this place. Two ice-covered twigs sparred—ping ping ping—outside the window. Winds began to blow, low moans that wrapped around the lodge and made it creak. Inside, the fire popped.
Such foreign sounds to me. This place was magical.
Being here with Máxim made me feel things so deeply. Apparently he did as well. I recalled his jealousy from last night with a dark thrill. . . .
Over the last few days, I’d realized that the reason I hadn’t yearned for another relationship wasn’t just because of my circumstances.
I hadn’t yearned because I hadn’t met Maksimilian Sevastyan. He was the yearning. I was in love with the Russian.
Done. Finished. Terminado.
And now that I loved Máxim, I recognized that what I’d felt for Edward had been pale and puny, informed by everything except my heart.
But Máxim was still a player. His longest relationship had lasted for fourteen days—and counting. If a man like him actually settled down with one woman, he’d want her completely in return. He’d expect her to be his. Legally, I still belonged to another.
Oh, me jodí. I was so screwed.
What I wouldn’t give for a do-over. For Edward never even to have counted.
The winds picked up even more, buckets of snow coming down. A real live snowstorm. A gust rattled the windows, the lodge creaking as if we were in a hurricane.
Máxim woke moments later, blinking at me, then slowly smiling—so handsome my heart twisted. In a rumble, he said, “Hey, baby.” He patted his chest for me to return to bed. I rose, dropping my blanket on the way and crawled in naked beside him.
When I laid my head over his heart, he grazed his fingers up and down my spine. “How long have you been up?”
“A bit. I’ve been watching the snowstorm.”
He reached down to lightly cup a cheek. “How are you?”
“I definitely feel what we did. And I regret nothing.”
He resumed stroking my back. “You never do.”
“That’s not true,” I said. “I just don’t with you.”
“Maybe you don’t remember everything.”
“My takeaway from the shower: Is there anything Máxim can’t do? It was wonderful. You were.”
“You, solnyshko, boggled my mind.”
“Me? I just held on for the ride.”
“You’re passionate, and when you do something you leap with both feet.” He curled a finger under my chin, tugging till I faced him. “You’re brave.”
I could make no claim on that. If I was brave, I’d fight for my birthright. I’d put a murderer behind bars. I cast my gaze down. Máxim deserved a brave woman. Wouldn’t a man like him expect one?
“Are you miserable from drink?”
“Not at all. Natalie made me and Jess take her hangover preventative before she sent us off to paint the limo.” We’d guzzled a bottle of Gatorade each, then took a few over-the-counter pills. It’d totally worked, but . . . “I have a sinking suspicion our shoe polish art wasn’t as brilliant as I thought.”
“I got up at dawn and checked it out, in case you two had written ‘eat a dick’ over and over.”
I laughed.
“Luckily, the poem is in place, and it’s passable. Definitely gives the wedding flavor. Did you forget you wrote ‘yo’ at the end?”
“You lie.”
“No, it’s there.”
Nota personal: no tequila with Jess ever again. I made circles with my forefinger over his chest. “Did you enjoy spending time with your brother?”
“He still holds himself back. But I think I do too. I suppose it will take time.”
“As long as it’s happening. Will you please tell me why you two were separated?”
“You didn’t learn anything from Natalie?”
“She was very closemouthed. I had to glean a lot. Will you tell me more?” I leaned up to lay my hands on his face. “I want to know you.”
He gave me a brows-drawn look. “You ask me today, showing the interest I’ve craved—just when Aleksandr advised me last night to tell you my sordid secrets. I can’t understand what this would accomplish. And I can’t believe you would view me the same way.”